Tomorrow I am scheduled to go to Orioles Park for a 7:05 game between my beloved Boston Red Sox and those cranky Baltimore Orioles. I am attending said game with a long time Bal’mer resident (former) and fan (current).
You may know that the Orioles have a slight chance of knocking the Yankees out of first place in the AL East and into (or even out of) a Wild Card, one game playoff position. (The mighty Sox, alas, are at or near the bottom of their Division and will end the season with the worst record they’ve had in 30 or 40 years).
So whom do I root for?
My Sox or his Os?
Before you rush to advise me, know that said O’s fan referred to above last year cheered wildly at the end of the season game we attended together when the Os knocked the Sox out of the playoffs. He was merciless.
So, please advise how I should approach him and the game tomorrow.
As we will no doubt leave in the mid-late afternoon, this request for advice is urgent, and I hope you will respond by noon Friday, Sept. 28 at the latest.
Thanx.
MR said:
Cheer for both. I’ve always heard (and agreed with) the saying that as Boston fans we root for the Red Sox…and anyone playing the Yankeess. So you actually get the best of both worlds – you can’t lose.
Tim said:
Bury him. They will both make the playoffs.
Tim said:
Bury him. He would do the same.
Both teams will make the playoffs, you have no cause to feel conflicted.
jere said:
LET’S GO O’S
If the Red Sox beat the Orioles and deprive us of seeing the Yankees have one of the all-time biggest collapses, they will have ruined TWO Septembers in a row. No way I’m rooting for that. We’ll have plenty of time to root for our own team when the go to the Bronx for the next series. I just hope it’s not too late… But as of this moment the O’s are 1.5 and the Yanks trail Toronto, so it could be a mere 1-game difference heading into the weekend.
Anonymous said:
This is the easiest question I have been asked to resolve in decades: you stick by your lifelong loyalty (and pay your friend back as a bonus) and root for the Sox.
How could you even ask? If you maternal grandfather could hear you, he would “roll over in his grave”.
Case closed (and no fee)!
Richard said:
‘Anonymous,’ in reply to my request to post his answer, wrote the following:
“Sure–just this once–because there is nothing political, judgmental, existential or personal about it–just truth, justice and the American way! And, you can add that to the post too…..”
Bill Plitt said:
Dear Abby!
Oh, no. That’s not the framework…Richard, how strongly do you value this relationship? How might he feel if your Boston team won the game in the ninth after trailing the whole game? What would be his reaction if you “rubbed it in during the long ride home? Would he retreat from the friendship? If so, would you care? How important is it that you “win” in this case, Boston wins, in order to acquaint your Bird friend with the deep wounds you suffered last year and are still receiving therapy and advice from long term friends at great costs to their time?
Bill, (former Baltimorean, long time Oriole fan, personal friend of Brooks Robinson,and
who returned his season tickets when Angelos fired John Miller, and sold key players in return for slackers, while raising the seat ticket price from $9 to $15 to pay for the new stadium. How serious can your friend be about a team owned by such a loser? Why would you even care? The Nats are your team now. Get over it! B.
Elizabeth said:
You root for the Red Sox. In theory one should care more about their own team winning regardless of the circumstances than another team losing….
Nelson J.Romero Izarza said:
This is all a no brainer…
(Ed. – Nelson is the ‘said individual’ referred to in the above post.)
Chris Boutourline said:
My rule of thumb is: if the Red Sox have no chance to advance to the playoffs I root against the Yankees. If the O’s can push NY into the wild card berth it means NY will start the playoffs with a one game playoff and then be on the road which would make for a more difficult journey. I’d like to see them vs LA and Weaver (love Oakland’s pitching but LA has better bats) in the one game elimination situation. GO O’s!
Justin Stoyer said:
Stay true to who you are. You have been a Red Sox Fan from birth til now. You have rooted for them through Buckner to Schilling’s Bloody Sock. Even Bucky bleepin Dent.
Plus, please don’t forget that my beloved O’s knocked you all out of the playoffs last year. Yes, my O’s are fighting the Evil Empire for the Division and it would be easy to root for them, but how cool would it be for you to get some revenge from last year(causing me to be upset for a week or 2). Anyway, stay true to who you are. Go O’s and beat those Sox!!!!!
Nick GoSox Nyhart said:
Richard, I am afraid I must disagree with my old friend Chris and agree with your very wise daughter. I say, honor above all else. If you are a Sox fan, you root for the Sox. In this case, of course, there is solace in the less desirable outcome, but that should not change who you root for. And by the way, the Celtics begin training camp today…
Brian "Stabach" Steinbach said:
I say you stay true to your fundamental loyalty to the Red Sox, but remember the Golden Rule and don’t take it to the same level that said O’s fan did last year. One can root for one’s team without being a jerk about it (altho fans in some cities may not understand that). You go home happy either way. That’s the way I felt going to the O’s-WS playoff in Chicago in 1983 (after having just moved to Chicago from DC where I had been regularly going to O’s games in the absence of a DC franchise).
Chris Eacho said:
Give up on the Sux as it will be another 87 years before their next World Series. Go O’s!
