What's your favorite baseball team? [Archive]

Docnzhoss

02-12-2005, 07:37 PM

My very first baseball team was the Atlanta Braves, 1994. I received a Braves hat as a gift that year, then realized that I could watch just about every one of their games on TBS. This was before I knew about their annual overachieving/post-season under achieving and just had fun watching a really good team play baseball. When the strike struck, I was one of the few people I knew who didn't give up on the game...I was just naive. When the '95 season started back up, I watched the Braves all year. Go figure that would be their year to win the World Series! Chipper Jones became my favorite player and I fell in love with guys like David Justice, Fred McGriff (7 homers from 500, somebody give this guy a chance!!!), Ryan Klesko (who I think took himself off the juice last season), Marquis Grissom, Javy Lopez, Mark Wohlers and the awesome pitching staff that included Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz.
I also fell in love with the Braves history starting with their beginnings in Boston (as the Beaneaters) and moving on to Milwaukee and finally settling in Atlanta. Eddie Mathews continues to be my all-time favorite player even though my love for the Braves has waned over the years.

I've grown a little more cynical of the game, though I still love it. I now have my own loveable losers to cheer for in the Kansas City Royals. Though Rafael Palmeiro of the Orioles is my favorite player (for his sake, I truly hope Jose Canseco is full of bologna). This should be an interesting season considering all the focus on steroids. Hopefully we'll see some drastic changes made and the game can get back to what made it the National Pastime.

Al Hempker

02-13-2005, 05:35 PM

Me too. Any word on whether Barry Larkin signed with anyone?

Well, I just got my answer. Barry Larkin announced his retirement today.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/baseball/mlb/02/13/bc.bbn.larkinretires.ap/index.html

McFraggle

02-15-2005, 09:09 PM

Well, I just got my answer. Barry Larkin announced his retirement today.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/baseball/mlb/02/13/bc.bbn.larkinretires.ap/index.html

I'm glad he did, I would rather see him retire than play one year on some other team. Hopefully he will back in the Reds organization someday. :)

chestermcdragon

02-16-2005, 03:06 PM

hey mcfraggle...are you from ohio?im from columbus ohio.id have to go with the clippers,i went to 2 of there games.

McFraggle

02-17-2005, 09:39 PM

Actually I'm from Northern Kentucky, located just across the river from Cincinnati. :)

Ziffel

07-01-2005, 07:39 PM

Like Vic Romano and bobhopesite, I also am a Yankee fan! Whenever someone says, "Boo! Yankees!" I like to tease and say, "Come on wouldn't it be nice to see the Yankees finally win a World Series? They deserve some glory, too." I grew up in Maryland just 10 miles from D.C. so all my favorite sports teams are Washington ones. But there was no baseball team in D.C. ( I think the Senators moved when I was only 2 or 3). There was the Baltimore Orioles but I didn't really get into baseball until we moved to New York. This was the Reggie Jackson era and I fast bacame enamored with this team.
But it's nice to see that the new D.C. team (the former Montreal Expos) are doing SO WELL! I'd love to see a Yankees/Nationals World Series. Course the Yanks are having trouble this year. In the American League it could be a battle of the Sox for the pennant. How bout those Chicago Whitesox, huh? 53-24! They are for real, as are those darn Bosox who came back to beat my Yankees last year. Last weekend Boston came to town here and made mincemeat of the Phillies! What was funny is that there seemed to be just as many Redsox fans in the stadium as there were Phillies. That's how it is too when the Mets are in town.
Oh and one more thing: Watch out for those surging Oakland A's and Houston Astros! Both started out slumping but are on fire now. Interesting how every year the A's seem to go on a tear the second half of the season and then choke in the playoffs.

Kimp the Shrimp

07-01-2005, 08:11 PM

Detroit Tigers

Ziffel

07-02-2005, 04:38 AM

Detroit Tigers

Ouch! You're a long-suffering fan. :) But even more so if you like the Detroit Lions!
Were you old enough to remember the Tiger's last World Series in 1984, Kimp? Heck of a year they had then. Started out 35-5 and never looked back.
And I see your team did pound my Yanks last night.

