Phillies or Braves?

Let’s face it, it doesn’t really matter who wins the NL East as long as it’s not going to be the Mets (and it won’t be). But as baseball fans we should have a rooting interest one way or the other. So which hated team are you pulling for — the Phillies or the Braves? I find myself rooting for the Phillies.

Well, I wouldn’t say I’m rooting for the Phillies — it’s more like I hate them less than the Braves. Sure, like every self-respecting Mets fan (although if we really respected ourselves we wouldn’t put ourselves through the torture of being Mets fans), I hate them both, but I didn’t know which team I hated more until a week ago when the Phils finally overtook the Braves for first place, and I was glad.

While the Mets-Phillies rivalry is fresher than the Mets-Braves, the bitter history of the latter is much longer. The Mets rivalry with the Braves dates back to the mid-90’s, while the Mets-Phillies battles only began in 2007.  Maybe in 10 years I’ll hate the Phillies more, but right now I find it hard to hate them as much as the stupid Braves.

What about you — which team do you want to win the NL East?