Provincial Elections in New Brunswick & Quebec Make Canada Anything But Boring

Rosemary Barton, a journalist for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, recently boasted on Twitter about Canada being a boring country in response to President Trump's recent press conference during last week's UN General Assembly.


But in the space of the past week, Canada has witnessed two provincial elections which demonstrate otherwise. Significantly both elections took place in provinces with significant Francophone populations - New Brunswick and Quebec.


Actually, things have been interesting in New Brunswick for most of this decade. In most provinces, a party rules for two or more terms before the electorate gets tired. But last week's vote could prove to be the fourth straight election in which there has been a change in government. In the 2006 provincial election, the Liberals led by Shawn Graham ousted the two term incumbent Tory government led by Bernard Lord. In the 2010 election, Graham's Liberals were ousted by the Tories who were led by David Alward. In the 2014 election, Alward's Tories were tossed in favor of the Liberals who were led by Brian Gallant. There's a good chance that Gallant will face the same fate as Graham and Alward as the Tories now led by Blaine Higgs won the most the seats in the New Brunswick legislature, but not enough for a majority.


Holding the balance of power are two smaller parties - the Greens led by David Coon and the right-wing populist People's Alliance led by Kris Austin. Both the Greens and the Populist Alliance each won three seats in the New Brunswick legislature. Both the Liberals and Tories are courting the Greens who may enjoy the kind of influence they currently have across the country in British Columbia. In the 2017 election while the NDP won fewer seats than the incumbent Liberals the NDP was able to end 16 years of Liberal rule with the help of the Greens who agreed to support the NDP for the duration of their four year term although they do not hold any cabinet posts as coalition governments in Canada are rare.


The wild card here is the People's Alliance. The Liberals have explicitly ruled out any agreement with the People's Alliance because of their stance against bilingualism. The People's Alliance has pledged its support to the Tories but Higgs is keeping his distance from them for now and see if he can make a deal with the Greens. In any case, I think the Tories have the upper hand at the moment and will likely prevail. But even if they do they will have to govern an electorate every bit as volatile as one can find in this country.


Then came last night in Quebec. A new political party, Coalition Avenir Quebec won a majority government ousting the Liberals who endured their worst election results in the province in more than 150 years. Coalition Avenir Quebec becomes the first conservative party to govern Quebec since the Union Nationale was ousted from power in 1970. They are led by a multi-millionaire named Francois Legault. Could he be Quebec's Donald Trump? Not quite. Legault was actually a former Parti Quebecois cabinet minister in the late 1990's and early 2000's. His old party which nearly a quarter century ago realized its dream of an independent Quebec was reduced to 9 seats and supplanted by the far left Quebec Solidaire.


While the CAQ is nationalist, they vow to never hold another Quebec referendum. Unlike the Union Nationale who under the iron fist of Maurice Duplessis emphasized its ties with the Catholic Church, the CAQ emphasizes secularism and opposes Muslims who wear the hijab and favors limiting immigration. Last night's election was Quebec's most significant since Rene Levesque and the PQ came to power in 1976. The common denominator in both elections is that there was a man named Trudeau living at 24 Sussex Drive.


Canadian politics are anything but boring.

Twins Fire Molitor; Could The Blue Jays Be Interested?

The Minnesota Twins have fired manager Paul Molitor after four seasons at the helm and with two years remaining on his contract. In 2017, Molitor guided the Twins to an AL Wild Card berth. The Twins had another second place finish in the AL Central in 2018 but had a mediocre 78-84 record and were a distant 13 games back of the Cleveland Indians.


Molitor, a native of St. Paul, has reportedly been offered another position within the Twins' organization. But perhaps Molitor might be looking further north. The Toronto Blue Jays currently have a managerial vacancy and the Hall of Famer did win a World Series title with the Jays in 1993. He would be a natural fit. Then again the Blue Jays might be looking for a younger manager and Molitor is six years older than John Gibbons who was terminated at the end of the season with a year remaining on his contract.


But Blue Jays fans have fond memories of Molitor and I suspect would embrace him as the team's new skipper. Yet memories is probably not want Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins is seeking. One can only hope he has an open mind on the subject.

My 2018 MLB Post-Season Predictions

Now that both the NL Central and NL West have been settled, I shall now make my post-season predictions for the 2018 MLB season which commences tomorrow night when the Chicago Cubs host the Colorado Rockies.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

NL Wild Card Game - Colorado Rockies vs. Chicago Cubs - Winner: Cubs

NLDS - Chicago Cubs vs. Milwaukee Brewers (Best 3 of 5) - Winner: Cubs in five

NLDS - Atlanta Braves vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (Best 3 of 5) - Winner: Braves in four

NLCS - Chicago Cubs vs. Atlanta Braves (Best 4 of 7) - Winner: Cubs in six

NLCS MVP - David Bote, Chicago Cubs

AMERICAN LEAGUE

AL Wild Card Game - Oakland A's vs. New York Yankees - Winner: A's

ALDS - Oakland A's vs. Boston Red Sox (Best 3 of 5) - Winner: A's in three

ALDS - Cleveland Indians vs. Houston Astros (Best 3 of 5) - Winner: Astros in three

ALCS - Oakland A's vs. Houston Astros (Best 4 of 7) - Winner: A's in seven

ALCS MVP - Khris Davis, Oakland A's

2018 World Series - Oakland A's vs. Chicago Cubs (Best 4 of 7) - Winner: A's in five

2018 World Series MVP - Blake Treinen, Oakland A's

We shall see how far my predictions go. They might not go further than tomorrow night.

