Acceptable Affinity
 
At the time that I’m writing this little column, the Boston Red Sox are two games up on the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2004 World Series. What does this mean to you if you’re not a baseball fan? It would carry about as much interest as a deathmatch between Laverne and Shirley* would, I guess. But all the same, for those of you that follow, or even just kind of like the sport, this series has a certain gravitas about it that you can’t deny.

In the Cardinals, you’ve got a team that had league-best 104 wins during the regular season. Above average pitching. A lineup that’s about as potent as it can get. Most importantly, they’re not the Red Sox, and have actually won a World Series since 1918.

This is why, in our office pool, I took the Cardinals to win. And yet, I find myself unwavering as I root for the Red Sox, even though I’m not a Red Sox fan.

Huh?

It’s taken me a while to figure this one out, and while I’m sure that some would try to poke holes in my theory, I feel sound enough in my reasoning to welcome any that would attempt to disprove it. I’ve come to the conclusion that I am, at this point in my life, a Boston Red Sox sympathizer. And this is in no way a conflict of interest with my true nature of being a fan of the Cleveland Indians. The fandom aspect will always remain greater, but in this big world of ours, there’s always plenty of room for some runners up. Now there are those that view the world of sports from a die-hard perspective (these people own body paint in their team’s colors), and see things in a very black and white manner (especially if the body paints are black and white). There is “your team,” and there can be no other. But same as anything else, there are degrees of this thing called fandom, and while I’m not a die-hard, I’m very, very loyal -- but not to the point of rooting for my team when they’re not even playing. Sure, I’m still depressed over my team of choice not being there, but hey, I still enjoy the sport.
So in the interest of spreading the ideals of being a “sympathizer,” here are the major tenets of the concept (sticking to baseball, since it is the mother of this whole new dynamic):

Point:

The team that you traditionally follow will always take precedence. When “your team” and the team that you sympathize with are in direct competition, there can be no doubt where your allegiance lies.

The Model in Action:

1999 American League Divisional Playoffs, Game 5, Jacobs Field: The Red Sox bring Pedro Martinez out of the bullpen and eliminate the last spark of hope for the Indians. The Sox would then go on to lose to the Yankees in the LCS. Screw you guys, we could feel that ‘99 was the last shot for the Indians dynasty. The team was never the same, and I won’t forget that game.

Point:

The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

The Model in Action:

The Yankees suck. See?

Point:

The love of the sport allows you to root for a secondary team if “your team” isn’t involved in the post season, simply to keep an active interest after the guys you root for have gone home for the year.

The Model in Action:

Now, Major League Baseball (as does the NFL) offers a unique opportunity as a fan, since MLB’s sub-categories (the American and National Leagues) allow for some flexibility in the world of fandom. Aside from some chance interleague play, your teams will never play each other. While a lot of fans don’t go this route, there’s really not a reason that you can’t cheer for a team from the AL and the NL. In my case, I don’t have a particular NL team that I pull for, so that means when it’s time for a World Series, I’m going to be rooting for the AL team**. In this case it’s the Red Sox.
Likewise, as a sympathizer, it’s okay to own and wear the colors of your adopted team. But you can never own more than one shirt and one hat, and they can only be worn if “your team” is out of the picture.

Point:

Sometimes, you just have to root for the underdog.

The Model in Action:

Like the Chicago Cubs, the Red Sox are one of the most storied sports franchises around, and they haven’t won in a really, really long time. So when they continually beat the odds, come back from a historically-based point of elimination and give the New York Yankee’s hubris a resounding punch in the face, and generally come across as good guys that play their asses off for the team, you can’t help but like them. When your fan base is unswervingly loyal, when it gets to the point of being able to not just understand their pain, but feel a little of it too, you can’t help but want to be a part of it. When you see signs – not just on television, but around your own Midwestern city – that say “Believe,” you can’t help but want to believe yourself.

But I am not a Red Sox fan. That’s not fair to all those that are. I am a merely a sympathizer.

 

*I’d take Penny Marshall. I get the feeling that Cindy Williams is a scrapper, but something tells me that she just wouldn’t have the endurance.

**Unless it’s the Yankees. Screw ‘em.

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Dustin is regular writer for the the footnote. You may have noticed this by now.