Tigers Weekly 2005 Season

Week 6: 5/10/05 - 5/16/05

Bring on the Devil Rays!  After facing the cream of
the crop of the AL West and doing fairly well (5-4 vs.
Anaheim and Texas) the Tigers continue their nine-game
homestand by hosting Tampa Bay and Arizona (the D-Rays
and the D-Backs).  On club history alone the Tigers
should go 6-0 this week.  The Rays are coming off a
series in Kansas City where they lost three of four. 
Arizona, on the other hand, in in the thick of the NL
West race (tied for first with the Padres).  This
marks the fifth year in a row that the Tigers will
face Arizona.  What a crock.  I just don't get excited
about seeing that classic Tigers/Diamondbacks matchup.
Plus, other teams benefit from big revenue series
(Cubs/White Sox, Yankees/Mets, Cardinals/Royals) which
the Tigers don't get since they don't have a natural
NL rival.  I guess ours, as mandated by MLB, are the
D-Backs.  Tickets are still available by the bundle.
 
New Subscribers...

Bill "Shemp" Peterson
Josh "Jason" Schmidt
 
Corrections:  Last week I butchered the spelling of
"tourinquet" and the week before I cited the wrong
person as far as who sent me the XM radio piece.  It
was Deana Carr, not Deana Carter.
   
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Week of 5/10 - 5/16
 
Record:  2-3  LW--(LW)L-
 
Undy-Five-Hundy:  Every time the Tigers look to be
getting back to five-hundy they drop a game.  The 2-3
record this week bumps the index up to two.  Not bad,
but the Indians are creeping up on the Tigers and are
threatening to take over third in the Central.  While
it's too early to really worry about position in the
division, it's nice to be as close to the top as
possible.  A sweep of the D-Rays would do the team a
lot of good.  The Tigers have not had a sweep (in the
good sense) all season and Tampa is the perfect
candidate.
 
Up Next for the Tigers...

May 17-19  Tampa Bay 
May 20-22  Arizona
May 23     no game scheduled...
May 24-26  @ New York Yankees
 
AL Central Standings...

CWS  27 12 -
MIN  21 15 4.5
DET  17 19 8.5
CLE  16 21 10
KCR  11 27 15.5
D03   9 29 17.5   *** 2003 Tigers ***
 
Tigers Division...

CWS  27 12 - 
|
MIL  18 19 8
SFG  18 19 8
PIT  17 19 8.5
DET  17 19 8.5
CHC  16 20 9.5
CLE  16 21 10
PHI  17 22 10
 
Tigers News and Notes:  BOBBY lands on the 15-day DL
with a "sore elbow."  Sore elbow is also known as
"terrible batting average."  Higginson has brought
zero worth to the team this season.  This injury can
only be seen as a positive.  Doug Creek, a pitcher,
was called up from Toledo to take his place.  This
tells me the Tigers really don't need the extra
outfielder.  Higginson's usefulness has apparently run
out.  Pudge and Dmitri also left Sunday's game with
injuries, but it appears that neither of those
injuries are serious.

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Tiger of the Week...
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Brandon Inge has an eight game hitting streak, and six of those games have been multi-hit efforts. Brandon is hitting .326 with an OBP of .414 primarily out of the leadoff spot. This week he racked up four RBIs and a big home run in a one-run win over Anaheim. Inge and Logan have been a great 9-1 punch for the club and have been the Tigers' hottest hitters as of late. The only thing keeping Logan out of the leadoff spot is Inge's success there.

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Off His Rocker...
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Remember John Rocker?  Well, he's back and pitching
for, get this, the Long Island Ducks.  John Rocker
pitching in New York...amazing.  In this article
Rocker talks about his experiences so far and even
makes a comparison between himself and Jackie
Robinson.  Hmmm, I'm not sure I can see things his way
on that issue.  Let's just hope that he and his
publicist are able to keep his comments to a minimum.
 
