Who else do you root for?

by Jeff Sackmann on Dec 17, 2006 10:49 AM CST in Milwaukee Brewers News

When Daisuke Matsuzaka finally signed the other day, I was seriously relieved. As you know if you've been following my non-BCB writings lately, I'm quite interested in Matsuzaka, and I find myself rooting for him. That's all well and good if he becomes a Red Sox, but if he had gone back to Japan, only to return in 2008 or 2009 as a Yankee? Or (heaven forbid) a Cardinal?

(Oddly enough, I had a dream the other night that somehow, the Red Sox rights to Matsuzaka were overturned, and the Brewers got him. Then we signed him to a contract for $41 million. I don't know how long that was for, or how my brain came up with that number in the first place. In my dream, though, I was really psyched.)

I would imagine nearly every Brewers fan (along with fans of other bad teams) has a 2nd or 3rd team to turn to in September. Not counting the Packers. Personally, I've always been a Braves fan of sorts, partly because I love good pitching and I grew up in the glory years of Atlanta aces, partly because I had WTBS at home. After that, I like some of the teams with analysis-oriented GMs, such as the Red Sox, A's, and Indians.

Most of all, I like teams that are well run on modest budgets. In other words, I root for GMs. Billy Beane, of course, requires no explanation. John Schuerholz (in recent years--not so much in the mid-90s, when Atlanta's payroll rivaled anyone's) and Mark Shapiro (in Cleveland) following closely behind. I think Doug Melvin may be worthy of joining that group, but we'll have to see what he does with a few more years of his system and a budget that isn't quite so low. By that reasoning, I ought to like the Twins, but...I just don't. Walt Jocketty is also worthy of note, but I simply can't root for the Cardinals. Blame it on Tony LaRussa.

Since everybody loves lists, here are my favorite teams. I sure many of you have drastically different opinions...feel free to share them in the comments below.

Brewers (of course)
A's
Red Sox
Braves
Marlins
Padres
Indians

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LISTS!!!

I have pretty much the same approach as you, Jeff -- where I root for GMs and systems and the like. I also hate LaRussa and love Beane. My teams vary a little from year to year based on the more I learn about farm systems and GMs and whatnot, but my list looks similar to yours:

Brewers
Indians
Red Sox (it's hard now that they will have a payroll of $150mil+, but I can't ignore the history, 2004, Manny and Papi, and that cute GM of theirs, plus, I have a similar obsession with Daisuke)
Marlins (I love young teams!)
Athletics
Diamondbacks
Royals

I'd like to put the Dodgers in there, because of their sweet farm system, but I just can't root for Ned Coletti, Bill Plaschke, and the team that fired Paul DePodesta.

by baumann on Dec 17, 2006 1:36 PM CST reply actions

Hmmmm...

Since moving to Milwaukee, the only local team I've adopted is really the Brewers. (We have the Packers on now, but I don't particularly care if they do well or not. Although DInald Driver seems like a good guy.)

So really, my list is:

Brewers
Phillies (where I'm from --- you can smell the cigar smoke from the old Veterans' Stadium from here!)

Otherwise, I don't care all that much, except for one thing. When I was growing up, I had bedroom curtains that had all the MLB logos on them, from both leagues. Based on those logos, I always kind of rooted for the Padres (remember the Padre swinging the bat?) and the Angels.

"C'mon, boys, let's get 'em some RUNS!" --- Daron Sutton, pretty much every game of the 2005 season.

by roguejim on Dec 17, 2006 2:09 PM CST reply actions

mine are

Nationals/Brewers
Devil Rays (for some reason I have a soft spot for them)
Dodgers
A's
Yankees

Don't ask me where I came up with these...only two that make sense are the first two because I was born in Milwaukee and now I live in Washington.

Nats and Brew Crew are where it's at

by IronBMike on Dec 17, 2006 5:57 PM CST reply actions

me...

