Anyway, I was starting to think about who we should root for going ahead. I know it’s painful for some (though Jenny will be happy) but I think that we should root for the Red Sox as well as the Tigers and White Sox. Right now the Yankees are six behind the ChiSox for the wildcard and two and a half behind the BoSox for the division. I’d feel more comfortable rooting for the Jays, who are only a game and a half behind the Yanks now.
Here’s why: I’m thinking legacy. The Braves’ streak is over, but if the Yankees miss the playoffs this year, the Braves will hold the record for consecutive division titles and playoff appearances for the foreseeable future.
In the NL, I dunno. The Reds? I will actually root for the Mets — who have practically clinched the division already anyway — for family reasons, but I don’t expect anyone else to stoop to that level.
Note: This was written in advance of the discussion on the Open Thread on Friday.
I doubt they go anywhere, but how can you root against the Marlins? Young talented hitters and good-guy Girardi as skipper.
I really think the Marlins, if they can get off to a good start (and get more pitching) could be dominant in 2007.
The Yanks are 4 behind the Red Sox.
My two favorite teams are the Braves (obviously) and the White Sox. So once the Braves are mathematically eliminated (are have they already been?), I’ll root for Chicago even though Ozzie is making it increasingly harder with his mouth. I used to be a Yankees fan since I was born in NY, but after they beat the Braves in ’96 then bought every free agent on the planet over the following decade I’ve come to loathe them. I’ve always hated the Mets. I did sort of root for Boston in their championship run in ’04 and they have a really good team again this year, so I wouldn’t blame any depressed Braves fans for rooting for them in the playoffs again.
Your mistake is assuming you have to root for anyone else. Take my route. Root for career-ending injuries. Think of the joy you could have watching Mets fans writhe with Jose Reyes’ quadruplely torn ACL.
You have to be creative, Mac.
s/
That’s sick, dude.
I don’t mind any of those team mentioned above, except for maybe the Mets. I always felt more comfortable playign the Mets when they ahd Piazza, because I’d just look and think he was a born loser and those guys could never beat us if he was bowling the ball to second base. I hate the Yankees the most, I’m from the Boston area and even though the love of the Sox didn’t stick the hatred of the Yanks did, so sometimes I want to give Mets fans credit for not supporting the Yankees, then I remember they don’t have souls.
As long as the Yanks and Mets lose, I’m happy.
Chicago, Detroit, Boston, Florida, Houston, the Reds..The Cardinals..it’s all good, as long as the Mets and Yankees eat mud.
I’m with you, Mac. To quote Steve Gillliard, “F*** the f***ing Yankees.”
Baltimore:
B. Roberts 2b
M. Mora 3b
M. Tejada ss
R. Hernandez c
J. Conine lf
K. Millar 1b
N. Markakis rf
L. Matos cf
K. Benson p
Atlanta
M. Giles 2b
E. Renteria ss
W. Betemit 3b
A. Jones cf
A. LaRoche 1b
J. Francoeur rf
R. Langerhans lf
T. Pratt c
H. Ramirez p
I’d have trouble rooting for anybody else, but it’s always interesting when the Yankees get into the race. What they need is a another money pitcher to power them down the stretch and strike fear in the playoffs. You know, an athelete, a burning competitor who . . .what? What’s that John? You’re looking for your big Michigan State travel bag? I think you left it at Tiger’s.
Anyway, if the Yanks can find that pitcher . . . What?! Torre’s handicap? I dunno. . .you’d probably have to give two strokes, maybe three now that he’s traded his pet gerbil for that big cock crowing around 3rd base.
Why do you ask?
I guess in baseball you never know.
Trust me, you guys need to pick another team, if only to learn more about other players. My affection for the Red Sox has been all that’s been keeping me sane for the past month (losing to Russ Ortiz? Are you kidding me?). It helps a ton to have another sideline, because unfortunately football doesn’t start for awhile, unless you’re the type that enjoys following training camp, which I’m not. It also makes you be able to look at your teams more objectively, because you’re getting outside perspective.
I’m actually starting to hate the White Sox almost as much as the Yankees. I think it’s the WGN+Ozzie Guillen+AJ Pierzynski+Chicago sucks factor.
I had high hopes for Cleveland coming into this season..but their bullpen has been pretty bad.
If they had a dependable pen, that A.L central would be a pretty interesting race.
