ALDS Rooting interest poll: Red Sox-Angels

[Benjamin Grimm]

Who would you like to see win the ALDS?

[metirish]

Rooting for the Red Sox , just not as hard as in 2004.

[Gwreck]

Meh. I guess I care the least about this series out of all of them. Chances I watch a single game here are extremely low. Boston keeps getting closer to MFY-level obnoxiousness each year, so I guess I root for LA.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I don't expect to watch this series, or any of the others, for that matter. I'm getting Red Sox fatigue, so I voted Angels.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Yeah, Sawx are so 2004.

Both team have excellent unis, we all win.

[Guest sharpie]

I went Red Sox but I don't care very much. It should actually be a pretty good series.

[Vic Sage]

the enemy of my enemy is my friend... go Sox.

[bmfc1]

Red Sox management is too cocky and Boston fans have had way too much fun of late but if the Angels win it all, K-Rod's price will go higher (in case the Mets are interested). Plus, the less the Angels play, the fewer innings that K-Rod has to throw. Add to the mix: my son in Cambridge, a fervent Mets fan, admits that it's fun at school when the Red Sox do well; and, any Red Sox success pisses off MFY fans... so a tepid vote for the Red Sox.

[Guest themetfairy]

I'd be fine either way. I have no horse in this race.

[soupcan]

Olde Towne Team.

Although, if the Halos won, it wouldn't kill me.

[Guest AG/DC]

Can't root for the Angels. Disagree about their uniform quality.

They've traditionally had some of the ugliest pullovers and ill-advised alternates. They're the last on every interesting trend like sleeveless tops and the first on stupid trends like thundersticks.

The Angels are a team I don't get how anyone could care about. If you look at the broader region, they've got three teams --- the Dodgers being the equivelant of the Yankees, the Padres being the equivelant of the Mets, and the Angels being... what, exactly? Why root for them unless you have a patriotic zeal for Anaheim? And then they change their name and tell Anaheim to stick it. Plus, why root for the only AL team in town.

The city spawned Jackie Robinson and it's pretty much passed Green Bay as the whitest sports town in America.

The Angels I grew up with was the team where fat DHs went to die. I know it's been 30 years but goodness. I put them next to the Baltimore Ravens on the list of teams I can't imagine caring about. In fact, the Ducks are on that list also.

[G-Fafif]

I like the Angels a great deal but have turned my back on them in recent postseasons in service to better stories, specifically the 2004 Red Sox and 2005 White Sox. Not this time (unless maybe they face the Rays). No offense to the Red Sox, whose role in keeping the A.L. MFY-free shouldn't be overlooked, but the Angels are my American League team and I'm going with the only team that's remotely mine.

Go Vlad. Go Chone. Go Torii. Go Angels.

[G-Fafif]

AG/DC wrote: The Angels are a team I don't get how anyone could care about.

Maybe because somebody is a) from Orange County; finds the Dodgers overbearing; c) grew up loving Jim Fregosi or the guy he was traded for; d) fell in like with them for beating the MFYs in the first and only enjoyable MFYS II game he ever went to; e) was mesmerized by their 2002 postseason run, and not just the MFY-derailment portion; f) saw his favorite non-Met sign with them instead of the Mets and now roots for him from a continent away where he can't hurt the Mets; g) considered pre-renovation Anaheim Stadium to be Shea's west coast cousin; h) still feels badly for the '82 and '86 squads for coming so close to pennants without getting one.

I wouldn't know from a), and c), at least as going concerns, but the rest are the reasons I care about the Angels in that other-league way. As for real Angelvolk, as Roger Angell called them, the first three are probably pretty good reasons. Or they have reasons no outlander would necessarily understand, sort of the way non-New Yorkers stare blankly when alerted to New Yorkers who aren't MFY fans.

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

I really don't have a preference in this one. If they are good, close games, then I will be happy.

Either way, I will be pulling for the winner of the White Sox/Rays series in the AL Championship Series.

[Guest AG/DC]

G-Fafif wrote: Maybe because somebody is a) from Orange County;

Well, yeah, I threw a bone to nativists, but then pointed out how the team stabbed them in the back.

G-Fafif wrote: finds the Dodgers overbearing;.

So go Pads.

G-Fafif wrote: c) grew up loving Jim Fregosi or the guy he was traded for;

Sure, but that mostly aligns with (a)

G-Fafif wrote: d) fell in like with them for beating the MFYs in the first and only enjoyable MFYS II game he ever went to;

I can't take that away from you, but you didn't have to go.

G-Fafif wrote: e) was mesmerized by their 2002 postseason run, and not just the MFY-derailment portion;

Thudersticks and monkeys and the whole thing was over-scripted like a crap Disney flick, and then Disney turned around and sold high like the cultural corporate raiders they are.

