I may be wrong, but it seems like baseball fans in general are getting away from having much of a league loyalty when it comes to the World Series. I think a lot of it has to do with regional considerations as new generations of fans come to appreciate the game. However, I still hear from a lot of older fans (and their kids) that they still have a very distinct league loyalty regardless of the team.

Personally I'm an American League elitist and specifically, I like to have the AL East represented well. I like knowing that my team plays in the most talented division in baseball, even if that means getting our asses handed to us every once in a while. To date, the only exception to that has been rooting for the Yankees, but I think I'm going to have a hard time pulling for TB over the Phillies.

no. fuck the rays.

1979 was the first World Series I took an active interest in. I was 11 and the 75 World Series was a vague memory. During the first game, I decided I liked Willie Stargell better than anyone else on the field, so I rooted for the Pirates. I was the only kid in my class who didn't want the Orioles to win. It set a precedent, because just about every year, unless the Sox are in it, I root for the National League. And that won't change this year.

The only reason I can think of to maintain a 'league allegiance' is because no-one wants it to be assumed that their team's regular season opposition is weak. If the Phillies beat the Rays, it makes some small dent in the notion that the NL is the weaker circuit, and that would encourage AL fans and the media to give National League contenders a bit more respect in '09. But it only makes a very marginal difference.

I personally will always direct my (usually vague and half-interested) World Series support toward whichever team strikes me as more sympathetic. There are teams I'd never root for (Yankees, Angels, White Sox, Dodgers and now the Rays) and some teams I have mild affection for if all else is equal (Indians, Royals, Brewers, Pirates). In any other situation, I just don't care.

Although, having said that, more ephemeral considerations can sometimes make an impact. The Eckstein ballwashing in 2006 made me a temporary Tigers rooter, as an example.

I went so far as to root for the Yankeees in the 2003 WS, and every person I knew or didn't know shitted on me but I stuck by it for one reason: Lets say you're in a bar and you get into a fight with some random guy. Let's say this guy kicks your ass and then goes and picks a fight with someone else. For the sake of interest, let's say that the guy that the guy that just kicked your ass picks a fight with is five foot three and a hundred and fifteen pounds. Some people might root for the little guy to extract your revenge for you. But if that happens what does it say about you? It says that you just got your ass handed to you by a guy who couldn't scrap with a veritable midget.(sorry for the un-PC) If the guy that beat you wins you can always try to lay claim to being the second toughest guy at the bar. If they can't be first, I'll always root for the Sox to be the second toughest guy at the bar or at least part of the toughest crowd.

Phillies. I see no good in rooting for a divisional rival. Championships only increase revenue and franchise value. No way I want the Rays to start creating revenue to lock up there young studs.

I voted other - I don't have a league allegiance, I just root for the team that I find to be most likable in that particular year. This could be a combination of things like "I like player X" and "Fanbase Y deserves it," but since the strike I've only not cared who won a World Series once (Astros/White Sox - I didn't really like either of those teams).

I'm rooting for the Phillies because Philadelphia deserves it, and since I couldn't bring myself to root for the Sixers or Flyers, this is the only time I don't feel bad about cheering for them. Plus, all the bandwagon Rays fans drive me crazy, and Tampa Bay should have plenty of chances at the title over the next five or so years.

I don't really care about league loyalty and am curious about the way it is presented here. I mean - do people really place a premium on rooting for the teams you rooted against all year just to validate a belief that "your team" plays in a better league?

Makes more sense in the context of the All Star game, since that benefits the team you root for if they make the series. Other than that, I don't get any special benefit from the notion that "at least the Sox play in a better league," since that goes in cycles in any case.

Also, there's the fact that my second favorite team is the Phillies, so I'm rooting hard for them.

Oh, meant to vote for the 2nd highest one for 1st part of poll

I want the Rays to win though. They deserve the Cinderella Story

I voted "other" although this year I really don't care who wins because I have nothing against either team, I often care who wins even when the Sox aren't in it.

But that caring has absolutely nothing to do with the league. I couldn't care less about that.
There are certain teams I like and certain teams I don't like, and that determines it.

Personally, I don't really care who wins. I just flat out don't like the Phils, and since Tampa is a divisional rival, I can't bring myself to pull for them. If anything, I'm rooting for a good Series.

