Week Twenty-One
by Asher B. Chancey, BaseballEvolution.com
August 27, 2007

It has been a crazily eventful week or so. Just in case you missed it, here is a glimpse at the various things have gone on:

Albert Pujols homered in five straight games, and became the first player ever to hit 30 homeruns in each of his first seven seasons.

Brandon Webb stretched his scoreless innings streak to 42 innings before giving up a run in the first inning of a game against the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Texas Rangers became the first team in 110 years, and first AL team ever, to score 30 runs in a single game, which they did in the first half of a double-header against the Baltimore Orioles on the same day that the Orioles announced manager Dave Trembley would be back for the 2008 season. The Rangers then scored nine more runs in the second half of the double-header.

Bobby Jenks tied Jim Barr's 1972 major league record for most consecutive batters retired with 41 before giving up a single to Kansas City Royal Joey Gathright, who was unaware of the record.

Johan Santana, who pitches for the same franchise with which Walter Johnson spent his entire career, set a franchise record with 17 strikeouts in 8 innings, before being yanked with a chance to tie the major league record of 20 strikeouts in a game.

Mark Reynolds, the Arizona Diamondbacks' third baseman, got hit by a pitch by Dave Bush, but rather than angrily confronting Bush he breathed a sigh of relief as his major league position player record-tying string of nine straight strikeouts came to an end. With 94 strikeouts in 258 major league at-bats, Reynolds looks like he has the stuff to challenge Adam Dunn for strikeout supremacy.

Garrett Anderson became only the 12th player in major league history to record 10 RBI in a single game.

In other news, we may soon have to face the fact that not only have the Cardinals climbed back into the NL Central race, but the Reds may be looking at making a miracle run as well. Okay, maybe just Cardinals have a shot, but the Reds are playing for the first time all season.

I don't know what to make of this Chris B. Young. I really think Ryan Braun is the NL Rookie of the Year this year, but if the D'Backs win the NL West, Young may be the face of the franchise. At this point, Young may not win the Rookie of the Year, but he is locked in for the Dave Kingman Award. This guy hits homeruns and steals bases, but his defense is less than solid and his on-base percentage is well below .300. Luckily, he is only a rookie, so he presumably has nowhere to go but up.

What the Cardinals have done is very impressive, but don't be fooled - they are in this thing because the Cubs and Brewers have been decidedly unimpressive. I said it last week, and I'll say it again now - when they have a winning record, I'll take them seriously.

And by the way, people, as tempting as it is to make Rick Ankiel into a great story, the guy has 17 strikeouts and 4 walks in 13 games. His return has been great, but let's not make any Babe Ruth predictions just yet.

Without further ado, here are the Week Twenty One Power Rankings. Enjoy and, as always, feel free to comment.

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Questions? Concerns? Comments? Asher lives in Philadelphia, PA, and can be reached at asher@baseballevolution.com.