Let's Go Mets... it's almost opening day!
 

Who do you root for, and why?

I'm a Met fan, born and raised. My family are all Met fans and geographically Shea Stadium used to be the closest park for me. Though now I live in Manhattan, a short train ride from Yankee stadium, I'll never become a fan of that evil empire. But it makes for good rivalries at the local bars.

Thank you for not supporting the evil empire! I do not like the blatant purchasing of championships.

As for me I used to be a Twins fan but after the strike and moving to CA I have fallen for the A's. They may not spend the most but they always field a good team and play tough. The stadium may be shit but I go to the park to watch a game, not gaze at the stadium. The Giants are all fine and good if you are bored but if you like baseball the A's are the team out here. I still like the Twins but find it hard to care when the owners keep whining about how they need public $ for a new stadium.

Go A's !!!! I'm from NY, but I've been an A's fan since 1969. I had the yearbook, "The '69 Swingin' A's". In little league I was a base stealer and track team guy. Bert Campanaris was The Man. Loved those fast looking white shoes. The recent book "Moneyball" about the A's GM is really great.

My whole family were Mets fans. I hated the Mets. A's beat them in the World Series. Was a Yankees fan since 1960, but lost that after living in Pittsburgh 12 years and seeing the league from the Pirates view. The Pirates went to the NL championship 3 times and then lost everyone to free agency, hadn't had a winning season in 16 years.

I'm a Warriors season ticket holder, so I'm not thinking about baseball yet.

As for Minny, my brother lives there. We went to the Steelers @ Vikings in December.

1986 was a great year.... I graduated high school (c'mon senior year was great, right?) and my team, the New York, Mets, was the Goliath of the season. Would Boston be their David? Thank you Bill Buckner for game 6. Many years rooting for the underdog team paid off. And it was great that the Yanks sucked through the 80's, and Steinbrenner was an outcast. (I was a teenager then, now I don't really hate any team, it's just a sport and entertainment.) Ah, that Met team should have been a dynasty. Damn drugs and egos.

Rock Steady, I remember the A's beating the Mets in 1973. I was 5. I don't remember 1969. Tom Seaver is still my favorite player of all time. Saw him pitch many times. Got a picture with him at a Hall of Fame weekend where he did a little interview and answered questions from the audience.

What's better than this time of year, where hope springs eternal? PLAY BALL!

Let's meet here often this year and talk baseball.

Jeb, how are the A's looking this year? So much talk about Barry Bonds, I forgot the A's are a great team to root for. I'll go look them up in the Baseball preview SI issue. :)

Angels Always!

Right on Rock Steady. Moneyball is a grand book IMO. I still sort of a Vikings fan too, even though I don't particularly like them. (They always have scandle / failure, don't represent real Vikings in anyway, have been softened by sideline heaters and playing in doors, etc.).

The A's are looking to win the division and possibly go quite a bit farther. The Angels haven't really improved. Texas could be dangerous now that they have some pitching. Seattle is a joke. Main problem the A's have had is with putting out a competitive team for a whole season. They CAN do that but in previous years injury would take it's toll or they couldn't rest anybody because they were chasing the leader in the division. Then by the time they did make the playoffs they were very exhausted and easy to knock off. This year their depth is excellent. Best in a long time for sure. Bradley, Payton, Kotsay, Kielty and Swisher mean they have a good buffer against injury and can rest any outfielders needed. Pitching wise the top 5 is solid: Zito, Harden, Haren, Blanton, Loaiza. In the bullpen is Duchscherer, Kennedy, Saarloos, Calero, Witasick and of course Street closing. The great thing is if any pitcher should get injured they team could choose either Saarloos or Kennedy to fill in. Plus there is Frank Thomas and some guys (Kendall, Swisher, Crosby) who should find their groove this year. It's a very good time to be an A's fan :D

I started with the Evil Empire, I'll stick with them! I do however have the Mets AA team up the road here. It is a great place to see the game. Juan Samuel is managing this year. :cool:

Why are you a Yankee fan, Griff?

My Little League coach took us to Yankee Stadium in '77. That was my first pro baseball experience so the deal was closed then and there.

I do get that baseball needs to change something about the free agency system and revenue sharing when well run organizations like Minnesota are not doing well. Unfortunately, baseball is a good ole boy set up with a great deal of incompetence protected by monopoly. There are major markets pretending to be mid/small because of poor management. A team like Seattle with it's huge asian market potential should not be running firesales. I'm not sure how you blow up MLB but it should be done in the interest of competition.

Baseball is safe from the Yankees this year anyway because they'll need to score 9 or 10 runs a game to win. Pitching and defense wins championships and NY has neither.

I am a Cardinals fan through and through, having been born and raised in St. Louis. Of course, all eyes in the baseball world will be on our fair city in a week and change, when the new Busch Stadium opens. It's a beaut...they just put the Stan Musial statue in place yesterday.

I also have soft spots for the O's and Phillies...I lived in DC pre-Nats for a year and Philly for 5. I also like the Nats because they've been through the ringer for so long. At least MLB is putting some money into them to make them competitive.

Beat LA! Beat LA! Beat LA! Beat LA! Beat LA!

Went to the Angels at A's game when we were still in the playoff hunt, and we won that game. I was in row 12 near the batter's box shouting the above phrase and others. Other fans in my section starting chanting Beat LA also. In the 9th inning the whole stadium was pretty loud. As we were leaving, another fan said to me "Nice heckling".

I'm a Portland Trailblazers fan; we invented the phrase Beat LA!

No Doubt. We had no expectations last year after losing all those guys. But, the four rookies came through really great.

2005 - Huston Street kept the AL Rookie of the Year award in-house. Oakland's poised closer became the second consecutive winner from the Athletics...

A's had four great rookies last year. OF/1B Nick Swisher could have won it also. He and P Joe Blanton received votes. 1B Dan Johnson was a hitter too.

With the new owners, they purse strings have been loosened a bit. They signed the veteran depth Jeb already mentioned.

It's a good thing for Frank Thomas that he doesn't have to face Zito's curveball anymore. The last two games they faced, he struck out like 5 straight times against a diet of all curveballs from Zito.

This is going to be tough for Giambi.