I started working on a Pittsburgh Pirates 2014 season recap today, but truthfully I need a few days to digest the end of the season before I get started on that. I was also going to be on the road for most of today, and didn’t want to rush through the article. So I’m hoping to have my thoughts on the season on Sunday, along with an early off-season look. For now, a simple question:
With the Pirates out, who are you pulling for in the playoffs?
Here are the options, with my own personal thoughts on each team.
Los Angeles Angels/Los Angeles Dodgers
I wanted to pair these teams, because my feeling on them is the same. There’s no way I’d cheer for either of these teams to win the World Series. I have a soul. In another way, every time a team in the top half in payroll wins the World Series (which is almost every time), it kills the argument that baseball is fair because teams like the Pirates and Athletics can make the playoffs. If these two teams played in the World Series, I think I would take a few weeks off from baseball.
St. Louis
This video sums up my thoughts about the Cardinals winning the World Series.
Detroit
They’re big spenders, but not necessarily a big market. They just have a super-rich owner. I’d pull for them over any NL team if they made it. Especially since I’d want to see David Price win a World Series.
San Francisco
They beat the Pirates, but I can’t hate the Giants. They’ve pretty much built their team the right way. Build through the farm, add a few key external pieces, and use advanced metrics to get an edge. Also, there’s the ex-Pirates connection with Erik Cordier and Hunter Strickland. Plus, if a team wins the World Series while starting Travis Ishikawa, that would basically be the best thing to ever happen.
Washington
As someone who lived in Virginia for 17 years, and had to deal with Washington fans for all sports, I can say there’s no way I’d ever root for a Washington team. It’s the same as the Cardinals, where the fans are annoying. Only Washington fans aren’t the type of fans who proclaim themselves the best, then hide under their covers smelling their own farts all night. Instead, Washington fans are the type of fans who are arrogant for no reason.
Every time the football team would beat the Steelers in a pre-season game, I heard about it for weeks. It’s pre-season.
Pittsburgh fans know all about the hockey attitude. All of this despite the fact that the Capitals have never won a Stanley Cup. Also, the idea that Alexander Ovechkin is the best player in the league is ridiculous. It was when I was a hockey writer six years ago, and I’m pretty sure that’s still the case now.
Then there’s baseball. I like a lot of the guys on their team. I refuse to trade Ian Desmond from my dynasty league team, and I like Anthony Rendon and the breakout year he is having. But the fact that their baseball fans have been arrogant since before they even had a winning season will never escape me.
Baltimore
I grew up an Orioles fan. They were my favorite team for a long time. Then Cal Ripken retired, and my interest started fading. That was mostly due to the fact that their owner meddled too much, and tried to be a George Steinbrenner-lite. The result was that they made horrible moves for a small market team, and if they ever won, it would have come with the disclaimer that they took the same approach that the Yankees did. It’s like how Red Sox fans always complain about the big spending Yankees, while acting like their $150+ M per year is “small market”.
But the Orioles seem to be on a better track now. They’re missing a lot of good players, so it might be difficult for them to make it. If they do, I’d probably cheer for them. I’ve got a lot of friends who are Orioles fans, so I’d want to see them experience a winner. On the other hand, many of those friends are Ravens fans, which means I never want them to experience a winner in any sport they follow.
Kansas City
And now we get to the team that I’m pulling for. Let’s run down the list.
1. A long playoff drought? Check.
2. A recent history of losing? Check.
3. A GM who sometimes reminds you of the Dave Littlefield days in Pittsburgh? Check.
4. A manager who insists on stupid baseball decisions like excessive bunting? Oh yeah.
This team feels like the Pirates, pre-2013. They even have a Raul Mondesi in their organization. They have Jayson Nix off the bench, which is this year’s Pirates. They have Raul Ibanez, who is pretty much their version of Jeromy Burnitz.
But overall, I’m rooting for the Royals because of a friend of mine who is a Royals fan. I texted him the other night during the Wild Card game, right after Kansas City took a 3-2 lead early in the game. After Yordano Ventura gave up a three run homer, the flood gates opened and I was hit with an outrage against Ned Yost like no other. These messages might be NSFW.
I may or may not have done some trolling here.
At this point I’m on my drive back from PNC Park after the workout day. This is about the time when the Royals came back. Here is the reaction.
And now we get to extra innings and the excessive bunting by Yost.
This isn’t even trolling. It’s just explaining the situation…
A true friend honors this request. I was about 70% sure that my friend was going to have a heart attack at this point. Or that my phone would have caught on fire from the constant alerts.
Obviously the last one was right after the stolen base. And now, the walk off…
Back story for this next part: my friend and his wife are pregnant. Like, not at the same time. He obviously can’t have babies. But however you say that a couple has a kid on the way, they’re that.
Additional back story for this next part: My friend’s wife is a Cubs fan.
Further back story: I’m guessing he’s hammered at this point, so I try to get him in trouble.
And that is why I’m now rooting for the Kansas City Royals to win the World Series. Because I can’t look at their situation, and look at my friend’s roller coaster of emotions — complete with an extreme “no bunting” philosophy — and not be reminded of what it has been like in the past to follow the Pirates. I don’t necessarily want to cheer for Dayton Moore or Ned Yost. But I will cheer for Royals fans.
Links and Notes
**AFL to be Used as a Testing Ground for Faster Games
**Reese McGuire and Austin Meadows Make Baseball America’s Top 20 SAL Prospect List
