Since it is a semi-slow night in Major League Baseball, it's time to re-introduce a regular feature of this site: The Fan's Box Score Favorites. The Fan has been nuts about box scores since childhood and it's only natural to see players that catch the eye. These players are followed more closely than the others. They may include favorites traded away from the favorite team. They could be exciting rookies. The box score favorites tend to evolve as the season rolls along (for example, if a player gets hurt, there is no reason to keep looking, right?). So here we go:

Alfonso Soriano/Texas Rangers - Of course you have to follow the guy traded for A-Rod. He was the goat of the post-season with his wild swinging and automatic strikeouts. So how is he doing the last seven days? Not bad. Soriano hasn't been hitting the ball over the fence this season, but he is batting a robust .338 and has seemed to cut down his strikeout ratio. Case in point is his last seven days where he has batted 21 times and only struck out twice. He has batted a respectable .286 this past week as his teammates have gone crazy around him. All that hitting will only help Soriano who bats third in the order.

Hank Blalock/Texas Rangers - In truth, the Fan could follow each and every young Texas Ranger. Unbelievably, the Rangers are in first place and are killing the ball. Blalock, like all his mates this year, is batting at a .325 clip. The past seven days, he's batted .308 with a homer, two doubles and six runs batted in. He now has 17 RBI for the season and is on pace to reach 125 by the end of the season.

Miguel Cabrera/Florida Marlins - Cabrera turned 21 this season and followed up his sensational debut last year with a fast start this year. He had six homers before the league caught up with him. He had a tough week though and only has batted .250 in his last seven to bring his season average down to .304 with no homers and only one double to go along with four runs batted in. He should bounce back and hit at least forty homers this season.

Derrek Lee/Chicago Cubs - The Fan is rooting so hard for the Cubs. This team just attracts those who root for underdogs. They sure aren't playing like underdogs so far. Derrek Lee is a great first baseman, but needs to hit too. He started slowly and is only batting .254 for the week. But he is heating up and batted .273 last week with seven RBI in only six games.

Manny Ramirez/Boston Red Sox - The Fan picked Ramirez as this year's AL MVP, so it makes sense that this feature has to follow his progress. And what progress it is! Ramirez batted .357 last week and lowered his average! Manny had two homers and two doubles last week and accounted for the only runs in Boston's 2-0 victory over the Yankees. Manny is on pace to bat .392 with 45 homers and 135 RBI. Sounds like the MVP is right on track.

Melvin Mora/Baltimore Orioles - Last year, Mora was having an outstanding, breakout season and the Orioles were batting really well only to see Mora go down with an injury. The Orioles and Mora never recovered. This year, the Orioles lineup doesn't depend so much on Mora but it's a happy thing to see Mora starting off this year like last year. Mora batted .348 last week to lift his season average up to .333. He had a double and a homer and drove in four runs. But the real contribution was the ten runs he scored last week in front of Palmeiro, Lopez, Tejada and others. Mora is on pace to drive in 114 runs and score 162!

Ken Griffey Jr./Cincinnati Reds - The Reds have been a major surprise this year and Griffey is playing full time again. Coincidence? Maybe. Griffey did have a tough week last week with a .217 average his last seven games, but golly, that man has only played a handful of games the last few years. And he is back to making the highlight reels with his fielding in centerfield. It's early yet and Griffey will heat up.

Adam Dunn/Cincinnati Reds - Two years ago, Dunn was a monster rookie. Last year, he looked overcoached and lost his edge for a very disappointing season. It's a shame when young players get overcoached. A decade or more ago, a catcher for the Red Sox came up a young player and hit the stuffing out of the ball. His name was Rich Gedman. Gedman had three great years where he averaged .288 with 20 homers and 80 RBI. Good numbers for a catcher! Then he came under the tutelage of Walter Hriniak (Wade Boggs' batting guru). Gedman's next five years: .258, .205, .231, .212 and .200. Rick Harden is having the same trouble with overcoaching in Oakland. Oh yeah, Dunn...

Dunn only batted .200 last week with one homer, but he did have five RBI. Dunn is still hitting .316 for the year with 8 homers and 15 RBI. He also has a .500 on base percentage so far this year.