By Tom Morris Who wants it? NL Central? Anyone ? anyone? West? Oh, come on. How about the Wild Card? Believe me, they?re worth it. You get to play in October and everything. The season-long National League game of hot potato continued again this week, and there are still just as many non-takers as there ever have been. There comes a point when parity becomes paralysis, as evidenced by the absolute lack of mobility in this league. The Cardinals are determined to give the Reds a division they don?t deserve; the Reds feel the Astros should not be overlooked for the wild card; and the Astros apparently are consulting MIT graduates to see if there?s a mathematical possibility the Cubs can sneak in. I really don?t know if we should even look at this side of the standings any longer. The Dodgers have successfully managed to make themselves an exception to the depressing rule, winning 15 of 16 in a manner that has people talking about Sutton and Drysdale. And the Mets are gleefully coasting along, at a comfortable cruising altitude but somehow flying well below the radar of any kind of publicity. Over in the DH league, where teams actually play to win, Detroit finally showed that even the shiniest armor can have a spot of luster, losing five straight. What does that mean? They might only win 104 games this season? Three of those losses came to the White Sox, who by sweeping the division-leading Tigers showed us they don?t actually feel at home in the gutter they?d been slowly crawling into. Minnesota lost Francisco Liriano, a sudden development that coincidentally preceded a precipitous drop in the NASDAQ. Oakland began their predictable late-season sprint to the finish line, while the Kansas City Royals swept Boston at Fenway. I don?t exactly hate the Red Sox, but I did smile a little extra hard when that happened. What have I been up to? I?m glad you asked. I joined a softball league two days ago, joining a team of strangers in need of a last player before the fall season began. First at-bat. 1 ? 1 count. Cool breeze right to left. Hard grounder to short, and three steps out the box I pull my hamstring in a bad way. Now I?m on my own little disabled list, a place I inhabit by limping around my house, managing controlled grimaces, and continuously massaging myself right below the buttocks. Sound fun? I reckon from here on out I?ll just sit here with my keyboard and remote, and let my fingers do the walking. Leave the running to the professionals. A lot happened in the Major Leagues this past week. Let?s take a look. [ LAST WEEK?S RANKINGS AND W ? L RECORDS IN PARENTHESES ] 1. Detroit Tigers ( 1 ) (0 ? 5) It may come as a shock to you that the Tigers are holding at #1 this week. A 5-game slide since my last list is pretty low, to be sure. One run scored in that span puts a trademark on the team?s funk, and losing the last three to Chicago must be a hard pill to gulp down. Yet this team has played outstanding ball all year to earn this spot. One week of collective batting slumps will not unseat them ? yet. They are to be tested by hungry teams over the next few weeks (Boston, Texas, NY, and the White Sox again). If they pull one more week of this slump stuff, they may have to abdicate the throne. 2. New York Mets ( 4 ) (5 ? 1) The Mets are quietly staying the course over there in Queens, N.Y. This week the pitching was the glue. Despite a AA-worthy .242 team BA since last Monday, starters Glavine, Pedro, Trachsel, ?El Duque?, and John Maine are all putting in mostly solid performances of late. The team has allowed more than 3 runs only once in the last 8 games, which is definitely a recipe for success. Can they do that against AL clubs in the playoffs? Those ingredients may be harder to find. 3. Chicago White Sox ( 6 ) (5 ? 1) Chicago was reeling. In a big way. The southside was undergoing a frosty season change long before the end of summer, but this team rebounded in a bigger way, and convincingly. Detroit may have had trouble hitting this past week, but the truth is that the White Sox?s pitchers had a lot to do with it. Beuhrle, Contreras, and Garcia all came up with solid starts against Detroit, but this team will need to count on tonight?s starter Garland to join in if this team is to get back on a tear. Starting Friday they play 10 straight against Detroit and Minnesota. Tell me they won?t be amped for those series. 4. Minnesota Twins ( 3 ) (3 ? 3) Just how much of an impact is Francisco Liriano?s absence having on this ballclub? Maybe more than just having Boof Bonser start in his place once every five days (though they should keep Boof on the roster for name alone). While Brad Radke ( 8-1 of late) has been picking up the slack to support late-season silver bullet Johan Santana, the team ?specifically the hitters-- seems rocked by something. Before yesterday?s shutout of Toronto, the Twins managed 1 total run of offense against the Blue Jays over 3 games! An uncharacteristic slump for a team that was winning games by accident in June and July. I still keep this squad near the top this week, though, because of their depth and resilience, and because they will surely be right next to the two Sox teams come baseball?s final wild-card-run weeks. 5. New York Yankees ( 2 ) (2 ? 4) The Bombers were overmatched this past week, and this time their pitchers were to blame. Weak starts by Wang and Mussina hurt them, but this isn?t anything terribly serious. The Yankees went on a 10 ?2 run before that, and Jaret Wright and Randy Johnson have been stepping it up of late. With the Baltimore Orioles coming to the Bronx Tuesday, look for a return to form. Still the favorite to win the division in my book. 6. Boston Red Sox ( 5 ) (3 ? 