Tigers Weekly 2006 Season

Week 3: 4/19/06 - 4/26/06

Greetings all!  The Weekly is a day late but never a
dollar short.  Even I get sidetracked sometimes.  When
we left the Tigers they had just lost to Oakland on
the first game of their nine-game road trip.  That
followed a rough 2-5 homestand and we thought that the
Tigers were back to their old ways.  But the club
responded with their second five-game winning streak
of the season.  They won the last two games in Oakland
(the day-game in dramatic fashion) and swept the
Mariners.  Anaheim tamed the Tiger bats twice with
shutouts, but the D managed to win the middle game. 
The team now comes home after the trip with an
impressive 11-4 road record.  No other team in
baseball has more than seven road wins.  Now if they
can duplicate this success at home...

Make sure to read the recaps in the "Game Linescores"
section.  Two Weekly subscribers submitted their
accounts of Tiger games in Oakland and Seattle.  We
even have a couple of pictures from Safeco to share. 
Those will be viewable at the website: 
www.tigersweekly.com

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"Week" of 4/19 - 4/26

Record:  6-2  WWWWWLWL

Undy-Five-Hundy:  I like this kind of party, baby!  A
"W" a day keeps the Undy-Five-Hundy away.  Eat it up!

Up Next for the Tigers...

April 27     no game scheduled...
April 28-30  Minnesota
May 1-2      Kansas City
May 3-4      Anaheim

AL Central Standings...

CWS  14  7 -
DET  13  9 1.5   (leads AL Wild Card)
CLE  11 10 3
MIN   8 12 5.5
KCR   5 14 8

Tigers News and Notes:  Todd Jones made his "much
anticipated" return to the Tigers this week and was
three for three in save opportunities.  The odd man
out was not Jordan Tata but Chris Spurling.  Spurling
was unimpressive in his seven innings of work (4
earned runs) and Tata performed well enough (2.79 ERA
in 9.2 innings) to avoid being sent down.

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Tiger of the Week...
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A big part of the Tigers success this week was strong pitching. Todd Jones was brought back this year to close out Tiger victories and so far he has done the job. Todd's first save was a little shaky (the tying run was on third but he got Ichiro to bounce out) but his last two outings were smooth sailing. Jones had a spectacular season in 2005 (2.10 ERA and 40 saves) and if he can build on that then the bullpen (add in Rodney, Walker, and Zumaya) looks to be a strength in 2006. The Roller Coaster is your Tiger of the Week.

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And Twins...
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The Tigers face Minnesota for the first time this
Friday at Comerica Park.  Get used to seeing Ron
Gardenhire and Co. as the Tigers play nine of their
nineteen games against the Twins between now and May
18th.  Minnesota has owned Detroit in the last few
years.  If the Tigers hope to contend they MUST play
better in the Central and they need to start by
vanquishing their long-time nemesis, the Twinkies.  
Good seats are still available.  Bring the family.

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The Whiff...
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The offense has been extremely streaky of late.  Right
now the Tigers are 21st in MLB in strikeouts (the bad
kind) and 27th in the league in walks.  Other than
Carlos Guillen (11BB, 6K) each player's BB/K ratio is
less than 0.7.  These are not signs of a good-hitting
team.  Things need to improve...the strong pitching
won't be there to save them forever.

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Poll Question...
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What is the most amazing play in a major-league game
that you have ever seen?  You don't have to have seen
it live to share your story.

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Game Linescores...
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April 18:  Detroit 11 - Oakland 4
Starters: DET: Rogers 7.1IP - OAK: Blanton 4.1IP
DET  010 342 001  11 15 3
OAK  010 000 030   4  5 3
W: Rogers  (3-1)
L: Blanton (1-2)

April 19:  Detroit 4 - Oakland 3
Starters:  DET: Bonderman 7IP - OAK: Zito 7IP
DET  100 000 003  4 7 0
OAK  300 000 000  3 6 1
W: Rodney     (1-0)
L: Duchscherer (1-1)

Game Recap by Peter "The King" Gregory...

