Vitamin Z's Magnificent 7: Weekly MLB Power Rankings
A new Friday feature that will hopefully keep me from neglecting my blog.
1. Chicago Cubs (43-24): Chicago has won four straight, and it looks like even the loss of Alfonso Soriano can't slow this train. And yet, the Cubs are only 3 1/2 up on the Cardinals.
2. Boston Red Sox (42-27): God bless the Devil Rays for standing up to these jerks. But even with injuries, the Red Sox are practically unbeatable in Fenway (28-7)and even a 14-20 road record won't sink them.
3. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (41-26): 8-2 in their last 10 and pulling away from Oakland, who Indians announcer Tom Hamilton said woudn't contend. Sadly, checking his employer's glass house has never been Hamilton's specialty. But back to the Angels. Chone Figgins is back, and even though his numbers aren't overly impressive, he has shown to be valuable in the past.
4.Philadelphia Phillies (40-28): Anybody else in Cleveland wishing Charlie Manuel was still running the Indians instead of Eric Wedge? When Manuel was hired before the 2005 season, I figured it was a favor to Jim Thome. But Thome's long gone, and Manuel is still thriving.
5. St. Louis Cardinals (40-28): The National League Central may be the most balanced division in the league. The fifth-place Pirates are a game under .500, and the Cardinals would be leading or tied in three different divisions.
6. Tampa Bay Devil Rays (38-28): It's safe to say I owe an apology to all Rays fans after I knocked the team a few months ago. A good, young team that's fun to watch.
7. Chicago White Sox (37-29): No team is more confusing this season. Ozzie Guillen calls out everyone in the organization, and the team wins seven. They roll into Detroit, where the team is scuffling, and get swept. Hard to figure where this team is headed.
Labels: MLB
posted by Zach @ 10:20 AM
3 Comments
3 Comments:
Might have something to do with the fact that Manuel has more talent to work with than Eric Wedge could ever hope to have as manager of the Indians.
If Wedge were managing the Phillies and Manuel the Indians, the shoe would be on the other foot. Manuel would be a bumbling bumpkin and we'd be pining for Wedge.
But that's never gotten in the way of a nice grass-is-greener argument before.
"It used to be when I'd see, a manager that I liked, I'd get out my book, and write out his name, but when the grass got a little greener on the other side, I just tear out that page."
At least Manuel was smart enough to make his boys Thome and Ramirez, where as Wedge's boys are Casey Blake, Mike Rouse and Jamie Carroll.
And remember ... Manuel led a team that had given away all of it's star players two years ago to one that almost won the Wild Card that season.
Yes, he has more talent. But Charlie has proven to be a very solid big league manager. And I hard on him when he was here.
Apart from sports, I'm hoping you're planning to write something about Tim Russert. This is one of the few celebrity deaths that when I saw it pop up on the Yahoo home page, I was sincerely taken aback and shocked. A terrible loss for the journalism community.
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