Baseball

An objective observer of our two-party political system would be shocked by the exclusionary nature of the United States government.

Many liberals are quite disappointed with the way President Obama has governed so far. They are frustrated by his perpetuation of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, his lackluster environmental policies, and his complete abandonment of Single-Payer health insurance, and rightfully so (though if they had read the fine print during the campaign, this would not have come as a surprise).

It’s too bad this isn’t golf, where a weaker player gets a handicap, because the Angels are playing every game with one less player.

The clean-up hitter.

It’s a vacuum, a non-existent, game-sucking, anchor-dropping, win-defying, gut- wrenching, can’t-stand-to-watch-anymore shadow of a once great player.

Vladimir Guerrero has left the building.

And unfortunately, he’s taking the entire Angels team with him.

This is the fourth installment of a series in which I ponder personnel decisions that need to be made regarding players who were on the team in 2009. You can read the first three here , here and here .

Most fans of Major League Baseball can remember the Fall of 1996.

Back then, the New York Yankees were a far more lovable bunch (unless you were a Boston Red Sox fan). There was no clubhouse glittering with All-Star after All-Star, no recent history of dominance.

New York did represent the American League also-rans as the 1995 Wild Card, but they floundered away a 2-0 lead in the Division Series to the Mariners. The Yanks proceeded to drop the next three games in Seattle and saw their season end on that memorable, game-winning slide from Ken Griffey, Jr.

There were five other at bats that played out eerily similar to those of Alex Rodriguez's past postseason failures. 

He came up empty in his first four plate appearances, where only once did the ball leave the infield. Then there was his weak pop-out to shallow center that left the bases loaded in the 12th inning as the rain picked up and the temperatures dropped in the wee hours of the morning at the new Yankee Stadium.

But there were no boos from the exhausted New York fans afterwards and it wasn't because their jaws were frozen shut. 

Milwaukee fans are used to seeing the above joyful celebration between Braun and Fielder, the two young faces of the Brewers franchise.

They are the ones people associate with the positive change that has taken place in recent years.  They are the ones fans buy tickets to watch more than anyone else on the current Brewers roster.  They are the ones fans of other teams think of first upon hearing the name of the Brewers franchise.

But they are also the ones that will cost more money than anyone else on this team in the long run.  

New York Yankees superstars have come out to play in baseball’s postseason led by predictable, indomitable shortstop Derek Jeter and redeeming performances from third baseman Alex Rodriguez.

Despite cold, rainy conditions, these superstars are shining and the Yankees are up 2-0 in the American League Championship Series after New York’s highly-paid duo paved the way to a 4-3, 13-inning win over the Los Angeles Angels in Game Two.

One morning my kid wandered into the kitchen half asleep and accidentally sent my favorite coffee mug to its demise on my hard ceramic tiles. Okay, accidents happen. But this wasn’t just any mug. This was a 32-ounce monstrous work of art I earned from an overpriced jousting show at the Excalibur in Las Vegas on one of our rare real vacations.