by Gerrit Ritt

That's a damn shame. However, as we return to the way baseball's been played for the previous 125 years (in-TRA-league only), there are a few fun facts about the mixed league's last few days.

Players of the Week

Aaron Hill was a beast for the Blue Jays last week, as he often has been this season. The soon-to-be All-Star second baseman (at least he should be) went off for four home runs, eight RBI, scored seven runs, hit .346 and stole a base in games against Cincinnati and Philadelphia. However, his huge week was nothing compared to what many league's No. 1 pick did for the Marlins.

Hanley Ramirez is on a serious tear right now. He's now driven in at least one run in a major league record nine straight games and has a ridiculous total of 22 ribbies in that stretch! Yeah, that's some major rakin' right there. Add in the four home runs, four doubles, 10 runs scored, three stolen bases and the .432 average and you have one of the most impressive stretch of games we've seen out of any player this whole season. And that includes people named Albert Pujols and Adrian Gonzalez.

Sexiest Relief Performance

I've been touting Jonathan Broxton all season long, and this past week he did us all one better. No, he didn't give us five saves or anything. But what he did do was give us the best bang for our buck we've seen this year. All he did was show up in one game, threw to one batter, struck that one guy out and picked up a save. That's efficiency, folks. And isn't that all you want out of your closer?! Damn, I love this guy!

Are You Serious?!

I don't know about you, but as a Cubs fan, I've sat through what I thought was the best Jason Marquis had left in him. He was terrific in the first half of the '07 season, then he completely crumbled in the second half and barely played in the team's playoff run. He did pretty much the same thing last season too. The team didn't resign him. No shock there. So, what's the worst place in the world a pitcher who's averaged giving up more than 25 home runs a season since 2004 could possibly go? Yes, Colorado! This couldn't possibly go wrong, could it?! Well, I guess I'm the dope here, since Marquis has been as good as any pitcher in the National League this year.

After Tuesday's two-hit shutout win in Los Angeles, Marquis improved to 10-5 and dropped his ERA to 3.87. With half his games coming in Coors Field, that ain't all bad, my friends. He's the first man in the league to hit the 10-win mark and is well on his way to an All-Star appearance. For someone they basically scooped off the scrap heap, I'd say they scored ... at least until the second half of the year, of course.

(Jim McIsaac / Getty Images)

Who The Hell Are YOU!?!

I know he's been around before. You know, a little bit here, a little bit there. But never before had anyone ever really cared about Fernando Nieve. He was with the Astros in 2006 for 40 games, just 11 of which were starts. The 4.20 ERA wasn't terrible, but it wasn't good enough to break the majors the next season, as he spent all of 2007 in the bush. Last season, the 8.44 ERA in 11 relief appearances got him shown the door by the Stros. It was the best thing that ever happened to him.

The Mets picked him up, and he's now won three straight games for them. That was before he crapped the bed Monday, but I planned on writing this before that, so we're not gonna count that right now! Haha! But if you can look beyond that for a sec (and I know that you can!), you'll see a 1.31 ERA in four appearances, with wins against three of the biggest hitting teams in baseball (Yankees, Rays, Cardinals). We'll have to see if he can rebound from getting drilled by the Brewers this week, but owners are already loving him enough to make him one of the top pickups in leagues across the country. Way to go, whoever you are.

Ugly Lines of the Week

Corey Hart, Milwaukee: 1-for-21 (.048), 0 HR, 1 RBI, 2 runs, 5 BB
Nick Johnson, Washington: 0-for-17 (.000), 0 HR, 0 RBI, 2 runs, 0 BB
Jimmy Rollins, Philadelphia: 0-for-9 (.000), 0 HR, 0 RBI, 1 run, 0 SB, 0 BB

Gonna be tough for Johnson to get traded while putting up numbers like that, isn't it? Fantasy owners could forgive Hart for the ugly offensive numbers if he would only steal bases like he did the last two seasons (23 both times). Unfortunately, he's stuck on just five right now, which is absolutely unacceptable. And Rollins has finally been benched ... in favor of the .136 hitting Eric Bruntlett! Wow. And that's all I have to say about that.

Pure Manbeast

It appears the hype was right on target with Braves rookie Tommy Hanson. His first start was shaky, but since then he's been the ace-to-be many had anticipated. He's now won four straight games and hasn't allowed a single run in the last three of them. And by the way, the last two outings just so happened to be against the Yankees and Red Sox.

After six more innings of two-hit ball Sunday, the team took him out, giving him 18 straight scoreless on the opposition. After five starts now, his career ERA sits at a cool 2.48. The only ugly mark on the resume thus far is his relatively low 18 strikeouts in 29 innings, along with the soon-to-be deadly 17 walks. But for the time being, a 4-1 record is nothing to sneeze at. You can rest assured this kid's gonna be around for a looooong time.