Your NL Team

[ThePaloAlto]

I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels inclined to cheer for an NL team in addition to cheering for the Twins. I've found myself cheering for the Pirates because I sort of like how they handle their team, and I do find myself watching a ton of Dodgers games because I love Vin and Kershaw. I still haven't settled on a permanent NL team though.

 

My question for everyone at Twins Daily is who is your NL team, and why?

 

Bonus question, who do you feel is the NL equivalent of our beloved Twins, and why?

[gunnarthor]

I care nothing for the NL.  It's AAAA, boring baseball and I mock it whenever I can.  The 06 could have won the NL central.

[theBOMisthebomb]

The Dodgers. I have been cheering for them my entire life and remember the Dodgers losing to the Yankees in the WS in 1977 and 1978. Reggie Jackson made me cry when he hit all those home runs (I was only 5 or 6 years old). Didn't become a Twins until 1983 when my family moved to MN.

[Devereaux]

I don't follow the NL much either, but I suppose I'll pick St. Louis. Midwest team from a hardscrabble town, with a super long history and a boatload of pennants. They never seem to be on the five year tear-down plan, their fans pack their pretty ballpark (and stood up and cheered for Byron Buxton's first hit), and I always liked Willie McGee.

[Loosey]

I always liked the Cubs.  Mainly because they were always on TV on WGN when I got home from school and could watch baseball during the day.  Also, it was the 1st outdoor ballpark I had ever gone to when I was kid with my dad and I liked Wrigley Field.  Plus they are just a 6 hour drive away or an hour and 15 minute flight.

[dgwills]

I kind of follow the Braves. Running into their fans and talking about how we screwed them out of the World Series is very fun. That and they were on basic cable when I was growing up. The cubs were on too, but I never liked them as much. Kind of seemed like a minor league team and their announcer was drunk of his ass. Not that it wasn't funny. You just don't get guys like Harry Caray anymore.

[ashbury]

Giants. I lived briefly in the area twice, plus another stint just up the road on I-80. And they annoy my SoCal relatives who root for the Dodgers, another plus.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Last year it was the Mets. Big fan of Alderson and love that pitching staff.

[biggentleben]

 

I care nothing for the NL.  It's AAAA, boring baseball and I mock it whenever I can.  The 06 could have won the NL central.

 

Odd, I feel that way about the AL Central.

[biggentleben]

If mine isn't obvious, you're not doing it right.

[Pardon My Dinger]

 

Giants. I lived briefly in the area twice, plus another stint just up the road on I-80. And they annoy my SoCal relatives who root for the Dodgers, another plus.

Me too. Not to mention, almost everyone in SF is originally from MN, so it's a good fit.

[ashbury]

Me too. Not to mention, almost everyone in SF is originally from MN, so it's a good fit.

In the Tahoe region where I lived for a long while, I was surprised at the relatively numerous MN car license plates relative to surrounding states with similar populations (WI, IA) and even Illinois.

[Pardon My Dinger]

 

In the Tahoe region where I lived for a long while, I was surprised at the relatively numerous MN car license plates relative to surrounding states with similar populations (WI, IA) and even Illinois.

Yep, i had friends move to South Lake after High School. And I've been there 11 times, myself. It's a weird thing.

[gunnarthor]

 

Odd, I feel that way about the AL Central.

Sure, but you still think Hrbek pushed Gant off the bag.  

[biggentleben]

Sure, but you still think Hrbek pushed Gant off the bag.

It'd be fitting of him to cheat.

[ThePaloAlto]

Sort of surprised to not see Nats fans due to the Senators connection.

 

Also not seeing anyone call out the NL equivalent of the Twins, a year or two back I would have said the Phillies. 

[biggentleben]

Sort of surprised to not see Nats fans due to the Senators connection.

 

Also not seeing anyone call out the NL equivalent of the Twins, a year or two back I would have said the Phillies.

A couple years ago, the Phillies hadn't yet bought into a rebuild. Heck, they really hadn't until July of this year.

 

Current Twins organization comps don't really work. The Rockies are in a similar spot, but about a year behind where the Twins are. Yet they seem to be diving deeper into a rebuild. The Cubs have some similarities, but once their wave of young guys arrived, they had the money to supplement them with guys like Lester. The Diamondbacks could be seen as a cautionary tale, with two dynamic young position players but some mediocre building around them requiring a ton of spending in money and prospects to build up the team around those "stars".

