Most disliked team?
Reading about Scott Podsednik's fielding folly in the diary below and more specifically the comments that others have made got me thinking (dangerous, I know). I'm just curious which team the majority of us dislike the most.
We obviously don't have a dominating rivalry of the Yankees/Red Sox, Steelers/Browns, or Michigan/Ohio State caliber. For all pragamatic purposes, I suppose our "rival" should be either all the other AL Central teams, or simply the best team, but I know I'm not always that calculating.
I know that, whether its rational or not, I absolutely despise the White Sox. Whether it's AJ Pierzynski, their friggin announcers, Ozzie Guillen, or just the chip on their shoulder that they have by "not being Cubs fans", I don't know.
Anyway, I was just curious what other people's opinions were.
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Re: Most disliked team?
Re: Most disliked team?
by exileincincy on Apr 12, 2007 10:20 AM EDT up reply actions
Re: Most disliked team?
Re: Most disliked team?
Tribe fans can't really cover their losses with the success of the Browns and Cavs, because in my lifetime, there haven't been any.
Red Sox, for obvious and similar reasons, are also hated.
by Cory Snyder on Apr 12, 2007 10:19 PM EDT up reply actions
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by JulioBernazard on Apr 12, 2007 10:16 AM EDT reply actions
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It is really hard to watch the Indians in South Carolina, and when they are on WGN it is painful to watch because of the White Sox announcers.
I generally like the rest of the teams in the Central. The Tigers went to the World Series very humbly last year, the Twins are entertaining, and you can't help but root for the Royals to have a winning year.
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I'm oddly fond of most of the rest of the AL Central. I mean, I want them all to lose, but in the nicest way possible! But maybe it's just that I'm far enough to northwest Ohio that I just know too many Tigers fans, and I hang out with Twins fans too much on the internet, and hating the Royals is kind of like kicking a puppy.
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Not to mention that 4 out of 6 years stretch in the late 90s. I was more happy when Arizona beat them than I can describe. It ALWAYS feels good to see them lose. It doesn't matter to whom.
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I, unlike almost everyone else I know, don't find the Yankees nearly as detestable. I feel their honest about what they're doing-trying to buy championships. They don't drape it anything else and, if that's how the system is, I don't fault them for playing that game.
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by notsince48 on Apr 12, 2007 11:10 AM EDT up reply actions
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We seem to be creating a rule here, though: the team you hate the most is the one in which you have the greatest hatred for the both the organization AND the fans. The BoSox win this one hands down. Don't even get me started.
by fleerdon on Apr 12, 2007 4:17 PM EDT up reply actions
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Re: Most disliked team?
On the other hand, almost every Red Sox fan I know is a complete boor and has absolutely, completely zero ability to comprehend that maybe guys like Schilling, Manny, etc weren't "born to be Red Sox."
To put another way, my friends who are Yankees fans liked Gary Sheffield, like Giambi, Rodriguez, etc. They like them because they're good and understand that they're mercenaries. The people I know who are Red Sox fans seem to think that Pedro, Curt, Manny, etc are part of some overarching culture that could only exist in Boston because all of those guys, and every other player on the team, is somehow distinctly a Red Sock.
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This whole Damon traitor thing was so utterly ridiculous. The reason he was with the redsox in the first place is that they could pay for him. And then somebody else pays more and he is a traitor? Good god. And don't even get me started on Manny.
I still like Manny, so the redsox aren't as bad as the Yankees. But that is still pretty bad.
Re: Most disliked team?
by mkwng @ Let's Go Tribe! on Apr 12, 2007 12:47 PM EDT up reply actions
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I hope the Red Sox just lose and lose and lose. Should they ever finish a season trailing the Devil Rays in the standings, I would be exceedingly happy.
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You can hate Pierzynski or Ozzie or Hawk. You can hate Schilling or Epstein. But I'll always, always hate the Yankees.
by mkwng @ Let's Go Tribe! on Apr 12, 2007 11:27 AM EDT reply actions
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by JulioBernazard on Apr 12, 2007 11:51 AM EDT up reply actions
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On the route where I walk my dogs, someone has a Yankees sign in their front yard through the baseball months. I do my best to encourage my dogs to poop there rather than anywhere else. I still clean it up, but it's the thought that counts.
Re: Most disliked team?
I don't hate the Marlins for 2007, just Jose Mesa and Edgar Renteria. Although I'm not too fond of Alex Fernandez either, who was both a White Sox and a Marlin.
