The Lover girls have been very good this year, so I think there’s an excellent chance Santa Claus will be bringing them the special edition 2009 Yankees Championship Monopoly board game.

I think the game will provide valuable lessons for my girls, like having to spend money to win, and the importance of total domination.  I will insist on playing as the World Series trophy though.

Santa Claus actually gave yours truly a sneak preview of the game and generally it looks fabulous.  Our favorite members of the 27th World Championship team take the places of the traditional properties, but at least a few of the game-maker’s choices are questionable.

Derek Jeter as Boardwalk is a no-brainer, but Joe Girardi as Park Place?  Jorge Posada getting lumped in with Jose Molina and Nick Swisher?  Here’s the full list: Continue Reading

It’s part of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms that I must love hockey, and I’m a good citizen so I do just that. My love for NHL hockey in particular, however, has been sharply declining over the past few years, and I’ll be damned if I’ll let the root cause seep into Major League Baseball.

The salary cap is doing exactly what I thought it would do when it was introduced. It is turning the league into a boring collection of bland teams. The most interesting story of this season so far has been the Toronto disaster. The two most interesting teams are probably Chicago and Washington – the next two teams that will have to shed talent before they have won anything. It is Gary Bettman’s McHockey league, a celebration of mediocrity. – The Great Hockey Blogger Tom Benjamin

Do we really want a new incarnation of the 2006 St. Louis Cardinals to win the World Series every year? If we do, then why stop there?  Let’s adapt more NHL-esque rules:

• Home runs don’t count if the umpire had the intent to stop play prior to the ball leaving the field
• When a batter takes a defensive swing at a pitch and hits it foul and out of play, he’s out
• Games tied after 9 innings will be decided by Milk Bottle Throw
• If your side loses Milk Bottle Throw, you still get half a win (and you still get half a win if you lose in the bottom of the 9th)
• There will be more fighting (yay!), but most of the fights will be pre-scripted (i.e., the batter will walk to the plate, he will nod to the pitcher, and before a single pitch is thrown they will charge each other and hold each other’s jerseys with vigour for three minutes)
• Two umpires behind home plate (I don’t see what could go wrong here)
• The season will be interrupted during Olympic years so millionaires can win medals/star in even more cereal commercials
• Every stadium shall have a roof, and all ballpark dimensions shall be identical
• No personalities are allowed for MLB players.  Everyone has to talk like “Celine” Dion Phaneuf
• Mike Milbury will be allowed to run a team in New York for about a decade.  I can see him putting his stamp on a team by trading Alfredo Aceves, Phil Hughes, and Robinson Cano (and cash) for Yuniesky Betancourt

And while we’re at it, and for the future stability of Major League Baseball, let’s expand to Professional Baseball hotbeds like Red Deer, Moose Jaw, Hay River, and Flin Flon.  The Milwaukee Brewers should be moved to Iqaluit and called the Ookpiks.  The NHL has all the answers.  C’mon Baseball, follow the leader.