For the twenty consecutive World Series played from 1975 to 1995, the team I was pulling for to win, lost. I often wonder what it would be like to have those 20 Series reversed. I'll give a brief rundown of each Series and why I rooted for the team that I did. More often than not, I cheer for a National League team if there's no other difference between teams. My childhood Oakland A's won three consecutive Series in '72, '73 and '74. Then my 20 year drought came.
1975 - Reds def. Red Sox. As a Giants fan, I came to hate the Big Red Machine. I was cheering for the Sox. We know the story.
1976 - Reds def. Yankees. Okay, I hated the Reds, but the Yankees hadn't done anything my whole life, so they were okay to cheer for.
1977 - Yankees def. Dodgers. While I'm a Giants fan and HATE the Dodgers, I hated Reggie Jackson and his personal public relations firm, Howard Cosell, even more. The Yankee media bias started here in my life. I wanted both teams to lose so badly it was an awful series to have to watch. But I couldn't bear to have the Yanks win at all.
1978 - Yankees def. Dodgers. Ditto 1977.
1979 - Pirates def. Orioles. When I was seven, I cried when the Bucs beat the Birds in the '71 series. I was pulling for some minor revenge. No big deal, I just wanted to see the Birds win a bit more than Pittsburgh.
1980 - Phillies def. Royals. I was turned off by Pete Rose and some of the general Phillies vibes. So I was giving a slight cheering advantage to the Royals.
1981 - Dodgers def. Yankees. The tables had turned from '77-'78. I hated everything there was about Los Angeles and the Dodgers. Enough to cheer for the Yankees. Yes, painful Series to have to know exists.
1982 - Cardinals def. Brewers. I think I cheered for the Brew Crew out of hatred for Astroturf and multi-purpose stadiums.
1983 - Orioles def. Phillies. I really don't know why I cheered for Philly, but I did. It probably happened just after game 1 started. Fans just get that thing in their heart, favoring one team over another.
1984 - Tigers def. Padres. Okay, hearing about the Tigers All. Season. Long. just wore on me. I played the NL card, too.
1985 - Royals def. Cardinals. I think I favored the NL team here, but just slightly.
1986 - Mets def. Red Sox. The New York media hype surrounding Lenny and the Mets, including the Straw, was just too unbearable. I also happened to stay with the Mets for three days in a Montreal hotel just after they clinched the division. What a bunch of first rate assholes ( I wanted to keep this as clean as possible. This is a family blog).
1987 - Twins def. Cardinals. NL over AL, plus I loathed the Astroturf, the parachute roof, the teflon warning track, the hefty bag outfield fence, the air conditioning blowing out during Twins at bats and that stupid, moronic Homer Hanky.
1988 - Dodgers def. A's. I grew up an A's fan, and I hated the Dodgers from being a Giants fan. What a joy it was to see Canseco hit a grand slam in the top of the first of game 1. Four batters, four-nothing. I thought it was over right then. This was my first World Series I attended in person. I refused to watch the Dodgers celebrate.
1989 - A's def. Giants. This one was tough. I grew up a fan of both teams. Becuase of each team's ineptitude over the last decade and a half, I was certain I'd never have to face these circumstances. I went to every game of this Series. Torn, I did like the song said and rooted for the home team. The scales tipped toward the Giants slightly because Oakland already had three rings and just lost to the hated Dodgers the previous year. I was shaken by the earthquake. What an event.
1990 - Reds def. A's. Heartbreaking to see the heavily favored team get killed like that. I also witnessed Eric Davis' kidney injury from the bleachers. Ouch. I didn't watch the Reds celebrate.
1991 - Twins def. Braves. I hated the Twins for all the same reasons as I did in '87. It had nothing at all to do with the players, just the fakeness.
1992 - Blue Jays def. Braves. I wasn't too keen at the time to let an American sport be won by a Canadian team. The font the Jays used on their uni's was also bad. Bad uniforms all around. This was the first year that the President didn't call the winning manager in the club house. It's never happened since.
1993 - Blue Jays def. Phillies. NL over AL. US vs. Canada. I also liked the idea of a bunch of guys that didn't know how to shave. Plus they beat the now hated Braves in the playoffs.
1994 - No Series: player's strike
1995 - Braves def. Indians. I took a serious hatred to the Braves once they started winning in the early 90's. They already played in Fulton County Toilet, the worst field in history (decimated by the Falcons each September) in the cheapest ballpark in history. TBS had the worst homer bunch of announcers ever, criticizing Candlestick Park on their telecasts. These guys were clueless and completely blind to anything other than the Braves accomplishments. Plus that idiotic tomahawk chop faked so cheesily by Jane Fonda. So I cheered for the Tribe.
1996 - Yankees def. Braves. As much as I hated the Yankees, they were silent for 15 years and harmless. They started winning in '95 and I at least had some small amount of respect for them, even if I hated them. The Braves had become an abomination to me, so the Yankees ended my 20 season drought of cheering for the losers in the Fall Classic. Yay!
I would gladly reverse the outcome of some of these Series if I could, especially the 1988 to 1990 Series!
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