Skeeter Muppet

07-02-2005, 07:53 AM

Chicago Cubs, and dang proud of it!

-Kim

MuppetsRule

07-02-2005, 08:39 AM

Chicago Cubs, and dang proud of it!

-Kim

My deepest sympathies to you Skeeter Muppet. :rolleyes: :D

I'm a life-long Brewers fan.

Skeeter Muppet

07-02-2005, 03:25 PM

My deepest sympathies to you Skeeter Muppet. :rolleyes: :D

Ahhhh, keep yer bloomin' sympathies. I don't need 'em.

-Kim

Ziffel

07-02-2005, 03:47 PM

Chicago Cubs, and dang proud of it!

-Kim

Oooh the ULTIMATE in long-suffering right there. But I'm sure the RedSox winning their first Series since 1918 last year has comforted the many Cub fans wanting them to end their 1908 drought!

I'm a life-long Brewers fan.

And still another in the L-S category! Never yet won a World Series. Heck of an effort in 1982 though. Harvey's Wallbangers! MuppetsRule, did it upset you when they switched the BrewCrew to the National League? And what a player Paul Molitor was!

That Announcer

07-02-2005, 04:24 PM

Hmmm... I abhor the Red Sox. I guess I'd say the Cubs are my favorite team.

Ziffel

07-02-2005, 04:37 PM

Not a Bluejays fan eh, That Announcer? Or a former Expos fan? :)

Also, I see at this one baseball site that the San Francisco Giants are about to become the first team to win 10,000 games. (9996 currently). You would think the Yankees would have more wins but the Giants go back to 1883 (New York Giants back then) and the Yankees franchise goes back to 1901 (as the New York Highlanders). The Yankees do have the best all time winning percentage, though (.566) and, of course, by far the most World Series wins.

That Announcer

07-02-2005, 08:24 PM

Not a Bluejays fan eh, That Announcer? Or a former Expos fan? :)

You kiddin' me? Us Canadians don't have a bloody clue about how to play sports!

Ziffel

07-02-2005, 08:46 PM

Haha well at least in 1993 Toronto beat Philly in the World Series. And in hockey the Maple Leafs are pretty good but just can't win the Cup (well, of course NO ONE can now with this lockout lasting forever). I actually never followed hockey much. But I have some family in Toronto who love the Leafs, so I like to see them do well. Been a long time since they won a Stanley Cup but neat that the last time was in my birth year - 1967. Oh and by the way, I think the first time I ever heard of Nova Scotia was in connection with hockey. In the mid 70's or so after we moved to New York I think in the newspaper I would see Nova Scotia listed as one of the AHL teams.

That Announcer

07-02-2005, 08:58 PM

Oh yeah, the Mooseheads! I usually see one or two of their games per season. OK, they're alright, perhaps some Canadians can play sports...

Skeeter Muppet

07-02-2005, 09:13 PM

Oooh the ULTIMATE in long-suffering right there. But I'm sure the RedSox winning their first Series since 1918 last year has comforted the many Cub fans wanting them to end their 1908 drought!

True. Now if only the Cubs could stop losing 1/3 of their team to the disabled list every year...

-Kim

Docnzhoss

07-02-2005, 09:40 PM

True. Now if only the Cubs could stop losing 1/3 of their team to the disabled list every year...

-Kim

Try losing the only player worth a darn to the DL for 35-40 games every year. The Royals Mike Sweeney finds about any way he can to get hurt and leave our team with a bunch of fledgling dinkers who historically go on a surge during the first few days of his absence then suffer a collective epic slump until he gets back.

I would talk about some bright spots the Royals have going for them this season (Tony Graffanino proving himself lucrative trade bait, DJ Carrasco pitching very well, Emil Brown channeling Bo Jackson, David DeJesus' spectacular fielding, Mike MacDougal's re-emergance as an effective closer) but letdowns like Jose Lima, shoddy pitching, hitting and defense and a manager who just walks away out of utter frustration two months into the season overshadow the good things. Not to mention the fact that the Royals are once again owners of the worst record in baseball.

I'll hang on to hope that the Yankees keep finding ways to lose. Even if the season is lost I'll always have that magical series in which the Yanks got themselves swept by my Kansas City Royals.

