Tigers Weekly 2009 Season

WEEK 22: 8/31/09 - 9/6/09

Well the week started off with a wrap-around 
series finale against Tampa Bay and the Tigers 
proceeded to lose.  That would be the only 
losing the Tigers would do the rest of the 
week, getting the all impressive DOUBLE 
SWEEP at the hands of the Cleveland Indians 
and the Tampa Bay Rays.  Homeruns came 
from everywhere in the lineup (including the 
unbelievable Brandon Inge 9th inning Grand 
Slam on Sunday), clutch hits started to creep 
in to the daily gamecasts, and huge come-
from-behind wins were aplenty.  Six wins on 
the week later and the Tigers are leaving the 
Twins and White Sox in the rearview mirror.

This week also saw the calendar page turn 
over to September, meaning roster expansions.  
Come September 1st, any player on the 40-
man roster is eligible to be called up and play 
the rest of the season.  This provided much 
needed depth for the Tigers, especially in the 
bullpen.  Unfortunately, we also got to see the 
downside to September call-ups in the Tampa 
Bay series when on two separate occasions 
FIVE (yes FIVE) Ray pitchers were used to 
get through a single inning.  On the positive 
side, the Tigers won each of those ballgames 
and they were able to make lots of pinch-
hitting counter moves themselves.

Looking ahead to the final four weeks of the 
season, the Tigers travel to Kansas City for 
three and then return home for a four game 
wrap-around series against Toronto.  The 
Tigers have dominated Kansas City so far this 
season and they have not faced the Blue Jays 
since opening weekend.  Toronto is a much 
different team this time around and the Tigers 
have a good chance of taking care of business.  
The Tigers face Kansas City (6 games), 
Toronto (3 games), Minnesota (7 games), and 
Chicago (6 games) to finish the season.  It 
should be noted that with Chicago taking the 
free-fall and Minnesota treading water at 
.500, the Tigers do not play a single team 
above .500 the rest of the season.  Baring a 
huge collapse, the Tigers are in the 
homestretch to a return to the MLB Playoffs 
and a more than probable trip to New York.  
The post-season atmosphere is slowly creeping 
upon us.  Can you feel it?

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8/31 – 9/6
 
Record: 6-1  LWWWWWW
 
Undy-Five Hundy:  One loss and SIX WINS 
pushes the undy-five hundy index into double 
digits for the first time on the year.  Not a bad 
time to be doing this I’d say.  Overall, the 
index finishes at a very impressive fourteen 
games under.  One more week of this play and 
the AL Central will all but be locked up.

Up Next for the Tigers...

Week One                                               
September 7        No Game Scheduled
September 8 - 10   @ Kansas City Royals  (8-4, 4-2 Away)
September 11 - 13  Toronto Blue Jays     (1-3, 0-0 Home)
			
Week Two                                                
September 14       Toronto Blue Jays     (1-3, 0-0 Home)
September 15 - 17  Kansas City Royals    (8-4, 4-2 Home)
September 18 - 20  Minnesota Twins       (4-7, 1-5 Away)

Week Three                                              
September 21       No Game Scheduled
September 22 - 24  @ Cleveland Indians   (11-4, 4-2 Away)
September 25 - 27  @ Chicago White Sox   (7-5, 3-3  Away)

Week Four                                               
Sept 28 - Oct 1    Minnesota Twins       (4-7, 3-2 Home)
October 2 - 4      Chicago White Sox     (7-5, 4-2 Home)
October 5          END OF SEASON
October 6 - ???    MLB PLAYOFFS TBD

AL Central Standings...
     W   L   GB   EL***
DET  75  61  --    --
MIN  68  68  7.0  (20)
CWS  68  70  8.0  (18)
CLE  60  76  15.0 (12)
KC   51  85  24.0 (03)
***Number (X) represents team’s elimination number
- 1st place team’s magic number is 2nd place team’s elimination number
 
Tigers Division...

     W   L   GB
NYY  87  50   -
|
COL  77  60  10.0
TEX   76  60  10.5
DET  75  61  11.5
SF   75  62  12.0
TB   72  64  14.5

Tigers News and Notes:   On Tuesday, 
September 1st MLB rosters officially 
expanded.  Teams have the option of bringing 
up any player that is on the 40-man roster for 
the month of September (thus giving teams a 
40-man limit; expanded from 25).  Joining the 
Tigers on Tuesday: C Dusty Ryan, IF Brent 
Dlugach, OF Wilkin Ramirez, RHP Casey 
Fien, and RHP Eddie Bonine.  

Dlugach was the only player not on the 40-
man roster to start with, so the Tigers recalled 
3B Mike Hollimon and placed him on the 60-
day DL.  This freed up the roster spot for 
Dlugach.  A shortstop by trade, Dlugach had 
seen some work the past week in Toledo at 
3B, so he could possibly spell Inge when the 
knees flair up.  

