All apologies - we blew it. We did most of the teams, but had some hang-ups on finishing this article in light of a certain NBA team whipping the shizznat out of another NBA team. While we have some non-Sox and non-Pats fans in our midst (due to upbring, so it's excused), we are all Celtics fans, so productivity droppped to zero sometime Tuesday afternoon (and it wasn't that high to begin with due to Sunday night's Game 5). And it's tough to write about baseball when you're busy celebrating an NBA championship. Green 17 baby!
For purposes of this week, we have write-ups on performance but the rankings stayed the same. We apologize. If you don't like it, well, fuck you then and your NBA team sucks.
1. 
Chicago Cubs 45-25 (1)
-(5-1) The Cubs continue to roll despite losing Soriano for an extended period of time. Lou Pinella is looking like the master motivator that he is billed as (despite that stint in Tampa, he did not lose that reputation). The Cubbies continue to do it with timely hitting and great pitching. Chicago braces itself for the North Side-South Side battle coming up this week.
2. 
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 42-28 (2)
-(3-3) How good is John Lackey right now? I'll tell ya! In his last 29.3 innings pitched he's only given up 5 earned runs... for all you math majors that's about a 1.80 ERA. Sweet. Don't over analyze their series with the Braves. Good teams will lose a series during a long season and that's just what happened. The Angels are for real and there is no doubt we'll be seeing them come October.
3. 
Boston Red Sox 44-28 (3)
-(4-2) Okajima should not pitch against the Orioles again this season, as his big stinker is all that stood between a sweep of their divisional rivals. Other than that and a little jet lag, the Sox looked good taking 2 out of 3 in both of their past series. Youkilis returned to his hometown Cincinnati and had the game-winning homer – someone in Hollywood is nodding their head in approval.
4. 
Philadelphia Phillies 41-30 (4)
-(2-4) Could the NL MVP come through Philly for the 3rd year in a row from 3 different players? Chase Utley sure hopes so. Although, Lance Berkman and Chipper Jones might have something to say about that. Ryan Howard (63 RBIs) is finally driving in runs like the Phillies had been expecting from him, and is currently helping my fantasy team climb into the middle of the pack....blah.
5. 
Chicago White Sox 38-31 (5)
-(2-5) The White Sox had a tough week which included getting swept by the Detroit Tigers. Carlos Quentin was batting .300 at the end of May, he's currently batting .267. Javier Vazquez has given up 14 earned runs in his last 3 starts. Both Quentin and Vazquez are going to have to pick it up if the Sox expect to hold off the Twins, Tigers, and Indians before August rolls around. Oh and I couldn't go a week without mentioning my friend Ozzie Guillen.
6. 
St. Louis Cardinals 42-29 (6)
-(4-2) This team continues to find ways to win. With Albert Pujols and Adam Wainwright on the DL this team is probably going to play .500 ball for a bit, luckily they have a few games against the Royals coming up. Luckily, Jason Isringhausen is back to keep baseball games in St. Louis exciting... With jobless claims in America on the rise Isringhausen might want to stop throwing meatballs.
7. 
Tampa Bay Rays 40-29 (7)
-(3-3) Can the young Rays sustain these winning ways for 162 games? Only time will tell but be sure that veteran teams like the Red Sox and Yankees are not going to make it easy for them. A huge series against the Cubs this week is going to show the true colors of the Rays, if they come out on top we just may be seeing the beginnings of something special happening in Florida this year, and I'm not talking about Jeb Bush beating his brother George in friendly game of twister.
8. 
Arizona Diamondbacks 37-33 (8)
-(3-4) This team is playing incredibly flat you can’t be championship caliber and lose two at home to the Roayls…the two just don't go together. RJ and Owings need to be more reliable in the middle of the rotation. The Unit hasn’t put up a W in his last five starts and Micah has pitched 12.2 innings in three June starts and the opposition has scored 17 runs!
9. 
Oakland Athletics 38-31 (9)
-(4-2) The trade deadline is fast approaching and the A's are absolutely horrid when it comes to putting the ball over the fence. They currently only have 1 player with double digit HRs (Jack Cust, 11). This is a team that's batting .254 and continues to win games. How do they do it you may ask? Pitching, pitching, pitching. The starting pitching and bullpen have been pretty solid all season sporting a 3.42 Team ERA. They say pitching wins championships but I think you still need to score at least one run to win a game.
10. 
