Rays Fan Finalist For MLB’s Fan Cave Is Also A Yankees Fan
MLB Fan Cave February 9th. 2012, 1:11pm
Major League Baseball has announced their 50 finalists for this year’s MLB Fan Cave. And while not every team has a fan represented, the Rays do have one…sorta.
The finalist representing the Rays is Megan Washington, from Cape Coral, Florida. And she says she is a Rays fan. But she also says she is a Yankees fan. So yeah, she really isn’t a fan of either.
In her video application, she is even seen wearing a Yankees jersey. And she was also wearing a Yankees jersey in her Twitter avatar (it has since been changed).
Obviously this is troubling at best, and a slap to the face of the Rays fan base at worse. After all, if they were going to pick a Rays fan, there was at least one real Rays fan that even had the endorsement of David Price and James Shields.
But what is really troubling is that this caters to the stereotype that the Rays don’t have any real fans and the few that do exist are just jumping on the bandwagon and still have one foot on the Yankees or Red Sox wagon.
So, Miss Washington now needs people to vote for her in order to make into the actual Fan Cave. And we told her we would support her campaign if she renounced the Yankees. She would not.
We spoke with the folks at the Fan Cave, and they explained that it wasn’t about finding reps for each team specifically (by our count, the White Sox, Marlins, Royals, Nationals,and Astros are without any reps), but rather it was more about finding the most entertaining fans out of the 22,000 applicants.
Still, it is not easy to be a true baseball fan and root for two teams. It is downright impossible if those two teams play in the same division.
So if there is a possibility that the “Rays representative” will be wearing Yankees gear in the Fan Cave, well, we would just prefer that the Fan Cave not have a Rays fan at all.
I sure wont vote for her….
Cheering for both teams….is that sort of like “open marriage?”
I can see cutting someone some slack if they have a favorite NL and a favorite AL team, and then they just need to decide between them every 75 years or so when their two teams happen to meet in the world series. But claiming to be a fan of two different teams who play in the same division and meet each other at least 18 times a year….sorry, doesn’t work. No vote from me.
Well put.
I’ve been a Reds fan since I was a kid and me and my grandfather went to a few spring games at Al Lopez Field every year. Davey Conception’s autograph on my game scorecard cemented my love of baseball.
However, on those rare occasions when the Reds meet the Rays, current connection prevails over childhood memories, and I’m wearing blue.
I counted exactly one picture involving the Rays.
Good post. My first reaction was that you should organize a “vote for anyone else” campaign. But that will likely help her vis a vis any publicity is good publicity. Let’s hope she disappears into obscurity along with the rest of the Yankee fans.
Just because she likes both teams, does not mean she’s “betraying” either one. When your favorite teams don’t make it to the playoffs, you choose one and hope for one of the others to win the championships right? I thought her video was creative, fun, and original. In order to be approved for the contest, you must have had to watch at least 2000 games prior to entering. She sounds pretty devoted to me.
You’re talking about grabbing an emergency team after your team is eliminated…fair enough. But we’re in spring training here. How can you possibly root for both teams? And by the way, how can you be “Greg” too? I thought I was the only one. Cork replaced me after I complained about his writing style, didn’t he.
Supporting more than one team is entirely possible, and you are short-sighted to think otherwise.
First, it is never wrong to support your childhood team for the rest of your life. (well put, zenny)
Second, most people like to support the home team.
Given the mobility of the average American, there is a good chance that these will be 2 different teams.
I’ve moved around this country quite a bit, and I’ve connected with different teams to different emotional degrees. I could say that I root for 5 teams: 3 AL, 2 NL. I don’t think that rules me out from being a true baseball fan. But it does mean that out of 15 games on any given day, I could root for one team in as many as 1/3 of the games. Not counting whoever is playing the Red Sox.
My choice was made for me and made simple. I am a widower and not divorced from my childhood team.
I can see if you had a childhood team being loyal to them in your memory. So if Frank Howard, Ed Brinkman, Del Unser etc. walked out of that cornfield I would root for them against the 2012 Rays. Fortunately they didnt pose any threat to anyone in the late 60′s and early 70′s so they sure wouldnt win today.
Seriously if you claim to be a fan of two teams who play each other regularly you arent a fan of either as most of us see it. it is sort of a social status usually. Some claim it so they can always root for whoever is on top. Having two teams by its very nature makes you a casual fan.
For those here who are saying “supporting two teams is possible”, you are sort of right, if those teams are at the very least not in the same division; real sanity=AL/NL. You cannot be a real fan of a team and root for their hated division rival; otherwise, you are just a lame half-a##ed “fan”. The Yankees are our most hated enemy; recent history has proven them to be more trouble than the Red Sox. If this person was a fan of Toronto, I might be able to somewhat find a shred of understanding, but the Yankees!??!! She is not a positive representation and hopefully gets nowhere close to making it.
Exactly. You can “follow” different teams and respect their players, but you’re not a fan if you don’t seriously dislike rivals, especially in the heat of the battle.
No way MLB should’ve picked that person to represent anybody.
There is no way I would vote for a Yankees fan. There is no way you can be a Yanks and a Rays fan. In the AL East it is one or the other. I do not want her to repsresent my fav. team in anything!!!!!!!!!
I know football fans who have a different “favorite Team” everytime there is a game on TV…usually the team they are losing money on…then they change their minds (team) after the game is over..and they pay off….. usually like “those damn Patriots”…I really like Elli… He’s my “favorite player” and on & on
I agree 100% with this article. I expect this bullspit from the crappy “four letter network” but not by an MLB product. Way to stoop to the idiotic tactics of the northeastern network. Slap across the face is the only way to take this “Ray’s representation”.
Wow…I couldn’t even watch that application video all the way through. There’s no way you can be a fan of both, not in the same division. As others stated, I can understand an AL/NL allegiance. But Rays AND yankees?
MLB Fan Cave: I am NOT entertained.
Typical of females in her age group, this girl is mind-numbingly airheaded.
Okay I watched the video and perhaps I was a bit harsh. Will downgrade from mind-numbingly to mildly airheaded.
Right, because when I see the videos posted for MLB fancave by the “males” in that age group, it’s clear that these are some serious thinkers. I mean, how many times do we want to hear how Hegelian philosophy informs the pitcher-batter confrontation, guys? Really!
I was wondering how many posts it would take before things took a sexist turn.
What a joke! This is exactly the problem with the Tampa Bay Area. I would bet the house she didn’t start liking the rays until 2008. You can’t be a fan of both these teams. Same division just doesn’t make since. I can totally agree with having NL and AL teams. We are trying to build a true Rays fan base and here we go with this crap again. This is all we need but a person in the spotlight doing the one thing true Rays fans hate. Coming to the Trop in Rays gear for 70+ games then putting that stinking Yankees/Red Sox crap on for those 9 games a year they come to play in the Trop. This is the crap that makes me sick. We need true Rays fans representing us. Fans who go to 5+ games and are glued to the TV the times they can’t come see there beloved Rays!!! This is going to be one hell of a season and I can’t wait to see the fan support behind this team this year.
Another bum, move back to NY.