Thursday night, the Blue Jays not only dropped out of first place in the American League East, they also fell below the threshol

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. Mike Quick Youth Jersey . 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. Miles Sanders Youth Jersey . Canada will host the second stop on the circuit, the 2014 Skate Canada International in Kelowna, British Columbia from October 31 - November 2, 2014 at Prospera Place. Carson Wentz Jersey . LOUIS -- The Tampa Bay Rays have placed right-handed pitcher Joel Peralta on the 15-day disabled list with an undisclosed illness. http://www.theeaglesshoponline.com/Youth-Mike-Quick-Eagles-Jersey/ . The Raptors had an early deadline Sunday, a dreaded afternoon game, and they left the bulk of their work until the last minute, as theyve done so many times before.DENVER -- Jamie McGinn turned in the biggest play before the game even began, preparing a pregame meal for the cooking-challenged Nathan MacKinnon. That pasta and chicken feast fueled the rookie MacKinnon to his first two-goal game and the Colorado Avalanche held off the San Jose Sharks 4-3 on Saturday for their third straight win. "I think Ive got to take a little bit of credit for that," McGinn joked. McGinn chipped in with more than a meal, though, scoring a goal as well. The Avalanche jumped out to a 4-0 lead -- and would need every one to dodge a comeback from San Jose. Semyon Varlamov was at his best late in the game, making several big stops in the waning moments. He finished with 30 saves. "Varly really bailed us out at the end there," MacKinnon said. "We knew theyre a resilient team. Next time we play them, if we get up, weve got to step on the pedal a little bit more." With his two-goal burst, MacKinnon moved past San Joses Tomas Hertl for most points (26) among rookies. Hertl is sidelined after undergoing surgery earlier this week to repair damaged ligaments in his right knee. Think about that rookie scoring race? "A little bit, when it gets announced on the Jumbotron," MacKinnon said. "But thats not my focus." These days, about the only thing MacKinnon cant do is cook. Thats why McGinn stepped in. MacKinnon usually lives in backup goalie Jean-Sebastien Gigueres basement. But Giguere had family in and MacKinnon stayed with McGinn. "So I was cooking this morning," McGinn said. "He said he doesnt know how to cook. Well let that slide." The Avalanche have 56 points at the halfway point of the season, second-most in team history behind the 2000-01 Stanley Cup team. Still, theres plenty of season left as they try to return to the post-season after a three-year drought. "Everybody is pushing hard," first-year coach Patrick Roy said. "Everybody wants to give ourselves a chance to make the playoffs." Erik Johnson scored a fluke goal at 5:45 of the second when the puck bounced past Antti Niemi. That gaffe ended the goaltenders day and frustrated his coach Todd McLellan so much that he inserted backup Alex Stalock, who promptly allowed MacKinnons second goal 14 seconds later to make it a 4-0 game. Andre Dillard Womens Jersey. That didnt make McLellan any happier. "Ive gone after our team in the new year, try to hold them very accountable," McLellan said. "The goaltenders are part of that. Cant keep going toward the forwards or the D men." Joe Pavelski, Patrick Marleau and Logan Couture had goals for the Sharks. Couture made it a one-goal game at 5:44 of the third when he knocked in a loose puck over a sprawled out Varlamov. The Sharks pulled Stalock with just over a minute left for an extra skater, only to struggle to get the puck into Colorados zone. And when they did, Varlamov turned it aside. Jan Hejda was whistled for interference with 4:02 remaining and Pavelski had a chance to tie it, getting open in the slot, but Varlamov stopped it with his chest, along with a rebound. It was quite an entertaining second period for the fans who braved the chill and the snow to show up at the Pepsi Center. The opening part of the period was all Avalanche as McGinn scored off a Sharks turnover, Johnson added another on a knuckleball of a shot that skipped past Niemi and MacKinnon knocked in a wrist shot to stake Colorado to a four-goal lead. On the ensuing faceoff, Andrew Desjardins struck John Mitchell in the groin with his stick, setting off a scuffle at centre ice. That seemed to fire up the listless Sharks, who quickly scored two goals to make it a 4-2 game at the end of the second period. Desjardins said after the game he didnt hit Mitchell on purpose. "Its more like when the guys come together and you try to push the guys hands away and my stick I guess caught him in an unfortunate spot," Desjardins said. Take anything away from the rally that fell short? "We expended or used up a lot of energy to come within one," said McLellan, whose team plays in Chicago on Sunday. "Were in the midst of a tough schedule, played guys down the stretch an awful lot and still (came up) short. We play tomorrow and we used up a lot of gas today." NOTES: Marleau also had two assists. ... Colorado F Paul Stastny contributed two assists as nine different Avs players had at least a point. ... At 18 years, 125 days, MacKinnon is the youngest player in franchise history to score two goals in a game. ' ' '