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Joe Maddon selected an adjective usually applied to a gallon of milk. Then again, for all the romance that surrounds the sport, baseball is a consumer product too. “Once you eradicate National League rules, then everything becomes homogenized,” the Angels manager said. With the adoption of the designated hitter in both leagues this year, and with the expansion of interleague play next year, Major League Baseball is giving their consumers what the league believes they want. The National League dates to 1876, the oldest surviving professional sports league in the world, according to MLB historian John Thorn. The American League...

HOUSTON — The Houston Astros have fired Brandon Taubman, the assistant general manager who came under fire for inappropriate comments he made during the team’s clubhouse celebration. The Astros announced Taubman’s firing Thursday. Sports Illustrated writer Stephanie Apstein reported during the Astros’ clubhouse celebrating after winning the American League Championship Series, Taubman allegedly shouted, “Thank God we got Osuna! I’m so f------ glad we got Osuna!” during the locker room celebration.

American League No. 4 Seed New York Yankees vs. American League No. 2 Seed Houston Astros face off for the American League pennant...and a right to go to the 2017 World Series. http://m.yankees.mlb.com/news/article/258465156/yankees-astros-alcs-game-1-in-real-life/ The Astros lead the Yankees 2-0 in the top of the eighth inning.

Indians defeat the Blue Jays 3-0 to take ALCS four games to one.

ESPN host Bomani Jones wore a "Caucasians" t-shirt mocking the Cleveland Indians' "Chief Wahoo" logo during the "Mike & Mike" show on Thursday. The shirt includes the word "Caucasians" in the Indians' font, with a character based on "Chief Wahoo" that has white skin (instead of red), a basic nose (instead of a large, hooked nose), blonde hair (instead of dark hair parted, and held down by a head band), and a dollar sign (instead of a feather). Here are the two logos side-by-side:

The change: Implement the designated hitter rule in the National League. How it would work: The DH rule would be in effect for all professional games in every league at all levels -- with no exceptions. I spent most of my front-office career in the National League, and have always preferred the game played without the DH rule. I like the late-inning strategies, the double-switches and deciding whether to take out your best pitcher when you're tied or down a run. I also like the fact that the bench and bullpens are more important in game strategy without a DH....

Trout wins his first MVP.

If you're wondering what's going on in the American League Central pennant race over the next week, all you need to do is tune into a Chicago White Sox telecast and listen for the voice of the team's play-by-play man, Ken "Hawk" Harrelson. Harrelson is, to put it diplomatically, a bit of a "homer." In other words, he's unapologetic about his devotion to the White Sox, the team he routinely calls "the good guys." According to one measure, Harrelson and his booth partner, Steve Stone, make more nakedly biased statements during a single game than every other TV broadcast team...

Game 1 Teusday, 10/4 @ 3 o'clock Central, 4 o'clock Eastern 2005 Season SeriesDate-Winner-Score-Winning Pitcher/Losing Pitcher Thu, 7/21---Red Sox-----6-5---Schilling/Vizcaino Fri, 7/22---White Sox---8-4---Garland/Wakefield Sat, 7/23---Red Sox-----3-0---Miller/Hernandez Sun, 7/24---White Sox---6-4---Contreras/Arroyo Fri, 8/12---Red Sox-----9-8---Bradford/Buehrle Sat, 8/13---Red Sox-----7-4---Wakefield/Garland Sun, 8/14---(Postponed due to rain) Mon, 9/5----White Sox---5-3---McCarthy/Schilling

Instead of pitchers and catchers, the opening of baseball's spring training seemed preoccupied by syringes and steroids. One day after stores began selling former American League MVP Jose Canseco's book of doping allegations, the New York Yankees, Washington Nationals, and Cincinnati Reds opened their training camps. In his first press conference, Yankees manager Joe Torre faced a torrent of questions about the proliferation of performance-enhancing drugs in America's pastime, with the subject taking the first half-hour of the 45-minute session: "It doesn't go away, unfortunately." In light of the quick sales of Mr. Canseco's new book, Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant...

ANAHEIM – Angels Baseball announced that, effective today, the team has changed its official name to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

Linda W. Cropp, the newly fashioned woman of the people, is drawing kudos from certain corners of the city, which is understandable. That is not the work of a populist. That is just another politician motivated by self-interests.

Braves' Old World by Jeff Kallman Familiarity breeds indifference when not breeding contempt. Exhibit A, the Atlanta Braves; exhibits A-1 and A-1a, Mr. and Mrs. Greg Maddux.Maybe securing the division clinch on their day off had something to do with it. Make no mistake of thinking the Braves earned nothing; they just earned it too soon. They turned a rickety April and a game but grinding May into a June prune, shearing to the hilltop and planting enough thorny thicket behind them to obstruct anyone even thinking about trespassing. It meant Maddux getting to spend what proved clinching day...watching Monday...

Wrestling With The Angels by Jeff Kallman The original Angels In The Outfield, circa 1952, predated the Anaheim Angels franchise by a decade. And that time, it was an orphanage moppet bringing in the divine comedians to get the mojo working for her hapless Pittsburgh Pirates. Stealing a cute film's remade premise (as in, the Danny Glover hit of a few years ago) would not be the grandest theft with which the Angels were ever involved. For that matter, their theft of Nolan Ryan from the New York Mets may not be the grandest theft they have ever gotten away...