If You Don't Have A Dog In The Fight, Here Is Who You Should Be Rooting For In The World Series

It's here baby, we've got World Series Game 1 tonight in Houston for what should be an awesome series. It may not be the repeat series we wanted with Dodgers - Astros but it is an intriguing matchup with the Braves making their first World Series since 1999. Whats better than a matchup like this? An absolutely hated team vs a fresh face. Normally if your team isn't in the World Series you really don't care who wins and don't really have a rooting interest. Maybe you like a player or 2 on a team and pull for them, unless it's the Yankees in the Series and everyone roots against them but it's been so damn long since the pinstripes have sniffed the World Series we really don't have to worry about that. But if you're a fan who's team has been eliminated, who are you rooting for in this World Series? Lets break it down and take a look at who you should root for. 

The Atlanta Braves

Every baseball fan in America outside of Houston is going to be rooting for the Braves. They have the "team of destiny" feel to them with how they made their run to the playoff. Plus they're playing a team with one of the worst cheating scandals in sports history, they have the fans on their side. 

They've got the storyline. They were 52-55 on August 1st and dead in the water. They finished with the 12th best record in baseball and it took them until August 6th to get above .500. They lost their superstar outfielder, Ronald Acuña Jr. to a torn ACL and one of their best pitchers in Mike Soroka while he was rehabbing his torn Achilles from last season. They ended up winning the NL East and smoked the Brewers in the NLDS, whooped the 106 win Dodgers in the NLCS and here they are in Houston for Game 1. They were kind of the lovable losers last year when they blew a 3-1 lead to the Dodgers in the NLCS. They were going to be America's team last year, they were going to finally do it. And then they didn't. 

The Braves basically have Captain America with Freddie Freeman who doesn't have a bad bone in his body. Maybe one of the most beloved baseball player of our generation, he's awesome. The 2020 MLB MVP, he's a guy who a lot of people want to see win a World Series. He's a guy who outsiders root for, and how can you not? He's the man. Then you have a guy like Eddie Rosario who came to the Braves in at trade for PABLO SANDOVAL!!!! He puts on a damn show in the NLCS, Adam Duvall almost had 40 bombs this season, Austin Riley has turned into one of the best players in baseball, Joc Pederson has been a fantastic addition as well since coming over. And I haven't even talked about Ozzie Albies and Dansby Swanson. They're a wagon. 

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Their pitching staff has been awesome too. Max Fried, Ian Anderson, and Charlie Morton have all been outstanding. The bullpen is rock solid as well. They're a damn good team from top to bottom. The lineup really surprised me this season, I can't get over Austin Riley turning into a monster. They're such an easy team to root for so it won't surprise me if anyone without a rooting interest decides to pull for the Braves. And now for the challenger….

The Houston Astros

STONE COLD GLASS BREAK MUSIC PLAYS

HERE THEY COME! THE BAD BOYS OF BASEBALL ARE BACK! Arguably the most hated team in recent sports history, the Astros are back in the World Series for the third time in 5 years. They know you don't like them and guess what, they don't give a shit. They know you hate their guts because they probably cheated, and they're still going to beat the piss out of you. That is the thing about the Astros, they're still really good and they proved it by winning 95 games this season. And guess what, they probably weren't cheating this year. Again they're really good. And that is without Justin Verlander. 

They still have guys like future Hall Of Famer Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa who is likely in his last few days as an Astro, Alex Bregman who battled injuries all season, Michael Brantley who is one of the most underrated hitters out there, and a guy named Yordan Alvarez who is one of the strongest guys in baseball and has turned into a monster of a hitter. He will hit a mammoth home run in this series and I hope it's in Atlanta and it goes over the restaurant they have out there. I didn't even get to touch on Kyle Tucker is. This team is loaded, absolutely loaded. You should love how they build their team too. They draft extremely well, add key guys in free agency and pick the right guys off the scrap heap.

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And their pitching staff has picked it up recently after a dreadful start to the playoffs. Unfortunately they won't have Lance McCullers which is a big blow, but they got some HUGE starts from Luis Garcia and Framber Valdez recently. Valdez is going Game 1 but they're going to have to find more pitching somewhere. Zack Greinke isn't the old Zack we know and love, and he's just not stretched out to make deep starts. Anytime he starts for them it's basically a bullpen game. They have some other guys like Jake Odorizzi and José Urquidy but you can't feel too comfortable with them. 

There is also one huge reason people should be rooting for Houston….DUSTY BAKER! How can you not root for this guy? One of the most liked guys in the sport. A baseball lifer, it would be awesome to see Dusty get one. He got close to one in 2002 with San Francisco and hasn't been back since. I don't want to live in a world where Dusty Baker isn't a champion. He took on a tough job and  has handled it extremely well. He is someone you want to see win. 

It's going to be a fantastic series, I'd love 7 games of these 2 going at it. But as the title says, if you don't have a dog in this fight and are just here to watch some great baseball you have to be rooting for……..

THE HOUSTON ASTROS! How can you not want to see these guys win? They have been torn down, ripped apart, made fun of, thrown at, ridiculed, and they're still there flipping the birds to everyone and winning games. Make fun of them, make the trash can jokes, make the buzzer jokes, say "HOW CAN WE CHEER FOR CHEATERS?!?!?". Listen here bud, theres like a 87% chance the team you root for did something similar to what the Astros were doing so shut your trap and get off your high horse. 

You loved it when Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa were hitting dongs all juiced up, you cheered that? We love to see people ripped down from the mountain top and then to see them climb back to the top. I get they're the favorite, but they're the best team and most exciting team let in, isn't that what we usually want to see win? The best and most entertaining? Hate them all you want, but the Astros are a damn good baseball team. The Braves are great too, they're a wonderful story with some awesome players. But I want to see the better team win, and you should too. The better team is the Houston Astros. You should be rooting for Altuve, Correa, Yordan, Luis, and most of all, Dusty Baker. Go Astros.