Tigers Weekly 2007 Season

Week 11: 6/14/07 - 6/20/07

Ahhh, the blessed interleague season... when an AL
team's record inflates.  Finally the Tigers are
playing games in NL stadiums, and the perceived
advantage the NL teams would have has been negligible.
After winning their series in Philadelphia, the
Tigers stormed the nation's capitol like it was 1814,
pounding out 41 hits en route to their second
interleague sweep.  The week puts the Tigers at an
11-4 interleague record with a weekend series with the
Braves to close things out.  Last chance to see those
pitchers bat (until October, of course).  

This Saturday is the annual Tigers Weekly Baseball
game (with possible additional games this year in July
and beyond).  It will be played at 10:30AM at Okemos
High School.  The weather looks to be cool and dry. 
Perfect!  If you are a last-minute add to the event,
let me know and I'll give you more details.

New Subscribers...

Ben "Garden State" Wilensky

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Week of 6/14 - 6/20

Record:  5-2  LWLWWWW

Up Next for the Tigers...

June 21-23  @ Atlanta
June 24-27  Texas
June 28-30  Minnesota

AL Central Standings...

CLE  42 29 -
DET  42 29 -
MIN  36 34 5.5
CWS  29 39 11.5
KCR  29 44 14

Tigers Division...

BOS  46 25 -
ANA  46 27 1
CLE  42 29 4
DET  42 29 4
SDP  41 30 5
ARI  42 31 5

Tigers News and Notes:  The bullpen shiffle continues
in the Motor City.  Yorman Bazardo traded places with
Eulogio de la Cruz, as the latter gets his first
action of the year with Detroit.  Kenny Rogers will
pitch his first game of the year this Friday in
Hot-lanta.  The first trade of the year saw the Tigers
deal Wil Ledezma to the Braves for another left-handed
reliever, Macay McBride.  The move seems to be related
to the fact that McBride has minor league options
remaining, where Ledezma does not.  McBride is a
left-handed specialist; perhaps he'll be used in a
Jamie Walker-type role.  There may be more moves soon,
as Leyland alludes to in the article.  

http://detroit.tigers.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=
20070620&content_id=2038834&vkey=news_det&fext=.jsp
&c_id=det

Ledezma was a nice part of the pitching mix, but I'm
not crushed over the trade.  He showed flashes of
being a good starter at times, but when inserted into
the role for long stretches he struggled.  Best wishes
to Wil for his future.  Gotta have faith in
Dombrowski.

-----------------------------------------------------
Tiger of the Week...
-----------------------------------------------------

Magglio Ordonez continues to light up the skies with his hot bat. Magglio hit .560 this week to bump his average to a league-leading .383, but he's not the Tiger of the Week. Surpassing Magglio's great week is fello Venezuelan Carlos Guillen. The Tigers shortstop, who missed a short stretch of time with hamstring problems, is showing little effects of playing through the pain. Guillen racked up three homers and nine RBIs while hitting .455. The ability for Guillen to stay healthy is a big concern, and it is vital to the club's success. Take out Guillen and you have to replace him with either Perez or Infante. Neifi is batting below .200 and Infante, who to his credit is having a decent season offensively, has never thrived as an everyday player. We all saw how the team was affected by the loss of Placido Polanco down the stretch last season. The addition and emergence of Guillen remains one of the key moves that propelled the Tigers to their present status as an elite club (I'm still not used to that).

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Back from the Brink...
-----------------------------------------------------

This one's for Michelle Phillips:  

Adam Pettyjohn, former relief pitcher for the Tigers,
is almost back to the Major League.  In 2001,
Pettyjohn was found to have colitis and it took a big
bite out of him.  The pitcher lost 65 pounds and had
to have his colon removed.  Upon his recovery, he was
eventually released by the Tigers but is now pitching
for Milwaukee's AAA team.  One night at a game,
Pettyjohn ackowledged a group of us (Ms. Phillips
included) who cheered for him as he warmed up in the
bullpen.  

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070619&
content_id=2035865&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

It's a good article.  An excerpt:

---

"I tell people this whole ride has been a blessing,"
he said. "And sometimes people look at you like you're
crazy. I always say, I didn't ask 'Why me?' when I was
in the big leagues, so how can I ask 'Why me?' now? It
represents what we can go through and what we can
bounce back from."

---

Pettyjohn wasn't around with the Tigers for too long,
but a comeback story like this one is nice to see.  

