Major League Baseball Soon to Start 2014 Season

The Major League Baseball exhibition season is winding down, with the regular season set to begin early next month.  With it, I am setting out to determine which teams to root for and which to root against.  I have to admit to a biased personal interest in the East Divisions in both leagues.  In the National League, I traditionally support the Atlanta Braves and Miami Marlins, but I also am interested in how the Phillies, Mets, and Nationals are doing...and although I don't particularly like any of the latter, I also harbor no animosity toward them either.  The same applies to the American League, with me pulling for the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays...with a non-hostile interest in the Orioles, Red Sox, and Blue Jays.  I had been rooting against Boston in the past, but last year they won me over in the playoffs and I was glad to see them beat St. Louis in the World Series.  I'm not sure how this concentration of mine on the East came to dominate my baseball interest, but maybe it's similar to being interested more in the Southeastern and Atlantic Coast conferences in football and basketball.  There is a tendency for me to root for the other teams in these conferences even if my favorites aren't playing...even in championship tournaments and bowl games.  My only exception to this is my opposition to Alabama football winning anything...as long as Nick Saban is their coach.

So in baseball I've developed something on the order of an "eastern pride": I have my favorites in the eastern divisions but prefer any of their teams in games outside their divisions.  In pennant races as the season rolls along, there is a tendency to want my favorites' closest competitors in the standings to lose...but I'm changing.  If the Yanks and Orioles are battling it out near the end to see which team goes to the playoffs, and Baltimore plays a team like, for example, Cleveland,  I'm going for Baltimore anyway...even if an Oriole victory hurts New York's playoff prospects. 

I'd like to watch more baseball games this year, at least those involving teams in the East.  I want to get to know each team's lineup in greater detail so that I can enjoy the games more as well...