Tigers Weekly 2008 Season

WEEK 2: 4/10/08 - 4/15/08

We're certainly seeing it all early in the season. 
The Tigers are finding incredible ways to lose, and
also incredible ways to win.  Starting pitchers are
leaving in the first inning due to injury only to be
replaced by a bullpen that shuts the opposition down. 
Players are running into umpires in the field, only to
later hit a game-winning home run later in the week. 
After being shut out for twenty-four straight innings,
the club explodes for eleven runs in three innings to
win 11-9.  And through it all the most maligned
pitcher on the team is three of three in save
opportunities.  

This wacky week ended on a positive note; the Tigers
got their first two home wins of the season and appear
to be finding their hitting strokes.  They will now
take their newfound confidence on the road for the
first two meeting with the Cleveland Indians.  The
rivals, picked by most to finish 1-2 in the Central,
find themselves looking up at Chicago, Kansas City,
and Minnesota.  After this series at The Jake (er...
Progressive Field) the teams do not meet again until
early June, when the standings will likely look much
different.  

New Subscribers...

Deb "Canadian" Bacon 

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"Week" of 4/10 - 4/15

Record:  Last week, 1-6... this week 3-3... monster
comeback!  LWLLWW

Undy-Five-Hundy:  No change in the index as it remains
at six.  The UFH was up to eight until the two-game
sweep of the Twins at Comerica.  I'm sure we're all
feeling a lot better at 4-10 then we were at 1-7.  I'm
hoping that the UFH is a thing of the past by June,
and the Tigers can play five-six games over five-hundy
each month afterwards.  That would put them around
91-95 wins and in decent position.  

Up Next for the Tigers...

April 16-17  @ Cleveland
April 18-21  @ Toronto
April 22-24    Texas

AL Central Standings...

CWS  8 5  -
KCR  8 6  0.5
MIN  6 8  2.5
CLE  5 9  3.5
DET  4 10 4.5

Tigers News and Notes:  The Tigers have another lefty
in the bullpen.  Clay Rapada traded teams with Yorman
Bazardo and picked up a win on Tuesday night.  The
durable Dontrelle Willis hyperextended his knee on
Friday and has landed on the DL for the first time in
his career.  He is expected to be back after the
minimum fifteen days.  Ryan Raburn was brought back to
the majors to take Willis' place.  Armando Galarraga
is expected to start on Wednesday in Cleveland.  In
non-baseball related news, Willis pleaded guilty to a
reckless driving charge that stemmed from a 2006
incident.  He will have to pay a fine and complete
some community service.  

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Tiger of the Week...
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No Tiger causes more furrowed brows on the whole than the Tiger of the Week, Todd Jones. Though the Tigers have but four wins on the season, each win has ended in the same fashion; with Todd Jones on the bump. Granted, he's made a couple of the wins interesting, but that is as advertised with The Rollercoaster. Jonesy has yielded just one run in five innings of work while giving up five hits, two walks, and striking out three. The three saves at this point of the season have been especially crucial, as losing any of those games would only compound the difficult situation the Tigers find themselves in. You could argue that Jones is the only Tiger that hasn't yet let the team down in a big spot. Enjoy that while it lasts. Todd Jones, your Tiger of the Week.

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Poll Question...
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After a couple of weeks to see what we got, what are
your feelings on the new Tigers?  How do you feel the
acquisitions of Cabrera, Willis, Reneteria, and Jones
will work out?  Is it still too early to tell?  Will
we severely regret dealing Jair Jurrjens?  Andrew
Miller?  Cameron Maybin?  

