The Los Angeles Dumpster Fires

I used to have an Oakland A's cap that featured the white elephant logo. Unfortunately, a few years ago, my then-pregnant wife mistook it for a barf bag while riding in the car.

In 1902, John McGraw derisively called the Athletics team (then in Philadelphia) a "big, white elephant." Connie Mack embraced the term, doing what cultural studies majors would call "re-appropriating it," and had a white elephant put on all uniforms. The A's of course went on to have a pretty successful next dozen years, going to the World Series five times and winning it three, until Mack pulled a Jeff Luhnow and blew up the team in 1915.

I've heard Ryan Sims and other so-called baseball experts refer to this year's Dodgers team as a possible "dumpster fire." Here's to hoping the Dodgers pull a Connie Mack and embrace the term, emblazoning bullpen jackets and batting practice caps with the picture to the left.

I'd buy one. And I'd keep it away from my wife.