-----------------------------------------------------
All-Star Voting...
-----------------------------------------------------

Time is running out to vote for your 2007 All-Stars. 
The Tigers currently have some good representataion at
the top of the lists.  Placido Polanco and Pudge
Rodriguez lead the voting at 2B and C, though Robinson
Cano and a trio of catchers (Posada, Varitek, and
Mauer) are nipping at their heels.  Ortiz, Jeter, and
A-Rod appear to be locks at their positions; Carlos
Guillen is in second place, but trails Jeter by about
1,000,000 votes!  Magglio Ordonez is currently fourth
in AL outfield voting, though he's clearly having the
best season thus far among AL outfielders.  Magglio
trails Vlad Guerrero, Manny Ramirez, and Ichiro
Suzuki.  Suzuki is third in votes and leads Magglio by
about 70,000.  Ramirez is also within striking
distance.  Looking at the numbers it seems that Tiger
fans are out there voting. 

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070619&
content_id=2035977&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb
#ballotResults

You can vote online at http://www.mlb.com up to 25
times.  I did my part (I'm sure you can weasel some
more votes with alternate e-mail addresses), and you
should take the time to try and get Placido, Pudge,
and Magglio elected starters.  If they do not win the
votes, the Tigers are still sure to be well
represented anyway given that Leyland will pick the
reserves.  One injustice is that Curtis Granderson,
who is having a fine season, doesn't even appear on
the ballot!  This is because each team gets three
outfielders and somebody made the decision that Gary
Sheffield and Craig Monrode would be on the ballot
along with Ordonez.  Whatever, I gave Curtis some
write-in votes.  Still, he isn't even in the top
fifteen in outfield votes.  I also encourage people to
consider Prince Fielder for the 1B spot in the NL. 
Albert Pujols is having a sub-par year and Fielder is
within striking distance at second place.  Another
interesting note is that Barry Bonds is only fourth in
voting.  If Bonds is not voted as a starter, it will
be interesting to see if Tony LaRussa selects Bonds
for the game which is to be played in San Francisco. 
I'm betting he would.

-----------------------------------------------------
Milestone...
-----------------------------------------------------

Slammin' Sammy Sosa launched his 600th career homer
this week.  The setting could not have been more
perfect for Sosa, who homered at home against his
long-time team, the Cubs.  Sosa is the fifth player in
history to hit 600 homers (joining Aaron, Bonds, Ruth,
and Mays).  Now all the talk about Sosa's Hall of Fame
status has rejuvenated.  Many think that he will
receive similar treatment as Mark McGwire, who was not
inducted in his first year of eligibility.  An open
topic of discussion this week is your feelings on Sosa
as a Hall of Famer.    

-----------------------------------------------------
Poll Question...
-----------------------------------------------------

Which Tigers do you think deserve to go to the
All-Star game this year?  With Jim Leyland coaching
the American League, he will be able to take pretty
much any of the players that he wants.  Who do you
think can/will be going to San Francisco?    

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Game Linescores...
-----------------------------------------------------

June 14:  Milwaukee 6 - Detroit 5
Starters:  MIL: Sheets 5.2IP - DET: Durbin 3.2IP
MIL  010 121 010  6 13 1
DET  000 030 002  5 12 1
W: Sheets     (7-3)
L: Durbin     (5-3)
S: F. Cordero (24)

June 15:  Detroit 12 - Philadelphia 8
Starters:  DET: Bonderman 6IP - PHI: Lieber 5IP
DET  020 054 100  12 14 0
PHI  200 011 220   8 13 2
W: Bonderman (7-0)
L: Lieber    (3-5)

June 16:  Detroit 3 - Philadelphia 6
Starters:  DET: Miller 6IP - PHI: Moyer 7IP
DET  011 000 001  3  7 1
PHI  101 011 11X  6 10 0
W: Moyer  (6-5)
L: Miller (2-1)

June 17:  Detroit 7 - Philadelphia 4
Starters:  DET: Verlander 6IP - PHI: Eaton 6.1IP
DET  100 000 510  7 12 0
PHI  011 001 010  4 12 0
W: Verlander (8-2)
L: Geary     (1-2)
S: Jones     (17)

June 18:  Detroit 9 - Washington 8
Starters:  DET: Maroth 5IP - WAS: Chico 4IP
DET  020 160 000  9 11 1
WAS  010 004 003  8 13 1
W: Maroth (5-2)
L: Chico  (3-5)

