Tigers Weekly 2008 Season

WEEK 12: 6/20/08 - 7/6/08

Hey folks; Tigers Weekly is back after an 
extended absence which can be attributed to the 
fact that the Editor was married on the 28th of 
June.  In the meantime, the Tigers used the rest of 
interleague play to dig themselves out of the hole 
they fell in during the first week of the season.  
Only the Twins were better in interleague action, 
and that club continued to wreak havoc on the 
Tigers, taking two of three at the Metrodome.  
The Tigers made their final trip to the west coast 
over the Fourth of July weekend, so games 
should be rather manageable to watch from here 
on out.  

The White Sox and the Twins are both hot right 
now, which is making it hard for the Tigers to 
gain any ground in the improving AL Central.  
The Indians seem to have dropped out of the 
running for this year (a glaring piece of evidence 
is discussed later in the issue).  Whether those 
teams will continue their torrid pace through July 
reains to be seen.  The Tigers will need to have 
some extended success against AL, and 
specifically AL Central, teams in order to 
contend.  The Wild Card, right now, is not in the 
picture.

New Subscribers...

Bernie "The Banger" McKenzie
Mark "Leiter" Fuller

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6/20 - 7/6

Record:  10-6  LWW-LWWWWWWLLWLLW

Undy-Five-Hundy:  On June 26th the Tigers won 
with a walk-off walk over the Cardinals to pull to 
just two games undy-five-hundy.  I remarked 
that, if they were to win their next two games then 
they would reach five-hundy for the first time 
since Opening Day on my wedding night.  After 
winning easily on Friday night, the Tigers had a 
comfortable 5-1 lead while we took photos, 
drank, and danced.  Then the bad news came 
through the grapevine that Todd Jones had blown 
his first save of the year.  I was upset, but didn't 
let it spoil my good mood.  I thought, for sure, 
that the Tigers would win that night, but at this 
point it didn't look good.  Eventually I heard the 
good news that Miguel Cabrera saved the day 
with a two-run double to the gap, vanquishing the 
undy-five-hundy.  Since that night the Tigers are 
4-4 and sit at an even 44-44: zero games undy.  

Up Next for the Tigers...

July 7      no game scheduled...
July 8-9    Cleveland   (0-3 @ CWS, 0-3 @ MIN)
July 10-13  Minnesota   (2-1 vs. DET, 3-0 vs. CLE)
July 14-16  All-Star Break  
            (game on 15th at Yankee Stadium)

AL Central Standings...

CWS  51 37 -
MIN  50 38 1
DET  44 44 7
KCR  39 50 12.5
CLE  37 51 14

Tigers Division... (getting slightly more respectable)

TBR  55 32 -
|
BAL  44 43 10.5
NYM  44 44 11
DET  44 44 11
ARI  44 45 12
LAD  43 45 12.5

Tigers News and Notes:  OK, here's a list of the 
roster moves.  Joel Zumaya returned from the 
disabled list on June 20, and Denny Bautista was 
designated for assignment to make room.  Later, 
Bautista was traded to the Pirates for pitching 
prospect Kyle Pearson.  Gary Sheffield returned 
from the DL with Jeff Larish making room.  
Sheffield had a productive first series (vs. St. 
Louis) but has been somewhat quiet since.  Both 
Magglio Ordonez and Brandon Inge landed on 
the 15-day DL with pulled oblique muscles.  
Taking their places were Matt Joyce and catcher 
Dane Sardinha.  Both have had key hits in wins 
since their call-ups.  Finally, Zach Miner, who has 
been very streaky, was optioned to Toledo, with 
Aquilno Lopez returning to Detroit.  

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Tiger of the Fortnight...
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Justin Verlander had a very difficult start to the season. On May 14th, Verlander lost a start to the Royals which left him at 1-7 with a 6.05 ERA. He's gone 4-2 since then in nine starts. Over this last period (three starts) he is 2-0 with six earned runs allowed in seventeen innings. He's knocked his ERA down to 4.34 and is pitching like the ace he needs to be for this team to succeed. Armando Galarraga still leads the team in ERA, but there's no question that Justin Verlander is the cornerstone of the rotation... and we'll make him the Tiger of the Fortnight. Here's to continued improvement in the second half.

