Tigers Weekly 2006 Season

Week 22: 9/20/06 - 9/26/06

Break out the bunting!!!  No, not the Placido Polanco
suicide squeeze variety.  I'm talking the red, white
and blue... those half-circles of fabric that signify
two things;  1) America rules and 2) Playoff Baseball.
For the first time since 1987 our beloved Detroit
Tigers will compete in Major League Baseball's
Post-season and will try and bring home a fifth World
Series Title.  The team had a big celebration Sunday
in Kansas City after clinching a playoff spot by
sweeping the Royals (improving to 14-1 this season
against KC).  The champagne flowed and nobody was safe
from a good dousing (announcers included).  It was a
great day to be a Tiger fan.  Next step:  clinch the
first AL Central title in franchise history and a date
with Oakland.  

New Subscribers...

Dirk "Pinch" Renner

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Week of 9/20 - 9/26

Record: 5-1  WLWWW-W

Magic Number:  To guarantee beating the Twins outright
the Tigers need to win their remaining five games. 
However, if the two teams finish in a tie, the Tigers
win the division by virtue of their head-to-head
record.  Thus the magic number to clinch the division
is down to 4.  The Tigers could clinch as early as
Thursday, but it's more likely that, if it happens, it
will come this weekend.

Up Next for the Tigers (Twins)...

September 27-28    Toronto       (Kansas City)
Sept. 29 - Oct. 1  Kansas City   (Chicago White Sox)

AL Central Standings...

DET  95 62 -
MIN  94 63 1
CWS  87 71 8.5
CLE  74 83 21
KCR  58 99 37

Tigers Division (and top AL record)...

NYY  95 62 -    (NYY owns head-to-head tie-breaker)
DET  95 62 -
MIN  94 63 1
NYM  93 64 2
OAK  91 66 4

Relevant Races in MLB...

NL Central
STL -
HOU 1.5
CIN 2.5

NL West
SDP -
LAD 2

NL Wild Card
LAD -
PHI 1

Tigers News and Notes:  Placido Polanco is back,
ladies and gentlemen.  And boy is it great to have him
in the line-up!  Polanco has been productive at the
plate in both of his games and the lingering effects
of his separated shoulder seem to be minimal.  He's
knocked five runs in, including a well-played suicide
squeeze on Tuesday.  Justin Verlander will not pitch
for the remainder of the regular season.  He would
have been scheduled to pitch on Saturday.  Instead he
will get some extra rest for the playoffs.  Carlos
Guillen needs one home run in the final five games to
have a 20/20 season.  Magglio Ordonez left Tuesday's
game with back spasms, but the problem does not appear
to be serious.

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Tigers of the Week...
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Tearing the cover off the ball early and often this week was Curtis Granderson. He had three multi-hit games while scoring five runs and knocking in seven. When he is on it really boosts the rest of the line-up. He needs to be a hitter in the playoffs.

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Tentative 2007 Schedule...
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Not that I'm looking to next season, but the schedule
for 2007 (subject to change) has been released.  The
Tigers open at home against Toronto and the end of the
season sees consecutive series against each of the AL
Central foes.  

http://detroit.tigers.mlb.com/det/downloads/2007_
schedule.pdf

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Dmitri gets Probation...
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Dmitri Young was sentenced to one year of probation in
the state of Michigan for the incident involving the
domestic violence case with that woman (I forget what
their relationship was).  Dmitri's departure from the
D was swift and his number (25) has already been given
away... to Matt Stairs.  Let's hope that 2007 is a
better year for Dmitri.

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Tigers Weekly Fall Classic...
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The third game between Agate and The Weekly was a
surprise success.  Threatened with rain, we decided to
show up and see what the conditions were like.  The
field was in good shape and we didn't get a drop of
rain the whole game.  The Weekly took the nine-inning
game, 12-7.  Lacking an umpire this time, we relied on
each teams' catcher to call balls and strikes.  That
seemed to work out pretty well.  Still, the authentic
feel you get with an umpire can't be replaced.  Stats
from the game will come later.  For now you can view a
few photos that were snapped at the following link.  

http://www.msu.edu/~otoolema/baseball.html

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Poll Question...
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The Tigers are in like Flynn.  This makes the 2006
season a tremendous success.  Had someone told me that
the Tigers would play in the post-season this year I
may have kissed them.  

