1st Week at Number 1 With the Diamondbacks having a rough week, and Boston continuing to be steady, Boston takes over the top spot this week. For those of you that have been reading this column each week, you will understand how much pain that brings me.
Games This Week: May 12: at Minnesota; May 13-14: at Baltimore; May 16-18: vs. Milwaukee
2 (5)
Chicago Cubs
22-15
5-5
Chicago came up big at home with a early season sweep of the Diamondbacks, and now find themselves as the best team in the National League.
Games This Week: May 12-15: vs. San Diego; May 16-18: vs. Pittsburgh
3 (1)
Arizona Diamondbacks
23-15
3-7
Arizona had a rough week, facing two of the top two teams in the League. They started out well enough with a 2-2 split with the Phillies, but couldn't keep it up as they lost all three to the Cubs. Brandon Webb won his start this week however, making him a perfect eight for eight.
Games This Week: May 13-15: vs. Colorado; May 16-18: vs. Detroit
4 (7)
Oakland Athletics
23-16
6-4
Oakland overtook Los Angeles for the division lead, and even though they struggled with Texas this past weekend, they move up to the 4th spot.
Games This Week: May 13-15: at Cleveland; May 16-18: at Atlanta
5 (3)
St. Louis Cardinals
23-16
5-5
St. Louis struggled this week, yet they are still tied with the Cubs for the division lead. They will take a small drop, but nothing significant as they continue to surprise the league with a very solid start.
Games This Week: May 12: at Milwuakee; May 13-15: vs. Pittsburgh; May 16-18: vs. Tampa Bay
6 (4)
Los Angeles Angels
22-17
4-6
The Angels were looking to be on their way to a great week as they won four games in a row. However things turned around on them as they have now lost four straight, including a sweep against Tampa Bay where they suffered back to back 0-2 losses.
Games This Week: May 12-15: vs. Chicago White Sox; May 16-18: vs. LA Dodgers
7 (12)
Florida Marlins
23-14
8-2
It looked like the Marlins had started their expected drop down the rankings, but a seven game winning streak has not only put them back atop the NL East, but three games ahead of the 2nd place Mets. Pitching has been the key as they have not given up more than four runs in any of the seven games that are involved in this winning streak.
Games This Week: May 12-15: at Cincinnati; May 16-18: vs. Kansas City
8 (6)
Philadelphia Phillies
21-18
5-5
The Phillies played well in their split series against the D'Backs, but they struggled against the Giants. Philadelphia heads back home to attempt to get things back on track as they chase after the Marlins.
Games This Week: May 13-15: vs. Atlanta; May 16-18: vs. Toronto
9 (13)
Tampa Bay Rays
21-16
6-4
The Rays just wont go away as they swept the Angels to end their week. This week they get series against the Yankees and Cardinals as they try to prove that they belong this season.
Games This Week: May 12-15: vs. NY Yankees; May 16-18: at St. Louis
10 (8)
New York Mets
19-16
5-5
The Mets are just kind of hanging around right now.
Games This Week: May 12-15: vs. Washington; May 16-18: at NY Yankees
11 (10)
New York Yankees
19-19
5-5
Most people would say that the Yankees are in trouble, but they are sticking around the .500 mark which is exactly what they need to do right now. With ARod and Posada out, that is all you can really ask for.
Games This Week: May 12-15: at Tampa Bay; May 16-18: vs. NY Mets
12 (21)
Houston Astros
21-17
8-2
Winners of 8 of 9, including a surprising sweep of the Dodgers, have the Astros back in the hunt in the Central.
Games This Week: May 12-15: at San Francisco; May 16-18: at Texas
13 (9)
Los Angeles Dodgers
19-18
5-5
So much for the tear up the rankings for the Dodgers. At least the D'Backs struggled this week so the Dodgers are still sticking around shooting distance of the division lead.
Games This Week: May 12-15: vs. Houston; May 16-18: vs. Chicago White Sox
14 (17)
Atlanta Braves
18-17
6-4
The Atlanta Braves are the Utah Jazz of the MLB, let me explain. The Braves are 14-4 at home, but 4-13 on the road. If they could just figure out how to win on the road, this will be a playoff team, but for now they are just a team battling around .500.
Games This Week: May 12: (DH) at Pittsburgh; May 13-15: at Philadelphia; May 16-18: vs. Oakland
15 (14)
Cleveland Indians
18-18
6-4
Cleveland continues their slow run up the AL Central standings.
