Poll: Fans predict Red Sox will win World Series

October 10, 2008 11:11 AM Email| Comments (0)| Text size – +

By Globe Staff

The Red Sox will win the 2008 World Series, cementing Boston's legacy as a dynasty as the team captures its third Major League Baseball championship in five seasons.

Or at least that's what 36 percent of fans predicted in a poll released this morning by Rasmussen Reports. The national telephone survey of 266 baseball fans on Oct. 8 found that more than a third are convinced that the Red Sox will prevail this October.

The upstart Tampa Bay Rays took second place in the poll, with 24 percent of fans saying that the team would capture its first championship this fall. At 17 percent, the Los Angeles Dodgers took third place. The Philadelphia Phillies came in last with only 12 percent of fans surveyed certain that they would go all the way.

Not only did a plurality of fans predict a Red Sox victory, but the poll also found that 31 percent of those surveyed are rooting for Boston to win. And those Red Sox fans are brimming with confidence, with 70 percent convinced that their team will come out on top.

The Rays again took second, with 25 percent of fans pulling for Tampa Bay with a 58 percent confidence that the team could actually do it. The Dodgers held third, with 21 percent of the fan base, which had a 57 percent confidence level. The Phillies again came in last, with the backing of only 14 percent of fans and only 50 percent convinced that they could actually do it.

The poll has a margin of error of 6 percentage points.