Rooting interests for the World Series are complicated now that the final team from Chicago has been sent to the sidelines. Now whom you want to win the title depends on which coast or maybe which league you favor.

I'm not a fan of the Philadelphia Phillies or the Los Angeles Dodgers, so I likely will cast my lot with whichever team, Boston or Tampa Bay, wins the American League pennant.

Anyway, as frequent readers of this space know, I am what a free-agent baseball fan. Much like baseball players hop from team to team, I do likewise. I choose a team in spring training each year that I like and hop on their bandwagon.

The annual dance has its roots in the fact I used to be a New York Yankees fan. I finally got fed up with George Steinbrenner and the managerial turnover, so when the strike of 1994 came, I dumped the Yankees. In fact, I spent almost five years after the strike not watching or following Major League Baseball.

I have rooted for the Minnesota Twins because Commissioner Bud Selig tried to contract them out of existence. I don't like Bud and he doesn't like the Twins, so it seems to be a good match.

This year, after some deliberation, I became a Chicago Cubs fan for the year. I thought it would be great if they won a World Series a century after they won their last one. Also, my wife is a lifelong Cubs fan and I figured we could either suffer or celebrate together.

Other than the sweep in the playoffs, this was a great year for the Cubs. There were a lot of wins, a lot of spirit and the team was fun to watch.

In particular, I liked the fact the Cubs played fundamentally sound baseball. They were good defensively, understood what the cutoff man was and generally didn't beat themselves. Offensively, they were patient at the plate, drew a lot of walks, ran the bases well and didn't take stupid chances. It was the kind of baseball I like to watch.

I also made a point to watch more of the Cubs on television and found I really enjoyed watching Ryan Theriot, among others. He's not the most talented guy on the roster, but he tries harder than anyone else and gets the most out of his talent.

Thus, it was tough to watch them lose so dismally to the Dodgers. It was an entirely different team out there. I can't explain it and will leave it to the experts to analyze why the wheels fell off at the end.

Do I believe the Cubs are jinxed? My rational self says no. However, my inner idiosyncrasies tell me otherwise.

Over the years, I've sat on the couch in uncomfortable positions, my leg going to sleep, in order not to disturb a rally. Keeping a rally going sometimes also means holding the remote control in the correct hand. Sometimes starting a rally is caused by adjusting the sound so it is on "11" rather than "10."

My irrational self has forced me to change clothes during a bad run or store the right combination of clothes together that brought a victory for wearing later.

Who knows? Maybe my choice of shirt/tie combination last week spelled playoff doom for the Cubs.

I hope not. I'd hate to have all that guilt laid at my feet.

But Cub fans shouldn't fret much. As a free-agent fan, I'll likely be rooting for someone else in 2009.

ddawson@herald-review.com|421-7980