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What in the world? I don't even know where to begin.
The Tigers stumbled down the stretch, losing their
final five games and finishing a game out of first
place in the AL Central. In hindsight, all the Tigers
needed to do was beat the Kansas City Royals...
once... at home. All they had to do was protect a
five-run lead on Friday night. All they needed to do
was protect a SIX-run lead on Sunday. All they needed
was a fly ball from Brandon Inge in the 11th inning on
the last game of the season... or a similar fly from
Pudge on Friday.
This last week the Tigers were more mouse than man,
and for that they get the equivalent of a consolation
prize. Instead of winning the AL Central and opening
the playoffs at home against the Oakland A's, they
"win" the Wild Card and open on the road against the
Yankees. Of these disappointments, my biggest regret
is that they didn't win the division. You can't raise
a flag celebrating the Wild Card, and I hope that they
don't at the start of next season. The only flags
that should be going up are for the World Series
and/or the AL pennant.
Now, there's no time for crying over spilt milk. We
can forget about the five-game losing streak and focus
on the task at hand; beating the Yankees three out of
five games. We'll have a playoff preview in this
issue and a season recap when the Tigers are done
(hopefully at the end of the month).
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Week of 9/27 - 10/1
Record: 0-5 LLLLL
AL Central Standings...
MIN 96 66 -
DET 95 67 1
CWS 90 72 6
CLE 78 84 18
KCR 62 100 34
Divisional Series Matchups...
AL
Detroit Tigers vs. New York Yankees
Oakland A's vs. Minnesota Twins
NL
St. Louis Cardinals vs. San Diego Padres
Los Angeles Dodgers vs. New York Mets
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Tigers vs. Yankees Preview...
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The Tigers come into the series with the Yankees as
heavy underdogs, and rightfully so. Nothing on paper
seems to favor the Tigers. The Yankees beat the
Tigers five out of seven games this year, the Yanks
have the best hitting lineup in the league (by far)
and the Tigers have really struggled against Yankees
ace Chien-Ming Wang. Mike Mussina locked the Tigers
down in one start this year at Comerica, and the
Tigers made a struggling Randy Johnson, New York's
potential Game Three starter, look like he was back in
Cy Young form.
The two teams could not be more different in their
hitting approaches. The Yankees (along with the Red
Sox) are one of the most patient bunch of hitters in
the bigs and have no holes in their lineup. They
don't swing at balls and they hammer strikes. The
Tigers swing at anything with stitches and hope for
the best, their poster-boy being Curtis Granderson,
who led the AL in strikeouts with 174 (whiff-machine
Richie Sexson was second with 154).
OK, enough negatives. The Tigers have a legitimate
shot to win this series. All the announcers are going
striaght Yankees, and they should, but here's why the
Tigers can win. The Yankees pitching isn't as good as
it has been in the past. A little patience can go a
long way in beating this team. The Tigers also have a
very important player on their roster: Pudge
Rodriguez. I-Rod has seen the Yankees numerous times
in the playoffs, the last being the 2003 World Series
where his Marlins dispatched the Yankees in six games.
Those Marlins had great pitching and that has been
the Tigers' strong suit this season. Detroit's most
under-rated pitcher, Nate Robertson, gets the start in
game one, followed by the rookie in game two. If you
are nervous about Verlander getting the start, recall
what Jaret Wright was able to do, as a rookie, for the
Indians in 1997 (2-0 vs. the Yanks in the ALDS, 1-0
vs. Florida in the World Series... and one terrible
start against the Orioles in the ALCS). Verlander was
rocked in his only start vs. New York this season, but
he is for real and is capable of turning in a gem on
Wednesday. He'll need it going against Mike Mussina.
Finally, let us not forget the Tigers' road record
this season, 49-32.
For uber-coverage from ESPN you can click the link to
go to their DET-NYY playoff page.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/playoffs2006/series?
series=detnyy
Pitching Matchups with ERAs...
Game One, TUE: Robertson (3.84) vs. Wang (3.63)
Game Two, WED: Verlander (3.63) vs. Mussina (3.51)
Game Three, FRI: Johnson (5.00) vs. Rogers (3.84)
Game Four, SAT: TBD (maybe Bonderman vs. Wright)
Game Five, SUN: TBD (probably the game one starters)
The first three games are all scheduled for 8PM. The
first two are on FOX and the game at Comerica is on
ESPN.
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Leyland Article...
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I received notice of this article on Jim Leyland via
two readers, Lee "U.S.S." Cole and Nic "Gilby"
Gilbert. It's worth the time it takes to read.
http://sports-ak.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?
page=leyland
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Goats of the Week...
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I would like to personally call out Brandon Inge,
Pudge Rodriguez, and Jeremy Bonderman for the collapse
this week. Bondo blew yet another huge lead, Inge
personally served up the division to Minnesota on
Sunday, and Pudge couldn't get the job done (twice) on
Friday. Three instances where these guys just had to
do their jobs and they blew it. I do not blame
Leyland for resting Verlander. He had to have faith
that his team would take care of business against the
Royals. This one rests squarely on the players...
mainly the three guys mentioned above. We'll see if
they atone for their sins this week.
