GOOD
JOHN BUCK
He may have been brought in to help develop Toronto's young arms, but when the opportunity arose to show how it's done with the bat, the Blue Jays catcher poured it on this week. With the Jays' home run drought standing at 21 consecutive innings entering Thursday's game against Oakland, Buck connected in the third, fourth and sixth innings to become the first American League catcher to go deep thrice in a game since 2004.
JOSE MOLINA
Though no slouch with the bat himself - lest we forget, he did hit the last home run at the old Yankee Stadium - Buck's platoon-mate for the Blue Jays catching position showed he also exceled with the arm this week. Molina threw out four Tampa runners last Sunday, including the fleet-footed Carl Crawford on two occasions, to set a club record and become the first American League catcher to turn the trick in eight years.
BROOKS LAICH
Clearly an expert in seeing wheels come off - he'd played in top-seeded Washington's season-ending Game 7 loss to Montreal only hours before - the Capitals forward put that know-how to good use Wednesday night, changing a tire for a stranded woman on his way home from the game. Unfortunately for him, the good Samaritan deed did nothing to change the old adage, 'Nice guys finish second.' Indeed, second would have been a vast improvement on where the Caps ended up.
BAD
ANA IVANOVIC
While a French Open crown on her résumé marks her down as a legitimate player, the Serbian stunner's career is beginning to look increasingly similar to one-time Russian sensation Anna Kournikova. Though Ivanovic prefers male athletes of a different discipline - for hockey players Pavel Bure and Sergei Fedorov read golfer Adam Scott - her form has plummeted since her triumph at Roland Garros, and after another loss Tuesday, and now ranked at 57th in the world, the former No. 1 hasn't beaten a top-10 player since 2008.
SERGIO BUSQUETS
Remember how your parents used to tell you that cheaters never prosper? Apparently it's true. Well, it was on Wednesday at least, as the Barcelona midfielder tried to give his team the upper hand in its quest to return to the Champions League final by getting Inter counterpart Thiago Motta sent off in a disgraceful display of playacting. Thing is, the incident merely helped to galvanize Inter's rearguard action, as the Italian side stood firm in the face of Barca's unrelenting attacks to advance.
TREVOR HOFFMAN
Getting to 600 career saves could be harder than he initially thought. Entering the season just nine shy of the milestone, the Brewers closer has picked up three, but has also blown four this season - as many as he blew throughout 2009. Back-to-back blown saves against the Pirates this week looked especially horrific, giving up home runs to Pittsburgh catcher Ryan Doumit on both occasions, including the first grand slam Hoffman had yet allowed during Tuesday's defeat. Could the end be nigh for the 42-year-old?
Paul Attfield