Tigers Weekly 2006 Season

Week 8: 6/7/06 - 6/13/06

The long run through the toughest teams in the
American League is over and the the results are a
mixed bag.  

Good:  The Tigers emerged still having the best record
in baseball.

Bad:  They went 5-8 in the process.

Good:  Most of the games lost were close.

Bad:  The bullpen got pounded on multiple occasions.

Now the Tigers are enjoying four at home against the
Devil Rays.  They earned a big win on Monday; big
because D-Rays ace Scott Kazmir, Tampa's only
legitimate hurler, pitched.  After that the Rays are
quite weak, and the Tigers exhibited that tonight by
pounding Seth McClung.  Eventually it will come time
for the playoff push and, hopefully, the playoffs. 
There the Tigers will most certainly have to defeat
one of the teams on that last stretch if they hope to
advance to the Series.  While the Tigers remain on
top, they must learn to beat the best of the AL.

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Week of 6/7 - 6/13

Record:  5-2  LWLWWWW

Undy-Five-Hundy:  One more win and the Tigers will
match their win total from 2003; a year when they
finished a nasty 76 games undy-five-hundy.  A good
week bumps the index to -19.  The best it's been so
far this year is -21.

Up Next for the Tigers...

June 14-15  Tampa Bay
June 16-18  @ Chicago Cubs
June 19-21  @ Milwaukee

AL Central Standings...

DET  42 23 -
CWS  40 24 1.5
CLE  30 33 11
MIN  29 34 12
KCR  16 47 25

Tigers Division...

DET  42 23 -
NYM  40 23 1
CWS  40 24 1.5
STL  38 25 3
NYY  36 26 4.5
BOS  36 26 4.5

Tigers News and Notes:  Dmitri apparently failed to
show up for a court date, so now there's a warrant out
for his arrest.  Craig Monroe is still battling the
sprained ankle he suffered in Chicago.  Zach Miner's
impressive start in Toronto has earned him another
Thursday afternoon against the Rays (untelevised).

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Tiger of the Week...
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Kenny Rogers earned his 198th and 199th win this week. The first of those wins was critical, as it gave the Tigers their first win over the White Sox and averted another sweep at the hands of the World Champs. Many questioned the signing of Rogers at eight million per season, but The Gambler has so far earned his keep. We're loving it now, but as a warning, his ERA over the last three seasons has been a full run higher in the second half. Still, the Tigers have definitely got what they paid for. There's even a "Who's Your Tiger?" commercial where Kenny Rogers (the singer) says that Kenny Rogers (the pitcher) is HIS Tiger. "I think I've had more hits than he has allowed." Almost as funny as "Chances of me working are...remote." If Kenny gets his tenth win soon and keeps his ERA respectable it's pretty much a lock that he ends up in Pittsburgh for the All-Star game.

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Stupid Athletes...
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There seem to be a ton of them lately.  Ben
Roethlisberger gets in a bike accident while not
wearing a helmet (no sympathy here from a big Steelers
fan), J.J. Redick picks up a DWI (that does not stand
for Driving Wake Insane), and Dmitri Young doesn't
show up for court.

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Goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooal...
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We're a week into the World Cup and the U.S. laid a
big egg in their first game.  The Czechs dominated
play and dropped a 3-0 beat down on the Americans. 
Not sure how excited you all get over this event.  I
tend to get wrapped up in it, but if the U.S. has a
repeat perfomance this Saturday against Italy then
I'll lose interest.  At least we can't lose to Iran
this year (unless both qualify).

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N.L. vs. Red Sox & Yankees...
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The current A.L. All-Star tallies have every position,
except one outfield spot (Vlad Guererro) being filled
by a player from either Boston or New York.  This is
pathetic.  Fans should not be allowed to vote the
starters.  It's ridiculous.  They should be allowed to
vote in one player at each position, but the manager
should decide who plays.  So all of those Yankees and
Red Sox would be on the roster but the manager could
sit them (like Varitek, who's having a very average
year).  As long as the system stays the way it is,
pseudo-fans will continue to fill the A.L. roster with
Yanks and Sox.  Yawn.

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Tigers Weekly Baseball Game 2006
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Response has been pretty good for the game this year. 
You can still express interest if you'd like to play. 
This is a semi-serious game of baseball (not softball)
played at near full-speed.  There will be an umpire
and we will play at a field somewhere in the Lansing
area.  

I'm hoping to have the game on one of the three
Saturdays following the 4th of July.  Those dates are
the 8th, the 15th, and the 22nd.  Please let me know
your availability on those days (not just which day
you prefer, but whether or not you'll be able to make
it on each of those days).  The sooner I can set the
date, the sooner I can arrange for a field and an
umpire.  The game will probably cost between $3-10
depending on costs of the field and an ump.  Last
year we had a ball.