McFraggle

07-02-2005, 10:59 PM

You kiddin' me? Us Canadians don't have a bloody clue about how to play sports!

LOL. :D

Ziffel

07-03-2005, 04:29 PM

Even if the season is lost I'll always have that magical series in which the Yanks got themselves swept by my Kansas City Royals.

Yeah times have been hard for the Royals for a long time now but at least they had a great decade between 1975 and 1985 (Hey that's the same time span of "The Jeffersons"!). A lot of good players back then, like Frank White and Amos Otis, but George Brett clearly the greatest and one of the greatest hitters of all time. And I saw that classic pine tar incident live. :) Hey that would be a good question in the category of, "Where were you when ..."
Well since you are only 25, Docnzhoss, and this happened in 1983 I guess you first saw this later in old films. For me, I was 16 and living in New York and watching my Yanks against the Royals on tv. A friend of mine came over and wanted to shoot some baskets in the driveway. I told him I'm watching the game and it's in the 9th inning and a good one. He said we could bring the radio outside and listen to it while we shoot. I agreed to do that and then shortly afterwards as we were playing basketball we heard George Brett hit a homerun. But then we heard Billy Martin was protesting and the umpires were in a long conference together. When this standstill continued for several more minutes, my friend and I were really curious to see what was going on so we went back in the house to the tv. And as soon as we turned it on the umpires broke out of their conference and one of them walked up to the Royals' dugout and signaled to Brett that he was OUT! (because of pine tar on the handle of his bat). And that's when Brett flipped out and charged the umpire and was restrained.
Pretty cool that I happened to turn on the tube just in the nick of time to see that.
Note: The Royals ended up losing the game but appealed and the decision was overturned. So Brett's homer counted and they had to replay from where they left off, and KC hung on to win. :(

Docnzhoss

07-03-2005, 07:32 PM

That's cool, Ziffel! The Pine Tar Incident has worked itself into Kansas City lore since then and has gone down as perhaps the most memorable incident incited by an individual athlete in Kansas City history. I think a recent local sports channel poll proved it to be the most memorable Royals-Yankees game ever, though they did play some good ones back in those days.

It's nice to be acquainted with a baseball fan who knows and appreciates all aspects of the game. Everyone here in KC is so jaded what with the issues about player salaries and payrolls, steroids, even the 1994 strike that people just don't talk baseball anymore. It's tough for small market teams like us who fall in love with All-Star caliber players then watch them get traded or sign with other teams. Our most recent painful losses include Jermaine Dye (a favorite of mine because he came over from the Braves while I was still a huge Atlanta fan), Carlos Beltran (who does not deserve to be a starter in the All-Star Game), Paul Byrd and my wife's favorite, Joe Randa. Our hope was that when David Glass bought the team, he would invest some decent money into keeping high-caliber players but so far the only long term contracts we have are with Mike "Too Oft Injured" Sweeney and Angel "Streaky" Berroa. Luckily, the Royals finally seem to be dedicated to a true youth movement and perhaps the future will hold good things.

Ziffel

07-03-2005, 08:56 PM

Yeah it is a real shame to see that happen to small market teams. The other Pennsylvania team here, the Pittsburgh Pirates, are a glaring case in point. The first 3 years of the 90's they had built an awesome team and won three division titles in a row with 95 wins or more. But they couldn't afford to keep their stars like Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonilla, and Doug Drabek and were quickly dismantled. Since '92 the Pirates have had nothing but losing records. But yeah, despite the flaws and the terrible 1994 strike/cancellation of the season, I will always love the game of baseball (likewise with football, with the salary cap and players not staying with the same teams as long as they used to. I just love football too much to stay away from it. Oh and by the way, I'm hoping Dick Vermeil can have a great season this year with the Chiefs. He's a class act. He deserves to retire on a high note).

Crazyminnyhaha

07-05-2005, 09:44 PM

Im another NY Yankee fan. LETS GO YANKEES 2005 World Series Champs (I hope)

Ziffel

07-06-2005, 07:38 AM

When I first saw minnyhaha I was expecting to see you say the Twins are your favorite team. (When I was in Minneapolis there was a lot of Minnehaha things everywhere). But I see you're a Long Islander and a Yank fan, yay!

