And CC Sabathia will not have pitched since last Wednesday

He reportedly declined the Angels' offer of around $160 million, and rejected playing for the Red Sox and hometown Orioles. It has been widely reported that Abreu has taught the young players of the lineup patience. Not necessarily known by sabermetricians, BABIP can be improved by swinging at better pitches. One negative of Abreu with the Angels is that he has not yet conditioned Vladimir Guerrero on patience at the plate. But after yesterday’s game winning two-run, ninth inning single by Vlad, not many Angels fans are complaining.It will be interesting to see how Mark Teixeira and Bobby Abreu act and play going against their old teams But we won't see that until Friday night.That is so stupid. Why do we need to wait a week to see the start of the ALCSThe ALCS should start TWO DAYS after the last game of the ALDS That means the games should begin on Tuesday night The Angels were already on the East Coast. Adhering to the original schedule gives both teams too much time between games.

Come Friday, proposed Angels Game One starter John Lackey will not have pitched in a game since last Thursday. And CC Sabathia will not have pitched since last Wednesday.Major league baseball needs to be flexible in this type of situation. It is not like the two teams' best starters will not be available. Both Lackey and Sabathia would actually be closer to regular rest. It is about who has the best team, not who has the best two starting pitchers.Back in 1951 when Bobby Thomson hit his "Shot Heard Round the World," the New York Giants did not have much time to celebrate their winning three-game playoff series against the Brooklyn Dodgers. They had to begin the World Series the next day with the New York Yankees, and they won the first game behind Dave Koslo on the mound.This is not football, where they need a week between games. Baseball is a game to be played every day, with at most one day in between.Beginning the series earlier than Friday will help get the Championship Series done sooner, and maybe the World Series can start sooner.As I said earlier, MLB needs to be flexible in these types of situations, especially with the Colorado Rockies still playing and Minnesota playing in an open air stadium next season.With the weather the way it has been the last two days in Colorado and Minnesota (snow and extreme cold), imagine a World Series game played there in early November.

NEW YORK, Jan. 26 /PRNewswire/ The following is being released today by theCouncil of Independent Tobacco Manufacturers of America:At a time of national economic crisis and with job loss announcements rackingup daily in the tens of thousands, why won't Senate and House Democrats takeaction to save tens of thousands of jobs through the simple stroke of a penThe proposed S-Chip legislation that will come before the Senate this weekcontains a little noticed funding provision that will increase the federalexcise tax on roll-your-own (RYO) tobacco from $1 per pound of tobacco, toover $24 per pound: a staggering 2,100 increase. To put the proposed increaseinto perspective, in the same bill, the tax on a pack of cigarettes will riseby only 156, from 39 cents per pack to $1.00 per pack, and the excise tax onother tobacco products, such as smokeless and pipe tobacco, will more or lessdouble. It's your guess.SOURCECouncil of Independent Tobacco Manufacturers of AmericaRon Tully of Council of Independent Tobacco Manufacturers of America,1-917-596-8567, or 1-502-774-0017(fax), or . ROANOKE, Va., Jan.