Championship Series

[slavko]

Originally Posted by Golden Sox

I couldn't help but notice all the empty seats at Yankee Stadium for the 2nd Playoff Game against the Tigers. Were those seats sold and some people didn't come to the game? Or are Yankee fans upset over the previous games loss? Then again were the ticket prices too high and people didn't buy the tickets?

That's the one.

[Johnny Mostil]

Originally Posted by russ99

Well put. As we saw during out collapse, that in pressure pennant race/playoff baseball, the easy runs and many of the homers dry up, and you need to have other ways to score runs.

Plus we would have played the Yankees in the first round, facing Sabathia twice. Can you see us winning either of those two - or winning all of the other three games with our inconsistent hitting? Heck no.

Picky point, but wouldn't the Sox have played the A's in the first round, as the Tigers did?

[SOXSINCE'70]

Originally Posted by Nellie_Fox

Boo freaking hoo.

I can't root for the Tigers.I just can't.

[Hitmen77]

We may very well see a rematch of the 2006 World Series this year.

Originally Posted by Golden Sox

I couldn't help but notice all the empty seats at Yankee Stadium for the 2nd Playoff Game against the Tigers. Were those seats sold and some people didn't come to the game? Or are Yankee fans upset over the previous games loss? Then again were the ticket prices too high and people didn't buy the tickets?

I wonder if the Sox would sell out ever single playoff game if they made the playoffs just about every single year for 15 years running. .....and yes, I would love to someday be able to find out the answer to that!

[doublem23]

Originally Posted by Johnny Mostil

Picky point, but wouldn't the Sox have played the A's in the first round, as the Tigers did?

Yes

[TDog]

Originally Posted by StillMissOzzie

That's a shame.

Hey, I certainly can't tell you all to root for, since our boys aren't there, and I certainly get the Tiger hatred. It's just that - division rivals come and go. Over the past 12 years or so, our division rival has been either the Indians, the Twins, or the Tigers. (And the Royals have beaten our boys' brains out over a few of these regimes, but I digress...)
Does anyone give a rat's ass about the Indians or the Twins any more? Certainly not I.
Hatred of the Yankees, though - since before the debut of three divisions, since before of the debut of two divisions, since as long as I remember paying attention to baseball - the Yankees have been a thorn in my side SO MANY TIMES.

SO that's why I plug my nose and root for the Tigers.

SMO

I still hate the Twins and Indians. I still hate the Royals and A's from the 1970s. Right now I very much hate the Tigers more. I don't think there has ever been a moment in my life as a baseball fan that I didn't hate the Yankees. I take joy in watching the Yankees lose, but that is canceled out by watching the Tigers win.

I would like to see both the Tigers and the Yankees lose this series. Sadly, that isn't going to happen, but I don't have to root for anyone. Someone will go on to play either the Giants or Cardinals, who have won the last two World Series. I think both are clearly better teams than the Tigers and Yankees, even if the Cardinals weren't the best team in their division, and I hope either the Tigers or the Yankees are made to look very bad in losing the World Series.

[Nellie_Fox]

Originally Posted by SOXSINCE'70

I can't root for the Tigers.I just can't.

But you can root for the Yankee$? I'll never understand that mindset. My loyalty is White Sox first, then AL Central, then any AL but Yankees. Unless there was ever (heaven forbid) a Yankees/Cubs series in my lifetime. I guess I'd just completely ignore that.

[SephClone89]

Originally Posted by Nellie_Fox

But you can root for the Yankee$? I'll never understand that mindset. My loyalty is White Sox first, then AL Central, then any AL but Yankees. Unless there was ever (heaven forbid) a Yankees/Cubs series in my lifetime. I guess I'd just completely ignore that.

See, I don't understand this mindset.

[ChiSoxFann]

Originally Posted by SephClone89

See, I don't understand this mindset.

Me either. The Tigers beat us up all year and some will root for them to reach the World Series?

I have no trouble rooting for the Yanks and they've been my second team after the Sox since the late 90's. I just loved their history, stadium, uniforms and playoff runs. Everything i want the Sox to be.

I also take pride that the Sox are the only Central team to win the WS since the division was created. The Indians, Twins and now Tigers have had their runs, but failed to capture the ultimate prize. Looks like the Cards will have to be my team now.

[Moses_Scurry]

The Yankees really have not obstructed my White Sox during their quests for championships in the time of my fandom (1982-present). The Sox have never played in the same division as the Yankees, and they've never met the Yankees in the playoffs. I just don't have the same level of Yankee-hate as someone like my father, who lived through all those years where the Sox failed to make the World Series directly because of the Yankees.