I’m a Braves’ fan and I find it kind of disgusting people look for different teams just because theirs is not winning. Are you Braves’ fans or simply fans of winning?
I will not root for the Reds, Red Sox, Cardinals, White Sox, Tigers (who I like) or especially the Mets or Yankees under any circumstances regardless of how dim the Braves’ prospects of making the postseason are.
Right on, Dan.
Kevin Barry is back, reports Skip. He can left the voodoo curse on the pitching staff now.
*sigh*…
The Evil HoRam is in the house.
Just f-ing great.
Dan, it is occasionally possible to have been rooting for two teams BEFORE the losing started. I know Bill Simmons says that’s not allowed, but he says a lot of dumb stuff.
And how did we get a roster spot for Barry?
Reitsma’s hit the DL, realistically for the rest of the year.
Reitsma is back on the D.L..
Well Dan, I’m not saying that I root for another team because the Braves are losing. I’m just saying that I root AGAINST the Yanks and Mets.
If the Braves are done..I don’t care who wins it eventually, as long as it’s not those two teams.
“Inability to pitch?”
There’s a problem with bone spurs and the nerve in his lower arm. It’ll need surgery to reliably diagnose, let alone fix.
Now, let’s beat up on Anna’s husband.
Sounds like Reitsma has a pretty serious problem with his arm.
He’s been terrible this year, and I don’t want him on this team anymore..but I wish him the best.
Jenny, I honestly don’t even know who Bill Simmons is (and please don’t tell me.)
And Huckleberry strikes again.
How did he catch that…
This game is much more entertaining with Italian pop running in the background.
It’s a good thing that Frenchy keeps working the count. It’s a bad thing that he’s such a sucker for bad pitches on 3 and 2.
LANGY!
Langy!!..
Sam H….you, of course are entitled to root for or root against anyone you like. But, rooting for career or season ending injuries to any player is strictly bush league. Your classlessness is showing!
..or the Benny Hill soundtrack.
I’ve thought about the legacy thing as well, but I will not be rooting for the Red Sox over the Yankees. They’re just so much more annoying. I guess I’ll pull for the Blue Jays.
And I’ll pull for the Reds in the NL, I suppose. I love Junior Griffey.
So my mom, who speaks fluent German, says that “Langerhans” can be roughly translated to “long johns.”
The power of thermal underwear!
It’s completely absurd to actually root for multiple teams in the same sport, in my opinion. You can learn enough about players by reading articles, etc., without actually rooting for different teams, so that argument makes absolutely no sense.
Is McCann injured? Benson is right-handed, so where is he?
Just many balls were you planning on swinging at, Pratt?
According to this, Andruw made the All-Star team. There will be at least one other catcher named.
It’s a day game after a night game… and maybe that ankle is really bothering him today
Am I the only one here who thinks Ramirez should be batting above Pratt in the batting line-up?
I don’t root for players to get hurt, but if Billy Wagner’s arm was to go after the Mets spent all that money on him, well, let’s just say I wouldn’t lose any sleep over it.
No, I think Brayan Pena or Carlos Mendez should be batting above HoRam.
Four Mets, three Yankess, three Red Sox among the leading votegetters. As when Cincy stuffed the ballot boexs back in 1957, there really needs to be somthing done about that.
Wilson is looking great out there today. That kid is a solid major leaugue ballplayer
I am watching the ASG show tonight only to see if McCann gets in. I voted my 25 times, but did it only so I could complain about how everybody else voted. Why did I have to write in Alexis Rios? Has anyone seen this guy’s numbers? He’s been REALLY good. Why wasn’t he on the AL OF ballot?
One 2B, One SS, 4 1B…Do we expect Nomar to play some SS and Soriano to play some 2B? The NL’s defense will be atrocious.
And why doesn’t betemit start everygame again? I forget.
Andruw continues to suck with men in scoring position.
The Mets are so much better than the rest of the league right now that they probably deserve four starters.
Because Chipper is red-hot, Renteria is well over .300 and plays better shortstop.
Giles because….well…..
WOO-HOO!
And if McCann doesn’t make the team, I will not be watching the game.
Too bad for Renteria, too.
Mets I voted for: Carlos Beltran and David Wright.
I couldn’t help it. They were so clearly better than everybody else out there that I would have felt stupid not voting for them. The only ones I purposefully avoid out of spite are Yankees.
ROBBED!
Giles because he’s here, basically.