Now that the team is there, what are your feelings? 
Most of you are thrilled, I'm sure.  But what more do
you think the Tigers need to do to leave you with a
great feeling after the season?  Do they have to win
the Series?  Will you still be satisfied if they fall
short?  How important is it that they win the
division?  

What more do you think the Tigers will be able to
accomplish?  

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Game Linescores...
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September 20:  Detroit 6 - Chicago White Sox 2
Starters:  DET: Bonderman 6IP - CWS: Garland 7IP
DET  002 020 011  6 14 1
CWS  000 002 000  2  6 0
W: Bonderman (13-8)
L: Garland   (17-6)

September 21:  Detroit 3 - Baltimore 4
Starters:  DET: Robertson 6IP - BAL: Benson 8IP
DET  201 000 000  3 8 0
BAL  000 200 02X  4 9 0
W: Benson (11-11)
L: Rodney (7-4)
S: Ray    (33)

September 22:  Detroit 7 - Kansas City 3
Starters:  DET: Ledezma 5.2IP - KCR: Hudson 6IP
DET  020 002 003  7 9 2
KCR  002 010 000  3 5 3
W: Ledezma (3-3)
L: Hudson  (7-6)

September 23:  Detroit 15 - Kansas City 4
Starters:  DET Rogers 8IP - KCR: Redman 0.1IP
DET  (10)00 500 000  15 17 0
KCR   (0)00 000 013   4  8 0
W: Rogers (17-6)
L: Redman (10-10)

September 24:  Detroit 11 - Kansas City 4
Starters:  DET: Verlander 5IP - KCR: Hernandez 1.2IP
DET  090 011 000  11 11 0
KCR  002 000 101   4 10 1
W: Verlander (17-9)
L: Hernandez (6-10)

September 25:  no game scheduled...

September 26:  Toronto 3 - Detroit 4
Starters:  TOR: McGowan 2IP - DET: Bonderman 6IP
TOR  000 100 200  3 6 1
DET  020 002 00X  4 7 1
W: Bonderman (14-8)
L: McGowan   (1-2)
S: Jones     (37)

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Readers Write In...
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Dallas "Big D" Senters

i remember when the tigers had what looked like a
mortal lock on the a.l. central and the reds were in
the driver's seat for the n.l. wild card.  now it will
take a minor miracle for the tigers to hold off the
twins (you'd have though it would be the white sox)
and the eagles return album best describes the reds
postseason chances.  the marlins are just as close as
the reds...the marlins!

another fantasy baseball league sounds like a great
idea.  although maybe i should pass the baton of my
team around the all-star break and let someone else
try to avoid the massive collapse that my team 
suffered this year.

AL:  i am pulling for oakland this post-season.  that
is for dug.  blood is thicker than hillsdale water in
this case.
NL:  i still want to see cincy, but if they don't make
it, then i don't have a horse in that race.

the demise of the indians early in this season allowed
me to cheer on the tigers in the AL central.  i think
the reverse is true for the NL central race.  this is
the first year that i found myself booing
successes of pujols and co.  the reds were in the
chase and that made the cardinals an enemy, as opposed
to other years where the cards were
in a different stratosphere, and thus hatred was
focused on the middle teams in the division.

the idea that the tigers should slot kenny rogers for
the 2nd playoff game cuts 2 ways.  it may be wise to
reserve the veteran for the pressure packed 0-1
situation, but it almost serves to predict that
situation.  verlander really needs to have a couple of
decent starts to 'get back on the horse' before the
post-season.  bonderman hasn't been super sharp
either, but the tigers recent record shows that very
few of them have been.  i say bonderman, rogers,
verlander, and go from there.

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Matt "Smokey" Klozik
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My understanding is that a team only gets 11 roster
spots for pitchers in the post-season - If this is
correct, which Tiger pitchers would you take?

Here are my for sure 8

Joel Zumaya 
Jamie Walker 
Todd Jones  
Fernando Rodney   (if he stays on the mound and
pitches - no walking around)
Justin Verlander  - SP
Nate Robertson   - SP
Kenny Rogers    - SP
Jeremy Bonderman   - SP
   
Now who do you pick for the last 3 spots? I put and
asterisk * by mine

Wilfredo Ledezma 
Mike Maroth*     (injured?)
Jason Grilli     
Andrew Miller*
Zach Miner*
Román Colón     (injured?)

