Tigers Weekly 2005 Season

Week 12: 6/21/05 - 6/28/05

One.  It's not very much, but it can mean a lot. 
Tonight I rolled a 225 at the bowling lanes, besting
my previous best game by a single pin.  For the Tigers
one run was the difference in two games this week. 
After a rare series win in the Metrodome the team
dropped two of three in Arizona (good riddance to
interleague play) and lost a close one to the White
Sox to start the current homestand.  The bright spot
in the desert was the debut of Sean Douglass. 
Douglass pitched six strong innings to pick up the win
and end a two-game skid.  Next up for the kid is the
Yankees.  Also, on the positive side, the Tigers got a
little healthier this week.  Carlos Guillen came off
of the DL on Sunday and that Magglio Ordonez guy
started his rehab stint in Toledo this Monday.  
 
These next two weeks are big for the Tigers.  If they
tank it then they could be sellers at the trade
deadline.  If they can hang then they play some weaker
teams and may be in a position to compete for the wild
card.  That's pretty optimistic but it's not out of
the question.

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"Week" of 6/21 - 6/28
 
Record:  3-4  WWLLWL-L
 
Undy-Five-Hundy:  Laziness on the editor's part and
the inability to score following a leadoff 9th-inning
triple cause the index to creep back to one.  The team
was two games over after the first two nights at the
Metrodome (back-to-back complete games from Bonderman
and Robertson).  Losing four of five put the kibosh on
any thoughts of staying over the mark.  If the Tigers
wish to improve this week they will have to do it
against stiff competition.  Last week's homestand saw
them go 5-1.  4-2 would look really nice.
 
Up Next for the Tigers...

6/29 - 6/30  Chicago White Sox
7/1 - 7/3    New York Yankees
7/4 - 7/6    @Cleveland (double-header on the 4th)
 
AL Central Standings...

CWS  51 24 -
MIN  42 33 9
CLE  41 34 10
DET  36 37 14
KCR  25 51 26.5
 
Tigers Division...

CWS  51 24 -
|
TOR  39 39 13.5
NYM  38 38 13.5
DET  36 37 14
LAD  36 40 15.5
OAK  36 40 15.5
 
Tigers News and Notes:  The Tigers activated Carlos
Guillen this week and sent down Tony Giarratano. 
Giarratano had some flashes of decency that makes one
believe we'll be seeing him sometime in the future. 
He's certainly not ready now, and that's one reason
why the team kept Jason Smith.  Also, Sean Douglass
was called up to take the fifth spot in the rotation. 
Matt Ginter, the Tigers' long relief man, was sent to
Toledo.  The way the Tiger starters have been pitching
caused Ginter to get very little work, so it seemed
natural to put him someplace where he could pitch more
often.  Let's hope that the Tigs don't develop a
sudden need for him.  Douglass earned himself another
start thanks to his performance in Arizona.

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Tiger of the Week...
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With a pair one-run outings, the lefty Nate Robertson earns Tiger of the Week honors. Robertson backed up Jeremy Bonderman's complete game with one of his own, giving the Tigers a series win in Minnesota. Nate surrendered five hits and a walk while striking out six in that effort. In the hard-luck loss to the White Sox, Robertson gave up six hits and two walks in seven innings, fanning nine. His ERA is sitting at 3.58, which is great for the American League. All of the starting pitchers have pitched well lately. It's a shame that twice this year the pitchers have knocked in the only Tigers run of the game (it happened again this Friday to Mike Maroth).

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Tigers Weekly Baseball Game...
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It's getting tougher to refer to this game as I have
above.  Only seven of the fifteen players signed up
are related to Tigers Weekly.  I don't care so much
about this as I do about the number fifteen.  To play
a full game of baseball we need at least eighteen. 
We're almost there and I think we will make it.  If
you are interested in playing then send me an e-mail. 
The game will be at 1PM on Saturday, July 9th.  Those
of you that are playing, see if you can bring someone
along for the event.  Also, if you would like to come
and watch, there are ways you can be involved in the
game.  We'll need someone to keep score and I hope to
bring some tunes to play before the game and in
between innings.  Someone will have to be in charge of
that.  For those involved and interested there will
probably be a postgame gathering at a local
establishment.  Cost of the game will be about five
bucks per person.

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Claus Baseball Stadium Tour 2005...
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Tonight (meaning Wednesday) I will catch the
Tigers/White Sox game and then myself and nine other
gents will be touring the east and some of its
baseball stadiums.  This is at least the fourth year
of the event which is put on every year by the Claus
boys (Chas and Mike).  The itinerary contains these
games:
 
Wed. White Sox @ Tigers  7PM
Thu. Pirates @ Nationals  1PM
Fri. Indians @ Orioles  7PM
Sat. Braves @ Phillies  1PM
Sun. Marlins @ Mets  1PM
Mon. Orioles @ Yankees  1PM
 
We're leaving for D.C. immediately after the Tigers
game.  Pray for no extra innings.  We'll see every
team in the NL East.  I'll be able to check off the
Nationals, Pirates, and Phillies off my list of teams
I've never seen.  I guess if you count the Cubs/Expos
game I saw years ago then the Nats are already off. 
Anyway, I'll have plenty to write about next week
concerning this.  

