WHO'S Hot / WHO'S Not
WHO'S Hot
Bobby Jenks
White Sox closer was untouchable—he tied a major league record by retiring his 41st straight hitter on Sunday. Jenks, wary of jinxing, wasn't talking, but, said pitching coach Don Cooper, "it's awful special."
Chatman
Running back Jesse Chatman gained 392 yards (on just 65 carries) for the Chargers in 2004. Then he gained 50 pounds and missed two seasons. Now looking svelte in a Dolphins uni, he broke off a 74-yard TD run last Saturday. Chatman: "I'm not going to take this for granted."
Seattle Mariners
Quietly, they stalk. Baseball's most overlooked contenders had won 11 of 15 to take over the wild-card lead in the AL. They were hittin' (47 runs in six games) and they were pitchin'—you know things are going well when you get a shutout from 4--10 Jeff Weaver.
Novak Djokovic
Easy as 3-2-1. Djokovic (right) beat third-ranked Andy Roddick, No. 2 Rafael Nadal and top dog Roger Federer to win the Rogers Cup and become a U.S. Open dark horse. Said Djokovic, who's now No. 3, "This is the best moment of my career."
WHO'S Not
Eric Gagné
Red Sox newly acquired setup man is getting touched up. He coughed up a lead on Friday and another last Sunday, then let himself have it. Said Gagné, "It's getting [expletive] stupid."
Clayton
Bucs receiver Michael Clayton caught 80 passes in 2004. Then he caught the injury bug (lots of little ones) and started dropping passes. Amid talk that Tampa might cut him, he didn't play last week. Clayton: "If [my play's] not good enough, then obviously I won't be here."
Cleveland Indians
Loudly they fall. Allegedly thumping Tribe had lost 10 of 15 to fall 1 1/2 games back in the AL wild-card chase. They were neither scoring (25 runs in nine games) nor stoic. Said third baseman Casey Blake, "Guys in this clubhouse don't have a lot of confidence right now."
Nikolay Davydenko
In his first tournament after those odd happenings in Poland—officials investigated after seeing heavy betting against him in a match from which Davydenko retired early—the world No. 5 got upset in straight sets in the Rogers Cup quarterfinals.
SI PLAYERS MLB POLL
Which is the best big league park to hit in?
Citizens Bank Park (Philadelphia) 25%
Great American Ball Park (Cincinnati) 19%
Coors Field (Colorado) 8%
U.S. Cellular Field (Chicago White Sox) 7%
Which is the toughest park to hit in?
Petco Park (San Diego) 16%
AT&T Park (San Francisco) 14%
RFK Stadium (Washington, D.C.) 11%
Comerica Park (Detroit) 11%
FAST FACTS
The Phillies led the NL with 640 runs scored through Sunday.... The Padres were last in the majors in batting average (.244) and first in ERA (3.54).... Barry Bonds has hit 159 career home runs at AT&T Park, which opened in 2000 as Pacific Bell Park.
[Based on a survey of 257 major league nonpitchers]
• For an expanded version of the poll go to SI.com/players.
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RON VESELY (JENKS)
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JOE GIZA/REUTERS (GAGNE)
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JOEL AUERBACH/US PRESSWIRE (CHATMAN)
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FERNANDO MEDINA/WIREIMAGE.COM (CLAYTON)
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GLENN CAMPBELL/ICON SMI (DJOKOVIC)
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COURTESY OF PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES (CITIZENS BANK PARK LOGO)
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