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Poll Question...
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How would you run the All-Star game if it were up to
you?  Comment on anything from voting to stakes to
pitch counts to ties to possible re-entry of players.

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Game Linescores...
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June 7:  Detroit 3 - Chicago White Sox 4
Starters:  DET: Verlander 6IP - CWS: Contreras 7IP
DET  001 100 100  3 9 0
CWS  001 101 10X  4 8 2
W: Contreras (6-0)
L: Verlander (7-4)
S: Jenks     (17)

June 8:  Detroit 6 - Chicago White Sox 2
Starters:  DET: Rogers 7IP - CWS: Garland 7IP
DET  002 004 000  6 10 0
CWS  200 000 000  2  6 1
W: Rogers  (8-3)
L: Garland (4-3)

June 9:  Detroit 5 - Toronto 10
Starters:  DET: Bonderman 6IP - TOR: Chacin 3IP
DET  002 021 000   5  8 0
TOR  101 000 08X  10 14 2
W: Frasor (2-1)
L: Jones  (0-4)

June 10:  Detroit 5 - Toronto 3
Starters:  DET: Miner 6IP - TOR: Lilly 8.2IP
DET  030 200 000  5 3 0
TOR  000 200 010  3 6 1
W: Miner (1-1)
L: Lilly (5-7)
S: Jones (17)

June 11:  Detroit 10 - Toronto 5
Starters:  DET: Robertson 5IP - TOR: Taubenheim 4.2IP
DET  100 025 020  10 12 0
TOR  010 012 100   5  9 0
W: Robertson  (6-3)
L: Taubenheim (0-3)
S: Zumaya     (1)

June 12:  Tampa Bay 3 - Detroit 4  F/13
Starters:  TBD: Kazmir 5IP - DET: Verlander 6IP
TBD  100 001 010 000 0  3  6 3
DET  000 000 102 000 1  4 12 1
W: Jones   (1-4)
L: Meadows (1-1)

June 13:  Tampa Bay 1 - Detroit 7
Starters:  TBD: McClung 4IP - DET: Rogers 8IP
TBD  000 000 010  1  4 1
DET  010 060 00X  7 11 0
W: Rogers  (9-3)
L: McClung (2-9)

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Readers Write In...
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Mike "The Doctor" Claus

This has been a depressing few games for Tigers fans,
as our boys seem to be searching for new and creative
ways to blow games. I want to enjoy the fact that
we're 16 games over .500, I really do. To distract
myself from being mad at the current team, I thought
about how far we've come.  So many years of watching
guys like Andres Torres patrol the outfield in
comical fashion. I present to you my all-time Tigers
lineup of guys who pissed me off. These dudes, for
whatever reason, brought my ire the most. Perhaps it
was poor defensive play, a propensity to strike out in
big situations, hell-maybe you were just ugly. I look
forward to your memories of the Tigers who,
thankfully, seem to be a thing of the past. 

Pitching Rotation:

Jose Lima- It was never, ever, Lima time. 
Jason Johnson- How overrated was that guy?
Hideo Nomo-If you're going to suck, at least spare us
the ridiculous motion. 

Bullpen:

Todd Jones - I dunno, it seemed that whenever I went
to a game, "Rollercoaster" would blow a save. 
Sean Runyan- Complete waste of a roster spot. 
Esteban Yan- Brutal. 

Lineup: 

C- Brandon Inge: I dunno, the team needed a catcher,
and Brandon was the only once I could think of who
really frustrated me. A default choice to be sure. 

1B- Tony Clark: I think O'Toole once dubbed him the
"Big K", because he ALWAYS struck out with the game on
the line. 

2B- Shane Halter: One of the team captains. He played
every position of the field-poorly. He couldn't hit,
couldn't field and couldn't run. The fact that he was
a psuedo-fan favorite really bugged me. A worthless
player. 

SS- Deivi Cruz: Slowest shortstop of all time. 

3B- Eric Munson: The other team captain, and my least
favorite player ever. 

LF- Juan Gonzales- Who knew toe injuries could be so
much trouble? His contract ruined the franchise. 

CF- Alex Sanchez- Talk about a bad arm. His OBP was
brutal, and the fact that he got caught with roids
means there can be no hesitation with this pick. 

RF- Bobby Higginson- A runaway pick. Immense contract
puts him in the Juan-Gone category, and though he was
a fan favorite at time, the guy loafed in the field. 

