Thursday, October 5, 2017

Bandwagon Time

My gut feeling back in April told me that neither of my teams were headed towards the post season this year.  Those feelings were all but confirmed by the start of summer.

But that's okay.  The beautiful thing about baseball is there's always something for fans to cheer for when their teams suck.  This season my focus eventually shifted to Jose Altuve, Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, and whether or not the Red Sox could hold onto the AL East.

Now that the regular season is over, that's my cue to jump on the bandwagon and root for someone else's team.

Last year, I rode the Chicago Cubs train and watched them win it all.  Who will receive my fair-weather fandom this postseason?

I decided the easiest way to do this is to rank the eight remaining playoff teams starting with the team I'd most like to see win the World Series this year.

#1:  Houston Astros


Unless they were playing against the Padres or A's, I've been quietly rooting for the Astros since the start of the season.  I'm a huge Jose Altuve fan and it'd be nice to see him win the AL MVP Award and a World Series ring in the same season.  It'd also be nice to see Josh Reddick get a ring too.  He was a fan favorite during his time in Oakland.  Speaking of fans... Houston fans have been waiting around since 1962 for their baseball team to win it all.  Hopefully they won't have to wait too much longer.


#2:  Cleveland Indians


Now that the Chicago Cubs have ended their curse, the Indians are now the owners of the MLB's longest World Series drought.  If the Astros don't win it all, I'd be okay with watching the Indians and their fans celebrate after waiting almost seven decades.


#3:  Boston Red Sox


I understand that this selection is petty and paltry, but the Red Sox are the Yankees biggest rivals.  If they win... it'll serve my Yankee buddies a slice of humble pie.


#4:  Los Angeles Dodgers


When it comes to rooting for specific guys in the postseason, there are six Dodgers I'd like to see celebrate:  Clayton Kershaw, Kenta Maeda, Yu Darvish, Rich Hill, Adrian Gonzalez, and Scott Kazmir.  That's more guys than all of the other teams combined.


#5:  Washington Nationals


If these guys were still playing in Montreal, they would be sitting at the #1 spot.  Unfortunately... they're not.  With that being said... I'd be okay with them finally winning the World Series for their fans.


#6:  Chicago Cubs



We're at the point in the rankings, where I don't really have a preference.   If the Cubs celebrated back to back championships, I'd mainly be happy for their fans, but I'd personally take little pleasure in seeing them win.


#7:  Arizona Diamondbacks


This is the ultimate "meh" team.  I don't dislike (like the double negative?) them, but I couldn't find a reason to put them ahead of the other six teams.  The only scenario where I could see myself cheering for them is if they played the Yankees in the World Series.

Speaking of the devil... 


#8:  New York Yankees


The New York Yankees have won 27 titles.  The last thing I want to see is them winning their 28th.

What about you?


Who are you rooting for?  Who are you rooting against?

Happy Thursday and sayonara!

14 comments:

Mike Matson said...

I'm rooting against 4 teams...
Yankees because Yankees..
Red Sox, I feel are Yankees Jr since 2004..
I have an irrational hatred for Cleveland that I can't explain..
And Washington because they're not in Montreal..

Anonymous said...

Rooting For: 1) Indians, because I wanted them to win last year; 2) Astros, because I like Altuve, Carlos Beltran and Brad Peacock... plus neither the Astros nor Beltran have won a World Series.

Meh: Cubs, Red Sox, Diamondbacks

Rooting Against: 6) Nationals; 7) Dodgers; 8) Yankees.

Collecting Cutch said...

Rooting for Ground Chuck and the Astros because...it's Ground Chuck. I would be ok with Indians or DBacks winning too.
Rooting against Yankees (humble pie tastes really good in October and November I hear), Cubs (division rival)

Zippy Zappy said...

Rooting for the Yankees because duh.

If NYY gets knocked out faster than I want them to then I'll just root for a big market team to win. Those small-mid market teams need to be put in their place.

ketchupman36 said...

I'm pulling for the Indians or Dodgers

Nick said...

I'm rooting for the Cubs in the NL (of course) and I'm pulling for the Astros in the AL -- even though I still can't get used to them being in the American League.

Matt said...

I'm staying loyal to my Red Sox. If they don't win, I'll be happy for any team that hasn't won in 15+ years (essentially anyone except Chicago and New York!)

Hackenbush said...

My hometown team is the Cubs. If they can't win I guess I'd go with the Indians. Then the Nationals. No DC team has won the World Series since the Big Train was there. Houston would be OK. I would have liked to have seen the Twins beat the Yankees but no.

arpsmith said...

I am rooting for the same top 2 teams as you and anyone who is playing the Dodgers.

Anonymous said...

The boys from Boston are looking awful (I've said since August that they're the worst good team I've ever seen) so I'm rooting for Cleveland and the Dodgers. I'd be okay with the Cubs winning again, and Houston winning their first. Meh on the D-backs and Nats. Anyone but the Yankees.



Kin said...

We are no longer friends. ROLLTRIBE!

Matt said...

I am rooting on the yanks obviously, but Yanks are down and as long as teh Sox are out, I don't really care who wins. I would like to see an upset and see the Dbacks but they are up against the wall as well.

GCA said...

Nats are the NL home team here, so I'm a fan. The move was 12 years ago people....
But since it's a Washington team, they basically have little chance.

So if they fail, then let Houston or Cleveland win. Cubs already did, so that would be anti-climactic. Please let Boston and New York go out early. I agree with MMatson that NYY and BOS are on the same end of the arrogance scale.

ZZappy, do you work for ESPN or something?

Fuji said...

mike matson - you might be the only guy on the planet cheering for the yankees and red sox

shlabotnikreport - good call. i like beltran too.

collecting cutch - he'll definitely see action again in the next series. hopefully he doesn't give up as many hits as this morning.

zippy zappy - lol. i'm glad the astros won today, but it would have been cool to see you root for the red sox.

ketchupman36 - can't go wrong with either team. hope the indians can close it out today.

nick - the only reason i'm used to the astros being in the al west is b/c they play the a's so often

matt - can't argue with that philosophy.

hackenbush - i was pulling for the twins too. best of luck to your cubs.

arpsmith - living in the bay area, i have a lot of friends who feel the same way about the dodgers

chris - i'm rooting for cleveland and the dodgers tonight. go darvish!

sport card collectors - congratulations. the red sox are out... and the yankees are currently winning.

gca - i don't really associate the nationals with the expos. but i felt that way the year they moved to dc. i hope they make things interesting and take down the cubs tomorrow in chicago.