Your Beloved Team

[joepa2624]

Re: Your Beloved Team

Bosox! My whole family is from Lynn, MA and I lived just outside Boston and in Dover NH when I was a kid so I went to many games in the greatest ballpark in baseball.

[AbsoluteFilth]

Re: Your Beloved Team

" A small town in Montana".....Me too. College in Helena / Carroll....Havre / NMC and The U in Missoula.....played one season for the Reds in Billings....I know exactly what it is like to be a kid / fan in Montana....I grew up in the pre-cable era....got two televised games a week until the playoffs and series began...no high school baseball, any advanced level, you had to hope a town nearby had Legion...I was lucky and only had to drive 34 miles a day round trip for practice....anyway....I had no real favorite team growing up, just loved to watch any team play period, considered myself lucky to be able to watch any team play on tv. In 1978 I was on a basketball recruiting trip to Seattle.....was taken to a game....from that moment on I was a Pilots / Ms fan....and once I lived in an area that had cable...the Braves and Cubs were teams I liked also.....I could watch them with regularity so I became familiar with the players etc etc.....that "any port in a storm" theory...it was all I had access to...so I was "all in". At the present....Mariners are my team....I live in Seattle and attend every game possible, if I cant go I am watching, if I cant watch, I am listening. Baseball is a great game IMO...I root root root for the home team....

That was a great little anecdote I got to see the Mariners in the Kingdome a couple times with A-Rod, Griffey, and Randy Johnson but I would not call them my team. The Mariners are however pretty close to that team I could potentially root for.

As for me in Montana, I grew up in Great Falls and moved to Florida for college (the Florida State University). After college I moved up to Bristol, Connecticut to work for ESPN where I am at now. Following baseball is not a job at all if you ask me!

[Chargersa7x]

Re: Your Beloved Team

Padres. Born and raised in SD. 2nd vote for us.

[AbsoluteFilth]

Re: Your Beloved Team

Nice to see some variation in teams

The Cubbies are still ahead with 3 , the bosox and padres are right behind em

[Revolution42]

Re: Your Beloved Team

That was a great little anecdote I got to see the Mariners in the Kingdome a couple times with A-Rod, Griffey, and Randy Johnson but I would not call them my team. The Mariners are however pretty close to that team I could potentially root for.

As for me in Montana, I grew up in Great Falls and moved to Florida for college (the Florida State University). After college I moved up to Bristol, Connecticut to work for ESPN where I am at now. Following baseball is not a job at all if you ask me!

I agree with ya man....no job at all....get paid to be a part of something you obviously enjoy so much....thats great...good for you. Speaking of the ' Dome...I was at the game vs Detroit when Johnson no hit them. I liked that place....balls flew outa there....and the peach ice cream was exceptional.

[Acedeck]

Re: Your Beloved Team

Tigers and Cubs. I have strong ties to Chicago, but I've been born and raised in Michigan. I find it fun to have one team in the AL and one in the NL. It gives me twice the chances of having a winning team!

[mchecky]

Re: Your Beloved Team

gonna have to go with Toronto. Its a close vote between them and the Reds, but Ille go with the Jays... big win last night eh.... On pace for 162 wins!

[duanebecca]

Re: Your Beloved Team

Atlanta...

I was brained washed a Detroit man my whole life, and still claim most of their teams to this day. However, I was raised in Jacksonville, FL and became a huge Braves fan. Made a trip to Atlanta when I was five and sat behind my idol, Dale Murphy, in centerfield. From that time on, I was hooked. Also helped that for many, many years almost every Braves game was on TBS. So, I'm not one of the early 90s banwagon guys. I grew up learning what it was like to lose. Almost didn't know what to do with myself when they came from like 7 1/2 games back in '91 at the AS break to take first from the Dodgers and then go on to what is arguably the best WS ever against the Twins.

[sb5676]

Re: Your Beloved Team

Growing up in Denver,I didn't have a home team either.So I grew up watching the Braves on TBS.They had the same uniforms as the little league team I played for.

[jczar78]

Re: Your Beloved Team

I was born and raised and still live on the South Side of Chicago, but I root for the Cubs. I grew up during the 80's which were the dark ages for white sox baseball. During this time the team did a horrible job of selling the team to its fans. It was almost impossible to watch a sox game on t.v. they did not have a local t.v. deal and on cable they were on sportsvision a channel that only about 30,000 people received. I lived about six blocks from the park but I could not tell you who more than a handful of the players were. Like many of my south side brethren I came from a blue collar family that could not afford to go to the park to watch a game.

