Championship Series Power Rankings According to Each Team’s Biggest Fans in the Music World

Rob Slater on October 16, 2015

After 162 games, baseball is down to its final four. In the National League, we have two teams who have made a name for crushing the hopes and dreams of their fans–the Chicago Cubs and the New York Mets. You really can’t put into words just how good these two franchises are at making you think they’re going to win, and then subsequently losing in the most spectacular of fashions. Nonetheless, at the end of the month, one will play for a championship.

The American League matchup is far less interesting, pitting the Toronto Blue Jays against the Kansas City Royals. The Blue Jays are in the playoffs for the first time since 1993 (they won the World Series that year) and are bat-flipping their way into our homes and hearts. Meanwhile the Royals were last year’s World Series losers after quite a disastrous streak of losing themselves. 

But enough about that. This is about the fans. Specifically, the music fans who love these teams. You can analyze these two series however you want, but here’s a power ranking of all four teams

1. Chicago Cubs

There’s nothing quite like the musician Cubs fan. It’s not remotely close. If the Cubs win the World Series, there will be so much Cubs gear worn on stages across the country for months to come. Brendan Bayliss will even replace that DJ Willie shirt he always wears with a Cubs jersey. That’s what this means to the city and their fans who have waited a long time.

We’ve told you a lot about Eddie Vedder lately. He’s the ringleader of this musical circus parading out of the ivy at Wrigley. Let us not forget Tom Morello’s impassioned piece for Rolling Stone about why and how the Cubs can win the World Series. 

The beauty about being a Cubs fan is that it breaks you down to your most vulnerable state. On stage, Eddie Vedder is immortal. Impenetrable. On the field celebrating the Cubs’ NLDS win? A bubbling little kid. Cubs fans who have been through it can’t help but give into the joy that would be 

Also (soon to be very happy) Cubs fans: Brendan Bayliss and Joel Cummins of Umphrey’s McGee (there are a couple of White Sox and Pirates fans in the band, so it is unfair to include them all), Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin, members of Wilco, Cheap Trick. 

2. New York Mets

It’s reasonable to be a little suspicious when it comes to the famous Mets fan, because you just KNOW they were spotted in a Yankees cap sometime in the last 40 years while the Mets struggled to catch their big brother. However, there are those who stuck with it, including Phish’s Page McConnell, who recently got yelled at by the team’s Twitter account. Here is Page with his buddy Trey Anastasio at a game in 2011. Don’t blink, because you’ll miss it, but they’re there. Promise. 

There is also Widespread Panic’s JoJo Hermann, Robert Randolph, Yo La Tengo, Lars Ulrich, Julian Casablancas of The Strokes and many others. Ah, hell. They could all just as easily be Yankees fans. You’re strong in numbers, Mets Nation, but your loyalty remains in question which is what separates you from Chicago. 

3. Toronto Blue Jays

Toronto has Geddy Lee. But they also have Drake. And as a rule, if Drake is involved in anything it is lessened. 

Geddy Lee, though, is a certified badass, and for that he will keep you out of the cellar this October. If you’ve watched Blue Jays games over the years (you haven’t), you’ve seen the Rush bassist sitting behind home plate more than a few times. Check out Lee’s thoughts on that wild seventh inning and fuck it, let’s see the bat flip again. 

4. Kansas City Royals

The Royals don’t need any help from musicians, if we’re being honest. They have this powder blue army of celebrities behind them including Paul Rudd, Jason Sudeikis, Eric Stonestreet, Don Cheadle, Rob Riggle and many others. They also have former Woods bassist and musician Kevin Morby, who is a KC native. Here is Morby, at his most enthusiastic, expressing his Kansas City Royals fandom.