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The long wait is over. After almost two months of
baseball the Tigers will finally play the Cleveland
Indians. The two teams that most experts picked to
finish at the top of the division will square off for
three games at Comerica Park, play another series, and
then come back the next weekend for a four-game battle
royale at The Jake. Accentuating the electricity of
these games will be the ongoing NBA Eastern Conference
Finals which is pitting the Pistons against the Cavs.
If only these two cities could have a meaningful
football rivalry.
The Tigers have played well so far through this tough
stretch of games. The sweep over the Cardinals was
much needed, and you might say necessary. With the
American League Central still far superior to any
divison in the NL (or the AL for that matter), the
Tigers need to pound the competition from the senior
circuit. The main course of interleague this season
is the NL East, which consists of the legit Mets (sans
Mo Vaughn), the surprising Braves, and a trio of
also-rans. A ridiculous interleague record will
probably be necessary just to keep pace with the rest
of the pack.
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Week of 5/17 - 5/23
Record: 4-3 (LL)WWW-LW
Undy-Five-Hundy: Thankfully it looks like the
services of the Undy-Five-Hundy will not be required
for a second straight year. I was a little worried
that the Tigers might fall flat in the early part of
the season and that might lead to a bad year. Eleven
games over is a great start, and there doesn't seem to
be any signs of slowing down.
Up Next for the Tigers...
May 24 Anaheim ***Ernie Harwell on FSN***
May 25-27 Cleveland ***Sunday Night on ESPN***
May 28-30 @ Tampa Bay
May 31 - June 3 @ Cleveland
AL Central Standings...
DET 28 17 -
CLE 27 17 0.5
CWS 23 20 4
MIN 22 24 6.5
KCR 19 28 10
Tigers Division...
BOS 31 15 - *leads MLB
NYM 29 16 1.5
DET 28 17 2.5
CLE 27 17 3
MIL 28 18 3 (still playing)
Tigers News and Notes: With Mike Maroth coming down
with the flu, Zach Miner (filling in for Bonderman,
who was retroactively placed on the disabled list) was
impressed into starting the first game of Thursday's
double-header against Boston. Miner pitched well and
then was later sent to AAA to make room for Andrew
Miller, who took Bonderman's spot on Friday. Jeremy
will come off of the DL tomorrow and pitch in the
series finale against the Angels. Miller, after
pitching six scoreless innings against St. Louis, was
sent back to Erie. What a bonus, getting such a
quality effort out of an extremely green player.
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Tiger of the Week...
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Like the Energizer Bunny, Magglio Ordonez just keeps
going and going. Four homers this week push his total
to twelve on the season, and now Ordonez is just one
RBI behind hot-starter Alex Rodriguez for the major
league lead. Not only that, but Magglio is sporting a
sexy .345 batting average. Those are potential triple
crown numbers! Well, realistically it's still really
unlikely that he will make a run at that. A-Rod is
sitting on 18 homers, and Magglio has never been a
50-home run guy. Still, after last year, where nobody
really stood out from the rest of the league
offensively, it's nice to have one of, if not, the
hottest hitters in baseball batting clean-up. Earn
that money, Magglio!
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Comeback for Percival???
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This hot off the presses: Troy Percival is going to
attempt a major-league comeback.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2880848
I like Percival. He was a real team player in
Detroit, even if he didn't pitch very well. The
second year, when he was on the DL, I believe he
offered to work in other ways. He could have just sat
around and collected his six million. You've got to
respect that.
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Tigers Prospects...
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The following site ranks the top ten prospects in the
Tigers' system; from Cameron Maybin (#1) to Jair
Jurrjens (#10). If you're into the whole farm system
tracking then this would be worth a look.
http://www.topprospectalert.com/2007detroittigers
prospects.htm
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Poll Question...
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The Tigers play the Indians this weekend on Sunday
Night Baseball on ESPN. Two weeks ago the Tigers were
spanked by the Twins in front of a national audience.
Jon Miller and Joe Morgan called the game.
Which of the national announcers are your favorite /
least favorite? How do Rod and Mario stack up against
the national guys? Does Mario do a better job than
old Tigers broadcaster Josh Lewin (Lewin now calls
games for the Rangers on FSN and works national
broadcasts for FOX)?
