Who are you rooting for in October?

Who will you root for in October?

  • Toronto Blue Jays

    Votes: 30 13.6%
  • New York Yankees

    Votes: 5 2.3%
  • Kansas City Royals

    Votes: 32 14.5%
  • Minnesota Twins

    Votes: 3 1.4%
  • Texas Rangers

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Anaheim Angels

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • New York Mets

    Votes: 30 13.6%
  • Chicago Cubs

    Votes: 55 24.9%
  • St. Louis Cardinals

    Votes: 1 0.5%
  • Pittsburgh Pirates

    Votes: 33 14.9%
  • Los Angeles Dodgers

    Votes: 3 1.4%
  • San Francisco Giants

    Votes: 3 1.4%
  • Houston Astros

    Votes: 26 11.8%

  • Total voters
    221

tims4wins

PN23's replacement
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
37,069
Hingham, MA
Fuck the Cubs. And that had nothing to do with Theo, Maddon, or Lester. I lived in Chicago for 3+ years and while I absolutely love that city, the fans simply do not care to close to the same degree that the Sox matter in Boston. Seriously, it is like maybe 10% of the level of enthusiasm. People go to Cubs games to drink in the bleachers, not because they care deep down about winning. You just can't compare the fan bases. The LAAAAAA fans probably care more about a title than Cubs fans. Or maybe Tampa fans.
 

PAB1353

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
114
Denver, CO
I voted for Houston, but I would have chosen "whoever plays the MFY"  Is it too late to add this as a choice?
 
Also, what dbn said:  the Patriots
 

Bob Montgomerys Helmet Hat

has big, douchey shoulders
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tims4wins said:
Fuck the Cubs. And that had nothing to do with Theo, Maddon, or Lester. I lived in Chicago for 3+ years and while I absolutely love that city, the fans simply do not care to close to the same degree that the Sox matter in Boston. Seriously, it is like maybe 10% of the level of enthusiasm. People go to Cubs games to drink in the bleachers, not because they care deep down about winning. You just can't compare the fan bases. The LAAAAAA fans probably care more about a title than Cubs fans. Or maybe Tampa fans.
Amen brother.  
 
But also, fuck Maddon.
 

Yelling At Clouds

Post-darwinian
SoSH Member
Jul 19, 2005
3,407
Not sure about October yet, but right now I'm rooting for the Twins and Rangers to make the play-in game. 
 

DJnVa

Dorito Dawg
SoSH Member
Dec 16, 2010
53,850
I can't root for Toronto. In the early-90s they were really good and even though the Sox weren't, I disliked them because they kept winning the East.
 
I'm pulling for KC (Brett might have been my favorite non-Sox player through my teens), but wouldn't mind seeing Houston.
 
In the NL I'm pulling for Pittsburgh--love to watch the Pirates play the Royals in throwback uniforms. Cubs, well, sure, but my Maddon hate hasn't worn off yet. Mets is a struggle--there's Sox-related history there, but with Cuddyer and Wright, there's 2 players that I see around town in the offseason and saw both play in high school, one of them at my alma mater.
 

SamK

New Member
May 31, 2012
151
I became a free agent fan when the greatest field manager of our lifetimes was treated so badly on his way out of town. I followed Theo to Chicago. It's fun. It feels a little like being a Red Sox fan did last century. I think I am chasing that buzz we all felt in '04.
 

Flunky

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Jan 3, 2009
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SamK said:
It's fun. It feels a little like being a Red Sox fan did last century. I think I am chasing that buzz we all felt in '04.
 
When you try to claim this Cubs fans should punch you in the face. Instead, they wouldn't. Thus proving the various points regarding Cubs fans already mentioned.
 

FanSinceBoggs

seantwo
SoSH Member
Jan 12, 2009
937
New York
Baseball needs a "curse", it's good for the game, augments fan interest in the sport.  The Cubs curse is only 100 years old; I would like to see it last for another 800 or 900 years at least.  Thus, I'm rooting against the Cubs.
 
The Mets are my second favorite team.  If the Mets are eliminated, the Blue Jays and Royals are my next choice, but I'm not yet sure which team I would root for head-to-head.   
 

SamK

New Member
May 31, 2012
151
Lose Remerswaal said:
So . . . the field manager was treated badly so you switched your allegiance to the GM's new team?

