Tigers Weekly 2006 Season

Week 15: 8/2/06 - 8/8/06

It's always a little bit tougher to write The Weekly
on a night when the Tigers have lost.  But when I
force myself to look at the Tigers' record for the
week I feel a lot better.  This weekend may have been
the most exciting series of the year... and I missed
most of it since I was in Traverse City!  No more are
the Tigers the whipping boys of the Indians or the
Twins.  The Tigers have a great record in the division
(36-15) and look to build on their recent success
against the White Sox as they roll into Chicago this
weekend.  Then after that it's Boston.  Yikes.  The
Tigers still have yet to lose a series since the
All-Star Break, but they must beat Johan Santana on
Wednesday to keep that streak alive. 

New Subscribers...

"Pope" J Paul Muxworthy
Jim "Price" Curcuru

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Week of 8/2 - 8/8  

Record:  5-2  WLWWWWL

Chase for Five-Hundy:  Seventy-six wins down and five
to go to guarantee the first non-losing season since
1993.  Magic number in the division is 42.  

Up Next for the Tigers...

August 9       Minnesota
August 10      no game scheduled...
August 11-13   @ Chicago White Sox
August 14-16   @ Boston

AL Central Standings...

DET  76 37 -
CWS  66 45 9
MIN  66 46 9.5
CLE  47 64 28
KCR  39 73 36.5

Tigers Division...

DET  76 37 -
NYY  66 43 8
NYM  67 44 8
CWS  66 45 9
MIN  66 46 9.5   <--- Playoff Cushion

Wild Card Standings: 
http://www.sportsline.com/mlb/standings/wildcard

Tigers News and Notes:  Mike Maroth will make a rehab
start for Toledo on Wednesday.  This week the club
signed their first round draft pick, pitcher Andrew
Miller from UNC.  Todd Jones leads the majors in saves
with 31.

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Tiger of the Week...
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Two guys will split the honor this week. Craig Monroe had two big hits this week. He hit the go-ahead homer on Friday which propelled the Tigers to a 7-6 win over the Tribe. Then on Sunday he knocked in the lone run of the game with a two-out single.

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Quick Hits from Gilby...
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Here's a segment where webmaster Nic "Gilby" Gilbert
supplies some interesting Tiger facts.  These facts
have been gleaned from sources ranging from the
internet to Tiger scorecards...

*** This Day in History ***

August 5, 1972 - Eddie Brinkman snaps his 72-game
errorless streak by commiting an error in the ninth
inning against the Indians.
 
August 5, 1939 - Charlie Gehringer hits a Tigers
record three triples against Washington.
 
August 6, 1941 - Detroit scores 11 runs in the third
inning to win 11-2 at Cleveland.
 
August 7, 1975 - Gates Brown hits his 16th career
pitch-hit home run for the Tigers in a loss against
Baltimore.
 
August 8, 1976 - The Philadelphia Athletics set an
American League record at Detroit by losing their 19th
consecutive game.
 
August 9, 1948 - The Tigers draw a night-game record
crowd of 56,586 against Cleveland.

*** Courtesy of Jason Beck's Mailbag series ***
 
Q) First the Red Wings ... then the Pistons ... now
come the Tigers, sporting the best record in baseball.
Has a city ever had three of its pro teams, let alone
two, finish the regular season with the best overall
record?
 
A) Great question. I looked through the league
standings for the four major sports all the way back
to 1935, and no city has done that. A lot of people
have emailed in to mention 1935, when Detroit teams
won the World Series, NFL and NHL titles. However, the
Red Wings didn't win the Stanley Cup until the 1935-36
season, and neither the Lions nor Tigers had the best
record in their leagues en route to their titles. 
A handful of cities have had two teams that have
posted their league's best record in the same season,
most recently the late '80s, if you were to count San
Francisco and Oakland as the same area. But no city
has posted the best record in three different leagues
of the four major sports in the same year, at least in
modern times.
 
Q) Has there been a 20-game winner as a rookie? If so,
how many?
 
A) Only one pitcher has done it in the past 50 years,
and he didn't even win his league's Rookie of the Year
Award. Tom Browning went 20-9 for the 1985 Reds but
finished second in NL rookie balloting to Vince
Coleman, who stole 110 bases that season.

