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Ah it's good to be back home. After two weeks of
driving all over the place I'm back in the EL for the
remainder of the summer. This means I get to again
watch the Tigers on television and attend a game or
two (I will be in attendance tonight). While I was
away the Tigers were taking care of business. At one
point they won fifteen of sixteen games! Since then
they've lost three straight and there have been some
signs for caution. The Tigers were shut out in
consecutive games and Mike Maroth headed to the DL
with inflammation in his elbow. The start of this
grueling stretch of games hasn't gone well, but
there's no need to push the panic button. There's
something about this team that tells me they'll bounce
back.
New Subscribers...
Nick "Perry" Mason
Greg "Earn" Earnest
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Two Weeks of 5/17 - 5/30
Record: 10-4 WWLWWWWWWWWLLL
Undy-Five-Hundy: N/A
Up Next for the Tigers...
May 31 - June 1 New York Yankees
June 2-4 Boston
June 5 no game scheduled...
June 6-8 @ Chicago White Sox
AL Central Standings...
DET 35 17 -
CWS 33 18 1.5
CLE 25 26 9.5
MIN 23 28 11.5
KCR 13 37 21
Tigers Division... (best in baseball!)
DET 35 17 -
CWS 33 18 1.5
STL 33 19 2
NYM 31 20 3.5
BOS 30 20 4
NYY 30 20 4
Tigers News and Notes: Dmitri Young is back on the
disabled list and the Tigers called up Jack Hannahan
from Toledo. So far Jack is 0 for 9 with a walk. At
Toledo he was hitting .282 with an OBP of .391 (not
bad). As mentioned, Mike Maroth was put on the DL.
Chris Spurling takes his spot on the roster and Roman
Colon filled in for Maroth on Tuesday, his scheduled
day to start.
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Tiger of the Fortnight...
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This pick is simple. When you win the American League
Co-Player of the Week you are guaranteed to be the
Tiger of the Week. Over these last two weeks Justin
Verlander picked up three wins and a shutout. His
first win was a 2-0 duel with Johan Santana at
Comerica Park. Verlander went eight innings and gave
up six hits. Strangely he didn't walk or fan anybody.
His next start was at Kansas City. There Justin
dominated the lowly Royals: nine innings, five hits,
one walk, seven strikeouts, no runs. Finally
Verlander worked over the Tribe on Saturday back in
Detroit. Aside from a Grady Sizemore homer Cleveland
could not push a run across the plate. Verlander
surrendered seven hits and a walk in seven innings.
Over those three games his ERA dropped from 3.77 to
2.55. He and Nate Robertson (3.02 ERA) are the two
starters that still have stellar earned run averages.
Through May Justin Verlander has not been just an
impressive rookie, he's been the Tigers' best pitcher.
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Bonds Passes Ruth...
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Yes it finally happened. We watched endless times as
ESPN cut away from their coverage of whatever to show
every fricking at-bat of Barry Bonds as he attempted
to tie The Babe. He tied Ruth in Oakland and broke
Babe's mark in San Francisco with a shot off of
Rockies pitcher Byung-Hyun Kim, a pitcher with a
penchant for giving up memorable homers (see 2001
World Series). Bonds trails Hank Aaron by 40.
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www.tigersweekly.com
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We've received limited responses on the Tigers Trivia.
There should be a new question up real soon. Thanks
to the likes of Josh Klomp, Tom Bellsky, and Derek
Muller for checking out the website and the trivia
section. Also, if you have any relevant baseball
pictures you'd like to submit send them along.
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Tigers Weekly Baseball Game...
-----------------------------------------------------
Last year we held a baseball game (with umpire and
all) in July that involved a good deal of TW readers.
If you are interested in playing in the game this year
then let me know. No date has been set and right now
I'm just trying to get an idea of how much interest
there is. I know that people had a lot of fun last
year (myself included). Pictures from that game can
be viewed at the website.
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Poll Question...
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Will Bonds get to Aaron? It will almost certainly
take a move to the American League, where he can DH,
to accomplish this. Here I'll say that I give Barry
some credit for playing the outfield through all of
this (even if he does need to sit a lot of games while
making 20 million clams). Aaron hit 733 of his homers
in the NL.
