30 Day Baseball Card Challenge

Sunday, October 4, 2015

Temporary Fandom

The MLB playoffs are set to begin in two days and surprise... surprise... neither of my teams will be participating.  Oh well... I've had the past two months to prepare myself for this predicament.  But I'm a baseball fan, so I will unequivocally be cheering for someone.  The question is... who?

Tonight... I'll be ranking the seven playoff teams who will be receiving my support and temporary fandom in some capacity.  To help clarify... I'll add percentages next to the team's name to represent how much of my heart beats for each specific team.

#1  Chicago Cubs 73%

1965 Topps Embossed #58

There's a soft spot in my heart for the Cubbies.  It's been seventy years since they've gone to the World Series and 107 years since they've won it.  Plus... who doesn't want to see the Back to the Future prediction come true?


#2:  Pittsburgh Pirates 11%

1976 Topps #112

Here's another team who has been through a World Series drought and if the Cubs can't beat them on Wednesday, I'll be pulling for the Pirates to win it all.


#3:  Houston Astros 9%

1979 Topps #68

The Astros have history on their side when it comes to these rankings.  I'm a huge fan of their retro "rainbow" uniforms... and they've never won a World Series title.


#4:  Kansas City Royals 3% 

1977 Topps #580

I really disliked the Royals when I was a kid.  They were such a dominating force from the mid 70's to the mid 80's... and that bugged me.  But that's in the past.  George Brett is long gone and it's been thirty years since they've won a World Series title.  And if the Astros can't make it past the Yankees on Tuesday... I'm hoping they'll represent the American League this year.


#5:  New York Mets 2%

1985 Topps #620

When I think of the Mets, the first person who comes to mind is Dwight Gooden... and back in the 80's, one of my favorite sports debates was Gooden vs. Clemens.  Clemens ultimately triumphed, but I'll always be a Gooden guy.  With that being said... it wouldn't kill me to see them win the World Series.


#7t:  Toronto Blue Jays 1%

1980 Topps #77

Growing up... I was a huge fan of Dave Stieb... so I'd quietly pull for the American League team from Canada when he took the mound.  However... ever since they won back to back World Series in the 90's, the Blue Jays have lost their luster.  The only reason they make this list is because there's no way I'd pull for the Texas Rangers.


#7t:  St. Louis Cardinals 1%

1968 Topps #408

There's a small piece of me that wants to see the Cardinals win and it comes down to supporting my buddy Brady over at St. Louis Cardinals' Cardboard.  Damn you Brady!  Why do you have to be such a cool dude?

As for the rest of the pack... I have no desire at all to see the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, or Texas Rangers go on to win the 2015 World Series.  But with my luck... there's a good chance one of them will.

It's your turn...

Who has your support this postseason?

Happy Sunday and sayonara!

15 comments:

Zippy Zappy said...

AL - Yankees
I used to like the Jays back when the team was just Roy Halladay (or Jose Bautista) a few nameless faceless guys. But ever since they changed the color of the uniforms from black back to blue, I've liked them less.

NL - Pirates or Cubs
It's a shame that one of these two has to go home early. But then again that's what happens when one plays in a division with Cardinals Devil Magic at the top.

Anonymous said...

Fuji, I encourage you with all my heart to at least bump the Mets up a couple of percentage points so that they rank above the Royals.

As a lifelong Mets fan, I'll obviously be rooting for them, but just for fun I'll take your question on without the Mets being included...

NL: Whoever comes out of the Wild Card game gets my NL support, as long as they don't go up against the Mets. Like what you said about the Royals, I always feel like the Pirates should be a dominant team. And the Cubs.... well, heck, it's the Cubs, plus they've got the aforementioned "Back To the Future" element going for them.

AL: I'm glad the Rangers got in ahead of the Angels, but that's as far as I'll go with them. The Royals were the feel-good story of last year, but they squandered a good deal of my goodwill since the initial "feel-good". ISIS would have to field a baseball team and play in the Bronx to get me to root for the Yankees. I like the Astros, but when it comes to Houston vs. Toronto, I just can't root against the team that has R.A. Dickey and Munenori Kawasaki. Blue Jays it is.

night owl said...

With the exception of the Cardinals and Yankees, this is a pretty pain-free postseason. I won't root for the Cubs because the coverage of them will be so gooey if they win that the whole country will slip into a sugar coma. And, of course, the Dodgers are involved and they will win it all, so your devotions and predictions are meaningless.

Corky said...

Since the Mariners have never made it to the World Series I have been able to watch the Fall Classic without any stress or frustration (outside of the Mariners now going 14 years without being the playoffs). I am with you, a fan of the underdogs, and I would like to see the Cubs, Pirates or Astros win but I have a feeling it will be the Blue Jays or Royals.

BobWalkthePlank said...

I tend to pull for former Pirates so I would root for the Blue Jays and Jose Bautista if the pirates would fall out.

Commishbob said...

Astros----(big gap)---Pirates-Dodgers-Blue Jays. In that order.

Wrigley Wax said...

Welcome aboard fellow Cub fan....but are you prepared for the possibility of having 73% of your heart shredded to pieces?

Man said...

that is hilarious Fuji! If the Pirates beat the Cardinals in the Divios Championship I will be rooting for the Bucos-can never root for the Cubies, never. Then there is the Astros, if I could see a game with their retro and the Padres' retro uniforms on the same field at the same time I would faint.

Jeremya1um said...

I'd really be ok as long as the Yankee$, Cardinals, or Dodgers didn't win it. Cards and Yankee$ have won (multiple times) in recent years, and Dodgers basically bought their club. Jacob deGrom lives in my hometown, so I'd really like the Mets to win. Id be happy with Pirates or Cubbies since they haven't won in a while. I'd love for the Astros or Jays to win in the AL for the same reason, and Royals and Rangers aren't bad choices either. Final picks are Mets and Astros.

arpsmith said...

I would probably go Pirates, Astros, Cubs and Royals in that order. After that I would prefer not to see any of these teams win. Anyway, they will just be a one year wonder when my Giants win another even year World Series next season.

GCA said...

I'm watching the NL wildcard and then the next series for the winner. If both CHC and PIT are out, then I'm turning to football and hockey. Astros would be nice too, but they face the Yanks first.
I'm sure it will be a crisis in the sport according to the national media if the Yankees or Cardinals don't make it to the Series.
Yankee hating is default (I'm an O's fan), and I am also tired of the Cardinals. The Royals were a nice story last year, but now they seem to be the wanna-be tough guy, beard-shadowed, bully team or something. Mets would be a decent worst to first, but the Nats fan in me is a little miffed about that...

Hackenbush said...

I'm a die hard Cubs fan from the north side of Chicago. The Cubs are playing as well as anyone in baseball but anything can happen. One bad game and they're out. I don't like this format.

Fuji said...

zippy - total shame. one of my top 2 teams is going home after tonight.

shlabotnik - sounds good. mets are officially up to 3%... blue jays and cardinals are down to .5% each

night owl - praying for that sugar coma to avoid seeing the dodgers win another world series.

corky - go team underdogs!

wrigley - my heart has been shredded every year since 1989.

brady - i'm 100% in support of retro brown & gold vs. retro rainbows. let's go mlb.

jeremy - glad to see we're on the same page

arpsmith - hoping the padres will finally break that streak

gca - gotta admit... my focus has been football for a few weeks now.

hackenbush - yeah... not a fan of the format either. good luck tonight... i'll be pulling for your team.

Ana Lu said...

Sorry..but it's the Yankees ;)

Fuji said...

Sorry for your loss ;)