Runners on the corners, no outs for Andruw-LaRoche-Francoeur, and we score only because of an O’s throwing error. At least we did score.
I should point out the graphic that noted that Andruw was 7-of-his-last-14 with RISP.
Frenchy was the only one out of the three that did anything though Brian, not his fault he got robbbed of a hit.
What did LaRoche do? It says there’s a run-scoring play on Gameday, but it’s said that for about five minutes.
7 of 15 now. But that is surprising. Seems like he has been getting a lot more outs with RISP than that.
“jump Marcus…..ooohh”
“he gave everything his little legs could”
Hahaha…
Stu, Roachie grounded out to first, Millar tagged the bag and then threw the ball past Roberts into left field.
Hehe, ripping on Lemke.
I can’t believe they haven’t let Javy play. Leo’s best bud is an a-hole.
Benson’s throw to first is “just a bit outside…”
Well, it’s past 3 a.m. here, so I think I’ll be headed off to bed.
Go Braves!
The Good HoRam arrived after the first two batters.
WILSON!
Why is he not starting every game again?
He hasn’t found the pictures yet.
That’s ma boy.
I do believe we’ve figured Anna’s husband out. Nice to finally string some hits together.
I got a link from a Taiwanese site, but I don’t have Chinese characters enabled so it looks like this:
My thoughts exactly.
I predict a gold glove in HoRam’s future.
“Names former sportsman vote in the coming three giant warrior (Mark Mulder, Barry Zito), the MLB has defeated six outstanding results, or the second year in a big federal victory, and ranked second in the second. Such a star pitcher at the end of the year 2000 and outstanding Warriors signed a four-year U.S. dollar paper 10,000 contract to return to his hometown effectiveness; In the left team, the ball and the fans are no waiting eagerly hope, expectations and coupled with the formation of the new three giant cast (Hudson, Smoltz, Glavine), and lead to the next world champion.”
That’s what Google translated.
Bruce Chen! Remember when he was a hot Braves prospect?
Way to be Huckle.
I sure do remember when Chen was a hot prospect. I was sad to see him go at the time.
And this one’s going off the rails as Wilson reminds us why he doesn’t play every day.
HoRam survives with Sosa Space.
ABAHAHAHAH, mlb.tv rocks. I love listening to some of the stuff they say between innings.
Or maybe that error should remind us why he SHOULD play everyday at one position instead of starting once in a blue moon at a different position everytime.
Frenchy gets a hit back after his last one got robbed.
And Pratt guarantees bobby giving him more playing time.
Chipper! That tops off a beautiful game.
Oh snap, Chippa crushes one!
Chippah!
Back from another 2-day stretch at Yankee Stadium of borogh-based civil war. Nice to walk into the house to see the “good HoRam” in action.
Re: Mac’s who-ya-gonna-root for,
I’ll root for the Braves no matter what, and I’m not giving up on this team beginning to play well (a relative notion, for sure). Do I think they can go 50-32 down the stretch? Um, no. But if they win today, that’s 5 out of 9!
Truth be told, rooting for another team in the post-season is something I’ve had to ponder after the first round 5 of the last 6 years anyway, so considering it now doesn’t pain me any further.
My breakdown:
NYY: I “root” for them for selfish reasons which revolve around the fact that I’m a season-ticket holder & if they make the playoffs I will have tickets for every post-season game. I enjoy going to those games, mostly for observational reasons that any lifelong baseball fans might have. The atmosphere is charged, my pals are happy, the history, the whole deal. I just don’t like it when they win the last game. FWIW, I’m beginning to feel like they may not make it, especially if the Tigers keep stomping people.
Red Sox: My mom was a Red Sox fan who, in college, used to buy bleachers seats & watch Ted Williams. We watched most of the 1975 World Series together & I’ll never forget the night of Game 6 when she came home with a wad of cash from an enormous bar bet that she won with Fisk’s homer. (The pot grew each extra half-inning & she called the HR.) However, they’ve had their fun & I’ve grown weary of the self-importance of their fans & unending narcissism. Again, I have good friends & business assoc.’s who love the Sox, but even they admit that they’ve crossed the Obnoxious Tipping Point. No-go there. Get ’em out. Keep ’em down.
White Sox: When I was a kid, I’d do summers in Chicago with my paternal grandmother. She loved the Cubs, hated the Sox & forbade me to even listen to them on the radio. Living in Georgia, I rarely got to catch AL action, so I’d have to kinda sneak off to see/hear the Sox games. Harry Caray & Jimmy Piersall were the weirdest TV announcers combo ever. They would fight on the air like children. One was drunk, the other was plain crazy.
