Minor League Fans.....allegiance?

[RonnieWooWooSanto]

If you are a fan of a particular minor league team and even more so if you live in the area of that minor league team does that make you automatically a fan of the parent ball club considering that is where their future players are being reared?

 

I'm assuming that is the case and if so what happens when affiliations change? So if let's say the Cub are no longer affliated with West Tennessee and a new team becomes associated with West Tenn. Do you become a fan of the new parent club and slowly move away from the old parent club, the Cubs in this case, as less and less players from your minor league team are part of the old affliation?

[Chris]

I don't believe that being a fan of a Minor League club automatically makes you a fan of the parent club. However, it is hard not to pull for guys that you see and get to know on the Minor League level when they make it to the Majors, regardless of the organization they came through.

If the affiliation changes for the Diamond Jaxx I will still be a huge fan of the Jaxx regardless of the affiliation.

[RonnieWooWooSanto]

I don't believe that being a fan of a Minor League club automatically makes you a fan of the parent club. However, it is hard not to pull for guys that you see and get to know on the Minor League level when they make it to the Majors, regardless of the organization they came through.

If the affiliation changes for the Diamond Jaxx I will still be a huge fan of the Jaxx regardless of the affiliation.

 

I figured that maybe your allegiance to DJaxx would remain, but then maybe and interest you have for the Cubs might wane if the D Jaxx became the minor league team of anothe MLB team.

[Chris]

I don't believe that being a fan of a Minor League club automatically makes you a fan of the parent club. However, it is hard not to pull for guys that you see and get to know on the Minor League level when they make it to the Majors, regardless of the organization they came through.

If the affiliation changes for the Diamond Jaxx I will still be a huge fan of the Jaxx regardless of the affiliation.

 

I figured that maybe your allegiance to DJaxx would remain, but then maybe and interest you have for the Cubs might wane if the D Jaxx became the minor league team of anothe MLB team.

 

I'd still go, but of course it wouldn't be the same if the Jaxx were no longer the affilate of the Cubs. My wife and I have had some great memories at Pringles Park. We had dates at the park and went all the time when I got a job 15 minutes from the park. In addition, Pringles Park is a beautiful facility. I live the same distance from Pringles Park as I do the home park of the Nashville Sounds. Even if the Jaxx were not the affiliate of the Cubs, I'd rather go to Pringles Park. If another affiliate comes to Jackson I have no doubt that I will pull for guys once they make it to the show, but I won't be signing on for a new team.

 

The other factor to consider at least in my case is in regards to the relationships I've built with the people in the Jaxx organization. They've been more than good to me over the years. In the event that the Jaxx changed affiliations I would like to think that I would continue trying to help the organization in any way possible.

[Quakers]

For me it is different. I have rooted for Boise and for Eugene when they have been Cubs affiliates. I mainly go to see the young prospects and then enjoy watching them mature as they go through the system. I will occasionally see Beavers games (when they are not playing Iowa), but then I am usually looking for good prospects and enjoying watching a baseball game. I really don't root for the home team.

[NCCubFan]

When I lived farther east in North Carolina than I do now (from 1994 through 2000) I was a fan of the Kinston Indians (high-A Carolina League) because I lived about a half hour away. I went to a few of their games each year. I did root for their former players when they reached the major leagues (some of their players I watched include Bartolo Colon, Jaret Wright, Danny Graves, Richie Sexton, Russell Branyan, Enrique Wilson :pukel: , and Damian Jackson :pukel: ). However, I didn't become a fan of the Cleveland Indians. Now I'm a little over an hour away from the Durham Bulls and root for them, but I'm not a Devil Rays fan. (I also live about an hour from the Carolina Mudcats, but I can't root for them because they're a divisional rival of the Djaxx).

[rocket]

one of the reasons i love dunn is because i saw him play for the dayton dragons.

[karenmac]

when the Chiefs had that tragic time affiliated with the Cardinals, I had this conversation in my head. Here's what I came up with: at low-A, if guys get to the big show at all, the likelihood that it's with the same team isn't always true. For instance, Daric Barton spent his season with us before getting traded to the A's. I'm more than happy to root for the A's . Jason Burch, same thing...he was a reliever who spent a year with us before getting traded to the Rockies organization. Someday, this might very well happen with a current Chief that ends up somewhere else. I'll be pulling for him, no matter where he ends up.

 

As with everything in life, there are great guys on these teams, and you know, whether they're playing baseball or doing something else, they're going to be successful because they're good people (Aaron Smith from last year's Chiefs comes to mind)

[Derwood]

Our new team (Short-A) is a Cardinals team, but they are the home town team so I cheer for them. Short-A is so many levels removed from the actual Cardinals that I don't feel like I'm in any way compromising my allegiance to the Cubs. As others have said, it's more about being a fan of the individual players and watching them progress towards the majors. If the Spikes reaffiliated with another team that wouldn't change anything.