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Sabathia Leaves the AL Central...
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As the game was reaching the late innings (of 
regulation) today, Rod and Mario began looking 
ahead to the upcoming series versus Cleveland.  I 
was a little bummed to see that we would be 
facing C.C. Sabathia in just a two-game series.  
Then later tonight I heard some good news.  
Sabathia has been traded to the Brewers for 
three prospects.  So much for facing that ace. 

Click HERE for article from ESPN

The last time the Tribe dealt a stud pitcher for 
prospects, they dumped Bartolo Colon off on the 
Expos for some guys named Brandon Phillips, 
Cliff Lee, and Grady Sizemore.  For the short 
term it's good to see Sabathia go, but let's hope 
the long-term effects aren't like the last prospect 
grab.  

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Hey Now, You're an All-Star...
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The All-Star teams for both the AL and the NL 
were announced today.  The full rosters (starters, 
pitchers, and reserves) can be found at the link 
below: 

Click HERE for full rosters from MLB

Some things to note:  the American League 
division leaders (Tampa, Chicago, Anaheim) 
have a total of ZERO players in the starting line-
up.  Ridiculous.  The NL West was shut out of 
the starting lineup as well.  The Red Sox had four 
starters voted in (Ortiz, Youkilis, Pedroia, 
Ramirez), the Yankees two (Jeter and A-Rod), 
with the Rangers, Twins, and Mariners nabbing 
the other three starting spots.  Seven Red Sox 
landed on the roster this year (Ortiz is injured and 
won't play); strangely, Jason Varitek was voted 
on the team as a reserve catcher by the players.  
That blows my mind, as he's hitting something like 
.217 this season.  I guess the players really don't 
care about winning the game.  One Sox player 
who earns some cred is Mike Lowell, who is 
having a great season and had this quote:  

"I actually told an MLB rep that if I wasn't voted 
by the players or the manager, I didn't want to be 
on the Internet vote, because I think that's a 
popularity contest anyway.  That's the way it 
turned out."

Lowell would have likely won, given the support 
that Red Sox players normally enjoy.  

The coolest selection is Muskegon County native 
Nate McLouth of the Pittsburgh Pirates.  Going 
into the season his starting spot with the Bucs 
was in jeopardy.  He came out of the gates on 
fire and now finds himself in the Midsummer 
Classic.  Hopefully this is the first of many for the 
hometown product.  

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Poll Question...
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The Tigers are back to even keel in their 2008 
season.  There are just six games remaining until 
the All-Star Break.  Post-break was not kind to 
the Tigers in the last two seasons.  In 2006 the 
Tigers were 36-38 and in 2007 they managed 
just a 36-40 record.  Such a performance in 
2008 will not be sufficient if we hope to see the 
cats in the playoffs once again.  By the time the 
unofficial second-half starts, some pieces of the 
puzzle should be back; namely Magglio Ordonez, 
Brandon Inge, and Ramon Santiago.  Dontrelle 
Willis COULD come back... but does anyone 
really want that?  He needs to show incredible 
command before I'm happy sending him to the 
bump.  

Do the Tigers have what it takes to make a push 
in the second half?  Will one of the two top teams 
in the Central take off and run away with the 
division, or will it be a bloody battle with the 
division winner finishing with a win total in the 
upper 80s / low 90s?  What needs to improve 
the most?

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Game Linescores...
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June 20:  Detroit 2 - San Diego 6
Starters:  DET: Bonine 7IP
           SDP: Maddux 7IP
DET  100 000 010  2 6 1
SDP  000 100 14X  6 9 0
W: Bell   (5-3)
L: Rodney (0-1)

June 21:  Detroit 7 - San Diego 5
Starters:  DET: Robertson 6IP
           SDP: Baek 6.1IP
DET  103 000 300  7 10 0
SDP  030 020 000  5  9 1
W: Robertson (6-6)
L: Baek      (1-3)
S: Jones     (13)

June 22:  Detroit 5 - San Diego 3
Starters:  DET: Verlander 5.1IP
           SDP: Wolf 6IP
DET  001 020 110  5 9 1
SDP  100 010 100  3 8 2
W: Verlander (4-9)
L: Wolf      (5-6)
S: Jones     (14)

June 23:  no game scheduled...

