Tonight: MFY@ Rays for 3. Who you rooting for?

What your preferred series outcome?


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    239

bankshot1

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These ethical conundrums come up from time to time, where morality bangs heads with self-interest.

So the Sox seem to have the MFY balls tucked in their back pocket and the MFY seem all but dead for the division. However they are still are very alive for the Wild Card (3 1/2 games out of the 2nd WC) Many here are veterans of '78 so I will couch words about insurmountable leads carefully and try not to take things for granted, but 8 games in the loss column with 64 games for the MFY will take some wicked hot baseball on their part and a 2011-style September implosion for the hometown team.

Tampa is Tampa and they are going to be a pain in the ass for the remainder of the year. And I want the Sox to win the division and avoid the WC bullshit. So I find myself hoping the MFY take at least 2 of 3 in that joke of a stadium in Tampa and give us a chance to pick-up some ground. 8th inning come from behind wins are fun, but can we count on the well always to provide? So some MFY assistance would be appreciated. However, I'm not sure I want a MFY sweep as it might be like Miracle Max's slipping them the almost dead pill.

Don't get me wrong most years I would love to see Tampa sweep the MFY, but this isn't one of them.

There is no joy in this, its just pennant race math.

What's your calculator say?

You know the standings
You know the stakes
You know your heart and head

Who are you rooting for?
 

Humphrey

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Aug 3, 2010
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Would rather the Yanks still thought they should be buyers rather than sellers. Don't want them picking up young talent and shedding off underachievers.

So, 2 out of 3, Yanks
 

walt in maryland

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I find it very, very hard to root for the Yankees under any circumstances. But a Tampa Bay sweep would not be a good thing for the Red Sox in advance of their series at the Trop this weekend.
 

Flunky

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I'm just happy I don't have to listen to Michael Kay's voice for the first time in 2 weeks.

MFY sweep the Rays plz.
 

Archer1979

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Three COVID-suspended games to be made up in late-September as pitching-staff-deprived double-headers.

That might be too much to ask, so let's go with bench-clearing brawls resulting in multiple season-ending injuries and year-long suspensions.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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Don't care. Not scoreboard watching in July. As long as the Sox keep winning 60% of their games, they're going to be in great shape.
 

pk1627

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1. Point: Tampa is in it for the haul. Agreed it’s way too early to scoreboard watch. Sox just need to keep playing well.
2. Counterpoint: It’s a blast to cheer against NY, particularly in a year they were expected to win 100.

Fully expect Rays to take 2, and hoping for the sweep.
 

phrenile

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One team is 8 games back in the loss column. The other is 1.

Why is this even a question?
Because rooting isn't going to change the outcome, so why debase yourself by rooting for the Yankees.

If you're going to root, root against the Yankees, every time. If the Yankees happen to win and cause an offsetting benefit elsewhere in the standings, then that's just less reason for disappointment.
 

Sandy Leon Trotsky

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Never want the Yankees to win under any circumstances.*

*ONLY AND ONLY if it's THE game that will make or break the Red Sox getting into the playoffs. That's it.
 

geoduck no quahog

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Our obsession with a flawed NY team has to stop. We're talking about the difference between the insanity of a 1-game playoff with (say) Oakland or NYY versus a best of 5 with (hopefullly) the Wild Card winner or, at worst - one of the division leaders.

Winning the Division is critical, even if it's the Yankees that end up winning the WC.
 

Melrose Diner

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The Rays aren't going anywhere and three games against the Yankees isn't changing that. Bury the Yankees, make sure they're DEAD dead, and then worry about the Rays the rest of the season.
 

DeadlySplitter

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Oct 20, 2015
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Have to root for Yanks, especially since the Rays seem to actually be buying this year. There's a decent chance the division will come down to a game's difference (game 163 included).
 

Cesar Crespo

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Dec 22, 2002
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It's all about the standings and staying in 1st place, especially with the play in format.

Games in July matter just as much and I'd rather have a bigger cushion.
 

mikeot

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Three COVID-suspended games to be made up in late-September as pitching-staff-deprived double-headers.

That might be too much to ask, so let's go with bench-clearing brawls resulting in multiple season-ending injuries and year-long suspensions.
Ohellyes.
 

E5 Yaz

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There is only one answer to this question: Rays to sweep.

