By Tom Morris It has been a long, long week in the Major Leagues. And I don?t mean only for the Red Sox, who daily alternate between hanging their heads and shaking them violently in desperate hopes of waking from one of the most insufferable of baseball nightmares. Not just for the Detroit Tigers, who finally hit their first significant losing skid of the 2006 campaign, ceded their throne atop my Top-Team Rankings for the first time in several weeks, and kept the AL Central division hopes of the Twins and White Sox very much alive. And no, I?m not just talking about another week of torture for Barry Bonds? former trainer, who remained in jail after refusing to rat on the surly slugger whom he spoon fed performance-enhancing drugs for who knows how long. No, it actually was a long week since my column last graced these pages. I just wrapped up my first ever fantasy football draft. This arduous, highly sleep-affecting process involved a week of absorbing more statistics than a stat whore as myself could even imagine to do. Did I ever before think I would need to spend 3 to 5 minutes learning the difference between, and ?Fantasy Values? of, WRs Michael and Mark Clayton? Uh, no. I also am frighteningly aware of the stat lines for WR Santonio Holmes, NY Jets back-up RB Cedric Houston, and the Redskins Hogettes. There?s no turning back now. The week culminated in an auction draft, a tension-filled four-hour event that took place by phone conference with eleven other admitted sports geeks across countless time zones, from here in Oakland to Melbourne, Australia. That was two days ago. Needless to say my rookie status was evidenced repeatedly by my questionable draft choices, and the past two days I have spent both huddling under the sheets and looking up therapists on the web. Yep, that bad. I was revived from my post-traumatic stress by the realization there is still some baseball being played. Not only being played, but being fought, tooth and nail, on a nightly basis. There is little over a month of the 2006 season remaining, and though some playoff races have become more defined, the others remain muddy, or just stuck in the mud. In the National League the races are like three-legged ones: clumsy, slow and with folks tripping over themselves at every turn. It is becoming increasingly clear that for the first time in history a handful of teams will end up with 81 wins and also tie for the Wild Card spot. Could happen. Stranger things have. Still, the NL presents itself as baseball?s version of the American Dream, where anyone of modest means (and in this league we?re talking overly modest) can rub two nickels together and make something of himself. Right now it?s the streaking low-budget Marlins and late to the party Astros, who look to rise atop the pack and join the Phillies as Wild Card contenders. The rest of the league can just keep dreaming of their baseball America. Except for the New York Mets, who continue their aggressive campaign to be allowed into the American League starting 2007, thereby leaving their stuttering NL kin behind. They are smoking hot right now, and no doubt have already sold out NLCS Shea Stadium playoff tickets. Across town the Yankees seem to get better by the week. Their 5?4 record since last Monday may not reflect that, but the fact is they have given warning to the rest of the AL: They?re baaaack. And they didn?t need Boston to fall off a cliff to look so good. They?ve been doing it all by themselves. For another ten days the Twins and White Sox take turns edging into the lead. Like leaping salmon, one or the other seems always ahead by a nose (or fin), and I for one am curious as hell which one will end up taking the wild card. And the Athletics haughtilly sneer over their shoulders at the Angels and Rangers, breaking the sound barrier as they once again have an almost unbeatable month of August. My August? It has been alright. Let?s see how my September and October go. I have David Givens and Ashley Lelie as my #2 and #3 wide-outs. It?s gonna be ugly. But for now, no more football. Here are your rankings: [ Last Week?s Rankings, and W ? L Record, in Parentheses ] This Week?s Rankings: 1. New York Mets (5) (7?2) 71 ? 