Tigers Weekly 2007 Season

Week 12: 6/21/07 - 6/28/07

Interleague play has come to an end, and that means
that the All-Star Game is right around the corner. 
Three Tigers are in prime position to start for the
American League in San Francisco, but first they have
to take care of business on the current homestand. 
After dominating National League competition, going
8-1 on this current road trip, the Tigers returned
home and dropped two of three to the Rangers.  Things
don't get much easier, as the Tigers go through the
teeth of the American League.  Rolling into town first
are the Minnesota Twins.  Friday night will showcase
Johan Santana and Justin Verlander, two of the best
pitchers in the game.  The latter two games of the
series will again be nationally televised; Saturday on
FOX and Sunday night on ESPN.  

This week the Tigers traded Mike Maroth to the
Cardinals for a player to be named later.  More on
this below.  

Note:  There will be no Tigers Weekly next week as I
will be "on vacation."  The next Weekly is slated to
come out July 11.

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"Week" of 6/21 - 6/28

Record:  4-2  -WWWLL-W

Up Next for the Tigers...

June 29 - July 1  Minnesota
July 2            no game scheduled...
July 3-5          Cleveland 
July 6-8          Boston

AL Central Standings...
*** Standings As of 6/28 5:30 PM ***

DET  46 31 -
CLE  46 32 0.5
MIN  40 37 6
CWS  32 42 12.5
KCR  33 46 14

Tigers Division...

BOS  48 29 -
ANA  49 30 -
DET  46 31 2
CLE  46 32 2.5
MIL  46 32 2.5

Tigers News and Notes:  Kenny Rogers and Nate
Robertson both came off the DL this week.  To make
room for the starters, the Tigers began by trading
Mike Maroth to the Cardinals.  When Robertson
returned, Fernando Rodney was placed on the DL for the
second time this season.  Besides Maroth, Chad Durbin
was also taken out of the rotation and placed in the
bullpen, where he has been very good so far.  

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Tiger of the Week...
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Making a triumphant return to the rotation this week was Kenny Rogers. In his first start of the season, Rogers continued his scoreless ways of the 2006 playoffs by blanking the Braves for six innings. Thursday, Rogers finally surrendered a run in the sixth inning to the Rangers. At the start of 2006, many questioned the signing of Rogers, who received eight million dollars a year for two years. Aside from this injury, Rogers has been worth the price, as he has delivered in the regular season and in the post-season (an understatement), and is the only veteran on an otherwise very young pitching staff. The Gambler is back!

Also deserving of mention is Chad Durbin, who has excelled in the bullpen so far. If he can get outs he will be a welcome addition to a pen badly in need of help.

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Farewell, Mike Maroth...
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Tigers Weekly Baseball Game...
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The fourth Tigers Weekly Baseball Game was played this
Saturday in in Holt, Michigan.  The nine-inning game
was a success, with Team Agate notching its first win
of the series, 12-9.  We had players from as far as
Midland and Indianapolis play for The Weekly squad.

The day started at Okemos High School, but the field
was chalked and we figured that there was likely a
scheduled game there later in the day.  After some
looking around we decided to head back to the same
field we'd used for the previous three games.  

Agate pitcher Josh Tkaczyk worked through some shaky
defense in the first inning and shut The Weekly down
afterwards.  Joe "Schilling" Timmer pitched through a
bloody knee, but had to leave the game in the fifth
inning, as Agate took the lead.  A combination of good
hitting and shaky Weekly defense gave Agate a 10-6
lead.  The Weekly put up three runs in the seventh,
but Agate added two big runs in the 8th to ice it. 
The player of the game had to be Agate's third baseman
and leadoff hitter (whose name I don't know...
pictures and the scorebook could be up soon on the
website).  He made a great catch on a pop-up behind
third base, and I believe he got hits in his first
four at-bats.  

We're looking to play again this summer, so keep your
ears peeled.  

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Milestone...
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Frank "Big Hurt" Thomas hit his 500th career home run
Thursday in Minnesota.  He is the 21st person to join
that club.  

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MLB All-Annoying Team...
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This article courtesy of Chas "Grey Fox" Claus...

Kind of a throw-back to the 2004 Most Despicable
Baseball Person tournament, a writer at Fox Sports Net
has compiled an all-annoying team.  

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/6911856?MSNHPHCP>
1=10136

Note the high number of Yankees on the team.  Tigers
making his list are Sheffield and Rogers.  

