Los Angeles

Jered Weaver pitched 6.1 strong innings, Torii Hunter and Jeff Mathis provided solo home runs, and the Los Angeles Angels won their seventh Opening Day game in the last eight seasons, defeating the Kansas City Royals, 4-2.

When Weaver left the game with one out in the seventh, he had a 4-0 lead. However Hisanori Takahashi, pitching in his first game for the Angels, gave up a home run to Jeff Francoeur, ruining the shutout bid.

When many teams around MLB contact the Los Angeles Dodgers front office about the possibility of a prospective trade, the first player usually brought up in any conversation is outfielder Matt Kemp.

When Los Angeles Angels' manager Mike Scioscia announced last Thursday that starting pitcher Scott Kazmir would open the season as a member of the starting rotation, he was asked by reporters whether or not Kazmir had earned the spot.

“Earned?” Scioscia said. “Define ‘earned.’”

Not exactly a stirring vote of confidence.

However, Kazmir, who struggled last season with a 9-15 record and a 5.94 ERA, is owed $14.5 million this season.

Los Angeles Angels (2010 record: 80-82)

The Angels had a rough offseason. It pales in comparison to the one suffered by the NY Mets (the Madoff effects, a lawsuit, a loan from MLB, cleaning house in the front office, etc.), but it was bad nonetheless.

With Opening Day only one week away and the list of injuries seemingly growing, fans across Dodgertown are left wondering if a door may open for one of several minor league prospects within the organization.

The track record of general manager Ned Colletti suggests that he much rather prefers middle-of-the-road veterans over the youngsters, however a handful of the farmhands have already shown positive value over the course of Cactus League play this spring.

After a disappointing 2010 campaign, the Los Angeles Dodgers signed first-baseman James Loney only to a one-year deal.

With a decrease in home-runs and batting average each of the last four seasons, anything more than a one-year deal may have been questioned.

So, the question remains; Should the Dodgers give him one more year to get back on track, or put him on the trade block?

Well, here are some potential candidates if L.A. chooses the latter. 

It's time we all take a breather from worrying about the sports themselves and focus on the players involved. This article is written with the intent of recognizing that there are bigger things that we should be focusing on at this time in the world rather than sports. On 3/11/2011 an unprecedented 8.9 earthquake rocked the country of Japan. It brought devastation, injuries, life loss and widespread panic but that was only the beginning.

Bobbleheads, t-shirts and refrigerator magnets.

Oh, my!

One of the pleasures a fan of a lousy team has to look forward to every season are the cool promotions that sucker you in to handing over a hundred bucks you may not have otherwise.

I've become an expert at this in recent years rooting on the Mariners, unfortunately. I have more dolls than any 31 year old man should, thanks to the annual Ichiro bobbles. Though, they're sucking me in again this season.

When Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Scott Kazmir walked Juan Pierre on four pitches to start yesterday’s spring training game with the Chicago White Sox in Tempe, AZ, the 5,100 fans in attendance at Temple Diablo Stadium were probably thinking, “Oh, great, another stinker of a year from Kazmir.”

It’s a fickle life in Major League Baseball. Here today, gone tomorrow is a phrase often used when referring to ballplayers who had a quick run of success before seemingly losing it altogether, or players felled by injuries who were unable to make it all the way back.

The stories of great fame and then injury go back many years in baseball, especially among pitchers. Dizzy Dean was a classic example.

Known as the Ace of the Gashouse Gang for the St. Louis Cardinals, Dean was the last pitcher to win 30 games in the National League, reaching that mark in 1934.