Demise of the Fireballs?

One thing that shocked us all last week was Rick's terrible loss to winless Ken. Now at 2-4, Rick has his back against the wall.

But, he's been in that position before and he's made it out OK. This year, though, things just seem different. These do not seem like the Fireballs of old.

Rick has made the playoffs every year, and he has a title. But after last week's 15-4 loss to Ken, what's going on?


"It was a great matchup and I'm proud of the way my guys played," Rick said. "No team in this league is an easy win. You've got to go out there every week and play your best - that's all you can do. I think my guys did that and as long as we keep doing that we'll be all right."

Albert Pujols has obviously been good, but Joe Mauer has been battling injury, and CC Sabathia gives up more runs than he should.

Rick is 11th out of 12th in home runs, 10th in RBIs, 12th in runs, 10th in total bases, and 10th in OPS.

Clearly lacking a power punch, though, Rick doesn't seem worried.

"If you look at our matchup last week, it was extremely close and was won on Sunday," Rick said. "Also, our team stats were each above average in most categories and average in others compared with the rest of the league. We were No. 1 and No. 2 in at least two categories as well."

Will Rick make any changes or hold a team meeting any time soon? A loss this week would really be damaging.

"very good team makes adjustments throughout the season," he said, "so don't expect the Fireballs to be any different."