Focusing on American League Central

I have had a great deal of difficulty getting up any enthusiasm for Major League Baseball this year, even when I have a tradition of rooting for two teams (Atlanta Braves and New York Yankees), as well as having the Florida Marlins and the Tampa Bay Rays based in my home state. So I decided to do something radically different about it.

Instead of concerning myself about the 30 teams in the American and National Leagues or living or dying by how "my team" is doing, I decided to focus on one division in one league, without giving preference to any one particular team in that division. I deliberately picked out one that didn't have any of my aforementioned "favorites" in it, too. The choice? The American League Central division, with its five teams Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, and Minnesota Twins. My aim is to watch any game that is available on TV (during my "free" time, of course) involving any of them (or on the radio, for that matter). I want to become familiar with each team's players and their positions, something that I haven't done too well in recent years. As far as who I will root for in a particular game is concerned, here is my policy: if an AL Central team is playing outside of their division, I will root for that Central team. Even if the opponent is one of my old-time favorites. If two Central Division teams are playing each other, then I root for the defensive (pitching and fielding) team in each half-inning. This way, I believe that I will be more involved in games as they are going on and less with the more extraneous trapping of the sport (like statistics, standings, and steroids).

I already have had an opportunity to try this new "system" out, as the Chicago White Sox just recently played a televised road game with the Los Angeles Angels, thoroughly beating them 17-3. In watching the game, I got to know the White Sox lineup, some of which were present during their World Series Championship run of 2005.

Oh yes, this is gonna be fun!