G-Fafif wrote: f) saw his favorite non-Met sign with them instead of the Mets and now roots for him from a continent away where he can't hurt the Mets;

You can look at that as an undermining of the Mets and therefore villiany.

G-Fafif wrote: g) considered pre-renovation Anaheim Stadium to be Shea's west coast cousin;

Jack Murphy Stadium was Shea's West Coast cousin.

G-Fafif wrote: h) still feels badly for the '82 and '86 squads for coming so close to pennants without getting one.

Those nasty pullovers on a championship team? Bite your tongue. We made it up them by hiring Gary Pettis. To replace Mookie Wilson!

[G-Fafif]

AG/DC wrote: So go Pads.

Two-hour distance and not the same ADI. Why don't Staten Island fans start rooting for the Phillies?

]I can't take that away from you, but you didn't have to go.

Agreed, but it was an off day for the Mets (Memorial Day '86) and curiosity got the best of me when somebody called and suggested an outing.

]Thudersticks and monkeys and the whole thing was over-scripted like a crap Disney flick, and then Disney turned around and sold high like the cultural corporate raiders they are.

The sticks unnerved the MFYs and won my approval. The monkey was no more, no less stupid than the Curly Shuffle. I'm a selective sucker for that kind of stuff. As for Disney, when my glasses, in a case in my hip pocket, broke on the Thunder Mountain Railroad, I went to first aid and they fixed them perfectly, better than they were before. It's easy to bash Disney and it is often merited. But I won't reflexively do it.

]You can look at that as an undermining of the Mets and therefore villiany.

Or smart business when the inane management of my team lowballed one of the best players in the game.

]Jack Murphy Stadium was Shea's West Coast cousin.

Less an insult to Anaheim Stadium than to Shea. Jack Murphy, despite its name (and it was painted over), was a football stadium more than a multipurpose. A nice place for a picnic, a lousy place for baseball.

]Those nasty pullovers on a championship team? Bite your tongue. We made it up them by hiring Gary Pettis. To replace Mookie Wilson!

A matter of sartorial taste. Their togs never bothered me, though I didn't care for the fake vests. Loved the mid-'80s halo cap, bought at MFYS II and worn without retribution in the Bronx. Worn at a Subway Series game in 2006 to psyche out the opposition and it was successful. Worn gleefully in October '02 and '05 during the ALDS.

On the other hand, I never asked for Gary Pettis.

[Guest AG/DC]

OK, go Halos!

[Guest themetfairy]

My friend's daughter is an Angels fan, and she's excited that she's going to Friday's game. That influences me towards Los Angeles of Anaheim's side.

[Guest holychicken]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I'm getting Red Sox fatigue, so I voted Angels.

I enjoyed my time up in Boston and I enjoyed rooting for the RS while I was up there. But I too am getting RS fatigue. Go Angels.

[stevejrogers]

This month will mark the 20th anniversary of why I will never, EVER root for a team that employs Mike F'N Scioscia.

And I hate the Sox as well, so...ehh. Root for whomever they face in the ALCS.

[Guest Kong76]

Took the Angels, the New England area has had enough freakin' excitement
to last a couple of decades as far as I'm concerned.

[Valadius]

Angels. Red Sox have two championships in four years, isn't that enough?

[MFS62]

I voted angels, because if the Sawks win it all again, Yankee fans will say "well, at least we lost to the Champs, and it shows how strong our division was".
Plus, I want to see the expressions of the sportscasters here in Connecticut who sometimes neglect to give Mets scores after devoting (it seems like) 5 minutes of air time to a Yankee loss.

Later

[stevejrogers]

MFS62 wrote: I voted angels, because if the Sawks win it all again, Yankee fans will say "well, at least we lost to the Champs, and it shows how strong our division was". Plus, I want to see the expressions of the sportscasters here in Connecticut who sometimes neglect to give Mets scores after devoting (it seems like) 5 minutes of air time to a Yankee loss. Later

You should listen to 1050 ESPN Radio here in NY. Most of the time it is like the AL East is the main story on the updates, including sound from the Red Sox or Rays game, complete with time of the upcoming game while the NL East will get "And the Phillies will be in Pittsburgh today, I'm (insert name) 1050 ESPN Radio." with no mention of how far in front or in back Philly is in relation to the Mets!

[Guest cooby]

REd SOx

[Willets Point]

Easiest pick of them all. I always root for the Red Sox (my home town team) except when they play the Mets. And I pretty much hate all the California teams.

[Elster88]

I still hold a grudge against Scioscia but I was sick of the Red Sox in November of 2004.

[stevejrogers]

FYI. Ex-Mets on both active squads and coaching staffs

Red Sox: Dave Magadan, Paul Byrd
Angels: Orlando Mercado, Gary Matthews, Darren Oliver