Tigers Weekly 2005 Season

Week 9: 5/31/05 - 6/6/05

If the Tigers are the 1919 White Sox, then the
five-hundred mark is that pile of stones that can't be
crossed in Field of Dreams.  After beating Chicago on
May 29th the Tigers were 11-10.  It is the last time
the club was over .500.  Since then they've reached an
even record three times but have lost each of those
times.  This most recent instance saw the Tigers win
six of seven against first-place clubs (Baltimore and
Texas, who was in first coming into their series with
Detroit) only to drop three games in a row.  The team
heads into the long stretch of interleague play and
opened with a loss to the Dodgers.  Over the weekend
the Tigers will travel to Coors field, where they were
swept last season.  I'm pretty optimistic about the
club's chances these next two weeks.  The game to keep
an eye on will be the series finale with the Dodgers
on Wednesday when the Tigers face Jeff Weaver.  

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Week of 5/31 - 6/6
 
Record:  3-4  LWWWLLL
 
Undy-Five-Hundy:  Things looked mightily promising as
the Tigers were getting clutch hitting late in games. 
But alas, the bats cooled off late in the week and
errors piled up and the team actually ended up
dropping one more game than they won.  That puts the
UFH at three.  This team seems afraid to take the leap
into the realm of the winning.  It would be great to
see them get a good five games over and then go from
there.  
 
Up Next for the Tigers...

6/7 - 6/8    @ Los Angeles
6/9          no game scheduled...
6/10 - 6/12  @ Colorado
6/13         no game scheduled...
6/14 - 6/16  San Diego
 
AL Central Standings...

CWS  38 19 -
MIN  33 22  4
DET  26 29 11
CLE  26 29 11
KCR  17 39 20.5
 
Tigers Division...

CWS  38 19 -
|
FLA  28 26 8.5
NYY  28 29 10
MIL  27 30 11
DET  26 29 11
CLE  26 29 11
PIT  26 30  11.5
 
Tigers News and Notes:  Lots happening this week. 
First the Tigers called up Chris Shelton and sent
Carlos Pena to Toledo.  This is a pretty big move, but
hopefully Pena can figure out how to hit while he's
down there.  His glove will be missed.  Next on the
hit list was Jason Smith, who was designated for
assignment in favor of Tony Giarratano.  Giarratano
had a monster year last season at Lakeland and was
performing well this year in Erie.  His stats from
previous years can be found below:

 
Lastly, after another terrible start against the
Orioles, Wil Ledezma was sent down which made room for
Troy Percival to come off the disabled list.  For the
time being the Tigers will go with a four-man
rotation.  

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Tiger of the Week...
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Rondell White has been seeing the ball really well lately...so well that he landed a twenty game hitting streak. The streak, which ended on Monday, has helped raise his average to .304. Rondell hit two big home runs this week. The first came in a 6-5 win over the Rangers and the second was a three-run blast that put the Tigers up 3-0. A home run is only impressive in my eyes if it's hit at a meaningful point in the game...or if it goes 550 feet. Rondell's been doing his part to get the Tigers over that hump. He's on the second year of his two-year deal, so it will be interesting what will happen later in the year. If the Tigers are out of it they may deal The Rock.

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Royal Pains...
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Ex-Tiger skipper Buddy Bell was hired as the new
Kansas City Royals manager.  The Royals are mired in
another miserable season and Tony Pena resigned a few
weeks ago.  Bell began his tenure in KC by sweeping
the New York Yankees, perhaps a sign of better things
to come for the Royals.  I wonder how Steinbrenner
felt about that!

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Respect the Central...
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The AL Central, long maligned for their mediocrity,
are playing respectable baseball versus the other two
divisions this season.  Central teams have a 34-28
record against the AL East and a 33-38 record against
the AL West.  Take away they Royals' 3-12 record
against the West and it looks even better.  Minnesota
leads the Wild Card race by one game.  Could the
Central send two teams to the postseason?  There's
still a lot of baseball to play, but teams from the
"Norris" are holding their own.  