I have no problem with the Sox. I like the fact that they have bad-ass pitching. Ozzie doesn’t bother me & when they’re on TV I turn off the volume. If they won it again, it would have zero impact on my life. It would be like when the Angels won the WS.
Tigers: A nice story, but after seeing the Yankees spank ’em a month ago, I still have trouble taking them seriously. If they won it all, however, it would be one WS title per generation. I can handle that.
A’s: They won’t win, so I don’t have to consider them. If they did win, it wouldn’t symbolize or justify anything to me: It would mean they they got a couple of well-pitched ballgames & the White/Red Sox choked.
NYM: I have very good friends who are Mets fans, but I can’t abide their pleasure by ruining mine. Sorry. Death to the Mets, swift decisive, humiliating death.
Cardinals: Everyone talks about how “Cox chokes in the playoffs”; does anyone have that discussion about La Russa? I mean, his teams have finished in first place 11 times “and he’s only won one WS title.” I tend to root against them, but not if they played the Mets.
Reds: Their white unis make them look like ice-cream men. But I like ice cream.
I believe the White Sox or the Red Sox are the best teams in baseball. If it came down to those 2 teams, I’d quietly root for the Northsiders & wait for the typical moanfest from New England.
Oh, and sorry for long post.
And Giles walks again! I wish we could repeat games like this over and over.
If they start talking about who did or did not make the all-star team, I’m going to mute it. It takes away from the little surprise there will be on ESPN tonight, to me personally anyway.
I live in Minni so I get to root for a good team that can’t make any ground in their division. Going to see them play Detroit on July 29th. Should be a fun game. Have tickets 18 rows back in front of 1st base.
I like the Marlins too because I used to live there and because they have a ton of young talent that is fun to watch.
Florida is going to be a team no one wants to play by September. Lost in all the bitching and moaning about their stirpping the team is that they picked up a lot of good prospects ready to contribute.
And we get Death Ray instead of Sosa.
Thanks a lot. McCann, A. Jones and Renteria make the team it appears.
Thanks for ruining that surprise, Skip.
Braves announcers are all but saying McCann’s an All-Star.
Ray does his job, the offense do theirs, and the good guys win the series. Now to start cutting the wild-card and division deficits down to size.
Congrats to McCann, Andruw, and Renteria. I see no reason to wait, but I honestly wonder if it wouldn’t be a good idea for McCann to beg off.
Ububba – if you look at runs scored / allowed I think the Yankees are better than the Red Sox, if not at the moment then certainly for the majority of the season.
I’m with you though … Northsiders for me
McCann should definately go. Being an All-Star in your first opportunity is no small feat, and it’s nice for someone to take something positive from the season.
Brian J.,
No way, it’s a huge honor to be selected to the all-star game. Especially in your first full year playing. There are no guarantees that this day is going to come agian. Especially on a team 10 games out of the WILDCARD.
Congrats to all three players! Goes to show you that we are really underachieving this year with three all-stars! Gosh
Good news: Braves win another series! Bad news: the only teams they’ve beaten in the last month are the Devil Rays and Orioles. This week with the Cardinals and Reds coming to town pretty much makes or breaks any chance for a wild card berth. Win these 2 series and maybe we can have a sliver of hope. Lose them (especially if they are lost badly) and it’s all over.
Looking at Zach Miner, I sometimes get a slight feeling he’ll be the exact reverse of what happened after the Smoltz-Alexander trade. Think about it. Alexander went 9-0 with something like a 1.80 ERA after his trade and got the Tigers to the play-offs, where they lost early and he retired a couple of years later while Smoltz is still pitching great for the Braves. Now Miner is pitching great for the Tigers while Farnsworth’s 10 saves in 10 chances arguably was the only reason the Braves made the postseason last year, only to go out early. I fear we’ll be regretting that five years from now the way Miner is going now. The Braves certainly could have used him as a plug instead of Cormier.
P.S.: Miner, Alexander, Farnsworth, etc. all were traded mid-season.
The similarities are there.
Sam H….you, of course are entitled to root for or root against anyone you like. But, rooting for career or season ending injuries to any player is strictly bush league. Your classlessness is showing!
Oh, ye of so little faith. I have yet to scratch the surface of my classlessness.
Prig.
s/