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So the plan last night was to watch the Tigers/Angels
game and then send out the Weekly. As the Tigers were
getting spanked 8-2, I fell asleep in bed and didn't
wake up until about 3:15AM. No longer in the writing
mood, I decided to wait until morning to put the issue
out.
Hard times have befallen the Tigers. In the last
eight days, against the Mariners and Angels, the boys
have mustered only two wins. They are now undy five
hundy for the first time all season and are tied with
the surging Indians for third in the division. The
team is starting to resemble the squad that we saw
last year, and the schedule doesn't get much easier in
the coming weeks. Trammell and company are going to
have to light some kind of fire under these guys, or
it could could be the month of dis-May.
New Subscribers...
Greg "El Sue" Primeau
Jeff "Pee Wee" Herman
Dr. John "Colonel Mustard with the Lead Pipe in the"
Hall
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"Week" of 4/27 - 5/4
Record: 2-6 LWLLWLLL
Undy Five Hundy: After a long wait, ladies and
gentlemen, it's back by unpopular demand! The
undy-five-hundy index has reared its ugly head for the
first time all season...and it took the extra day this
week to do it. Blame me for the laziness, folks,
blame me. As it is, the index stands at 1. Not so
bad. Time for a turnaround this week.
Up Next for the Tigers...
May 5 @ Anaheim
May 6 no game scheduled...
May 7-9 @ Texas
May 10 no game scheduled...
May 11-13 Oakland
AL Central Standings
CWS 16 10 -
MIN 15 10 0.5
DET 13 14 3.5
CLE 12 13 3.5
KCR 8 17 7.5
Tigers News and Notes: With all of the off days
coming up, the Tigers will be going with a four man
rotation, bumping Nate Cornejo to the bullpen (thank
goodness). Since the demotion, Cornejo has revealed
that he has some pain in his pitching shoulder. Well
thanks for waiting to tell everyone, Nate! At least
when go see the Tigers next week I'll be sure not to
see Cornejo for the third time in as many games.
Also, the Tigers made a trade with the Cubs involving
some minor league pitchers. In is Felix Sanchez, out
in John Connolly. We shouldn't see any immediate
effects.
Update: Cornejo has now been placed on the DL. Craig
Dingman, a right handed pitcher, will take his place
in the lineup.
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Tiger of the Week...
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The bright spot in these last eight days has got to be
Mike Maroth. The lefty picked up the only win in the
first series against Anaheim, and left his team after
six with a lead on Monday. No pitcher on the staff
has been steadier than Maroth, who is sporting a 4.26
ERA and a 3-1 record. Jeremy Bonderman gets honorable
mention for his pitching performance against the M's
in the Tigers other win this week. He is also 3-1.
Too bad we can't pitch these guys all the time, like
Muskegon Catholic Central softball ace Lisa "Bug"
Ribecky.
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Most Despicable Baseball Person Tournament
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The results are in, the votes have been counted, and
people from Chicago did not vote more than once. You
can take my word on that. Here are last week's
results...
Albert Belle def. Graig Nettles
Was there any doubt? Belle wins in a squash match.
Joe Niekro def. Sammy Sosa
This was the closest of the votes. I don't think it
really mattered who won, as Niekro now faces Belle in
round two.
Jose Canseco def. The Bossard Family
Also a squash match, but not a unanimous vote.
Gaylord Perry def. Wilton Guerrero
While watching the game last night, I learned that
Wilton is Vladimir's brother, and at a Dodger tryout
the scouts were impressed with Wilton and told Vlad to
take a hike (too bad, eh Dr. Hall?). That just shows
how tough it is to scout in baseball.
This week, we have the first round of the
"Non-Players" bracket. Here are the matchups.
(1) George Steinbrenner vs. (8) Keith Miller
George Steinbrenner has owned the Yankees since 1973.
He is the biggest spending owner of all time and makes
no secret about his feelings for just about anyone.
http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/
ballplayers/S/Steinbrenner_George.stm
Keith Miller (Hillsdale, '03) is the man responsible
for ending the Highlands softball team dynasty at
Hillsdale College by abolishing the annual spring
softball tournament in favor of a 3-on-3 basketball
tournament (a tournament that, no less, was cancelled
due to lack of interest). A so-called baseball (and
Mariner) fan, Miller opted to promote the much
inferior game of basketball over a form of the game
that is known and loved by "true" Americans.
