Tigers Weekly 2007 Season

Week 5: 5/2/07 - 5/8/07

How 'bout those boys in blue?  For the first time in
2007 the Tigers notched a perfect week and have run
their winning streak to eight games.  The hot stretch
has left them nipping at the heels of the Cleveland
Indians for first place in the American League
Central.  The Tigers' games have continued to be
close, for the most part, meaning that a combination
of clutch hitting and a strong bullpen has been
responsible for the recent success.  Another factor
that may be pointed out is the recent strength (or
lack thereof) of schedule.  This winning streak has
come at the expense, mainly, of the Orioles and
Royals.  Two more games against Seattle and then the
difficulty level increases. The rest of May looks like
this:  

@ Minnesota
@ Boston
St. Louis
Anaheim
Cleveland
Tampa Bay
Cleveland

Adding to the difficulties is the injury to Joel
Zumaya.  The flame-throwing righty is expected to miss
twelve weeks while recovering from ligament surgery in
his finger.  Extended winning streaks will most likely
be tough to come by.  As Sho'nuff said at the end of
The Last Dragon,  "Play-time's over!"

New Subscriber...

"King" Richard Dougoud

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Week of 5/2 - 5/8

Record:  5-0  W-WWW-W

Undy-Five-Hundy:  Ha!

Up Next for the Tigers...

May 9-10   Seattle
May 11-13  @ Minnesota
May 14-17  @ Boston

AL Central Standings...

CLE  20 10 -
DET  20 11 0.5
MIN  17 15 3.5
CWS  14 15 5
KCR  10 23 11

Tigers Division...

MIL  23 10 -
BOS  21 10 1
CLE  20 10 1.5
DET  20 11 2
ATL  20 12 2.5
NYM  20 12 2.5

The Tigers Division consists of the Tigers plus the
two teams immediately ahead of and immediately behind
the Tigers.  It gives you an idea of what teams are
comparable to the Tigers.  The top team in the league
is also listed (in this case, Milwaukee... yes
Milwaukee).  

Tigers News and Notes:  Big news in the transaction
report this week.  First, Aquilino Lopez was sent
packing as Jose Mesa came off his DL stint.  The
demotion didn't last long for Lopez, as Joel Zumaya
sustained a finger injury the next day and Lopez was
back on the team before they left Kansas City.  With
Zumaya out, the Tigers will need to rely more heavily
on Fernando Rodney, Bobby Seay, and Jose Mesa to get
the ball to Todd Jones.  Seay has been the pleasant
surprise of the bullpen this year, and Mesa has been
better in years past than his performance so far would
have one believe.  The Tigers now have big holes in
the rotation (Kenny Rogers) and the bullpen (Zumaya). 
Let's hope they can handle it.

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Tiger of the Week...
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The Tigers won all of their games this week and no pitcher took the mound more than once. Todd Jones continued his so-far successful 2007 campaign by nailing down four saves in four attempts, and Gary Sheffield continues to raise his average and RBI total. This week the top Tiger is C-Mo, Craig Monroe. Craig is riding a six-game hitting streak that has raised his batting average from .193 to .243. Over that streak he has hit three home runs, scored nine times, and driven in nine. Last year Monroe was "Mr. Clutch." He hit several late-inning home runs (the one in New York comes to mind) and also had two in the World Series. It's taken a while for Monroe to get his bat going, but he, like the rest of the team, seems to be coming out of the April funk. He also made a sweet catch tonight in the ninth inning. The Tigers are as hot as they come right now, and C-Mo has been a catalyst of the surge.

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Bonderman's Bad First Innings...
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Here is a little recap of the runs (both earned and
unearned) that Jeremy Bonderman has surrendered and
how many of those runs were given up in the first
inning...

