Those of you who read last week's column are probably going to enjoy these first few lines of this one. My Phillies once again managed to play themselves out of a playoff spot for the 13th straight season, losing three of four in the final week of the regular season to finish two games behind the Dodgers for the NL wild card spot. I spoke too soon last week by declaring my certainty that the team would make the playoffs.
I was wrong.
My team stinks.
I can admit it.
I hope you're happy, taking pleasure out of the perpetual pain and disappointment that goes along with being a fan of the Phillies, a team that has one title in 124 years. You sadist.
With that said, we're now starting the best part of the baseball season (like I said last week). As in every year since 1993, I can't support the Phillies in October.
I hate people who jump on any bandwagon. But the playoffs are much more interesting when there's a team to follow along the way. So I'm going to do the unthinkable and pick a team to support.
There are three teams I will immediately rule out: the Mets, Tigers, and Cardinals.
The Mets are not only one of the five teams in baseball who will devote all of their money to buying a title (along with the Yankees, Red Sox, White Sox, and Angels this season) - they are also in the NL East. They are my mortal enemy, along with the Marlins, Braves, and Nationals. My fellow columnist Will Herberich indulged you yesterday into what it's like to cheer for your enemy. It wasn't pretty.
The last time I cheered for a team from the NL East was 1997, and the Phillies had finished 68-94 (dead last) and traded two players to the Marlins (Darren Daulton and Jim Eisenrich). I supported Florida only to see those guys get a title.
I can find absolutely no reason to support either the Tigers or the Cardinals. The Tigers could almost vie for that lovable loser status if they had not been so good in recent decades (12 winning records, two division titles and a World Series title between 1978 and 1993), and the Cardinals have enough fans already. As a Phillies fan, I also cannot cheer for Scott Rolen.
Then there are the Dodgers and the Padres. Can you cheer for the teams that kept your favorite team out of the playoffs? I think not.
And what's with all the former Red Sox players? There's Grady Little, Nomar Garciaparra, Bill Mueller, Aaron Sele, and Derek Lowe on the Dodgers and Mark Bellhorn, Dave Roberts, Alan Embree, Scott Williamson, David Wells, Rudy Seanez, Todd Walker, Cla Meredith, and David Wells on the Padres. The Red Sox missed the playoffs. I'm not cheering for them or their former players.
Then there's the trendy pick: the Athletics. How can you not cheer for a small market team that still is able to contend with the behemoths every year? They have a resurgent Frank Thomas and used him to win another AL West title. Billy Beane also swindled the large-market Cardinals, trading them Mark Mulder for Dan Haren and Kiko Calero, who are now two of the team's top pitchers. Throw in the fact that Nick Swisher is the coolest player in baseball (read "Moneyball" if you don't believe me), and you have a great team.
But everybody picks the A's. And they do it every year.
So that leaves the Twins and Yankees. You're wondering how this can be a tough decision. After all, the Twins are that homegrown group that relies on great pitching from guys like Boof Bonser and Pat Neshek (in addition to Joe Nathan and Johan Santana) and timely hitting from Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, and Torii Hunter. Additionally, there's a solid Minnesota contingent among my group of friends and I have family members in Minnesota who are huge Twins fans. It's almost a shoo-in.
Almost.
Most casual fans would assume that I would be a Yankees fan because the Bronx Bombers have former Phillies Bobby Abreu, Cory Lidle and former manager Larry Bowa (as third base coach).
But back on July 26, the Phillies dealt their fan favorite to the Yankees. Yep, Sal Fasano, the portly backup catcher who spends his offseason as an excavator with his brother's construction company. He's the blue-collar champion, even though he has a body more befitting of a plumber than a professional athlete. If you can't cheer for this guy, you have no heart. Yanks fans know what I'm talking about.
The Yankees may buy titles, but they also bought Sal Fasano, and that's why I'm cheering for them-to get him a World Series ring.
