The ALCS Rooting Guide for Mariners Fans
By Ben Renner
The ALCS starts tonight between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Cleveland Indians. Here’s a rooting guide to help you, as a Mariners fan, decide who to root for.
Yes, the Mariners‘ season ended with the regular season, but baseball rolls on. After an unusual and wild series win by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Divisional Series over the Washington Nationals, we’re down to the final four in the MLB playoffs.
On the American League side, manager/genius Terry Francona‘s Indians take on the powerful Blue Jays. If you enjoy playoff baseball as much as I do, you’ll be tuned in to see who will represent the American League in the World Series this year. And if you’re like me, you’ll need a team to root for (fantasy baseball season is over, after all). Let me try and help you out.
There are plenty of reasons to root against both of these teams, of course, but let’s start with the obvious:
Wow, the Toronto police caught the "ONE Jays fan" causing all the problems at Rogers and all the stadiums...no thanks to the Blue Jays pic.twitter.com/bgUKzBty39
— Alex Ahn (@alexahnod) October 7, 2016
Look all around you in the sporting news for examples of why Jays fans are the worst #MyHouse #GoMs
— Emerald City Swagger (@EmeraldCitySwag) October 5, 2016
I tweeted that last one after former Mariner Adam Jones of the Baltimore Orioles said that Jays fans shouted racial slurs at him during the Wild Card play-in game. And we all saw the video of a fan throwing a beer bottle at an Orioles player.
And then there’s the piles of Jays fans who come down from Vancouver to root against the Mariners at Safeco Field. A Toronto fan (from BC, I think) explained why they all love a team based thousands of miles away when they have an MLB team down the highway from them:
because country trumps geography. We don't have an NFL team. I've been a Hawks fan since 1977 when I was 5.
— Brad Fisher (@brad_fisher11) October 6, 2016
Sounds like Vancouver needs a gosh-darn baseball team. But until then, we’ll continue to see Maple Leaf flag waving bandwagoners driving to Seattle (I bet flights are cheap, too) to root against the home team. (It’s okay to jump on the Seahawks’ bandwagon, Canadians. At least you’re rooting for the home team in our stadium.) I don’t think I’m alone in hoping the Jays lose the series, lose all their good players–maybe Edwin Encarnacion signs with Seattle–and fade into obscurity again so we don’t have to suffer their fans at the Safe anymore.
Maybe that’s harsh. And unlikely. There are reasons to root against the Tribe in the ALCS as well, aside from their racist mascot. For those of you old enough to remember, the Indians ended the Mariners’ magical 1995 season in the ALCS. I can still see Griffey’s tears. They were also a playoff nemesis in 2001 when the Mariners barely escaped to the ALCS on the old, left arm of Jamie Moyer in Game 5 of the ALDS.
Whoever you root for, it will be a good series. Both teams match up well, and who knows? With the Jays’ attitude, a fight might break out. Watch out for that right hook, Jose Bautista.
Game 1 is tonight in Cleveland at 5:08 p.m. on TBS and TSN.