Several people have asked me which team I’d root for if it’s the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series. As you probably know by now, I’m a huge Mets fan, so just the thought of having to choose between these two teams makes me a little nauseous.
Though I wouldn’t root for either team, I would prefer that the Phillies won. I know, I know, this is the hated division rival, the team with the somewhat dirty Chase Utley and Shane Victorino and the arrogant, big-mouthed Cole Hamels and Jimmy Rollins. I hate the Phillies, and over the last year and a half I’ve decided I hate them more than any other baseball team, including the Yankees.
So why would I prefer they win it all? As strange as this may sound, it’s because they won it all last year.
I hate to write these words, but the Phillies own the Mets. They have since those final weeks of the 2007 season. Regardless of what happens in the World Series, the Phillies will open next season as three-time defending National League East winners and two-time defending NL Champions. The way I see it, another World Series win wouldn’t make it any worse.
The Yankees, however, have not won the whole thing since 2000. They have not won since they brought in perhaps my least favorite player, Alex Rodriguez. I’d like to keep it that way. Yes, the Mets payroll is big, but the Yanks’ is far bigger and I want them and their reckless financial decisions to fail. (Plus, I know a lot more Yankee fans than Phillies fans and I don’t need to hear it from them.)
No doubt this is a lose-lose situation for me and most other Mets fans. But when the Yankees play the Phillies in the 2009 World Series*, I’ll take the Phillies. Just don’t expect me to root for them.
*Yes, my intention was certainly to jinx the Yankees, who have not yet qualified for the World Series. At the time I started this post, the Yanks, up 3-1 in the ALCS, were losing Game Five 4-0. By the time I finished, they had taken a 6-4 lead. And right this very instant, the Angels have tied it at six. I think my jinx is working. I think.
The Sportswriting of Andrew Kahn 
I agree, it is better for the Phillies to beat the Yankees because otherwise the Yankees are rewarded for stock piling all-stars while other organizations build their teams organically. However, as a casual baseball fan, I am rooting for the Yankees to beat the Angels because they are way more interesting. In addition, the inflatable thunder sticks that Angels fans pimp are obnoxious and pathetic. I wish a Yankee player would stomp on one like the Titans did to a Steelers terrible towel last year. My dream match up was ManRam + Torre vs. A-Rod + Girardi so that I could see ManRam hit a game winning homer and stand in the box for 30+ seconds causing the Yankees to squirm back off the edge of dugout and back onto their bench where they belong. One of the best world series moments ever is Luis Gonzalez's series winning hit against the Yankees. I think the Phillies have the mental toughness to recreate that moment.
I'm still hoping for the very unlikely Angels over Phillies….