Game 163 was lit, split at Wrigley Field

Now that my beloved San Francisco Giants’ season is officially over, who do I root for in the postseason? I’ve been living in Chicago for almost two years now, and I’m often asked if I am a Cubs or White Sox fan.

I take pride in saying neither.

For the first time in MLB history, the National League West and Central division titles were both decided in a tie-breaker game on the same day.

I wanted to see just how big the rivalry really was between the Cubs and Brewers really is. I’ve heard people talk about the rivalry between the Cubs and Brewers, the Cubs and White Sox, and the Cubs and Cardinals.

Coming from San Francisco, being a Giants fan and experiencing the rivalry between the Giants and the Dodgers as a fan, I don’t know a more intense rivalry. When I hear of other rivalries besides the Red Sox and Yankees, I always think to myself, ‘that’s cute.’

When I got to my seat, there was a Cubs fan to my left and a Brewers fan to my right. The Cubs fan was a 9-year-old boy named, Isiah Vasquez, who was at the game with his parents and sister. Rafael Vasquez let his son Isiah miss school to attend the tiebreaker at Wrigley Field.

Isiah is no ordinary fan. On Monday he was a Cubs luchador whose favorite player is El Mago, Javy Báez. He sat in the same row as a Brewers fan who asked to remain anonymous because he called in “sick” to work to attend today’s game. He was wearing a Yovani Gallardo jersey.

At one point in the game, Báez was batting and the Brewers had brought in Joakim Soria, formerly of the White Sox, to pitch. Seeing a fellow Mexican not only pitching against Báez, a Cub, and a team I should have been rooting for, I was at that very moment conflicted. Deep down I wanted to see Soria strike Báez out, which he did. So does that make me a Brewers fan or just a supporter of Mexican players?

Every time Báez went up to bat, you heard the crowd chanting, “MVP, MVP, MVP.” The Brewers have their own MVP candidate on their team, center fielder, Christian Yelich. Every time one of these two players went up to bat, both fan bases appeared to try to chant louder than each other.

The rivalry was present, but not as intense as the Giants and Dodgers.

In the end, the Brewers beat the Cubs. When I left the game, I didn’t feel bad for the Cubs for losing nor did I feel joy for the Brewers. I was more upset the Rockies didn’t beat the Dodgers in Los Angeles to claim the NL West. What a crazy day in MLB. I can’t wait to see how the rest of the month plays out.

So, which team am I rooting for to win the World Series? I try to always root for the National League team, but I couldn’t root for the rival Dodgers last year. At the end of the day, I’m rooting for whatever team beats the Dodgers. #BeatLA.

Featured Image: David Durochik / Major League Baseball

Inset Images: La Vida Baseball