Your three favorite baseball teams (including year)

[Eric72]

I was born and raised in Philly. Although I moved out of the city as a relatively young adult, I only went to the immediate suburbs. I've always lived in or around Philadelphia. As one might imagine, I'm a Phillies fan.

In their long history, the Phillies have only won the World Series twice. Yep, just two. Their first was in 1980. I was eight years old. As with many childhood experiences, this is a treasured memory for me. I remember all the players from that team, from Schmidt/Carlton/Rose to Del Unser, Greg Gross, Bob Walk, and Marty Bystrom.

I don't think they were the greatest team to ever take the diamond, that's not what this is about. Simply put, the 1980 Phillies are - by far - my favorite baseball team of all time.

Their second (and, to date, only other) World Series title was in 2008. I was once again able to see the Phillies win it all, this time through the eyes of an adult. I was able to appreciate this one in a different way. Experiencing mostly bad baseball for a few decades definitely changed my perspective.

As a kid, I figured Philadelphia won almost every year. Six playoff appearances in an eight year span; from '76 through '83. Oh, how wrong I was. Over the next 20+ years, they rarely ever made the playoffs. There was that improbable NL Pennant in 1993, but that's about it.

So, what is my third favorite team? I bet some of you are thinking it's that '93 Phillies club. That'd be a good guess. They're not the ones, though. It's the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers.

That '55 Dodgers team reminds me of the Phillies I grew up with. Passionate, loyal, blue-collar fan base. Decades of promising seasons that typically ended in defeat. However, for one bight, shining moment, they stood atop the baseball world.

So, yeah. Here are my three:

1. 1980 Philadelphia Phillies
2. 2008 Philadelphia Phillies
3. 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers

What are yours?