The Red Sox are headed to the playoffs, so the next best thing is to crush the Yankees
 

Beale13

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Our obsession with a flawed NY team has to stop. We're talking about the difference between the insanity of a 1-game playoff with (say) Oakland or NYY versus a best of 5 with (hopefullly) the Wild Card winner or, at worst - one of the division leaders.

Winning the Division is critical, even if it's the Yankees that end up winning the WC.
This is the correct answer. As much as we hate seeing the Yankees win anything, the absolute nightmare scenario is Tampa eking out the division and us having to face Gerrit Cole in a one-game playoff that we could easily lose.
 

E5 Yaz

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This is the correct answer. As much as we hate seeing the Yankees win anything, the absolute nightmare scenario is Tampa eking out the division and us having to face Gerrit Cole in a one-game playoff that we could easily lose.
You could avoid your fears of facing the Yankees if they get their butts kicked repeatedly and don't make the playoffs
 

nolasoxfan

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First choice: long, exhausting, extra-inning games that lead to nagging, but not career altering, injuries.
Second choice: meteorite.
 

Papo The Snow Tiger

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I'm holding my nose and hoping for the MFY to take two of three, but the idea of an evacuation of the Tamp-St Pete area, forcing the cancellation of three off-days later in the season or three double headers in a row does have some appeal.
 

E5 Yaz

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I'm holding my nose and hoping for the MFY to take two of three, but the idea of an evacuation of the Tamp-St Pete area, forcing the cancellation of three off-days later in the season or three double headers in a row does have some appeal.
I could get behind this
 

Archer1979

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Just curious how many of those that want the Yankees to sweep were actively rooting for the Sox in 1978 (more along the lines of how old are you)? I know that this is along the lines of a get off my lawn question... but I simply can't count out NY until we pop the cork on YED. '78 hurt that much.
 

tims4wins

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Just curious how many of those that want the Yankees to sweep were actively rooting for the Sox in 1978 (more along the lines of how old are you)? I know that this is along the lines of a get off my lawn question... but I simply can't count out NY until we pop the cork on YED. '78 hurt that much.
My dad keeps talking about 1978 too. Seems to have left a permanent scar on the older gen of Sox fans.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIk_yUkisPU
 

E5 Yaz

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My dad keeps talking about 1978 too. Seems to have left a permanent scar on the older gen of Sox fans.
The Yankees are the manifestation of all that is wrong with America. Rooting for the Yankees to lose is rooting for America!
 

tims4wins

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The Yankees are the manifestation of all that is wrong with America. Rooting for the Yankees to lose is rooting for America!
Yeah I'm certainly not going to "root" for the Yankees, but my preferred series outcome is NY 2 / TB 1. I'll keep an eye on the scoreboard each day but don't expect to have an emotional reaction to the results either way.
 

RobertS975

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I am rooting for a Yankees sweep, but hopefully not without some costly injuries! It would be the best case scenario if the Sox could have enough of a cushion at the end of the regular season to line up their pitching optimally for the playoffs.

Would hate to have to go "balls to the wall" to try to win the division!
 

ookami7m

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As always, Combined destruction is the first preference. But barring that, I've basically accepted that the Rays are going to be in the playoffs - so anything to hurry along YED I'm ok with. Bury them.
 

bankshot1

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My dad keeps talking about 1978 too. Seems to have left a permanent scar on the older gen of Sox fans.

'78 was excrutiating and cruel self-inflicted torture.

Many of us, like a moth to the flame, were consumed, and chose to watch the best team in baseball, and they were, implode, then re-engage and fight back, only to lose in a one-game win or go home game. The elation of watching Luis pitch us back into a 1-game play-off and scoreboard watch/listen to Rick Waits shutting down the MFY was soon erased by a blinded by the light Lou Pinella's game saving wild guess, of what might have been a pennant winning Remy inside the parker..

I find it fascinating that as we evolve as a fandom, the pain long associated with said fandom, can't be really passed down, but has to be felt. I heard bout Pesky as a kid, but really didn't understand until Aparicio tripped at 3rd.

I'm not sure I need to feel it again.

Win the division
 

RedsoxfanVA01

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As teenagers, my kid brother and I drove down from Derry NH to Fenway to catch the final regular game of the 1978 season. Eck (I think) beat Toronto(?) and Rick Waits of Cleveland beat the Yankees to force the 163rd game. Too intimidated by the Townies to jostle in line to buy next day playoff tix. Wasn't sure which loss felt worse - 78, 86 or 2003. I was surprised how long I felt dead inside from that 7th game debacle from Grady Little.