In baseball playoffs, who are you rooting for and why? [Archive]

TillyGalore

10-03-2007, 10:15 AM

This is only the 5th time in my life that I've seen my Cubbies play in the playoffs and I'm really pumped. I wish there wasn't such a late start for the first 2 games (10 ET), so my 8 year old could watch as well, but I guess he'll have to watch it on the DVR.

Go Cubs!

I heard the governor of Illinois on the Mike and Mike Show talking about how his 11 y/o daughter might not be allowed by her mother to stay up and watch either. That just stinks.

In 1979 my mother wouldn't let me stay up to watch the 7th game of the World Series. If I had been allowed to I think the O's would have won the World Series. I still love my mother and don't hold it against her as much now, am slowly working through this. :D

jkidd31

10-03-2007, 10:57 AM

This could be a great w/e for Cleveland sports if the Tribe can finish off the Yanks and the Browns upset the Patriots. I think the first thing is possible but I'm not holding my breath on the last one.

EarlJam

10-03-2007, 11:01 AM

I'm pulling for the Cubbies big time. Why? Well, it's just been so long since they've won it and they've become the lovable underdog of baseball (like Rocky?). Also, a lot of my friends, including my boss, are huge Cubs fans. I want to see them happy.

If the Cubs get knocked out, I'd like to see the Rockies win it. Those guys are fighters and I've always liked Denver sports.

Third pick would be Cleveland, also because it's been so long since they've won it.

-EarlJam

Deslok

10-03-2007, 11:10 AM

I'm rooting for the first the Red Sox, and second, whoever is playing the Yankees. I've been a lifelong Sox fan, so neither really requires much explanation(though of course, its almost as important to me that the Yankees don't win as that the Red Sox might, since then I can continue to taunt all the Yankee fans among my family and friends about being oh for the millenium).

Though it would be kind of cool to see the Rockies, Indians, or Cubs win it all, since there are few people around who have witnessed any of them winning it all and I'm always happy to see new blood strike gold.

Duke4Ever32

10-03-2007, 11:17 AM

Red Sox, for the exact same reasons Deslok stated.

Duvall

10-03-2007, 11:18 AM

Whoever is playing the Yankees, whoever is playing the Red Sox and whoever is playing the Cubs. Indifferent among the other five. If the Yankees or Red Sox end up playing the Cubs, I hope the Cubs lose.

hc5duke

10-03-2007, 02:19 PM

I need a none-of-the-above option...

wilson

10-03-2007, 02:45 PM

I'm rooting for the Cubs, for the previously stated reasons, and the not red sux, because in the period since their WS victory, they and their fans have become utterly insufferable and are now totally indistinguishable from the Yankees and their fans, save the obvious difference in their allegiances. The difference is that Yankees fans recognize their hated status and embrace it, whereas the red sux and their fans would still have me believe that they're "underdogs" and "loveable."
Spare me.

Udaman

10-03-2007, 02:52 PM

So not quite, but the great thing about baseball for me is that I enjoy the game so much, there are several teams I'm pulling for. Plus since the Braves are out, I don't really have a home team.

In the NL, I'm certainly pulling for the Cubs, but the Diamondbacks and their young squad are just an amazing story. The Phillies and the Rockies are an amazing matchup. Both are white hot. Both haven't been in for a while. I guess I'm rooting more for the Phils only because Rollins, Utley, Victorino, and Howard were on my rotiss team (not a bad year to be long the Phillies). I'll say this, in the NL the home games should all be rocking, especially the Cubs, Phillies and Rockies. Fun!

In the AL, I tend to hate the Yankees, but a part of me is pulling for ARod to do well (can't believe I just typed that). As much grief as he's taken with as much as he's done for that team - it would be nice to see him succeed in October. But, I would love to see a Yankees - Red Sox matchup again.

