Major League Baseball’s 111th World Series is set
to start soon, with the blue-and-orange New York Mets taking on the blue-and-white
Kansas City Royals. It’s the Royals’
second consecutive trip to the World Series (which they lost to the San
Francisco Giants), so naturally I have to root for them because it was so sad
to see them lose last year. I think it’s
my first time picking an American League team since the Minnesota Twins went to
the “big dance” in 1991 (and won it by beating the Atlanta Braves). I was a huge Kirby Puckett fan, and seeing
him do so well in the World Series was one of the highlights of my baseball
fan-hood. This year I’m a big fan of…
let’s see… no one really; but I have to root for the Royals because I just can’t
get myself to cheer for the other team.
What’s wrong with the Mets?
Don’t they have a Gold Glove-winning outfielder in Juan Lagares (who
stole the award from the Nationals’ Denard Span in 2014)? How about that guy Yoenis Céspedes (who
killed the Nationals in the last regular-season series they played against each
other)? And don’t they have that good
relief pitcher, Tyler Clippard (former National)? Yeah – I’m a little bitter about the Mets
making it this far while the Nationals didn’t even clinch a Wild Card spot in
the playoffs. Still licking my wounds a
little bit.
The funny thing is that I used to be a die-hard Mets fan in
the late 80s. I can still recite their
regular lineup (Dykstra, Teufel, Hernandez/Magadan, Strawberry, McReynolds,
HoJo, Carter, and Elster – and I swear I didn’t get Google’s help!), and I
remember their starting pitchers in 1989 being Ron Darling, Dwight Gooden, Sid
Fernandez, David Cone, and Bob Ojeda (I believe Frank Viola came in halfway
through the season). I had the shirts,
pennants, yearbooks, and even got a media guide from them after having sent
them some sort of fan mail. Darling and
Elster were the cute ones, and the Mets still have the biggest section in my
baseball card collection.
But alas, the Washington Nationals came to town in 2005, and
I had to jump on the bandwagon. I had
not been able to embrace the Baltimore Orioles in the few years I had lived in
Maryland, mainly because they were an American League team and because my first
husband was not supportive of my baseball habit (lesson learned: Don’t marry someone who doesn’t share your
hobbies!). After our separation in
2005, I decided to embrace the new team in town and have not looked back as a
Nationals fan since.
Part of being a loyal fan is sticking by your team regardless
of how well or how sucky they play (spell check says “sucky” isn’t a word, but
I’m using it!). And believe me – those first
few seasons as a Nationals fan were pretty brutal. Before the days of Strasburg and Harper, the
team played in a crappy stadium, struggled to build their fan base, and went
through several managers and staff changes.
And while they’ve come a long way in just ten years, some people think
they haven’t lived up to the hype and the high payroll. Yes, it would have been nice if the Nationals
had made it this far (the red and white would have complimented the Royals’
colors nicely) – but I have not had a problem going to bed at my usual 10:00
time during a playoff game’s 6th or 7th inning. If the Nationals had made the playoffs, I
would have been sleep-deprived, stressed out, and impossible to live with (and
that’s not my husband or kids talking – I think I know myself pretty well!).
So for all you fans of the other 28 teams that did not make
it to the World Series: Enjoy some good
baseball, have fun checking out the cute players (Eric Hosmer for the Royals
and Matt Harvey for the Mets), and feel free to go to bed before a game is over
(unless it’s game seven or any other deciding game). I predict that the Royals will win in six
games (so they can win at home, which is always nice), but if the Mets end up
winning, I will just shrug and wait for Bryce Harper to be announced as the NL
MVP in November without having lost much sleep.
See how easy and laid-back it is when you don’t have anything vested in
either of the two teams? Let’s hope for
some good clean baseball and let’s go Royals (I guess)!
