The Dog Fight That is the NL Central Division

[Maldez]

Another pet peeve of mine is lifetime local residents who root for the Yankees or Red Sox rather than the Royals (here in the KC area). Same idea applies anywhere, though. Unless you hail from NY or Boston, why the heck do you root for them? Because you might be a front running, band wagon jumping, fair weather sort of person....

I grew up in the Cincinnati area and will always be Reds fan first no matter what. And I've been living here for going on thirty years so I will always support the Royals as my AL team, win or lose. Being a fan isn't finding a winning team to root for - it's sticking with your team no matter what.

Well. I give you credit for finding it within yourself to support the local Royals as your AL team. You're a better man than me. I also grew up in Cincinnati, and the family moved to upstate NY when I was 10, but I have never, ever been able to stomach anything Yankee. I see no reason to support any AL team, much less the odious, mega-bucks, buy every good player out there, NY Yankees. In fact, I'm such a Cincinnati fan I bleed red.

[M2]

Another pet peeve of mine is lifetime local residents who root for the Yankees or Red Sox rather than the Royals (here in the KC area). Same idea applies anywhere, though. Unless you hail from NY or Boston, why the heck do you root for them? Because you might be a front running, band wagon jumping, fair weather sort of person....

I grew up in the Cincinnati area and will always be Reds fan first no matter what. And I've been living here for going on thirty years so I will always support the Royals as my AL team, win or lose. Being a fan isn't finding a winning team to root for - it's sticking with your team no matter what.

I'm a Reds fan who's never lived in Cincinnati. I became a baseball fan when I was a kid living in D.C. and the Reds were constantly on Game of the Week. The Senators had just moved to Texas and the Orioles had yet to take over the market, so that made me a free agent, yet I stuck with the Reds (because they were awesome) when we moved to the Philly area, even after the Phillies became good.

I would imagine in a world where you can watch any team from any city on a regular basis, that fans are in play regardless of who their home team is. If you grew up in Kansas City during the past two decades, why would you like the Royals? The team has been terrible and the owner makes Carl Lindner look like a beneficent saint. You've got to be a serious masochist to be a young Royals fan. Meanwhile if you've been Yankees fan during the past two decades, you got Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera. You got a dynasty followed by a near dynasty. If you were a Red Sox fan during the past decade, your team won three World Series. It's a choice between joy and misery. Geography be damned, take the joy.

[Maldez]

..... If you grew up in Kansas City during the past two decades, why would like the Royals? The team has been terrible and the owner makes Carl Lindner look like a beneficent saint. You've got to be a serious masochist to be a young Royals fan. Meanwhile if you've been Yankees fan during the past two decades, you got Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera. You got a dynasty followed by a near dynasty. If you were a Red Sox fan during the past decade, your team won three World Series. It's a choice between joy and misery. Geography be damned, take the joy.

Being a real fan, I mean the addicted-couldn't-change-teams-if-you-wanted-to type, has nothing to do with choice. It just happens to you, usually at a very young age. Growing up in Cincinnati I was infected as a Reds fan probably about the age of 6, and there's just no getting past it. But I often hear about guys just arbitrarily picking some team to be a fan of because they needed a team to be a fan of. Sorry, but those guys not fans....they're casual observers.

[RichRed]

I'm a Reds fan who's never lived in Cincinnati. I became a baseball fan when I was a kid living in D.C. and the Reds were constantly on Game of the Week. The Senators had just moved to Texas and the Orioles had yet to take over the market, so that made me a free agent, yet I stuck with the Reds (because they were awesome) when we moved to the Philly area, even after the Phillies became good.

I would imagine in a world where you can watch any team from any city on a regular basis, that fans are in play regardless of who their home team is. If you grew up in Kansas City during the past two decades, why would like the Royals? The team has been terrible and the owner makes Carl Lindner look like a beneficent saint. You've got to be a serious masochist to be a young Royals fan. Meanwhile if you've been Yankees fan during the past two decades, you got Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera. You got a dynasty followed by a near dynasty. If you were a Red Sox fan during the past decade, your team won three World Series. It's a choice between joy and misery. Geography be damned, take the joy.

Replace D.C. with Va. Beach, and this is my exact route to Reds fandom, though I don't remember specifically choosing them. Seems like I just woke up one day after a George Foster home run and voila, Reds fan.

[wheels]

Here's a weird one, by third order wins, Reds are 3rd best in the NL, behind only Washington and Milwaukee.

This is probably a dumb question, but I've never heard of third order wins. What are they?

[M2]

Being a real fan, I mean the addicted-couldn't-change-teams-if-you-wanted-to type, has nothing to do with choice. It just happens to you, usually at a very young age. Growing up in Cincinnati I was infected as a Reds fan probably about the age of 6, and there's just no getting past it. But I often hear about guys just arbitrarily picking some team to be a fan of because they needed a team to be a fan of. Sorry, but those guys not fans....they're casual observers.