*** Gomez Hits Four Homers ***
  
Former Tiger Alexis Gomez put on a power display
Monday night in Columbus, hitting four home runs for
Triple-A Toledo in the Mud Hens' 15-8 romp. Gomez led
off the game with a solo shot off former Marlins
pitcher Tommy Phelps, then hit him again for a two-run
homer in the fourth. He victimized Colter Bean in the
sixth before coming back up in the ninth. He completed
the night with another solo shot off former Devil Rays
reliever Jesus Colome. That made Gomez the ninth
player in the International League's 123-year history
to hit four home runs in a game. Incidentally, the
last player to do it before Gomez was another Toledo
player: Bubba Trammell slammed four homers against
Richmond in a 13-inning game at Skeldon Stadium on
Aug. 9, 1997.

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Poll Question...
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Baseball Tonight is doing a thing these days where
they showcase the top defensive plays ever in an
organization's history.  I haven't seen the Tigers on
there yet, but I can think of a few plays that might
warrant a spot on their top three.  My favorite is the
one where Bobby Higginson reached way over the
right-field fence in Tiger Stadium to rob some
Baltimore Oriole of a home run.  I was at the game and
didn't see it live since I was in center and was
blocked by the overhang.  It was an amazing catch.

What are some of the top defensive plays that you have
seen by a Tiger (you don't have to have seen it live)?
 
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Game Linescores...
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August 2:  Detroit 8 - Tampa Bay 3
Starters:  DET: Miner 5.2IP - TBD: Corcoran 5.1 IP
DET  200 000 042  8 10 0
TBD  100 011 000  3  6 0
W: Grilli  (1-1)
L: Switzer (2-2)

August 3:  Detroit 1 - Tampa Bay 2
Starters:  DET: Robertson 6.1IP - TBD: Seo 6.2IP
DET  000 010 000  1 8 1
TBD  000 000 20X  2 6 0
W: McClung   (3-10)
L: Robertson (10-7)
S: Meadows   (7)

August 4:  Cleveland 6 - Detroit 7
Starters:  CLE: Lee 6.1IP - DET: Bonderman 5.2IP
CLE  300 011 100  6 11 0
DET  000 002 23X  7  9 0
W: Colon   (2-0)
L: Cabrera (1-2)
S: Jones   (30)

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Gilby Sees a Ball Game:  I was honored to be invited
by my girlfriend's parents to go to the Tigers game
with them.  Little did I know the seats that they got.
We arrived to the ballpark and I was handed my
ticket.  This was no ordinary ticket, as it had Dmitri
Young's mug shot on it.  We ventured to our seats, and
low and behold we were sitting in row 15 directly
behind the plate on the Tigers side.  Did you know
those seats get their own waitress to serve you during
the game so you do not have to miss any action?  Turns
out Lindsay's dad's vendor has season tickets. 
Pregame festivities included honoring 2000 little
league players with a trophy presentation to all teams
for their season.  I got a bunch of pictures next to
the dugout.  Brent Clevlen kept messing with me as I
was taking pictures by waving and laughing after I
would snap a shot and then turn around when I was
actually taking a shot.  I even was able to get a wave
from Leyland.
 
The game started out on the wrong note.  The Tigers
could not do anything.  Cleveland put up 3 right off
the bat and were up 5-0 after 5 1/2 innings with a
bomb by Hafner.  It was not looking good and Lee was
looking quite impressive, countered with Bonderman
looking terrible.  That is where things got
interesting.  Tigers put up 2 in the 6th to pull
within 5-2 on a triple, single and a couple
groundouts. The Tribe then went up 6-2 and a few
doubles later the Tigers were back within 6-4 and were
setting up for a very memorable 8th inning.
 
