GW’s MLB Power Ratings (Week 14)

Beyond Golf — 12 July 2012 by Jim Street

GW’s MLB Power Ratings (Week 14):

1. Rangers (1): The AL West leaders must be scratching their collective heads when they see the numbers All-Star right-hander Yu Darvish has against the offense-challenged Mariners this season: 1-2 record and 9.00 ERA in three starts. Go figure.

2. Giants (2): Thanks to their All-Stars, the City by the Bay is looking forward to having home-field advantage for the 2012 World Series. Well, who’s going to stop them in the playoffs?

3. Dodgers (4): Note on clubhouse bulletin board: “ALWAYS call time out when you turn your back to home plate with a runner on third base!”

4. Angels (3): The pitching-rich club is having all kinds of problems getting consistent quality starts from anyone not named Weaver.

5. Athletics (5): One of the best-kept secrets in the SF Bay area this season is the solid play of the expected-to-be-bad Athletics.

6. Diamondbacks (6): All eyes are on Justin Upton these days, and we’re not just talking about those in the Valley of the Sun. GMs for virtually every playoff contending team would like to make a pitch for Upton as we approach the non-waiver trade deadline.

7. Padres (8): Note on clubhouse bulletin board: “When you are on third base and the pitcher turns his back to home plate: run, baby, run.”

8. Rockies (7): The highs and lows of first-year Rock Michael Cuddyer mirror the ups and downs of the entire team.

9. Mariners (9): Felix is the King in Seattle, but he’s surrounded by so many pawns that he rarely has room for error when he’s on the mound.

(Last Week’s rating in parenthesis)

About Author

Jim Street

Jim’s 40-year sportswriting career started with the San Jose Mercury-News in 1970 and ended on a full-time basis on October 31, 2010 following a 10-year stint with MLB.com. He grew up in Dorris, Calif., several long drives from the nearest golf course. His first tee shot was a week before being inducted into the Army in 1968. Upon his return from Vietnam, where he was a war correspondent for the 9th Infantry Division, Jim took up golf semi-seriously while working for the Mercury-News and covered numerous tournaments, including the U.S. Open in 1982, when Tom Watson made the shot of his life on the 17th hole at Pebble Beach. Jim also covered several Bing Crosby Pro-Am tournaments, the women’s U.S. Open, and other golfing events in the San Francisco area. He has a 17-handicap, made his first and only hole-in-one on March 12, 2018 at Sand Point Country Club in Seattle and witnessed the first round Ken Griffey Jr. ever played – at Arizona State during Spring Training in 1990. Pebble Beach Golf Links, the Kapalua Plantation Course, Pinehurst No. 2, Spyglass Hill, Winged Foot, Torrey Pines, Medinah, Chambers Bay, North Berwick, Gleneagles and Castle Stuart in Scotland, and numerous gems in Hawaii are among the courses he has had the pleasure of playing. Hitting the ball down the middle of the fairway is not a strong part of Jim’s game, but he is known (in his own mind) as the best putter not on tour. Most of Jim’s writing career was spent covering Major League Baseball, a tenure that started with the Oakland Athletics, who won 101 games in 1971, and ended with the Seattle Mariners, who lost 101 games in 2010. Symmetry is a wonderful thing. He currently lives in Seattle and has an 8-year-old grandson, Andrew, who is the club's current junior champion at his home course (Oakmont CC) in Glendale, Calif.