Los Angeles

Imagine spending 20 years of your life working for one of the most storied franchises in Major League Baseball history, then showing up for work on a Sunday morning only to be told by your boss that you no longer have a job.

On Sunday, August 8, this was the case for one such person, as well as nine other workers who walked away from Dodger Stadium unemployed.

As all the teams approach the middle of August, there are still teams looking for that final push for the playoffs. The Dodgers are one of these teams; they were buyers at the trade deadline with the acquisition of Ted Lilly and they are five-and-a-half games out of first place.

Striker: Surely you can't be serious.
Rumack: I am serious... and don't call me Shirley.

One couldn’t be surprised if Dodgers manager Joe Torre slipped into the role of Ted Striker from the movie “Airplane!” when talking to L.A.’s GM Ned Colletti's version of Dr. Rumack after hearing of the deals Colletti orchestrated at the trade deadline.

Meanwhile, the reaction from Dodger fans trend towards language with a much higher concentration of salt and vinegar.

The Angels had the second best record in all of baseball for the month of June.

The problem is, the Texas Rangers were the only team better, and they are the team the Angels are trying to catch.

July has not started out with as much promise.

The Angels now find themselves 5.5 games back in the AL West after being swept by the Chicago White Sox during a four-game series in Chicago for the first time in 27 years.

Many are ready to push the panic button and start the fire sale. However, all is not lost with the Angels.

With the official halfway point of the season having already passed on July 4, the Los Angeles Dodgers find themselves amidst another tight race in the always competitive NL West division.

At the 81-game mark, the Dodgers were sitting in second place, trailing the surprising San Diego Padres by 3.5 games; however, the journey thus far hasn't been easy.

The entire Los Angeles squad has been plagued by injuries during the first half of the season, and the pitching staff has been hit especially hard.

The Dodgers marched a total of 19 different pitchers to the mound before the halfway mark&mdas

While rumors swirl about Adam Dunn or Adam LaRoche coming to the Halos in a trade, is first base the real trouble spot for the Angels?

Things are getting crazy in Los Angeles.

With the MLB trade deadline slowly approaching, logic says it's not wise to lose a player to waivers.

An invaluable player to one team could be valuable to another; and when proposing a multi-player package to obtain a quality starting pitcher, player depth is critical.

But let's get real here. Would Nick Green or Charlie Haeger spark interest from other clubs around the majors?

After a lackluster April to start the season, the Dodgers have rallied off seven straight wins and return home two games back in the National League West after completing a three-game sweep of the first-place San Diego Padres.

In a much anticipated home series with divisional rival Los Angeles, the Friday night fireworks at PETCO Park would be the only explosion Padres fans would see for the rest of the weekend.

Eager to see the Padres' new bats take on the Dodgers for the first time this season, Friars fans instead saw 17 scoreless innings to close the series.

Just chill, Giants—we got this.

After sweeping aside the San Francisco Giants in a three-game series, the San Diego Padres had the favor returned to them by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The sweep put the Dodgers just two games back of the Friars for first place, and San Diego now sits just a half-game ahead of the Giants.

For the Dodgers, it marked their seventh win in a row and ninth in their last 10 games. The Dodgers finished the road trip a perfect 6-0, having swept the struggling Arizona Diamondbacks before arriving in San Diego.