Need some baseball advice (kinda OT)
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Baseball!
What’s up, baseball dudes? I have a semi-off-topic question, but it’s about baseball and this is my go-to community for baseball dudes. So hopefully you can help.
I just got an email from a former co-worker, and he asked a very interesting question I never considered: how do you pick a favorite team?
Background: my buddy has never followed baseball. He lives in the middle of nowhere (somewhat equidistant-ish betwixt the Rangers, Royals, and Rockies), so he doesn’t have a “home” team. He is caring for his elderly father who also has never followed baseball, but they are bonding over watching games at home (it’s never too late for baseball to bring fathers and sons together, right?). I think he has the MLB package so he can get any game, but they want to pick a favorite team they can root for together.
I imagine the majority of us are either fans of the local team, or the team our dads raised us to love. But if you don’t have either of those things to guide you, where do you start?
I started writing an email and i came up with a few suggestions. I was hoping you guys could add some other ideas before I hit “sendarooni.”
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Pick a team from a city that you really like to visit, that holds some special significance, where you went to college, etc. This seems like the most obvious idea.
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Narrow it down just to teams in your time zone so it’s easier to watch their home games.
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Pick a team with a mascot you like or a color palette you like. If you’re going to wear team merch, you might as well like what you’re wearing.
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Since stats and tools don’t mean anything to him as a baseball newbie, I suggested he research the top players and find someone you like on a personal level and then get behind their team. (Ex: My dad is actually fighting non-Hodgkins lymphoma for the second time right now. If we weren’t already Sox people, i would be a Sox and Liam Hendriks fan for life after watching his journey)
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Watch a few games and figure out what excites you most and pick a team that does that well. For example, if you’re most excited about great pitching or great defense or big home run sluggers, pick a team that does that well.
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Just pick the Yankees because everyone else does eventually.
He’s nowhere near MLB teams so I was going to suggest he try to find out if there's a minor league team nearby. But it doesn’t sound like his father’s health will allow him to travel for games.
Anyway… any other suggestions? At first it seemed like an odd question, but I guess I just never considered how someone might chose a favorite team. Anyone else picked their own favorite team, and what led you to them?
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Pick one of the worst teams in the league. Struggle for years with frustration and embarrassment supporting them. At some point in the distance future, they will win. That win will be sweet after decades of losing and every one of your friends will think of you as they win.
Anybody can pick the Astro's, etc.
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@Opus18642_XBL said in Need some baseball advice (kinda OT):
Pick one of the worst teams in the league. Struggle for years with frustration and embarrassment supporting them. At some point in the distance future, they will win. That win will be sweet after decades of losing and every one of your friends will think of you as they win.
Anybody can pick the Astro's, etc.
That’s a very indie, hipster, “I-liked-the-Rockies-before-they-were-cool” approach. I’ll add it to the list!
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I picked my own football team when i was younger, my dad was not in the picture nor was he a football guy, my mother was a nurse and she just so happened to take care of Joe Montanas grandmother, she met him and said he was such a nice guy, so i followed the 49ers forever, but i do also have love for my home Eagles, but because of my mother i am a huge 49ers fan from the Philly area haha all other favorite teams are the local(Phils, Flyers and sixers) so i do think that is a great question and think perhaps if they know of any older relatives of the family( great grandparents or further) had any connections or likes to a particular team that they could get behind?
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I am a yankee fan through my father but I think it is reasonable to point out my grandfather was a huge dodgers fan (grew up in conie island went to the rival high school of some dude named Sandy and knew him pretty well) and my other grandfather was a giants fan growing up in manhattan pre-war. The way I was told about how my dad became a yankee fan was mostly his dad (the giants fan) was always so heartbroken about the move west he vowed to never root for them again and intentionally began rooting for the rival yankees. That ended up being passed down to me but growing up I had more than a bit of dodgers gear as well though my other grandfather seemed to lose that war of raising a fan.
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So first off you might want to ask him what he finds exiting in baseball like if he wants to watch an exiting young star he could go for the blue jays or reds even if he wants the most entertainment he could go for the angels it depends what he likes another recommendation is seeing what analyst ls say about the team and just do some research the way most people do it is what’s on tv let’s say your local broadcast was the Rockies that might be better because now the broadcast easily and not having to make extra purchases
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Maybe some type of association from being a kid? I was born and raised in New England, so was by default a Red Sox fan. By the way, was actually in the stands when Yaz took a called third strike, got on his knees and covered home plate with dirt.
