Thursday night, the Blue Jays not only dropped out of first place in the American League East, they also fell below the threshold of qualifying for either of the two Wild Card spots in the American League. Their 4-1 loss at Oakland to kick off the 10-game road trip coupled with Baltimores 5-2 win at home over Texas put the Jays in secondnd place place in the East, one percentage point back of the Orioles. It also dropped them behind the second and third place teams in the West, the Angels and the Mariners, who now hold those Wild Card slots. With 75 games still to play, its really too early to stress over that, but it did get me thinking about the West. Major League Baseball didnt come to the left coast until 1958 when the New York Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers moved there in tandem to cash in on a new and expanding market. The American League didnt get a west coast club until the league expanded in 1961 adding the Los Angeles Angels and the new Washington Senators, essentially replacing the team that moved to Minnesota. There have been 53 seasons where it was possible for two west coast teams to have met in the World Series, from 1961 through 2013. Over that span there have only been four true western World Series. In 1974, the Oakland As won their third Fall Classic in a row, beating the Dodgers 4 games to 1. In 1988, 14 years later, Orel Hershizer, Kirk Gibson and the rest of the Dodgers upset Oakland 4 games to 1. The following year, 1989 in the infamous "Earthquake" series, the As swept the Giants in four-straight. Finally in 2002, the Angels beat Barry Bonds and the Giants in seven games for their one and only World Series title in their 42nd year of existence. Two teams that have never met in the World Series are the Dodgers and the Angels. Could it possibly happen this year? Well, its not so far-fetched. The Dodgers have won seven of their last 10 and have climbed over the Giants into first in the NL West by a half-game. They also have the second-best record in the National League to Milwaukee. The Dodgers hitting stats are pretty impressive. Theyve scored 367 runs, fourth in the Senior Circuit, but second to Milwaukee in terms of teams holding playoff positions, They are third in team batting average in the National at .257 and third in OPS at .729. But its in the pitching department where they really impress. They are second in pitching ERA to Washington at 3.23. Theyve made 57 quality starts and four of their five starters have won at least eight games. The other, Josh Beckett has five wins and a no-hitter to his credit. The leader of the staff, and the best pitcher in the Majors right now, Clayton Kershaw, has nine victories and a no-hitter, in a near perfect game of his own. They have some flaws and a worrisome shoulder issue with shortstop Hanley Ramirez, but right now, the Dodgers look like the best all-around team in the National League with apologies to the Brewers. Over in the American League, the Angels have won eight of their last 11 and have closed to within three-and-a-half games back of Oakland in the West. They have latched on to that first Wild Card slot. The Halos are second in hitting in the American League behind the As. They have scored 408 runs, four more than the Blue Jays with three games in hand. Theyre also tied with Oakland in home runs with 91. They also have a .749 OPS behind only the Tigers and Blue Jays. The Angels pitching staff isnt as deep as the Dodgers, but their top three starters Jared Weaver, C.J Wilson and Garrett Richards have combined for 26 wins. They are fourth in team ERA in the AL at 3.86 and have made 47 quality starts. Their bullpen has been up and down, but skipper Mike Scioscia is hoping Joe Smith and Jason Grilli, who was just picked up from Pittsburgh, can do the job at closing time. The big plus-factor with both the Angels and Dodgers is hungry ownership. Arte Moreno bought the Angels from Disney in 2003, the year after they won that World Series over the Giants, They havent been back to the Fall Classic under his stewardship. The Dodgers ownership group, which includes Magic Johnson, bought the club in 2012 for a record $2 billion. They are determined to win a championship, something the Dodgers havent done since 1988. The Angels, who have played out of Orange County for the bulk of their existence have nearly always played second fiddle to the Dodgers in the L.A. market. The Dodgers hold the single game attendance record of 115,300, when they played their season opener at the old Memorial Coliseum as part of a charity fund-raising event. But the Angels are no slouches in the attendance department either. Last year marked their 11th-straight season of drawing at least 3 million fans. They have also had 30 seasons of drawing 2 million, which is second in Major League history to only the mighty Yankees. We havent had a so-called "Cross-town" World Series since 2000, when the Yankees beat the Mets in the battle of New York. The White Sox and Cubs havent done it since 1906, when the " no-hit wonder " White Sox defeated the Cubs. These kinds of match-ups are few and far between.They used to be commonplace in the early 20s and late 40s and throughout the 50s, when the Yankees, Dodgers and Giants all held sway in New York. Im not saying the Angels and Dodgers are definately going to meet in the World