ABL Power Rankings: Week 5, 2010

EDIT: The original graphic posted was incorrect. Even though there were ties for first and fifth place, it listed the Miners as second place and the Fire as sixth, as if it were the standard 1-6 ranking. The graphic has been corrected. The teams in question are listed where they are due to alphabetical order. Thank you.

Here we are, five full weeks into the Alaska Baseball League season, and rushing headlong down the stretch toward the crowning of our next league champion. With this week in the books, the league is looking like it's been split into two camps. On the top are the Panners, Miners and Oilers, engaged in a tooth-and-nail battle for the ABL crown that could go right down to the wire. Lumped at the bottom are the Bucs, Pilots and Fire, who are seeing their hopes for a league championship slowly fading. The spread within each grouping is a mere 2 1/2 games,  but the distance between them is a very significant eight. On the other hand, no one is mathematically eliminated, and we all know that strange things are done 'neath the midnight sun...

The power rankings this week may not be as exciting as the three-way battle for the title, but they're pretty exciting as far as these things go. There are a few surprises to be found in the rankings this week:

At the top of the rankings, the Goldpanners and Miners find themselves locked in a 111-point tie for first place. The Panners stumbled after putting up an enormous streak and dropped two consecutive games, but they've come back to win their last five consecutive. The Miners, on the other hand, have lost one more game than the Fairbanks club and find themselves half a game back in the official standings, but they've been slightly hotter as of late, posting seven straight wins. The Oilers have dropped back to third place in the power rankings as well as the official standings as they dropped some very significant games to the Goldpanners this week. This was the same clash of the titans that ended the Goldpanners' streak and allowed the Miners to slip within 1/2 game of first place.

The Glacier Pilots have climbed a couple spots up the rankings to #4, which is a pretty significant move. However, the honor might be a little dubious considering they made the jump mostly on the strength of having the shortest losing streak of the bottom-half teams (three games). The Pilots' rout of the rival Bucs by a score of 7-0 on Thursday was a huge boost for the struggling club and helped them avoid a second straight week in the power ranking basement. This was the same Bucs team who looked like they might be turning things around by taking a previous two straight, but now find themselves skidding out of control on a seven-game slide. The Bucs and the Fire were both spared a sixth-place finish this week, though, on a technicality: they ended up tied for fifth place. The Bucs seem like they just can't put enough runs across the plate; even when their pitching does well, it's all for naught. On the other hand, the Fire can hit AND pitch, but very seldom in the same game. They look good on paper but just can't put it all together.

What will week six hold? Will one team pull away from the pack to become a clear front-runner for the title? Or could the Bucs, Pilots or Fire make a last-minute run for it? Head out to the park, check out your favorite team's games, and keep an eye on 49thStateHardball.com for info on the race to the finish.