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Game Linescores...
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May 17: Minnesota 0 - Detroit 2
Starters: MIN: Santana 8IP - DET: Verlander 8IP
MIN 000 000 000 0 7 0
DET 000 000 02X 2 4 1
W: Verlander (5-3)
L: Santana (4-4)
S: Jones (11)
May 18: Minnesota 3 - Detroit 5
Starters: MIN: Radke 6IP - DET: Rogers 5.2IP
MIN 010 001 001 3 9 3
DET 220 010 00X 5 12 2
W: Rogers (7-2)
L: Radke (4-5)
S: Jones (12)
May 19: Cincinnati 9 - Detroit 4
Starters: CIN: Claussen 7IP - DET: Bonderman 3IP
CIN 020 610 000 9 10 0
DET 000 301 000 4 12 1
W: Claussen (3-4)
L: Bonderman (4-3)
May 20: Cincinnati 6 - Detroit 7 F/10
Starters: CIN: Milton 5IP - DET: Maroth 6.1IP
CIN 001 000 500 0 6 9 1
DET 202 100 001 1 7 12 1
W: Rodney (2-1)
L: Weathers (1-2)
May 21: Cincinnati 0 - Detroit 1
Starters: CIN: Harang 8IP - DET: Robertson 7.1IP
CIN 000 000 000 0 3 1
DET 000 000 01X 1 5 0
W: Rodney (3-1)
L: Harang (5-3)
S: Jones (13)
May 22: Detroit 8 - Kansas City 0
Starters: DET: Verlander 8IP - KCR: Affeldt 6IP
DET 050 030 000 8 14 0
KCR 000 000 000 0 5 1
W: Verlander (6-3)
L: Affeldt (2-4)
May 23: Detroit 8 - Kansas City 5
Starters: DET: Rogers 6.1IP - KCR: Hernandez 5.1IP
DET 000 002 141 8 17 0
KCR 103 000 100 5 11 0
W: Zumaya (2-0)
L: Dessens (2-4)
S: Jones (14)
May 24: Detroit 6 - Kansas City 3
Starters: DET: Bonderman 7IP - KCR: Gobble 4IP
DET 010 022 010 6 7 0
KCR 000 003 000 3 11 1
W: Bonderman (5-3)
L: Gobble (0-1)
S: Jones (15)
May 25: Detroit 13 - Kansas City 8
Starters: DET: Maroth 0.1IP - KCR: Bautista 3.2IP
DET 030 200 035 13 15 0
KCR 600 101 000 8 14 1
W: Zumaya (3-0)
L: Dessens (2-5)
May 26: Cleveland 3 - Detroit 8
Starters: CLE: Westbrook 5.1IP - DET: Robertson 6IP
CLE 000 002 100 3 7 1
DET 030 004 10X 8 9 1
W: Robertson (5-2)
L: Westbrook (4-3)
May 27: Cleveland 1 - Detroit 3
Starters: CLE: Byrd 7IP - DET: Verlander 7IP
CLE 000 100 000 1 9 1
DET 200 000 01X 3 8 0
W: Verlander (7-3)
L: Byrd (4-4)
S: Jones (16)
May 28: Cleveland 9 - Detroit 0
Starters: CLE: J. Johnson 6IP - DET: Rogers 4.1IP
CLE 300 200 040 9 12 3
DET 000 000 000 0 7 1
W: J. Johnson (3-4)
L: Rogers (7-3)
May 29: New York Yankees 4 - Detroit 0
Starters: NYY: R. Johnson 6IP - DET: Bonderman 7.1IP
NYY 002 020 000 4 10 0
DET 000 000 000 0 2 1
W: R. Johnson (7-4)
L: Bonderman (5-4)
May 30: New York Yankees 11 - Detroit 6 F/11
Starters: NYY: Small 5IP - DET: Colon 2.1IP
NYY 041 010 000 05 11 17 1
DET 001 031 010 00 6 11 1
W: Rivera (3-3)
L: Jones (0-2)
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Readers Write In...
