Tigers Weekly 2005 Season

Week 16: 7/20/05 - 7/26/05

50-50...no I'm not pimping the latest Sportscenter
fad, I'm talking about the Tigers.  With their win
Tuesday night in Seattle the Tigers have evened their
record and sit four back in the Wild Card race.  After
splitting a four-game series with the Royals, the
Tigers have won consecutive series against the White
Sox and Twins.  Inability to defeat AL Central rivals
has doomed the Tigers of the past, so these series
were a sign that this is a "new breed of cat"
(reference to slogan used in Trammell's first year...I
think).  The rubber game vs. the Mariners tomorrow
will be televised, and then the Tigs play three
against the red-hot A's.  The team hasn't lost a
series since dropping two of three to the Yankees
early in the month (knock on wood).  
 
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Week of 7/20 - 7/26
 
Record:  5-3  WLW(WL)WLW
 
Undy-Five-Hundy:  Hah!  After dropping six games under
on July 4th, the Tigers have clawed back to the .500
mark.  They had a chance to go over on Monday but
lost.  They have another shot Wednesday before they go
into this tough series at Oakland.  If the Tigers wish
to compete, they must leave five-hundy in the dust.
 
Up Next for the Tigers...

7/27        @ Seattle
7/28        no game scheduled...
7/29 - 7/31 @ Oakland
8/1         no game scheduled...
8/2 - 8/4   Seattle
 
AL Central Standings...

CWS  65 34 -
MIN  53 46 12
CLE  52 49 14
DET  50 50 15.5
KCR  37 63 28.5
 
Tigers Division...

CWS  65 34 -
|
NYM  51 49 14.5
FLA  49 48 15
TOR  50 49 15
DET  50 50 15.5
SDP  50 50 15.5  (Leads NL West)
TEX  49 50 16
MIL  50 51 16
 
Tigers News and Notes:  OK, lots to report on this
week.  The Tigers moved Troy Percival from the 15-day
DL to the 60-day DL with the same arm injury that he
had before.  He's done for the year and possibly for
good.  Placido Polanco was placed, retroactively, on
the 15-day DL with his leg injury.  Polanco is
expected to come back on Wednesday.  Doug Creek was
designated for assignment.  The Tigers called up
outfielder Curtis Granderson to take Polanco's spot. 
Dombrowski acquired utility infielder John McDonald
from the Blue Jays for the oft-traded "player to be
named later."  On Saturday, the Tigers sent Kevin
Hooper down to allow Justin Verlander to star the
second game of the double-header.  After the game,
Verlander was sent back down and replaced by
left-handed pitcher Vic Darensbourg.  
 
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Tiger of the Week...
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Busting onto the scene in a big way this week was Curtis Granderson. Curtis hit two big home runs in the series against the Twins and provides speed in the outfield and on the bases. He was the guy that really sparked the Tigers to their series win this weekend. His call-up was just what the doctor ordered.

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Bret Boone Weekly...
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Against the Tigers Bret Boone was 4 for 16 with at
least one (big) error and one base-running mistake. 
Boone was up in several key spots and failed to get
the job done.  He didn't hit any home-runs, so we
didn't have a chance to see if he's still doing the
old bat-flip.  As we'll see more of the Twins, so too
will we be seeing more of Boone.  
 
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Poll Question...
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This topic came up after a game of whiffle-ball at
Kresge Memorial Stadium in Clarkston.  
 
If you could vote one person off the island of the
sports world, who would it be?  My answer is Stuart
Scott.  If I have to listen to him talk about how he's
a Tar-Heel one more time I'm going to buy a Duke
jersey.  The little side-shows he hosts are annoying
as all get-out.  I might have said Mo Vaughn, but he
is already out of there (thank goodness).  
 
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Walker Supports the Troops...
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It's always nice to see major-leaguers doing something
good with their money.  Let's hope that Jamie can fan
a few more batters.

The following is from an article originally published 
by DetroitTigers.com on 7/23/05.

---
DETROIT -- For Detroit Tigers reliever Jamie Walker,
striking out batters is more than just a way to help
his team win games. With every strikeout he records
this year, Walker is donating $150 to Army Emergency
Relief (AER), a private nonprofit organization
dedicated to "Helping the Army Take Care of Its Own." 
AER provides emergency financial assistance to active
and retired soldiers and their families, including the
spouses and children of soldiers who died while on
active duty. Walker began his support of AER several
years ago to commemorate the death of a friend. 

"Army Emergency Relief does great things for the
people that do great things for this country," Walker
said. "This is my way of supporting the men and women
of the U.S. Army." 