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Game Linescores...
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May 17: Doubleheader
Game 1: Detroit 1 - Boston 2
Starters: DET: Miner 5.1IP - BOS: Tavarez 7IP
DET 000 010 000 1 4 1
BOS 101 000 00X 2 6 0
W: Tavarez (2-4)
L: Miner (0-1)
S: Papelbon (11)
Game 2: Detroit 2 - Boston 4
Starters: DET: Durbin 5.1IP - BOS: Schilling 6IP
DET 001 100 000 2 9 1
BOS 100 001 20X 4 6 0
W: Donnelly (2-1)
L: Ledezma (3-1)
S: Okajima (2)
May 18: St. Louis 4 - Detroit 14
Starters: STL: Looper 4IP - DET: Miller 6IP
STL 000 000 211 4 11 0
DET 201 290 00X 14 18 1
W: Miller (1-0)
L: Looper (5-3)
May 19: St. Louis 7 - Detroit 8
Starters: STL: Reyes 5.2IP - DET: Robertson 5IP
STL 000 112 102 7 15 0
DET 213 001 10X 8 11 1
W: Robertson (4-3)
L: Reyes (0-7)
S: Jones (14)
May 20: St. Louis 3 - Detroit 6
Starters: STL: Thompson 5.2IP - DET: Verlander 8IP
STL 001 010 001 3 7 0
DET 100 023 00X 6 9 1
W: Verlander (5-1)
L: Thompson (2-1)
S: Seay (1)
May 21: no game scheduled...
May 22: Anaheim 6 - Detroit 3
Starters: ANA: Lackey 5IP - DET: Maroth 7IP
ANA 003 021 000 6 9 1
DET 000 100 002 3 8 1
W: Lackey (7-3)
L: Maroth (3-1)
S: Rodriguez (14)
May 23: Anaheim 7 - Detroit 8
Starters: ANA: Colon 4.1IP - DET: Durbin 5IP
ANA 000 111 031 7 13 0
DET 041 010 11X 8 15 0
W: Durbin (4-1)
L: Colon (5-1)
S: Jones (15)
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Readers Write In...
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Dallas "Big D" Senters...
hey matt -
the reds are making me sad on a nearly nightly basis.
losing 2 of 3 seems to be the pattern, unless there's
a 4-game set, in which case they lose 3 of 4...uggh.
i feel like a tiger fan of the not so distant past.
in good news: the nationals are in town, followed by
the pirates. now is the time to start turning it back
around. the indians, on the other hand, are playing
great. i like that a lot. the sizemore worship is
almost too much, though, and i like the tribe.
sosa will probably beat griffey to 600. it is a big
deal. so is bonds - but the speculation has made
everything tarnished, so it's hard to make it a big
deal. i find it harder and harder to care about the
milestones, because every milestone is just more
steroids talk. for the record: i still hate bonds.
i hated him as a bling-y cocky quick pirate, and i
hate him as a lumbering cocky melon-head giant.
go reds. go indians.
DS
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Lia "The Scorekeeper" Bottinelli
Glad to see the weekly giving props to Maroth, or "my
boy Mikey," as I lovingly refer to him. He's been
solid. Also, I have a big "AMEN" to add to Steve
Sprague's Clemens rant.
Lia
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Justin "Lewis" Carroll
Listen O'Toole:
I'm pretty sure Brandon Inge is a human dynamo. And
Placido Polanco is a bit too alliterative for my
taste. So we should start a dual campaign.
First, we talk to the pope and have him declare Inge a
living saint, because when he hits homers, I'm cured.
Secondly, we wait outside of Leyland's house with
packs of cigarettes and promises of walk off homers
and we have him make Polanco change his name to
Chester Banic III. Leyland will do this, because
Leyland owes us a solid, I think, especially after
sending poor Shelton down.
So what if he wasn't preforming? Is baseball actually
about results?
I always thought baseball was about the Red Sox and
Yankees rivalry, and all those over-long seasons.
I could be wrong, but I perpetually refuse to be.
