What do you feel about Baseball, Your Team... and why?

[VTSoxFan]

As was touched upon a few times in the Arod/Knoblauch thread, several of our members (myself included) are deeply loyal to and passionate about our chosen teams. For me, it's a genetic thing, I think; my family has been Red Sox fans for generations, and Red Sox Baseball has a way of becoming part of our daily life, from my 85-year-old Dad all the way down to my 4 year-old niece (who is adorable in her little red jersey ;)). The Sox are like an extension of the family.

ElHalo feels the same way about the Yankees. WCOAB has said that he feels the same about the SF Giants, and I know that the Brooklyn Dodgers are still considered family to many, despite their long removal from their city.

My question is, how many of you feel this way about your team? Did you choose your team yourself, or was your rooting interest handed down to you like an heirloom? And if you are as goofy about your team as I am about mine, can you explain why?

[redlegsfan21]

The way I chose the Reds is basically, they were the only team I had ever saw up to that point. They are close to my town (north of Dayton), they are a fun team to watch. It's a team that you can never give up hope on in winning a game, and this year, I can move that hope from 162 single games to 1 playoff run.
I feel so much passion for this team, just like you VTSoxFan. I believe this passion comes from the hope I can put towards this team and the security of the fact that they will play. I know they will play, win or lose, I have something fun to do 5 nights a week and 2 in the day.

[ivylover]

When i started liking baseball about 8 years ago, i was addicted to chicago baseball. I actually liked both teams for a while, hate to admit it:ughh . But then i saw the traditions of the cubs, the players, and wrigley. Now im all cubs!

[Mariano_Rivera]

Believe it or not I originally hated baseball but during the clinching game of the 2004 ALDS I was at my grandparents house (my family is Yankees fans with a few mets fans sprinkled in) and the game was on and I had nothing better to do than to whatch it. It was a very good game without getting into to much detail and since than I have been a Yankees fan of the level of ElHalo.

[LouGehrig]

I am probably certifiably insane with respect to the Yankees.

As I have stated many times, the only good season is one in which the Yankees win the World Series, the only bad season is one in which they lose the World Series, and all the others do not matter.

I would rather see the Yankees finish last than win the pennant and lost the WS. There is only ONE winner.

Whether they win or lose, they are the Yankees. They are an integral part of my being, and if I were able to, I would do almost anything if meant it would help them win.

It all started in 1951 when Flash Gordon, starring Buster Crabbe, was pre-empted on Channel 11, WPIX, because the Yankees were playing.

I had come home from school and having played ball outside, I returned home to watch Flash. When I saw the baseball, I was disappointed, but as I watched, that was it.

I am proud to say that I became addicted. Being an addict can be a good thing---except when you lose.

[Whitesoxnut]

I grew up a Cubs fan, tho I liked both teams and really liked going to Comiskey as well. What changed MLB started with the 1994 strike. I'd had enough of Tribune et al after 1984 and was well on my way to a 22 year avoidance of Wrigley when the strike ruined what was going to be a gimme '94 World series for the White Sox, "yes that team was that good". Ever since then If I saw MLB drowning I'd throw it a cinder block, and all the after-'94 greed and arrogance has just exacerbated my dislike of the institution.

The game of baseball itself is a fascinating, wonderful game to both play and watch. I just wish it didn't feel like the workers at Wrigley, Comiskey, and other ballparks should be wearing ski masks when they take your money. Both teams, and the games itself, was a lot different back in the 60s and 70s. Then the two ballparks were magical places and the game was loyal to the working stiff, as were the players/owners loyal to the fans.

It started in '94 to fall apart. That's when MLB said "screw you" to the men and woman who built it. All the other scandals were just icing on the cake. I think the game holds the fans in utter contempt, the players, owners, workers....everyone in it. The few who respect the fans, like commentator Steve Stone, get stepped on. Frankly I'd burn a $100 bill before I'd give it to the Tribune company. Ive never seen such a great franchise so completly ruined and its fans so arrogantly drenched in piss like what this wretched corporation has done to this "formerly" great MLB organization.

