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San Francisco Giants
This year is a milestone year in the Bronx. Yes, it's the final season Yankee Fans will call the legendary Stadium on 161st street and River Avenue home. But (and all Yankee fans will be sure to emphasize the importance of this) this season also marks the first season since way back in the mid 90's that there won't be October baseball played in the Bronx.
So what is a Yankee fan left to do (besides rooting for 3rd place)? Well, let's assume that the Yankee fan in question hasn't already transitioned to football, because obviously that's the route many of us have gone. Let's assume that a Yankee fan is still excited and intrigued by the idea of October baseball, and is choosing a team or two to root for down the stretch. Let's list the options:
1. Boston Red Sox: about as likely as Barry Zito winning the 2008 NL Cy Young.
Likelihood to root for: 0%
2. Tampa Bay Rays: A team that offers a lot of intrigue. They sport two former Yankees in their starting lineup (Navarro, Pena) and they have a solid young nucleus that's fun to watch. If there's one team a Yankee fan can finally appreciate winning, it's the Rays (so long as the stave off the Red Sox's hunt for first place).
The obvious con is that they're a divisional foe, and as nice as it is to claim an AL East team as your own, it's hard to deal with watching a team you not only competed with but beat down on a regular basis in the playoffs.
Likelihood to root for: 10%
3. Chicago White Sox: Sport 3 former Yankees on their roster (Vazquez, Contreras, Dotel). A bit of a surprise this year, the White Sox have a group of Yankee killers assembled in just the right places. Konerko, Thome, Griffey Jr., Dye, Cabrera, Buehrle, all have owned the Yankees at some point, and all seem to have disdain for the Pinstripes. Also, this team won the World Series more recently than the Yankees, and a lot of that nucleus is still playing in Chicago.
Likelihood to root for: 5%
4. Minnesota Twins: A total cinderella story. This team doesn't really have any Yankees, since no one really ever considered Mike Lamb a serious member of our club. Why should a Yankee fan root for the Twins? Well, they tote the new M&M boys on their club, they took a bunch of players from the Mets and showed that their side of the deal wasn't all that bad, and hey, they have Francisco Liriano. Why wouldn't a Yankee fan root for them? Well, besides having a huge Yankee hater as a huge portion of their fanbase on S3F (S3SL is all I have to say mntwinsfan) they were ready and willing to trade us an ace, and we turned them down. Imagine where our season would be if we dealt some assortment of fodders Melky Cabrera, Robinson Cano, Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy, and Alan Horne. Well, the roles might be reversed for the playoff hunt.
Likelihood to root for: 7%
(on S3F because of mntwinsfan: 1% [I still take them over the Red Sox])
5. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim: Hooray for Juan Rivera? No, not really. Let's say there's almost as much of a likelihood that Yankees fans root for KRod to get the Rolaids Relief Award as there is for Yankees fans to root for the team that has been the bane of the Yankees since 2001 in playoff baseball.
Likelihood to root for: 1% (Over Boston in a second)
6. New York Mets: Personally, I say screw the Mets. But, since the New York connection is there, I'll seriously evaluate them. They have a ton of former Red Sox, the closest thing to a Yankee they had on their team was Andy Phillips (he had 5 ABs mid waiver battle with the Reds), and they sport Johan, Reyes, Dave Wright, and Carlos Beltran. I hate to say it, but the fellow NY stars don't do it for me, and I can never root for Pedro, Trot Nixon, Tony Armas, or even guys like Carlos Delgado and Moises Alou.
Maybe there's some Yankee fan that can...but not a real diehard.