Brewers - far and away my favorite; grew up in Madison.
Mets - Lived in NYC for 2 years; and I saw Yankees hats everywhere. That made me a big Mets fan... Also I saw the Brewers play at Shea about 10 times; and even saw the Crew win a double header and sweep the series. Also caught an oversized Mets T-Shirt from one of those T-Shirt cannons.
Dodgers - I have lived in LA for 2 years now, and the Dodgers have grown on me. Nomar beat the Crew with the same hit past Prince, two consecutive nights last season in the bottom of the 9th. ouch.

by engbjm06 on Dec 17, 2006 6:50 PM CST reply actions

Mine

Brewers
Twins
Indians

After that, it's hard to get excited. I have the Twins second because my dad is from the Twin Cities and I fell in love with baseball watching the 1991 World Series with him as a kid. I went to school there for awhile and, the tomb-like atmosphere of the Metrodome aside, my appreciation for the Twinks was further cemented. The Indians are just a cool team.

by battlekow on Dec 18, 2006 12:49 AM CST reply actions

Short list...

The Brewers are obviously numero uno. The Devil Rays would have to be my number 2 team - I've been obsessed with the jersey they wore from '98-'00 for a long time, and have managed to acquire about a dozen of them off eBay in the last several years.

When I was a kid I was a Mark Grace fan, and called myself a Cub fan for a while. As time went on, that feeling went away, and now that I'm in Iowa (where most baseball fans are Cubs fans) I've grown to loathe the Cubbies.

by Acheron on Dec 18, 2006 2:31 AM CST reply actions

huh?

if the Brewers can't be any good, I can't stand seeing anyone else be successful. On a year-to-year basis I'll pull for whoever is playing the Yankees or Mets or Red Sox or whoever has gone the longest without much fanfare or success (last year's White Sox, this year's Tigers), but I would never feel comfortable throwing around the word "favorite" about any team but the Brewers.

by Bill @ Brew Crew Ball on Dec 18, 2006 10:49 AM CST reply actions

Manny

My other favorite team is Manny's team. That'll probably be the Red Sox again, but I'm flexible. I've also wanted to have a reason to root for the Devil Rays, because one of their minor league affiliates is the Montgomery Biscuits. I want the cap with their mascot, a biscuit with a pat of butter for his tongue.

by Marty McSuperFly on Dec 18, 2006 11:23 AM CST reply actions

my list

Red Sox
Padres
Brewers
Royals

Sox thanks to location, Padres thanks to my mother's fandom. Brewers I've liked for a bit, more so since Melvin took over and Branyan came to town. Royals? I'm a masochist.

by Marc Normandin @ Brew Crew Ball on Dec 18, 2006 11:56 AM CST reply actions

mine

i'm with bill in that i don't have any particular team after the brewers, though lately i have found myself cheering for the a's. i also like to see new teams in the mix so i cheer for those, like the tigers last season.

by Griswald on Dec 18, 2006 8:45 PM CST reply actions

Bill got it

Bill explained it perfectly - no favorites, only the Brewers. Although I do hate some teams more than others - Cubs, White Sox, Yankees, Red Sox, ugghhhh.

by jax and rajah on Dec 18, 2006 8:52 PM CST reply actions

Location, location, location

Brewers - I moved to SE Wisconsin in '86 and began seriously following them in that anticlimatic 1987 "team streak" season.
Giants - I have lived in northern California since 2000 and have seen more home Giants games than Brewers games. However, many of the Giants games I've seen have been against the Brewers... it's remarkable how many Brewers fans do turn up at AT&T Park during those games.
Twins - I spent a year in St. Paul and began following the Twins after attending opening day 2000 (God, they were awful back then!). I saw a several Twins games at the Dome before moving out to California.

by EightyTwo on Dec 19, 2006 11:13 AM CST reply actions

baseball

Saw tommy harper hit a homer in the bottom of the 9th in 1970 versus the white sox coming back from family vacation in the dells going home to indiana. been a brewers fan ever since.

Cubs: I like listening to Pat Hughes on the radio.Ron Santo is one of the worst color guys. But those two are good together. But versus the brewers, its' the crew all the way.
Indians: I like Tom Hamilton as an announcer and I coached Eric WEdge in little league.
Baseball in general. I got XM Radio last xmas. I just enjoy listening to it during the season. I wish the crew would do spring training games on there. Also, like to hear Harry Kalas, Vin Scully and Jon Miller do home team games. Wished I could have got the chance to listen to Jack Buck,Bob Prince, Monte Moore in their prime.

Tim Bring back the chalet Brewing history in milwaukee. Miller park looks to stale like bad PBR Bring back old logo, not mitt!!!

by storminTAZZ on Dec 21, 2006 11:00 AM CST reply actions

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