The next big question - what will your starting
rotation?

Side question - why doesn't Leyland let Jamie Walker
pitch more innings?

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Toolie's Trashtalk...

First to try and answer Matt's questions.  I don't
think that you are limited as to how many pitchers you
can carry on the playoff roster.  Players are players
and can be inserted into any position the manager
chooses.  Every player is a potential pitcher,
catcher, first baseman, etc.  During the year the
Tigers have stuck with a 12 pitcher formula.  This
leaves five position players on the bench (usually
there were two outfielders, two infielders, and Vance
Wilson).  I'm not sure how they'll go for the
playoffs.  It seems that they may carry at least one
more position player since they will only need three
or four starters.  So 11 seems like a very possible
number for playoff pitchers.  

As far as which 11 starters to pick, I think you have
the eight locks correct.  For the other three I would
probably choose Maroth since he is the most
experienced and one of either Miner or Grilli for
mop-up.  Then I suppose I would choose Miller over
Ledezma because there would be an abundance of lefties
in there... especially if Robertson isn't a starter in
the divisional series.  They say that Miller has great
stuff.  His numbers aren't bad, but I'd feel a little
uneasy with a player so green being put in a pressure
situation.  Perhaps bring both Miner and Grilli.  

For the rotation, Kenny Rogers has a good track record
against Oakland, and I've heard he has a great record
at Oakland.  Still, with his success against the
Athletics, I want Rogers pitching twice.  If you use
Verlander and Bonderman in the other two games I think
you have to pitch Kenny second.  If Robertson starts
game three then you start Kenny in Game One.  

Upon further examination, over the last two years
Robertson has had mixed results against the A's and
the Yankees.  Versus the Yankees his ERA is good
(3.28), though he is 0-3 and they hit .296 off him. 
Against Oakland he's 2-2 and the A's only hit .221,
but Nate's ERA is a naughty 5.46.  Bonderman has been
rotten against both teams, and Verlander owned Oakland
this year and was tagged by the Yankees in one start
this year.  Something to keep in mind.  

Next is the question of position players.  Say you
need fourteen.  You definitely take

Granderson
Polanco
Pudge
Magglio
Guillen
Monroe
Casey
Thames
Inge
Infante
Wilson

That leaves four more.  For back-up outfielders I
would think Clevlen and Gomez.  Infielders I'd take
Shelton (good lefty pinch-hitter and can be an
emergency catcher) and... I'd rather take Santiago but
I'll bet that Perez makes the roster. Thoughts?  

Something great happened today... actually two
things... as ESPN showed highlights from Monday's
Cleveland/Chicago game.  First, a Cleveland fan held
up a sign that read something like "Hey Ozzie, who's
choking now?"  It was a reference to last season when
Ozzie Guillen made a choking sign to the fans in
Cleveland (the Tribe went 1-6 down the stretch,
including being swept by the Sox in the last three
games to finish six games back).

Second, Sportscenter showed a lengthy montage of White
Sox lowlights from the season.  These included:
getting swept by New York, Monroe's grand slam,
getting swept by the Twins, Carlos Pena's walk-off in
Boston, and the Tigers taking two of three in
September to seal the Sox's fate.  Sox fans had to
hate it.  It was a thing of beauty.  Sportscenter
producer, I salute you.  

What's up with the Cardinals?  If they don't make the
playoffs they will be one of the worst collapse
stories of all time.  Experts raved, two weeks ago,
about the Tigers not qualifying for the post-season
and how tragic it would be.  Currently the Cards have
lost seven in a row and the Astros have won seven
straight.  The margin is just a game and a half.  St.
Louis still controls their own destiny, but they need
to figure out how to win... fast.

I wish I could write a lot more right now, but I am
incredibly busy and must get some rest.  Obviously I
am ecstatic about the thought of watching the Tigers
in the playoffs.  All these years of getting our broth
without any bread has been trying, but it makes the
feast that much more satisfying. 

Funny that this season ends with series against two
teams that the Tigers have played big series against
in the past; KC in the 1984 ALCS and TOR on the final
weekend of 1987.  Some good memories rekindled to whet
our appetites for October.  

Here's to a great season and to finishing it off right
by taking the Central.  Bring on the A's!

I'm out.





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