Just Asking: Can We Root For the Phillies?

I simply find it difficult to pull for any of the recent expansion teams (Rays, D’Backs, Marlins, Rockies) because they do not have the history attached to them like most other teams. That’s one of the greatest parts about baseball is its history.

However, I can pull for these new teams if they are playing a team I despise (I loved the D’Backs in ’01 and the Marlins over the Yankees a few years later).

More than anything though, I want this series to be close and last as long as possible. The off-season is long and I need baseball to last as long as it can.

I was hoping for the Rays to make it this far, and just like everyone else here I’m an AL guy. I find myself feeling the same way: if at the end of the series, the Phillies are bathing in champagne with their rubber duckies, I won’t be too upset.

After the Chicago Cubs heartbreaking loss to the San Diego Padres in the 1984 NLCS, Chicago Tribune columnist Mike Royko encouraged all Cubs fans to switch allegiance to the Tigers for the World Series, and wrote the following:

"Go get ‘em cousins. And remember there is more at stake than a mere baseball championship. Or even the honor of all the has-been slums or sausage-eating cities of America. We’re counting on you to stop the spread of fern bars."

Philadelphia is Detroit’s spiritual “sausage-eating city” cousin in a way that Tampa/St. Pete can never be.

I can’t root for Tampa Bay in this series for two main reasons.

1. Philly fans, evil as they are, care about their teams and deserve a championship. Tampa Bay fans…well, there weren’t any of them until about three weeks ago. Let them actually show more than a month’s worth of support for this young team and then I’ll give them my sentimental vote.

2. I still hate Carlos Friggin’ Pena.

Good luck, Philllies. Here’s to Matt Stairs winning a World Series.

I don’t really care who wins, but Philadelphia’s fans are a close third behind Boston and New York in annoyance, and their sports teams aren’t even good at anything…

1) I like the Phils, but….the Rays are a better story, the worst to first thing captures me every time. In a way, they’re like the 2006 Tigers, hadn’t had a winning season in forever, and suddenly in the big time. In the case of the Rays, they’ve NEVER had a winning season, and now they’re playing for all the marbles.

2) I am a Carlos Pena fan. He was with us when we sucked, and maybe with a better coaching staff, he’d be an all star first baseman for Detroit now.

3) I found an old school Devil Rays hat, original 1998 logo in my closet a few weeks ago, totally forgotten I had the sucker. I meant to wear it to work today but forgot….

4) Small market team thing. Philly doesn’t have the hugest payroll, but they are a big market. Tampa bay wins, and we can put to rest the eternal whining of the Kansas City’s and the Pittsburghs of the Major Leagues. It’s like we’ll be able to say, why yes, if you just had competent people running your organizations, you’d be able to compete, too.

That said, all of tampa’s stars will be on the mets or Yankees or Dodgers or Red Sox in a few years.

5) The fact that they beat the Red Sox. I’ve had enough of them, and I’m glad that some team finally managed to actually close out a 3-1 (or better) advantage. For some reason, I’ve developed an intense loathing for Jonathan Papelbon, and I’m glad we don’t have to hear about him through this series.

6) Curious to see whether the massive layoff this year hurts the Phils the way the Rockies forgot how to play ball last year when they had to wait for Boston to get past Cleveland. Still doesn’t mean I’m going to root for them, just that I hope the series goes like 6 (or 7!) and is competitive.

But still and all….GO RAYS!

Losingest professional franchise.

125 Seasons, 1 World Series victory.

With that said, Go Rays!

Having spent some time in Philly, there are some similarities to the D. The only reason I might not root for the Phils is that Philly fans famously booed Santa Claus at an Eagles game.