April 2 vs. Toronto:  3, 0 first inning
April 8 vs. Kansas City:  2, 1 first inning
April 13 vs. Toronto:  1, 1 first inning
April 18 vs. Kansas City:  1, 0 first inning
April 24 vs. Anaheim:  7, 4 first inning
April 30 vs. Baltimore: 4, 2 first inning
May 8 vs. Seattle: 5, 3 first inning

So that's 23 runs, 11 in the first inning.  Almost
half of the runs that he gives up are tacked on in the
first inning.  I remember that C.C. Sabathia of the
Indians once had a similar problem, but it seems like
I never hear of that anymore (maybe it's because the
Tigers don't ever play the Indians).  The first inning
is important because, obviously, it can set the tone
for a game.  If you consistently put your team in a
hole by allowing all these runs it gets tough to win
games.  Bonderman "earned" the win tonight to improve
to 2-0.  So far his record has lucked out with run
support, but Detroit is only 3-4 when Bonderman
starts.  I'm not yet too worried about this, but it is
cause for some concern.

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Toolie's Movie Reviews...
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This Sunday I had the experience of viewing the Keanu
Reeves flick "Hard Ball."  Unfortunately it wasn't
based on the old computer game I used to play at
neighbor Scott Garzelloni's house (Laws and Bautista
were unstoppable in that game). Here's what I thought
about this baseball-themed movie.  

WARNING!!! PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

In this film, Keanu is a ticket scalper and habitual
sports gambler.  The movie starts with him losing a
big bet and being threatened with a beat-down.  When
the bruisers come to give Keanu what's coming to him,
he informs them that "Nobody kicks my ass like
myself."  He then punches a car window John Kreese
style and runs himself into a bar window.  

After Reeves wakes up he has some bills to pay.  He
takes over coaching in a African American youth
baseball league to work off his debt.  Of course he
doesn't care, and things start off poorly.  Somehow
(without the aid of a training montage) the team gets
good, but their fortunes rise and fall with Keanu's. 
He has to deal with parents, street violence, bookies,
and Diane Lane who plays the boys' school teacher. 
Keanu's character is really random, making things a
bit difficult to follow.  

In the end the team wins the right to play in the
championship game, but after that game the street
violence boils over and one of the kids gets killed. 
It was actually a pretty moving sequence, and the kids
rise above it to play in the title game.  The movie
ends with the kids celebrating their victory (game
never shown). 

The best part of the 2001 movie was the cameo
appearance by... Tiger Stadium!  After quitting the
team, Keanu wins the kids back by taking them to their
first major league game, and Tiger Stadium was used to
film this scenes.  It's unmistakably the old ball
park, as evidenced by the dark blue siding and mesh
seats with the orange Olde English D.  At the game the
kids see Sammy Sosa and he gives them the old Sammy
Salute.  Sosa, if you missed it, is back in the majors
playing for the Rangers.  He has long since peaked,
but is closing in on 600 homers.  Keanu's career
peaked at Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure...

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Poll Question...
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As much as it annoyed me to see so much coverage of
the situation, I feel obligated to ask what people
think of the Roger Clemens situation.  If you missed
it, Clemens signed with the Yankees and will make
about 4.5 million dollars... PER MONTH... once he
starts to pitch.  What do you think this says about
Clemens and are situations like this good or bad (or
neutral) for the baseball world?

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Game Linescores...
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May 2:  Baltimore 2 - Detroit 3
Starters:  BAL: Trachsel 7IP - DET: Robertson 6.2IP
BAL  002 000 000  2 7 0 
DET  100 011 00X  3 9 0 
W: Robertson (3-1)
L: Trachsel  (1-3)
S: Jones     (10)

May 3:  no game scheduled...