I digress... The kids in our neighborhood had Strat-O-Matic baseball. As a younger kid, I didn't get to pick until later. One team left was the Pirates. I checked out their cards (Stargell, Parker, etc.) and picked them. Plus, I love the color yellow. Win-win. It was 1977, so only 2 years away from a World Series win. I'm still waiting for the next, but at least we have a great ballpark.
So, long story short... Pick the team with your favorite color?
P.S. Still like the Braves as well. Spent my summers in northern Maine with my grandparents. My grandfather was a huge Braves fan from their days in Boston. CNN was one of the channels they got, and we watched every game. Loved Dale Murphy. BTW, where's my Phil Niekro card? KIDDING. Don't want to start a riot.
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I feel like my fav teams picked me more than I picked them. Tell your buddy to watch the games and the players and he’ll know who is favorite team is. Might take years and should really
In the meantime I suggest the Mets
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@SchnauzerFace_MLBTS said in Need some baseball advice (kinda OT):
Anyway… any other suggestions? At first it seemed like an odd question, but I guess I just never considered how someone might chose a favorite team. Anyone else picked their own favorite team, and what led you to them?
Maybe a team with a player from their local area. That way they have a homebody to root for.
I went to elementary school with Ronnie Lott's son. I got to meet him and in the 80's rooted for the Niners...then later in the 90's I switched to being a Cowboys fan.
And then when Ryan Nece (Ronnie Lott's son) signed with the Bucs as an undrafted free agent, I would follow them just to watch a former classmate.
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Well for me it was the Cubs and Red Sox when I started watching baseball in the mid 90s, I was a big Sammy Sosa fan (my nickname growing up was Sammy, i don't like it so much anymore) so the Cubs were a obvious choice for me even though I live in Canada.
I'm also a glutton for pain (my NHL team is the Sharks) so the Red Sox and Cubs fit because they had the longest droughts in baseball. I've now been lucky enough to see both teams win world series, my primary team now is the Cubs though.
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@samguenther1987 said in Need some baseball advice (kinda OT):
Well for me it was the Cubs and Red Sox when I started watching baseball in the mid 90s, I was a big Sammy Sosa fan (my nickname growing up was Sammy, i don't like it so much anymore) so the Cubs were a obvious choice for me even though I live in Canada.
I'm also a glutton for pain (my NHL team is the Sharks) so the Red Sox and Cubs fit because they had the longest droughts in baseball. I've now been lucky enough to see both teams win world series, my primary team now is the Cubs though.
Great post. Truly I enjoyed that. Actually I could sit and listen to these stories all day long. This is exactly what it’s all about right here. What a wonderful thread kudos to OP and those contributing!
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Braves fan till the day I die. From the midwest right in the middle of Reds and Cubs/White Sox Country. People always ask me how I became a Braves Fan. I grew up in the Ted Turner era. So the Braves were on TBS all the time. I liked the A's when I was real young because of McGuire and Jose Canseco. But what really drove me to the Braves was their Broadcasts and players. This is gonna be heresy, but I just couldn't listen to Harry Carey. Love him and respect him, but dang was he annoying to listen to as a young kid. Atlanta had this young third Baseman/SS named Larry "Chipper" Jones and their phenomenal pitching staff. I also played 3B/SS and Pitched. So I started following them. But I always say, I'm a Baseball Fan first. I'll root for certain players that are just good dudes and fun to watch.
So my 2 cents...
If he's got the baseball package...Find a team with a good broadcast booth...how many Brewers fans became Brewers fans because of Bob Eucker? BTW...When, John Smoltz, Chipper, Tom Glavine, and Jeff Francour called the Braves game a few weeks ago!!! Epic!!!2nd...again if he's got the baseball package...why follow just one team? Find guys that are just fun to watch, fun to root for and enjoy the game. I absolutely can't stand the Dodgers, but I'll always cheer for Freddie. Even if he hadn't been a Brave, his story about his journey and his kids is truly remarkable. Also, while a lot of Baseball Purists may not like the directional baseball is going right now...there's a lot of teams with incredibly talented young kids who just enjoy playing baseball and they're exciting to watch. Cincinnati, Baltimore, Arizona, Texas...(All basement dweller teams last year that are in the tops of their Divisions currently!!!
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@SchnauzerFace_MLBTS said in Need some baseball advice (kinda OT):
… any other suggestions?Hey man, that's a great post. Heartwarming and sad at the same time... but what could be more baseball-y than that?