June 19:  Detroit 15 - Washington 1
Starters:  DET: Durbin 6IP - WAS: Simontacchi 3IP
DET  304 500 012  15 17 1
WAS  000 010 000   1  6 0
W: Durbin (6-3)
L: Simontacchi (4-5)

June 20:  Detroit 8 - Washington 4
Starters:  DET: Bonderman 5IP - WAS: Bacsik 5IP
DET  100 205 000  8 13 1
WAS  000 300 100  4  9 1
W: Bonderman (8-0)
L: S. Rivera (1-2)

-----------------------------------------------------
Readers Write In...
-----------------------------------------------------

Paula "Nutt" Bottinelli

Hi, Matt...Just to let you know that Bob and I enjoyed
your creative response to the no-hitter by
Verlander.....I still maintain that if you can't
support Lia in the math field, you can always become
Ray Barone II.....ha.  Have a good one!
love, Paula B

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Mike "Colonel" Kopec

Toolio,

I offer visual evidence, courtesy of the 2006 Houston
Astros, to support Rocky Top's explanation of
Chick-Fil-A promotions.  Yes, indeed, they did.

Colonel



-----------------------------------------------------

Anthony "Ferny" Morano

Ferny's Top 5 Tiger memories
5. Cecil hitting HR over Left Field Roof
5a Chet lemon's  jerry curl/afro haircut in 80's

4. Jose canseco hitting hr in old tigers stadium
that traveled 1/2 way up center field bleachers
(it was 440' to cf wall)
4a. all the fan fights in the old bleacher section
all time fan ejection record vs blue jays

3. Rob Deer, Mickey Tettleton, and Pete Incaveglia
striking out 1,000 x in a season. At least they used
to unbutton their jersey half way down to look tough!

2. 1984 tigers world series win
2a. Barbaro (not the horse) Garbay 

1a. Robert Fick (Cal St Northridge) hitting last hr
(grand slam) in tigers stadium last home game
and all the flash bulbs going off

#1 Ernie Harwell

-----------------------------------------------------

Nick "The Greek" Ciofani

Congrats on a no hitter. In 1990, Dave Stieb no hit my
Cleveland Indians, and I was lucky enough to have seen
it.  I remember thinking why is everyone even Indians
fans clapping at the end of the game, and my dad told
me "because you just witnessed history."  I'll never
forget that, congrats Justin.

-----------------------------------------------------

Derek "Clone" Muller

Top 5 moments (all but one were games I attended):

5. June 18, 2006 - Tigers 12, Cubs 3 - watching Kenny
Rogers go 8 dominant innings and seeing 8 Tigers
homers (a leadoff by Granderson, 3 in the 1st inning
alone, and 3 by Shelton) made for an amazing game, and
it was a sign of things to come. 

4. July 22, 1993 - Royals 12, Tigers 6 - future Tigers
Rookie of the Year Chris Gomez notched up his first
major league hit, lacing a triple to the right field
corner, in the Kitties' losing effort.  As a kid
anxious to find a hero to replace the aging and
nearing retirement Alan Trammell, my hopes this warm
summer night were revived.  This is my only
non-at-the-game top-5 memory, because it epitomized
the late summer nights listening to Ernie Harwell's
voice when I should have been asleep. 

3. June 22, 1987 - Tigers 2, Jays 0 - first ballgame,
with my dad, my grandpa, and my brother.  Tanana with
a great W.  What more could you want at the Corner?

2. May 22, 2002 - Tigers 2, Indians 0 - Jeff Weaver
takes a no-hitter into the 8th before Craig Paquette
misplays a ball hit to right by AAA call-up Chris
Magruder.  Emily's first game, and a dandy. 

1. October 14, 2006, ACLS Game 4 - Tigers 6, A's 3 -
no question that watching the Bengals capture the
pennant was the Tigers highlight of my young life.  It
got scary when Royal Oak native Jason Grilli walked
'em full in the 8th, but I had faith.  What a game.

------------------------------------------------------

Chas "Grey Fox" Claus

Grey Fox, on the prowl...

