Tigers Weekly 2008 Season

WEEK 6: 5/8/08 - 5/15/08

"DEEEE-TROIT AIN'T SHIIIIIIIIIT!"  Some 
White Sox fan first uttered these words years ago 
and they ring true today.  Futulity is in no short 
supply in the D right now, as Tiger hitters are just 
plain pathetic (fifteen runs in the last six games).  
The pitching staff is getting no help, but at the 
same time has yet to turn in a truly dominating 
performance.  The Tigers still have yet to win a 
game where they score less than five runs, and 
they are quickly approaching the worst record in 
the American League!  Seattle, the team with the 
worst record in the AL, comes to town this week.
What is going on?  Anybody remember when we 
swept the Yankees in New York? Seems like eons ago.  

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"Week" of 5/8 - 5/15

Record:  1-5  LWL--LLL

Undy-Five-Hundy:  Run it up to nine, pit boss.  
Nine, Nina, Center-Field.  Teams have certainly 
rebounded from deficits of this magnitude, but it 
usually takes a twenty-game tear where the team 
goes 16-4 or something.  Maybe a trip to the NL 
will snap us out of the funk (the pitchers can't hit 
much worse than the position players).  On the 
bright side we'll miss D-Backs ace Brandon 
Webb.  

Up Next for the Tigers...

May 16-18  @ Arizona
May 19     no game scheduled...
May 20-22  Seattle

AL Central Standings...

CLE  22 19 -
MIN  20 20 1.5
CWS  20 20 1.5
KCR  19 21 2.5
DET  16 25 6

Tigers Divsion...

ARI  26 15 -
|
WAS  18 24 8.5
SFG  17 25 9.5
DET  16 25 10
SEA  16 26 10.5
COL  15 26 11

Tigers News and Notes:  The Tigers were unable 
to trade Jacque Jones and officially released him.  
So much for that experiment.  

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Tiger of the Week...
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It seemed that whenever the Tigers scored this week it was coming from an unlikely source. One of those sources was Matt Joyce. The rookie left-hander hit his first three homers this week, driving in four of the fifteen runs the Tigers scored. He has given the lineup a little bit of pop and has given the Tigers a silver lining for this thundercloud. Not bad to have a left-handed hitter that can actually hit better than .200 (I'm picking on you, Jacque Jones). Amid all the despair this week, the one guy I consistently had positive thoughts about is Joyce. He's doing the most with the least (as far as money goes, for sure). Matt "Ulysses" Joyce is the Tiger of the Week.

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Right is Wrong...
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I was not optimistic about the Royals series when 
I saw the Tigers would be facing three righties.  
The difference in performance is staggering.  The 
Tigers hit .294 vs. left-handers and .256 against 
righties.  And the W-L split is even more telling.  
The Tigers are 5-1 vs. left-handed starters and 
11-24 against right-handed starters.  This week's 
only win came against the Yankees, who started 
lefty Kei Igawa.  In the next two series we're 
slated to face four righties and two lefties.  The 
two southpaws, however, are Randy Johnson 
and Erik Bedard (both tough pitchers).  

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Color By Number...
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Sent in by Nic "Gilby" Gilbert:  here is Sports 
Illustrated's list of the best players in history by 
jersey number.  The fact that they did 0 and 00 
and didn't honor Ty Cobb with the "no number" 
slot puzzles me.  Tigers with numbers retired took 
a lot of runner-up slots.  Hank Greenberg, 
fittingly, got the shaft.  Johnny Bench?  He never 
hit over .293 in a full season.  I don't care if he 
was a catcher.  Greenberg hit 58 homers one 
year.  58!  And if you're wondering who Eddie 
Gaedel is, he's a midget who pinch-hit once for 
the St. Louis Browns against the Tigers.  Click 
below for the story and a picture of the wacky 
event.  