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2054529

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Cool Fan Site Alert...
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I've recently discovered a very nice Tigers website
called www.tigerscentral.com. Check it out, I'm sure
you will like it.  The Tigers schedule wallpaper alone
warrants a visit.

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Poll Question...
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MLB announced this week that there will be a World-Cup
type event next spring involving sixteen countries. 
The odd thing is that the tournament is slated to be
held in March...right in the middle of Spring
Training.    
 
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2057633
 
What are your thoughts on a world tournament for
baseball?  Do you think it will be popular and/or
exciting?  What countries do you think would be the
strongest?  Would the United States have a good chance
of winning?  Who would you pick to represent America
(give me a lineup)?  Will the timing of the event have
a large effect on players early in the season?  Is
this unfair to certain clubs?

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Game Linescores...
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May 10:  Detroit 4 - Texas 5
Starters:  DET: Johnson 8IP - TEX: Park 5.2IP
DET  000 004 000  4 13 1 
TEX  301 000 10X  5  8 0
W: Brocail (2-0)
L: Johnson (2-3)
S: Cordero (11)
 
May 11:  Detroit 6 - Texas 5
Starters:  DET: Ledezma 5IP - TEX: Astacio 6IP
DET  000 200 211  6 11 1
TEX  000 301 001  5  7 1
W: Walker (2-0)
L: Mahay  (0-1)
S: Urbina (3)
 
May 12:  no game scheduled...
 
May 13:  game postponed due to rain...
 
May 14:  (Game One)  Anaheim 4 - Detroit 2
Starters:  ANA: Colon 5IP - DET: Bonderman 6IP
ANA  000 002 200  4 11 0
DET  001 100 000  2  9 1
W: Donnelly  (1-0)
L: Walker    (2-1)
S: Rodriguez (10)
 
May 14:  (Game Two)  Anaheim 2 - Detroit 3
Starters:  ANA: Washburn 7IP - DET: Maroth 6.1IP
ANA  000 001 100  2 7 0
DET  010 020 00X  3 9 0 
W: Maroth   (4-2)
L: Washburn (2-2)
S: Urbina   (4)
 
May 15:  Anaheim 9 - Detroit 3
Starters:  ANA: Lackey 7.2IP - DET: Robertson 3IP
ANA  006 300 000  9 11 0
DET  000 010 110  3 10 2
W: Lackey    (4-2)
L: Robertson (1-3)
 
May 16:  no game scheduled...

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Readers Write In...
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Cortney "M.D." Schmitt
 
Hi Matt, The pronator is the muscle that turns your
forarm so that the palm of your hand is facing down. 
He may also be having having trouble with his wrist
flexors, so they just combined everything together. 
The flexors attach to the inside of the elbow, which
is very common for pitchers to get pain,w ith all the
different positions that are used to throw different
types of pitches, especially the curve and the
breaking ball.  
 
Sometimes they are a little precautionary because it's
right by the ligament called the UCL, which is what
many pitchers tend to injure with overuse or poor
mechanics and end up having to go through tommy john
surgery.  It just all depends where his injury
occurred, but muscle needs rest and if Percival
doesn't do that he'll keep reinjurying it and will
pretty much be useless.  Hope this helps.  
Cortney Schmitt

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Matt "Habeus Corpus" Houser
 
O'Toole,
If you were really stubborn, you'd call them the
California Angels.  If you were less stubborn, you'd
call Spurling the "Tourniquet" instead of the
"turnicate," unless that's part of the humor.  Good to
hear from you, keep 'em coming.
 