These stories are a bit late, but I've been up north &
without communication.  I beg the readers'
forgiveness.  Also, my attempts at brevity are
perpetually futile, and I give the Editor full
permission to cut me down to size�

On Saturday the 9th, I headed to my fifth Tigers game
of the year as a part of some bachelor party
festivities (another highlight of which was 
playing whiffle ball in the parking lot of a storage
center).  The day was a hot one, but novely-sized
margaritas and occasional drenching downpours 
from the center field fountain made standing room
semi-tolerable.  The Mets took an early lead on a
Beltran single, stolen base, and two-base error that
was charged to Pudge on the throw, but at least one 
base of which was Infante's fault for assuming that 
Beltran would only go to third and not hustling after
the ball in center.  The Tigers took a 3-1 lead on a
Carlos Guillen homer in the bottom half of the first,
and the score remained at that mark until the fifth,
when the teams scored two runs each.  The Tigers
piled up an 8-3 lead going into the 7th, whereupon
the bullpen did it's usual languishing, as Bazardo, 
Ledezma, Rodney and Jones scraped by with an 8-7 win.

Perhaps a bigger highlight than the game itself was
the series of celebrity sightings during and after the
game.  Somewhere around the 5th inning, we looked
about 20 feet to our right and saw an unlikely combo
of Chris Chelios (wearing a Tigers hat) and Bobby
Higginson (wearing no Tigers gear at all).  As the
margaritas had gone to work on many members of our
group by then, they chanted "Bobby! Bobby!" until he
acknowledged them, and then turned to "Cheli! Cheli!"
until his acknowledgement.  Due to other commitments,
I went straight home after the game, but other members
of the crew who went out later ran into Barry Sanders,
who responded to their rambunctious greetings 
and demands for photos with a pitiable request of,
"can we make this quick?"

On Thursday the 14th, I was back in the "D" and was
looking to bring my record to .500 for the season. 
Figuring that the matinee 1pm start on a weekday would
mean plentiful tickets was a terrible assumption on
our part, as we were forced to choose between the most
expensive sections in the stadium and SRO.  We decided
to spend $40 for seats right behind the plate, which
was very cool since (a) we could see movement on
pitches, (b) we had the opera-singing vendor "Charlie"
right next to us, and (c) we could actually make out
the architectural strain that Prince Fielder puts on 
the buttons of his jersey. Ben "Dee-troit Ain't"
Sheets pitched very well and ultimately earned his
seventh win of the year.  Meanwhile, the Brew Crew 
scored 1 in the 2nd, 1 in the 4th, and 2 in the 5th,
staking Sheets to a 4-0 lead.  Through the later
innings, the Tigers eventually came back and put 5 
on the board, but Milwaukee also scored two more and
held on to win, 6-5.

This game was a frustrating one for me, and not just
because I sunburned to the point of blistering.  Craig
Monroe cemented his spot as my least-favorite Tiger
and put on a clinic in the very thing I've 
complained about repeatedly in this publication -
namely his lack of situational hitting.  Despite
having several at-bats with RISP and two outs, and 
even having 0-2 and 1-2 counts against him, he
repeatedly swung for the statues and repeatedly missed
badly.  The crowd was booing him pretty roundly 
after he struck out swinging for the 3rd time in the
6th inning.  He responded by striking out swinging
with a man on 3rd to end the 7th, and then striking 
out swinging with the tying run at 3rd in the 9th. 
Despite being 5-3, Chad Durbin is also very
frustrating, as only got 8 outs (one for every hit 
he gave up) before being pulled.  The bullpen was
mediocre at best - Ledezma was terrible, Byrdak was
good, Grilli was poor, Seay faced one batter, and 
Jones was fine.

An interesting pre-game incident concerned the flock
of seagulls which The Editor mentioned in the previous
issue - just prior to first pitch, some
ground-crew-types went out into right and left field
and shot off some very loud, whistling rockets.  We
initially couldn't figure out what the heck was going
on, but they appeared to be trying to scare the birds
off the field (and, surprisingly, were pretty 
successful - very few gulls remained for the rest of
the game).

Besides the concerns I have about Craig Monroe,
seagulls, and the bullpen, there are a couple of other
major worries that I must mention...  First, my
personal record this season fell to a paltry 2-4 on
the year.  For a team that is 10 games over .500, this
is a bad sign.  Granted I have seen 3 Durbin starts,
but even he is over .500.  I have two more dates on 
the schedule within the next 15 days, but if the trend
doesn't turn around, I might have to send myself back
to the minors.  Second, and more importantly, I'm
concerned about the physical conditioning of Cuppy
Coffee.  In the four games I've attended at the CoPa,
Dashing Donut has 3 wins and Biggie Bagel 1.  Cuppy
has not only finished last EVERY time, but finished
last by A LOT, gasping for air and barely able to
finish.  I, for one, thing that it's time that Cuppy
retired.  It's time for the franchise to look to the
future and bring up one of its minor league prospects
so that we can see what they can do - perhaps
all-American boy Johnny Juice, Latin superstar Carlos
Coolatta, or the "Babe Ruth of the Far East" Chai Ti.

