Could you envision rooting for the Phillies in the World Series? (PHOTO BY ICON SMI)

BY AARON YORKE
STACHE WRITER

I was drinking some beers with my Dad before the Jets/Giants preseason game about a week ago when I decided to ask him something that had been bothering me for a little while: “If the Yankees and Phillies both make the World Series, who are you going to root for?”

It was a tough decision but I had already made up my mind a few days before. I decided I was going to root for the Philadelphia Phillies. Not only would rooting for the Phillies be rooting for the much maligned National League, but it would also confuse Philadelphia fans themselves. How could they be sticking it to New York if winning the World Series made their rival fans even a little bit happy?

Of course, the real reasons for me wanting to root for Philadelphia lie in my hatred for the team from the Bronx. There’s not much to be said when arguing with Yankee fans already, and a 27th title for the world’s most successful team of all time wouldn’t help matters. Even if the Phillies won (ugh) back to back championships, that would still only give them just three in their over 100 year history. That’s a much easier number to catch up to.

Plus, the only way I’ve found to successfully bother Yankee fans is to bring up their league leading payroll and the amount of success (or lack there of) that they’ve had with it. For example, did you know the Yankees haven’t won a championship in this millennium? And only one lousy American League pennant! They lost the series to Florida, which means that the cheap Marlins have won a title more recently than the Yankees.

Of course, the Red Sox have won the title twice since the Yankees last won, and this drives the Yankee fans crazy, no matter how often they wear their “Bawston Sawks Cawk” t-shirts.

So the reason I’m rooting for the Phillies to beat the Yankees in the hypothetical World Series is because I don’t want the Yankees championship-less streak to end. We’ve already blown the drought for the Phils, and while the Yankees may have 26 titles, the fact they haven’t won recently, and with that HUGE payroll, is perhaps the only way to annoy their fans.

Of course, after I explained all this to my Dad, he said he would root for the Yankees. Why? He just hates them more. Rollins, Utley, Howard, Victorino, and especially Hamels just drive him crazy in a way those sell-outs in the Bronx don’t know how. I was sad thinking that my Dad, who had taught me to hate the Yankees since I was a kid, was being forced into rooting for them.

But then I remembered that the playoffs hadn’t even begun yet and that if we all root hard enough, this apocalyptic situation may never come to pass. After all, the Cardinals are looking really good lately, and the Yankees can never seem to get by the Angels. While the Mets may be left out, there will still be a lot to cheer for in October.

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