Matthew S. Houser

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Dallas "McPherson" Senters
 
hey matt
 
clearly, i am very disappointed in the performance of
my ohio baseball teams.  i would very much appreciate
a couple of winning streaks coming out of the buckeye
state.
 
in the past week i saw the cards get a triple play and
a inside the park homerun from the rockies.  those are
a couple of rarities that can be rather exciting.  i
loved it last year when dave roberts had the inside
the park home run for the dodgers against the yankees
(i think they called it a double and an error, but i
think is was a four-bagger)
 
i think baseball is built for radio.  the most
exciting play any one that your play-by-play guy gets
excited about.  tom hamilton gets excited about
baseball and that makes it fun to listen to the
indians games.  marty brennaman is so old-school that
you think you're listening to games from the big red
machine, even when griffey and dunn are striking out
for pay.
 
when it comes to baseball season i want to hear my
teams on the radio, see cool highlights on baseball
tonite, and read the boxscores in the morning.

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Lia "The Scorekeeper" Bottinelli
 
In response to your poll question: 
 
There were a couple summers when I used to stay up
late with my dad watching the Tigers on TV, which was
enjoyable. However, in more recent years I've 
come to feel that watching games on TV is rather
boring, unless I'm doing something else (e.g. grading
math homework) at the same time. There's simply 
too much waiting around. Furthermore, since Ernie
retired listening to the Tigers on the radio has lost
its appeal. 
 
That said, I still love to go to games. There's
something special about a trip to the ballpark (and
the trip to Greektown afterwards for Bumpy Cake 
ice cream). I'm also into baseball history. Watching
the Ken Burns "Baseball" series on TV when I was in
middle school taught me a lot about the greats - Cobb,
DiMaggio, Mantle, Ruth, etc. At one point I even read
a 500 page biography of Ty Cobb for a book report! The
sport had more charm in those days... 
 
I think the most exciting play in baseball would have
to be the triple-play, just because it hardly ever
happens, and when it does, it's awesome to think 
about everything that had to come together at just the
right moment for that play to happen. 
 
I agree with Gilbert - Bobby sucks. 
 
Lia 

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Matt "Y" Weiland
 
I remember a story I once heard about a sister who was
always dragged to the baseball games of her older
brothers.  She absolutely hated going to the games,
and this went on for quite sometime.  One afternoon
while the family was watching another game one of the
brothers said "that wasn't a ball!"  The little girl
turned to her dad and asked, "what's a ball?"  The dad
couldn't believe that in all the years of ball games
that he had never bothered to tell his daughter about
the game.  That afternoon he answered all of her
questions; following that day she was hooked.
I wonder how many of those who can't stand the game
are like this little girl?

Why I love baseball?  Too many reasons to list. 
Perhaps the permanent bone bruise I carry on the base
of my index finger of my left hand.  Or when my dad
gave me his old high school glove and I used it all
through high school.     

Most exciting?  Stolen bases.....and diving stops.

Exciting play?  A tough 6-4-3 double play deep in the
hole late in the game with one out.

Baseball above all?  You can fail 60% of the time and
be considered the greatest hitter of all time.

Great poll I had a smile on my face the whole time
I'm gone like a shot to left field

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Toolie's Trashtalk...
 
The Tigers went 2-3 this week, but over their last
nine games they have done some pretty nice things. 
Pitching has given the club a chance to win eight of
those nine games.  Many of those games were very close
contests, so the club is cutting its teeth and
hopefully learning how to handle these situations. 
We've seen some late-inning offense in key situations
and solid pitching closing the door when it's been
needed.  
 
I heard Peter Gammons say that the AL Wild Card could
very well come from the AL Central this season, citing
the White Sox and Twins both as potential playoff
candidates.  I think that Gammons is basing this on
those two clubs beating up on the rest of the Central.
I don't expect this to happen.  Cleveland and Detroit
are both decent clubs and will get their wins against
those two teams.  Yes, Kansas City is brutal this
season (how about Tony Pena stepping down as
manager?), but the AL East has the Devil Rays.  I
don't think that Detroit or Cleveland will be doormats
for the Twins or the White Sox.  Frankly, I think the
White Sox's success is much akin to the Royals' early
success in the 2003 season.  That team didn't have a
very good offense and benefitted from great pitching
early on in the season.  Those Royals finished four
games over .500 (good enough for third in the
division).  Time will tell.
 
