Amidst a gooey gush from almost every baseball writer that the Red Sox are the Perfect Team and they’ve shown how the National League is sooooooo much inferior (re-writing the columns they saved from last year when somehow the Cardinals managed to beat the Tigers against all odds) I plug my ears. I always have, always will root against the rich, the privileged, the powerful, the popular. Far as I’m concerned, the Red Sox with their 200 mill payroll and simpering mainstream broadcasters are the 2007 Yankees with different unis.
A few years back, I don’t remember exactly where, most likely Baseball Think Factory, I remember reading a comment from a poster relating how his father immigrated to America in the early 50s and after learning about baseball, decided to root for the Yankees, perpetual winners, because he believed in supporting excellence. I don’t know the man,†so I don’t know how he defined “excellence,” as winning baseball teams were directly correllated to their wealth, even more so in those days. Is “excellence” the same as wealth plus winning?
People, since time began, have tried to attach themselves to the rich, the powerful, the beautiful, the winners. Sometimes, the fame, riches and fortune rub off on the follower, but when it comes to baseball teams, it is mostly the being able to feel that you are part of the team’s success, that by rooting for them, you too have succeeded when, in truth, you, the fan really haven’t done anything whatsoever to contribute to the actual victory. How many times have you told someone “congratulations on winning the division/pennant/Series” as if that person had him/herself actually won? Over the years, one can see that roughly, a team’s popularity correllates fairly well with its winning, especially winning a pennant, or these days, postseason appearances. The core of die-hards is augmented by bandwagoners if/when the team has success. It is all about the winning.
The Yankees, especially, always seemed to me the team that was like the most popular kid in school – rich, perfect clothes, the best car, the perfect athlete, the perfect body, the kid who always had people eager to give him/her anything he/she could possibly desire. Who on earth could root for THAT? A person who had everything, who never lacked for anything, who didn’t know the meaning of lack? The Yankees were the richest team, with endless money and resources who could buy any good player they wanted (back in the 50s too.) Yankees have been supplanted by the hordes of Red Soxers – population hugely larger than it was back in 2002.
†The world divides in two – those who want to identify with this and those who want to identify with the one who proves that having “everything”†doesn’t guarantee†winning.
I’ve always been part of The Underdog Rooters. You know the Underdog movies – ‘The Bad News Bears”, “Major League”, “The Mighty Ducks” and every copycat movie with the same theme. The Bad News Bears, the team that consisted of baseball no-goods and life rejects who somehow found something in themselves as well as the others and fashioned a team that was somehow greater than the sum of its parts. I guess I could call that Better Living Through Chemistry, or, more accurately, Better Winning Through Chemistry.
Most of us Americans ARE Underdogs our own selves, descended from the peasants and slaves of Europe, Africa and Asia, who came here willingly and unwillingly and had to make something from nothing. It is why those of us who are Underdog Rooters identify with the kids on the Bears. It is why we rooted for the 03 Marlins and 05 Astros, and will root for this year’s Rockies, none of whom were predicted by the “experts” at the beginning of the year to succeed, and who in fact, began the year†with failure, only to manage to pull together and learn to win. Yes, it DOES sound corny, doesn’t it. But it really touches those of us who started with nothing, failed and managed to make lemonade out of lemons. It is why we root for the Wandy Rodriguezes of the baseball world, the little guys, the “gritty” white boys who just aren’t very good but sure seem to tryyyyy just a little bit harder. It separates those of us who earn victory from those who are handed it.
Handed it? Well, yes, the 1997 Marlins who went out and bought up the expensive free agents, the 90s Yankees who went out and bought up a lot of free agents, the Red Sox who bought most of the players – expensive free agents on their 200 million dollar payroll (I’m counting the 50 mill they paid to purchase Matsuzaka. I don’t care what Buddy Boy calls that money) bought their Rings. Yes, of course I know they all had to perform well at the same time, the same year. Yes, of course I know it’s not like buying a sandwich. But yes, I know buying top notch free agents is more likely to purchase a Ring than hoping that your collection of kids and nobodies somehow comes through, as the Rockies hoped.
And before I forget – yes I know it’s coming – I know that all yall who know me too well are going to ask – how can Ms. Underdog Rooter POSSIBLY be such a stalwart fan of Barry Lamar Bonds, the modern epitome of excellence of a baseball player? I have no problem acknowledging and admiring any outstanding ballplayer (yes, even Alex Rodriguez, as much as it gags me) and have been in awe of his abilities since I was a child. There is a difference to me between admiring a particular player and rooting for his team. Baseball is, after all, both an individual and a team sport. You could correctly point out that Barry Lamar could be considered baseball aristocracy, both by genetics and training, but I would happily point out that genetics and training certainly help, but the exit ramps on the road to the majors are strewn with numerous sons of Hall of Famers such as Mickey Mantle Jr, Pete Rose Jr, Bobby Bonds Jr and Reid Ryan, to name a few. To misquote Yoda, Dude gotta DO, not try to Do. And how interesting it is that so many stars in high school simply fizzled out after graduation when it was in fact time to Do.
So why did I ever starting rooting for such a non-Underdog as Barry Lamar Himself? Because even when I was 7 years old, I knew how cute he was.