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Anthony "Ferny" Morano
The tigers continue to amaze me with their
pitching. when jamie walker only gets in 2 games
on a 10 game roady that really says something about
the starters going 6+ innings.
Possible trade scenario?
trade either Nate robertson or maroth (he's from
orlando) + roman colon for Dontrelle willis?
Would this be a welcomed trade?
Congrats to Stimey for getting married. Fernice
just got married this past weekend in tampa. In
response to your comment about my laser like arm
I agree! my strength was pitch calling + blocking
balls. i would give best arm strength to chris hare
and most accurate to jim allore.
Go tigs!
Ferny
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Andrew "Kin Korn" Karnitz
On Maroth and Moustaches
Who remembers, just a few years back, when Mike Maroth
lost his 20th of the season? Yeah, that's most of us
here. How many of us said, "Yeah, 20 losses is pretty
bad, but Maroth's a much better pitcher than the
record shows."? Probably a whole lot of us. I know I
thought he was better than the 9-21 record in ' 03-
significantly better.
Maroth is a damned good pitcher, imho. He's not
Maddux, he's definitely not Clemens, but he's a crafty
guy who uses off-speed stuff on the corners. When his
sinker is working and when he's getting the calls he
looks masterful. So far this season both have been in
his favor.
I know, it's early in the season, but if he keeps it
up, well.....Let me share with you the career stats of
one Steve Stone (yes, THAT Steve Stone):
http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/features/alumni/
stats.jsp
Nothing special, right? Except for 1980, when Stone
won the A.L. Cy Young Award with a 25-7 record.
I'm not saying Maroth will win a Cy Young. I'm saying
he, someday, might. Who knows, he keeps getting the
close calls, he keeps the ball down..........
My friend, Tom O'Malley, is the kind of guy who can't
help commenting on a ball player's moustache. There
are unique moustaches(Rollie Fingers), badass
moustaches(Luis Tiant, Al Hrabosky), plain old
moustaches(Reggie Jackson), and the dreaded "porn
star" moustaches(Phil Garner, Keith Hernandez, Rafael
Palmeiro). For some reason most players nowadays seem
to have the "porn star" 'stache.
O'Malley, a couple of days ago, says, "(Todd) Jones
has got to do something about the porn star
moustaches. It's a heinous example of the style."
It struck me that The Rollercoaster has broken new
ground in the game- with those little "barbells" at
the ends of the 'staches he is sporting a GAY PORN
STAR MOUSTACHES.
I'm not gay (not that there's anything wrong with it),
but, trust me, I know what I'm talking about. That is
a GAY PORN STAR MOUSTACHES.
Some advice for Mr. Jones: as long as you're not
blowing saves DO NOTHING. But as soon as the streak is
over you must- MUST- modify the moustaches.
Later, Andy
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Deana "Carter" Carr
I just wanted to comment on your trashtalk section
where you were talking about the female color
announcer for the Yankees. I didn't even know there
was one, but I think (of course) that it's very cool
(even though she works for the Evil Empire). "She was
doing a decent job, I thought. The thing that rubs me
funny about that, though, is it's hard to relate to a
female announcer in baseball since women generally
don't play the sport (they play softball). You don't
get the feeling like they can inject personal
experience into their commentary."
Since this is generally true, I won't be too offended.
But you should know that there are women out there
playing baseball. There are women's baseball leagues
all over the country. I played on the Detroit Danger
a few summers ago, and there are two new Detroit teams
(www.DetroitDiesel.org and
http://eteamz.active.com/motorcityinferno) that are
starting to get off the ground. Several of us have
years of playing Detroit Tigers Fantasy Camps, too.
Even though we don't have years of baseball
experience, we love the game, and do have baseball
experience. I don't know the background of the
commentator that you were talking about, but she may
very well have some experience in baseball.
Thanks for letting me go off on a tangent. The most
important thing right now is that the Tigers are
playing great! I love talks about "trade deadline"
and "first place", and it's almost June!
Deana "Carter" Carr
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Derek "The Clone" Muller
Dmitri choking his former girlfriend at the Townsend?