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Pistons Move On...
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Last night I watched the Pistons wrap up the Eastern
Conference and put Shaq out of the playoffs for the
second year in a row.  What could be better than that?
Why, winning a second championship in two years,
that's what!  It should be a good series against the
Spurs and I like the Pistons' chances.  Start printing
the Back 2 Back shirts!

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Tigers Weekly Baseball Game...
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OK, this sounds like a great idea, so I am going to
try and pull it off.  
 
I am attempting to organize a baseball game in the
Lansing area sometime in mid-July that is open to
anyone who is generally decent at baseball.  By this I
mean that you have no problem catching fly balls or
fielding grounders and have a fairly accurate throw. 
Also, you should feel comfortable stepping into the
batter's box against live pitching.  
 
The game will be fast pitch, and I know I can get
access to catcher's gear.  So we would need at least
two people who could be pitchers and two catchers
(I've got one catcher already).  I think that rosters
of about 12 people per team would do nicely, and we
could allow one re-enter into a game per person so
that everyone involved gets their fair share of PT. 
We can go bigger or smaller if need be, but I'd like
to have at least nine a side.  
 
We would also need at least one person to act as
umpire for the game.  If you would like to be involved
but don't feel like playing then let me know if you're
interested in umping.  
 
As far as the length of the game is concerned, I'd say
seven innings would be a fair amount, though if the
game moves along quickly we can extend it to nine.  
 
We would need bats and helmets, so if anyone has those
then I would be interested in borrowing them.  You'll
have to bring your own cups.  I'd prefer to go with
wooden bats, but if we must we'll use aluminum.  
 
I expect the game to cost very little per person (5-10
dollars a person at most).  I may need to spend a
little dough to rent a field or some equipment and we
could also have some grub before or after the game
(that could be separate though).  
 
A lot of this has been details that I'll work out once
I know whether this is going to happen or not.  If you
are interested and are available to play on either the
9th or the 16th of July, let me know ASAP.  I'm not
sure what kind of a response I'll get, but I'm sure
that there are at least 18 people out there that are
up for this.  For the record, I will be playing. 
Also, you can invite anyone you want to play.  The
first 24 responders will definitely be in the game.  I
hope some of you are up for it!

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Poll Question...
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What are you looking forward to most regarding
interleague play?  Do you like seeing the Tigers play
national league style ball?  Do you think the DH
should be done away with completely or do you enjoy
how the difference?

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Game Linescores...
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May 31:  Texas 8 - Detroit 2
Starters:  TEX: Rogers 7IP - DET: Maroth 4.2IP
TEX  100 322 000  8 15 0
DET  100 000 010  2  5 0
W: Rogers (7-2)
L: Maroth (4-5)
 
June 1:  Texas 4 - Detroit 6
Starters:  TEX: Drese 6.1IP - DET: Bonderman 7.1IP
TEX  000 310 000  4 10 1
DET  000 100 50X  6 11 0
W: Bonderman (6-3)
L: Drese     (4-5)
S: Urbina    (9)
 
June 2:  Texas 5 - Detroit 6  F/10
Starters:  TEX: Young 7IP - DET: Robertson 6.1IP
TEX  200 000 300 0  5 12 0
DET  012 000 002 1  6 10 2
W: Urbina  (1-3)
L: Regilio (1-2)
 
June 3:  Baltimore 3 - Detroit 5
Starters:  BAL: Chen 6.1IP - DET: Johnson 8IP
BAL  001 000 002  3 7 0
DET  000 010 40X  5 8 2
W: Johnson    (4-4)
L: Chen       (5-3)
S: Farnsworth (1)
 
June 4:  Ravens 14 - Lions 7
Starters:  BAL:  Lopez 3IP - DET: Ledezma 4.1IP
BAL  030 040 115  14 16 0
DET  331 000 000   7 12 2
W: Reed   (1-2)
L: Walker (2-3) 
 