I think you hit most of the ways that people find their team already, but maybe just suggest he let his team come to him? If he's watching games somewhat at random, he's bound to see something that strikes him as particularly breathtaking or beautiful; for me, it was Rickey Henderson and the way his whole body went over the bag on a head first slide, and how he managed to keep his back foot on it long enough to rotate back toward it and push himself up on it in one, smooth motion.
He's bound to see something that strikes him, and pulls him in, without over-thinking it too much... when he finds that, it might just make him stick with that team, and he'll see more that endears them to him.
Anyway, nice to see something other than the same, tired complaints to start the morning.
My very best to your former co-worker and his dad.
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For me it was my dads love of the Brooklyn Dodgers that led to my love of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He had stopped following them after they left New York but his love of the 50s Dodgers never left him. I’m as far from LA as you can get and my old man became a Mets fan in the 80s. Traitor. Lol.
For your friend I would suggest latching on to the Rangers because they’re not only looking to try and unseat Houston for the crown in the AL West but also looking to take back top dog in Texas.
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I assume they are in or near Amarillo, Texas. Since his father is probably old I am guessing they wake up early and go to sleep early. I would suggest picking a team in Korea since they are fourteen hours ahead. So when they get up at 5:30 CST games will be starting. The LG Twins seem to be the cream of the crop in that league and one of their best players is Austin Dean who is from Spring, Texas.
Since they are going to be cheering the Korean Twins I would probably tell them that there is a team in the American League with the same mascot and team colors. They play in Minnesota, and other than a dirty rotten cheater at SS, their team is quite fun to watch. They are in the same time zone so your friend and his dad should be able to enjoy the majority of their games when they aren't on the west coast.
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I'm an Expos fan, grew up an hour outside of Montréal.
When the team left, I had to find another rooting interest. Blue Jays were off-limits for many reasons, because f*** Ted Rogers and didn't like the DH. The Sox had just beaten the curse, so what was the point. So, I started to look for the Expos heir apparent:
- Small market;
- Young, exciting players in the system (Weekes, Hardy, Fielder);
- Quirky players (Corey Hart, 6'10'', canadian name)
- Great/cool logo (although the ball in glove wasn't back yet); always liked the Crew logo in my Panini baseball stickers albums;
Plus, they had a brand new, cool stadium, and the last 2-3 years when they would face the Expos, Geoff Jenkins would absolutely destroy them and I liked his style and swing in MVP baseball.
BUT, the passion isn't the same. It's not like I can just jump in my car and go see a game when I feel like it anymore.
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I’m in Eastern Canada and all my favourite teams were from the first teams I watched on TV. I’m nowhere near any sport city hubs so it was whatever played on my local TV stations
MLB: Jays
NHL: Habs
NFL: Bills (they have made me lose faith in humanity so many times lol)
NBA: Bulls
Soccer: Ajax -
As an Oakland A's fan I'm going through a journey towards a team as well. I refuse to root for the team that abandons the bay area. IF they leave I will be on a hunt and I've run through a similar list of "how/why" questions.
I don't have any to add that others haven't suggested but just agree that finding a favorite player(s) can make it much simpler.Alas, I fear I will wander teamless the rest of my days. After a lifetime of passion for one team, how do you flip it to someone else and have it feel real?
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@Finn_Scotus_MLBTS said in Need some baseball advice (kinda OT):
As an Oakland A's fan I'm going through a journey towards a team as well. I refuse to root for the team that abandons the bay area. IF they leave I will be on a hunt and I've run through a similar list of "how/why" questions.
I don't have any to add that others haven't suggested but just agree that finding a favorite player(s) can make it much simpler.Alas, I fear I will wander teamless the rest of my days. After a lifetime of passion for one team, how do you flip it to someone else and have it feel real?
Maybe the only way is if you were to move to a new area and follow the local team. Otherwise, I think one just will have that dead feeling inside going forward.
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@Finn_Scotus_MLBTS said in Need some baseball advice (kinda OT):
As an Oakland A's fan I'm going through a journey towards a team as well. I refuse to root for the team that abandons the bay area. IF they leave I will be on a hunt and I've run through a similar list of "how/why" questions.
I don't have any to add that others haven't suggested but just agree that finding a favorite player(s) can make it much simpler.Alas, I fear I will wander teamless the rest of my days. After a lifetime of passion for one team, how do you flip it to someone else and have it feel real?
That was my probably my dad when the Dodgers left Brooklyn. He didn’t follow anyone until the Mets in the mid 80s but he did spend most his Air Force career in Europe far away from baseball. It’ll be much harder for you.