May 4:  Detroit 6 - Kansas City 3
Starters:  DET: Verlander 7IP - KCR: Bannister 4.2IP
DET  200 040 000  6 11 0
KCR  000 000 030  3  9 1
W: Verlander (2-1)
L: Bannister (0-2)
S: Jones     (11)

May 5:  Detroit 7 - Kansas City 5
Starters:  DET: Maroth 5.2IP - KCR: Perez 6IP
DET  000 112 030  7 13 0
KCR  210 101 000  5  8 0 
W: Mesa      (1-1)
L: Duckworth (0-2)
S: Jones     (12)

May 6:  Detroit 13 - Kansas City 4
Starters:  DET: Durbin 7.2IP - KCR: Greinke 4IP
DET  060 003 400  13 17 0
KCR  000 000 022   4  8 0
W: Durbin  (2-1)
L: Greinke (1-4)

May 7:  no game scheduled...

May 8:  Seattle 7 - Detroit 9
Starters:  SEA: Ramirez 5.2IP - DET: Bonderman 6IP
SEA  300 101 020  7 10 0
DET  030 301 20X  9 14 0
W: Bonderman (2-0)
L: Ramirez   (2-2)
S: Jones     (13)

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Readers Write In...
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Nick "The Greek" Ciofani

Saw my first Tribe game of the year, and it was the
first game I ever saw played under "protest."  I was
looking at the scoreboard and turned to my wife and
said "when the did Baltimore get that extra run?" 
Here's the story below...

NEW YORK -- The Cleveland Indians' protest of their
7-4 loss to the Baltimore Orioles was denied by Major
League Baseball on Wednesday.
The Indians protested Saturday night's game after the
umpires awarded a run to the Orioles -- three innings
after initially waving it off.
MLB did not elaborate in announcing its decision. The
Indians submitted paperwork to MLB on Sunday.
The Orioles had taken a 2-1 lead in the third on
Miguel Tejada's RBI single. With one out and Nick
Markakis on third base and Tejada at first, Ramon
Hernandez hit a sinking liner to center field.
Cleveland's Grady Sizemore made a diving catch, popped
up and threw to first in time to get Tejada for an
inning-ending double play. Markakis, however, tagged
up and scored well before Tejada was out at first.
Baltimore's run should have counted, but it was
disallowed by plate umpire Marvin Hudson and the
inning ended with the Orioles up 2-1, not 3-1.
Three innings later veteran umpire Ed Montague called
scorekeeper Chad Broski and told him to add a run for
the Orioles, giving them a 3-2 lead. Indians manager
Eric Wedge protested the game, arguing the run can't
be counted later.
"I don't blame Eric for protesting the call since it
was our screwup," Montague said. "But we can't take
away a run on my screwup. Eric was great about it. He
understood, but he had to protest."

Also, the best city for sports right now is CLEVELAND!
-1st Place Tribe
-Cavs just completed their first sweep in a playoff
series...EVER
-The Browns had an awesome draft...Go Brady Quinn!

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Chas "Grey Fox" Claus

Semi-Anonymous Reader, Chas Claus

1. I confess to being the reader who questions
Zumaya's current value.  I would like to clarify that
I have not said (or didn't mean to say) that he 
is "not good."  I do, however, feel that he is "vastly
overrated."  I don't question the man's talent or
upside.  I do not want to trade him or 
consider him the second coming of Nate Cornejo.  I
just have a problem with (1) the fact that he
routinely throws four consecutive pitches at 100+ MPH
and all four will be balls, (2) the fact that when
these incidents happen Mario, Rod, and a whole lot of
fans talk with awe and reverence about how fast he 
threw them instead of the fact that none was close to
the strike zone.  It reminds me of when NBC announcers
would talk about Ron Powlus' arm strength 
when he overthrew a receiver by 20 yards.  Last season
in a comparable amount of innings, Zumaya walked four
times as many batters as the out-of-control Todd
Jones.  It's a statistical fact and it bugs me.  I
hope that he gets better and turns into Nolan Ryan, I
don't want to trade him, etc.  All I'm saying is that
if I'm up one in the bottom of the ninth and need
three outs, I'm hoping to see Jones or Ledezma or
Grilli (right now) than Zumaya.