June 24:  St. Louis 8 - Detroit 4
Starters:  STL: Looper 6IP
           DET: Rogers 5.1IP
STL  001 013 300  8 14 0
DET  001 100 200  4  9 1
W: Looper (9-5)
L: Rogers (5-5)

June 25: St. Louis 7 - Detroit 8
Starters:  STL: Lohse 4IP
           DET: Galarraga 4.2IP
STL  201 110 110  7 10 1
DET  020 300 111  8 19 1
W: Jones     (3-0)
L: McClellan (0-3)

June 26:  St. Louis 2 - Detroit 3
Starters:  STL: Wellemeyer 5IP
           DET: Robertson 6.1IP
STL  000 000 101 0  2 14 0
DET  000 001 001 1  3 11 1
W: Seay   (1-1)
L: Parisi (0-4)

June 27:  Colorado 1 - Detroit 7
Starters:  COL: Jimenez 4IP
           DET: Bonine 8IP
COL  000 000 100  1  6 0
DET  201 101 02X  7 15 0
W: Bonine  (2-0)
L: Jimenez (2-8)

June 28:  Colorado 6 - Detroit 7
Starters:  COL: Francis 6IP
           DET: Verlander 5.2IP
COL  000 011 004  6 13 1
DET  001 400 002  7 13 1
W: Dolsi   (1-2)
L: Fuentes (1-3)

June 29:  Colorado 3 - Detroit 4
Starters:  COL: Reynolds 5.2IP
           DET: Rogers 6IP
COL  030 000 000  3  8 0
DET  200 002 00X  4 13 1
W: Rogers   (6-5)
L: Reynolds (2-6)
S: Jones    (15)

June 30:  Detroit 5 - Minnesota 4
Starters:  DET: Galarraga 6IP
           MIN: Perkins 6.1IP
DET  010 000 220  5 12 0
MIN  101 011 000  4 13 0
W: Fossum   (1-0)
L: Guerrier (4-3)
S: Zumaya   (1)

July 1:  Detroit 4 - Minnesota 6
Starters:  DET: Robertson 4IP
           MIN: Baker 6IP
DET  000 102 010  4 10 0
MIN  000 330 00X  6 14 0
W: Baker     (5-2)
L: Robertson (6-7)
S: Nathan    (23)

July 2:  Detroit 0 - Minnesota 7
Starters:  DET: Bonine 2.2IP
           MIN: Blackburn 7IP
DET  000 000 000  0  5 1
MIN  005 011 00X  7 14 1
W: Blackburn (7-4)
L: Bonine    (2-1)

July 3:  Detroit 8 - Seattle 4
Starters:  DET: Verlander 6IP
           SEA: Silva 5IP
DET  001 131 002  8 15 1
SEA  101 000 002  4 14 0
W: Verlander (5-9)
L: Silva     (4-10)
S: Rodney    (1)

July 4:  Detroit 1 - Seattle 4
Starters:  DET: Rogers 7.2IP
           SEA: Bedard 5IP
DET  010 000 000  1 7 0
SEA  011 000 02X  4 6 0
W: Bedard (6-4)
L: Rogers (6-6)
S: Morrow (6)

July 5:  Detroit 2 - Seattle 3
Starters:  DET: Galarraga 6IP
           SEA: Dickey 6IP
DET  100 100 000  2 6 2
SEA  000 001 02X  3 8 0
W: Batista (4-10)
L: Rodney  (0-2)
S: Morrow  (7)

July 6:  Detroit 2 - Seattle 1    F/15
Starters:  DET: Robertson 9IP
           SEA: Rowland-Smith 5IP 
DET  000 010 000 000 001  2 8 2
SEA  001 000 000 000 000  1 6 0
W: Lopez (3-1)
L: Burke (0-1)
S: Jones (16)

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Readers Write In...
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Bob "Jerry" Maguire

Hey Matt,

What’s with Sheffield? Isn’t it clear that this guy 
is in post-steroidal accelerated deterioration? 
Why does anyone, especially Jim and Dave, think 
he’s gonna earn his $13 million? I’m not going to 
quote stats. I’ll just make a prediction: he won’t 
make it to 50 RBI this year. If it turns out better, 
I’ll be happy to say I don’t understand much. 

Now—congrats on your imminent wedding. 
Married life is wonderful, I’m happy for you!

Bob Maguire

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Anthony "Ferny" Morano

Ferny writes in

Congrats Matt and soon to be Mrs O'Toole on 
the marriage next week! ! ! 

Quick thoughts on tigers recent success. I know 
Marcus thames and Placido have been mentioned 
as reasons for the tigers recent surge, but I think 
the starting pitchers have been outstanding taking 
pressure off our relievers by going late into 
games. Galaragga has been solid and Bodine " 
leave the lights on for ya" throws strikes. Also 
Dolsi looks like a keeper. (How does a 160lb 
guy throw 96mph?) Wish I didn't have to work 
this weekend or I would make the 1 hr trek south 
to San Diego but I'll be watching via direct tv!