Houser, yes I could be really stubborn and call them
California, but they were Anaheim when I started
writing the Weekly, so they'll stay Anaheim.  Besides,
representing them as LAA looks silly.  
 
It was a nice surprise that Cortney came through with
the info on Percival's injury.  It never occured to me
to ask the readers if they were in the know.  Thanks
for picking up the slack. 
 
Baseball has indeed lost a good deal of its charm. 
This is because of $$$.  Players are much more about
making money and they change teams more often than
that bandwagon relative everyone has.  When I hear
about players doing yoga and other crazy stuff I shake
my head.  Yoga has a place in this world but I don't
think it's in baseball.  
 
Lia was also mentioning to me (as we watched Bartolo
Colon pitch on Saturday) how she didn't like how
someone so out of shape could be a professional
athlete.  This is actually something that I like about
baseball.  It's a team game and if you've got the
skills to help your team at a position then you have a
place in baseball.  Take a look at Phil Mickelson.  He
makes millions at a skill game all while being labeled
"Hefty."  If you are a pitcher or a DH you can get
away with being somewhat unathletic.
  
I took in a good deal of the Rangers / White Sox game
that was on ESPN tonight, and a play in the 8th inning
reminded me of something that I've been wanting to
rant about for some time.  Richard Hidalgo led off the
8th for the Rangers with a double down the third base
line.  Some fan reached over the railing and picked up
the ball.  Hidalgo was awarded a double.  The fan then
sat back in her seat and flicked the ball up in the
air with a big smile on her face.  The fan should be
ejected.  Fans are there as spectators, and
interference with a live ball should not be tolerated
under any circumstance.  If you run out on the field
you are booted, and it doesn't matter if you've
interupted the game or not.  Who knows what may have
happened had the fan not interfered?  There could have
been an error or the runner could have tried for a
triple (this is more likely when the ball is hit to
right field).  Since Bartmania (what I am dubbing this
phenomenon) won't be cured by fans' increased
awareness (I admit it probably happens so quickly that
you don't have a lot of time to think), I think that
stadiums should be altered so that it's impossible for
fans to reach over into fair territory.  Just create a
lip about 6 feet wide so that the ground balls can't
be scooped up and so that outfielders are unmolested
in their attempts to catch foul fly balls.  That would
eliminate scenarios like the Jeffery Maier incident of
years ago and the Gary Sheffield scuffle we saw this
year.  How many times have you seen a hit, that was
sure to score a runner from first, turn into a double
and leave that runner stranded on third?  It's totally
ridiculous and needs to be addressed.  Forgive me if I
don't feel sorry for the fan with front row seats on
the base lines or in the outfield.  
 
The "hold" is the dumbest stat in baseball.  You can
give up runs and still get credit for a hold.  What
does it measure?  If you come in with a two-run lead
and give up one then you get a hold.  But if you come
in during a one-run game and surrender a run you
don't.  In fact, you get a blown save (late in the
game anyway).  I don't give the hold any value
whatsoever. 
 
I think the most exiting play in baseball has to be a
suicide squeeze play in a tie-game in the ninth inning
or beyond.  There is huge pressure on the hitter, the
exitement level is already high as the winning run in
on third base, and the crowd has about two seconds to
realize what's going on.  The hitter (barring a foul
ball) is either a hero or a goat, and the manager
shares the burden.  Coming in as other really exiting
plays are strike-em-out throw-em-outs and nailing a
runner at home from the outfield (something Bobby
actually was good at).

OK, so this time I've included that picture of Arroyo and his amazing leg kick that I failed to deliver last week.

Looking at possibly attending a game this week. I've got some catching up to do. Don't forget that if you attend a game you are encouraged to submit an account of your experience.

 
I'm out.
 





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