The public in the United States of America is a sucker for the underdog story. We like it at the horse track, we like it in movies, and we especially like it in the sports world.
For most casual fans of a sport, it is hard to not get behind a team and jump on the bandwagon as they rise from the bottom of the standings to the top.
As a New York Yankees fan, I have always had little vested interest in the National League, and as shown by the last eight seasons of inter-league play, have thought it was not up to par with the American League.
Yet, there are now not only one but two NL teams that I can't help but root for, and I actually think I may get more genuinely excited when I hear that they won than when I hear the Yankees do.
The two teams I am referring to, are of course, the Washington Nationals and Pittsburgh Pirates.
To give you a frame of reference for how bad these teams have been in the past, let me throw you some numbers.
The last three years one of these two teams have been the worst team in all of baseball. Also in the last three years both of these teams have finished last in their division. The Pirates have actually finished last in their division the past six years, and the last time they were not on the bottom was when the Nationals were actually the Montreal Expos. In the same time frame the Nats have finished last in the NL East five of six times.
To say these teams have been bad, and bad for a while, would be an understatement.
Yet when you look at their records now, you find that not only are both not in the bottom of their division, they are actually both above .500, and could easily contend for a playoff spot. Pittsburgh is only two games back of St. Louis in the NL Central.
What makes both these teams even more exciting is that the best is still yet to come. The Nationals have future stars in Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper, while the Pirates have Andrew McCutchen.
As someone who lives in the DC metro area for most of the year, and have attended a Nats game more recently than any other MLB game, I can tell you I am very excited to watch the Nationals games down the homestretch. I'll also be following along with the Pirates, who have a much better chance of doing the unthinkable and making the playoffs.
I know both these teams have gained my attention, and the sports media pack is starting to pick up on it too. The big question will be can these teams sustain this effort through the second half of the season. I sure do hope so, both for my personal pleasure but more for the fans that have stuck it out with their team for so many years and it has now been made all worth it.
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