Crazyminnyhaha

07-06-2005, 11:21 AM

I love being a Yankee fan. :D Even thou I live with a family of Met fans. :rolleyes:

Ziffel

07-06-2005, 11:40 AM

I never liked the Mets, but wasn't that wonderful in 2000 that we had a subway series between the Yankees and the Mets! I had been wanting such a thing for a long time and hope to see it happen again some time.

homerthegreat

07-07-2005, 11:45 PM

Blue Jays -- supporting the guys at home!!! But really, the Braves are where it's at. I watch nearly every game they play, great team.

Docnzhoss

07-08-2005, 06:56 AM

love football too much to stay away from it. Oh and by the way, I'm hoping Dick Vermeil can have a great season this year with the Chiefs. He's a class act. He deserves to retire on a high note).

I'm not really much of a football fan. But I can say that local pre-season hype isn't what it has been in years past for the Chiefs. Maybe it will give them the break they need to focus on their weaknesses and get the job done. It's a real treat to be a Kansas Citian when the Chiefs are in the playoffs. People are happy, and the barbecue and beer flow like Mt. St. Helen's.

Ziffel

07-10-2005, 10:47 AM

Also, I see at this one baseball site that the San Francisco Giants are about to become the first team to win 10,000 games. (9996 currently).

Looking at an AP sports baseball recap story from SanFrancisco, I see the franchise won its 9999th game yesterday:

"Moises Alou, the Giants' lone representative in next week's All-Star game in Detroit, had two hits in the franchise's 9,999th victory. His managing father is a coach on La Russa's NL staff."

This was mentioned near the end of the article, so it's not getting much media attention. I can see that it's not really anything major, yet at the same time I kind of think it is a neat stat. It will also be neat if the Giants can win today and get their 10,000th win before the All Star break and before a home crowd. Won't be easy since they face the Cardinals, though.

And yes, Docnzhoss, I think the Nationals may be a lot better than people expected and are thus surprising and beating up on a lot of teams. Probably a significant factor is the move to DC, since they are getting great crowd support now after years of near emptiness at Montreal. I watched them yesterday against Philly here. They lost 1-0. The announcers said it was a rare loss this year by the Nationals in a close game. They are 24-9 in one run games! That stat didn't surprise me because it kind of seemed like a lot of times I would see final scores of the Nationals winning 4-3, 3-2, 5-4, etc.
It'll be interesting to see if they can hang on in the second half. With their success in the last 2 months, I imagine other teams will tend to put their best pitchers against them.
I agree the Braves probably don't have it anymore, but they do continue to amaze (in the regular season only, of course. :) ). Quite an impressive career for manager Bobby Cox. 6 times over 100 wins and 13 times over 90.

Ziffel

07-30-2005, 04:20 PM

Just watched a thrilling comeback by my Yankees against the Angels. They were down 7-3 and won 8-7. Woohoo! It was the Fox game of the week this afternoon. The Yankees didn't really comeback as much as the Angel relief pitcher (Francisco Rodríguez) threw the game away. He's normally outstanding but boy did he stink today. Walked four Yanks and threw a couple wild pitches.
And boy are those Astros and A's red hot and the Nationals ice cold.

BEAR

07-30-2005, 06:24 PM

The Dodgers! Haven't been to a game in so long though. I love going to the baseball stadium.

:attitude: Nothing says "America" like good old fashioned baseball.

You said it, Sam!

Ziffel

08-31-2005, 06:42 PM

Let's go Mets! Heh heh, I'm not a Met fan. I'm a fan of the other New York team, the Yankees. But I'd love to see another subway series. I think the Mets have the talent to get in the playoffs. But those St. Louis Cardinals look like the most likely to win the championship. Let's see; Oakland, Houston, and Atlanta are all tough but usually choke in the playoffs. The Redsox are strong but winning too many hgh scoring games (eg. 10-9, 8-7). With bad pitching like that I think the Bosox have very little chance of repeating this year. The Whitesox have solid pitching but weak hitting and are starting to come back down to earth. Florida is very good but just can't seem to get any consistency going. But if they do make the playoffs, watch out. They don't choke. Angels are decent but not quite the best. Cleveland is in it too, playing very well. But the Yanks are still better.
So the way I see it now as we enter the crucial final month of the regular season is the Yankees vs. the Cardinals in the World Series. But hoping the Mets can upset the Cards and give us a Yanks-Mets Series once again! (since 2000's subway series).