(2) Pete Rose vs. (7) Peter Gammons
Charlie Hustle falls in this category because all of
his despicable nature came from after he was playing
the game. While managing, Rose bet not just on
baseball games, but on games in which the Reds (who he
was managing at the time) were playing! Some call
what he did the worst crime against the game that can
be committed.
http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/
ballplayers/R/Rose_Pete.stm
Peter Gammons, the ageless wonder who is a mainstay in
the Baseball Tonight, is not everyone's favorite guy.
More than a few people have told me that they can't
stand him, or that they can't stand to look at him.
Gammons recently has been heard saying that the Tigers
will falter in the months of May and June. Booooo!
(3) Donald Fehr vs. (6) Bud Selig
Fehr is the head of the MLB Players Union, the
orginazation that makes things like A-Rod's contract
possible. Or, hitting more close to home, that makes
Higginson's contract possible.
Bud Selig is the current commissioner of baseball.
Many consider him to be a bumbler, which is exhibited
in a big way by the All-Star Game tie that we
witnessed two summers ago in Milwaukee.
(4) Marge Schott vs. (5) Rolando Paulino
Marge Schott (RIP), former owner of the Cincinnati
Reds, made quite a name for herself. Her remarks have
offended pretty much everyone under the sun. The link
has a good list of the Schott lowlights.
http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/
ballplayers/S/Schott_Marge.stm
Paulino (nominated by Matt "my true age is 23"
Weiland) was the coach of the New York Little League
team that made it to the Little League World Series a
few years back. The problem was that their ace
pitcher, Danny Almonte, was a bit too old to legally
play in the league. The team was forced to forfeit
all of their wins in the tournament, and all the teams
that they eliminated basically got the screw job.
Late Entry to the Tourney:
To fill out the "Pricks" bracket, I've added Rob
Dibble as the eight seed. So also this week, please
vote on who gets to face Juan Gonzalez in the second
round...
(1) John Rocker vs. (8) Rob Dibble
Rocker was absolutely outrageous. The man looked like
he was going to pop a vein, and threw the ball with
the same intensity. While with the Braves, Rocker
infuriated Mets fans and much of the nation with his
behavior and his remarks. Rocker was, I'm sure, many
people's guilty pleasure, and he was truly despicable.
Once leaving Atlanta, Rocker's career quickly
declined.
http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/
ballplayers/R/Rocker_John.stm
Rob Dibble (nominated by Brian "Wild Thing" O'Toole),
one of the Reds' "Nasty Boys" and current Baseball
Tonight cast member, was a dirty player who would
throw at or behind you without a second thought. Some
good stuff on the link.
http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/
ballplayers/D/Dibble_Rob.stm
Voting was up from last week, but it still was rather
low. So VOTE! Remember to put the word despicable in
the subject line. Thanks.
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Poll Question...
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Barry Bonds has walked 44 times this year, twelve
times more than Adam Dunn, who has the next highest
total. If Bonds continues on this pace, he will walk
274 times this season. Some have suggested that there
be some sort of penalty for excessive intentional
walking by one team.
1) Do you think that all this walking hurts baseball?
2) Would you support a rule change that discourages
the use of the intentional walk?
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Game Linescores...
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April 27: Anaheim 10 - Detroit 4
Starters: ANA Lackey 6.2IP - DET: Cornejo 5IP
ANA 200 111 050 10 15 1
DET 000 000 400 4 6 1
W: Lackey (1-3)
L: Cornejo (1-2)
S: Shields (1)
---
Toolie Sees a Ball Game...
It was game number two of this young season, and again
I was joined at the park by a Mr. Matthew Brady. Also
on this trip was Nic Gilbert, who made the journey
from Kalamazoo. It was a real relay of cars, as
Gilbert met me in Lansing, I drove to Royal Oak, and
Brady shuttled us downtown. Free parking at the Ernst
and Young luxury garage. A quick walk through the
finer parts of Detroit, and we arrived at the park.
We purchased our tickets and trotted across the street
to the on-the-rise watering hole, Elwood's. Pitchers
of Bud were just 8 bucks, and that got us a couple of
beers apiece. Considering that we would have paid
about 8 bucks EACH in the stadium for that, it was a
sweet deal, and nice to have before the game on a cold
night. Gilby decided,ten minutes before gametime,
that we could put down another pitcher. Well we did,
and got into the stadium just soon enough to see the
first pitch. The second pitcher didn't go down so
smoothly, but we made it. We found our seats in the
fanstands and settled in.