Games This Week: May 12: (DH) vs. Toronto; May 13-15: vs. Oakland; May 16-18: at Cincinnati
16 (15)
Baltimore Orioles
19-19
4-6
I would have figured that the Orioles would have been back at the bottom of the division by now.
Games This Week: May 13-14: vs. Boston; May 16-18: vs. Washington
17 (11)
Milwaukee Brewers
18-19
3-7
Wow, what has happened to this team. My #1 of Week 2 is not even in the top half anymore.
Games This Week: May 12: vs. St. Louis; May 13-15: vs. LA Dodgers; May 16-18: at Boston
18 (27)
Minnesota Twins
19-17
7-3
The Twins may lead their division, but I still don't believe in them at all.
Games This Week: May 12: vs. Boston; May 13-15: vs. Toronto; May 16-18: at Colorado
19 (18)
Chicago White Sox
18-18
4-6
The White Sox are still sticking around and as long as Ozzie can keep his head on his shoulders, they could steal this division.
Games This Week: May 12-15: at LA Angels; May 16-18: at San Francisco
20 (16)
Toronto Blue Jays
17-21
6-4
Toronto continues to struggle, and with the Rays and Orioles off to surprising starts, the Blue Jays look even worse then they really are.
Games This Week: May 12: (DH) at Cleveland; May 13-15: at Minnesota; May 16-18: at Philadelphia
21 (19)
Detroit Tigers
16-22
3-7
Will the Tigers ever get back on the winning side of things?
Games This Week: May 13-15: at Kansas City; May 16-18: at Arizona
22 (30)
Pittsburgh Pirates
17-19
7-3
Pittsburgh is on a five game winning streak, and are now almost back up to .500. That will give the Pirates one of the biggest jumps this week.
Games This Week: May 12: (DH) vs. Atlanta; May 13-15: at St. Louis; May 16-18: at Chicago Cubs
23 (25)
Texas Rangers
18-21
7-3
I would have thought that Texas would be the team 8 games out of their division, but instead they are only a series sweep away from being a .500 team.
Games This Week: May 12-15: at LA Angels; May 16-18: at San Francisco
24 (22)
San Francisco Giants
16-22
4-6
The Giants are not as horrible as I thought that they were going to be, but they still aren't good. They play well enough at home, but get them on the road and you have a different story.
Games This Week: May 12-15: vs. Houston; May 16-18: vs. Chicago White Sox
25 (26)
Colorado Rockies
15-23
4-6
Colorado continues to struggle, as they just can't stay consistent enough to make a run at Arizona.
Games This Week: May 13-15: at Arizona; May 16-18: vs. Minnesota
26 (23)
Kansas City Royals
16-21
4-6
This is the Royals team that I was expecting, still they are showing improvement.
Games This Week: May 13-15: vs. Detroit; May 16-18: at Florida
27 (28)
San Diego Padres
14-24
3-7
The most surprising of the bad teams to me.
Games This Week: May 12-15: at Chicago Cubs; May 16-18: at Seattle
28 (29)
Cincinnati Reds
15-23
3-7
If the Reds are not careful, their season will be finished by the end of May.
Games This Week: May 12-15: vs. Florida; May 16-18: vs. Cleveland
29 (24)
Washington Nationals
15-23
4-6
Boy did I overrate this team at the beginning of the season.
Games This Week: May 12-15: at NY Mets; May 16-18: at Baltimore
30 (27)
Seattle Mariners
15-24
2-8
These guys just continue to find different ways to lose games. It's tough to focus in on one thing when nobody really is stepping up at all and telling the team to jump on his back.
Games This Week: May 12-14: at Texas; May 16-18: vs. San Diego
Phillies are in a bit of trouble as they will face 3 straight lefties against division rival the Braves. I don't feel to great about it. They could not afford dropping 2 of 3 to the lowly Giants, thats inexcusable.
Posted By: Ken Schmidt (Registered) on May 13, 2008 at 12:12 AM
Interesting... Harmless... not bad, but pretty short on content... in order to beat me in the Fact or Fiction tournament you'll probably have to write full paragraphs though, hopefully you don't get rusty before then... if you want to see how an 'expert' does things, check out my column in the Wrestling Zone! See you soon!!
Posted By: Jake Chambers (Registered) on May 23, 2008 at 08:21 AM
