FanHouse BarryBonds

MLB Power Rankings: Where MLB FanHouse's editors, writers and bloggers team up to break down the who's who and the what's what in the baseball world.

It's a funny thing, sometimes, to see how Power Rankings shape up over the course of the season. Just like when we started the year, there are a number of teams from one particular division sitting atop the rankings. Of course, there are plenty of surprises -- WHERE DID THE FREAKING GIANTS AND ROCKIES COME FROM?? -- and some other interesting stuff, like the fact that the Mets and Cubs just haven't been that good, which we discussed on the inaugural BaseCast recently.

Because the NFL rules the sports landscape in North America, it shouldn't be a surprise that Bill Cowher, former head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers for 15 years, has worked his way into the storyline of the NHL's Eastern Conference final between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Carolina Hurricanes.

Prior to the start of the series, there was some debate as to Cowher's rooting interest for the series, seeing as how he not only coached in Pittsburgh for a decade-and-a-half, but because he was born and raised in Pittsburgh, and now currently lives in Raleigh, North Carolina. Prior to Tuesday's Game 4, Cowher will be sounding the Hurricanes' pre-game warning siren, and, as far as many people in the steel city are concerned, turning his back on Pittsburgh.

Saturday Spotlight is a weekly lightning-round of questions delving into the personalities and stories of major leaguers. This week the Spotlight goes multimedia, with its premier audio edition.

Randy Winn has been overshadowed throughout most of his career because he's shared an outfield with Ichiro Suzuki and Barry Bonds, but Winn has put up some numbers of his own. He's been an All-Star and a member of Team USA in the World Baseball Classic. He's also a former teammate of a third MVP: Steve Nash.

Enjoy the interview...

I'm a baseball writer, not the Pope. I've got a Hall of Fame vote, not the key to heaven. Manny Ramirez is a baseball player, not the President.

As such, I don't think I've got a right to expect much in the way of morality. I don't think Ramirez needs to be held to as high a standard as my son's kindergarten teacher.

In the days since we learned that Ramirez violated baseball's drug policy, most likely by using steroids, most of the media has rushed on a herd of high horses to condemn him.

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So another baseball hero got snared in the performance-enhancing web. Today, Manny Ramirez.

Tomorrow, Roger Clemens?

Oh yeah, never mind.

Alex Rodriguez? Sammy Sosa? Mark McGwire? Barry Bonds?

You really do need a scorecard to keep up with the falling stars. I don't know about you, but I'm tired of trying to remember who's on first and who's on Winstrol.

You're never going to get rid of the dirty people. The only way to clean up the game is to get rid of the rules that turn people into dirtbags.

MLB Power Rankings: Where MLB FanHouse's editors, writers and bloggers team up to break down the who's who and the what's what in the baseball world.

What a zany week for a pair of pitchers with amazing stories: Zack Greinke is America's favorite story right now, somehow managing to be hotter than Twitter. (And if Oprah starts doing him too, I'm just quitting. And I mean everything.) Meanwhile, Rick Ankiel (you may hear word of this "podcast" we're doing about him, but that's because I'm shameless like that), a former star on the mound as well, nearly decapitates himself running into an outfield wall. And yet, life goes on. Just like our Power Rankings.

In the book, American Icon, Roger Clemens is portrayed as a fallen idol whose obsessive drive to be the best pitcher in baseball led him to rely on steroids and human growth hormone, choices that entangled him in a web of lies and eventually exposed him as a narcissistic cheat and, possibly, a criminal. It is a fascinating, exhaustively researched exposé of baseball's corrosive drug culture and the damage it did to Clemens, the people around him and, especially, to the game.

In the book, A-Rod, Alex Rodriguez is portrayed as a flawed superstar whose relentless drive to be the best player in baseball led him to experiment with steroids from an early age, a decision that would highlight both his vanity and insecurities. It is a revealing, salacious peek inside the bizarre, flimsy bubble in which Rodriguez lives.

An important thing to remember: when you read a news blog about an event or skim through the transcript of a player talking to a beat reporter, do not consider what you've learned canon until it has been expressed via the Official Online Chatroom of Major League Baseball. This is the only place in the known world to get accurate news. I logged on to CNN.com a minute ago and it was nothing but pictures of Lady Gaga's butt. TELL ME ABOUT THE SWINE FLU.

Swine flu is after the jump.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Barry Bonds appeared at the Giants-Dodgers game tonight, waved to the crowd like a returning hero, did a few innings in the Giants radio and TV booths and even chatted amicably for a few minutes with reporters.

The headline: He's still not retired.

Q: Working out?

A: A little bit.

Q: Still thinking of playing? What's your status?

A: I just haven't retired. That's the only status I have. The only interest I have is to go to my seats and watch the Giants beat the Dodgers.

SAN DIEGO -- Joe Kerrigan saw it watching video over the winter. Zach Duke saw it in the attitudes of his fellow pitchers in spring training.

Now, the rest of baseball is seeing it too. The Pirates pitching doesn't stink. In fact, it's pretty good.

But is this real? Or just a three-week fluke?

Even Kerrigan, the veteran pitching coach, doesn't know for sure, but he's enjoying it while it lasts.