Great review, irishgit. If teams from Raleigh, Tampa Bay, and now possibly Anaheim are going to win the Stanley Cup in recent years, then it is nice to see Canadians making their mark in baseball as they already have in basketball. A sign of the globalization of professional sports. Great for the Twins, too, who despite a parsimonious and dastardly owner can boast a Cy Young winner and an MVP.

Not perhaps a huge story, but for me it was the best story of the year in major sports. Morneau comes from the town I live in, and many years ago, I was one of several of his coaches on the team his father managed. Ironically, it was his older brother who appeared the more talented of the two, but it was Justin who possessed the unrelenting work ethic that took him as far as it has. It was a privilege to be associated with his career, in even such a miniscule way, and while I can take zero credit for his success, I am certainly proud of him.