But I do like the way they play. In this ALCS, given the choice of teams, I’ll pick Tampa Bay.

I’ve seen several games there, spend a 1/2 my summer 3 hours from Minneapolis and really like the organization.

I will be rooting for the Devin Rays. I am sick of the Red Sox.

The series that hooked me on non Cubs baseball was 1975 so I’ve always had a special place in my heart for the Red Sox and Reds.

and that is how I became a Cubs fan. However, my uncles were all Yankee fans and they are my favorite AL team. Years ago one couldn’t see or hear the Yanks on TV everyday like now. Now I watch/listen to the Cubs first and then listen to the Yanks if they play at a different time.

I only have one other AL team I like and that is the A’s.

They were my introduction to MLB, but lost most all interest when they left the real ballpark.

Am on record with my disdain for the Rouge Sox and their “nation.”

Go Rays!

I came to the realization that I could pick and AL team to follow. I was hoping to find an AL equivalent of the Cubs at that point in time, that lead me to the Red Sox. Obviously a few things have changed since then (for them sadly, not for us) but I still don’t mind seeing em do well. I’d almost be tempted to get the EI package just to watch David Ortiz on a nightly basis. When I was in Boston in April I went to a game at Fenway and the place absolutely blew me away. When we did the tour I was impressed with how much they have done with that place to modernize it while still maintaining the feel of fenway.

You should probably be looking at the Indians. For a long while, I did follow the Indians (and still do to some extent) because Mike Hargrove was their manager and I’m “related” to him by marriage—actually related to his wife. While he was still playing for the Indians, he would always get my aunt and uncle and dad tickets to their games when they would play in Chicago. In the current post season, I would love to see the Rays win it all this year—great story of a team building itself up from the ground up and doing it right. However, I also follow the Royals. They are completely harmless, they too are trying to ressurect their franchise from the ground up, and I currently live only an hour away from the K (Kauffman).

…that I don’t need another team to root for. I actually enjoy watching non-Cubs games with complete objectivity. Don’t care who wins, don’t care who loses. I just enjoy the game itself and the myriad conundrums that pitchers and hitters and fielders work themselves into. I guess what I’m saying is: My heart is (and always will be) with the Cubs, but sometimes it’s fun – well, a relief, actually – to leave my heart out of it.

That said, I’m still picking the Rays to win it all. I know the Red Sox looked pretty calm, cool and collected in the ALDS. But (warning: incoming cliche) the Tampa Bay Rays are the Team of Destiny.

I grew up a fan of them, and still follow them, though there hasn’t been much to cheer for in the last 10 years.

They seem to be heading in the right direction though, however it was monumentally shortsighted that they didn’t trade Roberts last season.

I’m pulling for the Rays as well. I would probably pull for the Red Sox if it weren’t for the constant drone from the TV media on how great the sox players are. They make it seem like they walk on water. Don’t get me wrong, the sox are a great team, probably the best in baseball, but I don’t have to be constantly reminded how Terry Francona is always right and how much heart the great captain Jason Varitek has.

Bleed Cubbie Blue is my favorite AL team! Oh you mean AL as in American League.

The history and success of this crazy franchise has always deeply intrigued me. I admit to rooting very hard for them when it doesn’t impact the Cubs in any way, shape or form.

You should not have a favorite AL team, as you should not recognize the American League as playing real baseball. They play a nasty bastardized version that I will never recognize.

There were the parent club of the Memphis Chicks from 1984-94. I can remember when the Royals were actually good. Hey, they did win 75 games this season, which is great by KC standards. I was hoping the Royals would play the Cubs in the 1984 World Series. Both teams lost in the LCS that year.

In 1989, the Royals contended until late in the season with Oakland for the AL West title. I was hoping for a Cubs-Royals World Series that year. It’s hard to believe that the Royals once-great franchise has gone 23 straight seasons without making the playoffs. There appears to be a glimmer of hope now for the Royals with the way they finished this season.

Indians because I fell in love with the movie Major League a few years after it was released. I stopped paying attention to them for awhile, but my cousin has been with and is now married to a huge Indians fan, so that got me back into them. Talking to him, it was either discuss the Tribe or the Cubs, or how much we disliked the White Sox.

The Red Sox because during that time I didn’t pay much attention to the Indians, I looked to the Red Sox as a team similar to the Cubs. I read all about their history, and was pretty fascinated by them. I’ve followed them since. Now, with how good they’ve been, I haven’t been as interested in them, but it’s nice to see them be a constant threat to the AL, and even the NL in the WS.

Right now, I am focuing on the Bears.

would have to be the tigers. why, i don’t know. i’ve always had a soft spot for ’em.

I grew up in Anaheim and was happy when they won the WS in 02. Became a Cubs fan after moving to Chicago since I wanted to root for a team here, and could just not bring myself to root for the White Sox. Even though they broke my heart this year, I know I made the right choice.