3) After being swept by KC, the Red Sox had every right to crawl away to a dark corner of the clubhouse and mutter to themselves. But that?s when things changed. Baltimore showed up, having lost 8 of 9 to Boston this year, to give them a boost. The chef at the restaurant I work at didn?t hesitate to remind me that Manny extended his hitting streak to 27 Saturday with a GW RBI single in the 10th. Yeah, that made my day. Now, after sweeping the O?s, the Sox remain one back of New York, two back of the White Sox for the wild-card, and seemingly back on track. Don?t be fooled, however. Their pitching has been more than hittable (5.30 ERA last 6), with the Jasons (Lester and Johnson) inadequate fill-ins in the rotation, while Schilling and Beckett take turns pitching below expectations. The team has allowed 6 runs a game the last 31, which sooner or later catches up to you. They have to improve if postseason play means anything. 7. Oakland Athletics ( 7 ) (4 ? 1) One game stands out this past week: a 14 ? 0 flogging at the hands of the Texas Rangers. Plus, the A?s batted only .255 as a team since last Monday. But they still won 4 of 5, and 10 of 13 going back to late July, and founded on old-school pitching. C?mon, is it really a surprise to anyone? This is a team that, every year, phones its games in until August and September. Then they really turn it on. Haren, Loaiza, Blanton. All coming up big right now. And when Rich Harden makes it back into the mix, Billy Beane will look like a genius for not sacrificing the future for the present, at the trade deadline. 8. Los Angeles Dodgers ( 10 ) (5 ? 1) Continuing to pole vault up the ranks are the Dodgers, winners of 15 of 16 now after tacking a 4-game win streak on top of their 11-gamer of before. They are pitching lights out right now (2.25 team ERA last 7 games), from Penny to Lowe to Maddux, and playing with the kind of attitude and conviction that other teams in the NL only read about in history books. Of course, in the NL things can flip-flop faster than an incumbent senator, but it certainly looks like the Dodgers have single-handedly raised the playoff bar that much higher. 9. Los Angeles Angels ( 8 ) (3 ? 3) Trying not to be embarrassed by their crosstown L.A. counterparts, the Angels are having trouble fighting out of a standstill. What looked like a run became a jog, and when it seemed they were going to wave bye-bye to the red-hot A?s, they come back to take 2 of 3 from the Yankees. Still, there?s nothing amazing going on here, folks, despite an unprecedented team BA that was .290 this past week. The way the A?s are playing, I humbly rescind my earlier predictions that the Angels would take the division. Send your edible crows to Tom Morris at Foot-in-Mouth Lane, Pie-in-the-FaceVille, USA. 10. Toronto Blue Jays ( 11 ) ( 4 ? 2) Toronto emerged from their own doldrums with some stellar pitching. A 2.32 team ERA, including 2 shutouts over the Twins, overshadowed a dreary .250 team BA. AJ Burnett has now won two straight, which may not be much, but it?s a start (or two). But outside of him and Halladay it?s hard to find any other starters able to consistently shut the other teams down. 12 of the next 15 games are against the four worst teams in the AL. Toronto is close to being the team. The one that wins the AL EAST. But you know what they say about horse shoes. 11. Cincinnati Reds ( 12 ) (4 ? 2) Well, here we are, finally. Down the end of the list where the heart of the National League resides. Like the true unaspiring bottom-dwellers around them, Cincinnati has been doing a rabbit trick recently: losing enough to let Houston, Arizona, Philly, etc. back in it, while also managing to gain ground on the regrettable St. Louis Cardinals. But this week they had a nice stretch. How?d they do it? Simple, swat the hell out of the ball, hit 14 dingers and score 40 runs in 6 games. That may look nice, and we all know fans love catching homers. But behind the fa?ade the team continues to pitch horrendously (5.18 ERA last 7). This team has no future if that continues. 12. St. Louis Cardinals ( 9 ) (1 ? 5) The Reds look like champions when compared to this embarrassing team. Really, there?s only so much rope you can give a team formerly so great, currently so, so bad. Fact is, the pitching has been way down the bottom of the charts for some time now (36 runs allowed, past 6 ), and the batting order is performing at a fraction of the level of excellence this team established over the past few years. Like the Beatles said, it?s getting better cause surely it can?t get much worse. 13. Texas Rangers (NR) (5 ? 1) The Rangers have kept themselves within pistol shootin? range of the A?s all year, though really it?s been a very gradual drop since May. This week, however, they won 5 of 6, outscoring their opponents 51 ? 19 in the 5 game win streak that brings us to today. How?s a .357 BA for the week hit ya? Holy Flaxseed oil, Batman! 11-game winner Kevin Millwood leads a rotation of Eatons and Littletons, but if they keep hitting like this, they could roll out Don Zimmer every night to pitch and they just might win the division. 14. Arizona Diamondbacks (NR) (3 ? 2) Joining the list are the D-Backs, who are only 1 1/2 games behind wild-card leader Cincinnati. Still, we?re talking about another scoop of vanilla soft-serve baseball here. Brandon Webb headlines a passable rotation, and a line-up just exceeds the curve. Ain?t no way anyone?s catching the Dodgers from here on, however. 15. Houston Astros (NR) (4 ? 2) The Astros started to tempt a lot of us with a good stretch of wins there. Now with 31 runs scored over 6 games, and an ERA far better than it is for the whole year, there is every reason to believe they can make a push to the postseason. Cincinnati is doing an amateur job of protecting the lead, and we know what Houston can do once Oswalt, Pettitte and the Rocket start firing in unison. Plus, a handful of games against the Cubbies, Brewers, and Pirates may help the cause. My pick for wild-card winner this year. That?s a long list, a lot of words, and I got nothing else to say. Another softball team wrote back to let me know they had a spot for me on their team if I was available. Hey, they don?t really run in softball, do they? As always, keep your mind in the game and the game on your mind.