Riverside

Forget the stale taste of yet another Yankees-Red Sox rivalry.

If you're looking for relentless competition between heated rivals, do what your forefathers did: head out West.

After a flurry of moves this offseason, the AL West has finally become major league baseball's Wild West.

For the better part of a decade, the game's smallest division was really just a one-horse town, with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim laying down the law in six of the past 10 seasons.

But a shuffling of all four decks has put the three-time defending champs on the defense.

With a sudden influx of young guns an

In an article about the Yankees outfield depth beyond their starters , I made the assumption that Marcus Thames was going to make the team and made it seem like the only way Jamie Hoffmann would stick with the team is if the Yankees worked out a trade with the Dodgers to keep the Rule 5 pick.

There are always warning signs to addiction.

Addicts often experience mental and emotional instability, changes in physical appearance, and a sudden rejection of family or friends.

Fans, then, are addicts.

First and foremost, we are fanatics, the root of the term “fan.” We cheer wildly in large groups of strangers for players most of us have never met. We dress up in costumes like children on Halloween to show our team pride.

And, for a brief few hours, we push away everything in our world that doesn't revolve around that day's game.

Friends, family, work?

Former Dodger closer Eric Gagne can represent the best of times as well as the worst of times for Dodger fans.

Some would say strains of "Welcome to the Jungle" still reverberate around Chavez Ravine. Others still feel disgust from the disclosure of his PED usage.

Wash away all the sweet and bitter and one fact remains, Eric Gagne's last dominant season as a closer is five years in the rear-view mirror. The chance of him recapturing anything close to that form is approximately equal to that of Tommy Lasorda passing up a free dinner.

Roy Halladay is in Philly. John Lackey is in Boston.

Now is the winter of the Angels' discontent.

Just days after baseball's Winter Meetings ended, after which GM Tony Reagins claimed his team had laid “groundwork,” the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim watched their hard work melt away like snow in the coming spring.

For those unfamiliar with the situation, or if you've just been living under a baseball-free rock, let's recap the events of the Angels' Black Monday:

Lackey Signs with Boston

Question number one, what do the Dodgers have? Question two, what do they need? The questions are very simple to answer. The Dodgers have a flurry of young stars, Manny Ramirez, Gold Glovers, but no ace.

In order to play in the Fall Classic, it takes more than just one pitcher you are constantly counting on to deliver. You need that ace, that veteran, that mentor, the one who throw's a cutter that could cut you seven inches deep.

The torrential downpours in the Bronx won't likely affect the New York Yankees starting pitching plans, but it could benefit the Angels. For if the series goes to a seventh game, expect John Lackey to become available.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi said veteran lefty Andy Pettitte will still be on the mound on Sunday for a game six, while some are clamoring for CC Sabathia. Pettitte owns four series-clinching wins among his 15 career postseason victories: both tied for the most in baseball history.

Joe Torre is a Hall of Fame manager.

Take that to the bank. Play the Lottery with it. Bet the mortgage. Use your wife and kids as collateral, if you like. It’s as sure a thing as the Earth being a spheroid (a trifle flat at the poles), our Sun being ridiculously hot, divorce rates being on the rise, and our President’s approval ratings being on the decrease.