DH- Dean Palmer: I think it worked out that "Deano"
was paid something like 3 million dollars for each at
bat he had as a Tiger. Bum. 

Looking forward to O'Toole's list, who has a little
more experience than myself. 

Go Tigers!

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Brian "Clarence Carter" Vessell

Hey Toolie - I'd be interested in a baseball game
again this summer.  Most weekends are good for me. 
Hope to see you later. 

bv

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Nick "The Greek" Ciofani

Yes another baseball scandal!  Go Jason Grimsley! 
Hopefully he'll implicate the Tribe's bullpen, like
Mota.

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Toolie's Trashtalk...

Boy, did anybody see the end of that game in Toronto
on Friday?  After a great outing by Bonderman and an
inning of work by Joel Zumaya the Tigers went to the
pen in the 8th with a 5-2 lead.  Jamie Walker retired
the only batter he faced and in came Fernando Rodney. 
A homer, a single, and a walk later and it was time to
bring in the closer.  Jonesy faced four batters and
served up four straight hits.  Bobby Seay was next on
the list.  He surrendered two hits before inducing a
sac-fly and striking out the final batter of the
inning.  When all was said and done the Blue Jays had
posted a snowman.  To be fair, Jones and Rodney have
been pretty good since then.  Their combined five
innings of relief aided Monday's win over Tampa.  But
over the stretch of Yankees-Toronto Rodney's ERA went
up from 1.25 to 2.86 and Jones' increased from 3.12 to
6.96.  Yikes.

OK, nice post by Mike Claus so I'll have to roll off
my annoying Tigers. 

Rotation...
Dave Mlicki - toward the end you could always could on
Mlicki getting pounded.
Nate Cornejo - he looked goofy and he wasn't worth his
weight (which was a lot) on the mound.
Adam Bernero - had a great debut, but became as
worthless as Ben Petrick (the guy for whom he was
swapped).

Bullpen...
Franklyn German - ball 4!
Jose Paniagua - shut down the Tigers as a Mariner and
flopped in a Tiger uniform.
Seth Greisinger - this guy was supposed to be the next
stud for the Tigers.  Managed to get back on the team
(after a three-year recovery from surgery) and lasted
37.2 innings.  

Closer...
Todd Jones and Mike Henneman - Both of these guys have
caused Tiger fans some major grief.

C - Javier Cardona: when he was in I felt like the
Tigers had no chance. 

1B - Tony Clark: The only thing that puts up less of a
fight when it's all at stake is France.

2B - Damion Easley: the worst part was paying his
salary for years after we let go of him.

3B - Craig Paquette:  One of Randy Smith's last great
moves.  Unlike Polanco, this ex-Cardinal didn't help
the team one bit.

SS - Omar Infante / Ramon Santiago: The dynamic duo of
2003 combined for most of the games at shortstop and
produced little in the field or at the plate.  Now the
utility players, Omar and Ramon are excused for their
mediocrity.  

DH - Dean Palmer:  how much did we pay this guy?  He
parlayed a career of sub-.280 averages into big bucks
in Detroit (where he never hit above .262). 

OF - Juan Gonzalez: without question... though the
Tigers never signed him to a big contract (not that
they didn't try).

OF - Bobby Higginson:  just didn't produce to earn the
right to act as elitist as he did.  A real jerk, from
what I've heard.

OF - Rob Deer: In two years with Detroit he racked up
306 strikeouts.  His career high batting average was
.252.

So that's my list.  Players from Mike's list that I
liked (wouldn't put them on my list here) were 

Deivi Cruz - Deivi usually played well when I was in
attendance.  

Hideo Nomo - His one year in Detroit wasn't that bad,
and it was in the Tigers' "good" year of 2000.

Jose Lima - I love that guy.  He could go 0-30 and I'd
still be pumped for Lima Time!

I can't believe I didn't put Munson on the list.
 
The Mets turned a ridiculous double-play tonight in
the 9th.  Check out the play by David Wright.  This
guy is going to be a big star.

Big series with the Cubbies should sell out in
Chicago.  Friday's game (2:20 start) is on WGN only. 
At least they won't have the White Sox announcers on
(YYYYYYYYES!).  There is a deal on the Lake Express, a
ferry that runs between Milwaukee and Muskegon (my
hometown in west Michigan), where you get a round trip
and tickets to the Tigers game on the 21st.  It had
sold out by the time I called.  Rats.  

The Tigers seem to be back to their winning ways. 
It's a good thing since the Sox have also been taking
care of business.  The Tigers were close to losing the
best record in baseball but they've been able to hold
onto it.  Now they go after the NL Central in the long
stretch of interleague play.  Feel free to also
comment on that.  

I'm out.
 





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