My sports grudges are very long lasting, and include the Orioles (1983), the A's (1990-1992), the Bluejays (1993), the Indians (late '90's), the Twins (2000's), the Tigers (2006, present), and the cubs (entirety of my fandom). For some reason, the Rays (2008) escaped.

It's not limited to baseball. I hate the 49ers and Redskins for what they did to the Bears in the '80's.

I want the Yanks to beat Detroit. I also want the NL winner to beat the AL winner.

I have to admit that while I am getting pretty tired and jealous of the St. Louis Cardinals, the absolute misery porn on cub websites has been quite entertaining!

[ChiSoxGirl]

Originally Posted by SOXSINCE'70

I can't root for the Tigers.I just can't.

Neither can I! As much I hate the Yankees, my hatred for the Tigers has won out this postseason.

[Huisj]

Originally Posted by ChiSoxGirl

Neither can I! As much I hate the Yankees, my hatred for the Tigers has won out this postseason.

It's especially gotten bad for me living in the middle of Tigers country for most of my life. Growing up, my friends paid no attention to the Tigers other than in a nostalgic way. They liked old Tiger stadium, Ernie Harwell, talking about the '84 world series which they learned about from their dads, but nobody really was into following the team itself (or baseball at all for that matter) because they were awful for pretty much the entire time I was growing up.

That all changed in 2006 when tons of fans popped up all over, and at first it was neat because many of my friends were finally interested in baseball and actually wanted to get together to watch games. But now with the Sox-Tigers rivalry getting more heated and with the Tigers getting the better of it recently, it's not as much fun because people get nasty and rub it in and gloat constantly about the Tigers. The Tigers' success somehow gives them confidence to start spouting off about things about the "bad" neighborhood around the Cell and the moron who attacked the first base coach and how the stadium sucks so much that you'd think they were Cub fans. And they all love Rod Allen to death which makes it even worse.

The one thing that's fascinating about Tigers fans is that they almost universally seem hate Jim Leyland (and actually have for quite a while), and if you try to discuss why in a rational manner and maybe even hint at the possibility that he's a decent manager, they'll think you're nuts (which they already think of me anyway since I'm a Sox fan).

[Johnny Mostil]

Originally Posted by Nellie_Fox

But you can root for the Yankee$? I'll never understand that mindset. My loyalty is White Sox first, then AL Central, then any AL but Yankees. Unless there was ever (heaven forbid) a Yankees/Cubs series in my lifetime. I guess I'd just completely ignore that.

How the ALC champ does reflects on the whole division. How the AL champ does reflects on the whole league. I'd like to see the Sox win the World Series for the ALC every year, but, failing that, I'd like to see the ALC do better than it has.

[SI1020]

Originally Posted by SephClone89

See, I don't understand this mindset.

What is so hard to understand? He roots for the Sox above all, and then stays loyal to the AL on down the line, the Yankees being a special case that shouldn't be hard to understand given the history. That was and is the reality for a lot of us.

[ChiSoxGirl]

Originally Posted by Huisj

It's especially gotten bad for me living in the middle of Tigers country for most of my life. Growing up, my friends paid no attention to the Tigers other than in a nostalgic way. They liked old Tiger stadium, Ernie Harwell, talking about the '84 world series which they learned about from their dads, but nobody really was into following the team itself (or baseball at all for that matter) because they were awful for pretty much the entire time I was growing up.

That all changed in 2006 when tons of fans popped up all over, and at first it was neat because many of my friends were finally interested in baseball and actually wanted to get together to watch games. But now with the Sox-Tigers rivalry getting more heated and with the Tigers getting the better of it recently, it's not as much fun because people get nasty and rub it in and gloat constantly about the Tigers. The Tigers' success somehow gives them confidence to start spouting off about things about the "bad" neighborhood around the Cell and the moron who attacked the first base coach and how the stadium sucks so much that you'd think they were Cub fans. And they all love Rod Allen to death which makes it even worse.

The one thing that's fascinating about Tigers fans is that they almost universally seem hate Jim Leyland (and actually have for quite a while), and if you try to discuss why in a rational manner and maybe even hint at the possibility that he's a decent manager, they'll think you're nuts (which they already think of me anyway since I'm a Sox fan).

Um, have they seen the neighborhood surrounding Comerica Park?! Pot, meet kettle. I went up there for a Sox/Tigers game in July 2006 and felt like I was in the ghetto the whole time - buildings with blown out windows, abandoned cars, etc. There was a nice Holiday Inn a few blocks from the part, which is where we stayed, and a Cheli's Chili steps from the ballpark, but that's about it.