First inning and the Angels were on the board.
Nothing too exciting happened through the first few
innings. Cuppy Coffee couldn't pull out the victory
for section 106, as Biggie Bagel took top honors in
the Dunkin' Donuts race. Disappointing.
The main action came in the seventh inning. Trailing
5-0, the Tigers found themselves with the bases loaded
and two out. Up to the plate came Brandon Inge. I
recalled how, last year, Inge had gone yard off of
Troy Percival with two out in the bottom of the ninth
to give the Tigers the win. So I got it going with
chants to the tune of "Let's go Red Wings." We had
moved up to the row right behind the bullpens, so we
were in berating range. It went soemthing like "Let's
go Tro-oy . . ... Let's go Percival . . ... Walk off
grand slam . . ... Brandon I-inge . . ..." So what
does Inge do? He takes reliever Scott Shiels over the
wall in left center. The ball exploded off of his
bat. It was a bomb. We were going nuts. So of
course I had to give Troy a little more guff for the
reenactment. I even got him to look over his
shoulder. It was good times. I wonder if he was
impressed by the fact that someone remembered
something positive from the past season. Maybe. But
then the Angels scored five in the top of the eighth,
so that really took the wind out of the Tigers' sails.
The game wrapped up, and we scooted over to Hockeytown
to dethaw and catch the rest of the Wings game. It
was freezing in CoPa. We could have gotten the 2 for
1 twelve dollar tickets, but we would have been up in
the jet stream and may have frozen to death. Why do
the beer vendors continue to patrol on a night like
that? Give me a hot chocolate or a coffee vendor.
The Wings ended up losing, but it was a nice place to
watch the game. I've never seen the Wings win when
I've been there. Maybe we should have gone back to
Elwood's.
We rolled back into the Oak at about 12:30, and the
Pita Pit was closed, much to our chagrin. Gilby and I
made it back to Lansing around 2:00AM, and Nic elected
to complete the last leg of the return trip that night
and we parted ways. I'm 1-1 on the year, with plenty
of games to go.
---
April 28: Anaheim 2 - Detroit 10
Starters: ANA: Colon 4IP - DET: Maroth 7IP
ANA 200 000 000 2 8 2
DET 205 000 21X 10 15 0
W: Maroth (3-1)
L: Colon (3-2)
April 29: Anaheim 12 - Detroit 3
Starters: ANA: Washburn 8IP - DET: Robertson 3.1IP
ANA 002 800 101 12 14 0
DET 000 011 100 3 10 2
W: Washburn (4-1)
L: Robertson (1-1)
April 30: Seattle 3 - Detroit 1 F/10
Starters: SEA: Garcia 8IP - DET: Johnson 6.2IP
SEA 100 000 000 2 3 9 0
DET 000 001 000 0 1 4 2
W: Garcia (1-1)
L: Levine (2-1)
S: Guardado (4)
May 1: Seattle 2 - Detroit 4
Starters: SEA: Franklin 7IP - DET: Bonderman 7.2IP
SEA 000 000 020 2 5 0
DET 210 010 00X 4 9 1
W: Bonderman (3-1)
L: Franklin (1-2)
S: Urbina (2)
May 2: Seattle 12 - Detroit 2
Starters: SEA: Meche 6IP - DET: Cornejo 4.1IP
SEA 200 040 240 12 14 0
DET 000 020 000 2 4 3
W: Meche (1-2)
L: Cornejo (1-3)
May 3: Detroit 9 - Anaheim 11
Starters: DET: Maroth 5.1IP - ANA: Colon 6IP
DET 210 003 003 9 15 1
ANA 000 203 33X 11 14 1
W: Gregg (1-0)
L: Levine (2-2)
S: Percival (8)
May 4: Detroit 4 - Anaheim 11
Starters: DET: Robertson 3IP - ANA: Washburn 6.2IP
DET 000 200 200 4 8 0
ANA 042 023 00X 11 13 2
W: Washburn (5-1)
L: Robertson (1-2)
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Readers Write In...
