5 Most Unruly Fan Bases in Major League Baseball

Baseball is no doubt America's pastime. All across the country friends and familes head out to the ballpark to catch a game each and every night.

There is hardly a better way to spend a summer night and while your home team may not always win, stadiums are doing everything they can to ensure a positive experience.

At the same time, some fans may be too out of hand to let others just enjoy themselves. There is no doubt an unruly contingent at every game, and while some are fairly minimal others have gotten a reputation for being more widespread.

I don't get to ballparks across the country nearly enough to provide an accurate assessment of what it's like at the stadiums that have the worst reputations, but I've definitely read enough (likely from highly biased or uneducated sources) to draw some assumptions.

Based on what appears to be out there in the press, here are the five worse offenders across the league. Since I don't have the firsthand knowledge to consider these to be fact, I certianly hope you'll chime in on the selections I've been told about, and maybe even add a few of your own.

New York Mets

As is the case with Yankee Stadium, I've never set foot in Citi Field (or Shea Stadium) so it's hard for me to judge firsthand how uncontrollable their fans are.

Rowdiness in the stands, be it verbal or physical in nature appears to come from a number of places according to the stereotypes out there.

With only two World Series rings to their name they certainly are cast in a very deep shadow of the Yankees.

On top of that ownership has run into financial troubles that have both made it difficult for the team to compete and caused the financial burden on fans attending games to rise.

New York Yankees

Fans in New York have gotten a reputation for being all sorts of evil. I suppose that would make sense given that they head to Yankee Stadium night after night to see the ''Evil Empire'' in action.

Much like almost every other stadium in America a select few individuals are probably the culprit of a lowered reputation and it's quite likely that the vast majority are just there to enjoy their night at the ballpark.

As much as I've found myself rooting against the Yankees throughout my life, I have to wonder whether or not animocity towards Yankee fans is really just a display of jealousy over their team not winning 27 World Series titles.

Boston Red Sox

Having never set foot in Fenway Park, it's hard for me to say firsthand that the Red Sox Nation is the most unruly fanbase in America.

They are definitely one of the most deeply rooted fanbases with regards to longstanding traditions. Heckling is said to be taken to another level in Beantown, leading GQ to rank them as the sixth meanest fanbase in America in part due to their "whining about the Yankees' salary-driven Evil Empire".

The Red Sox payroll isn't exactly low right now however, and while there may still be an unruly fanbase hovering around the green monster, their Red Sox are sitting in a great spot in the AL East right now.

Los Angeles Dodgers

The fans of the Los Angeles Dodgers appear to flock to Dodger Stadium from a few different realms.

As is the case with any franchise entrenched in tradition, the Dodgers have a loyal following of fans that have been with the team through thick and thin. It seems that some of these fans do wear their heart on their sleeves and that can sometimes come across as ''obnoxious''.

Other fans see a Dodgers game as a trendy summer option and have little stake in the outcome. These fans may seem harmless, but when you're not watching the game you very well may be watching the beer vendor.

This is where things can turn ugly. The fanbase of the Los Angeles Dodgers got a black eye this spring when a Giants fan was nearly beaten to death by a group of Dodgers fans.

While this certainly painted the picture of Dodgers Stadium being an unsafe place to watch a game, the actions of a few bad ''fans'' you can't possibly believe that they represent the franchise as a whole.

Philadelphia Phillies

I've heard that fans in Philadelphia in general are the meanest, most unruly fans in America. This was verified (at least as much as possible) by GQ this past spring, as they named Philly the meanest sports city in America.

Known as the city that ''boos Santa Claus,'' it seems that their reputation is one that they'll never shake.

For what it's worth, I enjoyed my time in Philadelphia, and while there may be aggression from some fans at a Phillies game, there's also a great amount of pride that swells from the successes that they've enjoyed in recent years.