Yeah,  makes sense.
That airing of dirty laundry wasn't Theo's doing, in my opinion. Theo tries to run a tight-lipped ship. There were others in the front office whose style is to burnish personnel moves with media leaks. I should have made that point above. I don't blame anyone else for sticking around and pulling for Larry and Bobby Valentine, but I couldn't do it.

I'm learning the National League game with a storied, old team. Now that LL is sort of gone from Boston(sort of), when they build a statue to Tito and wash it with John Henry's repentant tears I might want to come back. Until then I have 50 years of memories from Fenway to live on. It ain't a perfect solution, but it's the best I could do.
I still enjoy coming to SOSH and reading your posts, though.
 

Blundatola

Member
SoSH Member
Jun 9, 2008
702
Chicago
Piss on anyone actively rooting against the Cubs under the guise of believing our fans don't deserve it. 2003 was a level of pain I would think Red Sox fans are uniquely positioned to understand. In fact, watching the Sox beat all the odds in 2004 helped restore my faith that it can happen for us, too.

But the guy that lived here for 3 (+!) years doesn't think we deserve it so what do I know?
 

Manramsclan

Member
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Jul 14, 2005
3,371
This hasn't gotten enough love.
 
dbn said:
The Patriots.
 
 
I voted for the Kansas City Royals. 
 
I got to see some games at Kauffman Stadium and it was so great. This was about 10 years ago. The team was terrible but the game was packed and people really knew their baseball.  They deserve a win in my opinion.
 
So do the Cubs, but something tells me they need one more swift kick like we got in 2003 to make the fruit of victory so much sweeter. In some ways I wouldn't wish that on anyone, but that year bonded the players and the city in a unique way. They felt our pain firsthand. Then, they went out and redeemed themselves. 
 

Al Zarilla

Member
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Dec 8, 2005
58,909
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Manramsclan said:
This hasn't gotten enough love.
 
 
 
I voted for the Kansas City Royals. 
 
I got to see some games at Kauffman Stadium and it was so great. This was about 10 years ago. The team was terrible but the game was packed and people really knew their baseball.  They deserve a win in my opinion.
 
So do the Cubs, but something tells me they need one more swift kick like we got in 2003 to make the fruit of victory so much sweeter. In some ways I wouldn't wish that on anyone, but that year bonded the players and the city in a unique way. They felt our pain firsthand. Then, they went out and redeemed themselves. 
Like an alcoholic or drug addict has to hit bottom, huh? Actually, why wasn't that 2003 also for the Cubs, i.e., Bartman and the subsequent collapse? Or, do you mean the swift kick has to happen on Theo's watch?

In spite of the Brett years and the one WS trophy, I ways see KC as a AAAA team, or something. My bad, I know. Jays - Dodgers, and Kershaw and Greinke git r done.
 

Fred not Lynn

Dick Button Jr.
SoSH Member
Jul 13, 2005
5,253
Alberta
There was a lot of intensity and bona fide bad blood during the Jays v. Royals series a few weeks back. If fortune gives us a Jays v. Royals ALCS, I think that would be a fun series to watch.
 

Rough Carrigan

reasons within Reason
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I just can't bring myself to root too much for the Royals.  While they were waiting, seemingly way too long, these past few years for all their young players to remember to play well they made all kinds of ridiculously dumb statements.  Who needs walks?  Dayton Moore's "process".  Nutty statements acting like it's impossible to hit homers in Kauffman stadium and that visiting teams had no trouble doing it only because their souls didn't get crushed by evil Kauffman when they only had to come in for 3 or 4 days.  Then, all of a sudden they became good and, oh yeah, they did hit some homers.  And Jon Lester wouldn't throw to a base so they ran wild on him and they beat him.  And then they beat Captain Uptight and the Orioles before losing to the Giants.  Somehow it would all seem a little too easy for the Royals like they were getting pennants instead of penance for their earlier stupidity.  I don't dislike them but I don't want them to win it all.  It just doesn't feel right somehow. 
 
I love Joey Bats and I like Eddy E and the rest of the Jays.  For reasons beneath reason and logic I would hugely prefer their winning to KC winning.
 

