Tigers Weekly 2008 Season

WEEK 4: 4/24/08 - 4/30/08

The first month of baseball is now in the books 
and the Tigers are are feeling good about being 
13-15.  Way back at the start of the season there 
was a seven game losing streak (remember?) that 
had fans wondering if all the pre-season hype 
was a bunch of hot air.  Since that horrid start the 
club is 13-8 and playing more like the team we 
expected to see.

The failure of any AL Central team to distance 
themselves from the pack leaves the Tigers just 
two games out of the division lead... yet only a 
half game out of last.  The Kentucky Derby, 
which is this weekend, is one of the most exciting 
sprints in sports.  The baseball season is more 
like a marathon, and after falling down at the 
starting line the Tigers have caught up to the 
pack.  Some roster moves were made in hoped 
of shoring things up by shaking things up.  Read 
on to see which member of the World Series 
Tigers is no longer in the organization...

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Week of 4/24 - 4/30

Record:  4-2  WLWL-WW

Undy-Five-Hundy:  Rome wasn't built in a day, 
so we can't expect the UFH to just evaporate in 
a week.  A pair of wins at Yankee Stadium have 
put five-hundy within reach (the count is two).  In 
past years the .500 mark was a real roadblock 
for the team (in 2000 it seemed like every time 
the Tigers got there they'd lose).  With any luck 
we'll shoot right by the mark in 2008.  Wow... 
looking at the game log from 2000 on baseball-
reference.com brought some pitchers' names out 
from the vault:  Mlicki, Nitkowski, even Willie 
Blair!  

Up Next for the Tigers...

May 1    @ New York Yankees
May 2-4  @ Minnesota 
May 5-8  Boston

AL Central Standings...

CWS  14 12 -
MIN  13 14 1.5
DET  13 15 2
CLE  13 15 2
KCR  12 15 2.5

Tigers News and Notes:  The trade that was 
mentioned above sent reliever Jason Grilli to the 
Rockies in exchange for Zach Simons, a prospect 
reliever who is currently pitching at the A level.  
Grilli's roster spot will be filled by Francisco 
Cruceta, who has looked good in Toledo since 
resolving his visa issues.  Cruceta has pitched 
seven innings for the Mud Hens where he 
surrendered one run while striking out fifteen and 
only allowing three walks and two hits.  The hope 
is that Cruceta can help to stabilize the otherwise 
shaky Tigers pen.  

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Tiger of the Week...
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Placido Polanco has a big head. No... a huge head. A MONSTER head. But that's never caused him problems. What has been ailing Polanco lately has been a sore back. Clearly something was wrong with the second-baseman, who was hitting just .154 before resting for five days. Since his return, Polanco has racked up four multi-hit games and has bumped his average to .216. "P.P." could stand for "Powerful Production" as Polanco scored eight runs and knocked in five this week. He even clubbed a pair of home runs Wednesday night in New York and stole a base on Saturday.

Those numbers are lofty, and worthy of Tiger of the Week honors. Now honor Polanco yourself by singing Snoop Dogg's "Sensual Seduction" but replace those words with "Powerful Production" or "Placido Polanco." They both work!

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What You Talkin' About Willis?
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Dontrelle Willis will pitch some rehab assignments 
in Toledo beginning on Friday.  The idea is that 
he'll pitch at least twice before returning to the 
club.  That means about another week and a 
half... at least.  For now we'll continue to see El 
Tigre (Armando Galarraga) pitch in Willis' stead.  

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Poll Question...
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Yankee Stadium is closing after this season (but 
not before hosting the All-Star Game).  I was 
lucky to catch a game at The Stadium a couple of 
years ago on Baseball Road Trip.  It was a great 
place to watch a game and the place just emitted 
history.  I'm not sure if I'd call it my favorite 
stadium... mainly because I haven't given the 
question much thought.  Have you?

What is your favorite baseball stadium (current or 
now closed/imploded) and why?  

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Game Linescores...
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April 24:  Texas 2 - Detroit 8
Starters:  TEX: Jennings 5IP
           DET: Bonderman 4.2IP
TEX  100 010 000  2  4 0
DET  101 032 01X  8 10 0
W: Miner    (1-1)
L: Jennings (0-4)

April 25:  Anaheim 4 - Detroit 3
Starters:  ANA: Santana 6.1IP
           DET: Robertson 7IP
TEX  000 400 000  4 7 0
DET  000 201 000  3 6 0
W: Santana   (4-0)
L: Robertson (0-3)
S: Rodriguez (10)

April 26:  Anaheim 4 - Detroit 6
Starters:  ANA: Moseley 5IP
           DET: Galarraga 6IP
ANA  000 000 310  4  7 1
DET  100 020 30X  6 10 2
W: Lopez (2-0)
L: O'Day (0-1)
S: Jones (4)

April 27:  Anaheim 6 - Detroit 2
Starters:  ANA: Weaver 6.1IP
           DET: Verlander 5.2IP
ANA  000 114 000  6 8 0
DET  000 000 200  2 5 1
W: Weaver    (2-3)
L: Verlander (1-4)

April 28:  no game scheduled...

