Gary Sanchez, Greg Bird and Aaron Judge have yet to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame, but in the view of some, maybe many New York baseball writers and columnists, as well as Yankees fans, Brian Cashman himself should be elevated to the corridors of Cooperstown.

Cashman, in his 20th year as the team’s general manager, is receiving accolades for his plan to turn around the Yankees, who have played (and lost) one post-season game in the past four years despite a payroll expenditure of $904,000,000. The Yankees’ four-year total was exceeded only by the $1,093,000,000 the Los Angeles Dodgers spent on players’ contracts.

The Dodgers, however, at least got something for their money – four division titles. They also won more games than anyone but St. Louis, 369 to the Cardinals’ 373. They didn’t win any prizes for that achievement, but the Yankees averaged 7 fewer wins a year and got nothing for their mediocrity but disdain from their fans.

Cashman, competing on an uneven playing field with his fellow American League general managers, deserves …

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This was not something I had thought about recently. In fact, I hadn’t thought about it for years. Nor was it something I set out to solicit anyone’s opinion about. But in looking up Mike Trout’s career statistics I discovered that the name of Anaheim still lives in Major League Baseball.

You wouldn’t know it from Major League Baseball itself. In the eyes and practices of M.L.B. Anaheim doesn’t exist. It hasn’t existed since 2005, when the team’s owners, Arte Moreno, hijacked the Dodgers’ name for his own selfish purposes and Bud Selig, then the commissioner, was too complicit to say to Moreno, “Excuse me, Arte old boy, but the name Los Angeles is already taken and anyway your team doesn’t play in Los Angeles or its suburbs.”

Selig didn’t say anything to Moreno because …

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President Donald Trump was apparently too busy with repealing and replacing his predecessor’s health care plan, tax reform and making questionable decisions on the environment to do what 17 of his predecessors did during their terms in office.

Fret not, baseball fans. Trump has three more chances to throw out the ceremonial first pitch on opening day.

Having heard nothing about Trump’s plans for this season’s opener, I called the White House last week and asked for the press office. This was the conversation:

“White House press office.”

I introduced myself and asked, “Does the president have plans to throw out the first ball at an opening game next week?

“That has not been confirmed or announced,” the young woman replied and started to hang up abruptly.

Wait a minute, I said before she could hang up. You haven’t answered …

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