The Houston Astros took the biggest tumble from my 2019 list as compared to my 2020 rankings (#2 down to #22) but there was one other team who also took a giant tumble:
#21: Pittsburgh Pirates (2019 rank: #3)
Amazingly enough, both my #2 and #3 teams from 2019 fell into the 20s on my 2020 rankings. For the Astros, it was mostly because they are a bunch of (now caught) cheaters. For the Pirates, it's because they were nothing but thugs throughout the entire 2019 season.
If there's one picture that sums up how the Reds (and by extension, me) feel about the 2019 Pirates team, it's this:
The Pirates took exception to pretty much everything the Reds did last year but perhaps nothing got their undies in a wad quite as much as the Reds' Derek Dietrich. Derek was mostly a super sub for the Reds but for whatever reason he seemed to feast on Pirates' pitching in 2019. He also seemed to relish rubbing it in as Derek would often gaze at his mammoth home runs (which the Pirates took great exception to). A few bean balls later and you end up with Yasiel Puig basically taking on the entire Pirates' team at once.
So yeah, if you are going to be petty and play dirty against my favorite team then you're going to fall in my rankings. Add to the Pirates' dirty play against the Reds and when I've watched other games involving Pittsburgh I hear other announcers say that the Pirates play dirty against their team too (specifically the Cubs and Brewers last year). I can't say I watch enough Cubs/Pirates or Brewers/Pirates match-ups to be the judge of that but I will say that I bet there's at least some kernel of truth in those allegations.
From the Pirates, we stay in the National League (but change divisions) for the next team on my countdown. If nothing else, I'd say the team in spot #20 is mostly proof that old rivalries never really die completely...especially from one's childhood.
2020 Rankings:
#30: New York Yankees
#29: Boston Red Sox
#28: St. Louis Cardinals
#27: San Francisco Giants
#26: Washington Nationals
#25: Miami Marlins
#24: Chicago Cubs
#23: Milwaukee Brewers
#22: Houston Astros
#21: Pittsburgh Pirates
#20: ??
Contest entries to date (see here for details):
9 John Sharp
8 P-Town Tom
8 bbcardz
6 hockey kazi
12 Brett Alan
7 Fuji
1 acrackedbat
1 Wilson
10 Matt
1 Trevor P.
1 friend11
1 Adam Kaningher
#21: Pittsburgh Pirates (2019 rank: #3)
Amazingly enough, both my #2 and #3 teams from 2019 fell into the 20s on my 2020 rankings. For the Astros, it was mostly because they are a bunch of (now caught) cheaters. For the Pirates, it's because they were nothing but thugs throughout the entire 2019 season.
If there's one picture that sums up how the Reds (and by extension, me) feel about the 2019 Pirates team, it's this:
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| Source: https://www.golfdigest.com/story/yasiel-puig-tries-to-singe-handedly-fight-entire-pittsburgh-pirates-organization |
The Pirates took exception to pretty much everything the Reds did last year but perhaps nothing got their undies in a wad quite as much as the Reds' Derek Dietrich. Derek was mostly a super sub for the Reds but for whatever reason he seemed to feast on Pirates' pitching in 2019. He also seemed to relish rubbing it in as Derek would often gaze at his mammoth home runs (which the Pirates took great exception to). A few bean balls later and you end up with Yasiel Puig basically taking on the entire Pirates' team at once.
So yeah, if you are going to be petty and play dirty against my favorite team then you're going to fall in my rankings. Add to the Pirates' dirty play against the Reds and when I've watched other games involving Pittsburgh I hear other announcers say that the Pirates play dirty against their team too (specifically the Cubs and Brewers last year). I can't say I watch enough Cubs/Pirates or Brewers/Pirates match-ups to be the judge of that but I will say that I bet there's at least some kernel of truth in those allegations.
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| Another custom Munnatawket mini by Ryan. |
From the Pirates, we stay in the National League (but change divisions) for the next team on my countdown. If nothing else, I'd say the team in spot #20 is mostly proof that old rivalries never really die completely...especially from one's childhood.
2020 Rankings:
#30: New York Yankees
#29: Boston Red Sox
#28: St. Louis Cardinals
#27: San Francisco Giants
#26: Washington Nationals
#25: Miami Marlins
#24: Chicago Cubs
#23: Milwaukee Brewers
#22: Houston Astros
#21: Pittsburgh Pirates
#20: ??
Contest entries to date (see here for details):
9 John Sharp
8 P-Town Tom
8 bbcardz
6 hockey kazi
12 Brett Alan
7 Fuji
1 acrackedbat
1 Wilson
10 Matt
1 Trevor P.
1 friend11
1 Adam Kaningher
I'm going with old school NL West, the Dodgers, as the next team up.
ReplyDeleteGarvey/Cey/Russell/Lopes, etc.
Good job!
I must admit, I had forgotten about that incident.
ReplyDeleteMixed feelings about the Pirates. I've mentioned I rarely like teams in black unis, although the bright yellow does mitigate that. I suppose I did like some of the great Pirates from my childhood--Clemente (who died when I was quite young) and Stargell mostly. And certainly having Brian being such a big fan doesn't hurt. But they're not a team I'll ever really care about.
I have to think that the rivalry you speak of is with the Dodgers, so that' s my guess for the next team.
I too a going with Dodgers
ReplyDeleteI refer to that picture of the brawl as Ketchup vs. Mustard, so when you used the word "relish" in the following paragraph I almost spit out my coffee. Intentional or not, that was well played!
ReplyDeleteI think it's the Braves turn to be featured.
Oh man... I forgot about those brawls. Good times. Haven't really been playing the guessing game, but since the Dodgers popped up twice. I'll go ahead and guess the NL West Atlanta Braves.
ReplyDeleteThe Pirates are my favorite National League team, if only because of seeing so much of them in Spring Training. I'm going to guess the Dodgers this time.
ReplyDelete