But, make no mistake, I still love 'em!
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Readers Write In...
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Mike "The Rabbi" McKeown
***Editor's Note: This was sent in for last week and
I forgot to include it. Oops.***
Just had to write in and let you know that I managed
to get tickets to the first game of the ALDS (ok, a
friend got ‘em, but who’s counting). I’m pretty
excited about it, and I snagged tickets to the
potential fifth game should it occur at Comerica.
DAMN, it’s been a long time…makes 2003 feel like a
lifetime ago though.
Starters should be
Game 1: Kenny Rogers
Game 2: Justin Verlander
Game 3: Jeremy Bonderman
However, I can see Leyland going w/Bondo in Game 2 and
Nate Robertson in Game 3, leaving Verlander to come
out of the pen as needed.
Either way, it’s good to be a Tigers fan!!!!!
Peace,
“The Rabbi”
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Jason "Beef" Keefe
Toolie-
I don't appreciate you not working in the "perfecto
bunto" phrase in the 1st line of your column. It was
served to you on a silver platter and you missed it.
beef
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Bob "Snowplow" Hesse
Matt,
Here is a question (that will soon be moot). Who would
you rather play in the first round of the playoffs?
There are a couple of commentators in MN saying the
Twins shouldn't try too hard to win the division and
play the Yankees right away. The feel
it is better to play New York in a five game series
(and only need to win 3) then a seven game one. Any
talk of this in Detroit?
-Bob
(sent in after Sunday)
Matt,
I'm at my in-laws for my wife's brother's shower. All
the males over six-years-old were watching the game.
The drama was amazing. Not only did the camera pan
over to the updated posting of the Tigers/Royals
game, but constant updates on Jeter's and Cano's
performances were posted as well. Stoic Joe Mauer
cracks a grin after getting his second hit (and
nailing the batting title). Morneau screams to get the
ball after he ties Larry Walker's record for most RBIs
by a Canadian, and Torii Hunter grinning from ear to
ear after he hit is 31 HR till the end of the game. I
would've paid money to hear what AJ Pierzynski was
saying to him at the following at bat. After the Twins
won the game, they stayed on the field to watch the
end of the Royals/Tigers game, with at least 30,000
fans who stayed to watch. The Twins then did a victory
lap and showered the fans with champaigne.
Unbelievable!
Now go beat them Yankees, hope the Twins crush the As
and then we'll really have something to talk about.
-Bob
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Nic "Gilby" Gilbert
Well we gave it a run, but in the end the Tigers are
just the Tigers. Our tickets were worth a shot but I
guess thats why we cheer them on...only to be
disappointed.
ARGHHHHHH
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Jamie "Walker" Rykse
This week's bad call brick, me (yes I know wrong
publication but it is more relevant to this one).
After Friday and Saturday night's debacles, I arose to
a wonderful Sunday morning. With the sun shining I
made my wife and I some pancakes and had my usual do
not bother me I am reading the paper "Jamie time."
Looking out upon my two-foot tall lawn, I grinned
knowing I would be heading down to Comerica and coming
back to a fresh cut lawn thanks to my best decision of
the week in hiring it out to be done. Sitting at the
park and ride waiting for Claus and his dad I had
happy thoughts of how obnoxious downtown would get
after the Tigers clinched the
division.
My ride pulled up and then it hit me, I left my
@$#*%ing ticket at home. You would think a four-year
season ticket holder would have it figured out by now.
I should have just gone home.
After a 30-minute delay, we are back on our way.
Unfortunately, now we have to take M-59 through
Pontiac due to the detour back home. Normally
this would have no impact except for today. We had to
stop at every freaking stop light due to a power
outage in the area. Now I am agitated knowing we
could have avoided this if only I had remembered
that 5-inch long piece of cardboard. Finally on I-75
we attempted to listen to useless sports radio chatter
only to turn it off when the conversation somehow
ended up on strip clubs.
Arriving downtown I took the Claus's on my secret
route hoping to make up for my bonehead move. This
proved futile as my secret free parking spots were
already taken up. Oh, that's right, because we were
30 minutes late due to someone forgetting their
ticket. In the parking structure we go.
The weather downtown was great and I was able to sit
with the Claus's. Normally I would rather be in my
bleacher seat but my section was unusually full today
with all the season ticket holders actually in
attendance for once. After 7 innings, my agitation
had started to subside. In comes Rodney. Needless to
say, the day turned out to be frustrating.
This year has been a fun one. While the past few
years I have enjoyed paying the bleacher price for
season tickets and then sitting where ever I felt like
and getting to attend the All-Star festivities last
year, nothing beats a full stadium in October. Claus,
I've bought a couple bottles of Pepto for us. We
should be covered for the pit of your stomach nausea
come playoff time.
-Jamie Rykse
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Derek "The Clone" Muller
Nate Robertson has pitched 156 ABs against Yankees
batters. Though they're hitting .308 against him,
they only have 2 HRs against him. 21 Ks/11 BBs.