Florida Marlins 37-32 (10)
-(3-4) The Marlins have gone and thrown a wrench in the NL East this year. This team was not suppose to be this good this fast. Sitting just 2 games behind the Phillies in the division the Marlins are primed to shock some people this year. Although, the Braves and Mets have the talent and experience to creep up the standings and crush every Floridian's hopes and dreams down the stretch. Wit players like Hanley, Uggla, Hendrickson, and Olsen the Marlins are sure to be competitive for years to come. One more stat to make this a bit more fun.... The Marlins are averaging 8 1/2 strike outs per game and are on pace to finish with 1,374—which would break last year's franchise record of 1,332.
11. 
New York Yankees 37-33 (11)
-(5-2) Here come the Bronx Bombers! Who counted this team out, again? If the Yankees expect to hang in it this year they're going to have to do it without their ace Chien-Ming Wang who had to leave the game on Sunday with a torn tendon in his foot, which he injured while running bases. I didn't realize how dangerous running bases was. However, with all that said the Yankees season has nothing to do with Wang at this point but completely relies on the mustache of Jason Giambi. The mustache has given hope in New York where hope had once been lost.
12. 
Toronto Blue Jays 35-36 (12)
-(2-4) Here we are in mid June and the Jays have yet to win a series. You can’t blame the tough division, because they just lost two of three to the Mariners. Bottom line it’s not all gravy and fries in Canada. We speculate that John Gibbons' job may not be safe.
13. 
Atlanta Braves 34-36 (13)
-(2-4) Chipper Jones is clinging to his .400 quest as his average has dropped to .402 – all thanks to a 2-for-15 week that included a freakish batting practice injury where he fouled a ball off his own eye socket. If unusual injuries were a statistic, Jones would probably be the all-time leader, as he has somehow avoided his annual trip to the DL this year. Unfortunately, practically every pitcher on the Braves staff has made a trip to DL.
14. 
Milwaukee Brewers 36-33 (14)
-(3-3) If it’s one thing the Brewers do not lack, it’s power, as they belted 13 homers in the past week, led by Mike Cameron & Corey Hart with 3 a piece. Seth McClung has done well since being promoted into the starting rotation, as he’s thrown 3 straight quality starts for the Brew Crew. Not sure if Seth McClung is really the answer they are looking for though.
15. 
New York Mets 33-35 (15)
-(3-3) Just fire Willie Randolph already, Omar. Shit or get off the pot! They’ve wasted so much ink printing ‘Will Willie get fired?’ articles in the umpteen NY papers because it been speculated for almost months, because this expensive and talented squad is playing under .500 ball. While you can’t pin all of the blame on the manager (players got to make plays), but you can always make the manager a scapegoat. Plus they apparently need to shake things up, as approximately ZERO players have come to Willie’s defense.
[Editor’s Note: This was written Monday, 6/16. Little did we know Omar Minaya was a sick son of a bitch who waited until 3:15 AM to fire his coach. Worst wake-up call EVER.]
16. 
Houston Astros 33-37 (16)
-(1-5) They had a dismal week and are now a disastrous 1-7 in their last 8 home games. They even lost a 2-1 game in which Kyle Farnsworth notched a save. You know you’re playing bad ball when Girardi feels comfortable enough to put Farnsworth in for the ninth against you.
17. 
Texas Rangers 35-36 (17)
-(3-3) The Rangers kept hovering around .500 in an nice, uneventful week. Beat the Royals, lose to the Mets. This team needs to think about moving some offense for some better pitching, and they should use every draft pick they have to take pitching.
18. 
Minnesota Twins 34-36 (18)
-(3-4) The Minnesota Twins should be renamed to the Mediocre Twins. Because they have been living in the land of mediocrity for the entire season – in fact, they’ve been so impressively mediocre, they haven’t been more than 3 games over or under .500 the entire season. Their longest winning streak was 5 games (it took them from 3 under to 2 over) and their longest losing streak was 6 games (it took them from 3 over to 3 under). So mediocre.
19. 
Los Angeles Dodgers 31-38 (19)
-(1-5) Bad week for LA - not only did the Dodgers throw up a week-long stinkbomb, so did the Lakers. HAHA. Never gets old. Word on the street is that Nomar could be asked to return to his old position of SS when he comes of the DL. That's a bigger reach than expecting a new Eddie Murphy movie to do well in the box office.
20. 
Baltimore Orioles 34-34 (20)
-(3-3) Baltimore is 7.5 games out of first place in the East. They only have to hang on for a couple of more weeks without being at lest 10 games back and forcing me to apologize for all the harsh things I've said about them... I'm not worried because I'm not going to be wrong. An upcoming series with the Cubs and the Brewers should take the O's down a few more notches. At least Nick Markakis is helping out my fantasy team...
