Who Should Philadelphia Phillies Fans Root for in the MLB Playoffs?

For the first time since 2006, the Philadelphia Phillies are on the outside looking in as October baseball rolls around. The Phillies never recovered from their slow start to the 2012 season, finishing just 81-81 and in a distant third place in the highly-competitive NL East.

It’s rough watching especially because of the National League teams that have made the playoffs this year – two are from the division and the other two have knocked the Phillies out of the playoffs in consecutive seasons.

There’s no way Phillies fans can possibly root for the Atlanta Braves considering how much the two teams have been rivals over the years. And thanks to the St. Louis Cardinals’ win over the Braves earlier today, the Phillies won’t have to root for the Braves at all.

The Washington Nationals surprised everyone with just how good they are and I have nothing against the Nationals. But I’m certainly not rooting for a team within my division, so they’re out.

That leaves the Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds, and the San Francisco Giants in the NL. The Cardinals beat the Phillies last year in the playoffs and they’ve been one of the better NL teams over the last decade, winning two World Series and going to three in the last eight years.

And the Giants devastated a 2010 Phillies team that I thought definitely had the ability to win it all. I’ll back the Cardinals more than the Giants though, because I like the origin of St. Louis as a baseball town and I got really sick of hearing about Brian Wilson and his beard in ’10. But the Reds get the edge over the Cardinals in the NL.

In the American League, I’m certainly not rooting for the New York Yankees because I don’t need to see the Yankees in another World Series. I would have no problem with the Baltimore Orioles or Detroit Tigers making it. I would rather not see the Oakland Athletics simply because I think they’re an incredibly boring team that overachieved all season (not to take away their success).

But I’ll go with the Texas Rangers easily. I know they’ve been to consecutive World Series but I love Josh Hamilton and I really want to see them win it after coming so close two years in a row (especially last year).