The San Francisco Giants and the Oakland Athletics have the most positive buzz of any Major League Baseball team through the first three weeks of the season, according to an online sentiment analysis by The Nielsen Company.  The Giants earned a sentiment score of 4.5 (5.0 being the top score) with 20% of all online messages considered “positive,” while one percent of messages were “negative.” Similarly, the A’s earned a score of 4.2 with 18% of online messages deemed “positive” while two percent of messages were “negative.” Additional messages logged for both clubs were found to be “neutral” or “mixed.”

There’s good reason for fans to rave about these teams early on. Through April 27th, the Giants and A’s were in first place in their respective divisions. The Athletics have especially seen success not just online and on the field, but also in its early season TV ratings.

Nielsen’s sentiment analysis also demonstrates just how quickly fan attitudes toward their favorite teams can change.  Through spring training, the Minnesota Twins ranked 22nd among 30 teams in online sentiment. But with the Twins off to a 14 and 6 start and an early hold on the AL Central lead, the team shot up 15 spots in the last three weeks to the #7 ranking.

Meanwhile, the Houston Astros gave their fans signs of hope in spring training, earning a sentiment rank of 11 out of 30. But a mediocre 8 and 11 start killed off some of the buzz, dropping the Astros to 27th in overall sentiment. The Dodgers, whose early-season woes have them sitting in last place in the NL West, have seen their sentiment rank plummet 11 spots since spring training.

Nielsen’s automated sentiment analysis uses keywords and proprietary software to capture sentiment toward a product (or, in this case, MLB teams) in online messages and forums. Sentences are parsed for their parts of speech, and then searched for polarity (positive or negative sentiment) related to a team. A sentiment ratio from -5 to +5 is then assigned to the ballclub, with positive scores indicating positive-leaning discussion and negative scores indicating negative-leaning discussion.

An average of over 19 million U.S. viewers watched the six games of this year’s World Series between the Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Yankees, the most since an average of 25.4 million people saw the Red Sox sweep the Cardinals in 2004. Game 4 of the series was also the most watched single World Series game (22.5 million viewers) since 2004.

A legendary 6-RBI game by Hideki Matsui in Game 6 propelled the Yankee DH from a postseason afterthought to World Series MVP. The series-clinching performance resounded throughout the internet as Matsui’s buzz soared across blogs and message boards in the hours after the final out:

Of all the players participating in the World Series, Alex Rodriguez delivered the most buzz. As A-Rod marched through October on his quest toward his first championship ring, his internet buzz was at a level three times higher than any other Yankee or Phillie. Surprisingly, the next-closest player in terms of buzz during the postseason was pitcher A.J. Burnett, who saw his share of ups and downs throughout the playoffs. Derek Jeter’s on-field steadiness translated to the blogosphere with the third-highest buzz of any World Series participant. The most buzzed-about Phillie was second baseman Chase Utley, whose five-homerun performance in the Fall Classic had many wondering if he could take MVP honors back to the losing city.

FOX, which aired live coverage of Game 5 of Major League Baseball’s National League Championship Series — instead of the debate, rounded out the top three.

CBS’s post-debate analysis also made the top ten.

Overall, NBC won the night with an average audience of almost 8 million viewers, while FOX took second place with almost 7.8 million average viewers. CBS and ABC claimed third and fourth places with roughly 7.4 million and 7 million average viewers, respectively. Univision and the CW followed in fifth and sixth places with average audiences of roughly 2.8 million and 2.4 million viewers, respectively.

CBS dominated the rest of Nielsen’s top 10 list, with “Two And Half Men,” “CSI: Miami,” “Worst Week,” “The Big Bang Theory,” and “How I Met Your Mother” claiming five of the nine remaining slots.

Overall, ABC won the night with an average audience of just over 13.5 million viewers, while CBS took second place with almost 11.6 million average viewers. FOX and NBC claimed third and fourth places with roughly 7.42 million and 7.39 million average viewers, respectively. Univision and the CW followed in fifth and sixth places with average audiences of roughly 4.2 million and 3.4 million viewers, respectively.

Angels/Red Sox Match-Up Tops Division Series TV Ratings
The third game of the Los Angeles Angels v. Boston Red Sox drew the largest television audience of the division series: 6.2 million viewers.  The three other games in that contentious series also made the top ten — with average TV audiences of approximately 5.7 million (game four), 5.3 million (game two), and 4.4 million viewers (game one), respectively.

After the jump, view complete national ratings from the division series games, aired exclusively on TBS.

Manny Boosts Dodgers…TV Ratings?
What are the odds that the Los Angeles Dodgers would have made it to the MLB National League Championship Series without Manny Ramirez?  Since Manny’s move west to join the Dodgers, the team has gone from one game under .500 to seven games above. 

Local L.A. fans’ interest in the Dodgers is also on the rise.  Ramirez’s first game with the Dodgers drew 5.2% of all TV households in the L.A. market – the team’s largest TV audience of the season.  Overall, local ratings for Dodgers games are up by 35% since August 1.

Rays’ First Post-Season Triggers TV Ratings Surge
The Red Sox, Ramirez’s former team, didn’t miss a beat after losing their all-star slugger to the Dodgers.  The resurgent Tampa Bay Rays, however, may change that. 

The Rays, who are competing in their first post-season in franchise history, are drawing strong TV audiences in their local Tampa Bay market, with ratings up by 97% over last season, to date.  When the Rays and the Red Sox last faced off on July 2, 9% of all households in the Tampa Bay market tuned in for the game, setting a Rays franchise ratings record.

Historically, at least where league championship series are involved, ratings have been significantly higher when teams from major markets, such as Chicago, Boston and Los Angeles, are involved. A breakdown of those matchups will be featured prior to the upcoming NL and AL championship series.

Below are historical ratings since 2000 for Division Series Playoffs. Numbers from 2007 division games broadcast on TNT and TBS are combined average viewership for both National and American leagues. The 13 games broadcast on TBS drew an average of 5.7 million viewers, while the four games picked up by TNT drew an average of 1.6 million viewers.

NATIONAL LEAGUE DIVISION SERIES

AMERICAN LEAGUE DIVISION SERIES