Likelihood to root for: 1% ('86? Boston? I take the Mets)
7. Philadelphia Phillies: If the Kyle Kendrick Spring Training Prank didn't endear you towards the Phillies, well, they have Tom Gordon. Also notable, they sport one of baseball's most exciting players Shane "The Flyin' Hawaiian" Victorino. Still not enough? They have the modern Reggie Jackson (Ryan Howard), Jimmy "I'm lucky I back up my big mouth" Rollins, Chase "the Useful Undertaker" Utley and Cole "Cold Ham" Hamels. They have a fun team, with exciting players, and hell, they have an awesome little ballpark. But Yankees fans who double as Giants fan, or even Cowboy fans, might have a hard time rooting for a city that also supports trash like the Eagles.
Likelihood to root for: 8%
8. Chicago Cubs: They sport some good former Yankees: Soriano, Lieber, Lilly, Koyie Hill and some people with Yankee ties: Lou Piniella, Daryle Ward (son of former Yankee Gary Ward). Alright, so they're the Red Sox of the midwest...but they have Sweet Lou. Zambrano threw a no-no, Soriano isn't hurt (right now) and they have a ton of awesome names (Geovany Soto, Aramis Ramirez, Ryan Theriot, Kosuke Fukudome, Michael Wuertz, and Carlos Marmol).
Where's the problem? Well, Yankee fans aren't too happy about streaks being broken recently (Yankees WS wins [98-00], Red Sox 86 year drought, 13 year playoff streak) so this might just be another slap in the face.
Likelihood to root for: 9%
9. Milwaukee Brewers: They have Cecil Fielder's son. They have 2 SPs the Yankees covet for next year (CC and Sheets). They have a good young team. But, they also employ Eric Gagne and Jason Kendall *cough*STEROIDS*cough*. OK, so seriously, they're a good team. But where's the hook? Prince Fielder? CC? No, not buying. They're solid, but they don't make me want to root for them.
Likelihood to root for: 4%
10: Houston Astros: Seriously? The Astros are only 2.5 games out?
OK, the shock is gone. Let's look 'em over. Lance Berkman, Carlos Lee, Miggy Tejada...Michael Bourn, Hunter Pence...OOH SHAWN CHACON!
Oh, wait. They'll never make the playoffs. LaTroy Hawkins will just blow their leads.
Likelihood to root for: 3%
11. Los Angeles Dodgers: They have Joe Torre...last thing I want to see is him holding another WS Trophy. They have Nomar, Manny, Derek Lowe. That's not helping their case. They have Greg Maddux, he's dirty...Chan Ho "Out of the" Park is still pitching? Oh, damn...they employ Scott Proctor (who's pissed he's stuck with Torre again) and "Grand" Tanyon Sturze. How can anyone expect them to hold a lead? Not to mention, it wouldn't be S3F if mofo wasn't pissed about how bad the Dodgers are...so no way they win anything.
Likelihood to root for: 4%
12: Arizona Diamondbacks: Two former Yankees (Clark and Unit)...they had 3 great midseason acquisitions (Rauch, Dunn, Eckstein). OK, that's nice, and their 1-2 punch is amazing...and they're exciting offensively...but where's the kicker?
OH MY ****ING GOD, THEY HAVE A PLAYER NAMED BILLY BUCKNER! I'VE FOUND THE TEAM!
Likelihood to root for: 18%
Since HollywoodLeo is going to add up the percentages and tell me that I'm missing 30%, let me explain my reasoning. 25% of that is still on board with the Yankees...until they are statistically eliminated. It's coming soon, I don't want it to happen, but the ship has sailed.
3% goes to the unnamed teams still in it, all at 1% each (FLA, STL, TOR)
2% goes to well...no one. If it's Red Sox-Mets, or Angels-Mets, I'm not watching. Since the Angels and Red Sox are so good this year, and since the Mets are the #2 dog in the NL...I've alotted 2% to just not watching. I hope it doesn't come to that, but if it does, I'm prepared.
So, basically, I needed a way to keep myself from crying when I looked at the standings, and I offer this article as a coping mechanism to my fellow Yankee fans...and in that same vein, in the words of the Brooklyn Dodgers fans: "Wait 'til next year."
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Originally Posted by realmofotalk