Besides, he was never a Red Sock.gooey gush

I’m not even 30 years old yet and yet I feel like a very old OLD lady. You know the kind – how things were SOOOO much better in the old days back when people never had sex or sinned in any way and folks in even south Texas used to walk 10 miles to school and back, uphill and in the snow. And they LIKED it.
Or something like that.
The first postseason I really remember was the NLCS between the Mets and Astros in 1986. Somehow I hadn’t remembered that games had started in the afternoon, even though they must have, or I wouldn’t have seen most of them as I would have been sent to bed. And am I remembering it wrong that even 10 years ago, the supposed to be national announcers didn’t have a storyline, or even take sides? Am I remembering rightly that the games used to have a quick pace, that the TV broadcasters didn’t interrupt the action by showing various faux celebrities in the stands, that they didn’t miss the first pitch or even first out†of the inning? And that there was no Dane Jerk Cook pretending he’s†this kewl†20 year old when he’s almost 40 and looks it too pimping the postseason while trying like heck to not talk about the Denver Nuggets or New Mexico whatsizzes that for some reason are allowed into the playoffs with the blessed RedSox.
The Astros weren’t in the NLCS in 1987 – it was the Cards and the Giants. I remembered without even having to look it up, and in fact, I remember EVERY single NLCS clearly without having to look them up – well, not the scores or even all the pitchers, but I sure do remember the excitement of watching them all, even though they didn’t involve my own team.
Somehow, I’m not sure exactly when, perhaps during the long run of the Braves in the playoffs, the people who produce and direct the playoffs decided that they must be boring and decided to therefore drag them out and interject all kinds of boring irrelevancies. And somehow, they managed to make the games start later and later and last longer and longer. I remember reading Maury Brown, who runs the site Biz of Baseball, reporting that the networks claim†that†the late 8:25 – 8:40 EST starts generate the best ratings, and that (apparently) children are staying up to watch. So I guess that the extra extra long games and interminable commercials generate the best ratings too.
And I am not exactly sure WHY MLB/Fox decided to pimp some of the ballplayers – perhaps they didn’t understand that an NBA star such as Michael Jordan or Shaq on a 5 man team can win games virtually all by himself. Perhaps they thought they could increase ratings if people decided to watch one particular ballplayer instead of a baseball GAME. But for a good 10 years, since the first appearance of Derek Jeter, they surely have. The networks are virtually at a loss as to how to promote a postseason series in the absence of a glamour team or star, such as this year’s NL playoffs. As Maury says,
“The difficulty is that MLB ó and professional sports as a whole ó is a star-driven entertainment industry,” he said. “The Diamondbacks and Rockies are not laced with stars, and therefore, even in the West, interest has been lukewarm at best, with Denver and Phoenix the possible exceptions.”
And the difficulty with that approach is that when the networks act as if the playoffs are something boring, play them at a ridiculous hour at night, elongate them with idiotic interruptions, they unfortunately are viewed as boring and even more unfortunately, BECOME boring. The networks also do their darndest to try to shelve/ignore games which do not involve their 4 favorites – the Yankees, Red Sox, Mets and Cubs (see the NLCS 2004 – the best playoff games nobody ever saw because of the dratted youknowwhos).
I’ve been both bored and disappointed by the too long games and the long loooonnnnggg waits inbetween games and the too long intervals between the ending of one series and the beginning of the next. I can’t believe that I am admitting that I am recording the games so that I can fast forward through them the next day with the sound muted. My blood pressure can’t deal with Fox’ open rooting for the Sox and disdain for the Other League’s whatstheirnames.
Were the games more exciting before the Braves/Yankees years when there really WAS parity? When there were so many fewer games on TV? When there was so much less information available? I guess they were for me, but I know quite well that I am in the vast minority of viewers, who prefer to root for the big money team, the frontrunner, the rich Yankees/Red Sox right along with the supposed to be neutral announcers. (One of the things I liked best about the 2005 series was watching McCarver and Buck trying to find stats on Jeff Bagworthy and Greg Bijou during the few seconds they managed not to mention ex-Yankees Pettitte and Clemens, now exactly WHY on earth would ANYONE ever leave the Perfect Team?)
Maybe I’m not too old – I can thank modern technology for allowing me to turn off the sound, fast forward and watch the game simultaneously on gameday so I can chart pitches. And I can watch games from the Good Old Days on ESPN classic every now and then when they bother to show actual sports instead of crummy movies or whatever.
As for any thoughts about this particular series, well, all I can say is Willy Taveras left men on second an third with 2 outs in the 5th in a 1 run game – grounded out to short, as usual. Some things never change – he’s useless with men on base. I’ll never understand why so many Astros fans think that getting rid of him was the one of the worst mistakes ever made by any baseball team in the history of baseball. Good grief – you’d think he was the reincarnation of Willie Mays…
By the way
anyone who watched any of the Astros minor league teams live and would like to comment on any of the players, please email me with your opinions. I will publish your opinions, if you like, with or without your name. Thanks.

We interrupt your regularly scheduled Astros blog to congratulate the Colorado Rockies on their incredible 7-0 postseason wins and their first NL pennant. How sweep it is.
It’s now 21 of 22 and how well I remember the feeling of being on an unstoppable roll.
Now it’s time for Purple Reign!!!