Baseball

The (32-29) Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim come into town to start a three-game series against the (34-28) San Francisco Giants today. 

These two teams are quite different from each other as the Giants depend on their pitching and the Angels depend on their hitting. Giants' pitching has only given up 233 runs where the Angels hitting have scored 296 runs. 

Jeremy Hermida is probably one of the better-hitting outfielders in the league; while Jeff Francouer is a Gold Glove caliber outfielder, his offense has never been as good as it was in 2006. Francouer has been rumored to go the the Phillies, Mets, Red Sox, Royals and now the Marlins. Maybe Francoer can turn around his hitting with Florida, but I doubt it. Hermida is a better hitter than Francouer and is very good defender in right field.

Mired in a huge four out of 45 at-bats to hit ratio is Mr.Vernon Wells, or as most of us Torontonians call him, V-dub.

Still currently hitting out of that four spot, the slugger position, Wells has earned it with his on and off talented bat and defensive seasons. He currently hits .238, with a measly five home runs, and a high left on base total. Comparing our slugger to our small ball second basemen, Aaron Hill, who has 14 home runs tells you something.

Since Michael Lewis' 2003 bestseller, everyday there are new web sites, blogs, and bar room napkins dedicated to the discussion of "win shares" or "similarity score".  Rather than being one of these people, I would prefer to take residence inside of Bill James' colon.

Don't get me wrong, I very much enjoyed Moneyball.   In fact, while watching Jay Bruce, it has been on my mind a lot lately.

Who'll be the biggest star in Washington not named Barack Obama for the next eight years?

Of course Stephen Strasburg right? Not so fast, Nats fans. Remember the name Bryce Harper, for he and Strasburg are your only hopes in turning this thing around.

Bryce Harper is a 16 year old catcher out of Las Vegas high school. That's right, he's 16, and he very well would have gone ahead of Strasburg in this year's draft if he was eligible. Search his name on Google for highlight reels.

Last night I was subjected to an episode of the animated Bob & Doug. Why was this show created? SCTV was a funny show. This thing is an abomination. It doesn't relate at all to Canada anymore.

They don't even have Rick Moranis doing the thing, it's Dave Thomas with Dave Coulier (the guy from Full House who's not Bob Saget or John Stamos and does HILARIOUS voices). Why must we tarnish everything good Canada ever made by trivializing it?

Before the 2009 season started, there were three teams that were widely viewed as possible contenders for the National League Central crown: the Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals, and the Cincinnati Reds.

The Cubs were the defending NL Central champs, had the best record in the National League in 2008, and were easily the most talented team in the division.

The Cardinals had the best player in baseball, Albert Pujols, several talented role players, and expected to see a return to dominance of Chris Carpenter.

Though the race in the AL West is still far from over as of right now, there is one truth that the Los Angeles Angels need to confront in a hurry.

The offense, in its current state, will not overtake the Texas Rangers.

Sure, the team just posted a weekend sweep of the third-worst team in the majors. Sure, the group went off for 26 runs in the series. Sure, they are tied for the major-league lead in team batting average.

None of that matters right now.

The Pittsburgh Pirates no longer deserve to be a part of Major League Baseball.

There, I said it. I have an odd sense of relief getting that off my chest; it was admittedly hard to put that into words, but now that I have it feels good.

A few years ago, there was a time when the Commissioner's offices for MLB talked about contracted a couple teams that were having issues being competitive; the Minnesota Twins drafted and developed players well and have been good for most of the last decade, while the Montreal Expos were relocated to Washington and continue to be bad.

The New York Yankees destroyed the New York Metropolitans 15-0 Sunday in the Bronx to win two out of the three games played during this weekend’s first installment of the 2009 Subway Series.

The lopsided victory was the biggest blowout between the cross-town rivals since the inception of interleague league play in 1997 and it was the Bombers largest margin of victory since they defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 21-4 in 2007.