O'Toole, 

I don't always have a chance to read the weekly top to
bottom, but I appreciate your labor of love. Thought
I'd give you the run down on last Thursday's game in
Oakland. Feel free to edit, if necessary. I'll
probably hit one game when they return to Oakland in
July. Wish they played the Giants. My year in Palo
Alto ends in August, so I'll be returning to
Indiana/Michigan in the fall.

Submitted with thanks,

Peter Gregory

Thursday, April 20, Detroit at Oakland, 12:30 pm
Tigers 4            A’s 3
A beautiful day for a ballgame after endless weeks of
rain in the Bay Area. It left a lasting impression
upon me – in the form of sunburn. Should have turned
back for the sunscreen, I guess, but that didn’t put a
damper on the game. Nice big lots next to the Colesium
so parking was no problem, except for the $14.
Straight away center, section 242, watching over
Granderson’s shoulder for the entire game. No
homeruns, though Kotsay hit one off the wall for a
first inning triple. He barely beat the throw to
third. Single by Crosby and then a double to right by
Chavez – nearly a shoestring catch for Magglio. End of
1st, Tigers down 3-1. Bonderman had a rough opening
inning. Second inning, Kotsay made a shoestring catch
of a Guillen line drive with Shelton on first and I
thought, “That’s the difference between the Tigers and
the A’s – they make the shoestring catch and we
don’t.” Bonderman settled down and had a couple 1-2-3
innings, but the Tigers’ offense was struggling. Inge
was caught stealing in the 3rd and innings 2, 4 & 5
ended with double plays. Then we stranded runners on
first (Polanco) and third (Granderson) in the 6th
inning. After the rough first Bonderman was solid,
even enduring a crack in the shin in the bottom of the
7th. Top of the 9th. Duchsherer gave up four straight
hits and finished by walking Inge and Granderson for
the go-ahead run. Tigers 4, A’s 3. Duchsherer left to
boos from the home crowd. Guess this is the 2006
Tigers because we couldn’t buy a walk last year. And
Inge’s walk came on fifteen pitches. An amazing at
bat. Rodney made it exciting in the bottom of the
ninth by sandwiching a Milton Bradley single in
between walks to Chavez and Swisher. He couldn’t
locate a pitch and with the bases loaded it looked
like we would return the favor of walking in a run,
but he was rescued by a force out at home and then
sealed the victory with a K. Great day to be a Tiger’s
fan! I had the wonderful company of Kristen Johnson
who provided a number of observations: first, the
Tigers had better uniforms; second, she preferred a
Big Mac and curly fries to the $11 garlic fries and
brat, though the food was tolerable; third, it was
nice that we weren’t beat up by the Oakland fans. I
don’t own any Tigers paraphanelia, so it wasn’t a big
problem. Did receive a few positive comments in the
parking lot from some fellow exiles who noted the
Michigan plates on my Subaru, though one Tigers’
father had a son who cheered for the A’s. I guess he
missed the memo: dads don’t let sons wear A’s caps.
Great day to be a Tigers fan – take the series and go
to 9-7. Go Tigers!

April 20:  Detroit 2 - Seattle 1
Starters:  DET: Maroth 6IP - SEA: Washburn 8.2IP
DET  000 001 001  2 5 0
SEA  000 000 001  1 7 0
W: Maroth   (3-0)
L: Washburn (1-3)
S: Jones    (1)

April 21:  Detroit 2 - Seattle 0
Starters:  DET: Robertson 7IP - SEA: Meche 6IP
DET  100 000 010  2 10 0
SEA  000 000 000  0  2 0
W: Robertson (2-2)
L: Meche     (1-1)
S: Rodney    (4)

Game Recap by Pat "Borders" Mullally:

Here are some random thoughts after Alissa and I went
to see the Tigers hand it to the Mariners last night,
making it two in a row in perhaps the only park that
serves sushi and clam chowder...we opted for footlong 
brats, thank you very much. Robertson mixed his speeds
very well through seven masterful innings as the
Tigers finished the two-hit shutout, while collecting
10 hits of their own.

