Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Whom to Root For?

I was hoping that the Mucking Fets would hang on into the playoffs; even though the 1986 team of scoundrels and neo-conservatives pretty much eradicated any love I felt for the Amazings of 1969, I still feel a certain affinity for the Queens-landers, in part because I like some of their players—Paul LoDuca, Shawn Green, and Moises Alou—(and feel sorry for manager, Willie Randolph), but also because, as a Pittsburgh boy, (and right-thinking human being), I can’t possibly root for the hated Phillies, even if they do have the ageless Jamie Moyer on their roster.

But since Glenn Close’s favorite team have tanked in spectacular style, I’m not sure who I’m going to pull for in this year’s version of baseball’s post-season, or whether I should just hope it gets over as quickly as possible and that the Yankees are eliminated in the first round.

Typically, my default choice is to root for the National League team; again, my upbringing in a Senior Circuit town informs this attitude. But no amount of childhood allegiance is strong enough to get me to root for the soulless Arizona Diamondbacks or the parody-of-themselves Chicago Cubs; I could perhaps pull for the Colorado Rockies given their stirring late season charge (and their elimination of the hated Bland Diego Pads), but only, I think, if this was a softball tournament instead of hardball.

Obviously I’m not going to pull for the so-called “Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim;” to do so would be apostasy for this onetime fervent Los Angeles Dodgers fan. And even though I was pleased to see the “Curse of the Bambino” finally lifted, you won’t find me cheering for Boston—except when Tim Wakefield pitches; he ‘da man.

So that leaves Cleveland, I guess. And they’ve certainly got the pitching—Sabathia and Carmona—to be a factor deep into the post-season.

Plus they’ve got the Yankees in the first round, so I’m cheering hard for the sweep.

1 Comments:

Blogger Henry said...

If my father has taught me one thing in my life it's that the Yankees are the single most evil entity that i'm likely to face in my life.

For that reason i will follow you in cheering for the Indians, although i still hold a grudge against Cleavland for employing Albert Belle for 7 of my most formative years.

10:56 AM  

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