It is pretty cool to watch games at 10am and 
4pm here on the left coast but also college 
football starts at 9am and NFL 10 which is a 
drag.  Also if I forget to DVR the early games 
FSN doesn't allow the re-broadcast to be shown.

Side Note: We always hear athletes getting 
branded as not media friendly or Jerks to the 
media but 2 recent events this week tend to back 
athletes hatred for the media

1st link is a San Francisco Reporter who called 
Ryan Raburn a "scrub" player after he hit the go 
ahead homer the other night

Click HERE for article from the Detroit Free Press

2nd link is regarding the Toronto Blue Jay's GM 
who lashed out at Reds of Adam Dunn

Click HERE for article from MLB

GO TIGERS! ! !

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Toolie's Trashtalk...

First of all, I want to thank everyone on this list 
who was able to make it to my wedding / 
reception.  It was one of the most fun nights I've 
had in my life:  good food, great people, an open 
bar, a lot of dancing, and a Tigers victory to get 
to five-hundy!  Plus I got a beautiful bride out of 
the whole deal.  =-)  The honeymoon will begin 
on Saturday, so Chas "Michael Michaels" Claus 
will be filling in while Lia and I traipse around the 
Canadian Rocky Mountains.  Chas is an ardent 
Tiger fan and once wrote the legendary college 
football newsletter, Campus Comments.  He is 
currently on Baseball Road Trip 2008, so he will 
surely have some hilarious stories to share in the 
next few weeks.  

I know that Miguel Cabrera is playing through an 
injury right now, but his inexperience at first base 
is really beginning to make a difference in a 
negative way.  Over the last week, there have 
been errors on Tiger infielders which I would 
really attribute to Cabrera having poor footwork 
or being unable to dig out throws which more 
experinced first-basemen would be able to 
handle.  Now, he's had some huge hits to make 
up for these deficincies, so I'm not going to ride 
him into the ground over this... but the lack of 
surety at the position probably affects the other 
infielders.  Placido Polanco already has five 
errors on the year after playing error-free last 
season.  At least two of those miscues have been 
throws in the dirt which Cabrera probably should 
have stopped.   

Speaking of Polanco... what does the Tigers 
second basemen have in common with Johnny 
Five?  Well, other than both having oddly shaped 
heads, Polanco will soon join the robot in 
becoming a United States Citizen (see Short 
Circuit 2 for details).  While I can't find any 
articles on the internet reporting the event, I'll go 
by the "In Rod We Trust" mantra and believe the 
broadcaster who discussed Polanco's intentions 
on-air in the last week.  He hinted that the 
ceremony might take place in this homestand at 
Comerica.  

One of my new least-favorite players is Twins 
center-fielder Carlos Gomez.  He absolutely 
killed the Tigers this week in the Metrodome.  If 
he didn't get on base in an inning it was most 
likely because he didn't bat.  In the field, he joins 
Grady Sizemore and Curtis Granderson as 
Central speedsters who can get to virtually any 
ball hit to their field... and some that are hit to 
other fields.  Gomez was the compensation for 
Johan Santana when the Twins sent the ace lefty 
to the Mets.  The Twins are full of cheetahs, 
making it extremely tough to get outs on ground 
balls.  They also play excellent defense.  Picked 
to finish dead-last in the Central by Sports 
Illustrated, they now stand as one of the hottest 
teams in the majors. 

Bob, I'm glad to see that Jim Leyland has 
abandoned his attitude of Sheffield being a #3 
hitter.  For a long time the skip had Sheff plugged 
in there waiting for him to heat up.  Now he hits 
around sixth when he's in the lineup.  He has just 
18 RBIs so far and is making over 13 million 
dollars this season.  In a full season, Gary has 
never struck out more than he has walked.  So 
far he has struck out eleven more times than he 
has walked; another sign that his skills are 
probably on the decline.  I hope he can find some 
more gas in the tank.  The team could use a taste 
of old Sheff.  

Well I'm spent for this period.  Sorry for the 
layoff, but the wedding and recovery period took 
it out of me for a long while.  I may get one more 
issue out before we take off, but it would be very 
brief.  I will probably just leave things in the 
hands of Claus.  

I'm out,
 





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