I wish I could take credit for that flow chart, but all I did was conduct a Google image search up it popped. The details of the flow chart looked pretty outdated, but I decided to use it anyway. It IS kinda cool.
Re: Mariners and SSI,
I do not intend to completely suspend Mariners fandom, and I do not intend to stop frequenting SSI. I'm like a bad penny in that respect.
Your comments about the Red Sox were interesting. For a quite awhile they have been among the more successful teams in MLB despite playing in a division that is usually pretty stiff competition. Between 2004 and 2013 they won all three World Series in which they appeared by a combined total of 12 wins and 2 losses.
But New England snobbery is a turnoff for me, almost as bad as the insufferable snobbery of New York. Not sure if I could overcome that prejudice on my part.
Another consideration for me is, believe it or not, Fenway Park. For a visiting team or a drive-by fan it's a quaint oddity, a change of pace from the largely similar array of ballparks elsewhere. But I'm not sure I'd want day after day to have games turn on the oddity of the Green Monster. Routine fly balls become doubles off the wall. Of course, home team LF'ers have a huge experience advantage with the nuances of their environment.
Still, it's possible I could end up rooting for a team whose history includes the Babe, the Splendid Splinter, Yaz, Pedro, and Big Papi. I always liked the Sox since the 60's days of Yaz, George Scott, Tony Conigiaro, Rico Petrocelli, Reggie Smith, etc. To me they were the lovable upstarts contrast with the hated, arrogant Yankees. And the 1975 series was one for the ages, though I badly wanted Boston to blacken the Reds.
edited to add, copied from a post under my "Choose" article:
As of today, if I had to choose two teams for top consideration, it would be Boston first, Cleveland second.
1. I'm persuaded that transitioning back to the NL game with pitchers hitting would be difficult for me.
2. Boston gets the edge over Cleveland because they play in a perennialy competitive division, and the East Coast time zone might work best with my schedule. Doc's article today helped persuade me that it's cool, not snobby to adopt the Sox.
3. But I'd be very satisfied with a Cleveland choice. I love their talent and their manager. I love that they're a lunch pail town and carry the mantle of "upstarts."