In some cases, being the fan of a constant loser can actually be fun. Look at all the Boston Red Sox fans before they finally won their first World Series in 86 years, in 2004. Look at the Chicago Cubs; their fans wear that club’s century-plus without a championship as a badge. It’s like their […]

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If you want to criticize the Angels for, apparently, failing to make the playoffs when they seem to have the talent to do so … well, feel free. And a good place to start is in left field, where Vernon Wells — far too often — can be found. If I were in Mike Scioscia’s […]

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As a kid, like most American boys of my generation, I spent a lot of time with bat and ball. We played most of the playground games. Over-the-line. Work-up. Pickle. But also just throwing and catching. And I always knew what sort of ball we were using. We preferred a hard rubber ball that was […]

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A nine-player deal, the Dodgers taking on hundreds of millions in salary commitments, including those of Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford and Josh Beckett. And the takeaway? Los Angeles has just rediscovered it is a major sports market.

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The long journey back to the Gulf begins at 12:15 p.m. tomorrow. So, what does a person do on the final day of a once-a-year visit to Southern California?

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Upon entry at the Los Angeles Angels home game on Thursday, each ticket-holder was handed a plastic red “Angels pitcher”, and inside were four white plastic Angels cups. The cups had the names of four members of the Angels’ starting rotation, and their numbers: “Santana 54” … “Weaver 36” … “Wilson 33” … “Haren 24”. […]

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Third night visiting in SoCal, and I was at the yard. That’s what you do when you’re an American expatriate and get home for any length of time. You go to the yard. Angels Stadium, in this case. To bask in the baseball atmosphere, which is a very specific sports sensation — a sort of […]

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As a displaced fan of most Los Angeles sports teams, I will take some time out from the latest travelogue to give credit where it is due: To the veteran management team of the Lakers. And to the new management team of the Dodgers. Both franchises have been proactive, and imaginative, and as fans of […]

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Athletes need to give some thought to how they celebrate. Things are getting out of control.Winners are losing all sense of decorum, all sense of style and proportionality. So, a list of things I will not do when I win a big event:

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In the quarterfinals at Wimbledon tomorrow, I would like to see David Ferrer defeat Andy Murray. For two very good reasons. 1. I like David Ferrer. He is the Energizer Bunny of the men’s tour, forever chasing down balls, keeping rallies alive. He is not big, and he doesn’t have a monster serve, and almost […]

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