RingoOSU

okie misanthrope
SoSH Member
Jun 2, 2005
16,168
Jerry Adair's home state
My grandfather was a royals fan, he died in 2000. They became good around the time he retired and that's when he became a fan... I don't know if he really bothered to follow them in the 90s (wouldn't blame him if he didn't) but I'm glad to see them good again, so I'm rooting for them. They were the first baseball team I ever saw play on their home field, hosting the Red Sox of course.
 

Lars The Wanderer

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
3,833
San Francisco
Anyone but the Dodgers, Cards or either NY team. Fuck those guys.
 
I guess if I were forced to choose 1 team from each league, I'd go with the Blue Jays and Pirates.
 

InsideTheParker

persists in error
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
40,371
Pioneer Valley
Rough Carrigan said:
 
I love Joey Bats and I like Eddy E and the rest of the Jays.  For reasons beneath reason and logic I would hugely prefer their winning to KC winning.
I liked them too, until the other day at Fenway, when J. Bats got all pissy with Kelly, I think it was, and pointed first to his eyes and then to the scoreboard, indicating that they, the Jays, were number one in the division and thus (I guess), deserved extra respect. All Kelly had done, iirc, was look at Encarnacion after he struck him out when EE didn't go back to the dugout.
 

DJnVa

Dorito Dawg
SoSH Member
Dec 16, 2010
53,850
SamK said:
That airing of dirty laundry wasn't Theo's doing, in my opinion. Theo tries to run a tight-lipped ship. There were others in the front office whose style is to burnish personnel moves with media leaks. I should have made that point above. I don't blame anyone else for sticking around and pulling for Larry and Bobby Valentine, but I couldn't do it.

I'm learning the National League game with a storied, old team. Now that LL is sort of gone from Boston(sort of), when they build a statue to Tito and wash it with John Henry's repentant tears I might want to come back. Until then I have 50 years of memories from Fenway to live on. It ain't a perfect solution, but it's the best I could do.
I still enjoy coming to SOSH and reading your posts, though.
 
Do you only love your kids when they make you proud?
 
Stay with the Cubs.
 

pokey_reese

Member
SoSH Member
Jun 25, 2008
16,253
Boston, MA
I voted for the Pirates, but put me down for an Astros/Pirates World Series. A lot of fun young players on both sides, and both cities/franchises deserve the great fun of a deep playoff run. I would watch that matchup for sure.
 

SamK

New Member
May 31, 2012
151
DrewDawg said:
 
Do you only love your kids when they make you proud?
 
Stay with the Cubs.
Do you only root for a man when he is wearing the same color laundry you wore in third grade?
Stay a child.
(Jon Lester says hi.)
 

Leather

given himself a skunk spot
SoSH Member
Jul 18, 2005
28,451
SamK said:
Do you only root for a man when he is wearing the same color laundry you wore in third grade?
Stay a child.
(Jon Lester says hi.)
Yes. I mean, that's generally the entire point.

Sports fandom is inherently irrational. Your attempts at trying to justify it to yourself as being on some higher plane are just gussied up bullshit.
 

CarolinaBeerGuy

Don't know him from Adam
SoSH Member
Mar 14, 2006
9,534
Kernersville, NC
SamK said:
Do you only root for a man when he is wearing the same color laundry you wore in third grade?
Stay a child.
(Jon Lester says hi.)
I do indeed. The only team I've ever considered quitting is the Redskins because of their abhorrent owner and racist nickname. Even now I can't bring myself to do it. If I ever quit them, I couldn't switch to another old team.
 

Erik Hanson's Hook

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Jun 20, 2013
1,079
Fuck the Cubs. The media would be cramming the whole 1908/billy goat/Bartman thing down our throats 24/7. I also have no burning desire to see another fan base experience what we did in 2004. It's ours only, and I like that. As far as Theo and Lester go, I'm a fan, but they've already both won twice. I could understand if you're into the "If Theo breaks two curses, he's the greatest GM in history" narrative. While that would be a cool accomplishment, I don't really care one way or another. Theo won for us and that's good enough for me.
 
But mostly, fuck the Cubs because
 

 
I just can't bring myself to root for Smarmy McSmarms. And if Chicago actually pulled it off? Good god, he would be insufferable. 
 
Voted for Pittsburgh. Been to a few Sox interleague games there, and PNC is a beautiful park with nice fans. Plus, I still feel kinda feel for 'em in regards to:
 
 

SoxFanInCali

has the rich, deep voice of a god
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Jun 3, 2005
15,568
California. Duh.
I know the Dodgers aren't a sympathetic figure with their payroll, but I'd like to see Kershaw go on a great postseason run and overcome that "can't win the big one" reputation.
 