How long until this washed-up slugger who can only
meet the minimum requirements of his contract each
season before finding out that, um, his groin, no,
hernia, no, whatever, is acting up on him again.
Guess I know where Delmon got it from. And I blame
Higgy entirely - what a class act. What else are you
SUPPOSED to do in a hotel room with a girl, keep your
hands in your lap? Thanks, Higgy, for the great
excuses over the years.
Tool, I find it INCREDIBLE that a full 10 Tigers are
still on this squad after the 2003 debacle. You'd
expect much higher turnover before this miracle
season. I'd expect names like Robert Fick and Mark
Redman to return to this lineup, and a whole bunch of
other MLB journeymen, trying to plug in those gaps
with the same brittle clay that's shored up stalwarts
like Washington or Kansas City. But I admit, Leland
and/or Dombrowski has the magic touch. (I'm hedging
my bets until the All-Star break.)
By the way, Tool, visited Wrigley for the first time
last night (watching them light up the Senators).
Extremely overrated. Every slappy was gone by the
6th. Weak pretzels. Television screens viewable from
your seats? The only highlight was the quality hot
dog I downed. I'd take Tiger Stadium or Fenway in a
heartbeat over that piece.
Cardinals fans: you're about to become the Braves.
Enjoy.
Braves fans: your seasons of virtual glory are over.
Enjoy.
Mets fan: I hope you like bandwagons.
Sox fans: if 2004 was 1918 and 2005 was 1917, then
2006 is the new 1919. Get ready.
Reds fans: see you in October. You may have Sparky
with your cap in the Hall, but you've also got
Kentucky on your border.
WAR Jordan Tata, a man bearing my grandpa's last name,
being groomed into a starter
WAR baseball being the focus because other inferior
Detroit sports teams have found new ways to choke
RUN Cleveland, as usual.
RACK ME
P.S. - The Tigers didn't notch their 29th win until
August 2 in 2003. What a great turnaround it's been
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Ch"Aase" Claus
Thursday 5/18, 5:00pm
I've tried to fight the tendency that I have to write
in to TW early in the week (so that my comments aren't
outdated or idiotic by the time they're read).
However, I find myself so psyched up upon sweeping the
Twinkies for the second time this season that I had to
find an outlet.
For a long time, rooting for the Tigers against the
Twins was like being a Washington Generals fan. You
would tune in just long enough to find the Tigers
bringing in their 3rd pitcher of the game in only the
4th inning, and then switch over to M*A*S*H reruns.
Our surprising 7-2 record against the Twins has been
among the most pleasant treats of 2006. We have
outscored Minnesota 54-25 so far this year and could
clinch the season series before the month of July is
over.
In response to the poll question of the week, I think
that the clear favorite to wear Ye Olde Englishe 'D'
to the All-Star game is the Gambler, Kenny Rogers.
Remember that fans are idiots and tend to re-elect the
same names year-after-year. Rogers is a reigning
All-Star, has been a solid citizen since leaving Texas
(although I wouldn't mind if he punched that
Fox2 Hall of Shame guy), and has GREAT stats: a 7-2
record and an E.R.A. just over 3. He headlines a
group that is the greatest turnound from recent
seasons: the Tigers pitching staff, particularly the
starters. By my count, we're 40+ games into the
season and the Tigers have 7 very legitimate
All-Star candidate pitchers (assuming they maintain
the quality of their game or get better): Bonderman
(4-2, 3.74) / Rogers (7-2, 3.23) / Verlander
(5-3, 3.18) / Robertson (4-2, 3.50) / Maroth (5-2,
2.18) / Rodney (6 saves, 1.59) / Jones (12 saves,
3.65). Project those records over the course of a
season and see how wonderful life could be: Rogers
28-8, Verlander 20-12, Bonderman 16-8, Maroth 20-8,
Robertson 16-8, Jones (assuming he stays healthy and
gets most of the save chances) 60-70 saves. It sure
is fun to dream!
