Angels fans have improbably become Yankees fans before the World Series

Angels fans have a terrible choice ahead of them. The 2024 World Series stage is set, and Rob Manfred could not be happier, as the NL's Los Angeles Dodgers will be facing the AL's New York Yankees. Viewership will be absolutely through the roof, because all the stars are here from the biggest markets! This is a baseball fan's dream come true, right?

Not for Angels fans. Picking a team to root for between the Yankees and Dodgers brings as much joy as picking between Brandon Drury and Anthony Rendon as your favorite third baseman from the 2024 Angels. Either option stinks. While the real answer to the question of who the Angels fans will be rooting for in the World Series is "neither" the real, real answer is the Yankees. If fans are forced to pick, or when the games begin and Angels fans just start instinctively taking a side, the overwhelming majority of fans will be rooting for New York. Gross.

Yes, it's possible to root for Ohtani but still root against your most-hated rival. Ken Rosenthal posted an article recently with this quote from the Dodgers' chairman and controlling owner, “He really was interested in finding a team that he knew wanted to win. I really felt we owed him for choosing us, to be the best team we could be.” It's hard to read that the owner of your biggest rival say that the Angels were not interested in winning as much as them. The Angels owner did not want to win, but the Dodgers' owner did. So Ohtani joined them and the Angels got nothing back. So cool.

Angels fans miss the days where the Dodgers flopped year-after-year in the playoffs, and now their former superstar is aiding the Dodgers financially and performance-wise to propel a World Series appearance. Brutal stuff. In this clash of the titans World Series, whoever loses will be eternally crushed. If Aaron Judge or Shohei Ohtani lose their first career World Series, that fanbase will be set back for some time. Angels fans do not want to see Ohtani fail (or Ryan Brasier, another Angels legend), but the consolation of Dodgers fans going through a World Series loss would be just so juicy. Dodgers fans will point to their 2020 World Series title where players opted out of the season, 60 games were played in the regular season, and everybody got COVID-19. Totally legitimate!

Go Yankees, I guess? Ugh.