April 29:  Detroit 6 - New York Yankees 4
Starters:  DET: Rogers 6IP
           NYY: Hughes 3.2IP
DET  203 100 000  6 11 1
NYY  020 000 011  4  8 0
W: Rogers (2-3)
L: Hughes (0-4)
S: Jones  (5)

April 30:  Detroit 6 - New York Yankees 2
Starters:  DET: Bonderman 7.2IP
           NYY: Pettitte 6IP
DET  010 022 010  6 10 0
NYY  200 000 000  2  5 0
W: Bonderman (2-2)
L: Pettitte  (3-3)

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Readers Write In...
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Andy "Kin Korn" Karnitz

So I'm listening to the Sunday night Tigs-Angels 
game on the radio...Late innings, and Dickerson 
and Price are discussing a young Angels relief 
pitcher, all of the typical stats, record in the 
minors, what pitches the kid throws...And 
Dickerson wraps it all up by saying- and I 
paraphrase only slightly- "They [the Angels] really 
like his package." 

Of course it went right by Mr. Price.

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Brian "Stymie" O'Toole

Matt,

It's great to be reading the weekly again.  I think I 
have the answer as to why the Tigers' bats woke 
up.  I'm sure they went to the Dan Hanks "Grey 
Fox School of Hitting" where the power-base 
and the rest of the basic hitting fundamentals were 
covered.  Special guest Gordon "Red" Bennent 
with son Terry throwing batting practice.  Have a 
great week, see you Memorial Day Weekend!!!

Yo brotha!

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Dallas "Big D" Senters

hey matt i am very sorry that the comments 
section has been so bare.  with my reds and 
indians struggling, and the tigers reminding us of 
lions, my motivation has been greatly lacking.  
but, the tecmo demandments taught us not to 
make excuses and to play through adversity (and 
to never push buttons during the coin flip). 

the tigers pitching staff should be ok, but some 
tigers fans i talk to are starting to wonder if the 
'06 showing was flash-in-the-pan stuff.  i don't 
really think that is the case, but i do see the 
frustration with bonderman and the aging of 
rogers. 

i moved down here to indy in '02, and i think this 
summer will be the first timei go see the pirates 
AAA club.  some of our friends are wanting to go 
see the indianapolis indians.  i would like to see 
them when they are playing the bats,but 
columbus, toledo, and buffalo would work too. 

joey votto is the reds starting first baseman.  we'll 
see if they can get homer bailey and jay bruce up 
to speed and still make any noise this year.

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Toolie's Trashtalk...

My apologies for that barb last week about 
nobody writing in.  It appears that all replies to 
the Weekly were bouncing back to the sender, 
so I wasn't receiving anything.  It seems that we 
have dealt with that problem, so you can resume 
writing in and I promise it will get in.  If you DO 
get a bounce-back message then send the reply 
to my Yahoo account: silvermack@yahoo.com .  

Thursday's afternooner will be the final game the 
Tigers play in Yankee Stadium... barring any 
possible playoff meetings this year, of course.  
The first two games of the series have been very 
encouraging.  Both Kenny Rogers and Jeremy 
Bonderman had strong outings, and the offense 
put up six runs in consecutive games.  ... and you 
know that Gary loves to hit against the Yankees: 
three for eight with a jack and a stolen base.  The 
Tigs were a bit lucky to draw the Yankees at this 
time.  Both Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada are 
on the disabled list.  The lineup is much less 
daunting without those two superstars.  Also, 
rookie Phil Hughes just landed on the DL for 
New York.  Detroit faces the other Yankee 
rookie, Ian Kennedy, on Thursday.  Nate 
Robertson will try and get in the win column for 
the first time this season.

The Angels series was a bit frustrating.  The 
Tigers had some good chances to take Friday's 
game, but couldn't deliver the big hit.  The Angels 
are yet to be healthy, and they should be strong 
contenders to win the American League when 
John Lackey (and possibly Kelvim Escobar) 
return to the already strong rotation.  We still 
have two more rounds with the Halos; one at the 
end of May and the other at the beginning of 
September.

I saw a stat tonight that blew me away; the Tigers 
are second in the American League in walks.  
Yes, the Tigers.  The free-swinging bunch that 
we're accustomed to seeing has learned a little 
patience.  In all of baseball they are tied for 
fourth.  Here's how the Tigers have ranked (out 
of thirty teams), in MLB, in the last several years:

2007: 27th
2006: 28th
2005: 30th
2004: 16th
2003: 27th
2002: 30th
2001: 28th

My theory is that there were a couple of babes 
who had season tickets on the baselines in 2004 
and this year they're back... and they brought 
their friends.  So who's responsible for this rise in 
patience?  The answer is... nobody in particular; 
it's been a team effort.  Each of these players 
have between twelve and fifteen walks: Magglio, 
Guillen, Cabrera, Sheffield, Inge, Polanco.  
Placido has walked twelve times after walking 
only thirty-seven times last season.  More walks 
mean more base-runners mean more runs scored.  
Plus, knowing that the hitters won't swing at junk 
puts a lot more stress on the pitcher.  This is my 
theory as to why the Yankees and Red Sox are 
so good... they don't swing at any bad pitches!  
Since 2003 each team has finished in the top four 
in walks every season.  This is one facet where I 
am pleased to see the Tigers emulating the Yanks 
and Sox.  

With that I'm going to walk myself into the 
bedroom and crash.  Staying up until ???AM is 
getting more difficult, but the material is still a gas 
to put together.  Just a few more days of having 
to put up with the Tigers getting bumped for Red 
Wings or Pistons coverage.  

I'm out...
 





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