Al Zarilla

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Dec 8, 2005
58,909
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SoxFanInCali said:
I know the Dodgers aren't a sympathetic figure with their payroll, but I'd like to see Kershaw go on a great postseason run and overcome that "can't win the big one" reputation.
Same, and I find it easy to root for Greinke for his pitching, overall athleticism, including hitting, and the affliction he has apparently overcome.
 

Bob Montgomerys Helmet Hat

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SoxFanInCali said:
I know the Dodgers aren't a sympathetic figure with their payroll, but I'd like to see Kershaw go on a great postseason run and overcome that "can't win the big one" reputation.
I sort of like this Dodger team.  I'd root for them over any of the National League teams other than Pittsburgh.  
 

Kahuna

New Member
Sep 26, 2015
1
Personally, I'd like to see Toronto win something and the Cubs too, just because (I really don't get all the hate for the Cubbies here, except for the Joe Maddon thing).
 
What would be best for baseball?  Probably the Cubs vs. the MFYs, or the Mets vs. MFYs.  I'd be okay with either of those scenarios so long as the Yankmees were the losers in spectacular fashion.
 

twibnotes

Member
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Jul 16, 2005
20,232
Pirates. My folks are from the Burgh, and I've always thought it was a great sports town and underrated city overall.

Plus, as anyone who has been to PNC will attest, the Bucs have the best of the new parks. Just a great scene for baseball.
 

YTF

Member
SoSH Member
Joe Maddon is a giant douche, but even that can't cause me to root against the Cubbies. Would love to see Theo and Lester win again and bring the same sort of joy to Chicago that they brought us. That team also has some ridicules young talent that is going to be fun to watch. Hoping somehow that Chicago or Pittsburgh can win that division as I hate to see either of them ousted after one game. Would love to see those two teams battle through a seventh game for the NL crown. Throw in the Mets and their young guns as well as L.A. with Kershaw and Greinke and the National League Playoffs look to be very intriguing this year.  
 

B H Kim

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Oct 24, 2003
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Now that the Nationals are officially out of it, I'm fully on board for Cubs/McFly '15.  (And I guess it's not a popular opinion, but I actually like Joe Maddon.)
 

Savin Hillbilly

loves the secret sauce
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Jul 10, 2007
18,783
The wrong side of the bridge....
The Cubs are in the playoffs and the Sox are not for the first time in over a quarter of a century. That makes it really easy. In fact I will go so far as to say I don't quite understand how anybody can (a) love baseball, (b) not have a serious rooting interest in one of the other playoff teams, and (c) not want the Cubs to win. I'd feel that way even if Theo, Lester, and Blue Wolf weren't involved. I mean, maybe tims4wins is right that their fanbase isn't comparable to ours, but there are certainly thousands if not millions of bonafide, dedicated Cubs fans who have never known what a championship feels like. How can you not want that for them?
 
Of course I've never really gotten the Maddon hate, so that helps.
 

Ramon AC

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Apr 19, 2002
3,234
What?
I have a Pittsburgh rooting-interest-in-law, but even if I didn't I'd want the Cubs to lose. I resent the way Theo left, I don't like the fan base, and I want the story of the offseason to be resurgent Red Sox not Cubby redemption. Fuck the Cubs. That organization's atmospherics irritate me and I don't want to see them celebrated.
 

Remagellan

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The Mets first, since I have a 26 year old nephew who is an excellent Mets fan (lives in upstate NY, but still comes down and sees several games a year) and who has obviously never seen them win. 
 
Then the Cards, because one of my best friends is a huge Cardinals fan, and he couldn't have been more gracious about 2004 and 2013.  
 
Then the Jays, since their last championship can buy a beer.  
 
Then the Royals, since they came so close last year, and I rooted for this team a lot in the playoffs in the 70's and 80's as the hoped for preventer of the next MFY championship.  
 
Then the Dodgers for both the Jays and the Royals reasons.
 
Then the Cubs.  I would have this team right behind the Cards on this list were it not for Joe Maddon, whose face I cannot see without instinctively curling my hand into a fist.  I hate that smarmy fuck.
 