The bad news: Wang, 81 ABs, 0 HRs, .247. On the plus
side, only 5Ks, but only 6 BBs. Tigers slugging % is
.296 against Wang--ouch.
I assume a playoff weekly? Good news: DET v. NYY
means prime-time matchups and national broadcasts.
Bad news: Joe *uck and Tim McCarver Tuesday night.
Good news: Harwell will appear for Game 3, though I
don't know to what extent yet, it's reported as a
"cameo"
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Chris "Slooty" VanSlooten
Toolie,
Its been a long time since I've e-mailed you, but I
have been reading the Weekly. I thought you might
enjoy the piece of literature attached written by my
brother in-law. Go Tigers! Destroy the Evil Empire!
Chris VanSlooten
Poem by Chris "Florida" Marlink
Dark is the night through which we've come, but at
last, the dawn is breaking.
Not since the year one thousand nine-hundred and
eighty-seven of our Lord have fans of the Old English
D been able to celebrate Playoff Eve with appropriate
feasting and solemnity. Oh yes, there have been signs
of dawn--Cecil Fielder's 50 home-runs, and Robert
Fick's All-star appearance. But these were just birth
pains, signs of things to come. Now is the hour when
dreams are ended, and like love, too long
unrequitted-embraced at last. Forgotten shall be the
names Juan Gonzalez, Buddy Bell, and Craig
Paquette-lost for the ages, and let no man that values
his honour speak the year 2003. A new sun rises, and
this is our time.
While it is true that narry a one of the powers that
be at ESPN have predicted the Tigers to go past the
first round, stout hearted men think better of it. I
wish you well on this Playoff Eve, and leave you all
with the words of Jim Leyland to his players this
night:
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember, with advantages,
What feats he did tomorrow. Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words...
Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb'red.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Playoff Eve shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And american gentlemen now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not
here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Playoff Eve.
God speed to you all, and three cheers for 1968.
Go Tigers.
Chris
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Toolie's Trashtalk...
I have to add this as one of my reasons that I'm glad
to be a Tiger fan. As you know (if you had the TV on
ESPN at all last week) there was a huge article in
Sports Illustrated on the struggles of A-Rod. In the
article Reggie Jackson recalls a slump that he had.
"...about when he was in the midst of such a horrific
strikeout streak that he pleaded to Detroit Tigers
catcher Lance Parrish, 'Tell me what's coming, and I
promise I'll take a turn right back into the dugout no
matter where I hit it. I just want to look like a pro
a little bit.' (Parrish replied, 'F--- you.')"
You tell 'em, Lance. And I hope the Tigers go out
there and give 'em a nice big shitburger to eat like
the boys in Major League did... of course they
supposedly lost in the playoffs. But they did beat
the Yankees.
Derek, my advice about having to listen to Joe Buck is
to mute your TV and turn on Jim and Dan, though there
will probably be a delay one way or the other. I'll
probably be out somewhere for tonight's game, so I
won't have that luxury. If you are watching at home,
though, it would be worth the effort.
I sure am looking forward to watching the Tigers this
week. If there's one thing that the losing streak
did, it made me appreciate that the Tigers are even in
the playoffs. Just think if that sweep by KC had
knocked us out! I listened to the last game while
driving home from Mackinac and struggled immensely
with finding a station where the game came in clear.
At one point my best option was an Ann Arbor station.
I was white-knuckled the whole drive home, and so were
my passengers. I had two Chinese folks and a Turkish
guy in the car and even they were into the game. I
guess they figured the Tigers winning was directly
proportinal to their chances of survival. We made it
home in time for me to catch the second half of the
Lions game. I felt better after realizing the
alternative.
October is the best sports month of the year by far,
and it will be 100 times more exciting for Tigers fans
in 2006. Both kinds of football are in full swing,
basketball and hockey start, NASCAR fans have the
Chase, there's no WNBA or MLS, and the MLB playoffs
are kings of it all!
For all the talk of how the Tigers lost everything
this week, they now are in the somewhat enviable
position of having nothing to lose. Everyone is
penciling the Yankees into the ALCS. After a couple
of days to cool off, I feel pumped that we get the
first crack at the Bronx Bombers. Anaheim has beaten
them twice in the LDS, so why can't the Tigers? It
won't be easy, and we'll have to see some of the best
baseball the Tigers can play. We know the Yankees
bring their game in the post-season. Let's see which
Tiger team comes to play at Yankee Stadium tonight.
Enjoy the games, Tiger fans. You have all certainly
earned the right.
We're all behind our baseball team...
Go get 'em Tigers!
World Series bound and picking up steam...
Go get 'em Tigers!
There'll be joy in Tiger Town
We'll sing new songs...
When the Bengals bring the pennant home
Where it belongs.
We're all behind our baseball team...
Go get 'em... Detroit Tigers...
Go get 'em TIGERS!!!
More to come after this series has finished.
I'm out!
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Play Ball!
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