I know about losing teams. I root for a lot of them. In 49 years, I have seen the San Francisco Giants in the World Series twice (that I remember). The first was 1989, when they were swept by the Oakland A’s in the earthquake series. I watched every out. They never led.
And 2002, in Game 6, up by five and needing six outs and couldn’t do it.
Don’t even get me started on 1993, when they won 103 games and didn’t make the playoffs.
I was born in Massachusetts, so it all starts there with the Red Sox. In 1967, they wheeled the only TV in Mittineague School into one room and all the students came in and watched the World Series until school got out at 3:00. Then we went over to the appliance store and watched it in color through the front window. Red Sox cooked in seven. 1975- again done in seven.
I gave up on them after the 1986 series. I couldn’t take it anymore.
I then became an Orioles fan. When you root for a team like the Giants, it’s always necessary to have a local backup team so the season remains interesting past July.
Does anyone outside of Baltimore remember the Orioles' 1991 trade of Pete Harnisch, Curt Schilling (yes that Curt Schilling) and Steve Finley for Glenn Davis?
Harnisch retired in 2002 with a winning record, two 16 win seasons and a 3.88 ERA. Schilling just re-upped with Boston and Finley is still hanging on with the Rockies and has a .272 career batting average.
Glenn Davis retired in 1993, with 170 hits, 24 home runs and 85 RBI as an Oriole. A foul ball and a bar fight ended his major league career in 1993.
The dream died there when Peter Angelos bought the team and traded away the entire farm system.
So now I have the hometown Nationals… hope springs eternal.
There was always the Celtics. They had won so much, it became almost monotonous. Then, when they drafted Lenny Bias in the 1986 draft, the marriage of the local guy to my favorite basketball team seemed like a dream too good to be true.
Article comments
1 - Matthew T. Sussman
Please don't ever root for any of my teams, Rick.
2 - Rick Vassar
Matt,
My dad used to scout part-time for the Giants when they had a Single A farm team in Springfield, MA in the old Eastern League (1957-65). He was also a fill in umpire for the Eastern League. His claim to fame was that he threw Earl Weaver out of a game when he managed Elmira (1962-65).
Some of the guys who came through there were quite impressive:
Juan Marichal
Felipe Alou
Matty Alou
Tom Haller
Jim Ray Hart
Jim Duffalo
Bill Hands
Frank Linzy
Hal Lanier
Manny Mota
Jose Pagan
The team moved to Amarillo in 1966 and old Pynchon Park burned down shortly after that. I spent my entire childhood trying to pick up bounced radio signals from Chicago and Philly. The next day, I would get the partial box scores from the West Coast games in the paper (no ESPN in the 1960's).
I thinking about give up on the Giants and rotting for the Diamondbacks. What do you think, Matt?
3 - Mike
"Please give us our Washington Redskins back"
If you switch teams with the regularity you do then they're not really yours are they. Real fans have grievance, fakes don't.
4 - Rick Vassar
It depends on your perspective. The beauty of sports is you can root for whomever you want, whenever you want.
If you are right (and I'm not saying you aren't), then where would all the expansion teams get their fans?
Not to justify myself, but most of these changes are geographic:
Giants/Red Sox to Orioles and now Nationals (btw, not a lot of Montreal Expo fans around here...)
NY Giants(NFL)/Pats(AFL) to Redskins
Celtics to Wizards.
I have lived in DC much longer than I lived in New England. I felt nothing when the Sox and the Pats won (finally).
It still hurt bad with the Giants in '02
You may not agree, but that's you.