Out to dinner for Dan's birthday, thebaltimorons' staff and company got to talking about the Major League Baseball playoffs.
We're all O's fans. We all grew up an hour or less from Balmer. But we haven't had the opportunity to cheer for the birds in October since 1997 -- that's the entirety of our adult-ish lives.
So, naturally, we got to talking about who we would be rooting for this postseason. A few of us decided that we were rooting for the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League; we all essentially agreed that the Tampa Bay Rays were our rooting interest for the American League.
But J-Palm decided that he was rooting for the L.A. Dodgers because of the respect he has for Joe Torre. I'm with J-Palm as far as being a big Torre fan, and couldn't be happier that in his first season post-evil-empire he's still found his way deep into the MLB playoffs.
But still, I find myself rooting pretty hard for the Phillies. I like their players. I like their manager, who's just a big, dumb baseball guy. I spent a little time around the team this summer, without doubt furthering my affinity for the club.
But am I rooting for the right team?
If Balmer and Philly were in the same league or division, that'd be a rivalry game, right? Should I be rooting against a team based on proximity alone?
For whatever reason, I've never harbored any ill will toward the Phillies organization. Maybe it's because for most of my life the Phillies have been inept (the '90s were pretty rough).
It's not that they play in the NL and that there is no real, tangible rivalry between the O's and the Phils. After all, I probably wouldn't ever find myself rooting for the Washington Nationals.
Maybe I root for the Phils because they remind me of O's teams of old, the teams my father used to watch. More than any team in baseball, the Phillies like to sit back and wait for the 3-run homer, classic Earl Weaver strategy. Their pitching has improved markedly as the season has gone on, as well.
Maybe there isn't really a good reason for rooting on the Phils.
Frankly, no matter how feigned the interest may be, it's just nice to cheer for something in October.
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