Who Should Dodgers Fans Root For?

With the Dodgers not in the World Series, who should fans root for to take home the trophy?

Alright, I know this post is a little sacrilegious. The Dodgers are not playing in the World Series. For the first time in quite a few years, neither team in the World Series is super hatable.

Neither of the two teams really have any sort of rivalry with the Dodgers. The Dodgers haven’t won the World Series since 1988, and we’re all going crazy. However, the Indians haven’t won it all since 1948, and you may have heard the Cubs haven’t won it since 1908.

It’s nice to get some fresh blood in the World Series and not have to deal with the Yankees/Giants/Cardinals/Red Sox being in it. So who should fans root for?

Option 1: No One

This is the best option. If we Dodger fans can’t be happy, no one should.

Watch football for the next few weeks. We just got a thrilling SNF game that ended in a 6-6 tie thanks to two missed field goals in overtime. That is beautiful.

Watch basketball! The Lakers start their season on Wednesday, which is also the night of game two of the World Series. The NBA season starts on Tuesday, as does the World Series. Watch the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers open up against the “superteam” Knicks. The probably-will-be exciting Utah Jazz open up against Portland, whose point guard is undoubtably the best rapper in the NBA. The Golden State Warriors open up against the San Antonio Spurs. The Warriors replaced Harrison Barnes with Kevin Durant. The baseball equivalent of that would be replacing Jimmy Rollins with Corey Seager. Watch that!

Read a book. Catch up on TV. Listen to music. The Walking Dead season premier was great. Stranger Things was great. Luke Cage looks promising after the two episodes I’ve seen. Atlanta is already one of my favorite shows of all time. Lady Gaga just dropped a great album.

There are a lot of reasons to watch the World Series. There are also reasons not to. If you’re overly upset that the Dodgers aren’t in it, watch the Lakers (I promise they’ll eventually be good again).

Option 2: Cleveland Indians

You can root for the Indians!

Pros:

The Indians did not eliminate the Dodgers this season. That was awfully nice of them. The Indians also host the Dodgers next June. Interleague series’ are always fun, as we get to watch players we don’t get to see a lot. Enjoy Danny Salazar, Francisco Lindor and Jason Kipnis. Think about what could have been if Carlos Santana wasn’t traded for Casey Blake.

The Indians are also an extremely baseball-y World Series participant. They had an amazing rotation until all their pitchers got hurt. Salazar missed more than a month with an elbow injury, but is returning for the World Series. Carlos Carrasco was my preseason Cy Young pick before breaking his hand. Trevor Bauer‘s finger was bleeding in his last start. Yet, they’re here somehow.

This might be a hot take, but Major League is a much better movie than Rookie of the Year. Willie Mays Hayes is the runner up of best baseball characters in film history (Benny the Jet is the G.O.A.T. and that is not debatable).

Cons:

Chief Wahoo is awful. The Indians’ mascot/logo has been the subject of controversy, and much like the Washington Redskins, there’s just no reason to continue to offend people. Not that it necessarily offends me, but there’s just no reason to use a race of people as a mascot. I don’t think it’s that complicated.

I wrote this in the pro category as well, but Carlos Santana winning a World Series before the Dodgers winning one would sting a little more. I’m mostly upset at all the musician references I was robbed of, but that was a bad trade.

Option 3: Chicago Cubs

You can root for the Cubs!

Pros:

Remember how historic it was when the Red Sox won the World Series in 2004? That 86-year drought was insane, and being able to witness their first championship was incredible.

The Cubs have gone 107 years without winning a World Series. If someone was born the last time the Cubs won the World Series and was still alive today, it would be newsworthy.

The Cubs are also an awfully lovable team for the most part. Kris Bryant is arguably the second best K. Bryant in sports for the last couple decades. Anthony Rizzo seems like a fun guy when he’s not crowding the plate. Dexter Fowler and Ben Zobrist have been two of my favorite non-Dodgers for a few years. Javier Baez is awfully fun (and Joe Buck won’t let you forget it). Jason Heyward is an incredible experiment in “how bad can you be at the plate and stay in the lineup because of your defense”.

Cons:

Think about how good the Cubs are. Almost too good, like the Warriors. They can’t lose, right?

We’ve seen the ways the Cubs have blown it in the past. Imagine what would have to happen for them to lose this series. Try to think of a random thing that could happen in a game. No matter what you think, there’s a chance it can happen to the Cubs. Kanye West could literally hijack the seventh inning stretch and go on a rant, and it wouldn’t surprise me (for what it’s worth I’m rooting for this to happen).

For all the really easy players to root for on the Cubs, they do have a player that is very easy to root against. Unfortunately, if that player is in the game, it probably means the Cubs are winning. Aroldis Chapman was almost a Dodger, but the trade was nixed with a report of a domestic incident with ugly details. Root against him always. Even if he was a Dodger, I’d be quietly rooting for him to blow saves (sidebar: please please please bring me Kenley Jansen).

Next: Dodgers Coaching Staff to Return in 2017

Conclusion

These are the rooting interests. Root for the Lakers. Then, root for the Indians. The Cubs should be in third, and in a distant last place should be Aroldis Chapman.