As someone who was never blessed with any amount of athletic ability, I have always marveled at the true freaks of nature who are dominant athletes. I am old enough to have appreciated Muhammad Ali (although he was past his prime in my memories). I do not remember, but have see enough video of Jim Brown to have appreciated him. Michael Jordan is probably my biggest athletic marvel. I loved Barry Sanders too for the freakish things he did. And currently, I marveled at Lance Armstrong in cycling and John Smoltz in baseball. Both are just machine-like and super-human in their athletic abilities.

So when this young hot shot golfer named Tiger Woods was coming up, I was enthralled with him as I watched his game. Bret Sims will disagree, but Tiger made golf into an athletic sport. He is so dominant BECAUSE of his athletic ability. He's revolutionized golf. Not just the game, but the TV coverage, the equipment used to play it, the way to play the game and even course design (as in Tiger-proofing a course). Today, I witnessed an athletic thing of beauty when I saw the US Open. It wasn't Tiger's most athletically dominant performance. Tiger, in fact, looked quite human at the beast that is Torrey Pines. You could also tell that Tiger is not 100% yet after having his knee surgically repaired 6 weeks ago. And yet, there he was, needing to sink a 12-footer to tie Rocco Mediate and force a playoff for our country's national golf championship. And as only Tiger could do, he drained it, leaving no doubt who this generation's greatest athlete is.

No other athlete is as dominant in their sport as Tiger Woods. No other athlete can do the things he does. No other athlete has changed his sport like Tiger Woods. And yet, after all he's done, I hear a lot of the Tiger-haters out there. Why? I hear some people still not give the man his due. Why? Is it possible that Tiger is underrated or at least underappreciated? 

STUDS OF THE WEEK
Seldom do we see a catcher pop in this category, but the Pirates' Ryan Doumit stated his case loud and clearly this week by batting .429 with 4 HR's and 7 RBI's. Not too shabby for a guy fresh off the DL.  The Tigers' Armando Galaragga (6-2) is another surpise stud after picking up another win on Friday night against Cleveland. The rookie allowed three hits in seven innings, walking one and striking out five. Opponents are hitting just .173 against him.

DUDS OF THE WEEK
Something is clearly not right with Brad Penny. The Dodgers' right-hander has lasted just 9 2/3 innings over his past two outings going 0-2 with 9.31 ERA and 1.86 WHIP in that span. Fantasy owners still holding out hope for the Blue Jays' Lyle Overbay to get going may consider otherwise when looking at his production so mid-way through June. The first baseman has managed just 8 hits in his last 43 at bats and has 0 HR's and 5 RBI's during the stretch.

KEY INJURIES
Albert Pujols (calf): hopes to be back in 3 weeks
Brandon Webb (hip): questionable for 6/17 start
David Ortiz (wrist): out until at least early July
Alfonso Soriano (hand): on DL until mid-July
Victor Martinez (elbow): expected to miss a month
Daisuke Matsuzaka (shoulder): set for Sunday rehab start
Carlos Pena (finger): targeting a return next weekend
Rafael Furcal (back): another setback keeps return in doubt
Frank Thomas (quadriceps): aims to be back in early July
Jair Jurrjens (ankle): may be headed to 15-day DL

TWICE AS NICE
Here are some two-start pitchers to consider this week:

AL
Must-starts:
Scott Kazmir – CHC (Ryan Dempster), HOU (Brandon Backe)
Javier Vazquez – PIT (Ian Snell), @CHC (Ryan Dempster)
Dustin McGowan - @MIL (Manny Parra), @PIT (Ian Snell)

Sleeper Picks:
Paul Byrd - @COL (Mark Reynolds), @LAD (Chad Billingsley)
Garrett Olson – HOU (Brandon Backe), @MIL (Manny Parra)

NL
Must-Starts:
Brandon Webb – OAK (Justin Duchscherer), @MIN (Nick Blackburn)
Tim Lincecum – DET (Justin Verlander), @KC (Kyle Davies)
Chad Billingsley - @CIN (Johnny Cueto), CLE (Paul Byrd)

Sleeper Picks:
Braden Looper – KC (Kyle Davies), @BOS (Bartolo Colon)
Andrew Miller - @SEA (Carlos Silva), @OAK (Justin Duchscherer)

WAIVER WATCH (from leagues played at CBSSports.com)
Five most added:
RP Brandon Morrow(+34% roster change)
2B Alexei Ramirez (+29%)
1B Jorge Cantu (+24%)
SP Armando Galarraga (+24%)
C Ryan Doumit(+21%)

Five most dropped (non-injured):
OF Ryan Church (-27%)
SP Dontrelle Willis (-26%)
SP Max Scherzer (-11%)
RP Dan Wheeler (-10%)
C Ivan Rodriguez (-10%)

GAMES PLAYED
Let's take a look at how many games each team will be playing this week:

American League
6: Everyone in the American League plays six games this week.

National League
7: ATL, COL
6: ARI, CHC, CIN, FLA, HOU, MIL, NYM, PHI, PIT, SD, SF, STL, WAS

David Weathers, a.k.a. "Stormy Weathers," did it again yesterday. He came in to the game in a crucial situation with the Reds down 3-2 to the Boston Red Sox in the eighth inning. All he needed to do was keep the score the way it was. But alas, Stormy strikes again and gave up a run on three hits. The run came via an RBI single by Mike Lowell. The earned run raised Weathers' ERA to 4.44 on the season and the three hits raised his WHIP to 1.73. Those aren't numbers you'd like to see out of your supposed set-up man.

There is one thing you can always count on when Weathers takes the mound; someone will be on second base that inning at some point. It seems like almost every time he takes the mound he gives up at least one base-runner. The set-up guys is supposed to be just a step under the closer in how they pitch. Unfortunately for the Reds, Weathers has been a disappointment in the set-up role to this point. Last season he was the closer, picking up 33 saves. But he was a shaky closer with an ERA of 3.59 and six losses. Now that Francisco Cordero is here as the closer, the team expected Weathers to be a serviceable set-up guy that could get the lead to the ninth inning for "The Matador." So far he hasn't been nearly the guy they thought he'd be. Its gotten to the point that when he takes the mound, the fans actually have started to boo him.

Can Weathers change the forecast from stormy to even partly sunny? Only time will tell, but in my opinion, I don't think Dusty Baker should even give him that chance. Weathers needs to be taken out of the set-up role and put into middle relief where the pressure is a little less. Who takes his spot? That I'm not so sure about. Baker could try to see what Bray can do in that role, or even put the youngster Danny Herrera in the role and see what he can do. A lefty as a set-up guy wouldn't be a bad idea. I doubt it will happen, but Baker should try something different and there's no time like the present to do it.

The Reds went on to force extra innings last night despite Weathers' giving up the run in the eighth. Javier Valentin would pinch-hit for the struggling Paul Janish in the bottom of the eighth and knock in Paul Bako who had singled earlier. That cut the lead to one. After reliever Mike Lincoln pitched a scoreless top of the ninth, Edwin Encarnacion hit a solo homerun off the Red Sox closer, Jonathan Papelbon on a 2-2 count with two outs to tie the game. Unfortunately Lincoln would not pitch as well in the tenth as he gave up back-to-back homers to Kevin Youkilis and, of all players, Coco Crisp. The Reds could not stage another comeback in the bottom of the inning and suffered the heartbreaking loss 6-4.