You should pick a playoff team (or more) to root for

And yet, I discovered last year that having your local team miss the playoffs doesn't have to be a bad thing. The Royals also missed the playoffs that year, and yet I became invested in the Seattle Mariners . Cal Raleigh was such a fun story last year, and they had all that amazing pitching. Plus, they'd had one of the most exciting trade deadlines, acquiring Eugenio Suarez and Josh Naylor . So when it came time for the playoffs to start, unlike most seasons, I kept watching.

And what I found was an absolutely liberating experience. When the Mariners managed to scrape past the Tigers and Tarik Skubal , it was nearly as much fun as watching the Royals win. But when the Phillies lost on the terrible defensive play, I didn't feel the crush of defeat the way I normally do. When the Mariners blew the late lead in game seven of the ALCS, I felt a small twinge, but rebounded very quickly. I was even able to transfer my temporary allegiance to the Blue Jays and the exciting story of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. smashing every single ball thrown near him. When they also blew a late lead in game seven of the World Series, again, a small twinge, but then I was able to simply enjoy how cool Yoshinobu Yamamoto 's postseason performance had been.

Every season, 18 teams stop playing after the regular season ends. From that point on, it's constant attrition until there can be only one winner. It seems silly that only 1/30 of the fans get to enjoy the season based on their team winning the whole thing. So I highly recommend giving temporary fandom a shot. It can be rewarding without being nearly as punishing as the usual thing.