-The Tigers are headed to the World Series for sure.
-Safeco Field is second only to Sikorski as the best
place to watch a ballgame...I attached a couple jpegs.
-Shelton hits the ball hard...he's the best Mormon
slugger since Dale Murphy. 
-Ichiro has a cannon. His frozen rope to cut down Inge
at the plate was amazing.
-Pudge threw a Fernie-esque laser to nail Sexson at
second by a Ravenna mile. He's the greatest catcher of
all time. Period. 
That's all for now, I have to get ready for the
Pistons game later. Go Wings, Pistons, Tigers!

-Pat 'Borders' Mullally

April 22:  Detroit 6 - Seattle 4
Starters:  DET: Verlander 7IP - SEA: Hernandez 7IP
DET  200 010 030  6 9 1
SEA  000 010 030  4 8 1
W: Verlander (2-2)
L: Hernandez (0-3)
S: Jones     (2)

April 23:  Detroit 0 - Anaheim 3
Starters:  DET: Rogers 7IP - ANA: E. Santana 6IP
DET  000 000 000  0 6 1
ANA  010 001 01X  3 5 0
W: Santana   (2-0)
L: Rogers    (3-2)
S: Rodriguez (8)

April 24:  Detroit 5 - Anaheim 2
Starters:  DET: Bonderman 6IP - ANA: Carrasco 5IP
DET  002 102 000  5 2 1
ANA  000 002 000  2 3 0
W: Bonderman (2-2)
L: Carrasco  (0-1)
S: Jones     (3)

April 25:  Detroit 0 - Anaheim 4
Starters:  DET: Maroth 6IP - ANA: Lackey 8IP
DET  000 000 000  0 2 2
ANA  003 010 00X  4 9 0 
W: Lackey (3-1)
L: Maroth (3-1)

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Readers Write In...
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"Dig" Dug Senters

From this point onward I will address Chris Shelton as
"Shelly."  It sounds pretty.

DAS

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Ch"Aase" Claus

Ch"Aase" in the house! O my God! O my God!

It's been awhile since I've visited, so I'll start
with old business before moving on to new business...

...I think that all of the previously suggested names
for Chris Shelton are weak and the search needs to
continue.  Of those that I've heard, my preference
(and it pains me to admit that I don't remember who
said it - I suspect either Tim Daggett or our beloved
Editor, Matt O'Toole) is "Ron Weasley."  (If you're
not sure who that is or why it's funny, watch more 
children's movies.)

...I agree wholeheartedly with Jeff "Pee-Wee" Herman's
analysis of Jim Leyland.  I like the fact that the
Marlboro Man "will not tolerate poor 
baseball, and will replace anyone who is not playing
good, old fashion, hard nosed ball."  The national
media made such a stink about the tirade last week,
but it was great.  In years past, it would have taken
3 straight 10-run losses to even acknowledge that
there was a problem.  As it was, Leyland ripped the
squad and they turned it around and won five straight.
Great stuff.

...Unlike many others, I am not on the Rod Allen
bandwagon.  I do have a submission, though, for the
"favorite call of the year," which I also 
submit as the "understatement of the year."  During
the first game of the year (or possibly the second)
the radio guys were analyzing the bullpen and one 
of them (I forget which) explained that in this
situation last year, the Tigs would have gone to
Urbina, but that he is currently on trial for his 
life in Venezuela for murdering someone with a
machette, to which the other guy added, "That's not a
good situation at all."

...as to my favorite announcer of all time, there is
only one announcer who I will watch just for the
announcing: Kirk Gibson ... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! 
Just kidding - he sucks.  The best ever was obviously
Ernie Harwell (and Paul Harvey was far-and-away his
best co-announcer).  The only current announcer I
watch just for himself is Mike Tirico.  I think that
he is intelligent, well-spoken, and relates well to
the average fan & doesn't take himself too 
seriously.  Of Tigers announcers, my favorite besides
Ernie was Josh Lewin in the mid-1990s.  He left for
Texas & I think is still there.

...Jennifer Fine shutting down the Editor was classic!
Not since the Hokie Hottie has there been such
dominance by one woman over a bunch of men in a 
baseball-related environment.  Great job, Jen!

...now on to new business...