[SamtheBravesFan]

I first noticed baseball soon after my family and I moved back to the United States from England, since my dad was stationed over there while in the Air Force. We moved back to Georgia in 1990. When we settled in Fayetteville, in the Metro Atlanta area in 1991, I noticed the Braves. Despite my liking Nolan Ryan and thinking the Astros and Rangers logos and uniforms were cool-looking, the Braves won out because they were on television where I could watch them on TBS. I was hooked ever since.

[rockin500]

grew up a cubs fan because my best friend (who is 4 years older than I am) was a cubs fan and so was his mom and every time i was over there, the game was on.

i love em, even when they suck, but oh well. growing up a cubs fan makes a person mentally tough. :)

[Yankeebiscuitfan]

I have told several times how I became a Yankee fan. I root for them since 1981. I fell in love with their rich history. I have lived through the barren times in the eighties. The second biggest baseball moment in my life was when they won the World Series in 1996. I can't describe how I felt that day.

The biggest baseball moment in my life was the day that I saw them play at Angel Stadium, in July last year. I have waited for 24 years to see this dream come true.

Eventhough I root for them, I don't agree with the way the club is building it's team. Spending way too much money on veterans instead of investing in their farm team. But of course I hope that these veterans will help the club.

I really don't understand that Yankee "fans" boo Yankee players because they don't play very well. I know that I have written down my doubts about Randy Johnson, Carl Pavano and Jared Wright, but I would never boo them. Do you want your team to win? Then you have to support the players, even if they stink at the moment.

So I think I may say that I am pretty loyal to the Yankees.

[snowhitbeach]

it's a bit of a wierd story, but i liked this thread so here you go.

Having been born and raised in England i don't have a "playing catch with my dad and then going to see my first ball game story" (mine came in the way of soccer and Fulham Football Club) - yet i have a connection to the game of baseball that lets me understand what it is about the game that is so unique and special.

My grandad was in the army in the second world war, becoming part of the SAS (British Special Forces) on their conception in North Africa. Despite the third Reich's best efforts (he has a plate in his leg that sets off metal detectors) he came through the war was given a post as a fieldcraft instructor until the Korean war. During the Korean war he was put in charge of a squad of privates from Brooklyn, with whom he saw out the whole conflict and became great friends.

During his time in Korea with the guys from Brooklyn he played a lot of baseball, and became a dodgers fan. Following the war he went out to visit the guys and saw the dodgers play in 1956 (i think), a story that he loves to tell every time i see him. When i came onto the scene he introduced baseball to me and fell instantly in love with the game. Remaining in contact with a couple of the guys (who moved to long island) he used to recieve tapes they recorded for him off tv and i'd go round and watch them with him. As they are the team his remaining friends followed, we automatically cheered for the mets (although we would watch any team).

However come 2001 his friend Frank got in contact with me and told me that he was arranging to get to the first game at Keyspan park to see the Brooklyn Cyclones and the return of baseball to Brooklyn. So as a surprise i took my grandad over to see his friends in Long Island, with him unaware of the cyclones trip.

Basically it ended up with me, my grandad and 6 of the original squad he was with in Korea (4 of which he hadn't seen since the 70's) watching baseball at what has become my favourite place on earth (which i have been back to 16 times). It was the most insanely wierd trip but one which i will never forget, and one that has installed a huge passion for the cyclones within me.

[Wade8813]

No one in my immediate family are big sports fans, but all cheer for the various local teams. Two of my unlces are big baseball fans - one likes the Braves, another the Giants and Mariners.

I pretty much adopted my parents' following of local teams, and fell in love with baseball as a whole. It helps that the Mariners had some big name players to follow (young fans tend to gravitate towards a couple big namers over several solid players); Griffey, A-Rod, and Randy Johnson, not to mention local stars Edgar Martinez and Jay Buhner. And they started winning (in rather memorable fashion) while I was still an impressionable youth (I was 11 in 1995).