Awesome night card, pt. 69

The Dodgers re-signed Vicente Padilla on Thursday to fill out their starting rotation for 2010.

Padilla did a nifty job for L.A. at the end of last season, but if I'm being honest I don't really like the guy. He's shown too many character traits that, to me, are in the "unacceptable" column. Just because he wears blue doesn't mean I have to like him.

That reminds me of another pitcher for the Dodgers I didn't like much. I wasn't crazy about L.A. pouring all that money on Kevin Brown when they signed him as a free agent. And I wasn't crazy about his less-than-enjoyable performance with the Dodgers. But his sour attitude didn't help. I was always a bit ashamed that he was a Dodger.

There haven't been a lot of players on my favorite team that I have out-and-out disliked. I remember being horrified when Darryl Strawberry signed with the Dodgers. I had spent every moment that Strawberry was in the major leagues wishing him the worst. And now he was on my team. He had his troubles with the Dodgers, too. But over the years I grew to appreciate him a little bit more as one flawed human being viewing another.

But other than those examples, I am usually willing to give my Dodgers the benefit of the doubt. I will root for them and believe they're at least semi-respectable human beings.

And that gets me wondering: do other fans find certain players who have competed for their favorite team distasteful? Or are you more the blind allegiance types? You know, like all those Giants fans who defended Barry Bonds even though it was plain as day that he was despicable in a variety of ways.

I'd be curious to know whether people have had difficulty rooting for certain players on their favorite team, either currently or in the past.