I have been told several times that I am not a “real” fan of the Royals because of various reasons:

·         I don’t boo Johnny Damon

·         I don’t wear enough Royals gear

·         I leave before the end of the game

·         I don’t drink enough beer

·         Etcetera.

On a recent post about adopting a second team, someone posted some rules of fandom.  I found that intriguing, but since it did not list all of the reasons that I am not a “real” fan, it must be incomplete.

My purpose here is to create a definitive list of what constitutes a baseball fan.  I have included the items I have read/heard over the years.  I am looking for your input to add to the list.  Once we have a complete list, I propose we vote on the items one at a time to determine the “true” rules of “real” fandom.  Agreed?

Here is my (incomplete) list. 

A real fan never boos their own team.

A real fan stays until the end of the game.

A real fan can have one primary and one secondary team that he/she is a fan of.  The secondary team must be in the other league.

To prevent bandwagoners, you must follow a team for X years before calling yourself a fan.

You must own X number of articles with your team logo.

Team logo articles must be displayed prominently in your office or on your person, even during losing periods.

You must attend X number of games per year.

You must be able to name X % of starters.

You must loathe/hate/sneer at/fart in the general direction of/ the team’s archenemy.

When the team wins you are elated, but when it loses you are crushed.

You have a testimonial about your team that you share often – “I was at Opening Day in 1957 when Clyde Bumblefoot pitched a perfect game, and Renaldo Guillen crushed a game-winning grand slam.”

Feel free to add your rules in the comments section.