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Game Linescores...
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April 10:  Detroit 6 - Boston 10
Starters:  DET: Robertson 5.1IP
           BOS: Wakefield 5IP
DET  000 200 130   6 10 0
BOS  000 400 44X  12 13 1
W: Wakefield (1-0)
L: Robertson (0-1)
S: Papelbon  (3)

April 11:  Detroit 5 - Chicago White Sox 2
Starters:  DET: Willis 0IP
           CWS: Contreras 6.2IP
DET  003 000 110  5 11 0
CWS  110 000 000  2  4 0
W: Lopez     (1-0)
L: Contreras (0-1)
S: Jones     (1)

April 12:  Detroit 0 - Chicago White Sox 7
Starters:  DET: Verlander 7.2IP
           CWS: Floyd 7.1IP
DET  000 000 000  0 2 0
CWS  001 000 06X  7 6 0 
W: Floyd     (2-0)
L: Verlander (0-2)

April 13:  Detroit 0 - Chicago White Sox 11
Starters:  DET: Rogers 4IP
           CWS: Vazquez 7IP
DET  000 000 000   0  6 0
CWS  104 060 00X  11 10 0
W: Vazquez (2-1)
L: Rogers  (0-3)

April 14:  Minnesota 9 - Detroit 11
Starters:  MIN: Blackburn 5.2IP
           DET: Bonderman 6.1IP
MIN  020 003 400   9 13 1
DET  000 004 16X  11 16 3
W: Beltran (1-0)
L: Neshek  (0-1)
S: Jones   (2)

April 15:  Minnesota 5 - Detroit 6
Starters:  MIN: Baker 7IP
           DET: Robertson 6.1IP
MIN  101 002 001  5 8 1
DET  100 001 13X  6 7 0
W: Rapada (1-0)
L: Crain  (0-1)
S: Jones  (3)

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Readers Write In...
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Toolie's Trashtalk...

So now the Tigers are only TIED for the worst record
in baseball.  They share a 4-10 mark with the
Nationals (who began their season 3-0).  If the Tigers
do get it together and rise to the top of the league
it will be fun to track their progress as they pass
other ball clubs.  If things go well we could see
every MLB team in the The Tigers Division (when it is
brought out in May) at some point in the season.

I recall about a month ago thinking about how much I
couldn't wait for April to roll around.  Any time I
got home before 10PM I'd be able to turn on the boob
tube and catch a Tigers game.  It's April... I'm
getting home in time... I'm turning on the TV... no
Tigers.  If you've got FSN+ then consider yourself
lucky.  Here in East Lansing I have been without these
last two games due to a Red Wings playoff game
(understandable) and a Pistons regular season game
(which was essentially meaningless).  What a bummer. 
Ahhh May, the month when the Tigers can be found on
TV...

Here's a good article found by Chas "Michael Michaels"
Claus which tells a not-so tall tale about future
Hall-of-Famer Greg Maddux.  Worth a read!  

http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3336514
&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab1pos1

Quick fact:  Jeremy Bonderman is the only Tiger
starting pitcher that has earned a win.  

Prior to Monday night's game, Jim Leyland was asked
what he thought about the concept of team chemistry
and whether he thought the Tigers had good chemistry. 
The skipper's reply was something to the effect of
"Chemistry is a class you take in high school; it's
bullshit."  This view of chemistry is nothing new to
Jim Leyland, who has always vowed that if you give him
good players then he can win.  Whatever the true value
of chemistry is, I hope this team can maximize it
quickly.  The Gum-Time Tigers of 2006 had great
chemistry and they were a hell of a team to watch. 
Maybe the eleven runs they scored in three innings on
Monday and the comeback on Tuesday will help this team
come together.

Nobody wrote in this week, though I can't say that I
blame you.  With the NHL playoffs underway and the NBA
finishing up... plus the Masters, there were plenty of
healthy diversions from the Tigers this week. 
Saturday and Sunday were absolutely atrocious. 
Getting shut out twice in a row by the White Sox is
enough to make me swear off the Tigers for good...
almost.  And a quick note; though it's annoying that I
don't get FSN+ I am grateful to receive CBC for their
Hockey Night in Canada.  Don Cherry is one of the
best.  

These last two wins have been fantastic.  Two come
from behind victories in the eighth inning...
sometimes you have to wait a month or two for a win
like that.  They were exciting on internet gamecast...
I wonder what it was like to watch them happen
(grrrrrr!).  

Big series with the Tribe here.  Not sure what the
point of these little two-gamers are, but this first
one worked out for us.  Bummer that we have to face
Sabathia and Carmona, but those are the breaks.  Six
less games against Johan Santana this year will help
ease the pain.  Here's to a winning record this week!

I'm out.
 





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