AL Power Rankings

1. New York Yankees (29-21)
A-Roid's return to the line-up has sparked the Bronx Bombers. Not only has he been raking but so has Mark Teixeira. The pitching staff is starting to come around also but still needs help.






2. Texas Rangers (30-20)
Best record in the AL, but only 7-6 since our last power rankings. Middle of the pack in most pitching categories. Simply put, they have an amazing, mainly home-grown line-up.






3. Detroit Tigers (28-21)
The Tigers offense has been slightly disappointing so far this year but the pitching staff has made up for that. The Tigers staff ranks first in the AL in ERA, BAA, and OPS. Verlander leads the majors in strikeouts and Edwin Jackson is second to Greinke in ERA for AL pitchers.





4. Boston Red Sox (29-22)
Somehow the Sox keep winning with some of the worst starting pitching in the bigs. (5.24 ERA for their starters) Its never a good sign when Tim Wakefield leads your team in ERA with a stellar 4.55. Youkilis (1.150 OPS) and Bay(15 HR & 49 RBI) are raking, and if Big Papi ever gets going... LOOK OUT.



5. Toronto Blue Jays (29-24)
Once the top team in our rankings they have lost 10 of 12 and are now in third place in the AL East. Injuries have decimated their pitching staff and caused the Jays to use 10 different starters this season. Roy Halladay is still a beast.







6. LA Angels (25-24)-- Only other AL team over .500
7. Chicago White Sox (24-25)-- 7-3 in their last 10 including a 5-2 road trip
9. Minnesota Twins (25-27)-- Justin Morneau in putting up MVP numbers.
10. TB Rays (25-28)-- David Price is up to the bigs. Can he spark the defending champs?
11. Seattle Mariners (24-27)-- Ichiro hit .377 in May
12. Baltimore Orioles (23-28)-- Good, young line-up just added #1 prospect Matt Weiteirs
13. KC Royals (23-27)-- Zach Greinke... Enough said
14. Cleveland Indians (22-30)-- Imagine if they had not gone 7-3 in their last 10
15. Oakland A's (19-29)-- P. A. thetic

Jackson and Verlander even series with Orioles

Justin Verlander shut em down on Saturday

Edwin Jackson shut em down on Sunday

Fernando Rodney got saves in both games and is now 10/10

This is the pitching that has the Tigers in first place. Don't get me wrong, we have our doubts with certain guys....Galarraga/Willis/Bondo

But, for now I will argue that our 1/2/3 starters are as good as any

Porcello has been nothing short of amazing this season, and he is following up two of the top pitchers in the league.

*on Sunday Granderson hit another HR (13), and Magglio ended his 16 game hitting streak.

Number 4 All-Time Tigers Catcher

4. Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez Years of Service: 2004-2008
.281 avg. 16 HR 80RBI--- AL Champ 2006, 4 time All-Star, 3 Gold Gloves, 1 Silver Slugger

While many fans complained about Pudge, his contribution to baseball in Detroit can't be denied. Signed as a free agent in 2004, he was the first big name to come to the Tigers and helped start the current resurgence.

Number 5 All-time Tigers Catcher

5. Birdie Tebbetts Years of Service: 1936-1942, 1946
.260 4 HR 64RBI--- Two time All-Star, 1940 AL Champ

Tebbetts was a player with average talent who out-worked everybody else and devoted his life to baseball. He cut three years out of the prime of his career and missed the Tigers WS championship in 1945 by serving in World War II. Solid defensively and a fan favorite at every stop in his career, he went on to play, manage, and scout for nearly 60 years.

Not So Fast Mr. Willis

Well,

Dontrelle went to the mound Friday Night. Tigers fans were looking forward to seeing him perform again.

Today was not that day.

TIGERS KILLER Luke Scott hit a Grand Slam, plus another Home Run. It is absolutely amazing how much better he plays versus Detroit.

There is always tomorrow, and lets hope it's better than today was (or yesterday for that matter)

Top 10 All-time Detroit Tiger Catchers (6-10)

When taking a look at players and ranking them it is important to have some ground rules. These rankings are based only on the players years as a Tiger. Other factors include statistical production (obviously) per 162 games (that is the listed stats), team success, and awards won. So here we go...

10. Mike Heath Years of Service: 1986-1990

.268 avg. 12 HR 51RBI--- AL East champ 1987

Acquired mid-season in 1986, Heath platooned with youngster Matt Nokes to backstop the Tigers to the AL East crown in 1987. Heath was a versatile player who played every non-pitching position in 1987.

9. Ray Hayworth Years of Service: 1926-1938
.248 avg. 1 HR 58RBI--- AL Champ 1934, WS Champ 1935

Hayworth was an eight year starter before the Tigers acquired Hall of Fame catcher Mickey Cochrane, who he backed-up in 1934 and 1935.

8. Johnny Bassler Years of Service: 1921-1927
.308 avg. 0 HR 66RBI

Bassler is one of only two players on this list to have a career batting average above .300. His lack of power (1 career HR) is offset by his solid RBI numbers and the above average defense that he played.

7. Matt Nokes Years of Service: 1986-1990

.268 avg. 25 HR 78 RBI--- AL East Champ 1987, 1 time All-Star, 1 Silver Slugger

Nokes platooned with Mike Heath to backstop the Tigers to the AL East crown in 1987. Nokes was a power hitting lefty who finished third in AL rookie of the Year voting in 1987.

6. Mickey Tettleton Years of Service: 1991-1994
.249 avg. 32 HR 95RBI--- 1 time All-Star, 3 Silver Sluggers

Tettleton helped form the core of some of the Tigers most prolific home run hitting teams. While his batting average was low, he walked alot to give him a Tiger career OBP of .389 which is very comprable to the others on this list.

Tigers Go Down in Series Opener

The Baltimore Orioles may be a last place team, but they have some talent. Their lineup is tough from top to bottom, and has a lot of speed and power. The one problem is their pitching staff, but in the last week they have had 3 youngsters come up from AAA and show they have some real good young talent coming up. They will also call up the #1 prospect in baseball (according to some) on Friday (catcher Matt Wieters).

The Tigers were bad today.

The offense stunk, they left guys stranded on 3rd in back to back innings with less than 1 out.

Galarraga was definitely better, but still made too many bad pitches. The Orioles made sure that they capitalized on those mistakes.

The Tigers send Dontrelle to the mound Friday night, and they will need a better overall team performance.

Orioles 5 Tigers 1