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. Wholesale Avalanche Jerseys . -- The Oakland Raiders added a veteran presence to their young receiving group by signing free agent James Jones to a three-year contract Monday. Avalanche Jerseys China . Louis Cardinals, the team will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of the opening of the SkyDome. Jays legends Jimmy Key and Ernie Whitt, members of playoff and World Series-winning teams of the past, will be on hand for the festivities to look back at what was the beginning of the Jays halcyon years. https://www.cheapavalanche.com/ . -- Peyton Manning is the only player in this Super Bowl who has won the big game. Colorado Avalanche Pro Shop . Napoli beat high-flying Hellas Verona 3-0 to keep up the pressure on the top two while AC Milan had another disappointing night as four goals from teenage forward Domenico Berardi saw relegation-threatened Sassuolo come back from two goals down to win 4-3. Stitched Avalanche Jerseys . The 27th-ranked Austrian underwent surgery on a torn tendon in October and needs more time to recover, the Austria Press Agency reports on Saturday.TORONTO - As was the case in the Grey Cup last year, the Saskatchewan Roughriders had their way with Hamilton in the season opener last weekend, and now the team is tasked with taking on the Toronto Argonauts this Saturday afternoon at Rogers Centre. You can catch the action live on TSN at 3pm et/Noon pt. You can also listen to the game on NewsTalk 1010. Last November the Roughriders barely got their hands dirty as they mangled Hamilton in the title game, 45-23, and on Sunday night the reigning champs experienced similar success in the rematch as they cruised to a 31-10 home win. There were many aspects of the game in which Saskatchewan excelled, but the most notable area was with its pressure on quarterback Zach Collaros. Under heavy rain, Collaros had limited time to gain his footing and find open receivers, but to be sacked 10 times is still incredible. Leading the way for the Riders was defensive end Ricky Foley, who made a total of six tackles, three of those on Collaros in the backfield. Last season, Saskatchewan ranked third in the league in sacks with 57, so they are already off to a tremendous start in that department. It should also be noted that Hamilton was the weakest club in the league in terms of holding off would-be sackers, allowing 65 takedowns of signal-callers. For his efforts, Foley was named the Defensive and Canadian Player of the Week for Week 1. Because of the constant hitting under less than ideal conditions, the Tiger-Cats fumbled four times and lost possession twice. On the offensive side of the ball for the Riders, quarterback Darian Durant orchestrated a decent effort, converting 15-of-22 passes for 136 yards and a couple of touchdowns, but the real story was new running back Anthony Allen. Saskatchewan figured to have a huge hole to fill in the backfield with the departure of Kory Sheets, the leagues second-leading rusher a year ago (1,598 yards), as he made the move back to the NFL to join the Oakland Raiders, but Allen seems to have turned more than a few heads with his hard-nosed play coming out of the gate. Allen carried the ball 27 times for a game-high 158 yards, dwarfing the efforts of the entire Tiger-Cats rushing attack which managed to produce a mere 42 net yards. Allen, who crossed the goal line on a one-yard run in the second quarter, also caught a two-yard pass for a major earlier in the meeting.dddddddddddd While the Roughriders were again whipping up on Hamilton, the Argonauts were the ones taking a beating at the hands of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the season opener last Thursday night, 45-21. On paper, Toronto should have easily handled the hosts, but thats why they actually play the game. Ricky Ray, the quarterback with the top efficiency rating in the league a year ago, threw touchdown passes to Jason Barnes and Jeremiah Johnson in the second and third quarters, respectively, but that was only after the hosts lit up the scoreboard with 24 unanswered points to begin the meeting. Ray completed 27-of-38 passes for 283 yards, with Chad Owens being his favorite target with eight catches for 78 yards. Owens also pitched in with three punt returns for another 85 yards, one of those stretching for 83 yards and a major in the fourth quarter. Owens, who is always a threat to break a big play, was named the Special Teams Player of the Week for the seventh time in his career. Even though the Argos came out on the losing end in the first game of the season, the teams management is keenly aware of the value that Owens brings to the field each and every week, which is why the mighty sprite was signed to a contract extension through the 2015 campaign. Not limited to keeping only the skill players happy, Toronto also extended center Jeff Keeping it was announced on Monday. While he certainly doesnt get the same amount of press as Owens, Keeping has still made a name for himself after he was not only named an East Division All-Star, but won the Leo Dandurand Memorial Trophy as the East Divisions Outstanding Offensive Lineman following the 2013 campaign. Unfortunately, the Toronto defense had no answers for the Blue Bombers, a team that last season won a total of just three times. Bombers quarterback Drew Willy threw for a career-high 308 yards and four touchdowns while being named the CFL Offensive Player of the Week. Winnipeg generated 459 yards of offense, and kept the Toronto defense on the field for more than 36 minutes. Toronto trails in the all-time series between these two clubs, 46-37-1, when speaking of regular-season meetings dating back to 1961. However, the Argos have won two of the last three meetings, including a 31-29 final in Regina last September. ' ' '