Here come the playoffs
Another year, another set of baseball playoffs without the Pirates. My own personal rooting interests in 2012 are, in order:
- A's
- Tigers
- Reds (I don't care what you say about Brandon Phillips, I like the Reds; I say the Reds being good is proof the Pirates can do it)
- Giants (why do my four favorite playoff teams play each other in the division series every single year?)
- Nationals
- Braves
- Cardinals (La Russa Legacy Hate puts them behind the Braves in the one-game playoff for me ... seriously)
- Orioles (stupid lucky jerks)
- Rangers
- Yankees
Your mileage may vary, of course.
I'm going to be writing about the playoffs over at The Outside Corner, so keep an eye for my stuff over there. Of course, whenever I post anything there that I think you might be interested in, I'll also mention it over here. Today, I gave a rundown of MLB playoff format history and why I think the one game play-in is dumb and a bastardization of that great history.
I have a love-hate thing with the Orioles. We played them in our last two WS (yes I am dating myself) and their owner is a miserable human being. That said, they have a very loyal fan base that deserves better.
The one game playoff is stupid. I was seriously excited to see the Pirates run at a winning season, but only mildly excited about a possible Wild Card berth. It looked like they would have to play 162 games to play ONE game in Atlanta home of Bream safe at home, Jerry Meals safe call at home, and the !#$%^ing tomahawk chop. Gee thanks.
Why are the O's "stupid lucky jerks"? I get lucky -- I don't agree, but I get it. But stupid jerks? They have one thing we don't for sure, a MLB manager.
I'll cheer for The Orioles since they are kinda like The Pirates in a lot of ways (Except they didn't collapse). Also, I feel they are our brethren from the 70's when we were both good. Lots of former Pirates too - McClouth, Paulino, Pearce - and Weiters should be a Pirate. Hey! they got one guy that USED to be our catcher and one that SHOULD be our catcher! AND - funny how Nate McClouth turned out to be the bat we needed down the stretch - albeit for another team - but, just sayin....
I USUALLY go with whatever team has the most former Pirates, (which is usually Detroit) and root against Atlanta, Philly, the Yankees and Tampa (but only because of their "fan base). I guess I'll also go A's and Nats. I covered Washington this Spring and I'll say that Drew Storen is one of the coolest athletes I've ever talked to. And although I have to root against Baltimore (thanks Ray Lewis) I wouldn't be mad if Jim Thome finally won a ring. He's always been my favorite non-Pirate for many, many reasons, but also because he threw me a ball during warmups at an Indians/O's game in 1994 when I was in high school (side note: he was throwing with Tony Pena)!
