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.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... The "Silver Boot" will stay in Arlington, Texas.
It ain't the Axe, or the Old Oaken Bucket, but the Silver Boot is an attempt to add college football flavor to interleague play, as it goes to the winner of the Texas-Houston six-game series.
By winning 6-1 on Tuesday, the Rangers went up 4-0 in the series and clinched the boot for the third straight year.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a nod to what's ahead.
You Oughta Know... That rumors of Jake Peavy's demise have been exaggerated. When the San Diego Padres' ace got out of the chute with a 5.74 ERA in his first five starts, there were certainly a lot of folks wondering if he was going to suffer a second World Baseball Classic Hangover (see 2006).
Since then, though, he's been more like his normal self. Peavy pitched a four-hit complete game, beating the Reds, 3-1, on Sunday. Over his past four starts, Peavy has a 1.80 ERA.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a nod to what's ahead.
You Oughta Know... That John Lackey would have told you if he was trying to hit Ian Kinsler. Honest. After the Angels right-hander got tossed two pitches into his first game of the year, he said he wasn't trying to hit anyone.
"If you know anything about me, I'd go straight to the source if I was going to do something," said Lackey. "If you've ever talked to me, I'd tell you I was going to do something, I'd tell you if I did it, I'd stand up and own up to it. I did not try to throw at him.
"I hadn't pitched in six weeks. The last thing I wanted to do was come out of the game early."
From the Windup is Matt Snyder's extended look at some aspect of America's pastime each Thursday.
I think we can all agree that it's far too early to start voting upon who the best 2009 players are when it's only the middle of May. That being said, there are certainly some shining stars at this point who deserve some props. Plus, Major League Baseball recently released their All-Star ballots for our voting pleasure -- we vote on who will start the All-Star Game. If that's not important, I don't know what is. Let's take a gander.
On Saturday night with the White Sox up 3-2 on the Texas Rangers in the top of the ninth, Ian Kinsler came up to the plate with two outs. White Sox closer Bobby Jenks then reared back to throw his first pitch to Kinsler, and it was a 96 mph fastball delivered behind Kinsler. It was a purpose pitch.
Anybody in the stadium or at home on television knew this. The White Sox had been talking the last few days about how they were tired of being used as target practice and were going to respond sooner or later. After Rangers pitching beaned two more Sox players on Saturday, you knew a response was coming. So Jenks threw that pitch, got a warning, and got Kinsler to pop out to end the game. It was a perfect response to everything, and then the postgame interviews came and Jenks messed up.
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.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
Ichiro's hobbies include: Hitting baseballs, getting massages from manager Don Wakamatsu, and hitting more baseballs.
One nice way to put injury concerns to rest is by smashing a grand slam in your first game back. Ichiro, who missed the first week and a half due to fatigue and ulcer troubles, went 2-for-5 with the homer, four RBI and a stolen base against the Angels. But his stat line paled in comparison to another leadoff star.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a nod to what's ahead.
You Oughta Know ... That Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler had a pretty good night, rolling all sorts of rare feats into one ballgame. The headline is that he hit for the cycle, the first Rangers player to do that since Gary Matthews Jr. on Sept. 13, 2006.
He also had six hits, the first Rangers player to do that since Alfonso Soriano on May 8, 2004, but that was a 10-inning game. So Kinsler is the first in team history to have six knocks in a nine-inning game.
Making snap judgments after one start is about as useful as a screen door on a submarine, especially when you're facing the Rangers in their launching pad in Arlington. That said, Cliff Lee didn't do much to inspire hopes of a second straight Cy Young award. He gave up seven runs and 10 hits in five innings of a 9-1 loss.
Lee's day started going downhill with one out in the second inning when Hank Blalock slapped a grounder off his left arm. Lee seemed okay and got the second out before the wheels came off the bus.
Starting Five
Starting Five
Starting Five
On Saturday night with the White Sox up 3-2 on the Texas Rangers in the top of the ninth, 
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
Starting Five
Making snap judgments after one start is about as useful as a screen door on a submarine, especially when you're facing the Rangers in their launching pad in Arlington. That said, 