Ryan, Ramirez, Fien, and Bonine all have 
already made at least one appearance for the 
Tigers this season.  Ramirez gives the Tigers 
the extra OF and speed, Ryan allows the 
Tigers to pinch-hit Avila and not have to 
worry about losing the back-up catcher, and 
Fien and Bonine give the bullpen so much 
needed relief (bullpen was pitching a man 
short for a couple of weeks).

Also on Tuesday, Jeremy Bonderman was 
activated from the disabled list and was called 
back up to the Tigers.  A starting pitcher his 
entire Tiger career, Bonderman will now try to 
make his way as a back-end reliever in the 
bullpen.  If his fastball can maintain the lower 
90s (which has been reported in Toledo), 
Bonderman could be a very nice option to 
Lyon and Rodney in late innings.

On Saturday the Tigers recalled Jeff Larish 
from Toledo (AAA) and placed him on the 
60-day DL while he recovers from his 
wrist/hand surgery.  Placing him on the DL 
allowed the Tigers to free up a 40-man roster 
spot so that they could recall outfielder Don 
Kelly from Toledo as well.  With Kelly and 
Wilkin Ramirez on the bench, Leyland now 
has plenty of late inning speed options sitting 
on the bench.

Also on Saturday, the Tigers recalled 
Armando Galarraga from his brief injury stint 
in Toledo to start in place of pitcher Jarrod 
Washburn who is suffering from pain in his 
knee.  Washburn has experienced pain in his 
knee all season long and had to skip a start 
earlier in the season.  The good news is his 
first rest helped him for the weeks ahead pitch 
great games.  Hopefully this latest rest, mixed 
with the cortisone shot will be all the rehab he 
needs to finish the season strong.  After 
giving up only 11 HRs in Seattle this year, 
Washburn has given up 11 homeruns in only 
six starts in a Tiger uniform.  

Lastly, after Galarraga continued his yearly 
struggles Saturday and was pulled after only 2 
1/3rd innings, the Tigers announced on Sunday 
that Galarraga was going to the bullpen and 
Nate Robertson would remain a starter for the 
rest of the season.  Robertson clearly has been 
a different pitcher since his return from elbow 
surgery earlier in the season.  If Robertson can 
continue to hit the zone and keep hitter off-
balance, he will be a very nice late addition to 
the rotation and will give the Tigers two left 
handed starters to mix with their three 
righties.

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Tiger of the Week...
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Tiger Homerun Kings of the Week...
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            Season  Weekly  Weekly
Player      Total   Total   No(s)               

Pujols (STL)  44     3     (42, 43, 44)
|

Cabrera       28     1     (28)
Inge          27     2     (26, 27)
Granderson    26     1     (26)
Huff          14     1     (14)
Polanco       10     2     (9, 10)
Guillen        9     3     (7, 8, 9)
Avila          4     1     (4)
|
Thames        13
Raburn        10
Ordonez        7
Santiago       7
Thomas         7
Laird          4
Larish         4
Everett        3
Ramirez        1

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Poll Question...
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If you had the chance to party with one 
member of the Tigers (players, coaches, 
announcers, front office, vendors, etc.) who 
would it be and why?

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Wild Card Race...
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*Number (X) represents team’s elimination number
- 1st place team’s magic number is 2nd place team’s elimination number
**Detroit Tigers currently 1st in AL Central



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A Tiger Legend Battles On...
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As many Tiger fans around the country were 
following the Tigers and their winning ways, a 
Tiger legend made an announcement 
Thursday that stung even the fair-weather 
Tiger fan throughout the nation.  Legendary 
Tigers broadcaster and Detroit legend, Ernie 
Harwell announced that he has been 
diagnosed with cancer and has an incurable 
tumor around his bile duct.  As first reported 
in the Detroit Free Press, Harwell (91) is 
playing it just as he always has, cool collected 
and calm.  Harwell said in his announcement, 
"We don't know how long this lasts… it could 
be a year, it could be much less than a year, 
much less than a half a year. Who knows? 
Whatever's in store, I'm ready for a new 
adventure. That's the way I look at it."  As a 
Tiger fan for years, I can recall the countless 
hours spent listening to Harwell broadcast 
Tigers games just for the pure purpose of 
listening to the Tigers.  There were times when 
it did not matter what the score was or how 
good or bad the Tigers were doing.  Harwell 
had the ability to keep you listening and 
following along just because.  As Harwell 
prepares for his road ahead, take a brief 
moment and say an extra prayer for the icon 
of a lifetime and maybe he can stick around 
for just awhile longer.

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A Positional Machine...
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On Friday night in Toledo, Mud Hens 3B 
Mike Hessman put his name in the record 
books.  Hessman became the latest player to 
add his name to the list of players who have 
played every position in a single game.  In the 
first inning, Hessman started out at catcher.  
He would then go to first base in the 2nd, 
second base in the 3rd, shortstop in the 4th, 
third base in the 5th, left field in the 6th, 
centerfield in the 7th, right field in the 8th, and 
lastly would pitch the 9th inning.  In the end 
Hessman would give up two runs (only one 
earned) on three singles, an intentional walk, a 
wild pitch and a throwing error and take the 
loss in the Mud Hens 12-11 loss to Columbus.  
It is always nice to see these things happen in 
baseball (although it is much easier to do in a 
minor league game than the majors).