Oh please, tell me more about how to be a REAL fan.

[wheels]

Being a real fan, I mean the addicted-couldn't-change-teams-if-you-wanted-to type, has nothing to do with choice. It just happens to you, usually at a very young age. Growing up in Cincinnati I was infected as a Reds fan probably about the age of 6, and there's just no getting past it. But I often hear about guys just arbitrarily picking some team to be a fan of because they needed a team to be a fan of. Sorry, but those guys not fans....they're casual observers.

What if I live in Columbus? At some point I had to choose a team.

Hopefully that DOES mean I'm casual. That way I can tell that to my girlfriend, parents, friends and customers, who are all convinced that I'm a hopeless addict.

"But...Baby! Some fella from Redszone said that I'm more of a casual fan because I'm not from Cincinnati, and actually had to DECIDE to be a Reds fan. It's not as bad as you think!"

Brilliant!

[Larry Schuler]

Real Reds fans don't rest in the offseason. They stay up late sharpening their pitch forks. When Spring Training rolls in and players waltz into shape, real Reds fans have already written 9,000+ words equating Joey Votto to mid-90s light hitting first basemen regardless of what people say about sabermetric stats like runs created. When Opening Day comes, real Reds fans have already demanded the manager's resignation. After the first week of games, real Reds fans have already figured out how to get former Reds prospects back into the system to replace the team's starters. When the All Star break comes, real Reds fans break down why this could be a special Reds team but Jay Bruce's .260 average is keeping them from running away with the division. In September, real Reds fans are confronting fans of other teams who say Joey Votto isn't the favorite for MVP because Joey Votto is the best and just look at the sabermetric stats that seperate him from the pack. When the first round of the playoffs start, real Reds fans proclaim this year's Reds as the best since the Big Red Machine. When the Reds don't win the World Series, real Reds fans knew that this team was just a mirage all along. While other fans are getting ready for the next sport, real Reds fans are excusing themselves from dinner early because they have a lot of sharpening to do over the next six months.

[wheels]

Real Reds fans don't rest in the offseason. They stay up late sharpening their pitch forks. When Spring Training rolls in and players waltz into shape, real Reds fans have already written 9,000+ words equating Joey Votto to mid-90s light hitting first basemen regardless of what people say about sabermetric stats like runs created. When Opening Day comes, real Reds fans have already demanded the manager's resignation. After the first week of games, real Reds fans have already figured out how to get former Reds prospects back into the system to replace the team's starters. When the All Star break comes, real Reds fans break down why this could be a special Reds team but Jay Bruce's .260 average is keeping them from running away with the division. In September, real Reds fans are confronting fans of other teams who say Joey Votto isn't the favorite for MVP because Joey Votto is the best and just look at the sabermetric stats that seperate him from the pack. When the first round of the playoffs start, real Reds fans proclaim this year's Reds as the best since the Big Red Machine. When the Reds don't win the World Series, real Reds fans knew that this team was just a mirage all along. While other fans are getting ready for the next sport, real Reds fans are excusing themselves from dinner early because they have a lot of sharpening to do over the next six months.

This makes me laugh.

[SunDeck]

It is vital that we establish a test of Reds fan purity. Those guys who grew up outside the city limits, sorry Anderson, Delhi, Deer Park, the entire states of West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and maybe 7/8ths of all people who fancy themselves fans? Posers, all. You may think you like the Reds, but please, you're not worthy.

Sheesh.

[Rojo]

A Real Reds Fan has the walls of his run-down tenament covered in telephotos of the players and writes volumes of fan fiction.

[Falls City Beer]

I get that non-natives become fans of out of town teams. Makes sense. Only 20 something cities have franchises. But anyone who grew up in Overland Park, Kansas, and became a Red Sox fan is just a pud.

[westofyou]

Being a real fan, I mean the addicted-couldn't-change-teams-if-you-wanted-to type, has nothing to do with choice. It just happens to you, usually at a very young age. Growing up in Cincinnati I was infected as a Reds fan probably about the age of 6, and there's just no getting past it. But I often hear about guys just arbitrarily picking some team to be a fan of because they needed a team to be a fan of. Sorry, but those guys not fans....they're casual observers.

Baseball fans doesn't need your rules, they're loaded with provincial nonsense.

[M2]

real Reds fans have already written 9,000+ words equating Joey Votto to mid-90s light hitting first basemen regardless of what people say about sabermetric stats like runs created

Come on, real Reds fans are comparing him to Dick Hoblitzell.

[PuffyPig]

This is probably a dumb question, but I've never heard of third order wins. What are they?

It's your expected record based on how many runs you should have scored and given up, and factoring in the strength of opponents.