AER is a private nonprofit organization incorporated
in 1942 by the Secretary of War and the Army Chief of
Staff. Eighty-seven cents from every dollar donated
goes directly to an AER program supporting soldiers
and their families. Although sponsored by the
Department of the Army, AER receives no direct funding
from the government and is not part of any
government-funded compensation or assistance program.
For more information visit www.aerhq.org.
---

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Game Linescores...
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July 20:  Detroit 8 - Chicago White Sox 6
Starters:  DET: Robertson 7IP - CWS: Garcia 8IP
DET  200 011 004  8 15 0
CWS  100 010 103  6  6 1
W: Robertson (5-7)
L: Garcia    (9-4)
S: Dingman   (1)
 
July 21:  Minnesota 10 - Detroit 5
Starters:  MIN: Santana 5IP - DET: Johnson 4IP
MIN  051 020 200 10 13 0
DET  010 110 002  5 12 4
W: Santana (9-5)
L: Johnson (6-8)
 
July 22:  Minnesota 6 - Detroit 12
Starters:  MIN: Mays 4IP - DET: Maroth 6IP
MIN  110 103 000   6  9 1
DET  111 054 00X  12 18 0
W: Maroth (8-10)
L: Mays   (5-5)
 
July 23: Double Header
Game One:  Minnesota 1 - Detroit 2
Starters:  MIN: Silva 7IP - DET: Douglass 7IP
MIN  000 000 100  1 6 0
DET  010 000 10X  2 9 0
W: Douglass   (3-0)
L: Silva      (7-4)
S: Farnsworth (4)
 
Game Two:  Minnesota 5 - Detroit 2
Starters:  MIN: Baker 7IP - DET: Verlander 6IP
MIN  100 301 000  5 11 0
DET  100 000 100  2  6 0
W: Baker     (1-1)
L: Verlander (0-2)
S: Nathan    (27)
 
July 24:  Minnesota 2 - Detroit 5
Starters:  MIN: Lohse 5.2IP - DET: Bonderman 8IP
MIN  001 000 001  2  7 1
DET  100 121 00X  5 13 0
W: Bonderman  (13-6)
L: Lohse      (7-9)
S: Farnsworth (5)
 
July 25:  Detroit 3 - Seattle 5
Starters:  DET: Robertson 6.1IP - SEA: Franklin 6.2IP
DET  000 200 100  3  6 0
SEA  000 300 20X  5 11 0
W: Putz      (4-3)
L: Robertson (5-8)
S: Guardado  (23)
 
July 26:  Detroit 8 - Seattle 5
Starters:  DET: Johnson 8IP - SEA: Pineiro: 5.1IP
DET  001 210 031  8 14 1
SEA  002 003 000  5  9 0
W: Johnson    (7-8)
L: Mateo      (2-4)
S: Farnsworth (6)
 
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Toolie's Trashtalk...
 
The Tigers look pretty good lately, though they could
still be better.  It was tough listening to the game
tonight until Dmitri hit a longball to give the Tigers
the lead for good.  With men on 2nd and 3rd with one
out and nursing a two-run lead, Trammell called for
the squeeze.  Seatlle pitched-out and the play blew up
in Trammell's face.  Then, with two on and Ichiro
heading to the plate, Jim Price commented how Ichiro
had been hitting J.J. hard all night.  Instead of
calling on the bullpen, Trammell left Johnson in and
Ichiro belted the first pitch he saw for a two-run
triple.  The Tigers were lucky to win this one, but
the little things can be costly.  Maybe it was just
one of those nights.  
 
The Tigers are four games back in the Wild Card, but
there are still six teams ahead of them.  The good
news is that we'll be playing those teams a lot in the
coming weeks.  If the Tigers belong in the hunt then
they'll have to beat these teams.  The Tigers have two
series against Toronto, Oakland, Boston, and Cleveland
by the end of August.  Luckily there are some games
against Seattle and Kansas City sprinkled in there.  
 
The trade deadline is approaching and there hasn't
been a lot of noise.  I haven't heard any serious
runors concerning the Tigers, except that possibly
Rondell or Jason Johnson could be dealt.  I'm not
really sure what Dombrowski is thinking, so I'll just
see what happens by August 1st.  If the Tigers make no
major moves I'll be fine with it.  
 
Stupid 10PM games.  They zap all of my energy.  Pick
me up this week, readers.  Excited about the Tigers
chances?  Gotta take it one game at a time.  There's
still over a third of the season to go.  Plenty can
happen.  

The attached picture is of Dodger Stadium. It was sent to me by Nick "Stickman" Ciofani. Looks beautiful!

I'm out.
 





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