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Poll Question...
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With Magglio Ordonez coming back soon there will be
some changes made in the outfield.  Nook Logan has
been a great defensive center-fielder, Craig Monroe
leads the team in RBIs, and Rondell White has arguably
been the best hitter of late for the team.  The
natural move seems to be to shift Monroe to center,
but another very real possibility is that once it's
pretty certain that Ordonez is back for good that the
Tigers trade White (Monroe would then move to left I
assume).  Rondell is in the last season of his
two-year deal.  If the Tigers aren't in contention
they should be able to find a team that could use him.
 
What do you think should be done with the outfield
when Ordonez resumes his position in right field?

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Game Linescores...
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June 21:  Detroit 7 - Minnesota 2
Starters:  DET: Bonderman 9IP - MIN: Lohse 4.2IP
DET  000 330 100  7 12 1
MIN  000 110 000  2  5 1
W: Bonderman (9-4)
L: Lohse     (5-6)
 
June 22:  Detroit 8 - Minnesota 1
Starters:  DET: Robertson 9IP - MIN: Mays 4IP
DET  012 310 100  8 11 2
MIN  100 000 000  1  5 2
W: Robertson (3-5)
L: Mays      (3-3)
 
June 23:  Detroit 2 - Minnesota 6
Starters:  DET: Johnson 5.2IP - MIN: Silva 9IP
DET  000 001 001  2  9 2
MIN  400 002 00X  6 11 0
W: Silva   (6-3)
L: Johnson (5-6)
 
June 24:  Detroit 1 - Arizona 2
Starters:  DET: Maroth 6.2IP - ARI: Estes 6.1IP
DET  000 010 000  1 8 1
ARI  000 002 00X  2 9 1
W: Estes  (6-5)
L: Maroth (5-8)
S: Bruney (8)
 
June 25:  Detroit 5 - Arizona 1
Starters:  DET: Douglass 6IP - ARI: Vazquez 6.1IP
DET  000 001 400  5 11 0
ARI  010 000 000  1  6 0
W: Douglass (1-0)
L: Vazquez  (7-6)
 
June 26:  Detroit 7 - Arizona 13
Starters:  DET: Bonderman 2IP - ARI: Vargas 6.2IP
DET  000 000 502   7 10 2
ARI  333 202 00X  13 14 1
W: Vargas    (2-4)
L: Bonderman (9-5)
 
June 27:  no game scheduled...
 
June 28:  Chicago White Sox 2 - Detroit 1
Starters:  CWS: Buehrle 6.2IP - DET: Robertson 7IP
CWS  000 011 000  2 6 1
DET  010 000 000  1 9 0
W: Buehrle   (10-1)
L: Robertson (3-6)
S: Hermanson (18)

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Readers Write In...
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Dr. Bob "Bip" Hesse
 
Matt,
 
Thanks for putting me in the weekly. I remember Niekro
making that claim, but I also remember him showing up
on old David Letterman within a week of the event
wearing a tool-belt with various implements of
destruction such as a beltsander. He didn't fight the
appeal, so I do believe he was doing something to the
ball.
 
Bob

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Nick "Stickman" Ciofani
 
I hope the AL Central finally gets the respect it
deserves.  I bet those east coast boys over at ESPN
are crying that the Red Sox and the Yankees both won't
make it to the playoffs.  Give the AL Central some
props damnit!

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Derek "Lee" Muller
 
PHOENIX (AP) – Emily, anxious to witness Dmitri and
Pudge's athletic prowess, joined me in the Tigers road
trip to the DBacks in the wildly unpopular interleague
"rivalry."
 
Friday we accidentally passed the $5 parking and
settled for $8 structure parking near the stadium.  We
busted out the Dan Simpson sign asking for tickets and
quickly scored some upper deck seats on the third base
line.  Upper deck is theater-style at BOB, and it's
all nose-bleed.  We silently upgraded closer to home
plate.  We witnessed scores of Tigers fans, sporting
gear ranging from Wallace jerseys to Lions and Wings
jerseys.
 
The BOB is an unimpressive stadium.  The dome was
closed on the 112 degree day, and we toured the most
dangerous obstruction in all of major league baseball,
the right-center field pool.  Other than that, center
field is a big scoreboard, the field is perfectly
symmetrical, and really, their unis are pretty ugly.
 
Rabid DBacks fans are overwhelmingly unintelligent
women.  We sat near an obese slappy who reminded me of
a third grade teacher.  She clearly didn't understand
what a strike zone was, and the watered-down alcohol
she constantly consumed only made her more annoying as
the game went on.  Typical couple at the game consists
of silent husband and annoying soccer-momish wife.
 