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Nic "Gilby" Gilbert
Here are some stats I found this weekend on
sportsline.com to include in the issue.
Interleague play: Baseball's version of varsity-junior
varsity scrimmages begins its 11th season in same ol',
same ol' fashion in which it's been conducted in the
past: The score was AL 24 wins, NL 18 over the
weekend, after the AL hammered the NL 154-98 last
summer and owns a .510 winning percentage over the
past decade.
Through games played 5/19:
-This year's average runs-per-game of 9.05 is down
from 9.76 in 2006 and currently is the lowest average
since 1992.
-This year's home runs-per-game of 1.84 is down from
2.22 in 2006 and currently is the lowest average since
1993.
-This year's major league batting average of .258 is
down from last year's .269 and is the lowest since
1992.
... from detroittigers.com
Returning the favor: When the Tigers visit the Royals,
Cardinals slugger and Kansas City native Albert Pujols
lets good friend Placido Polanco borrow his car. With
the Cardinals in Detroit this weekend, Pujols is
borrowing some accommodations.
"He's staying over at my house," said Polanco, who was
a teammate of Pujols in St. Louis during his first few
years in the league. "My mother-in-law takes better
care of him than she does of me. He's driving my car."
No wonder Polanco was given a day or two off this
weekend.
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Nick "Fair Weather" Ciofani
Dear Detroit,
Please let us beat you in either the NBA playoffs or
the AL Central.
Sincerely,
Cleveland
ps - I will be attending the Tigers/Tribe game on June
3rd. I will be sending a full report...unless the
Tigers win, then I will not be sending anything!
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Toolie's Trashtalk...
How is it that Kansas City goes into Coors Field and
takes two of three? That place has given Tiger fans
nightmares over the last few seasons. I can't shake
the memory of Jason Smith making back-to-back errors
on bunts in the ninth to lose a game. Good for the
Royals. They're even doing us a favor right now by
beating up on the Tribe.
Great to see the Tigers get the win tonight. It was
looking bleak as Jones put two on with Vlad Guerrero
at the plate. Roller-coaster induced a double-play
and then a fly ball to end it. Whew. His save on
Saturday was even more nerve-wracking (allowed two
runs and loaded the bases before shutting the door).
At least he's getting the job done. A little suspense
at the end of the game is fun! Eventually he will get
burned. As long as it's not too often I'll feel good
about Jones pitching the ninth (not that there are
currently any good alternatives anyway).
Lefty Tim Byrdak is pitching like a stud. I think
it's nine strikeouts in 5.2 innings with impressive
outings against Boston and Anaheim. He looks like a
guy who could be sticking around for the rest of the
season.
As far as announcers go, Miller and Morgan are two of
my least favorite. Right there with them are Buck and
McCarver. I guess that since they're the most
prominent on each network they have to do the most
butt-kissing of Bonds, the Yankees, the Red Sox, etc.
I actually liked Steve Lyons, but we all remember what
happened to him after "habla-ing" a little espanol.
Just as long as they don't put Tony Kornheiser in the
booth I'll be ok. I like Gary Thorne, though he was
better at calling hockey games (that's a whole 'nother
story... thank goodness I have Versus or I would be
steamed). Lewin was a great announcer, but his color
commentator was usually pretty sub-par (i.e. Kirk
Gibson). Rod and Mario are a great pair. Lately it's
been the rage, on my IM Softball team, to react to
plays in the style of Rod. "And you KNOW that O'Toole
won't be striking out next time partner..." What a
gas.
Roger Clemens will make 4.5 million bucks a month for
the remainder of the season. Suppose The Rocket
pitches six times in a month and throws 100 pitches
each start. That means he will make $7,500 per
pitch... PER PITCH. Disgusting. That means each time
Clemens walks a batter it will cost the Yankees at
least $30,000. He makes more money walking a batter
than I will make in a whole year as a grad student. I
hope he tears his rotator cuff and Steinbrenner goes
broke.
That's enough for another week. Enjoy the hot action
this weekend, and take advantage of the day-off Monday
to 1) Thank a veteran and 2) Stay up and watch the
Tigers Sunday night.
I'm Out.
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Play Ball!
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