2. In response to the Q-of-the-Week, I truly believe
that Detroit fans are at the head of the list of those
who "have it best."  This is particularly 
true of people my age - Detroit fans under 30 years
old have conscious memory of a World Series title (and
another appearance), three NBA titles, three Stanley
Cups, a NCAA football title for UMich and NCAA
basketball & hockey titles for both UMich and MSU.

In terms of other legitimate arguments...

NEW YORK obviously has the widest selection in the
sports buffet.  You've got multiple teams in three of
the four major sports, but how many NY fans really
love all seven of these teams?  Usually you love one
and hate the other, which cancels out some of the city
unity.  You also have the tragedy of having lost
beloved franchises such as the Dodgers & baseball 
Giants.  Also, the Knicks are laughably bad & have
been for awhile.

BOSTON has had a lot of recent success.  All of their
pro teams other than the Bruins have won titles in the
past 20 years or so.  Other than the Pats, 
their pro franchises are all "classic" franchises
within their sport.  Still, no significant college
teams in the area is a mark against them.

CHICAGO suffers from the same problem as NY: division
of city fans among the Sox & Cubs undermines the
ability of the city to unify behind their squad.  
The Sox are good & nobody cares.  The Cubs stink and
everyone loves them.  Both sets of fans resent each
other.  Also, the Black Hawks have been run into the
ground to such an extent that this once-proud NHL
franchise is a laughingstock.  For me, a decent NHL
franchise is a must.

LOS ANGELES has a bunch of teams (depending on how Al
Davis feels that week) but sports are sort of a
backdrop to the rest of the city.  Hollywood 
upstages the sporting world & sport becomes
trivialized in a way that doesn't happen in the
midwest.  You just always get the impression that 
nobody there really cares about the game so much as
seeing & being seen (Jack Nickelson at Lakers games /
Snoop Dogg at USC games / etc.)

In terms of more off-the-wall choices where I could
stand to be a fan & get into their teams, I think that
Pittsburgh (all teams/same colors is cool) 
and St. Louis top my list.  This is due in part to the
fact that they do NOT have NBA teams.  I also wouldn't
mind Philadelphia, San Diego or Washington 
D.C.  Cities (with several teams) where I would least
like to live & be a fan: Denver, Minneapolis, Tampa
Bay, Phoenix or Atlanta.

3. Some folks say that the MSU Math Department "rolls
hard."  I say they "ain't sheeeiiittt!"

Chas

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Toolie's Trashtalk...

Great to see the Tigers winning all their games.  You
can't ask for much more, except perhaps that the
pitchers stay healthy!  All of this Zumaya discussion
has been fun, but I think we can agree that the team
will likely suffer some from his absence.  

The Tigers 13-4 win over the Royals this Sunday was so
lopsided that even Neifi got into the act!  Perez, who
started for Placido Polanco (day off) and hit ninth,
swatted his first homer of the season, drove in four
runs, and scored twice.  Losing by nine runs is never
fun, but when Neifi gets his stats going against you
it's just salt in the wound.  It wasn't until a couple
of years ago that I started to appreciate the value of
the utility infielders.  A guy like Perez is what your
team needs.  He'll play good defense when called upon
(this is more important by far) and every once in a
while you get nice production.  It may be discouraging
to attend a game and see his name penciled into the
lineup, but these guys are absolutely necessary cogs
in the machine that has to operate 162 games per year.
We may give guys like Neifi the business, but their
contributions to the team are significant.  

Ah, it will be nice to get to my second game of the
year (Thursday: Justin Verlander vs. Jeff Weaver). 
Weaver has been pretty generous with runs so far, but
he did a real number on the Tigers in last year's
World Series.  I'm hoping it's payback time. 
Verlander gets a chance to redeem himself after
flopping against the Twins the last time I was there. 
There's been talk about making an "MSU Math Loves Rod
Allen" sign.  Keep an eye out for us.  

Time to check out for this week.  Let the good times
continue!

I'm out.
 





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Play Ball!

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