Click HERE for story on Eddie Gaedel from Wikipedia

Player                Runner Up
0    Al Oliver            Rey Ordonez
00    Jack Clark        Jeffrey Leonard
1/8    Eddie Gaedel            
1    Sadaharu Oh        Ozzie Smith
2    Derek Jeter        Charlie Gehringer
3    Babe Ruth            Jimmie Foxx
4    Lou Gehrig        Paul Molitor
5    Joe DiMaggio        Johnny Bench
6    Stan Musial        Al Kaline
7    Mickey Mantle        Al Simmons
8    Cal Ripken        Yogi Berra
9    Ted Williams        Roger Maris
10    Andre Dawson        Lefty Grove
11    Paul Waner        Luis Aparicio
12    Roberto Alomar        Willis Hudlin
13    Alex Rodriguez        Dave Concepcion
14    Pete Rose            Ernie Banks
15    Thurman Munson        Dick Allen
16    Whitey Ford        Hal Newhouser
17    Dizzy Dean        Mark Grace
18    Mel Harder        Ted Kluszewski
19    Bob Feller        Robin Yount
20    Mike Schmidt        Frank Robinson
21    Roberto Clemente        Roger Clemens
22    Jim Palmer        Roger Clemens
23    Krik Gibson        Ryne Sandberg
24    Willie Mays        Ken Griffey Jr.
25    Barry Bonds        Mark McGwire
26    Wade Boggs        Billy Williams
27    Juan Marichal        Vladimir Guerrero
28    Bert Blyleven        Sparky Lyle
29    Satchel Paige        Rod Carew
30    Nolan Ryan        Orlando Cepeda
31    Greg Maddux        Mike Piazza
32    Sandy Koufax        Steve Carlton
33    Eddie Murray        Johnny Vander Meer
34    Kirby Puckett        David Ortiz
35    Rickey Henderson        Frank Thomas
36    Robin Roberts        Gaylord Perry
37    Dave Stieb        Bill Lee
38    Curt Schilling        Rocky Colavito
39    Roy Campanella        Dave Parker
40    Rick Sutcliffe        Don Wilson
41    Tom Seaver        Eddie Mathews
42    Jackie Robinson        Mariano Rivera
43    Dennis Eckersley        Jeff Nelson
44    Hank Aaron        Willie McCovey
45    Bob Gibson        Pedro Martinez
46    Lee Smith (Cubs)        Andy Pettitte
47    Jack Morris        Tom Glavine
48    Torii Hunter        Travis Hafner
49    Ron Guidry        Larry Dierker
50    Matt Lawton        Sid Fernandez
51    Ichiro Suzuki        Randy Johnson
52    C.C. Sabathia        Mike Boddicker
53    Don Drysdale        Bobby Abreu
54    Rich Gossage        Brad Lidge
55    Orel Hershiser        Hideki Matsui
56    Mark Buehrle        Jim Bouton
57    Francisco Rodriguez    Johan Santana
58    Jonathan Papelbon        
59    Todd Jones        Ismael Valdez
60    Scott Schoenewies        Manny Corpas
61    Josh Beckett        Bronson Arroyo
62    Scott Shields        Bob Howry
63    Rafael Betancourt        Kevin Gregg
71    Scott Linebrink        
72    Carlton Fisk        
74    Ugueth Urbina        
75    Barry Zito        
88    Albert Belle        
96    Billy Voiselle        Mac Suzuki
99    Mitch Williams        Turk Wendell

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Poll Question...
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If you were given the choice of watching the 
Tigers or playing Russian Roulette, how many 
bullets would you load in the chamber?  

Me?  I'd load one and then pull the trigger every 
time Curtis Granderson swings at a pitch that just 
misses his toes.  I wouldn't make it past the fourth 
inning.  

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Game Linescores...
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May 8:  Boston 5 - Detroit 1
Starters:  BOS: Beckett 7IP - DET: Verlander 
6IP
BOS  030 020 000  5 13 0
DET  000 100 000  1  7 0
W: Beckett   (4-2)
L: Verlander (1-6)

---

Toolie Sees a Ball Game:

The yearly MSU math department game happened
a week after finals this season, which lead to
a record turnout of twenty (20) people!  It 
was a beast to coordinate, with last minute 
ticket switches causing some headaches, but 
no tickets went unused.  Whew!  

