Red Sox players absent from 2018 FanSided Fandom 250 rankings

FanSided has released their annual rankings of the top 250 fan bases, which is mysteriously missing members of the Boston Red Sox.

The Boston Red Sox fared very well as a team in FanSided’s annual Fandom 250 rankings, coming in at No. 3 overall. However, the individual players on the team were left off the list.

MVP Mookie Betts? Didn’t make the cut. Multiple Silver Slugger award winner J.D. Martinez? Doesn’t have enough fans for this list. Postseason hero David Price? Nowhere to be found (not even a mention in the Fortnite section!).

20 athletes are represented among the 250 ranked fan bases, which also includes sports teams, music, entertainment, and celebrities. The Red Sox are loaded with star talent but none of them have the celebrity appeal to garner attention in these rankings.

Several of the athletes who made the Fandom 250 list aren’t connected to an actual team, including Tiger Woods, John Cena, and Serena Williams. Most who do play in one of the four major North American professional sports leagues are tied to a team that is also on the list. LeBron James ranks fourth overall and his move to Los Angeles is part of why the Lakers were voted the fourth most popular NBA team, coming in at No. 51 overall. Tom Brady (No. 63) falls in the same territory as his New England Patriots (No. 67).

That’s not the case for the Red Sox. They are the top rated MLB team and second among professional sports team yet none of their players received any recognition.

Betts is emerging as the face of the franchise but he doesn’t have the larger than life personality or national media draw of someone like LeBron. He’s the best player in baseball but he’s not the GOAT, as Brady is when it comes to quarterbacks. Betts is a great player and a great person but he’s also humble and laid back. Those traits aren’t a combination for the celebrity appeal that put many of these other athletes on the list.

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David Ortiz would have been a prime candidate to make this list. He had a personality that could capture a room and a presence that commanded attention. The Red Sox haven’t had a player quite like that since Big Papi retired.

This team doesn’t even have a clear-cut candidate for the most popular player on the team. There’s no doubt that the Lakers are now LeBron’s team and the Patriots have belonged to TB12 for nearly two decades. Which player on this roster do Red Sox fans favor?

Betts is the best all-around player on the team and a worthy MVP but many fans are more enamored with the power of Martinez. Chris Sale is one of the most dominant pitchers in the game so it’s no surprise to see plenty of his jerseys being worn at Fenway Park. We’re even coming around to being fans of Price now that he’s finally won in the postseason.

You can see why the minds behind the Fandom 250 would have trouble picking a Red Sox player to make this list when Boston fans can’t all agree on their most popular star.

The Fandom 250 may not include any Red Sox players but the team itself has the best fan base in MLB. They also happen to be the best team in baseball and the reigning World Series champions. It’s been a great year for Red Sox Nation so we certainly have little to complain about.