american league baseball

We don't think the Los Angeles Angels won the World Series on Tuesday, although it's quite possible they set fate in motion.

We do know they did the next best thing. The team with the best record in baseball made themselves the best team.

The road to baseball's attic is long, if you can find the road. How to get here? Be the best that ever was.

Or, in the case of Goose Gossage, exceptional enough to endure a nine-year torment while voters waffled and others took bows.

"All I regret," said Gossage, "is my mother did not live to see this."

BOSTON -- For a change, Manny Ramirez and the Boston Red Sox are on the same page. Ramirez revealed Sunday that he wouldn't mind being traded and the Red Sox are now engaged in talks with at least four teams in an effort to accommodate him by Thursday's non-waiver trading deadline.

BALTIMORE -- Think of this: Mark Teixeira, playing first base and hitting in front of designated hitter Manny Ramirez, followed by Vladimir Guerrero and shortstop Miguel Tejada.

Not a bad middle of the lineup, eh?

Help is on the way for the Boston Red Sox in the form of David Ortiz.

The Sox expect to activate Ortiz before Friday's game against the New York Yankees at Fenway Park. Ortiz, who hasn't played since May because of a torn tendon sheath in his left wrist, has spent the last week rehabbing at the Red Sox Class AAA Pawtucket and AA Portland affiliates.

Why is it that every time I check the sporting Internet, I feel like I'm standing in line at Safeway?

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Their moms would be proud. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim didn't waste a thing Sunday.

Of course, they've been thriftier than a fleet of hybrid cars all year long. No one gets more mileage out of less fuel than the Angels.

If you're an Oakland A's fan and took the time Sunday to watch the Futures game, a minor-league prelude to the All-Star game at Yankee Stadium, you're probably not upset or disappointed over the Joe Blanton trade.

The oddsmakers around the country like the Boston Red Sox' chances to not only repeat as American League East champs, but also to make it to the World Series with a chance to also successfully defend the championship they won a year ago.

That's what's being written.

Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton is more than a baseball feel-good story. He's an old-fashioned success story.

He's a guy who came out of high school considered one of the most talented baseball players in history. He had a squeaky-clean reputation off the field to go with his high level of talent on it.