As I was looking over ESPNs most recent power rankings posted on August 15, I thought it would be interesting to see the week by week comments and rankings from the start of the year:  An interesting view on the progress of this years Cubbies!

 Week 2: April 4: Ranking: (6) Record: (1-2) Larry Rothschild's new responsibility: make sure potassium-deficient Big Z eats a banana, some nuts or some dried fruit before taking the mound.
 Week 3: April 11: Ranking: (2) Record: (6-3) The biggest surprise about Kosuke Fukudome? His bat. He has a team-best 13 hits and six RBIs in his first nine games.
 Week 4: April 18: Ranking: (2) Record: (9-6) At least Ted Lilly made it through six innings in his latest start. Lilly, who won 15 games in '07, is 0-3 with a 9.16 ERA.
 Week 5 April 25: Ranking (2) Record: (15-7)  Geovany Soto leads all major league catchers in batting (.352), on-base percentage (.447) and slugging (.606).
 Week 6: May 2:  Ranking: (3) Record (17-11) Imagine if Ronny Cedeno (.378/.462/.578) were playing this well in an Orioles uniform. Good thing the Brian Roberts deal was never consummated.
 Week7: May 9:  Ranking: (9) Record (19-15) Carlos Marmol leads all major league relievers in strikeouts, with 28 in 21 innings.
 Week 8: May 16: Ranking: (2) Record: (25-16) Ted Lilly is flowering in May: The left-hander is 3-0 with a 3.60 ERA and has walked just four while striking out 25.
 Week 9: *May 23*: Ranking: (1) Record: (28-19) Can the Cubs' offense keep it up? They lead the NL in OPS (.814) and the majors in runs scored (267).
 Week 10: *May 30*: Ranking: (1) Record: (33-21) Carlos Zambrano has won six straight decisions and collected 12 hits in 29 at-bats since April 16.
 Week 11: *June 6*:  Ranking: (1) Record: (39-22) Jim Edmonds is warming up. The 37-year-old center fielder has nine hits (six for extra bases) and seven RBIs in his past five games.
 Week 12: *June 13*:  Ranking: (1) Record: (43-24) No wonder the Cubs have won 29 of 37 at home. They're averaging 6.5 runs per game at Wrigley Field.
 Week 13: June 20:  Ranking: (3) Record: (45-28) The injuries are starting to pile up. First Alfonso Soriano, now Carlos Zambrano. Could the injuries be catching up to them?
 Week 14: June 27:  Ranking: (4) Record: (49-30) Ryan Theriot leads all NL shortstops in batting (.317) and on-base percentage (.391).
 Week 15: July 4:  Ranking: (8) Record: (51-35) Welcome back, Big Z: Since Carlos Zambrano's last outing June 18, the Cubs have gone 6-8.
 Week 16: July 11:  Ranking: (3) Record: (55-37) Newly acquired right-hander Rich Harden: a second ace or the second coming of Mark Prior?
 Week 17: *July 18*  Ranking: (1) Record: (57-39) Of Derrek Lee's 15 home runs, 11 have been solo and 13 have come at Wrigley.  
Week 18: July 24:  Ranking: (3) Record (60-42) Welcome to the bullpen, kid. Jeff Samardzija averaged a little more than a strikeout an inning at Triple-A.
Week 19: August 1:  Ranking (2) Record: (65-44) Numbers for the Cubs' starters in the four-game sweep of Milwaukee: 1.61 ERA, 31 K's, 5 walks, 23 hits in 28 innings.
Week 20: *August 8*:  Ranking: (1) Record: (69-46) Alfonso Soriano is batting .348 (23-for-66) with six homers, 14 runs and 15 RBIs since returning to the lineup on July 23.
 Week 21: *August 15*:  Ranking: (1) Record: (74-47) Rich Harden is 2-1 with a 1.80 ERA in his first six starts with the Cubs. He has 49 strikeouts in 35 innings pitched.
 Since these rankings came out on August 15, the Cubs have posted a 2-1 record, leaving us at (76-48)