35. That?s the margin of runs this team from Queens has amassed in nine games since last Tuesday. Even more demonstrative if you take away last night?s 8-4 loss to the Rockies. If these guys were ever in a hitting slump, they aren?t any more. David Wright is back, the team is batting .332 the past seven days, and have won 11 of 13. Far and away the best team in the National League, though that is hardly news to anybody. Willie Randolph?s rotation right now is a daily shell game, but who cares? They dramatically vault into the throne atop my list this week as a result. True, they may be beating up on the lowly National League, where the competition is ?ahem?thin, but I am starting to believe this team could go toe-to-toe with the best the AL has to offer. 2. New York Yankees (2) (4 ? 5) And, according to this week?s list that team is the cross-town Yankees, who used their five-game sweep of the Red Sox as a springboard to better and brighter things. Like taking 2 of 3 from the Tigers in a hard-fought series. Mussina may be on the DL for a short spell, but his 13 wins, the 16 by Wang, and the 13 by revitalized Randy Johnson, are just enough pitching to let the high-octane offense do the rest. Of their remaining 29 games 20 are against Baltimore, KC, Tampa Bay and newly weak Boston. To think that Sheff AND Matsui may be in uniform by season?s end ? Frickin? scary, my friends. 3. Minnesota Twins (3) (5 ? 4) The Twins have a guy called Carlos Silva pitching every five days. Okay, that hurts. Thank God the playoffs feature 3-and 4-man rotations. With Liriano?s return more than unlikely, pressure goes to Santana and Radke and rookies Bonser and Garza to get it done on the mound. No question about Johan: he went lights out again Thursday night to improve to 16 ? 5, 2.95 ERA, and in my book, a hair ahead of Halladay for the Cy Young. That award will mean next to noting to him if the Twins don?t make the playoffs. They will, though. Their season-ending series against Chicago should decide that fate. 4. Detroit Tigers (1) (3 ? 6) Okay, maybe it?s time to worry juuust a little. They started to stumble when the bats went quiet for a stretch. Now, their previously untouchable starters are getting roughed up (and that includes Verlander). The Tigers top brass need to send an extra large Xmas bonus to Craig Monroe for single-handedly preventing a sweep at the hands of the mafia-like Yankees. Things should be alright, however, for the biggest surprise team of 2006. They play 17 of their last 28 at home, where they have enjoyed the most success, and if losing 9 of 15 doesn?t propel them back to their winning ways, finding out I dropped them ungraciously from the top of my Rankings will. 5. Oakland Athletics (6) (6 ? 2) I went to my second baseball game of the year two days ago. The first was a Giants game, in May, against the Dodgers. I had hoped to see a historic home run that day by Bonds. I have since stopped caring about the guy. The A?s game was a live presentation of what good baseball is about: solid defense, extra-basehits, plus some of the stingiest pitching we have seen since the All-Star break. Wow. What was it, a 1.90 ERA for an eight-day stretch? Starters who went 18 ? 5 in August? Not bad. Fact is, who needs hitters with 38 HRs and 130 RBI. Well, everybody does. But these guys, not so much. At 21 games over .500 (just like that) the Athletics are a real threat to knock any of the other postseason teams to their October La-Z-Boys. 6. Chicago White Sox (4) (5 ? 4) The White Sox haven?t been marred by any manager gaffes of late. That?s a good thing. Maybe that?s why they dragged themselves out of that slump of a few weeks back, and are staying sharp enough to be atop the wild-card race by a 1/2 game. They are also only 4 1/2 back of Detroit, a deficit that can be made up just like that in this league. (see: Yanks v. Red Sox 5-game series). Garland is the best thing they have in their rotation, while Garcia and Buehrle remind us they could perfom any number of ways come postseason time. Fact is, despite the team?s talent, grit, and of course, resume, they won?t make it there this year. 7. Los Angeles Dodgers (7) (5 ? 3) The Dodgers had that Elliot Ness Untouchable thing going there for a while. Then the train went off the track. Well, not quite. Lost 6 of 8, but it?s easy to come down from winning 20 of 22. But they have won their last five again, and have hit 12 dingers these past 6 games. These are all recipes for success. They definitely have the pitching. But noone?s getting past the Mets this year. 8. St. Louis Cardinals (10) (5 ? 