I have a bunch of friends from college and elsewhere that are from Philly and diehard Philly fans. They haven't won squat in a couple of decades despite having some of the oldest and best fan bases in professional sports. When it comes to baseball, I will always respect old-school franchises and traditional cities, especially those hungry for a championship, more than younger franchises in cities that don't appreciate championships. Before the playoffs started, I felt that if the Sox couldn't go all the way, the next best thing would be seeing the Cubs win, if only because I can empathize with their plight. Philly fans are the next closest thing after that. Fuck the Rays - they will have plenty of chances in the next few years to compete, their fans are bandwagonners, and I derive a sick enjoyment from seeing the media lose the easy-to-write Cinderella story (although Philly winning gives plenty to write about anyway).

So yeah, go Phils.

I almost always root against the AL team. I certainly will this year.

Sometimes. Phillies.

I have a few hardcore Phills fans and I want them to be happy. For a change.

I don't have a league rooting preference for the WS. As others have mentioned, I tend to choose the more likable team, whether it be because of an amazing season or because of a long-suffering fan base, or just because I like a couple players on the team. This year, I have an old friend who is a Phillies fan and has gone through some horrific stuff this year. I'd like a bit of solace for her.

Also, several Rays bug the piss out of me. The team seems stocked with the kind of players who you love if they play for your team and can't stand on the opposing team--as well as a couple garden-variety jackasses.

I will never root for the Rays, Yankees, Orioles, or Blue Jays in a WS. I would probably root for the AL in most other cases, unless I become partial to the NL team.

Shut the fuck up Donny.


(couldn't resist.)

Zero league loyalty. In both leagues, there are some teams I don't mind, and some teams I can't stand.

I'm pulling for the Phillies because I can identify with them. They have a boatload of die-hard fans who haven't seen a championship in their adult life. Their team is more like our team, and their fans are more like us.

A Rays World Series victory is what most of America is passively rooting for, I'd imagine. They took down a big bad East Coast team and most people not in the Philly area will want them to do it again, for novelty purposes. The media is saying that the Rays will "inspire a nation". They will inspire shit. A TB World Series victory will be considered a burp in baseball history, just like the Marlins' rings. Tropicana Field will again host a bunch of empty seats in 2009, because the blue-hairs will still be too busy fishing and golfing and developing melanoma to watch the Rays.

I'm rooting for the Phillies because a bunch of people will genuinely appreciate it if they win.

I root for the AL unless it's represented by the Yankees.

I find the AL's dominance (As exhibited over the last 10 years in interleague, the ASG, and the WS) to be hilarious and as long as it continues, so does the hilarity.

Normally, I would be routing for the American League team.....but not when that team beats my team, or is the Yankees. I'm going with the Phillies on this one. I feel for their fans and I know how happy a win will make them. The Rays, well they are a good team this year...the fact that they got where they are now is a gigantic step for them, and I suspect they will be here again soon. Their fans need to pay their dues before they get a win. The Rays were on top all year and their fans didn't come out until September....that is pathetic...let them wait their turn.

Mostly I would pull for the AL in the Series. This year however, I really have a problem with the Rays. I hate them and will be pulling for the Phillies to kill them. Soundly.
Have to admit though, TB is a good team and I'm not sure the Phils can handle them. I'm looking for a slug-fest.

I have to disagree with this. Unlike Pittsburgh and other perennial losers, the Rays have done a great job drafting and grooming young talent, and are now stocked for the long run. They have also locked up the core of this team (Crawford and Longoria in particular) to long term contracts now instead of waiting until their value is beyond what the team can afford. Like it or not (and I don't - I live in Tampa), the Rays will be competitive for a number of years. There will be no Marlins-like dismantling of this team next year or in the foreseeable future.

Whether they can solidify their fan base, given the stadium and its location, is another matter.

A few reasons I voted the way I did:

There are a hell of a lot of similarities between Philadelphia baseball fans and Boston baseball fans, and there are a hell of a lot of similarities between Philadelphia and Boston.

The best player on the Boston Beaneaters (who also mentored/coached Ted Williams) also managed the Phillies.

The franchise has been around since 1883 with one title.

Shibe Park looked like a really cool place to play. It kills me that places like this were demolished for things like the Vet.

On the first question, I voted "other" because I don't root for the AL and I don't always care for the AL to be represented well, but I usually do care who wins. I rooted for the Indians to beat the Marlins in 1997, but rooted for the Marlins to beat the Yankees in 2003. Bottom line, it comes down to likeability of the teams and its players. Usually, I root for the team with the best story, or the low payroll, or the dramatic turnaround, etc.

Which, of course, brings me to rooting for the Rays to win the World Series. If the 2006 Tigers and 2008 Rays could have these massive turnarounds, then this Royals fan will hold on to the slim hope that it might happen one day to his team, too.

