Old Time Family Baseball

The attachment one has to a team is largely a matter of the heart. It comes down to intangibles, emotions, and feelings; those terrible things that are as unquantifiable as the beauty of a summer’s day. Or that lightness you feel after using the bathroom in the morning. So when your favorite team inevitably fails to make the playoffs, oftentimes a sense of purposeless drifting fills the human soul which is only lifted when pitchers and catchers report in February.

Fortunately, Lewis Pollis of Beyond the Box Score has finally found a way to worm science into mysticism with his brand new “ROOT (Rootability Of Other Teams)” statistic. 

Pollis’ methodology:  

“We’ll begin by calculating the basic ROOT scores—i.e., who a fan with no team affiliation should pick as his or her temporary favorite. I’ve identified four factors that can contribute to teams’ scores here: being preseason underdogs, making a late-season comeback, being fun to watch, and not being a franchise that people generally don’t like. Here’s the calculation:

• Add half a point for each game away from the playoffs the team finished last year
• Add one point for each game out of the playoffs the team was on September 1
• Add the team’s NERD score (as calculated by the incomparable Carson Cistulli)
• Subtract five points if the team is the Red Sox
• Subtract 10 points if the team is the Yankees”

Click through to reveal the answer. 

As for me, I’ll be rooting for the Brewers because of these five basic tenants which apply to my life. 

1. They have the best Jewish player in baseball.
2. They have the best fat player in baseball.
3. They have the best crazy player in baseball. 
4. They have the best Craig Counsell in baseball.
5. They are named after beer.

For those starting their own October romance, who will you be following and why?