[ThePaloAlto]

Maybe I wasn't paying enough attention at the time, but when times were grim for the Twins they didn't seem to publicly admit they were working on a rebuild? Looking back now it seems obvious to me that that was what their internal goal was, but their public statements all seemed to be aimed at trying to 'win now' even though the moves didn't correspond. 

[biggentleben]

So, while I'm a hardcore Braves fan, I'm a baseball fan first and foremost, and I'm the type that'd watch a game between two 100-loss teams because baseball. I really enjoy watching the Mets pitchers right now and the Cubs hitters. Clayton Kershaw is maybe one of my most favorite pitchers to watch work on the mound, so I try to catch quite a few of his starts on mlb.tv. Cardinal fans tend to ruin the great organization they have, whereas Phillie fans recently have matched the quality of their organization.

 

I will say that I probably have more players I cheer for in either league than teams other than the Braves. Guys like Bryce Harper, Kershaw, Andrelton Simmons (now that he's not a Brave), Miggy Cabrera, and Andrew McCutchen are more what i enjoy out of the game than really following another team.

[biggentleben]

 

Maybe I wasn't paying enough attention at the time, but when times were grim for the Twins they didn't seem to publicly admit they were working on a rebuild? Looking back now it seems obvious to me that that was what their internal goal was, but their public statements all seemed to be aimed at trying to 'win now' even though the moves didn't correspond. 

 

And while that could be true, the Phils moves haven't been toward rebuilding until this last July at all. They were willing to trade guys like Rollins, but only if they got a great return, until it got to the point where they knew their market was about to be eliminated for him and they bit the bullet last offseason.

[KirbyDaisy]

 

Me too. Not to mention, almost everyone in SF is originally from MN, so it's a good fit.

I was stationed in northern Calif. in the sixties and listened to Giants broadcasts, so I have fond memories of them.

[WyoTwin]

I'm a huge Twin's fan but the two National League teams would be Colorado and Pittsburgh. As a kid I loved Dave Parker and having them win the WS in 79 just topped it off. I was 9 years old.

Since moving to Wyoming in 92 to go to college and when the Rockies started playing I started routing for them. I go to a couple of games every year. About 7 hours to Denver from my house.

The team that reminds me of the Twins of yesteryear is KC. I know they are in the American League but they are small market and play good D and runout every play.

[mudcat14]

Having grown up SE Iowa, I was surrounded by Cub fans.  Naturally I root for the Cardinals.  Except when playing the Twins, of course!

[Oldgoat_MN]

I've always kinda been an NL slut fan. I switch teams every so often.

 

I admire the Cardinals history and they seem to have knowledgeable fans. 

 

I like the Pirates primarily because watching Andrew McCutchen is fun. Definitely one of my favorite players.

[blairpaul715]

My favorite NL team is also the Braves, having grown up watching(in North Dakota) the Braves on WTBS......altho the Cubs were on WGN, i just never got into them, like I did the Braves. I was a big fan of Dale Murphy and Bob Horner and many others.................I would say the Pittsburgh Pirates(or Cincinnati Reds) are the NL version of the Minnesota Twins or the closest the NL has to the Twins in how they are run IMO

[South Dakota Tom]

As a kid, it was the Giants - Willy Mays (favorite player ever), Willie McCovey, Juan Marichal, Matty, Felipe and Jesus Alou (favorite baseball cards ever), Bobby Bonds.

 

But now it is St. Louis, mostly because we can get to games there from South Dakota and favorite relatives live there.   

[Hrbowski]

Giants. Lincecum is my all time favorite pitcher, and when you throw in Posey, MadBum and Cain it is an easy choice, not to mention the three titles.

[Don Walcott]

I became a Rockies fan by marriage.  Living in Santa Fe, NM, we're less than 6 hours from Denver, and a about 7.5 hours from Phoenix.  So we've been to spring training games in AZ the past four years, and go to see the Rockies every summer.  However, I did wear my Hrbek jersey to the Twins games in Coors.  I've been to four of the six games they've played there.

[Squirrel]

I don't have a NL team. There are teams I'll cheer on in certain situations, such as wanting the Pirates to win this year, or for the Mets to beat the Cubs. Mostly I have teams I just really dislike, such as the Cubs; and teams I really, REALLY dislike, such as the Braves, so I'll cheer on the teams that play them.

[lukeduke1980]

Don't follow much, but I've watched enough NL in previous years to know that Kevin Correa and Tim Stauffer were mediocre at best against the DH-Less NL lineups