I don't really have a loyalty to the American League at this point in time. However, I'm rooting for Tampa for a few reasons:

1) Come on, this is the story of the decade. Baseball's bastard red headed stepchild is in the World Series. The idea this will be forgotten is simply not true. People still talk about the '69 Mets and the reason the Marlins are a footnote is because their first team was sold off in a fire sale within hours of their success, permanently poisoning the fanbase. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that Matt Garza and BJ Upton are not getting traded to the Yankees for Ian Kennedy. The Rays should be good for years to come, and the Oakland A's of the 70s aren't exactly a footnote in baseball history despite drawing about 900,000 people a year. If it's Cinderella vs. a big market team that has lost more games than anybody else in history through mainly their own incompetence, I'm taking Cinderella.

2) The Rays are a better team. Philly won 92 games in a weaker league in a weaker division. People here rightly complain that the NL, despite being just as wealthy a league as the American League, isn't interested in keeping pace with the AL. Well considering the playoffs are a crap shoot, that might be a smart strategy. Why encourage them further with an inferior team winning the World Series yet again?

3) I bet the vast majority of Philly sports fans would trade in a Phillies World Series for an Eagles Super Bowl in two seconds flat. Just something to remember when pontificating about how crappy Tampa fans are; it's not like Philly is a baseball town. Sure they got some nice crowds but if Tampa wins, they might actually be building a legacy. If Philly wins it'll still be an Eagles town.

4) Philly sports fans are passionate and there's a lot of them, which means we're all going to encounter some dickbag from Conshohocken rubbing their measly World Series in our face. Tampa people are more easily avoidable.

5) Brett Myers.

6) Ryan Howard might get a completely undeserved 2nd MVP this year; I kind of hate the guy for that.

Phillies positives:

• Passionate fans
• Venerable, tradition-rich franchise
• First-rate ballpark with decent cheesesteaks
• Love watching Utley & Victorino
• Not the Eagles, Sixers or Flyers

Phillies negatives:

• Obnoxious fans
• Replaced Shibe Park with... the Vet?
• Pinstripes
• Towels = bush
• Ryan Howard overrated

Phillies uncertainties:

• The enemy of my enemy's enemy is... um, I'm not sure

Rays positives:

• Not-yet-entitled fans
• Young, exciting team
• Walking beer vendors at the Trop
• Love watching Longoria
• Not the Yankees

Rays negatives:

• Bandwagon fans
• Horrible "stadium"
• Beer in glass bottles: bad idea
• Cowbells = bush
• Gomes is a punk

Rays uncertainties:

• Which benefits the Sox more, Rays win or Rays loss?

Bottom line: I'm planning to root for the Phillies, albeit with restrained enthusiasm, and subject to fickle changes of heart as events unfold.

It's team-specific. There are teams in both leagues (apart from the Sox) that I like, that I dislike, and about which I am indifferent. And despite their "story", I can't bring myself to root for the Rays. On the other hand, I've never liked the Phils. I think it has to do with all the ex-Reds (Pete Rose mostly) being on the '80 team - I hated those guys. They were all villains in my book after '75. So I don't care who wins this year. The teams I can bring myself to pull for once the Sox are out is pretty limited - the Rangers and Astros (family ties to Texas), the Cubs (my mom and dad's favorite team from childhood), the Royals (because they were the only guys who could stand up to the Yankees in the late '70s), maybe the Cardinals because of their history. But I rarely watch the series now if the Sox aren't in it.

Just to be clear, that picture was taken in 1913.

By the late 1960s, the area around what was then known as Connie Mack Stadium was a war zone and the ballpark was a complete dump that was almost condemned during the season. (And I went there for a game in 1970. Trust me on this.) When an arsonist set fire to the park the year the Vet opened, no one mourned. The decision to eventually demolish the park a few years later was a case of euthanasia.

I love the Phils and am rooting for them, but IMO the history of Shibe Park/Connie Mack Stadium isn't a good comp for Fenway.

Looks like I voted with the majority for both questions. Usually I am predisposed to root for the AL team, but I let my natural rooting tendencies come through. Before the ALCS, I thought I could root for the Rays if they won, but now I am leaning toward the Phillies. I'd like to see the city where I went to college get off the 25 yr old schneid.

I tend to decide once the teams are determined. This year, I'm going with the Phils. I like Jamie Moyer & Matt Stairs. I think the Rays need some heartache, and fear it'd be 3 world championships in Florida that nobody cares about.

When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers won their first Super Bowl, they beat the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship Game (third round of the playoffs) to get there.

When the Tampa Bay Lightning won their first Stanley Cup, they beat the Philadelphia Flyers in the Eastern Conference Finals (third round of the playoffs) to get there.