I despise Joey Cora.
RE: the Yankees and Red Sox, almost all the hatred I used to feel for the Yankees has been transferred to the Red Sox, since they're every bit as mercenary and evil as the Yankees yet their fans and front office refuse to be honest about it. I hate Red Sox fans. Yankees fans in my experience tend to be a lot more knowledgeable about the game in general and fun to talk to.
Re: Most disliked team?
And what is the big deal about Fisk's homerun in Game 6? Hey Boston, you lost game 7!
White Sox are the scum of the AL Central though.
by mikebrowns26 on Apr 12, 2007 12:55 PM EDT up reply actions
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by JulioBernazard on Apr 12, 2007 1:47 PM EDT up reply actions
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But which WS champion has the highest payroll off all time?
'04 Boston!!
Hypocrits.
by mikebrowns26 on Apr 12, 2007 12:58 PM EDT reply actions
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A close second, the Blue Jays. Whom I don't dislike due to my location, rather, for the same reason I dislike the Mets. Teams complain and complain about "spending" but then go off on a spending spree of their own.
Thats probably when I love baseball the most, in September when the majority of the spenders are searching for other reasons as to why they can't compete.
by Brandini on Apr 12, 2007 3:24 PM EDT reply actions
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Re: Most disliked team?
1.) Chicago White Sox
2.) New York Yankees (and their fans)
3.) Detroit Red Wings
Chicago pretty much vaulted to the top of the heap once they added Ozzie, a ring, and Thome; those three together are more than I can stomach. I'm gonna go chug some haterade now.
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by Brandini on Apr 12, 2007 5:22 PM EDT up reply actions
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If you were a REAL Avs fan you would hate the Canadiens!
by Brandini on Apr 12, 2007 11:03 PM EDT up reply actions
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3 Dislikes!
White Sox - combination of Pierzynski, Ozzie, and DJ & Hawk - that triple-play combination really takes the cake, in a bad way, for me. Not to mention they're also Central Division rivals.
Yankees - like others have mentioned, most of their fans acting like they're entitled or it's their birth-right to win the World Series every year. Please - they act like 6 seasons is a drought - try nearly 60 years without a WS, or any of the ones longer than ours. Heck, even the Giants' 52+ years without one qualifies as a drought. 6 years, when it comes to not winning a WS, is not a drought in my opinion.
And of course, Steinbrenner spending his billions to buy any ballplayer he wants, taking virtually every good to great player from teams like the Indians, the Twins, the A's, etc. - and there's virtually nothing we can do about it. He may be entitled under the current baseball system (which still sucks in my opinion, as the rich can still purchase whoever they want and the smaller and middle-market teams will still lose their best players, despite their best efforts to keep them,) but that doesn't mean I have to like it, and I don't. Steinbrenner is really not good for the game of baseball in my opinion, regardless of whether he's entitled to do what he's doing or not.
Red Sox - I agree also that their fans act like their players can only be Red Sox players. Also, I think too that the Damon is a traitor thinking is a bit ridiculous as well - the Red Sox do virtually the same thing the Yankees do - spend a lot, and until recently, not have much of a farm system, but because they can't quite compete on the same level as the Yankees, spending-wise, they gripe and complain about the Yankees' spending, even though the Red Sox are no better when it comes to fiscal spending either.
And, what will really annoy me regarding the Red Sox, is when they likely take away our consecutive home sellout streak - that 455 should have lasted for at least 50 years, but because they have the smallest ballpark in baseball and the Red Sox won the WS back in 2004, they'll likely take the record from us. Of course, it will be another couple of years before they can match us attendance-wise, since Jacobs Field can hold well over 40K; Fenway used to only hold about 33K or so, and probably no more than 35K even with the new seating. Heck, 2.5 Fenway Parks would have fit inside the old Municipal Stadium attendance-wise.
In my opinion, MLB should add an asterisk to the Red Sox's attendance record, stating that they had the smallest ballpark. Our record should have stood for at least 50 years - that's not something that happens everyday, but hopefully, people will remember that Indians' fans were genuinely interested in what was going on with the Indians, a team that couldn't spend like the BoSox can, which is a major reason why there's interest in the Red Sox - they can buy virtually any player they like, much like the Yankees, which, combined with the fact they have the smallest ballpark, sort of cheapens their sellout accomplishment when compared to ours, though I'll admit, I'm biased! :-)
Just my 2 cents.
