Things I Do During A Baseball Season: Start Passively Rooting For A Random Team

Every season fate ends up delivering to me a team, or two, or three, that I will passively start rooting for. By that I mean, I become about half-aware of their place in the standings and each night, I'll notice when I see their score scroll by the screen or drift pass my eye on the computer screen.

I'll never mention this rooting interest to anyone, I'll never consider watching the team play on their own, I'll never say I'm a fan, but a small part of me, for a month or so, will want them to win.

Usually, this is how it works. Team A will be the designated favorite in a division. For whatever reason (annoying fans, annoying media memes about that team, annoying front office, etc.) I will dislike that team. There's a good chance that I'm going to become a passive fan of Team A's likeliest division challenger. Last season, everything about Texas just kinda burred under my skin, and I spent most of the season passively rooting for Oakland to make that division interesting. (Did the same with the Mariners too, though that didn't last long.)

I've also long fantasied about threesomes. Every year, since the AL Central usually sucks, there's always a moment when I start rooting for the White Sox and Tigers to generally keep winning at their usual .520 pace because I am strongly desirous to see a three team Minn/Det/CWS race. I won't be able to name half of Detroit's lineups, but for a month or so, I'll feel slightly happy when I see that they've won. This has happened like eight out of the last ten years I think. (Maybe Cleveland was involved those few years they were mediocre too.) Since I also hate the Twins, this passively rooting for the Tigers and Sox becomes habitual.

Anyone else do the same?