To win their first World Series, the Tampa Bay Rays will have to beat the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series (third round of the playoffs).

I have no idea what this means, but I kinda hope Philly wins just for the safety of any Tampa fans in Pennsylvania.

...here's how it looks on the streets of Philly-

S. Bongs' comment was spot-on. Most people in Philly would trade a WS win for a Superbowl win in a heartbeat. This is just not a baseball town. Today I saw 8--count 'em--eight Phillies caps on people. There was a rally today at City Hall---1,000 showed up. To be fair--this was Center City, and I bet things are alot different in South Philly or the Northeast.

I'm always grousing that sports radio here is "all Eagles--all the time", but now that baseball is finally getting a play, people don't even know how to discuss the game. As one caller said when asked about his opinion, "How should I know, I never watch baseball". Still, at least there are a bunch of old-head diehards here.

Check out this article from the Tampa Tribune--it helps the readers to learn...what is a double-play...a reliever...the cut-off man...a utility player...

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/oct/22/s6...-primer/sports/

Red Sox baseball has really spoiled me-

That said--go Phils!

I've never rooted for a non-Red Sox team in the World Series just because they were an American League team, and I've never rooted for a division rival to win. Usually, in a case like this, I don't care and I don't watch the series. This year, I'm not watching the series, but I kind of care, and I am hoping Philadelphia wins. The reality that we lost to the Rays made me ill; the idea that they could win it all makes me ill. On the other hand, I wouldn't be bothered if Philly won. It's a cool city, it's where I met my better half, and....ewwwwwwww, Tampa Bay?

Since 1986 I've rooted for the NL team every time that Boston wasn't in the WS. The closest I came to rooting for the AL was 1997 when it was the long suffering Indians versus a teal wearing expansion team that bought a team...then I remembered that I HATED those Indians teams, so fuck them.

And fuck Tampa Bay.

Almost rooted for the White Sox in '05 too, just couldn't do it.

So, Eagles fans are even longer suffering than Phillie fans...last title 1960, and not even a super bowl. I'm surprised about what you say about the relative apathy for the Phils. Why did the A's leave instead of them (Philadelphia A's at least had some history of winning)? Or, is that so long ago that it's irrelevant?

I usually pull for the AL, Phils this year though, not liking the Rays for the usual stated reasons.

By 1954, when the A's packed up for KC, the A's had had terrible attendance since the mid 1930s, and had only a couple winning seasons since 1935. Their stadium roommates the Phillies also had terrible attendance through the 40s, but had at least won a pennant in 1950.

I don't quite understand this whole impulse to root against the Rays because they beat us. If they lose, doesn't that make us look worse?

All that aside, I'm rooting for the Rays because they remind me so much of my childhood heroes the '69 Mets.

The A's left because they got sold by the Mack family to Arnold Johnson, a KC businessman. KC also had a pretty modern baseball park in Municipal Stadium at the time, and so in an era when the gate counted for most of the revenue a poorly supported team in Philadelphia didn't necessarily make any more money than a well supported team in KC. Of course it didn't come off that well, but the fact Mack never had a farm system and the general rot of being run by the Mack family like a 1910s franchise 40 years later had really hurt the A's. Finley took over the team in 196..5 I think, and it still took him six years to build a winner. And this was a baseball genius.

Obviously once the A's left the Phillies had the market to themselves and so weren't going anywhere. Philly is the largest market with one team (which is maybe why it shouldn't deserve a special prize for having good attendance - it SHOULD).

By the way, awesome baseball town just-like-us Philly lost to shitty baseball town Tampa in the ratings for Game 2.



TV ratings breakdown

I don't think it's so much that they beat us, but that Rays fans are seen as undeserving, for their non-support, and, maybe more important, that everybody hates their circus ballpark with the cowbells, etc. I've personally avoided the first two games but will watch tonight, weather permitting.

I don't ever think I've ever been able to watch a sporting event without finding myself pulling for one of the teams. Sometimes it's not obvious at the outset, but I eventually start thinking that called strike was clearly low or that the guy's knee was surely down before the ball came loose.

I wasn't sure about who I wanted to win this WS until about the 2nd inning of Game 1 when I found myself really digging Cole Hamels. Since then it's been "Let's Go Phillies"!

I can only hope that (current) 14.29% of those who responded to this poll with a "Don't Care" vote on the "Who do you want to win this World Series" question did so before the Series got started. One way or the other, I'd be disappointed if this were still the case.

I have a mild rooting interest in that one of the Phillies coaches went to my HS and graduated with my sister.

The only thing I don't want to see if the Phillies win it is all of them crying like Mike Schmidt.