American League (Baseball)

Alpha Dawgs

They might not be as mean as the Nasty Boys, but the Cubs' relief corps has the same ability to blow opponents away

6 Consecutive games in which the White Sox' Carlos Quentin was hit by a pitch last week, the longest such streak in the majors since at least 1920.

While we're at it, here are three more reasons for this year's bottom-feeders to look forward to 2009:

Teams already written off for 2008 offer the promise of better days in '09 with fast-rising, eye-popping prospects