Best would be Yankees - Red Sox and Cubs v. anyone. Worst would be an Angels - Indians and Diamondbacks - anyone. If that happens, I pull hard for Phills or Rockies.

throatybeard

10-03-2007, 02:53 PM

When I don't have a rooting interest, I usually go for whichever teams would be most likely to make myopic pundits and network people stick a fork in their eye. (The folks who think that nowhere but NY, LA and Chicago exist). Cleveland and Denver are 17th and 18th. San Diego and Milwaukee got eliminated late--they'd have been smaller.

pfrduke

10-03-2007, 03:10 PM

Go Halos!

I was born and raised in Orange County, and have been an Angels fan since I can remember. I was at the Big A for the 1986 Donnie Moore/Dave Henderson game (one of my first baseball memories, and a tragic one), and Thundersticked my way through the 2002 World Series from Durham (that ticked off the neighbors just a bit).

I'll also be rooting for the Rockies in the NL, as Garrett Atkins was a high school teammate of mine, and thus someone I always pull for. If he hasn't already, he's close to surpassing Tim Wallach as the most distinguished athletic alum of my HS (I think Will Ferrell takes the cake for most distinguished overall alum).

tombrady

10-03-2007, 04:09 PM

The Red Sox. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Red_Sox)

OZZIE4DUKE

10-03-2007, 05:33 PM

The Yankees! Life long fan.

If by some chance the Yankees don't win it all, I'd like to see the Cubbies do it, for obvious reasons, including, but not limited to, anyone but the Red Sox. Note I don't call them Red Sux. Never have.

DukieInKansas

10-03-2007, 05:42 PM

Rooting for the Cubbies (perpetual underdogs) - want them to get over the Steve Bartlett incident. (Hope I have his name correct.) Will root for anyone playing the Yankees. Will almost always root for NL over AL unless the local team is in it. (Since I'm in Royals territory - not a problem I'm likely to have for a while. :) )

jkidd31

10-03-2007, 06:01 PM

I was also just thinking it's been 10 years since the Tribe was one out and one stike away from winning it all when Jose Mesa choked and we lost to the Rent-A-Champ Florida Marlins who started disbanding that team before the Champagne was even cleaned up. That stings far worse the the Browns/Denver games that get shown on a regular basis because that is literally the closest a Cleveland franchise has come to winning it all since 1964.

dukehoopsgirl

10-03-2007, 07:57 PM

The Red Sox. And, it should go without saying - anyone but the Yankees, should the Sox ruin my October!

Update: 2-0 Sox in the bottom of the 1st.

Bostondevil

10-03-2007, 08:00 PM

Well, you can probably tell by my sign in name which team I'm rooting for

DukeinKansas, it was Steve Bartman, poor guy. I looked up some Cub fan friends from my Duke days during those 2003 LCS's and told them I was hoping to meet their team in the Series. I got a response from one of them after the Grady Little incident. It said "Anything we can blow, you can blow better." I appreciated that email.

wilson, there's no way Sox fans are the most insufferable, that honor will always belong to Heels fans, sorry. I'd argue that Terps fans earn the number 2 spot, we're third, at best. Wait, no Kentucky fans with their constant whining about '92, OMG are they annoying. Now, we're down to at least the fourth worst.

OK, so Sox #1 but if they don't win it would be

2) Phillies, c'mon, nobody gives them any love around here, Philadelphia needs a championship of some kind before the whole place commits collective suicide.
3) Cubs, for all the aforementioned reasons, but still, if you think winning one made Sox fans insufferable, I shudder to think what Cubs fans will be like.
4) Indians, let's face it, they have to live in Cleveland, it's reason enough to hope they win something.

YmoBeThere

10-03-2007, 08:28 PM

Diamondbacks...Brandon Webb and a youth movement

bluebear

10-03-2007, 08:46 PM

The Red Sox. And, it should go without saying - anyone but the Yankees, should the Sox ruin my October!

Update: 2-0 Sox in the bottom of the 1st.

4-0 in the 4th...