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Poll Question...
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Who makes your All-Annoying team?  A few years ago I
had Mo Vaughn to kick around, but he's long gone.  I
think the guy that annoys me the most is A. J.
Pierzynski.  What a jerk.  

Looking that the above list, I don't really mind A-Rod
or Jeter... but the media attention they get does
drive me nuts.  I can see why Sheffield is on the
list.   

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Game Linescores...
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June 21:  no game scheduled...

June 22:  Detroit 5 - Atlanta 0
Starters:  DET: Rogers 6IP - ATL: Smoltz 6IP
DET  000 005 000  5 8 0
ATL  000 000 000  0 2 0
W: Rogers (1-0)
L: Smoltz (8-4)

June 23:  Detroit 2 - Atlanta 1
Starters:  DET: Verlander 7IP - ATL: Davies 6.1IP
DET  010 100 000  2 6 0
ATL  000 100 000  1 5 0
W: Verlander (9-2)
L: Davies    (3-7)
S: Jones     (18)

June 24:  Detroit 5 - Atlanta 0
Starters:  DET: Miller 6IP - ATL: James 5IP
DET  000 004 010  5 9 0
ATL  000 000 000  0 6 1
W: Miller (3-1)
L: James  (6-7)
S: Durbin (1)

June 25:  Texas 8 - Detroit 3
Starters:  TEX: Loe 7IP - DET: Bonderman 7IP
TEX  004 000 004  8 12 1
DET  100 000 101  3  8 1
W: Loe       (4-6)
L: Bonderman (8-1)

June 26:  Texas 9 - Detroit 6
Starters:  TEX: Eyre 4.2IP - DET: Robertson 5.1IP
TEX  000 001 503  9 11 0
DET  200 010 030  6  8 2
W: Otsuka (2-1)
L: Jones  (1-4)
S: Gagne  (8)

June 27:  game postponed due to rain: makeup Sept. 11

June 28:  Texas 2 - Detroit 5
Starters:  TEX: Millwood 6IP - DET: Rogers 6IP
TEX  000 001 010  2 7 0
DET  000 120 20X  5 6 0
W: Rogers   (2-0)
L: Millwood (4-7)
S: Jones    (19)

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Readers Write In...
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Ace "In The Hole" Hackenberg

Toolie:
Man, I've been chain-smokin' Marlboros every time Jim
goes to the pen. Like a scary movie, I don't want to
watch, as Fernando (the Slasher) Rodney and Todd (the
Heart Stopper) Jones enter the game. That's the only
thing Jonesy can stop, the hearts of the Tiger
faithful, not the Nats hitters. Pitiful.. How many
runs do we have to score to feel comfortable?
Eric Gagne, where art thou? He'd look good in the Olde
English 'D'.

Peace, Ace

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Toolie's Trashtalk...

One of the best things that is going for the Tigers
right now is the Cleveland Indians.  I think that it's
great to have another team really pushing you to
continue to succeed.  The rest of the American League
really isn't that far behind the Tigers, and an
elongated funk would put the Tigers back near the
bubble of the playoffs.  As it is, the Tigers and
Indians have both been playing well and keeping some
distance between themselves and the next tier of
teams.  The Mariners are a surprising nine games over
.500 and the Twins lurk, just six games back of
Detroit.  The Tigers have a chance in these next six
games to make a statement.  It's too bad, though, that
these games are at home.  While the Tigers are 19-16
at Comerica, they are a staggering 27-15 on the road. 


One of the teams NOT nipping on anyone's heels at the
moment are the New York Yankees.  Recently the Yanks
have been swept by the Rockies, dropped two of three
to the Giants, and are on the verge of being swept by
Baltimore.  How's Roger Clemen$ working out for you,
George?  So far The Rocket is looking like The
Challenger, sporting a 5.32 ERA and a 1-3 record. 
Looks like the Yankees should have been vying for Mike
Maroth.  He can do better than that!  

Todd Jones had a tough week... but what are you gonna
do?  With the bullpen in the shape it's in, Jones is
the man.  I love the way he handles himself, whether
things are good or bad.  I just wish they were good
more consistently.  

Should be nine good games at Comerica before the
All-Star break.  Today is the last day to vote online,
so if you have some time, throw some votes in the
direction of Placido, Pudge, and Magglio.  It would be
great to see three Tigers starting (possibly four if
someone like Verlander starts the game, which is
possible given the way the rotation is currently set
up).

http://www.mlb.com/mlb/events/all_star/y2007/
ballot_reg.jsp

That's all for a couple of weeks.  Enjoy the games.
 





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