Here's my quick list in response to the QOTW...

It's tough for me to make a legitimate top 5 list
because it's tough to weight live experiences against
those only witnessed on TV.  Does a memory of a
semi-important moment seen live outweigh an amazing
moment witnessed on television at home or on the 
radio alone? In my book it definitely does, so here
is my list:

1. [ALCS Game 4] - Magglio hit that walk-off, and I
was there in the pandemonium.  It was a no-doubter
from the moment it left the bat and since we were in
SRO, we had ample opportunity to run around like
idiots.  I hugged both friends and complete strangers
and then went out on the town.  I'm not sure what it
would take to top that moment, but it would have to be
too unrealistic for even Disney to make a movie about
it.

2. [Tiger Stadium's Last Game] - thanks to John and
Dan Simpson I was there (as was the Editor of this
fine publication).  Robert Fick had the stadium's 
last hit - a grand slam off the right field roof. 
When it was over, they hauled out the all-time team to
overwhelming cheering.  Old men were crying and nobody
wanted to leave.  I still miss the old gal, but that
was a proper way to go.

3. [World Series Game 2] - though the WS was largely a
bitter memory for most fans, attending game two,
courtesy of Dan Stevens, was a total blast.  The
experience was marred a bit by "pine-tar-gate" but the
Tigers won their first World Series game since 1984
and I was sitting in a free $225 seat to enjoy it.

4. [ALDS Game 4] - beating the Yankees is always fun,
much moreso when beating them ends their season. 
A-Rod was playing so badly he batted 8th.  He, Damon,
Jeter, Abreu, Sheff, Matsui, Posada, etc, etc, etc,
only managed 3 runs and the most overrated, overpaid
lineup in the history of the league was shut down.  I
was there with my brother Mike, reveling in the fall 
of the Evil Empire, and then partying on the roof of
Cheli's into the wee hours of the morning.

5. [ALDS Game 3] - again this vote is mainly on the
strength of being there for a playoff win against the
Yankees.  The Editor was there with me, as were
several other beloved friends and relatives.  Kenny
Rogers was brilliant, scattering 5 hits over 7.2
scoreless innings.  Awesome.

Honorable mention:
- Verlander's no-hitter last week
- Cecil Fielder's 50th home run
- 1984 World Series, only I was 5 years old and don't
remember much of it.  In fact, I know much more about
1968 than about 1984
- July 4, 2003 - Detroit at KC when Baseball Road Trip
painted their chests to cheer for the Tigers on the
road during the 119 loss season
- The Editor demanding that several of us participate
in a "Lima, Lima" chant just before LimaTime gave up a
monster blast to the Red Sox
- Mike and Chuck Claus openly booing Eric Munson just
as he hit the longest home run in the history of the
stadium to win the game in extra innings
- lots of opening days during my college years, thanks
to John & Dan Simpson

------------------------------------------------------

Josh "Bilbo" Bilsborrow

While we're on the subject of A-Rod, I dug up a little
snippet from Matt's Tiger's Weekly during the playoffs
last year concerning everybody's favorite 
Yankee. 

"I don't want to wake a sleeping giant, but A-Rod
continues to struggle in October. After a lackluster
Game One that was masked by the Yankees' 8-4 win,
Rodriguez was 0 for 4 with three strike-outs.  The
first was the worst as he watched strike three go by
(like the house by the side of the road) with the
bases loaded in the first inning and two outs.  Keep
it up, big spender!" 

Also, once the Yankees bought Roger Clemens and
actually strung together more than one victory, the
pundits were wildly talking about Boston and Detroit
needing to look behind their backs as the resurgent
Yanks look to capture either the division or the wild
card. 

We can only assume the pundits believe the Central
Division race to be over, with Cleveland winning, even
though at the time they were only one game 
ahead of Detroit. We also can assume that no pundit
possibly thinks the wild card in the AL could come out
of the West, even though second place Oakland 
AND third place Seattle have better records than the
Yankees. Hell, the Minnesota Twins AND Toronto Blue
Jays almost have better records than the Yankees. 

To recap, I hate the pundits, especially when they
joystick the likes of the Yankees, Lebron James, and
the Patriots. 

