The long-rumored Dodgers trade with the San Diego Padres went through today. To the Padres: Matt Kemp, catcher Tim Federowicz and $32 million. To the Dodgers: Catcher Yasmani Grandal, pitchers Joe Wieland and Zach Eflin. To the fans: The sinking feeling that the erratic but talented Kemp will come back to haunt them while playing […]

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This is an odd case, in professional sports. Nearly every professional athlete plays through pain. . When an injury is too severe to play on … he or she returns at the first moment. Often before they were expected to play — or perhaps should be playing. Then there is Derrick Rose.

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The Dodgers released the dates for their promotional giveaways, in 2015, and we will wade through the tatty (fleece blanket) and the bizarre (a Tommy Lasorda garden gnome; brilliant but creepy) and go straight to the stuff that matters. The bobbleheads! The Dodgers have 10 bobblehead games scheduled for 2015, which boggles the mind. Remember […]

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I heard the end of the 2014 World Series on Thursday morning in Abu Dhabi — Wednesday night in Kansas City, where the San Francisco Giants defeated the Royals 3-2 to win the championship for the third time in five years. I preferred the Giants. The Dodgers’ arch-rival, sure, but a National League team, and […]

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I didn’t plan not to like Liverpool Football Club. It just worked out that way. Perhaps inevitably, because I came in contact with several of their fans. As an American who paid scant attention to the Premier League until I went to work in the Old World … I had no violent opinions on much of […]

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If we still lived in Southern California, I might feel differently. But not only do I not mind the San Francisco Giants winning a World Series … I prefer it to the Kansas City Royals winning it. How I arrived at this place:

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So, Game 1 is in the books, and if any Angels fan says he or she isn’t deeply worried, they aren’t being truthful. Unless they refuse to accept the reality of a concept often known as “momentum”. Momentum is elusive; it comes and goes, ebbs and flows. But when a team has it, you can […]

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The Dodgers clinched the National League West tonight by defeating the San Francisco Giants 9-1 behind Clayton Kershaw. Always grand to clinch against the Giants, and let them watch the team in blue celebrate. But, more important, the Dodgers winning the division, and avoiding the wild-card stuff, comes a week after the Angels secured the […]

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The Angels defeated the Seattle Mariners 5-0 tonight, and when Texas got six in the ninth to defeat Oakland 6-1. the LAAA (Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim) had clinched the American League West. Which should also mean that Mike Trout has clinched the AL Most Valuable Player award. The turning point of their season would […]

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A couple of generations ago, it was considered a mark of a thorough American elementary education to have kids memorize things. Bible verses, in the King James translation. “… and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.” Writers. In Latin or Greek or Elizabethan English. “We few, we […]

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