Re: 3 Dislikes!
We may hate Boston fans, but you have to give it to them for being as rabid as any fans, anywhere. Let them have the record, I don't really care.
I don't mind them too much!
You're right - I guess I'm just disappointed that the record didn't last longer, since I thought it would - that's not something that happens everyday.
2 things though:
- Fenway Park still holds 10,000 fewer than Jacobs Field, which makes it easier to sell out - if I recall correctly, we were still drawing that for many of the dates in 2001, so our sellout streak likely would have been longer if we had that small of a ballpark.
- I'm not much of a hockey fan (since we don't have a team,) but if I'm correct, the Bruins haven't been that good of late like the Patriots or Red Sox. The Bruins, I think, have been more in decline like the Celtics have been of late, so I'm not sure the Red Sox had to compete with the Bruins too much. Only the Patriots, and baseball and football season only intertwine in September and October, so again, not that much of an obstacle (though the Browns shouldn't provide that much resistance for the Indians, but they seem to anyway, but Cleveland seems to be more of a football town that loves its Browns.)
Otherwise, I agree - they are more like us in more ways than we might care to admit. I still like them better than the majority of Yankee fans who think the WS is their birthright. Between the two, I'd probably take BoSox fans first (outside of the, to my knowledge, limited Yankee fans who don't act like the WS is their birthright.)
Just my 2 cents. :-)
Re: Most disliked team?
Re: Most disliked team?
a) hawk and d.j. - most sox fans can't stand them either. they're a bore to listen to and provide absolutely no insight into the game whatsoever. my theory is that he only has his job because he has incriminating pictures of jerry from his GM days. he's like the oddball uncle that always embarrasses you in public but you can't write him off since he's "family". trust me on this: the fact that those two clowns get national broadcasts regularly is embarrassing to a ton of sox fans.
b) a.j. - i like how on one hand everybody's falling all over themselves to say that they're ok with the twins then blast a.j. in the next breath. hypocrites. a.j. was a twin before being a giant before being a pale hose. the 'clubhouse cancer' bit from the giants has been more than proven to be a lie. in fact, reports are the opposite in chicago. everybody likes him in the clubhouse and all the boos in other stadiums only makes the sox fans like him more. thanks for that!
c) ozzie - ok, he says some shitty and offensive things. hopefully he got the message this year and will keep his trap shut as he guides our team to a better record than yours. again.
d) sox fans - at least we're classy enough to cheer for a former son even though he's wearing other threads. the tribe fans booing thome on his return trip were truly a classless bunch. the big hurt got a standing O his first couple of times up to bat in an A's uniform because sox fans appreciate it when a guy puts up incredible numbers for their team. and he was the hugest pain in the ass anyone could ask for.
e) seriously? you guys are bringing up 1919? glass houses, gentlemen......
fyi: i went with the twins. i don't like them not for anything organizationally. minnesotans are a nice, classy bunch. the twins organization shows that a good farm system and shrewd trading can bring you success even with the AL East tossing money around. it's the losing to them i can't stand. happy, winning bastards.
since you guys didn't vote heavily on the twins or (lately) tigers means you don't care which team is beating your ass, just whatever bullshit excuses you come up with help you sleep at night.
GO SOX!
by thatshortkid on Apr 13, 2007 8:00 PM EDT up reply actions
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Remember that time that White Sox fan came over here and tried to convince us to like them?
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by thatshortkid on Apr 13, 2007 8:18 PM EDT up reply actions
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by thatshortkid on Apr 13, 2007 8:20 PM EDT up reply actions
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I won't speak to the Thome booing, but you certainly can't either. Most of all, don't give me any of that Thomas nonsense. Sox fans booed him while he was there. I'd have given him a standing O after he left too, he killed you guys for two years before he left and whined while doing it. Anyway, our complaints about Sox fans are that based on the fact that we've meet them. The worst thing about them is the constant complaining about how the city loves the Cubs.
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why does the cubs rivalry matter to indians fans? that's just an intra-city thing.
the vitriol about hawk.... yeesh, he's a bad announcer, but he's just an announcer. he didn't spit on anybody, throw a chair at fans, or kick a puppy in the face. he just sucks at broadcasting.