Series, but there is a decent shot, and it would provide some great storylines and some compelling viewing and listening. - The Yankees are a hard team to get a handle on. Theyre sitting at .500 at 42-42 in the A.L. East and theyve lost five more than theyve won at home.Yet for all of that, in Derek Jeters final season, they are still only three-and-a-half games back of the Orioles and Jays in the division. Still, what appears to be the weakest Yankees team in four decades will have to decide soon whether to become a buyer or seller at the July 31st non-waiver trade deadline. The new that C.C Sabathia has been shut down indefinately with a flair up of his swollen knee again, has got to have them thinking about next year and beyond. Still, they are the Yankees and this is Jeters final season. Stay tuned. Joel Embiid Jersey . -- Down to 10 men and behind on the scoreboard, Toronto FC displayed its perseverance. Custom Philadelphia 76ers Jerseys . Just ask last seasons Supporters Shield winners, the New York Red Bulls, who were resoundingly defeated last weekend by a rampant Vancouver Whitecaps in a match which produced two contenders for MLS Goal of the Week from Sebastian Fernandez and Pedro Morales. http://www.76ersprostore.info/Cheap-Jj-Redick-76ers-Jersey/ . Subway workers in Rio de Janeiro, meanwhile, were holding an assembly to vote on whether they would strike to demand higher wages, threatening to disrupt transportation. By late Tuesday night there was no announcement of their decision. Timothe Luwawu Jersey . But sometimes the way you lose takes precedence over the final score. And how the Jets lost the 5-4 game to the New York Islanders on Thursday is what had Coach Claude Noel hot after the game. Jimmy Butler Jersey . - The Baltimore Ravens and tight end Dennis Pitta reached agreement on a five-year contract Friday.DENVER - Cody Zeller fueled the fast start that Charlotte used to finish off the struggling Denver Nuggets.Zeller scored a career-best 21 points, including 14 in the first quarter, and Charlotte went on to rout Denver 104-86 on Saturday night.I got a lot of easy ones off of transition, said Zeller, who had several uncontested dunks early when the Nuggets failed to hustle back on defence. We wanted to come out early, because they havent won recently, and not give them any hope. Al Jefferson and Jason Maxiell added 14 points apiece for the Hornets, who have won 10 of their last 13 games.They have held their opponents to under 100 points in 12 of those games. And their solid play has continued in the absence of Kemba Walker, who underwent surgery Wednesday to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee and will be out at least six weeks.The defence has really picked up in the last month and thats why were winning, Zeller said. Als playing well right now, a lot of guys have stepped up with Kemba out. Hopefully we can keep this going.Danilo Gallinaris 15 points led the Nuggets, who were dealt a blow before the game. Star forward Kenneth Faried and Darrell Arthur, a key reserve, were both held out because of illness.We missed em tonight, said the Nuggets Ty Lawson.But he conceded the teams problems go much deeper.You cant put your finger on one thing, Lawson said. Theres so many things that need to be corrected. Its tough. Its tough right now. Were consistently inconsistent. I feel sorry for the fans. We shouldnt play like that in front of them.The Hornets ran circles around the Nuggets who were on the floor.We got a break with no Faried and Arthur but I liked our readiness, Hornets coach Steve Clifford said. In the first half we were on top of tthings.dddddddddddd.Charlotte began pulling away with a 12-0 burst in the last 3:05 of the first quarter. Zeller had six points in the stretch including a pair of dunks.By halftime, the Hornets had opened a 32-point lead. The Nuggets lost for the ninth time in 10 games, and it was Denvers fourth loss in a row to the Hornets, who swept the season series for a second year in a row.In one second-quarter stretch, Charlotte scored 14 unanswered points and closed the last 2:29 with a 10-4 flurry that included an alley-oop dunk by Kidd-Gilchrist off a lob from Gary Neal. One of Denvers 12 turnovers ignited the flashy fast break, and moments later, the crowd showered the Nuggets with boos as they trudged into the locker room at the break.Not really a whole lot to say other than were not very good right now. Down 32 in the first half to this team, at home, is not acceptable, Nuggets coach Brian Shaw said. I have to do a better job, everybody else has to do a better job.TIP-INSHornets: Marvin Williams was ruled out for a second straight game because of a concussion. ... The Hornets beat a Western Conference team on the road for only the second time in 10 games this season. ... Zellers previous scoring high was 20 points against Boston on Jan. 5.Nuggets: JaVale McGee is gradually working his way back into form from the lower leg strain that sidelined him for seven weeks. In his second game back, he shook off a missed dunk to start the night and finished with eight points in just under 16 minutes of play. ... The Nuggets 30-point first half wasnt their worst this season, but it was close. They were held to 28 first-half points two weeks ago by Golden State.UP NEXTHornets: At Washington on Monday.Nuggets: At Philadelphia on Tuesday. ' ' '