-----------------------------------------------------

Justin "Naniboujou" Carroll

Tigers' Weekly? More like Tigers' mystery, the way
Verlander be throwin' that ball, son.  Now, it is
true, Verlander is good and all, but Barry Bonds 
is a role model for the children.  I mean, seriously?
Barry Bonds breaks records.  Pure and simple. 

I don't believe in asterix. I nevered used one, and I
never will.  I do the finger quote thingy. It works
for me, just like steriods worked for Bonds.  You just
do what you know, you know? 

And on a personal note, not to get preachy or
anything, I think they should fire all of the Tigers
(except Inge) and hire Barry Bonds, A-Rod, Ken 
Griffey Jr., Marc McGuire, Sammy Sosa, a direct
decendent of Babe Ruth,
 
Dwight Gooden (pre-crack), Ichiro, and bring along the
frozen body of Ted Williams and call it a team. 

Hell, I'll manage it.  I just won't wear the jersey.
I'll wear khakis - - relaxed fit. 

-----------------------------------------------------

Toolie's Trashtalk...

Quite a week for the Tigers.  The hot bats continue to
mask the pitching woes, and the precious victories
continue to accumulate.  The wins in June are the same
as the ones in September, and if the Tigers are to
ward off the imposing Yankees, as the analysts wailed
about this week, then they need to get wins while the
gettin's good.  The Yanks, by the way, were just swept
in Colorado.  We should see some return to the Tigers
we're used to as Kenny Rogers starts on Friday night
and Nate Robertson is close to being back.  That will
leave a big question as to who will be taken out of
the rotation: Andrew Miller, Chad Durbin, Mike Maroth,
and even Robertson are candidates for bullpen duty or
assigment (in Miller's case).  Any thoughts on which
two of these pitchers deserve to remain in the
rotation?  I'd like to see Nate and Mike pick things
up and keep their spots.  Though his record is
impressive, I still don't trust Durbin.  Miller is
still a first-year player and it may not be the best
thing to make him a huge part of this club.  I could
be wrong, though.  He has impressed in his three
starts this year.  

Looking at some hitting notables:  Mike Maroth and
Jeremy Bonderman represented the pitchers well at the
plate.  Bonderman scratched out an infield hit in
Philly and Maroth smoked a double that one-hopped off
the wall in Washington.  In both cases, the position
players were seen having a good laugh.  I remember
once in 2005 where Jason Johnson hit a solo home-run
and then went on to lose the game 3-1.  Those were the
days... thanks for the support!  Ugh, take a look at
this lineup and give thanks for the offense we are
spoiled by this year.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/LAN/
LAN200506080.shtml

Sean Casey got the monkey off his back with his first
home run of the year Tuesday night in Washington.  I
didn't see it, but the guys in the dugout gave him the
silent treatment, as a joke, when Casey returned.  Big
kids are all that these guys are.

Lots of good reading this week, thanks to you all. 
One of my favorite parts about The Weekly is being
able to spread these hilarious stories.  Keep 'em
coming!  

Bobby Higginson watching a game in the stands?  That
has to be weird for Higgy.  I would think that the
organization treats him pretty well, though there was
that whole stewardess scandal in which I believe he
was involved.  He was the face of the organization for
a long time.  I wonder how much total 

My top five memories that I witnessed personally:

5. 1997: Trip with my dad and friend Jason Werner
where we saw the Tigers beat the Mets twice.  Just a
great two days of guys and baseball.  Higginson hits
four home runs in four consecutive official at-bats.

4. 1991: Tigers lose to Blue Jays 4-2 (another me &
dad trip).  The first two hitters for Toronto homer,
and Bill Gullickson follows that up by drilling Joe
Carter in the head.  Benches cleared and Gully got the
boot.  Later, Morgana made an appearance. 

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/DET/
DET199108180.shtml

3. 2003: Getting to meet some Tigers (Brandon Inge,
Matt Roney) and Twins (Johan Santana, Luis Rivas)
after a game in August.

2. 2006: ALDS Game Three where Kenny Rogers DOMINATED!

1.  1999: Last game at Tiger Stadium: that electricity
has never been duplicated at any other sporting event.
Fick's grand slam sent the place into a furor.  

Two weeks until the All-Star break.  The Tigers should
be well-represented.  I'm hoping the second half will
bring healthier pastures.  The team has really done a
nice job of playing through the injuries.  After a
while, though, those chinks in the armor take their
toll.  An apple a day... or two packs, I suppose, if
you're Jim Leyland.  

I'm out.
 





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