Dodgers Win 6th Straight NL West Title; Rockies Head to Wrigley

The Los Angeles Dodgers have just won their sixth straight NL West title with a 5-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies at Dodger Stadium in Game 163.

The Dodgers got a pair of two run home runs from Cody Bellinger and Max Muncy in the 4th and 5th innings, respectively. Walker Buehler, who pitched 6 2/3 innings of scoreless ball, also drove in a run with a single in the 6th. The Rockies did give Dodgers fans a scare in the 9th when closer Kenley Jansen gave up back to back HRs to Nolan Arenado and Trevor Story. But after a visit from longtime pitching coach Rick Honeycutt, Jansen settled down and retired the next three hitters, two by strikeout. The Dodgers advance to the NLDS against the Atlanta Braves which commences Friday.

Meanwhile, the Rockies must travel to Chicago to play the Cubs for their second straight NL Wild Card game. Last year, the Rockies were eliminated by the Arizona Diamondbacks. This may prove to be a long flight to Chicago and an even longer flight back to Denver.

Brewers Win 1st NL Central Title Since 2011; Cubs Host NL Wild Card Tomorrow

The Milwaukee Brewers have defeated the Chicago Cubs 3-1 to win their first NL Central title since 2011. Brew Crew pitching limited the Cubs to three hits with their lone run coming on Anthony Rizzo's solo HR in the fifth. The Brewers scored on singles by Christian Yelich in the 3rd while Lorenzo Cain broke the 1-1 tie in the 8th with a single with Ryan Braun providing insurance with another single.


This means the Cubs will live to fight another day but perhaps no more than that. Tomorrow night they host the NL Wild Card game against the loser of the Colorado Rockies/Los Angeles Dodgers contest which begins at this hour. Should the Cubs prevail they will once again face the Brewers in the NLDS.


It has been a most remarkable 30 days for the Brewers who began September in third place in the NL Central. But the Brewers got hot at the right time winning their final 8 games and 10 of their last 11. Since September 1st, the Brewers are 20-7. Nevertheless should the Brewers face either the Cubs or Dodgers in the NLDS they will be perceived as the underdog. I suspect that will be just fine with them.

NL Central & NL West Still Unsettled After 162 Games

We have come to the end of the 2018 MLB season and yet 162 games weren't enough to settle either the NL Central or NL West divisions.

The Chicago Cubs will host the Milwaukee Brewers tomorrow afternoon at Wrigley Field to determine the NL Central race. Earlier today, the Cubs defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 10-5 while the Brewers squashed the Detroit Tigers 11-0 for their seventh straight win. Will the Cubs win their third straight NL Central title or will the Brew Crew claim the crown for the first time since 2011?

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Dodgers will host the Colorado Rockies at Dodger Stadium to determine the NL West. The Dodgers and Rockies both won squash matches as well defeating the San Francisco Giants and the Washington Nationals 15-0 and 12-0, respectively. Will the Dodgers win their sixth straight NL West title or will the Rockies, who have won 9 of their last 10 games, win the division for the first time? The Rockies' previous four post-season appearances including 2017 have all come via the NL Wild Card. 

Speaking of the NL Wild Card, don't feel bad for whoever loses these games tomorrow because they will have the opportunity to vie for the NL Wild Card spot on Tuesday. 

Three Reasons Why David Wright Has a Chance at Cooperstown

Last night before a capacity crowd at Citi Field, New York Mets third baseman David Wright played his final big league game.

Wright went 0 for 1 with a walk and made a play in the field before leaving the game in the top of the fifth to a rapturous standing ovation. Mets fans would lustily boo Miami Marlins first baseman Peter O'Brien for having the nerve to catch Wright's pop up in his final at bat. But Mets fans went home happy when the Mets won the game in the 13th inning on an Austin Jackson double for the only run of the game with Wright addressing the fans after the game.

I spent last night thinking about Wright's chances for enshrinement into Cooperstown. Mets broadcaster Gary Cohen seemed to believe that Wright's injuries which have plagued him since 2014 are likely to preclude him. Wright has had several surgeries on his back, neck and shoulder and also has spinal stenosis to boot.

While I don't think Wright will be a first ballot Hall of Famer when he becomes eligible for consideration in 2024, I do believe he will be one day inducted whether by the BBWAA or by the Veterans Committee. There are three reasons working in his favor.

First, Wright not only spent his entire professional career with the New York Mets but is simply the greatest position player to ever wear a Mets uniform. Wright holds the team's records in every offensive category except for home runs and had Wright been healthy he would have eclipsed Darryl Strawberry's team record. It is true the Mets don't have the storied history of the Yankees, but come 2024 the Mets will be in their seventh decade. This is not an insignificant amount of time and Wright's imprint on the Mets cannot be ignored.

Second, there remains a paucity of third baseman in the Hall of Fame although the induction of Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones over the summer now puts that number at 17. Like Wright, Jones spent his entire career with a single organization. What makes things more interesting is that Wright and Jones careers overlap. They were frequent competitors within the NL East between 2004 and 2012 and during that period Wright supplanted Jones as the premier third baseman in the NL with seven NL All-Star appearances while Jones only had three over the same period. While Wright doesn't have Jones' overall offensive stats, he is certainly the better defensive third baseman. That Wright can be compared favorably with a contemporary like Jones certainly bolsters his case for induction.

Third, character still matters. Even if Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds and, for that matter, Alex Rodriguez get their day in Cooperstown there will always be a cloud of scandal over their legacies. The same cannot be said for Wright who has conducted himself in an exemplary manner both on and off the field. This isn't to say that one must be a saint to earn a plaque in Cooperstown, but Wright leaves both the Mets and Major League Baseball a better place than he found it.