L.A. has a bright future in baseball


There is much to look forward to in the upcoming MLB season for the two most popular baseball teams in California.

During the offseason, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim signed two free agents; pitcher C.J. Wilson, formally of the Texas Rangers, and superstar first basemen Albert Pujols.

Pujols signed a ten-year deal worth $254 million on Dec. 10, 2011, after walking away from an offer made by the Miami Marlins.

Pujols spent the first 11 years of his career as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals, where he won two World Series Championships.

His most recent World Series win with the Cardinals was this past season defeating the Rangers in a seven game series.

Pujols decided not to return to the Cardinals despite coming off a World Series victory, after the retirement of manager Tony La Russa.

Wilson is familiar with the Angels after pitching against them so many times as a member of the Rangers, who are both in the American League West together.

Having Wilson on the pitching mound for the Angels should give the team a small edge over the Rangers because of his familiarities with the roster and many of his former teammates hitting style.

The Rangers have been able to reach the World Series for the last two seasons but have been unable to seal the deal and win it.

The Angels, who were already a playoff ready team, should find themselves in the middle of the title chase once again after adding Wilson and Pujols.

The other California team that is heading into the start of the season with positive momentum is the Los Angeles Dodgers.

After a number of things fell out of the Dodgers favor both on and off the field last season.

Many fans were ready to see a change in ownership with hopes that a new owner can steer the team in a new direction.

During the offseason, a number of groups had added their names into the mix to buy the team.

Many of the groups included a well known celebrity, who was contributing to their respective groups to own part of the team.

After a process to outbid other groups and go forth about buying the team, a group including Earvin “Magic” Johnson bought the team.

Johnson, who is former Los Angeles Lakers guard and a popular figure all around the Los Angeles area, is already giving a lot of Dodgers baseball fans hope for a bright future.

In the past, any project or idea that Johnson has invested or put time into has turned out successful, and many fans are expecting the same results.

The Dodgers already have key players coming back this season, such as pitcher Clayton Kershaw and outfielder Matt Kemp.

Kershaw is one of the best young pitchers in the MLB.

In 2011, He was named the National League Cy Young winner, along with the pitching Triple Crown, leading the league in wins, strikeouts, and earned run average.

Kershaw is the youngest pitcher to accomplish either of these feats since Dwight Gooden in 1985.

Kemp is also one of the top players at his position and finished in second place last season to Brewers left fielder Ryan Braun for the NL’s Most Valuable Player award.

With a young core of players the Dodgers are expected to be a contender for the World Series over the next few seasons if not this season.

 

http://www.thedowneypatriot.com/article.do?id=17711562

Advertisement

One response to “L.A. has a bright future in baseball

  1. I agree with you, first the lakers/Clippers, now the Angels/Dodgers! Now all we need is the NFL…

What do you think sports fans? Let us know!

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s