Go Sox!!!

DevilAlumna

10-03-2007, 09:48 PM

"Cuz it's root, root, root for the Cubbies!" :D

I first got into baseball by watching the Cubs on WGN; had a crush on both Ryne Sandberg and Mark Grace, and loved watching Andre Dawson belt the long ball.

After them, I'd cheer on in the following order:

Phillies
Indians
Red Sox
Angels

Hmmm, maybe I just have a thing for red in team uniforms? : )

killerleft

10-03-2007, 10:14 PM

Red Sox - Yaz and Rice.

dbb03

10-03-2007, 10:48 PM

Red Sox - Yaz and Rice.

joba
mariano
jeter
posada
cano
melky
kennedy
hughes
petite
wang
duncan

I mean you have to love a team with that much homegrown talented developed in the minor league system and brought up to the big leagues!

YmoBeThere

10-04-2007, 12:14 AM

Hmmm, maybe I just have a thing for red in team uniforms? : )

Diamondbacks have red uniforms....

I guess I am the only one here who likes snakes.

DevilAlumna

10-04-2007, 12:57 AM

Diamondbacks have red uniforms....

Yeah, I noticed that this evening.... I guess the last time I actually watched the D'backs on TV, Randy Johnson was pitching for them in the WS, in a grey/purple uni. (What can I say, I don't watch much baseball except in the playoffs....)

And now I see that Randy's back with the D'backs (though his season is over thanks to back surgery), and they have red uni's. I guess I might just cheer for them too, but only if they get through the Cubbies. I really would like to see the NL triumph over the AL this year.

elvis14

10-04-2007, 11:57 AM

Since I'm a Cincinnati Reds fan I have to pick someone else to root for each year in the playoffs :(. I like the Cards and Giants but they didn't make it this year. I did get to attend game 3 of the Cards/RedSox a few years back. That was awesome. Anyway, first of all, you eliminate all the AL teams. They don't play real baseball in the AL, they have a DH :p. Once that's done, you look for teams with interesting story lines, like the way the Phillies came back to put the NY Mets out of the playoffs. You can also eliminate the big market teams especially NY, Boston. Most of them have too many fans and the fans tend to be really really annoying. I didn't list the Cubs as a team to rule out even though they are a big market team because....well because they are the Cubs and success breeds contempt. I also like teams that are full of guys that we don' hear about every day and teams that don't have the huge payrolls and are stocked with guys bought from other teams (Dbacks and Rockies are like this).

So that basically leaves the Phillies, Cubs, Dbacks, and Rockies. Hmm, that's all the NL teams. That means that the NL playoffs should be very interesting. Although, if you want to peek in to the AL, Cleveland is interesting and I have some friends that are Indians fans. :D

tombrady

10-04-2007, 12:25 PM

Diamondbacks...Brandon Webb and a youth movement

Brandon Webb -- Born: May 9, 1979
Josh Beckett -- Born: May 15, 1980

Add in Pedroia, Papelbon, Dice-K, Ellsbury, Lester, Delcarmen, hows that for a youth movement.

tombrady

10-04-2007, 12:26 PM

joba

petite

I mean you have to love a team with that much homegrown talented developed in the minor league system and brought up to the big leagues!

I mean you have to love yankee fans that can't even spell the name of their best pitcher.

dbb03

10-04-2007, 01:54 PM

I mean you have to love yankee fans that can't even spell the name of their best pitcher.

Chien-Ming Wang

hc5duke

10-04-2007, 02:24 PM

I mean you have to love yankee fans that can't even spell the name of their best pitcher.

This from a guy who said "Dice-K"? :p

tombrady

10-04-2007, 02:45 PM

This from a guy who said "Dice-K"? :p

If I wrote Daisuke, I'm sure half the readers of this board would be like "who is that?", thinking it was some rookie call-up outfielder from Texas named Andrew Daisuke or something.