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Chas "Tanana" Claus
Thanks to the generosity of fellow subscriber Kevin
Kopec, I had the pleasure of taking in the April 24
game between our hometown heroes and the Cleveland
Indians. From my $59 (free!) third row seat behind
the Cleveland dugout, I spent a lovely afternoon
drinking Labattys and abusing visiting players such as
Matt Lawton (no hits in five trips), Coco Crisp
(laughable name) and Jody Gerut (laughable name AND no
hits in three trips) from a distance where I had the
pleasure of knowing that they could hear me.
For those who didn't catch the game, Rondell "First
Pitch Swinging" White knocked out a walk-off,
three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth to propel
the Tigers to a 5-2 victory. And it wasn't just over
that sissy pretender fence in left field, either, it
was over the real wall so that an actual fan
could take it home.
Speaking of April 24, I would like to nominate it as
the most significant day in Detroit Sports this
millenium. My justification:
The Tigers beat the Indians on a ninth-inning walk-off
homer to move to 11-7 on the season. 20,000+ go nuts.
The Lions drafted Roy Williams, Kevin Jones, Teddy
Lehman and Keith Smith, at least three of whom will
start immediately.
The Red Wings destroy the Flames 5-2 to tie up their
second round playoff series. Yzerman scores twice.
(Incidentally, I actually saw the second one live on
the screen outside of Hockeytown as we drove out of
the Comerica Park parking lot.)
The Pistons beat the Bucks by 10 on the road to take a
2-1 lead in their playoff series. Bucks manage only 1
point in last four minutes.
And most importantly, as of April 24, we still are
without a pro soccer team or anyone that wants one.
For all of these reasons and more, mark it in your
diaries, April 24 has been the most significant day in
Detroit Sports in a very, very, very long time.
Claus
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Dallas "Double Pack" Senters
americans love sports. sports need great athletes.
as long as we are willing to spend what we do on
tickets/apparel/etc. then owners/corporations will
continue to write fat checks for contracts and
endorsements to those athletes....econ 101 and
opportunity cost.
I don't think that they need to be paid like they
are, but I don't own a team, so I can't control
payroll. I doubt we can count on steinbrenner to
reverse the trend.
dallas
------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Bob "Bip Roberts" Hesse
I felt I needed to reply after hearing that Ricky
Henderson tied Alomar. Tie? No contest! Ricky is far
more despicable! So here are my picks:
(1) Albert Belle vs. (8) Graig Nettles
Belle hands down
(2) Gaylord Perry vs. (7) Wilton Guerrero
Gaylord--although your link pointed out he got caught
in 82--it did take quite long time for someone to nail
him.
(3) The Bossards vs. (6) Jose Canseco
Jose Canseco
(4) Joe Niekro vs. (5) Sammy Sosa
Joe Niekro! He made it on David Letterman for getting
busted while playing for the twins in 87. For late
night He came out to talk with Dave wearing a
workman's belt with sanders, nail files etc. attached.
It was hilarious!
Take care,
Bob
------------------------------------------------------
Nate "The Settler" Hood
What's shakin' MOT?
Great job on the newsletter. Keep up the good work.
We need to figure out a way for you to make money on
this deal. Also, am I to understand that the Tigers
Weekly is now officially affiliated with the Detroit
Tigers and Major League Baseball? Hey, that's great!
Now, about the kissing-your-sister analogy...I've
always thought that a tie was more like when you think
you're going to sneeze, but then you don't. Rock on.
-Nate Hood
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Jason "Cundiff" Boddu
I think athletes should be paid what they are worth to
the organzation they are playing for. And so the
organization is responsible for determining
what they're worth, along with the amount of a risk
they are taking in unloading money on that player. If
they think a certain player is worth $30 mill a year,
that's their perogative. From this point of view I
think their salaries are justified.
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Nick "Early Bird" Ciofani
New Stat...
The Indians BS factor, which is the Bullpen ERA -
Winning%
If the number is positive...you suck
If it's close to even...ok
If it's negative...good team
I think we are at like +3
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Anthony "Billy Dee" Williams
I watched the Rangers sweep the Red Sox last night,
and almost shut them out. I hadn't been paying
attention, such were my low expectations for them, but
it seems that they are now on the top of their
division, which is pretty cool. The Yankees and the
Sox slump, while the Rangers and Tigers win! Perhaps
the planets are out of alignment, and we are even now
hurtling towards a collision with the sun?
I think sports are generally over-valued and the
players are over-paid. However, I'm not sure I can
really blame any one thing for this: perhaps it's just
the way the free market works in regard to sports.