June 5:  Baltimore 6 - Detroit 2
Starters:  BAL: Cabrera 7IP - DET: Maroth 8IP
BAL  000 040 200  6 10 0
DET  200 000 000  2  5 3
W: Cabrera (5-4)
L: Maroth  (4-6)
 
June 6:  Detroit 3 - Los Angeles 5
Starters:  DET: Bonderman 6IP - LAD: :Lowe 8IP
DET  021 000 000  3 5 1
LAD  000 203 00X  5 8 2
W: Lowe      (5-5)
L: Bonderman (6-4)
S: Gagne     (6)

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Readers Write In...
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Elooto "White Knight" Ttam...
 
Hey Toolie, nice newsletter!  The Weekly is the best
thing around, except more people should write in each
week.  That makes the Weekly a lot more fun to read.  
 
I bet you get all the ladies, being a big Tiger fan an
all. 
 
Elooto

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Toolie's Trashtalk...
 
Elooto, I couldn't have said it better myself.  It's
not like people can write in every week, but it's
rough to get shut out, just like in baseball.  On your
second point, yes the ladies love the Tigers and they
find Tiger fans extremely sexy.  Sometimes I have to
beat them away with a Louisville Slugger.  Thanks for
writing in.
 
Do you ever get the feeling like you are the reason
the Tigers lost?  Last night I came home from
Tripper's, where I watched the Pistons, and put the
radio on to catch the Tigers.  The last out was made
in the top of the sixth and Detroit had a 3-2 lead. 
The bottom of the sixth begins with two walks and a
three-run homer by Jeff Kent.  The Tigers didn't get
another hit the rest of the way.  On Thursday, I was
mesmerized by the National Spelling Bee and kept an
eye on the Rangers-Tigers game on the Bottom Line on
ESPN2.  That game, the Tigers tied it in the ninth,
but I just feel like it wouldn't have happened had I
been listening.  I know it's not true, but I just
can't shake that feeling sometimes.
 
Well my question from last week (what should be done
with Wil Ledezma) was answered by Trammell as Ledezma
was sent to the minors.  This was absolutely necessary
as Wil (ERA over seven) hadn't had a quality start in
what seems like forever.  He blew leads of 3-0 and 7-3
on Saturday.  When you score seven runs at home in the
first four innings, you had better win that game.  To
blow those leads is pretty demoralizing.  Eventually
the Tigers will need another starter, but I'm not sure
who is going to fill that role.  Matt Ginter started
some games for the Mets so he may be an option.  I'd
like to see Ledezma turn it around.  I thought that he
might really be strong this season but he's looked
lost on the mound.  
 
I love the National League style of play.  If a good
hitter stinks in the field then that takes away from
some of his credibility, in my eyes.  Edgar Martinez
could hit, but how was he with a glove?  It bugs me
that bad fielders are able to hide behind the DH in
the American League.  Also, there is a lot more
strategy involved when you start pinch-hitting for the
pitcher in National League games.  
 
On that note, I wonder why there hasn't been any
pitchers that are extremely good hitters lately.  I'm
not looking for the next Babe Ruth, but for a player
who can pitch (any kind of pithing role) and hit in
the high .200's.  Mike Hampton is one of the better
hitting pitchers.  He's a career .242 hitter with 15
HR's.  
 
David Ortiz looks like Mo Vaughn at the plate.  He's
not quite the ass that Vaughn was, but his hitting
style is shameful.  If you hang out over the plate
like he does, the body armor is an unfair advantage. 
After steroids, this is the next thing I want to see
taken out of the game.  

I'm attaching a clip from Major League that makes a
good sound to put on your computer for when you shut
it down.


Right click here to download!

That's all until next week.  Hope to hear from ya'.  
 
I'm out.
 





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Play Ball!

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