....and i'm out. going to get away before i stick my foot in my mouth and jinx anything.
too late. shit.
by thatshortkid on Apr 13, 2007 8:34 PM EDT up reply actions
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But I will refute your comparison of Thome and Thomas. They were not remotely the same circumstances.
When Thome left the Tribe he was just 32 years old. He still had many productive seasons to go (barring health). When we tried to extend him before his contract was up, he didn't want to negotiate. Then when we tried to trade him for much needed prospects during his final season, he said no. Although he did have a a no-trade clause, his reasoning for saying no was that he wanted to finish hi career as an Indian. He even said "someone is going to have to rip this jersey off of my back" or something similar.
Then in the offseason, as we negotiated the richest deal we ever had, he went to the Phillies and said can you top this? They did by adding a 6th year to the deal. He then asked the Tribe FO to match the sixth year. At the amount of money, we finally said no.
Now look at Thomas. He was 37 when his career ended in 2005 after 15 seasons. He was supposedely on his downswing due to his age and the injury the year he had before. He was usually a pain in the rear for both your team and the FO. His was obviously an easier to decision to let go, less painful. Therefore the fans are going to remember the good times and not the lies that Thome said to our fans and FO.
I hope this finally settles the matter.
Re: Most disliked team?
(d) Sox fans don't know anything about class, and you don't know anything about Jim Thome and the Indians. Next thing you'll try to school us about Sandy Alomar.
In sum, keep your trap shut, you're embarassing yourself here.
Nice posts, talonk & Jay!
Agreed, Jay - I didn't like Pierzynski when he was a Twin - it's not just because he's a White Sox that I don't like him.
talonk - you're right about the "rip the jersey off my back line" - I forgot to include that. Thanks for mentioning it.
Having Pierzynski helps!
Pierzynski is arguably more annoying than anyone on the Yankees; White Sox fans might not see it, but Pierzynski's antics really annoy everyone else (heck, I think even some of his Twins' teammates complained about him privately when he was in Minnesota. Not to mention the Giants' players, especially veterans, that complained about him during his partial season there.)
The 2005 ALCS disputed call of whether that ball hit the dirt or now and he acting like it was an undisputed call that it hit the dirt I think just added to it. Some might say it was heady-baserunning, but I think many outside of Chicago think that Pierzynski fooled the umpire, who might have called it the other way otherwise, so it was far from an undisputed call that the ball definitely hit the dirt.
Add in Ozzie's antics and the fact that Buerhle hit Hafner in the face, ironically, after Garland, the following day's starter, said that Hafner was the guy he most feared in that lineup, and you can sort of see why Indians' fans especially are not fond of the White Sox.
Just my 2 cents. :-)
Re: Having Pierzynski helps!
puh-leeze. the umpire made the call. it was a playoff-caliber ump (whose job it is to be precise, regardless of player antics [see: rodriguez, alex]) and it all would have been moot if crede didn't get the 2-out double in the next at bat. or if the angels catcher did the right thing and tagged a.j. on an even close call. blame the catcher or the ump, a.j. just made a heads-up play.
sour grapes for angels fans, player hating for everybody else (seriously, why do you care? your team didn't lose).
by thatshortkid on Apr 13, 2007 7:55 PM EDT up reply actions
Re: Having Pierzynski helps!
My thoughts!
First, as far as I know, Thomas never declared his intention of resigning with the White Sox (maybe he did, but my impression is that Thomas and GM Ken Williams never really seen eye-to-eye, so Thomas wasn't really eager to resign with the White Sox after his current contract was up.)
Thome, on the other hand, was saying constantly about looking forward to signing with Cleveland, blah, blah, blah. Then, when the Indians were willing to give him the richest contract ever given to an Indian, he turns our back on us. If that had happened to you, it's likely you'd boo too.
Thome said something about "he wants to go to a team that has a better chance of reaching the playoffs." Well, the grass isn't always greener on the other side. Philadelphia never reached the postseason with Thome, and actually, the Phillies were last to the postseason in 1993 (if I recall correctly.) The Indians? 2001.
As for Pierzynski, the umpire still made a bad call - many of the replays show that the call was far from conclusive, and the umpire didn't demonstratively make the call either way. You can blame Paul if you like - sure, he should have made sure, but Pierzynski has done enough of his own antics over the years, and that move (you call it "heads-up play," I'm thinking more "antic," just to see what happens if he ran down the line,) paid off for him (and the White Sox) in my opinion.
Just my 2 cents. :-)

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