Indifference, Not Dislike

 So there's a bat blog around going into cards that collectors have that feature teams they dislike.

This is an interesting topic to me because my collection's been combed over infinity times and whittled down to what is the most bare bones but also the best version of itself it's ever been.

In theory cards that have negative attributes to them shouldn't be allowed to exist on my property. Any that I do come across are quickly jettisoned.

But I figure I might as well try to have a crack at it. But unlike others I feel like I need to start with defining what I "dislike" and kind of alter the prompt a bit.

For my purposes I'm going to swap out "dislike" with "disinterest".

Simply because I don't have teams I dislike. 

Instead what I have are a bunch of teams that have me feeling absolutely nothing towards them. I can't even remember they exist half of the time and I need to pull up a list of all 30 MLB teams like a moron.

You're all free to disagree but I think that might even be harsher than if I disliked these teams. Being disliked implies there's a quality to make it worth caring about. These teams are the already chewed gum of MLB teams with no flavor or discern-able characteristic to them.

I'm going to call out teams first and then give my various reasons why they exist. In cases where the reasons are the same I'll just lump them together.

Group 1: Tampa Bay Rays, Miami Marlins, Seattle Mariners, Milwaukee Brewers, Cleveland Guardians

Why These Teams Exist in My Collection: TTMs/Ichiro/IPs/Sega Card Gen

Be honest, are you ever excited if you pull cards of these teams from packs?

Would you notice or care if they got relegated to the minor leagues?

They exist and to their credit they usually have just enough talent to be in the conversation for playoff contention thanks to some combination of the 2nd and 3rd wild card spots and the league overall being so diluted that there's this third tier of unspectacular mush.

But even after they get in the playoffs you know they're just there to be fodder that's sent packing by a bigger market team that put in the money and resources to actually be a championship contender.

These teams not being particularly interesting is due to no fault on the part of the players. They can't pick who they're drafted by or who gives them what they think is the best opportunity to succeed in their career. 

Some great players I like played for these teams and some cards from sets I like happened to include them. So it goes.

Group 2: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Pittsburgh Pirates

Why These Teams Exist in My Collection: Japanese MLBers/Exclusive Food Issues/TTM/Sega Card Gen

I'm not sure I can imagine these teams folding or being relegated to the minor leagues just because the eternal futility of the Angels is mildly hilarious and the Pirates are absolutely rich in terms of just baseball history (in ways the Guardians absolutely aren't).

But I will absolutely put up with irrelevant teams bogged down by shitty ownership for five of the uniquest cards I've got.

Group 3: Washington Nationals

Why This Team Exists in My Collection: Bryce Harper/Adam Dunn

The run the Nationals had in the 2010's made it really easy to forget that this franchise has been pretty bad for the rest of its existence. They were terrible as the Montreal Expos, and outside of the 2010's their existence as the Nationals have been forgettable.

After cleaning house with the front office that just wasn't cutting it anymore they're finally righting the ship to make the most of James Woods' prime. But until they show drastic improvement I don't see any reason for people to have Nationals cards in their collection except for guys like Bryce Harper, Stephen Strasburg, Juan Soto or Ryan Zimmerman from that 2010's window of contention.

Although the irony that Harper, who did not win a ring with the Nationals, being the reason why they exist in my collection is not lost on me. Him as a National will always feel just right to me even if it ends up being that he spent more of his career in Philadelphia.

Group 4: Arizona Diamondbacks, St. Louis Cardinals, Minnesota Twins

Why These Teams Exist in My Collection: They don't anymore

Little update since I made that post where I looked at my collection by team.

These teams don't occupy space in my collection anymore.

They join the Baltimore Orioles, Cincinnati Reds, Kansas City Royals and Athletics as teams with no representation in my collection. I've penned Rob Manfred a follow-up letter recommending that these teams be contracted too.

Unrelated Scan

So there you have it.

I probably outed myself as a big market team supremacist with this post but I'm not really going to deny that. I just genuinely feel like the bigger market teams put the better product out on the field than the teams in the smaller markets do because they have the financial muscle (and ownership that wants to win) to do so. It's a consequence of the reality we live in, but that doesn't change the optics of it all.

Anyway the barrier of entry into my shoebox is the highest it's ever been, and the quotas these cards need to meet in order to stick around are even higher. The perceptions I have on the teams do matter a little but ultimately I'm someone who roots for the names on the back of the jersey, not the front.

Unrelated Scan

Just the way I like it because I have clear reasons for all of them for blogposts like this.

Big thanks to Shlabotnik Report and Not Another Baseball Card Blog for getting this idea going and to Night Owl Cards and Chronicles of Fuji for passing it around.

As always thanks for stopping by and take care.