Docnzhoss

09-01-2005, 03:13 PM

Sorry Ziffel, but I'm pulling for the Red Sox in the East and the Indians for the Wild Card. I don't want to see you're Yankees playing any October games this year. I'm sick enough about my Royals' horrid season, my stomach couldn't bear to see the Yanks in the playoffs again. If the Yankees are kept out of it, I'll just be happy to watch whoever makes it all the way. I'd pull for the Padres, though I don't see them making it past the first round, so after that it'd be either Houston (if they make it) or Boston (just because they're a fun team to watch).

Ziffel

09-01-2005, 05:20 PM

Heeheehee you would probably like the sentiment one guy has, Docnzhoss. He says he's a fan of whoever plays the Yankees. So when the Yankees play the WhiteSox he's a Sox fan, when they play the Twins he's a Twins fan, etc.
And I thought about you when the Royals had their 19 game losing streak recently. The local Phillies fans were hoping the Royals would keep losing because the Phillies have the all time consecutive games lost record at 23 in 1961. They were hoping Kansas City would take away that blemish. :)

And since I've made my last post the other night, the Mets have lost twice to the Phillies. :(

erniebert1234ss

09-01-2005, 06:08 PM

Hey Skeeter Muppet--

I'm a Cubs fan too, been one all my life. I can't help but ROTFL at the Yankees fans who think their team will win zee division. Red Sox in that division, Tribe in Wild Card, and Cubs NL Central! Finally, the ******* Cardinals don't win the ******* division!

BJ

PS Please pardon my French.

Ziffel

09-02-2005, 07:03 PM

I used to love watching "This Week in Baseball" each week. Especially when Mel Allen did it. His voice was unique and great to listen to and his heart for the game came through loud and clear. Loved his famous. "How about that!". The show had great footage of the top errors and bloopers of the previous week and then followed with the best amazing dazzling plays of the week.
Loved the TWIB notes segment, too. And the opening theme music was cool. Even better was the awesome closing music. I'd love to hear that again. I remember they had the Mets at the end jumping up and down after winning the '86 Series and then later had Kirk Gibson's dramatic pinch hit '88 game winning World Series homer - truly one of the best moments ever in sports.
Any other baseball fans loved and appreciated this show?

Ziffel

09-07-2005, 09:05 PM

I see pitching for the NY Mets in the bottom of the ninth inning right now is a guy with this name (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?statsId=5966) . Hooper Hooper! Just thought I'd do this for fun. :)
He's a pretty good pitcher too (must be at over $5 million a year salary, eh!)

By the way, Muppets Rule if you see this post I wanted to ask you: Being that you are a lifelong Brewers fan, the other day at work we were all stumped by someone who asked, "Past or present can you name any Milwaukee Brewers pitchers?" I know of Ben Sheets currently. Couldn't think of any past ones. I looked online and recognized a few names from the past, like Moose Haas and Teddy Higuera. But I didn't really see any big names. Would you say the Brew Crew has ever had a pitcher that would be considered an ace? (along the lines of a Steve Carlton, Ron Guidry, Pedro Martinez, Tom Seaver, etc.) If not, no wonder they haven't had a WS title yet, eh? :)

Ziffel

10-05-2005, 08:34 PM

Hey Skeeter Muppet--
I can't help but ROTFL at the Yankees fans who think their team will win zee division. Red Sox in that division, Tribe in Wild Card, and Cubs NL Central!

Well us Yankee fans are the ones with the last laugh, my friend. EIGHT straight division titles now!!
So it's the Yankees-Angels, Redsox-WhiteSox, Cardinals-Padres, and Astros-Braves. I pick the Yanks, WhiteSox, Cards, and Astros to win round one. Then the Yankees and Cardinals in the World Series. And I have to pick the Cards to win it all. But I'll be pulling for those awesome Yanks to bring home another title! :)