Aside from the actual game, the trip was a blast.  
Dinner in Greektown was followed by a meeting 
with Chas "Michael Michaels" Claus, Jason 
"Ricky" Craven, and Dan "Petry" Stevens at the 
Elwood.  I got to meet some new people 
("Wooster" Jen) and see some old friends (like 
Rahul "Googly" Datta).  That was the good.  

The game was business as usual.  Verlander gave 
up some early runs, and the Tigers struck back 
for one in the fourth.  But in the top of the fifth, 
Kevin "F-ing" Youkilis hit his fourth bomb... OF 
THE SERIES... to cap the scoring.  The Tigers 
had exactly one base-runner in the last five 
innings; a Marcus Thames two-out single in the 
ninth.  It was a real snoozer.  Cuppy Coffee won 
the Dunkin' Donuts race.

Post-game we hit up the Astoria Bakery and then 
spent a while at some Detroit bar shooting darts.  
I gave my favorite panhandler fifty cents and we 
headed back to E.L. (thanks to The Scorekeeper 
for driving).  

Lastly, I hate that Verizon billboard they have 
over the painting of the whales on that building.  
What an eye-sore.  Even with the rest of Detroit 
in the background it looks terrible.  Bring back 
the whales. 

--- 

May 9:  New York Yankees 5 - Detroit 6
Starters:  NYY: Igawa 3IP
           DET: Rogers 6IP
NYY  010 000 103  5 14 3
DET  103 200 00X  6 13 0
W: Rogers (3-3)
L: Igawa  (0-1)

May 10:  New York Yankees 5 - Detroit 2
Starters:  Rasner 6IP
           DET: Bonderman 4IP
NYY  200 120 000  5 9 0
DET  100 000 100  2 7 0
W: Rasner    (2-0)
L: Bonderman (2-4)
S: Rivera    (10)

May 11:  game postponed due to rain...

May 12:  no game scheduled

May 13:  Detroit 2 - Kansas City 3
Starters:  DET: Robertson 7IP
           KCR: Greinke 6IP
DET  110 000 000  2  9 1
KCR  002 000 01X  3 12 1
W: Nunez   (3-0)
L: Cruceta (0-1)
S: Soria   (9)

May 14:  Detroit 0 - Kansas City 2
Starters:  DET: Verlander 6IP
           KCR: Hochevar 6IP
DET  000 000 000  0 6 1
KCR  020 000 00X  2 7 0
W: Hochevar  (3-2)
L: Verlander (1-7)
S: Soria     (10)

May 15:  Detroit 4 - Kansas City 8
Starters:  DET: Rogers 4IP
           KCR: Meche 7IP
DET  010 010 110  4  8 1
KCR  320 200 01X  8 13 0
W: Meche  (3-5)
L: Rogers (3-4) 

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Readers Write In...
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Paul "Jerome" Kersey

Toolie:

Went with my dad to see the last two games of 
the Tigers recent series in NY.  Some 
observations in no particular order:

As far as the locals go, the Yankees fans weren't 
rude but they were definitely cool to us Tigers 
fans. There were some f-bombs dropped, 
natually, but none of them were aimed at us and 
as long as we weren't obnoxious about pulling for 
our team we were generally left alone.

Yankees fans are definitely down on their team.  
Derek Jeter is revered, the rest of the lineup 
generates little enthusiasm right now.  And the 
local media are the same way: the Tigers played 
pretty good ball and got little credit.

Yankee Stadium is in very good shape for a 
stadium that's supposed to be torn down at the 
end of the year.  No doubt a lot of that is on 
account of the All Star Game, and the renovation 
in the 70s made a huge difference too.  Of the 
classic ballparks Yankee Stadium has a much 
more modern feel to it.

Except for the upper deck, that is.  My dad and I 
had upper deck seats and we went back beneath 
the overhang to get out of the rain for part of 
thursday's game.  I've never been so far up at a 
baseball game.  And it's not that you're far away, 
the angle is really steep.  I kept waiting for 
Gollum to urge us hobbits to keep climbing 
whenever we stopped on the way up.

