ESPN Power Rankings: May 9th

ESPN.com released their weekly power rankings report; take a look at who's on top:

2008 Power Rankings: May 9
	RK	LW RANK	TEAM	REC	COMMENT
	1	2	Athletics	22-14	Frank Thomas is hitting 100 points higher (.267) than he did with Toronto, but he has yet to hit a homer for the A's.
	2	1	Diamondbacks	23-12	It's almost scary how good Justin Upton can be. After hitting .340 in April, he's off to a .429 start in May.
	3	9	Red Sox	23-14	While Clay Buchholz's ERA (4.50) doesn't look pretty, he has allowed only three home runs in 38 innings pitched.
	4	4	Cardinals	22-14	Tag up on Rick Ankiel? No way. He probably could nail a base runner from the warning track -- on the fly.
	5	10	Dodgers	19-15	Andy LaRoche is stuck in Triple-A largely due to the play of Blake DeWitt (.500 BA with a 1.462 OPS in his past six games).
	6	5	Angels	22-14	Bad Vlad? Vladimir Guerrero has one RBI since April 25, which also was the last time he homered.
	7	7	Phillies	20-16	Kyle Kendrick isn't fooling anyone this season: He has given up eight or more hits in four of his seven starts.
	8	15	Braves	18-15	Tim Hudson has allowed just one extra-base hit -- a double -- in his past two starts (16 innings pitched).
	9	3	Cubs	19-15	Carlos Marmol leads all major league relievers in strikeouts, with 28 in 21 innings.
	10	13	Mets	17-15	It's safe to say Ryan Church has been the Mets' most productive offensive player this season.
	11	16	Marlins	20-14	Scott Olsen is 3-1 with a 1.29 ERA in his past five starts, and in three of those outings, he didn't allow a single run.
	12	6	Rays	18-16	Andy Sonnanstine has allowed the most homers (five) of anyone on the Rays' staff, but he hasn't given up one in his past four starts.
	13	18	Astros	18-17	Can't get much hotter than Lance Berkman. The first baseman has 16 hits (three homers), 10 runs and eight RBIs in his past six games.
	14	21	Twins	17-16	If Carlos Gomez is going to be a legitimate leadoff threat, he has to draw more than three walks in 126 plate appearances.
	15	22	Blue Jays	17-19	Shaun Marcum (six) and Dustin McGowan (five) both have more quality starts than Roy Halladay (four).
	16	8	White Sox	16-17	The blowup doll. Ozzie Guillen's profanity-laced tirade. Gavin Floyd's near no-no. A bunch of losses. What a week it was.
	17	12	Indians	16-18	DH Travis Hafner ranks 76th in the AL in slugging (.339). He has three hits and one RBI in 15 at-bats this month.
	18	20	Yankees	18-18	Road warrior: Chien-Ming Wang has dazzled in three starts away from the Bronx this season (3-0 with a 1.64 ERA).
	19	17	Orioles	17-18	Jeremy Guthrie has given up three or fewer earned runs in six of his eight starts, but he has just one win to show for it.
	20	27	Pirates	15-19	The Pirates have three everyday players -- Xavier Nady, Ryan Doumit and Nate McLouth -- batting .324 or better.
	21	11	Brewers	16-18	Eric Gagne has allowed four home runs and blown five saves. How much longer can he hang on as closer?
	22	26	Nationals	15-20	Odalis Perez remains winless (0-3) in eight starts, despite having a very respectable 3.43 ERA.
	23	29	Rangers	16-20	The Rangers have the AL's second-worst ERA (4.80), yet they gave up only one earned run in winning three straight over Seattle.
	24	14	Tigers	15-21	The Tigers are 7-8 with Curtis Granderson and his .956 OPS in the lineup.
	25	25	Royals	15-19	Jose Guillen, who signed with K.C. for three years and $36 million, is batting .185 with three homers and slugging a feeble .339.
	26	24	Reds	14-21	Aaron Harang has to be lights-out to win, because the Reds are averaging only 2.75 runs per game in his eight starts.
	27	19	Mariners	14-22	There's no O in Seattle: The Mariners have hit .195 and scored only 14 runs in their first eight games in May.
	28	28	Rockies	14-21	It looks like RHP Greg Reynolds, the second overall pick in the 2006 draft, will make his major league debut Sunday.
	29	23	Giants	14-21	So far, Aaron Rowand has been a good investment for the Giants (.336 BA-.390 OBP-.523 SLG).
	30	30	Padres	12-23	Considered NL West contenders in the preseason, the Padres face the largest deficit (11 games) of any team in baseball.

The Horror of the Road

Being on a winning baseball team has its advantages. You get to travel to play in state tournaments, you get to see places that you'd never dream of visiting. You meet fascinating people throughout your travels and play in ballparks that you're sure were designed by the big guy upstairs.
If you can help it, don't ever play for a baseball team that keeps on winning.
A few summers ago, I played for a semi-pro traveling baseball team. We kept winning, and kept hitting the road. Our horror story happens just outside of Saratoga, NY.
The hotel (not naming names) rhymes with Bed Bobbin Finn.
When our team checked in, we were greeted by none other than Elvis Presley himself. Sideburns and sunglasses, he gave each of us a key to our own rooms. Every room had something unique about it.
Room 1 had a high definition television (before HDTV was fashionable), and carried 142 channels. All ESPN. Each channel was three seconds off from the one before it. So if you were watching a highlight on channel 42, and wanted to see a replay, QUICK TURN TO CHANNEL 11!
The next room had a toaster. Room three had a fridge. Room four didn't have a door to the bathroom, but it had five dressers (though the drawers didn't have bottoms). Room five had a nice view, of Room six, because there was a fist sized hole in the wall. Room seven had a washing machine, but no pump to hook up the water. Room eight had two beds and no couch, but room nine had two couches and no bed. There was, believe it or not, a Room 13, and it overlooked the swimming pool, which had numerous un-aquatic animals floating towards the filter.
The next door neighbor lived in a trailer, and owned and routinely operated a 12 gauge shotgun, just to prove that he could.
Our starting pitcher for the first game slept in his truck, because he couldn't figure out where the tree roots in his bedroom were coming from.
Needless to say, as a team, we decided that we all had a great time playing on the same team for the summer, but this would be the end of the line for us.
So, instead of achieving some level of baseball immortality, we decided to end our season the next day, getting blown out of the championship game, 1-0.