I was intrigued by the conversation about the Tigers
pitching future. If Tata or Zumaya does turn out to
be a starter, I would decisively send Nate Robertson
to the pen for some middle/late relief work. He's had
a great start to 2006 but I am not fooled. He's a
chronic gas-can who is always a threat to blow up
without notice.
Which brings me to my last topic. Unconfirmed but
interesting rumors have reached my ears of a potential
move between Dave Dombrowski with his
former team, the Florida Marlins, to obtain Dontrelle
Willis. The rumors have also said that any potential
trade would non-negotiably include Joel Zumaya.
I am interested to hear what TW readers would think of
such a trade. Personally, I would be all for it,
which is not so much a statement against Zumaya as for
Willis. He is the most dominant pitcher that I have
ever seen live - Baseball Road Trip veterans will
recall him giving up only one run against the Phillies
on a hot Thursday afternoon in 2004 and him
shutting out the then-lowly Mets on the 3rd of July at
Shea in 2005. Willis has had a rough year so far, but
he's also playing on a team that regularly
starts 4-6 rookies and has a lower payroll than the
Pink Panther Truck Stop. I hate to give up a
home-grown talent that can regularly throw up triple
digits on the radar gun, but I really do think that
Dontrelle is that good. The only real disappointment
to me would be knowing that Zumaya would go to
Florida, have two good seasons, and then get be traded
to the Yankees at the deadline for Mookie Wilson, Omar
Moreno and a bag of cats.
Kickin' some Ch-Aase
http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?
p=aasedo01
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Anthony "Whoop-A" Williams
Matt (and other TW readers smarter than me):
Here's the question, from someone that doesn't follow
the Tigers closely (and is too cheap to get Fox Sports
Detroit any more):
Three years ago the Tigers were not just in the
basement, they were digging their way to the Indian
Ocean. What accounts for the tremendous turn-around
this year? Are the Tigers this much better, or are
other teams worse? If they're better, is it primarily
because of management or players? If players, which
players have had the most effect? And, the money
question: are the Tigers likely to keep this pace up
all season?
Keep up the Weekly Work!
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"Dig" Dug Senters
Yeah, ya gotta love those idiot Young brothers. I
thought the Vicks were bad.
A bit of sad news. My girlfriend is not exactly a
huge baseball fan. However, she started to like the
Tribe late last season, which is next best to Oakland.
However, she has moved to Detroit and has found
herself converting to Tigerdom. An intervention is
forthcoming.
I think that if the Tigers can hold on to a good
record at the All-Star break, they are deserving of
more than one selection. I am no expert about who
those might be, but I will throw out a couple names.
So far I think Rogers, Bonderman, and Shelly could
all bedeserving. What's more important, I think we
can all agree, is that Eric Chavez, Nick Swisher &
Travis Hafner are also well on their way.
I have to say for all you Tigers fans out there, I am
impressed with Detroit's season so far. At least it's
not the Twins leading the Central.
Dug
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Danny "Tartabull" Simpson
Hey Matt,
Here are some non-Tiger comments from Danny
"Tartabull" Simpson:
I must reaffirm with Houser the enjoyment of Lima Time
(especially if he's not on your team). Two fond Lima
moments come to mind. 1) In 2002 I was down at
Comerica with some Clauses and O'Toole and others.
Tigs were playing the Red Sox and Lima was brought in
relief with a couple of guys on base. O'Toole mentions
that Lima really digs it when the fans get
behind him, so we all start loudly chanting "Lima,
Lima, Lima,...". First pitch - boom - 410 ft into the
right field stands. We couldn't do anything but laugh.
A few Boston fans turned around and thanked us. 2) In
the 2004 NLDS between LA & StL, Lima pitched a CG SHO
(or close to it) in game 3 to keep the Dodgers alive
one more day and he displayed plenty Limaisms
throughout. In the pre-game of the next game, FOX made
a music video montage of Lima's pitching performance
the night before. But the best part was that the
supplied music was Lima singing and swaggering about
Lima Time. In short, I agree, it's good to have Lima
around for laughs.