Cabrera comes in and Polanco single, Pudge single = 2
on noone out.  Magglio is up and things are looking
bright.  A shot is hit to the gap and the crowd goes
wild only to see newly acquired Choo run and leap and
catch the ball in spectacular fashion.  Polanco was
able to tag, but it surely would have tied the game. 
Guillen then came up and just missed putting the
Tigers ahead by pulling a ball a few inches foul down
the right field line.  He ended up hitting a SF to
pull the Tigers within 6-5.  That set up Monroe.  Go
ahead run at the plate.  Monroe cranks one and this
one goes just foul in the other direction.  2 balls
that just miss being HRs by inches.  A 1-2 pitch just
misses and the count goes to 2-2.  Monroe is zoning in
and here comes the pitch...HOMERUN...Tigers lead 7-6. 
An almost perfect ninth by Jones, highlighted by an
Inge snag and throw to second and the Tigers were
comback winners with 2 in the 6th, 2 in the 7th, and 3
in the 8th.
 
Afterwards, another impressive free fireworks show and
we were on the road.  Only downfall was I-75 was
closed once again for the weekend and traffic was a
nightmare.
 
Gilby 4-1 this year...GO TIGERS

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August 5:  Cleveland 3 - Detroit 4
Starters:  CLE: Byrd 6.2IP - DET: Rogers 7IP
CLE  300 000 000  3  4 2
DET  000 010 102  4 10 0
W: Zumaya  (6-1)
L: Carmona (1-7)

August 6:  Cleveland 0 - Detroit 1
Starters:  CLE Sabathia 7IP - DET: Ledezma 5.2IP 
CLE  000 000 000  0 8 1
DET  000 010 00X  1 6 0
W: Ledezma  (2-1)
L: Sabathia (8-8)
S: Jones    (31)

August 7:  Minnesota 3 - Detroit 9
Starters:  MIN: Liriano 4IP - DET: Miner 6.1IP
MIN  000 102 000  3  8 1
DET  002 200 41X  9 13 0
W: Miner   (7-2)
L: Liriano (12-3)

---

Gilby Sees a Ball Game:  With the Twins doing really
well the past month, I decided that I would buy a
couple cheap $8 bleacher tickets a few weeks ago.  The
Twins announced over the weekend that Liriano would be
pitching Monday and things just were not looking good.
However, a true Tiger fan would note that the Tigers
OWN him this season.  Rookie vs Rookie pitcher, this
had all the makings for a good one.  What made it even
more interesting was Pudge played first base and
Wilson was handling the catching duties.
 
The first couple innings were stressful, as the Tigers
left men stranded at third base both innings.  Finally
in the third they broke through with 2 runs on a
couple doubles and a single.  The Twins put a couple
doubles of their own together and got within 2-1. 
Thames led off the 4th with a 442ft shot to left
center.  It was one of the longest HRs hit by a Tiger
in Comerica Park history. Another run later and the
Tigers were up 4-1 and Liriano leaves the game with a
sore arm, 4 ERs, a big L, 10 hits, 13 of his 21 runs
given up have come against the Tigers, and is now
currently being placed on the 15-day DL.  Mauer
squeaks one over the wall in left in the 6th to pull
the Twinkies within 4-3.
 
In the 7th, Inge pulled off the game-turning play of
the game.  Runners on the corner, 1-out.  A drive is
lined between 3rd and SS with a hit-and-run on and
Inge reached out and down, snagged it and threw to
first to double-off Tyner who had no chance and the
Tigers were out of the inning.  Inge also had a
spectacular leap and throw to first to nab Hunter.  In
the 8th, the Tigers put up 4 more runs off of 4 walks
and in the 8th Monroe added a solo bomb and the Tigers
win 9-3.
 
There was a family of four sitting behind us with two
little girls.  A bunch of guys were standing behind
them drinking away and one of the guys said he would
buy the entire section a round if Casey hit a HR.  He
then said anyone under 5 would get free ice cream as
well.  That prompted the two little ones to stand on
the seats and jump up and down.  It was a site to see.
Well, the HR was not hit, but the fan did go and get
ice cream for the little ones and thanked them for
being cheering fans.  Only in Tiger country does
something like this happen.
 