Last week during my spring break, I visited my brother
Mike Claus in Colorado Springs, where he works for the
AAA Rockies affiliate, the SkySox. The games there were
generally hilarious in a AAA sort of way, but far-and-
away the best moment was seeing former World Series goat,
Byung-Hyun Kim, in a rehab start.  Throwing ball after 
ball in his tradmark submarine style, Tim Daggett and I 
sat in the third row, where we got a great view of 
BHK balking in a run and getting pulled in the third
inning.  I laughed out loud.  His final statline: 3
2/3 innings, 3 hits, 3 runs (all earned).  !Que
Horrible!

Other highlights of the SkySox experience (which I
highly recommend) included:

...Mike Claus donning the head of the mascot, Sox the
Fox, for a picture and declaring, "Oh, hurry up, this
thing smells like s***!" 

...discovering that front row tickets behind home
plate cost a whopping $9.

...Pete's Wicked 'Rally Cap Ale' on draft.

...Tim Daggett catching a give-away thrown from the
field.  The prize?  A nerf toy baseball and a ticket
for a new set of windshield wiper blades.

...the appearance of "national mascot act" Blooper,
who was stupid and boring, except for when he was
fondling a lady in the front row and then tripped,
knocking into her husband and summarily spilling the
husband's beer on another guy who stormed away, livid.

...the line in Mike Claus' bio profile in the official
SkySox yearbook: 
"Mike brings a tenacity to the SkySox that only a
Detroit boy can."

Well, 3rd hour is starting... Kickin' some Ch"Aase" -
I'm OUT.

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Andy "Kin Korn" Karnitz

Hiya!
I've got a couple of links  here for two little
nuggets I picked up this week:
 
First, this boxscore from the Twins/White Sox game on
Sunday, 4/23/06:
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/boxscore?gid=260423104
 
What I found interesting is that only one Twins' 
batter in ten had a season BA over .300, while six of
nine Sox have bettered .300. Whatta mismatch! I know
it's early and the Sox will eventually cool off, but I
don't see much hope for the Twins.

+++
Editors Note:  We all "knew" the Sox would cool off
eventually last year, didn't we?  Let's hope it
actually happens this year.
+++

My second offering is to point out Jason Beck's fine
story on the Tigs' ninth inning rally on Thursday,
4/20/06: http://detroit.tigers.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/
gameday_recap.jsp?ymd=20060420&content_id=1410013&vkey=
recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=det
 
I think it's a nifty little piece of writing. I think
Beck did a good job of taking readers through Inge's
fifteen pitch and putting it into the perspective of
the at-bat's effect on  the game as a whole. Just
caught my eye.
 
While Shelton's early season performance has been
impressive, Mike Maroth's story has been the most
important one. I seem to recall some three or four
game hot streaks in Maroth's past, but never anything
this controlled and dominant. 0.49 ERA?!?!
Bodacious!!!
 
Whoops, wrong pitcher. Take notice, though- The
Bodacious Tata remains in the bullpen.
 
Yours, Andy

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Toolie's Trashtalk...

Not a bad week in Tiger land.  These five-game winning
streaks are enjoyable.  The inconsistencies at the
plate continue to worry me though.  Feast or famine
baseball is not well suited to survive a 162 game
season.  

Is anyone else sick of all this NFL Draft coverage on
ESPN?  The draft is ridiculously hyped.  Watching the
draft has to be one of the most boring experiences
I've ever been through.  Nothing happens that demands
to be seen live.  I might be interested in watching
when the Lions have their first-round pick, but I
would only watch if I happened upon it by chance. 
Sportscenter has been having oodles of over-analysis,
dedicating five-minute spots to each team (what does
each team need, what players are available, etc). 
Major snooze-fest.

That Red Roof Inn commercial where the guy says
"chances of me working are... remote" is my favorite
FSN spot for this spring.  I used to hate that guy but
he grew on me.  The spot rivals the old commercial
with the talking grub (with the Scottish accent) who
threatened to "eat the entire yard!!!"  

The AL East looks pretty strong this season.  Four of
the five teams are at least at five-hundred.  The
Tigers will face Baltimore in the near future and the
rest of the AL East starting May 29th.  

That's enough blabbering for this extended week.  Day
off on Thursday to watch the Red Wings.  They need a
win right now more than the Tigers do.  

I'm out...
 





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Play Ball!

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