It interesting actually having great interest in most
AL games every night. The Wild Card makes that Tuesday
night Devil Rays-Red Sox game have some import. One
thing that I like seeing is relative equal strength in
the AL East. In the past few years, NY and Bos would
beat up on the birds and rays so many times that the
team who didn't win the division got a lot of help in
securing the wild card. But this year, these teams are
playing better and should help the Tigers' standings
in the wild card. Toronto staying strong could really
give them the drive to beat up on NY and Bos. If the
Jays hang on and the Tribe heats up like many expect
them to, we could have an interesting 6 team race for
3 postseason spots.
As far as the Tigers go, I can share some of Inge's
sentiment. The thought of having a team that is in
contention and not having to hope that they can
somehow win 5 out of their next 6 in late June and
finally get to .500 since they were 2-2 is fun. As you
Tiger fans probably heard, the last time the Tigers
were in first place this late in the season (i.e., not
after 3 games) was June of 1993. I was in Jr. High
then! My 1-yr old daughter Susan is closer in age to
Jr. High then I am now.
To respond to roster issues that have come up on the
Weekly, I think that the starting 5 isn't worth
messing with right now. Robertson can be a bit
inconsistent, but he battled out of some intense jambs
in the 1-0 win against the Reds (BL a/st Dunn! 2nd &
3rd & no outs!). (By the way, Vance Wilson owes Inge a
steak dinner after getting him the ball at home
quickly so he didn't get plastered by the 6'14" - 342
lb Dunn (big boy)). Anyways, I don't see any good
reasons to trade any of their starting 5. Maroth has
been pitching so well and without a marque name or Ks,
he wouldn't fetch nearly enough value.
The Tigers could use a good left-handed hitter if
Young can't get it going (too bad they lost Pena). I
wouldn't mind adding a more established reliever that
gets lots of Ks (I like Zumaya, but he still is
rookie). (On the side, the White Sox bullpen may be
their undoing - it isn't really deep and Jenks is
still pretty green to endure the grind).
The Good about the Tigers: Lots! It's amazing to see
how many pitching categories that they lead in the
whole ML. What Tiger fan would see the score at 4-0 in
the fifth and think "alright, looks like we're going
to win again." The bullpen has been solid (though I
thought Leyland should have brought Walker in to face
Griffey on Sat. night). Jones continues his
rollercoaster ways (though he's pitching more like
Gemini Jr. than Millenium Force these days). Another
thing that I really like about the pitching is the
80/20 split between young & old talent. I think the
starters (esp. Maroth) have really benefitted from
Rogers and Jones has been able to teach Zumaya, Rodney,
Grilli, etc. However, the old fellas are more than
pulling their share. It's good to have a knowledgable
veteran on the club, but you need more than wisdom on
the roster and seven wins and a dozen saves looks great.
At the plate, I'm glad to see Shelton hitting singles.
I'd rather have two rocket singles than a HR and a K.
I remember the 20 HR/120 K club of the early 90s:
Fielder, Tettleton (though he did draw BBs), Deer (he
drew none), Fryman, & Incaviglia (but the Tigers did
have lead-off hitter Brian Hunter with his .274 OBP!).
I'm actually glad that the Tigers aren't leading the
bigs in HR anymore. Inge and Monroe have had clutch
homers, but I trade some of those for a bunch of
batting average pts. Ordonez is ripping the ball - a
healthy Maggs is a happy Maggs.
The moderate number of errors, lack of walks, and lack
of steals are some concerns I have right now. Though
they did sweep the Tribe, they should have taken
advance of Victor Martinez's 3% throw-out rate more
often. I saw some stat about Guillen's errors and he
flubbing more than last year (and they do seem to be
mostly mental).
The Sweet 16 is coming up (3 a/st Cle, 4 a/st NY, 3
a/st Bos, 3 a/st Chi, & 3 a/st Tor). How many wins out
of these 16 should the Tigers hope to get (9-7 ??).
All-Stars: Should be IN: Rogers, Ordonez
Deserve to be IN: Maroth, Rodney, Guillen, Shelton
Could be IN: Verlander, Jones, Pudge, Polanco
My wife Lisa and I will be at the Saturday and Sunday
games. We're going on a date tonight to look at some
new Tiger gear (Susan already has her Tiger outfit).