Gilby 5-1 this year...GO TIGERS

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August 8:  Minnesota 4 - Detroit 2
Starters:  MIN: Radke 7IP - DET: Robertson 7IP
MIN  002 010 001  4 12 0
DET  020 000 000  2 11 1
W: Radke     (11-8)
L: Robertson (10-8)
S: Nathan    (24)

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Readers Write In...
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Andy "Kin Korn" Karnitz

What with work and all the must-see games, I haven't
had much time to watch any movies. I did, however,
find this video at YouTube:
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHVsFU4sSho
 
GO TIGERS!!

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Toolie's Trashtalk...

Holy cow, that homer by Pudge was clutch.  It's been
so great to watch the Tigers this season.  They are in
almost every game they play and you almost always have
a feeling that they will rally when down.  

Kenny Rogers had a good start this week.  That buys
him some time until his next start, which will come in
Chicago.  In two games against the White Sox, Kenny is
1-0 with a 2.08 ERA.  

Sean Casey has been... not bad in his short time with
the Tigers.  Great defense and some timely hits, but
the average needs to come up.  Still not enough ABs to
really get down on him for that, though.  Another
thing that I like about this acquisition is that it
allows the Tigers to put up a good left-handed lineup
against righties.  Granderson, Casey, Young, and
Guillen all have the ability to hit lefty (the last
two are switch hitters).  

Who is this Brent Clevlen?  If he continues to rip it
up he may just stay in Detroit until the end of the
season.  With Alexis "Bob Horner" Gomez hitting four
homers in a game for Toledo, though, we may see
Clevlen dropped down.  But I wouldn't bet on anything.
In September the roster expands and I'm sure we'll
see all of these fellows (add Shelton to the list).  

Here's another goodie from YouTube; the Tigers 3
consecutive walk-off homers in 2004.  Before you click
and watch, see if you can remember who hit the homers.
Hint:  two of them are no longer with the team.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1DUwwyW5IY&NR

Just watched the Sox beat the Yankees and the call by
the anouncers on the game-winning single was pretty
lame.  And they ended it with that stupid
"Yyyyyyyyes!"  Those guys don't compare to Rod and
Mario (or Jim and Dan for that matter).  

Better get your tickets while you can.  Even weeknight
games are selling out and it's getting harder and
harder to find multiple seats together.  There are
only eleven road games in September, so there are
enough opportunities for you to plan a trip... but
don't delay!

Dick DeVos was in the booth Tuesday night chatting it
up with Rod and Mario.  Here's what I learned:  Dick
doesn't know jack about the Tigers.  Everything he
said about them was cookie-cutter and when asked about
who he thought was the biggest surprise he really
couldn't pick a guy.  I figure that he doesn't watch
the Tigs, he's just aware that they're having a great
season.  He was obviously there to get his face on TV
and talk politics.  I think I've learned that baseball
isn't a thing to politicize.  It's a bad mix.  At
Opening Day in 2004 Jennifer Granholm and Kwame
Kilpatrick were booed mercilessly before the game. 
DeVos left me with a bad taste in my mouth, and I'm
probably going to vote for the guy (I didn't watch the
whole inning, so if he redeemed himself with something
awesome then let me know).  In the future, politicians
can stay home, thank you.  Anything short of Bush's
first pitch at Yankee Stadium after 9/11 is
unnecessary.  

Also, I don't want to see a mob of stars at Tiger
playoff games.  Here are guys who have earned a seat:

Alice Cooper
Kid Rock
Tim Allen 

That's it (for now).  Never seen Allen at a game, but
the way he pimped the state of Michigan on Home
Improvement earns him a pass.  I can't recall seeing
any other big stars regularly attend games.  Let me
know if you know of any other stars who have always
supported the Tigers.  Tom Hanks and Ron Howard showed
up at a game in the last White Sox series, but I hear
that they were also at a Reds game around that same
time.  If I see Madonna at a playoff game I think I'll
be sick.  Give that ticket to a fan.  

The Tigers lead on the field continues to grow.  Don't
sleep on the White Sox or Twins, though.  I heard Huge
on the radio today talking about how Chicago was in a
tail spin.  Give me a break; they're 21 games over
five-hundy!  So they are going through a down period. 
I'm sure they'll come out of it.  Tigers have to play
'em tough this weekend.

See you next week, folks.

I'm out.
 





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Play Ball!

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