We watched Maroth get tagged with the loss and 0
earned runs, a brutal line.  Maroth provided the only
RBI in the game with an excellent bloop single in the
fifth; he also laid down a perfect sac bunt in the
seventh.  Pudge was 0-for-4 on the day and slammed his
gear in the dugout after his fourth failed at-bat with
two on and one out.
 
Pudge fooled former Tiger not-so-great Gonzo in a
play-at-the-plate.  Glaus laced a double into center
field, Logan relayed it into Polanco, and Gonzo tried
to score from first.  Pudge stood there, acting like
he wasn't getting the relay, then snagged the perfect
toss from Polanco to tag out the trotting Gonzo,
completely fooled.  AHHHH HAHAHA!
 
Finally, the worst part of the game came in an
attempted 4-6-3 double play in the 6th.  ALLEGEDLY,
Infante didn't touch the bag, and everybody was called
safe.  Emily and I booed loudly.  Tram came out to
contest it and received the visitor's welcome of a 10
second chance to complain before ejection.  Tram
proceeded to rant on the field until the DBacks
slappies were calling for security to take him away. 
I watched the Sportscenter recap, and I'm still not
convinced.  Good fight, Tram.
 
The Relish dog won the hot dog race.  I was really
rooting for Mustard!
 
Saturday, we snagged a set of season tickets from our
host family for the summer, and we sat in DBacks
territory right behind home plate in the lower deck. 
Douglass looked strong all game, scattering 4 hits
over six innings, and he made contact in both at-bats.
The heart of our lineup was due after a weak showing
Friday, and they lit 'em up in the sixth for a run and
for four more in the seventh.  Really, we have the
DBacks coaching to thanks – Vazquez went double-sac
fly-single to the bottom of our lineup.  He should
have been pulled by then.  But Inge got a triple.  He
should have been pulled.  Then Polanco got a single. 
Just too much Vazquez face time.
 
Douglass gave up only two walks all game, both to
Glaus, so it was understandable.  He scattered the
hits, though, never allowing more than one hit in an
inning.  Nook had a sensational catch in the sixth to
rob Glaus of a homer at the wall, deflating the many
slappies surrounding us.
 
The game wasn't nearly as exciting as the previous
night's 1-run game, but the Tigers rebounded to their
over-.500 form and managed to piece together some
clutch hitting when necessary. 
 
The Taco won the Taco Bell race; the Pepsi got knocked
down by the Taco early in the run across the field,
and Miss Burrito was bogged down by her pink gloves
and pink bow.  The Ketchup dog won the hot dog race;
I'm 0-for-2.
 
The DBacks mascot, "Baxter," is seriously the ugliest
mascot in the history of baseball.  He looked like a
cross between that thing in Donnie Darko and a
jackalope.
 
Sunday we overslept, so we went to a later church
service and didn't go to the game.  Nevertheless, the
way Bonderman was rocked, I'm not so sad.

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Toolie's Trashtalk...
 
It started out as a great week, but alas it didn't
finish that way.  The team played Dean Palmer
baseball, scoring only when it didn't really matter. 
They had two losses by one run but scored seven runs
after falling behind 13-0.  The loss on Tuesday was
frustrating as they outhit the White Sox and wasted a
leadoff triple in the ninth inning.  It just seems to
be the White Sox's year.  
 
I did get to see Sean Douglass pitch on Saturday
night.  I was in Muskegon for a graduation party
(Sunday) and was able to see Sean Douglass go 1-0 on
the season.  Other than throwing a lot of first pitch
balls (as in not strikes) he looked pretty good.  But
to be cautious, Wil Ledezma's first outing was good
too.  
 
Many thanks to Derek for the report from Arizona.  I
had a great time watching the Tigers in Cleveland. 
The Tribe fans are pretty decent, except this one dude
kept insulting me whenever I'd clap for the Tigers. 
That guy had nothing to complain about.  We Tiger fans
have had to deal with the Wahoos coming up because the
Jake was always sold out.  One thing that can endear
or turn one off to a team is fan intellect.  
 
The All-Star game is closing in quickly.  I would be
surprised if the Tigers got anything other than two
All-Stars.  Only one would be a slight, but there
doesn't seem to be a good possibility of getting more
than two.  It could happen though.  Cleveland had five
All-Stars last year.  
 
Julio Franco became the oldest player (46) to hit a
grand slam.  The impressive thing here is that Franco
continues to be an integral part of the Braves at such
an old age.  He's making a million dollars, so he's
not costing the Braves much.  He may play until he's
50!
 
That's going to be all for this week.  I've got to
pack for this trip!  Let's see if I've got everything
on the list...
 
Clothes...check!
Bathroom stuff...check!
Todd Jones voodoo doll...check!
 
Yup, I'm ready to go.   Actually I'm happy to see
Jones pitching well for the Marlins.  
 
The Weekly won't come out next week until Tuesday
night at the earliest.  We're driving back from New
York on Tuesday so I may not be up to the challenge. 
Remember, if you are interested in joining us for the
baseball game, let me know.  
 
I'm out.
 





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Play Ball!

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