It’s a lovely day for baseball in Los Angeles…at least through the top of the 1st 
It’s gonna be a looooong season.
You’re absolutely correct, and it’s absolutely irrelevant to the question I asked. That is your take on the world, but it has nothing to do with Jim Rice or Jacoby Ellsbury. You don’t know how Jim Rice would have done in another city, nor will you ever know. He pushed a sportswriter? Players have pushed sportswriters in other cities. Pressure made him a jerk? Players have been jerks in other cities. Boston isn’t nearly as special as you think it is, but even then, what made Barry Bonds such a jerk in little Pittsburgh? You say Rice was stubborn about his eyesight, but unless there is something magical about the air in Boston, there is no reason to believe that problem would have been any different had he played in Kansas City. Would something about, say, Houston have made him less proud or more inclined to wear contact lenses?
You don’t know if Jacoby Ellsbury would have done better or worse in San Diego; his being quiet and withdrawn is not something that would necessarily go away in another city. Ellsbury spent the first two decades of his life in small towns from where ANY MLB city would look impossibly huge and cosmopolitan. And he sure played well in Boston anyway.
What you DO know is what the media tells you, which if history is any guide is proof only of whether or not the media likes someone and they’re a good interview.
It might be Rice would have hit 500 homers in Minnesota or Jacoby Ellsbury would have been either better or worse (you said both, so I’m still not sure) in San Diego, but the truth is you just don’t know these people and have no basis for making a definitive claim one way or another.
Yes it is…which is why I’m enjoying it one inning at a time 
Check out Big Papi’s MVP ring.
Damn, that’s ugly.
Yeah, bookmark that page as Exhibit A in the “money can’t buy taste” evidence folder.
That’s kind of typical of pro championship rings and such. They’re all garish and ugly and have more diamonds than ten decks of cards. He’s not actually gonna WEAR it.
True, but he could wear and not look completely silly. Because he’s Big Papi.
So Tanaka’s debut was interesting. Started off a little scary, but he settled down well. This is one weird Yankee team. The 3-4-5 starters could be much better than the 1 and 2. I’m looking forward to seeing Michael Pineda tomorrow.
I really don’t think this team has championship potential, but it should be a lot more fun than last year.
Braves picking up where they left off last year against the Gnats. Close game, but they get the W.
And, in the “who cares” department, The Braves skipper Fredi Gonzalez is 2 for 2 so far this year on replay challenges.
How 'bout them Dodgers!
“Seattle Mariners in First Place”.
I’m going to enjoy it while I can
Miami’s in first too. Wonders never cease 
Toronto is 3-3. Today’s win was a shutout, their second already. Of course the announcers droned on and on about how starting pitching is everything in baseball. While it sure helps to get a shutout, I sure hope they aren’t expecting the Blue Jays to throw a shutout in a third of their games the rest of the way.
It’s great to have pitching but Toronto has scored just 18 runs in six games, the most in one game being 4. Some days you need your bats to steal a game; you can’t even play .500 ball if you can’t sometimes hit your way out of trouble.
Oh Samardzija, my heart breaks for thee.
Not strictly baseball-related, but I thought I’d share this.
I already find it amusing that the big boss at my job is named Donald Trump. We finally got my new department manager hired, and now I report directly to …
… Miguel Cabrera.
I don’t know…that strategy worked out OK for the Giants in 2010 and 2012. It can make for a long, tiring season from a fan perspective, but a win is a win, right?
Is it too early to declare Tanner Scheppers a bust as a starter? I own him in fantasy, but I’m going to tune into the Red Sox and Rangers game tomorrow night and hope I haven’t mistaken the game for the Saturday night horror movie. Scheppers surely has more talent than a glorified set up man, right? Then again, Neftali Feliz is in AAA, not a closer, not a starter, just nothing these days.
Yeah, whatever happened to Feliz?
Yeah, they called it Torture. Literally. It was the motto for the seasons.
In 2010 the Giants had basically a league average offense, and in 2012 they were actually a little bit ABOVE average. In both years they averaged more than 4 runs a game. The 2010 Giants won 28 games (counting 2 in the postseason) in which the other team scored 4 or more runs. You have to be able to win those game to contend. The Jays still haven’t topped four runs in any game.
You don’t need a great offense. But you need something. As much as people say pitching and defense wins championships, you don’t have teams with great pitching and crap hitting winning very much. I can think of one team in all my memory that won a World Series with a legitimately bad offense, the '85 Royals.