The List

As some of you may know, I’ve been writing regularly for ESPN Insider. I enjoy it mostly because it’s an outlet for my stat-geeky side. I bring this up for two reasons. 1) You should all subscribe to Insider, if only because you want me to continue to have a job. 2) My next piece is about the Royals, and my editor said something to me today to the effect of, “I bet you just can’t get enough of the Royals.” And I replied, “lay off, that’s like my fifth favorite team.” He then asked,” Fifth favorite team? At which point do you stop keeping track?”

Good question. And it got me thinking about how all 30 teams stack up for me. So, without further adieu, what follows is my own personal power rankings. These are not in order of best to worst, but rather favorite to least favorite. Sometimes these vary from year to year.

1. Mets—This one doesn’t need any explanation. I started paying attention to baseball in 1986 because my father was a Mets fan. They won the World Series, and I’ve been hooked ever since.

2. Twins—One of my best friends in college was a Twins fan, so that gave me my original affinity for them, and I’ve admired their ability to stay competitive with a small budget and a philosophy that runs counter to much of what I believe it takes to build a winning team. In fact, it may be proof that I have no idea what it takes to build a winning baseball team. Oh, and I loved Kent Hrbek when I was a kid for a reason I can’t explain.

3. Pirates—I always think baseball is more interesting when the original franchises are relevant. Plus, I have two friends who work for the team. And I like their uniforms.

4. A’s—Like the Twins, I admire small-market teams that can stay competitive. But unlike Minnesota, I like the way in which the A’s run their organization. Translation: I have a man-crush on Billy Beane.

5. Royals—See, I told you so! Great stadium, and I ranked their top 30 prospects for the 2007 Baseball America Prospect Handbook, so I feel a bond there.

6. Reds—See Pirates (Everything except for the friends who work for them).

7. Rays—Prior to 20005, I didn’t give a crap about them, but they’ve grown on me for two reasons. First, when I was living in North Carolina, I worked down the street from the where the Durham Bulls (their Triple-A affiliate) play, so I became quite familiar with their prospects. Second, they are the reason the Yankees didn’t make the playoffs last year.

8. Indians—This is mostly because of “Major League,” and also because I had an Indians cap from about 1995-1999 that I loved.

9. Mariners—Griffey was a lot of fun back in the day.

10. Diamondbacks—Ended the Yankees run of championships in 2001. Plus, Chris Young is the friendliest player I’ve ever interviewed.

11. Red Sox—Getting kind of sick of them, but the way they humiliated the Yankees in 2004 will never be forgotten. Yes, I realize a lot of these rankings are motivated by anti-Yankees sentiment. But when the Mets are out of it (which is what happens most Octobers), rooting against the Yankees is all I have. Sigh.

12. Tigers—Curtis Granderson is one of my favorite players. Possibly my favorite. That’ll be another list down the road.

13. Giants—My father was a Giants fan until they left New York, and he still has a soft spot for them. And to some extent, I do too. Plus, there was a short period in the late 1980s when Will Clark was my favorite player.

14. Brewers—I like beer.

15. Padres—Of all the stadiums I have ever been to, theirs is my favorite.

16. Rockies—After the Mets were humiliated by the Phillies in 2007, they immediately swept Philly. It took the edge off the pain just a little bit.

17. Nationals—The one team in their division the Mets can consistently beat.

18. Blue Jays—I used to think Kelly Gruber was cool. And Rance Mullniks is possibly the greatest name in baseball history.

19. Rangers—I’m pretty neutral on these guys, but they had to go somewhere.

20. White Sox—Ditto.

21. Orioles—Ditto.

22. Astros—Ditto, but they get docked because Mike Scott scuffed the ball in the 1986 NLCS.

23. Dodgers—As Fletch said, “I hate Tommy Lasorda.”

24. Cubs—A lot of their fans are whiny. We get it, it’s been 100 years.

25. Angels—Not a fan of the way their style of play because they stubbornly refuse to take pitches. Plus, the Rally Monkey is a travesty.

26. Marlins—Mets rival, always kind of obnoxious.

27. Cardinals—I don’t mean to say this in some sort of Patrick Ewing sort of way, but the Mets were the better team in 2006. Yes, I realize that the nature of baseball means that the inferior team will often win a seven-game series, but that doesn’t make it any less frustrating.

28. Braves—They tormented all Mets fan from 1998-2005.

29. Phillies—The new Braves.

30. Yankees—I realize this is irrational. My least-favorite team should be the Phillies or Braves, both direct rivals of my favorite team, but I just can’t help it. I simply hate the Yankees. And when the Braves played the Yankees in the World Series, I rooted for Atlanta. And if the Phillies faced the Yankees, I’d probably root for Philly.

A lot of people in the sports media will tell you that members of the sports media are not supposed to have favorites because it prevents objectivity, and I've always thought this was dumb. Being a passionate fan is what got me into this business in the first place. The day I stop being a fan is the day I stop enjoying my job.