At the same time Harry Carry took over the booth for the Cubs and together with WGN they did a great job of selling the team. That's all it was because the product on the field was no good but they made you feel like being at Wrigley was the place to be. As an impressionable 5 year old I was hooked. All the games were on t.v. and during the day. So after school you could watch the games plus the stadium was always packed. At the same time I remember my uncle taking me to a Sox game in '86 and there could not of been more than 2,000 in attendance.

[Chef Matt]

Re: Your Beloved Team

I became a yankee fan in the early ninties. This is actually when I bacame a baseball fan as well. I grew up in a house that didn't pay to much attention to baseball. It was all football and basketball. Bears and Lakers respectively.

The one thing I knew was the SF Giants WERE NOT respected in my house. My dad was a dodger fan but not to the point of watching or listening to games. Baseball was "boring" so I never payed any attention to it.

Then I got a job as a dishwasher in 93. (I am now the Executive Chef for a rural hospital in central cali) Anyhow I knew the chef was a baseabll fan and he asked which team I routed. Being a long time NY Jet fan (Thanks to Tecmo Bowl, that's for another story though) my first reply was New York Yankees though I knew nothing about the team.

I didn't want to say "I don't watch baseaball!" because I wanted to have something to talk about with the chef on a daily basis.

That year I watched and paid attention to the season and I was hooked on the yankees and the game of baseball that I had missed out on for so many years.

I went to 6 west coast Yankee games that year, and was awstruck. I still go to many each year with my wife and kids.

I took my Dad, my brothers, my GF (now wife) and now we all love the game. My dad included LOL! He actually sits and watches games on TV now.

So the Yankees sort of brought us closer. Add to that Derek Jeter, Paul O'neil, Donny Baseball, Bernie Williams and you get the picture.

Side notes. My son plays Little league for the "Texas Rangers" so he now wants to watch them LOL Oh well as long as he's involved.

My wife and daughter are HUGE Giant fans BOOOOO!
Drives my dad nuts. But considering our home town team is the Giants AAA affiliate I understand. So that's my baseball/team story.

I hope you find a team you love and will have similar magic and stories I've had as a fan of the Yankees. Good Luck and enjoy the season,

I Live for This!!

[bsb13]

Re: Your Beloved Team

Favorite Team: Atlanta Braves

Reason: Born, raised and still live just south of Atlanta.

[Scribe1980]

Re: Your Beloved Team

Phillies. Grew up 15 miles from Philadelphia.

Not really a choice; you're "born into" the sports culture in the area. Attended first baseball game in 1972 at the Vet when I was a little kid. Have lived through the good and the bad.

Of all the 4 major teams in Philly, the Phils have always been my favorite. The glow from winning the World Series last year will last for me, even if they don't repeat.

[masterkembo]

Re: Your Beloved Team

gonna have to go with Toronto. Its a close vote between them and the Reds, but Ille go with the Jays... big win last night eh.... On pace for 162 wins!

Another Jays fan here - 2nd place with 5 votes now!

Last night was a good win - the youngeons looked good (Lind with 6 RBI's and Snider with a HR and a Double).

First season I remember watching was '89 when they lost to the A's in the ALCS (oh, how I hated those teams). By 1992, I watched almost every game I think and remember all the big moments of that years World Series run.

I remember jumping off the couch with Alomar's homerun off of Eckersley in the 9th in the ALCS. Never forget Sprauge's huge HR in game 2 of the World Series or Winfield's 2 RBI double in the 11th of Game 6.

1993 was the icing of the cake. I still have game 4 and game 6 recorded and watch them every off season..haha. Game 4 was the 15-14 game in the rain - one of the best 'worst' played games I've ever seen. Game 6 - of course "Touch 'em all Joe, you'll never hit a bigger one!"

Hopefully one of these decades we get back into the playoffs!

[huggerorange73]

Re: Your Beloved Team

I've lived on the North side of Chicago my entire life....and I'm a die hard Chicago White Sox.

My dad brought us up like that, and now my 2 boys are die hard Sox fans as well!!!

Never cared for Wrigley or the Cubs......plus to boot the Sox have pretty much had competive teams through the years, and oh yeah, there was that World Series Championship in 2005.