Both games were very similar.  Jeremy 
Bonderman and Nate Robinson were shaky in 
the first inning, and both had control problems.  
After that they both settled down and looked 
fairly good.  The offense then took over and the 
bullpen had little trouble holding the lead.

Aside from having arguably the coolest name in 
all of baseball Placido Polanco is one of the most 
underrated players out there: two home runs on 
Wednesday night, a critical double the next night, 
all the way playing solid defense.

(Seriously, with a name like that shouldn't he be a
Spanish-language crooner on either Telemundo 
or Univision?  "¡Esta noche el Sábado Gigante, 
Placido Polanco canta canciones de la pasión!"  
Or something like that.)

Brandon Inge didn't do much offensively, but we 
saw him play two very different positions (center 
field and catcher) and he did fairly well at both.  
Add in a decent bat and what you have is the 
ultimate utility man.  I know it's not exactly what 
Inge wanted, but I'm very glad he's still with the 
Tigers.

Paul "Jerome" Kersey

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Anthony "Ferny" Morano

Thanks for another season of the Weekly Matt !

So far this year it's been very frustrating watching 
my tigers via direct tv. However I do like the 
option of being able to choose what announcers 
you want to hear. Thank god no more Cleveland 
Indians, Mariners and Royals announcers. They 
are boring and brutal.

The one thing that makes me throw my remote in 
frustration is when the tigers pitchers continue to 
walk the leadoff guy or give up walks with 2 out 
and nobody on. They always score! . Maybe it's 
my catching background but the tigers pitching 
staff has been brutal. (Starters and Relievers)  Is 
Chuck "I'm not Rich Rodriguez" Hernandez the 
Answer?  I know the legendary Gordie Bennet 
would walk out to the mound and itimidate the 
pitcher to throw strikes ! Right Brian? Just 
kidding! 

Hopefully they can get on a hot streak before 
they come out to Anaheim so I can watch them. 
Also thinking about going to San Diego and San 
Fran to see them as well

Go Tigers, Wings, and Pistons

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Toolie's Trashtalk...

Tuesday's loss to Kansas City is the game of the 
week.  The Tigers threatened on multiple 
occasions but couldn't punch a hole in the Royals.  
In one inning, Joyce singled to right and Cabrera 
didn't make it to third.  After an infield single the 
Tigers were retired.  Then on Wednesday the 
Tigers got a threat going in the eighth, trailing 2-0, 
by putting the first two men on with Magglio and 
Cabrera to follow.  A double-play and a ground-
out later and the game was all but over (K.C.'s 
bullpen is phenomenal).  

NOT winning Tiger of the Week is Edgar 
Renteria.  Since April 26 the shortstop has just 
five hits, dropping his average from .330 to .260.  
Adding to the struggles, his error on Tuesday 
allowed the go-ahead run to score in the eighth 
inning.  He's just one of the bats that needs to get 
going to inject some life into the club.  Jair 
Jurrjens, the player we dealt for Renteria, is 4-3 
with a 3.10 ERA for Atlanta.  Not that I think 
Renteria was a bad acquisition; it's just salt in the 
wound.  

As down as I have been feeling about the Tigers, 
though, I look back to 2003 when a win was as 
rare as 1-2-3 Todd Jones ninth.  After forty-one 
games those Tigers had just nine wins.  It could 
be worse.  

The Tigers have been great in interleague play, 
though this weekend we get the best team in 
baseball.  If we don't get wins out of the series, 
perhaps the team can take some notes on how to 
win a ball game.  

How much of this slump do you think rests on the 
coaching staff?  Leyland tried a shake-up, but it 
hasn't seemed to work.  I think there comes a 
point where the players just need to get it done.  
How much is a manager going to inspire or 
motivate these guys?  Sure, that's what he's paid 
to do, but hoe many times can you say "We lost 
that game because so-and-so mismanaged the 
game?"  So far we've been able to explain most 
of the losses in the words of my pal "Joltin" Joe 
Timmer after the Sox game last Thurdsay: "They 
stunk."  

OK, enough negative thoughts.  This is the week 
we turn it around and begin the march back to 
the top of the mountain.  One series at a time.  

I'm out.
 





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