Good News! April is here, which means baseball season has returned. All is well in the world. Opening day started yesterday for the best team in baseball.
No I didn't make a typo about the date. Opening day for the Philadelphia Phillies did start yesterday. But it was a typo calling them the best team in baseball. My mistake.
So now you're saying "Phillies who?" I know this is Boston and I know you're all a bunch of Red Sox fans. And some of you may have thought I was a Sox fan based on my October columns.
Well let me make myself clear. I'm a Phillies fan first. They've been my team since I first watched baseball and I've followed them from Tommy Herr and Von Hayes to Krukker, Dutch, Nails and Head to Scott Rolen, Curt Schilling and Andy Ashby (ugh), and now to Jim Thome.
Of the 30 franchises in Major League Baseball, the Phillies have the most losses in history (9,889), indeed the most losses of any franchise in professional sports. They own one World Series title (1980). Meanwhile, the Florida Marlins, who have only been in existence for ten seasons, have two World Series titles.
And the Phils have only been to four other World Series and have made the playoffs four other times. Add it up and that's nine postseason appearances since 1883. The Braves have been to the postseason every season for the past 13 seasons.
The Phillies set records for futility. But they're my team.
So why have I been wearing a Red Sox hat for the past six or seven months? I needed an October team. The Phillies don't like to play past August. They stay competitive for about four months (which is pretty respectable) and then throw in the towel. The Phillies take it upon themselves to maintain the public's perception of baseball as a summer sport and quit in time for the school year to start.
Meanwhile the Red Sox spend millions to put a winner on the field every year, have a great stadium, and have that lovable loser stigma. Then you take into account the fact that I'm in Boston in the middle of the Yankees-Sox rivalry and I have to take somebody's side. You can bet I'm not going to cheer for the Yankees. That's like saying I'm going to vote Republican from now on because they know how to win.
So I cheered for the Red Sox. I initially took criticism from people about how I shouldn't be excited for this team because I wasn't a "real" Sox fan. Frankly, I don't know how you can't get excited about watching a team make the greatest comeback in sports history and then win it's first World Series title in 86 years. Okay, I lied. I do know. If you're a Yankees fan, you probably weren't too excited.
This brings up the bandwagon debate. If you don't like a team at the beginning of the season and follow that team all season long, you can't begin to like them at the end of because they're successful. I agree wholeheartedly with this rule.
You can't just "pick up" a team whenever you want a winner. That's just shameless. It's bush league. According to one of my Philly friends, anyone who bandwagons is not a true sports fan because they don't understand the devotion that goes into loving a team through all the bad years.
"Alex, I'm not from Boston, but when I got here, I started to like the Red Sox. Everyone makes such a big deal out of them that I can't help it."
That's a valid point. And there's something to be said for expatriated baseball fans that develop a love for the Red Sox. I'm an expatriated Phillies fan and I've used the excuse that the Sox are my American League team. So where do I draw the line?
You can't let your new team overcast your hometown team.
But as for you shameless bandwagoners who only watch baseball in October, I feel like pelting you with snowballs and batteries. It's really sad when you hear someone say "my favorite player is Larry Sheffield." Normally, this is an infraction isolated to the opposite sex. It's those girls who watch baseball because they like tight pants and Johnny Damon. This is frowned upon, definitely, but forgivable. They're girls.
But there are some guys. It's those guys who say "Who's he?" when Mark Bellhorn steps up to the plate or when Alan Embree comes in from the bullpen. Do me a favor: if you're this guy, just keep your mouth shut during the game and pretend.
And if you are that guy, here's my advice: pick a team and stick with that team. Granted, I don't give much respect to people who claim to be diehard fans but don't have legitimate reasons. I know somebody from my area who is a lifetime suburban Philadelphia resident but loves the Marlins for no particular reason. At least he follows a team, though, from game one to 162 (and this year, probably to game 7 of the World Series) and doesn't jump ship for a winner.
So Mr. Bandwagoner, if you're still reading, you're in luck. It's the beginning of the season. It's like a whole new semester. You can pick any team you want. You don't have to be able to name the team bench coach or every one of their minor league teams. But if you have a team and you want people to think you're a fan, learn the players and follow the team.
And if you want to start at the bottom (and possibly prove to people you're a masochist) become a Phils fan! Share in the misery! We have a brand new year to flush down the toilet. Won't you join us?
Alex Bloom is a freshman who has not yet declared a major. He can be reached at alexander.bloom@tufts.edu.
