Hey all!
It was a week of offense in the major leagues. There were plenty of big preformances over the past week and one really long game. Yesterday, the Mariners beat the A's, 8-7 in 15 innings. It was the longest game of the year. Meanwhile, after the first month of the season is in the books, the Toronto Blue Jays are sitting at 18-9, tops in the AL East. The Jays haven't been this good this early since they won the series back in 1993. Then, in the same division the Baltimore Orioles have lost 14 of 17 games. If this keeps up, there will be a battle for the worst team in the Washington, D.C. area between the Nationals and the Orioles. Let's look at the standings...
After a week out of the top spot, the Vacuous Vipers have reclaimed first place in a big way. Evan Longoria hit 2 home runs and racked up 14 RBIs to pace the Vipers. Justin Morneau and Chase Utley had good weeks as well, which led to the Vipers racking up 35 points this week. Can the Vipers stay this hot all year?
Making the jump to second place are the SoCal Capuchins. Chase Utley and Adam Dunn continue to keep the Caps in the upper division. Adam Dunn may be the only reason to catch a Nationals game this year.
Dropping down to third place are the San Pedro Sea Monkeys. A zero point week from Hanley Ramirez really hurt the Monkeys' cause. Ramirez was hit on the wrist by a pitch last week, but stayed in the lineup and did nothing. That has prompted Monkeys' GM Lee Ursich to use his first roster move of the year to dump Ramirez and pick up Carlos Pena of the Tampa Bay Rays effective 5-4-09. Carlos' big bat will be appreciated in San Pedro.
Starting to make that climb up the ladder are the Invisible Hands. They moved up one notch from 5th to 4th place after replacing Josh Hamilton with Carlos Pena after Hamilton was placed on the 15 day DL on May 1. Look for the Hands to make a serious run at the upper division soon.
Falling down to fifth place this week are the Sierra Vista Coachwhips. Josh Hamilton's injury and Mark Teixeira's abysmal start with the Yankees have really hurt the defending league champs. How bad has Teixeira's start been? Well, he's now getting booed after every at bat by the Yankee faithful. I guess the fans are getting their money's worth out of their $1250 seats.
Still in last, but starting to make some noise are the Keen Koalas. The Koalas made their first roster move last Monday when they dropped David wright and added Albert Pujols of the Cardinals. The move has already paid off as Pujols has almost scored more points in one week (6), than Wright did in the first three weeks of the season (7).
Baseball Card of the Week: This week's card is one of the great combo cards from the 1959 Topps set. It features the great White Sox kestone combo of Nellie Fox and Luis Aparicio. These two paced the "Go-Go Sox" to the AL pennant in 1959. They would go on to lose the World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers, but the White Sox pennant win was a big deal during the decade of Yankee dominance that was the 1950s.
Trivia: How does it feel to be the second man in the history books twice? Just ask former Cleveland Indian great, Larry Doby. He was the second black man to play in the majors after Jackie Robinson, then 30 years later, he became the second black manager in the majors. That's a couple of instances where being second is still pretty darn important.
Until next week folks, keep hitting 'em where they ain't.
-The Commssioner