ESPN chose Dice-K, thats what it is for most people. Sad.

jkidd31

10-04-2007, 03:26 PM

joba
mariano
jeter
posada
cano
melky
kennedy
hughes
petite
wang
duncan

I mean you have to love a team with that much homegrown talented developed in the minor league system and brought up to the big leagues!

Isn't a good portion of the Indians roster through their minor leauge system? I know CC and Garko are and I'm pretty sure Sizemore, Micheals, Peralta, and Martinez are as well. When Garko was on the Jime Rome show a couple weeks ago they were talking about playing fro Eric Wedge in the minors.

GO TRIBE!!!! Screw up the TV ratings!!!!!!

dbb03

10-04-2007, 04:05 PM

Isn't a good portion of the Indians roster through their minor leauge system? I know CC and Garko are and I'm pretty sure Sizemore, Micheals, Peralta, and Martinez are as well. When Garko was on the Jime Rome show a couple weeks ago they were talking about playing fro Eric Wedge in the minors.

GO TRIBE!!!! Screw up the TV ratings!!!!!!

I'm sure they are. I'd venture to guess they have a lot more players on their squad from their farm system than the yankees. I was just being facetious. Should be a good series. Having two stud pitchers is huuuuuge come the postseason.

tommy

10-04-2007, 04:25 PM

I'm with Throaty on this one. When my team is out of it, I root for the matchup that will ensure the lowest network TV ratings. The networks have taken so much fun out of watching sports by their homogenized, cookie-cutter broadcasts, where everything is presented at the exact same time in the exact same order in every single game (if we're at the 8 minute mark of the 1st quarter, then no matter what else is going on, it must be "time to check in with Pam Oliver on the sidelines"; by their perfectly coiffed announcers who have no personality, who never dare to criticize anyone or discuss a controversial issue in any depth or with intelligence and honesty (Costas is one exception); and their corporatizing the broadcast with things like the "starting lineups brought to you by AT&T" The networks have made the broadcasts utterly boring. They deserve terrible ratings in return. Go Indians & Rockies!

cspan37421

10-04-2007, 05:08 PM

Not that anyone cares, but...

I first started noticing baseball when I lived in Boston as a grade schooler (1st/2nd). But I didn't go to a game until I moved to Detroit (3rd/4th, 7/8/9), so Detroit really is my #1 team. But they're not in it, and the Sox and their mystique have been a close 2nd for me. My late grandpa saw Babe Ruth pitch for the Sox in when he was a young boy, and they were always his team, from Teddy Ballgame to Yaz, Fisk, and so forth. A colorful past, and the angst of being a Sox fan stayed with him his whole life. The last time I talked to him was Oct 2004, as Sox had just gone down 0-2 to the Yankees. We bitched about how it looked like just another collapse, bad decisions, and whatnot. He slipped into a coma the next night after they went down 0-3, and died the next day, having not seen the remarkable comeback and the World Series sweep. He would have loved to have seen it, but in a way, it is OK. We talked about how them eventually winning again would just change what it meant to be part of Red Sox nation, and things would never be the same again - indeed, that they'd just be Yankees lite at that point (assuming they were still playing with massive payrolls).

Well they did win, and although a huge burden was lifted, I still feel the "magic" when they start whacking them over the Green Monster. There's no other place like it and I still wish them well.

Last year was great to be a Tigers fan, even if their pitchers displayed a complete ineptitude w/r/t fielding - so bad, you'd be forgiven for thinking they bet against their own team. But it was a great year and revival of spirit in a town that nearly always needs a pick-me-up.

tombrady

10-04-2007, 05:18 PM

I care.

I still feel the "magic" when they start whacking them over the Green Monster. There's no other place like it and I still wish them well.

No kidding.

But it was a great year and revival of spirit in a town that nearly always needs a pick-me-up.

No kidding.