Quotation of the Week: Vance Wilson has been played
some great ball as a backup catcher. He's playing
great defense and hitting well. In the recent game
against the Twins, he proved a hero when he hit a
2-out 2 run homer off Johann Santana in the bottom of
the 8th. During a post-game interview, he was asked if
this was his biggest career home run. He answered,
"Well, I hit a pretty big one in Little League, but
this one was really great." And he was serious.
The team attitude and unity of the Tigers is
impressive, endearing (Pudge is a riot to watch in the
dugout when he has a day off), and important for a
baseball team looking to play consistent baseball.
Finally, I was listening to sportstalk radio on the
way home and a guy called in who was at the Tigers 7-6
10 inning come-from-behind win against the Reds. He
said the place was packed and rocking. He was sitting
behind the Tigers dugout and noticed that as the
Tigers walked into the dugout they were looking up,
noticing the fans going wild, and it seemed that they
were really into it and enjoying it. Anyone who was
at the last game at Tiger Stadium in '99 can remember
how crazy the place went when Fick hit that GS off the
roof in right. How about a summer of such frenzy? Sign
me up.
Go Tigers!
-----------------------------------------------------
Denny "McLain" O'Toole
Your friend, Uncle Denny , has sent you a link to this
story: Get used to seeing Tigers in the hunt
The Tigers have been a major surprise this season.
Dayn Perry takes a closer look at whether Detroit can
keep up its amazing pace.
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/5633562
Thanks for using FOXSports.com
-----------------------------------------------------
Nic "Gilby" Gilbert
So Fox was interviewing Brandon Inge tonight after the
game and the first thing they did was compare him to
Clay Aiken and Inge's response was, "Clay Aiken???
Come on now" It was comical.
-----------------------------------------------------
Toolie's Trashtalk...
-----------------------------------------------------
You've gotta love what the Tigers are doing. Sure
they've had a little slide here, but that's for what
the last 12 seasons have been conditioning us. A three
game skid is nothing to a Tiger fan. But winning
fifteen of sixteen? Some of us probably don't know
how to handle that.
Now, the Tigers must not get swept by New York.
They've dropped the first two and they face Yankees
ace Mike Mussina tonight. It's a shame how they lost
Tuesday's game. With bases loaded in the first inning
with nobody out, the Tigers couldn't score a run
(Maggs pop-up, Guillen line-out, Shelton whiff). Then
in the eighth, after coming back from a 6-1 deficit to
tie things up, the Tigers failed to score with one out
and runners on the corners (back-to-back strikeouts of
Granderson and Polanco). Todd Jones pitched a 1-2-3
tenth, but as the Tigers failed to score in their
half. I knew their was trouble as the "Due Up" read
Jeter, Giambi, Rodriguez. Sure enough, Giambi took
Jones over the right-field wall and the wheels came
off after that. Too bad to lose a game like that.
How did the manager take it? "I told them that I'm
proud of them, they battled. I have absolutely no
complaints. God bless them."
I got to see another game at RFK this season, this
time with Michelle "Tony" Phillips and Jeremy "The
Devil May" Kehr. I'm turning into a regular Nats fan.
It was a good game. Roy Oswalt was dominating for
Houston until he balked in the tying run. The Nats
got to the Astros pen in the 8th and won 5-1. We sat
in what might be called the club level in dead center
field. Pretty good view. Nats are 2-0 when I am in
attendance.
The other baseball game I witnessed on the trip was a
double-A game between the Carolina Mud-Cats and the
Tennessee Smokies. It was a weeknight and the game
was not heavily attended. Jeff "Biggie" Small and I
bought seats right behind home plate and they ended up
paying off. The sixth inning (I think) was waffle
inning and since the Mud-Cats scored a run our section
won a free waffle from Waffle House. I cashed that
bad boy in the next morning.
The home team has won the last three baseball games
I've been to, so I hope that bodes well for the Tigers
today. Also, the Pistons are on the ropes. They need
a big win tonight. Let's hope it's a happy night for
Detroit.
I'm out.
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