The Angles have clinched the otherwise - second* - worst division in baseball probably weeks, not days, before any other team!

Congratuations to the Angels, Arte Moreno and everyone involved with turning the Angels into a legitimate playoff threat for the past few years and hopefully for many years to come.

oh, i ganja

* Seriously, the National League West can't even compete with the Pacific Coast League.

I’ve seen a couple stories about the "maple bat problem" in recent days (both from my favorite Yahoo sports reporter extraordinaire, Jeff Passan,) stemming from the two latest incidents at Dodger stadium.  To be honest, I don't know much about wood bats other than they break, a lot, or the issues that ball players have with each variety.  I do know that players absolutely develop preferences and with the level of superstition already in the game, I doubt it will be an easy task eliminating the maple variety without a huge fight with the players union.  However, one thing that MLB can do RIGHT NOW, as in IMMEDIATELY, is require that bat handles be taped.  In looking at the picture of the bat used by Todd Helton, a tape job would have severely reduced the distance the resulting projectile traveled if not kept the entire bat whole after breaking.  Even standard stick tape used by hockey players would suffice as an interim fix until a policy is formulated, or an engineered tape solution is developed. (e.g. A Kevlar string with a tape binder?)  I doubt that tape will completely eliminate the danger, but in this case I truly feel the injury to Susan Rhodes would have been avoided.  MLB owes its fans (the people without whom you wouldn’t have a business,) better than “too bad, so sad, you need to be alert” as a response to this.  Is it really going to take a death of a fan (ala Brittanie Cecil) to get Bud Selig to do something?  Just another perfect example of why he is the worst commissioner of any sports league anywhere.  I wouldn't even trust him to clean my toilet!

oh, i Ganja!

Major League Baseball gives these windbags, most of who, never played a single inning of baseball, even in little league, the honor of choosing the players to be enshrined in Cooperstown for their accomplishments on the field, and I have to ask, why?  Why on earth do these guys get the honor?

We fans wait with great anticipation every year as these idiots debate the merits of each prospective inductee to the consternation of all of us.  Again, many of these imbeciles never donned a uniform; in fact many are such huge tubs-of-shit, they’re lucky if they can find a belt off the rack that can encircle their massive affirmation of athletic ineptitude.  Yet, we allow them to judge that which, for all intents and purposes, they have no business judging!  And it get’s worse!

If it isn’t enough to try to label an athlete’s accomplishments as "hall worthy" by themselves, most of these overzealous pundits choose to bring into the debate practically every non-field related issue they can drum up.  Perhaps this is to somehow judge them on something they actually have some knowledge of; because hitting a baseball going 95 mph with a 34 inch piece of lumber is something they actually know nothing about!

And if all that wasn’t bad enough, every sports writer in the country, most of which do not have a vote in the matter, feel compelled to give their two cents worth also!  Who gives a rat’s ass "how you would vote," if only you had a ballot!  You don’t!  So, go fuck yourself already, ‘cause it’s obvious you don’t get it either!

This last idiot, John Donovan (non-voter extraordinaire,) actually spent time writing why Mark McGuire doesn’t deserve to be in the Hall, in his own narcissistic opinion.  Dude!  Here’s a reminder for you; you don’t have a say in the matter, and for good reason, thankfully.  You don’t understand the whole concept in the first place!  Donovan actually does say that in looking at Big Mac’s numbers, he fully warrants consideration nay induction for what he did on the field.  Okay, stop right there big boy!  That is all you need to consider, period!  Not every Hall-of-Famer prior was a poster child for "role model of the year" or even shining examples of law abiding citizens, but they were all freakishly good baseball players.  Must every inductee now be held to some Roberto Clemente standard of conduct?  And again, who the fuck are you to judge such things anyway?  You are barely qualified to judge their on-field accomplishments.

Donovan writes in his article: "Writers, unfairly drafted into the ranks of the Morality Police and forced to guard the gates of the Hall in this hormone-injected baseball era…"

What a fucking crock of shit!  "…unfairly drafted?"  Bullshit!  You took on that role on your own.  Nobody is asking you to be the moral compass of baseball, and, god forbid, we as fans would accept you as such!  "…forced to guard the gates?"  What the fuck?  Is it such a heavy burden, simply looking at a guy’s career and deciding whether he deserves to be enshrined for his accomplishments?

The problem really is that there is no set of standards to be considered when deciding who’s in and who’s not.  I as a fan would say, consider only what the player did on the field, his impact on the game during the time he played, and lastly, possibly give some extra credit for being a good human being, but in no way should a player be penalized for being an asshole or otherwise generally unpopular.  And certainly no way should a player be dinged because he wasn’t a media favorite.  This is not a popularity contest regardless how much some baseball writers would like to make it so.  Swallow your fragile egos and show us the standard of integrity by which you obviously hold everyone else to, but are seemingly unable to abide by yourselves!

Many of the actual voting members of the Baseball Writers of America will no doubt agree with Mr. Donovan and choose not to vote for Mark McGuire even though his numbers and his impact on the game clearly warrant induction.  Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa saved baseball, and anyone who does not accept that is simply not paying attention.  Major League Baseball should be "kissing their hairy bean bags."

The bottom line is; you are not judge and jury over whether or not Big Mac or Sammy Sosa, or even Barry Bonds took steroids in an era where, even though illegal, was not against the rules.  I commend Mark for his reluctance to submit to the pressures of the political machine looking to bolster their next bid for office.  If there was a problem, and I think everyone agrees there was, then fix it!  But don’t go after those that found a loophole and exploited it to the absolute delight and benefit of everyone associated with the game.  Everyone "knew" what was going on, and nobody did a damn thing about it!  Don’t go after the saviors of baseball now that what they did for you is not so politically correct.  You must now live with your decision to look the other way.

In all fairness to Mr. Donovan, he’s not alone, even at SI.  This guy Phil Taylor (another non-voter) also feels he must take a shot at Big Mac’s expense.  All I can say is thank god we don’t build houses out of glass anymore…

Oh, I ganja!

On another note, thank god Bartolo Colon finally figured out how to get guys out. His recent complete game shutout of the Mariners was a nice turn around. A few more of those, and we just may get back to .500.

oh, i ganja!

Dante Bichette
Bo Jackson (oh, how i wished he'd be a winner)
Eddie Murray
Jim Abbott (the second time around)
Cecil Fielder
Mo Vaughn
Ricky Henderson
Glenallen Hill
Kevin Appier
Jack McDowell
Raul Mondesi
Steve Finely
and a ton of guys i can't recall

And let's now add to that list, Jeff (i can't get an out in the third) Weaver.  I knew the second the Angels signed this guy, we were in for a spell of disappointement and
blowout losses!

ENOUGH!

I already have given up hope of pulling this season out of the toilet.  Perhaps some other team would lilke to take on this head case?

oh, i ganja!