Temporary October Alliances: Version 2006

[Cyclone792]

I hate posting this topic as much as everyone hates reading it, but with the Reds 99 percent eliminated from postseason discussion, it's time to take a slight rooting interest for or against other specific teams for the 2006 playoffs.

Who would you like to see win the 2006 World Series, and why?

Who would you like to see not win the 2006 World Series, and why?

In 2004, I took an active rooting interest in the Boston Red Sox, and it was thrilling to see them come back amazingly in the ALCS against the Yankees, only to follow that up by beating the Cardinals in the World Series. Last season, it was the White Sox that I wanted to see win it all, and they didn't disappoint either as they caught fire at the right moment and showed us what it was like to watch outstanding pitching.

For me in 2006, there will be two teams that I'd like to see do well with the hopes that one of them ultimately wins the World Series, and those teams are the Oakland Athletics and Detroit Tigers.

The A's have mastered the ability to put good teams on the field through the work of Billy Beane and his creative front office work, and they do it with a limited budget each season, just like the Reds.

The Tigers have been a very poor team since the early 1990s, and while they have a semi-recent World Series championship in 1984, Detroit fans haven't had much reason to celebrate baseball season ... until this season. The Tigers also have some excellent young pitching to be excited about, and while I believe Sean Casey was overpaid as a Red during his final years here, I'd like to see him do well and win with Detroit.

The A's and the Tigers may meet immediately in the LDS, and if that is the case, then I will hope for a good series and root for whoever wins that series to go the distance. If they do not meet in the LDS, then my hopes will be for them to meet in the ALCS, and again with that series winner being my choice for the World Series.

Three teams I'm indifferent on are the Minnesota Twins, Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres. While I'm not a fan of Twins ownership or their stadium, they've got some excellent young talent that's exciting to watch. Out in the NL West, I don't have anything against the Dodgers or Padres, but they don't excite me either. If the A's or Tigers are bounced early, then I'll pick someone leftover from this bunch to root on.

Now, teams I do not want to see win the World Series, or even reach the World Series for that matter:

• New York Yankees: No explanation necessary. However, while they are the last team I'd like to see come out of the AL, if they faced off against any of the Mets, Phillies or Cardinals, I would actually root for the Yankees in those World Series matchups.
• New York Mets: I will never forget you, 1999.
• Philadelphia Phillies: Phillies fans are even worse than Cubs fans.
• St. Louis Cardinals: I hate the Cardinals for 162 regular season games each year, and I'm not going to start liking them now.

What would be the worst possible World Series matchup, IMO? None other than Yankees vs. Mets. That may actually be a good matchup, but I'm not interested in seeing it.

[redsfan30]

Tigers.

Small market, long time loser plus Sean Casey.

[vaticanplum]

I usually will not root for another NL team once the Reds are knocked out. Very few of them appeal to me -- the ones that do are pretty bad and will not be playoff contenders for awhile. In the AL, my hatred is pretty much directed toward one team (Boston), so if the Yankees get knocked out I can usually manage to root genuinely for somebody else. I like the Twins and the A's, for example. I know that in theory I should like the Tigers but I just can't get worked up about them.

Oh well. Hopefully I will not have to worry about any of that. I'd like to see the Yankees whoop the Dodgers above all else, more than the Mets even.

[KronoRed]

The A's and the NL west winner.

[GAC]

Detroit. Though I have this terrible feeling that it may be the year of the Yankee once again. AAAARRRGG!

[WVRed]

Oakland.

Go Nick!

[RedsBaron]

Like Cyclone, I rooted for the Bosox in 2004 and the Chisox in 2005, in part because neither team had brought its fans a World Series winner since the Woodrow Wilson administration. I usually like to see a long time loser finally win (the Cubs would be the exception to this rule).
I really cannot get very excited about any team this year. The teams in the hunt this year that I even halfway like, such as the Tigers and Cardinals, are not that far removed from their last World Series wins (1984 and 1982), and I only tolerate them as is. I admire the job that Billy Beane has done with the A's, but I have rooted against Oakland ever since the 1972 World Series, and I cannot bring myself to change now.
If we had to have a strike to cancell a World Series, I wish it had been this season rather than in 1994 when the Reds were in the hunt.

[OnBaseMachine]

A's and Tigers for the same reasons as Cyclone listed in his post.

[cumberlandreds]

Aynone but the Yankees and Mets. I sure hope we don't have another Subway World Series. But I'm afraid we will.

I'll be rooting for the Twins or Tigers the most. I'm sure FOX would love to see a Twins/Padres World Series.

[Boss-Hog]

Originally Posted by redsfan30

Tigers.

Small market, long time loser plus Sean Casey.

Detroit's a small market?

I'm rooting for Oakland or Minnesota to come out of the AL (though I think the Tigers are an excellent story and I also like Casey). Gotta support the small market cities who find a way to field a successful team.

[RedFanAlways1966]

Go Twins. Beat the high-spenders!

[dabvu2498]

Originally Posted by RedFanAlways1966

Go Twins. Beat the high-spenders!

They're also my #1 pick. In the AL, I'll mostly be rooting against the Yankees. If it's any of the other three, that's ok.

In the NL, I hate to say it, but I'd be willing to root for the Dodgers. Anyone but the Mets or Cards.

[MrCinatit]

Any team except one with the name "New York" or "Cardinals" in their name.

[Roy Tucker]

Nobody from the NL. If my family was threatened, maybe the Cardinals. As much as they are the Reds' competitors, I can't work up much of a hate agasint them. But definitely not the Mets, Phils, Padres, or Dodgers.

Defintely not the Yankees. Definitely not the A's (I have a RedsBaron '72 permanent aversion). The Tigers are a nice story, but their last success wasn't *all* that long ago. And Leyland can be an wear on my nerves.

Probably I'd root for the Twins. I worked for a Minneapolis-based company for several years and got to know the good folk up in the Twin Cities. They are good people and good fans. And a hope that the philosophy behind building that team works.

[Danny Serafini]

I'll go Cardinals. As a kid I had a soft spot for them as a second-favorite team (they were in the opposite division at the time) so I've got no problem with them winning. Plus there's that NL Central pride I guess. The Twins or A's would be a nice story. The Phillies and Padres I'm indifferent about. I absolutely, positively do not want to see the Tigers win just because of the volume of trash talk I'll have to hear from my Tiger-loving friends, despite the fact that they've averaged about 26 wins a year over the last decade and a half. No to the New York teams for obvious reasons. And I still hate the Dodgers, just because they're the Dodgers!