i am an atlanta braves fan. in 4th grade i played a season of baseball, with the boys. we were the pirates. it was fun but i totally sucked. although i never really became a pirate fan, it got me liking baseball. the next year the braves played in the world series, beating the pirates on the way. they lost that WS but i watched the whole thing as a braves fan, and i made a lifelong decision that i would be a braves fan. most people who are fans have a reason, like living in a city or having family who were fans. i don't watch baseball unless the braves are on, or i know the people.
so here are two players who i watch and cheer for (as long as they aren't playing my braves). they are both outfielders:
jacoby ellsbury was a player at oregon state while i was there. he was a first round pick by the boston red sox and just made his major league debut this summer. i worked my share of baseball games and this guy was fun to watch. great defense, hitting and base stealing. he is the man! he's also cute and a nice guy.
shane victorino is a maui boy. he went to st anthony and now plays for the philadelphia phillies! i didn't know anything about him until i was working in a sports medicine clinic in hawaii. he was doing specific training at our clinic so i met him. he's a great guy, real funny and down to earth. i didn't even know he played in the majors!
the point is, baseball is keeping me from studying right now. cheering the red sox on...it's game 7 of alcs, they win it's WS time. bottom of the 7th and jacoby is up. the score is 3-2 sox..
basically, i want to see a phillies vs red sox world series. while i did enjoy the red sox's thrashing of the rockies last year, it didn't make for a very exciting series. i like when it goes to game 7 and it's been awhile. either way, i'd have one guy on each team to cheer for and wouldn't really know which way to go. so if i'm just a casual fan, not a rabid/avid one then wanting a good, competitive long series is best. on the phillies i've got shane victorino, who is a great guy from maui and i've seen his mom at the costco there. he's nice, down to earth and funny as well. on the other side - jacoby ellsbury of the red sox went to oregon state and of course i got to work with him a little. he is pretty shy but has a great work ethic and steals bases like crazy.
so i've got two good guys to root for and hopefully it will work out for me. i was watching the phillies game and they were down 2-0, victorino was up, he hit and the throw from ss rafael furcal (see that's what he gets for leaving the braves!) was errant. so shane took 2nd and the rest is history i guess. the next batter hit a homerun to tie. then there was another homerun shortly after to seal the deal, 3-2. tomorrow all teams play so i'll definitely be rooting for the boys.