21. 
Pittsburgh Pirates 34-36 (21)
-(4-3) We're getting so close to a .500 record! Would it be amazing if the Pirates could win 82 games this year? They won't though... Why do won't they you ask. Simple, they're going to make some trades before the deadline to get some more prospects. Haven't you heard that the Pirates are in a rebuilding phase? Since 1993.... It's a long process.
22. 
San Francisco Giants 31-40 (22)
-(2-5) A sweep at the hands of Oakland was not what the Giants wanted this week. The highlight moment had to come with Zito starting the series. Only the highlight wasn’t for the Giants…Zito saw his ERA hit 5.88 and record drop to 2-10. I can only imagine Billy Beane watching the game with a tub of popcorn with a big smile on his face.
23. 
Cincinnati Reds 33-38 (23)
-(3-4) Harang finally had a good outing. He’s now averaging one win a month and still on pace for over 200 IP ! Well since ESPN has stopped running constant Jay Bruce updates he must not be the impact rookie they were hyping him as. He has just five hits in his last thirty AB’s.
24. 
Cleveland Indians 33-37 (24)
-(5-2) Baseball is an easy game when things go according to plan. The Ace wins and the team follows suit. CC notched two wins in throwing 17 innings and allowing just 3 ER and 11 hits. The results of that…on Friday Cleveland starter Jeremy Sowers lasted just 4.1 innings and left losing 4-3. The bullpen came into the game fresh and pitched 4.2 innings allowing just one run, while the offense came through for a 9-5 victory.
25. 
San Diego Padres 31-40 (25)
-(3-3) Welcome back, Jake Peavy! If anything can save this team it’s getting your ace and reigning Cy Young Award winner back. Apparently the offense got inspired by his return and scored 8 unnecessary runs in a 9-0 rout. Then the offense when back into hibernation, save for a 5-run explosion in the 10th against the Indians for a big win, although it was off some bum the Indians called up due to their pitching staff injuries. Nice job.
26. 
Detroit Tigers 32-37 (26)
-(6-1) Well after the ripping we gave them last week the Tigers are finally playing ball. The reason is the pitching finally showed up. Don’t blame Armando Galarraga the Tigers are 11-2 when he gets the ball. Detroit fans can just hope that Dontrelle stays in A ball, and maybe this past weeks performance will be more than a mirage.
27. 
Colorado Rockies 28-41 (27)
(4-2) The Rockies are 8-3 in their last 11 games. Is this finally the run the Rockies have been waiting for? The sad thing is that the Rockies are going to have to make some decisions on trading some players like Holliday and Fuentes real soon which will send a strong message to the team about the direction of this team for the remainder of 08'.
28. 
Washington Nationals 29-42 (28)
-(4-3) The Nationals are terrible. But they swept the Mariners in Seattle. Talk about kicking a dog when it's down. Rafael Belliard and Cristian Guzman continue to lead the league in middle infielder weight. Good job guys. By the way, I'll eat my face if those two are really weight 214 and 213 as it is listed. Yeah, and Rich Garces only weighed 240 when he played for the Sox. Riiiiight.
29. 
Kansas City Royals 28-42 (29)
-(4-3) Not a bad week for the Royals. But in a season full of bad weeks, is it really something to get happy about. I start to wonder if I'll ever see a Royals team over .500 this late into a season ever again.
30. 
Seattle Mariners 24-45 (30)
-(2-4) I still can’t believe I backed this ridiculously terrible team in my pre-season predictions. What the F was I smoking?!? In my defense, I had no idea that practically every member of their offense would decide that this was a good year to have the worst year of their career – Ichiro included. And the Jeykll & Hyde performances of their ace-duo of Hernandez and Bedard is not helping either.
[Editor’s Note: This was also written Monday. Little did we know that the M’s were going to fire their GM over this, which is bull-shit in my eyes because McLaren clearly does not have this team motivated.]
MLB Power Rankings
MLB Power Rankings - Week 11
MLB Power Rankings - Week 10
MLB Power Rankings - Week 9
MLB Power Rankings - Week 8
MLB Power Rankings - Week 7
MLB Power Rankings - Week 6
MLB Power Rankings - Week 5
MLB Power Rankings - Week 4
MLB Power Rankings - Week 3
MLB Power Rankings - Week 2
MLB Power Rankings - Preseason
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