Casual Friday: Beyond Our Control

The Yankees are all about the pinstripes, in every sense of the word. The rest of MLB is more casual. This is the latest post in a Friday series called Casual Friday, in which I take a quick look around the rest of Major League Baseball.

A lot of things seem to be happening these days beyond our control. Okay, beyong my control. As I struggle with some personal issues right now I can't help but think about how some things going on in baseball these days are beyond anyone's control:

* A swarm of bees took over left field in PETCO Park yesterday, delaying the Padres game. Things didn't get back to normal until a beekeeper was brought in.

* Published reports are saying the Texas Rangers had to borrow millions of dollars from MLB this past week. How bad could things have gotten for that to happen?

* Manny Ramirez returns to the Dodgers line-up tonight after being allowed to "re-hab" in the minor leagues. Thanks to the Players Association, there's nothing anyone could have done about that.

* Voting for the All-Star Game is now over. Players hoping to be selected will just have to wait and see at this point.

Circumstances beyond our control. For now.

Bernadette