Randy Candea said:
Your question about who to support, Boston or Baltimore, is totally bogus!! You will always support the Sox no matter what. Get real!
Cory said:
I think the rivalry is so strong between Redsox and Yankees I would find it hard not root for the Orioles in a close game in order to try and put the Yankees out of the playoffs. Let the O’s win by ONE run and the Redsox with good pitching and all around play – then you’ll have something to feel good about.
Nick GoSox Nyhart said:
Can’t agree with the above. Unfortunately (except in this case), trial lawyers get trumped by hedge fund tycoons – not in any given year, but over 87.
janet miller brown/SISTER! said:
WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? HAVE YOU HAD A BRAIN TRANPLANT SINCE I LAST SAW YOU?
WHAT WOULD ESTY AND OUR DEAR DEAR PAPPY SAY?
Jackie Reed said:
Does cheering for your team mean trashing the other team or something else I just wouldn’t understand? Cheer for the Sox!
Lincer said:
Put the whammy on your friend, “merciless.”
Chris Boutourline said:
If no Boston teams are going to be in the playoffs I usually adopt an underdog from elsewhere as a temporary replacement to satisfy my sporting interest. I do have some standards; it can’t be a team from NY and I don’t often go south of Oregon on the other coast. Usually, since it’s an underdog, ‘my’ team is ousted early in the playoffs and I’m done with the playoffs until I tune in for a clinching game. I’m rooting for the Nats & the O’s in the WS (hope I’m at least half right). I found the 2012 edition of the Sox hard to root for from early on and when searching “least loveable Red Sox teams” I found it’s also the 20th anniversary of this stinker http://www.survivinggrady.com/2012/08/celebrating-the-twentieth-anniversary-of-the-worst-red-sox-team-of-my-lifetime-at-least-until-2012-is-over.html
unknown said:
Last year, on the last day, it was the yankees, NOT the Orioles the ones that basically gave the redsox the kiss of death, it wasnt only that the redsox lost the orioles, but the Yankees needed to lose to Tampa bay, as well. They were winning already winning 4-0 from the first inning..and when the yankees realize that the red sox had lost…and that they needed to lose as well..they gave up 6 runs in the 8th. now whos really evil here?
they yankees basically allowed Tampa Bay to grab the wildcard spot.
now last year we were basically only celebrating that we had knocked out the mighty sox off the playoffs, subsequently Tito got fired, Theo left and we all know the rest of the story. so it was really the Yankees who sent the red sox into the tragedy it is today.
just saying…
here is the box score from that game
http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=310928130
P.s merciless is a really a strong word…
david elvove said:
no question – you are a red sox fan and you HAVE TO root for the sox. the yankees are not your problem.
Richard said:
Super comments from so many. Much thanx for taking the time to do so and for offering your comments and advice for me and for others to see.
Rather than respond here to each comment (for most of them I emailed the individual my thoughts when the comments appeared), let me state the following:
Initially I suspected I would cheer for the Sox as usual and hope for some bit of revenge for last year’s debacle (not all at the hands of the Os, I admit). Plus, my so-called friend has subsequently reminded me of that game on a number of occasions. (Don’t be misled by his attempt at justification on his comment as “Unknown” above).
As the other comments came in the last 24 hours, I began to think about the pleasure of the Yankees getting knocked off and the argument that since the Sox season is basically over it’s better for the Os to win.
Alas, my competitive instincts, my long history of love and loyalty for the Sox, and my not so proud quality of liking a bit of revenge have reasserted themselves.
So I will root for the Sox, without rancor or meanness, and hope that the Sox win and my friend has an uncomfortable ride home.
If the Os should win tonite, good for them, and I will not need to stay away from sharp instruments and high places. In fact, I think that in a long season, such as beisbol is, a team’s true worth comes out. And if that means the Os win tonite, I’ll doff my hat and clap my friend gently on the back.
And beyond this three game Sox-O’s series, I’ll cheer for the Os and expect the Sox to make mince meat of the Yunkees in the final three games of the season.
Thanx again to all for responding.
jere said:
Two more reasons to root for the O’s:
1. The Yanks blew a 7-0 lead on the last day of last season, which was half the reason our season ended that night. Do you think Yankee fans were sad as the Red Sox were knocked out of the playoffs, because their team lost a meaningless game to the Rays? Of course not.
2. Every Yankee fan in the world is rooting for the Red Sox this weekend. That’s a crowd I don’t want to be a part of. In fact, I hope the Red Sox go up 10-0 and lose 11-10 every night so that Yankee fans THINK they’re about to gain a game only to have their hearts broken in the worst possible way.
As long as the Yanks are 20 championships ahead of us, anything we can do to make them suffer is a bit of revenge. If it means losing to a team who’s been under .500 for 15 years while our team is eliminated anyway, well that just makes it an easier call who to root for. In 10 years, what will matter to us, that we were able to see our 100-year rival have a 10-game collapse, or that we were able to win a game or two against a team who hadn’t even been in the playoffs in 15 years, helping no one’s cause BUT our rival’s? To me the only “victory” the Red Sox can have at this point is Yankee misery. But that’s just my opinion.