Welcome fans of I’m Just Saying…
I open with that because I am fully aware that you would not
be reading this post today if it were not for the reference you saw on the “other”
blog this morning. So what is all this pulling for an American League team and
how did it come about? Well, let me go back a few years and remind you of
something Greg and I did when Clemson football was just too painful to watch.
They would begin each season with high expectations only to disappoint by season’s
end. Now there is no way I would ever consider not pulling for Clemson but we
decided that we needed a team to pull for where there wasn’t such an emotional
attachment. That way when they lost the pain wouldn’t be so great. Our team of
choice was Texas A&M. The two schools have a similar history both
academically, athletically, and a military tradition. Pulling for them was fun.
They won most of the time and when they didn’t, well it just didn’t sting as
much as watching Clemson lose. How does all that tie in to this next project?
All the time spent coming up with a Mount Rushmore for each baseball
organization really got me excited about this season. Since our allegiance is
with National League teams I thought us choosing an AL team to pull for would
keep up the interest level throughout the season. [Another side note of
explanation…I am a Braves fan and a Cardinals fan. How/Why? Because living in
this part of the country and having TBS back in the ‘80’s meant you were a
Braves fan. They were on everyday and you got a chance to “know” the players.
Back in the 1980’s the Cardinals were a team built on great pitching and
defense with a lot of speed on the base paths. In spite of what has been
labeled as my obsession with the “long ball” during our Mt. Rushmore posts, I
was a light hitting middle infielder who stole bases back in the day.
Naturally, I was drawn to a team who in their best years had maybe one guy in
the lineup who was a true homerun threat. Not to mention Ozzie Smith played for
them and I tried to be like him (minus the back-flips). But when the chips are
down, and the Cards are playing the Braves, I pull for Atlanta.]
In keeping with our tradition of choosing teams to pull for
without an emotional attachment we have decided to jointly pick an AL team. Now
we had to have a few parameters. I suggested we eliminate northern and west
coast teams from consideration. In the words of our friends over at I’m Just
Sayin…"We ain’t pullin’ for no yankee teams or hippie western teams." I couldn’t
have said it better myself. When looking at what’s left we had to choose from
the Texas Rangers, Houston Astros (that’s right, they are an AL team now),
Tampa Bay Rays, Baltimore Orioles, or the Kansas City Royals. Apparently there
has been some front office flap between Nolan Ryan and the Rangers so they are
out. Houston may be the worst team in MLB so no reason to choose them this
year. Tampa is a relatively new organization without much history yet. That leaves
the Royals and the Orioles. Our AL team for 2013…the Baltimore Orioles. Look
for updates on their season and facts that you may or may not know throughout
the season. We don’t know how we are going to do it yet, but you’ll have to
check both blogs on a regular basis to make sure you don’t miss anything.
So, Go Braves! Go Cubs! And Go Orioles!!!!
By the way…Last weekend the Braves swept the Cubs. Looks
like it is going to be Braves vs Orioles in the 2013 World Series!
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