Then the Pirates, because once we were family.  
 
Then the Angels, because once, when world really needed them to, they denied the MFYs another trip to the World Series.  (RALLY MONKEY!) 
 
Then the Rangers or Astros, because they are from Texas, and I hate Texas for giving us Bush and killing Kennedy, but a win for either of them would not be the worst thing.
 
Then ISIS, or Al Qaeda, or the Klan, or the Nazis, or the assembled hordes of Hell, because I would rather see any of those bastards win than endure another fucking MFY championship.  
 
Now that Yogi has passed away, it can truly be said that the only good Yankee is a dead Yankee.  
 

Mugsy's Jock

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I admit not to reading every single post above, but if you really hate the Yankees, the team to root for is the Mets. Would drive real Yankee fans nuts.

And for fans who like both Mets and the Yankees, hey screw them.

(I voted Astros as Altuve is my favorite non-Sox player, but pretty much anyone except MFY, STL, LAD, and SFO works fine for me. Pulling for Cubs Or Bucs out of the NL)
 

DJnVa

Dorito Dawg
SoSH Member
Dec 16, 2010
53,850
SamK said:
Do you only root for a man when he is wearing the same color laundry you wore in third grade?
Stay a child.
(Jon Lester says hi.)
 
Yes. It's sports.
 
Changing loyalties is completely foreign to me.
 
 

dynomite

Member
SoSH Member
Honestly, as someone who loves watching great baseball, I'm just SO FREAKING excited for the NL playoffs. Not even rooting for anyone, I don't think. I posted this elsewhere, but in general I don't really care who comes out of the NL, I just cannot wait to see these games.

I mean, just take the pitching matchups in this Dodgers/Mets series!?? deGrom/Kershaw, Harvey/Greinke? Or the NL Wild Card game, with Arrieta/Cole!?

How much fun is this going to be!??!
 

thehitcat

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Nov 25, 2003
2,377
Windham, ME
So for me it's more about who I don't want to win Yanks, Mets, Cards or Maddon, which is too bad because I like Theo and Lester and feel for Cubs fans but eff that douchebag.  So anyone of Pirates, Dodgers, Astros, Rangers, Royals, Blue Jays in more or less that order. 
 

Leskanic's Thread

lost underscore
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Jul 16, 2005
2,775
Los Angeles
I'm with the pro-Cubs people. I understand not liking Maddon. I know there are arguments that CHC fans aren't as desperate for a win as pre-2004 Red Sox fans were. But I also remember a lot of people saying things like, "Oh, Boston fans don't want to win, they won't know what to do with themselves, they LIKE being lovable losers, etc" back in the day. And the Cubs fan bashing sounds all too similar to me. 2004 was fucking magic, and every championship-drought fanbase deserves to experience something like that.
 
That said, my top rooting interest is purely anti-Yankees. And then anti-Cardinals -- mostly because they've had enough recently, and also to some degree because of their fanbase. As an L.A. resident, I dig the Dodgers...but I sort of like the idea of Mattingly never having a ring. (Jesus, I'm a negative asshole still scarred by years of NYY dominance.)
 
I guess my rankings would be:
 
1. Cubs (1908)
2. Astros (never won, and I know some good fans of the team)
3. Pirates (great to see them be relevant again, and a fun team)
4. Royals (been 30 years, plus so close last year)
5. Rangers (never won)
6. Blue Jays (20-ish years, plus they'll be fun as hell to watch)
7. Dodgers (would be much higher if Mattingly had been fired, which is so petty and dumb and I'm sorry)
8. Mets (love the idea of sad Yankee fans; hate the idea of '86 highlights throughout the Series)
9. Cardinals (enough)
10. MFY (ENOUGH)
 

geoduck no quahog

not particularly consistent
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Nov 8, 2002
13,024
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Yankees-Astors: Astors (because Yankees)
Astors-Royals: Royals (because Texas)
Blue Jays-Rangers: Blue Jays (because Texas)
Royals-Blue Jays: Blue Jays (because Canada)
 
Pirates-Cubs: Pirates (because Maddon)
Pirates-Cardinals: Pirates (because, enough already)
Dodgers-Mets: Dodgers (because Mets)
Dodgers-Pirates: Pirates (because $282,175,296)
 
Pirates-Blue Jays: Pirates (because We Are Family)