People will pay money to watch their team, and more
people will pay more money to watch good players that
can make "their" team win. So, it behooves a team to
spend more than the next team to get those good
players. Maybe it's more complicated than that, but
that's the way it seems to work. And there's no doubt
that most professional players are highly skilled and
extremely good at what they do, worth a lot of money.
But that tends to make them think they're more
valuable than they are, with the ensuing soap operas.
Against this backdrop, it's good to see Pat Tillman,
someone who knew where the real priorities are. Makes
me feel a bit guilty for not joining the Rangers (the
other Rangers) myself...
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Toolie's Trashtalk...
Just a reminder folks: if you catch a game and would
like to send in a recap of that game, please do.
First hand accounts of a game are usually enjoyable to
read (at least I hope that mine are).
OK, so I dozed off last night and neglected my duties.
I hope that nobody was worried, and judging by the
lack of uproar, you were not. The Tigers have been
tough to watch this week. Lately, instead of thinking
"that's all right, they're going to get some runs..."
I've been thinking "4-0, it's over. I wonder what's
on Lifetime." Team hitting and the bullpen have let
the Tigers down this week, but there are many weeks in
the season. The AL Central isn't exactly the toughest
division in baseball, so the Tigers don't have to go
5-2 every week to compete. But they will have to have
post that mark some of the time. And the way they've
been playing hasn't generated much hope for those kind
of results.
A big "BOOOOOO" to 92.7 the Ticket, or should I call
it "The Shaft?" Last year, during the season of
despair, I was able to listen to the Tigers on said
station. This season, the Tigers acquired a slew of
free agents that brought excitement to all Tiger fans.
So 92.7 decides this year...to air Lansing Lugnuts
games instead! What the hell? Who actually follows
A-League baseball so religiously that they listen to
the game on the radio? "Hey Pa, turn on the radio so
we can listen to the 'Nuts play against Jonesville."
Seriously, I would be suprised if there are 20 people
out there that tune in to those Lugnuts game. No, ten
people. Maybe even five. Five people that listen and
I will not destroy the radio station. But alas, five
listeners could not be found, and God smote The
Ticket. Also, 92.7 has dropped Jim Rome for some
local chump. So I have had to resort to MLB radio,
which is only 15 bucks a season, and well worth the
price. You can listen to any game you want (something
I've taken advantage of a few times) and you get to
pick which announcers you have. Fifteen dollars is a
pittance to have Tigers baseball all season long.
As far as last week's question, I think that athletes
make way too much money. They are playing a game for
a living. But I can't argue with the free market,
which I am a huge fan of. The only way that athletes
start making less is if people start caring less or
refuse to keep paying the high price. Highly
unlikely, so we'll have to live with it. The
alternative to the free market is not worth seeing
these athletes having their salaries reduced.
Congrats to Dr. Bob Hesse, now the proud father of
four! Hey Dr. Bob, five more kids and you'll have
yourself a whole team! It's a good day when another
little Hesse enters the Markov chain of life.
Oooh, if that Sosa vote had been tied, I would have
broke it with a vote for Sosa, just to spite all of my
Cub-loving readers (especailly Sprague, who lobbied to
have him taken out of the tournament altogether).
Like I said before though, the winner of that matchup
was doomed to face Belle anyway.
Anthony, your Rangers are looking quite good! I just
hope that they cool off a little when the Tigers roll
into town. I like seeing the Rangers have success in
that division, especially since they were picked to
finish dead last. Remind you of any team we know?
Hood, I like your tie analogy. A sneeze can be
awkward, but it usually feels good. So when you get
all ready for it but don't sneeze it's like..."oh."
Readers writing in is payment enough for me (ok, a
winning season would be nice as well) and we are still
not affiliated with the Tigers or MLB. Wasn't sure if
you were joking there or not.
I have next week off and will be attending the game on
Thursday afternoon. I will be up for any of the
weekday games. If anyone feels like going, drop me a
line and we'll head to Comerica.
That's all for this week. Sorry about the tardiness.
I'm out.
-----------------------------------------------------
Tigers Weekly is in no way affiliated with the Detroit
Tigers or Major League Baseball.
If you know anyone that would like a subscription to TW,
send an email to editor@tigersweekly.com and give their
names and e-mail addresses. If your e-mail address is
changing, drop a line and it will be updated...
Play Ball!
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