You might be interested in this:

http://sonsofsamhorn.net/wiki/index.php/Win_It_For...

http://www.amazon.com/Win-World-Championship-Generations/dp/159670084X

http://books.google.com/books?id=dHoYVMDgVkoC&pg=PA2&dq=win+it+for&sig=g9ZTX8i931K83P_EA7V55SL0H1c#PPP1,M1

YmoBeThere

10-04-2007, 08:47 PM

Brandon Webb -- Born: May 9, 1979
Josh Beckett -- Born: May 15, 1980

Add in Pedroia, Papelbon, Dice-K, Ellsbury, Lester, Delcarmen, hows that for a youth movement.

Sox have Manny(35), Ortiz(31 looks 36 breaking down like he is 40), Varitek(35), Lowell(33 looks 40), and Schilling who is 40. Timlin is 41 and Mirabelli will be 37 this month.

And in a matchup of the Drews, D-backs win with 24 year old Stephen versus 31 year old J.D.

Good try, but not really that close.

Deslok

10-04-2007, 09:46 PM

Sox have Manny(35), Ortiz(31 looks 36 breaking down like he is 40), Varitek(35), Lowell(33 looks 40), and Schilling who is 40. Timlin is 41 and Mirabelli will be 37 this month.

And in a matchup of the Drews, D-backs win with 24 year old Stephen versus 31 year old J.D.

Good try, but not really that close.

Lets see, the two guys you say look/are breaking down like they are 40 hit respectively: .332 average with 35 HR and 117 RBI with the best OBP in the majors, the other hit .324 with 21 HR and 120 RBI. If those guys are breaking down, I sure hope the Red Sox pick up some more guys who are breaking down. The Red Sox do have an impressive youth movement going on with their pitchers. Timlin(who is largely irrelavent these days) and Schilling are their only old pitchers. Position players only Pedroia and Ellsbury - who have both looked great - are young, and Youkilis and Crisp are the only primary guys who aren't on the tail end of their prime years(assuming no Barry Bondsish explosion post 35).

It can't be heartwarming for the rest of the league to see both the Yankees and Red Sox bringing up some good young talent, knowing that they will spend the money to fill in the missing gaps with impressive established talent(the Red Sox don't spend like the Yankees do, but they spend more than anyone besides them).

bluebear

10-04-2007, 09:53 PM

YmoBeThere

10-04-2007, 10:02 PM

Y'all are taking this way way way way way too seriously...you will notice I didn't mention stats, nor compare them to other players, etc. Just player ages. A youth movement means you need to have youth. The Red Sox have some but it doesn't get the bulk of the playing time which is different from the D'backs.

But now that you mention it, Ortiz needs to have knee and shoulder surgery after this season. The debate is which does he do this offseason and then wait until next year to do the other.

Duke4Ever32

10-04-2007, 11:42 PM

Lets see, the two guys you say look/are breaking down like they are 40 hit respectively: .332 average with 35 HR and 117 RBI with the best OBP in the majors, the other hit .324 with 21 HR and 120 RBI. If those guys are breaking down, I sure hope the Red Sox pick up some more guys who are breaking down. The Red Sox do have an impressive youth movement going on with their pitchers. Timlin(who is largely irrelavent these days) and Schilling are their only old pitchers. Position players only Pedroia and Ellsbury - who have both looked great - are young, and Youkilis and Crisp are the only primary guys who aren't on the tail end of their prime years(assuming no Barry Bondsish explosion post 35).

It can't be heartwarming for the rest of the league to see both the Yankees and Red Sox bringing up some good young talent, knowing that they will spend the money to fill in the missing gaps with impressive established talent(the Red Sox don't spend like the Yankees do, but they spend more than anyone besides them).

Yeah, I feel like I need to send YMo some money or something for the high quality laughter I experienced in reading the assertion that Ortiz and Lowell "looked 40 and were breaking down"!!!! I WISH I could look so good and be so productive when I'm "breaking down"!!!! Thanks YMo...I owe you!!
:)