4) St. Louis, who had been absolutely stinking up the joint two weeks ago, took solace in the fact that to lose the division lead they?d have to lose at least 12 straight games. Wait, the way the Reds are playing even that might not do it. So, it?s not so bad. Except ? it really is. Mulder?s season is done. Recovery from his injury never fully happened, and he has been smacked around like a wiffle ball. Marquis and Suppan remain the enigmatic, unpredicatble duo of the rotation, while Pujols? line-up, La Russa, and Chris Carpenter still manage to hold this perilous House of Cards together with masking tape. Next year, as Cubs fans say, next year. 9. Los Angeles Angels (9) (4 ? 5) 15 ? 10 these past four weeks or so. Even hit over .300, with roughly 5 runs a game, this past week. Pardon the clich?, though: too little, too late, you guys from an undecided location in southern California. It?s a tall order to reverse a season so mired in mediocrity. But to catch an Oakland squad that has won 26 of its last 33? Sorry. Time to start shopping for those two sluggers for the offseason. 10. Philadelphia Phillies (14) (5 ? 4) The Phillies continue to keep their sights set on current Wild Card leader San Diego, having already leapfrogged the sagging Reds. They are enjoying the benefits of having Ryan Howard on their team, a thumping batter who just may reach 60 homers for the year. The Phillies are 23 ? 13 of late. They scored 71 runs the past 12 games. But also allowed 67. They have the edge over Houston, SF, and Florida right now, but not in pitching. They will have to smarten up that rotation if they want to hold them off, let alone catch San Diego. 11. Boston Red Sox (8) (3 ? 7) All the way down here with the aimless National League Rest are the Red Sox. If you can call them that. When I went to see them play the A?s here in Oakland on Wednesday we hardly recognized any of their starting nine. Pedroia who? Because these aren?t really the Sox, can you really blame them for playing so poorly. Yes, you can. They were already on the downslide, and injury has been added to insult. Clement, Gonzales, Pena, Crsip, Ortiz, Wakefield. Manny? You name it, all MIA right now. A will this team, which needs to start fresh for next year and just chalk this up as one of those things. 12. Florida Marlins (NR) (7 ? 2) The Marlins are on a fabulous run, right now, having won 9 of 11 to catapult themselves into my Rankings, as well as into the Wild-Card race, where anyone has a shot outside of the Cubs and Pirates. These overachievers are showing the baseball world what can be done with a little bit of talent, a whole lot of heart, and an absence of worthy competition in the National League to hold them back. Batting well over .300 of late, with enough solid arms (J.Johnson, D. Willis, S. Olsen) to get them through, the Fish should end up right there with the other streaking teams. 13. Houston Astros (NR) (7 ? 2) The Astros are one of them. Oswalt got his money, Clemens got one run of support again the other night (but allowed zero himself!), Pettitte is giving signs of rebounding, and the team, since being shut out 14 ? 0 over a week ago, has outscored their opponents, 51 ? 20 in eight games. An offensive trend, or a fading fad. Only time will tell. 14. San Diego Padres (5 ? 3; 8 ? 4; 12 ? 21) The Padres weren?t the only ones to benefit from the slow burning down of the Cincinnati Tinder Box. The Padres, who had gone a painful 12 ? 21 for over a month, rebounded nicely to win 8 of their last 12. They now lead the Wild Card race by a game, and are hoping David Wells has just enough 43-year-old juice to help them get an edge in September. My money says it won?t be enough, with Philly too consistent, and Houston and Florida meaning business. 15. Texas Rangers (13) (4 ? 5) The Rangers just hang on by the skin of their teeth, pardon the clich?, but are lucky not to suffer the same fate of the Reds (bumped from my Rankings). Texas has talent, but their post-season hopes are now more than history. They are thinking of taking the open spot made available when the Mets leave the NL behind for good. I am done. Not for good, but for now. It is time I said hello to the world. Sunny, bright, and no clouds in sight in September. I love California. As always, keep your mind in the game, and the game on your mind.