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Remaining Schedule at a Glance...
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With the Tigers currently seven games up on 
Minnesota and eight up on Chicago, we 
examine the remainder of the season.  Just 
from pure looks of things, the White Sox look 
to all but be eliminated from contention still 
having to make a west coast road trip.  
Minnesota has an easier schedule and plays 
Detroit seven more times, but they are in a big 
hole.  To put things in perspective, if the 
Tigers play .500 ball the rest of the season (13-
13), in order for Minnesota and Chicago to 
just tie the Tigers and have a 1-game playoff 
the Twins would have to go 20-6 and the 
White Sox would have to go 20-4.  Just take a 
second and think about that for a minute.  Not 
only is every Tigers win just that more 
important, but every Twins and White Sox 
loss is just that much more important.  As long 
as the Tigers do not pull a “New York Mets” 
moment, post-season play is looking that more 
likely.  The three game series in Minnesota in 
two weeks will be the breaking moment for 
the Twins I think.



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5-4-3 Triple Play Anyone...
-----------------------------------------------------

On Sunday, the Milwaukee Brewers 
completed one of the rare feats in baseball by 
turning a triple play in the Brewers 2-1 victory 
over the San Francisco Giants.  With runners 
on 1st and 2nd, the Giants Aaron Rowand hit a 
ball to third baseman Casey McGee, who 
stepped on third base for the force, threw to 
second baseman Felipe Lopez at second for 
the force again, and then fired a bullet to 
Prince Fielder at first getting Rowand out by 
less than a step.  If you are scoring that at 
home, it was a 5-4-3 triple play.  The triple 
play was the Brewers fifth triple play in 
franchise history and first since doing so vs. 
the Cubs on April 16, 1999 (also of the 5-4-3 
variety).

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Arby's Index...
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On Tuesday the Tigers greeted us fans with 
the first Arby’s sandwich of September on the 
very first day of the month.  Against the 
Cleveland Indians, Placido Polanco hit his 9th 
homerun on the season.  On the very next 
pitch, Carlos Guillen hit the second of the 
night and his 9th of the season just out of the 
yard to right.  In the third inning Brandon 
Inge completed the Arby’s night by hitting his 
26th homerun on the year, a two-run line-drive 
shot to left and sending the Arby’s sandwich 
up on the board.

Arby’s Index +12

(April 8, April 25, May 13, May 20, May 30, 
June 19, July 7, July 12, July 21, July 29, 
August 15, September 1)

Keep those free sandwiches coming Tigers!

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Fan Ballpark Photo Board...
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Developing at Tigers Weekly is the fan photo 
section.  We are asking all baseball fans to 
send in their pictures from stadiums across 
America and to write about their experiences 
at the park.  Pictures and memories do not 
need to be of Comerica Park.  All stadiums 
are welcome.  Please take a look at 
http://www.tigersweekly.com/Photos/TWReader.htm
to see all of the pictures our viewers have already
sent in.
 
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Game Lines of the Week...
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Monday, August 31st         1:05 pm
Starters:  TB  - Shields    7.0 IP
           DET - Washburn   5.2 IP
                          R   H  E  (W - L)
Tampa Bay   600 011 300  11  14  1  (71-59)
Detroit     200 001 202   7  13  0  (69-61)
  W    Shields    (9-10)
  L    Washburn   (9-8)
  S    ---

Tuesday, September 1st      7:05 pm
***Carrasco MLB Debut
Starters:  CLE - Carrasco   3.0 IP
           DET - Jackson    5.0 IP
                          R   H  E  (W - L)
Cleveland   100 031 000   5  10  0  (58-73)
Detroit     402 200 00x   8  13  1  (70-61)
  W    Jackson    (11-6)
  L    Carrasco   (0-1)
  S    Rodney     (30)

Wednesday, September 2nd    7:05 pm
Starters:  CLE - Laffey     6.1 IP
           DET - Porcello   7.0 IP
                          R  H  E  (W - L)
Cleveland   100 000 010   2  7  5  (58-74)
Detroit     100 200 10x   4  9  0  (71-61)
  W    Porcello   (12-8)
  L    Laffey     (7-4)
  S    Rodney     (31)

Thursday, September 3rd     1:05 pm
***10 Inning Game
Starters:  CLE - Carmona    6.1 IP
           DET - Robertson  6.0 IP
                            R  H  E  (W - L)
Cleveland   000 000 030 0   3  8  0  (58-75)
Detroit     100 000 200 1   4  5  0  (72-61)
  W    Miner      (6-4)
  L    Perez      (4-3)
  S    ---

Friday, September 4th       7:38 pm
Starters:  DET - Verlander  8.0 IP
           TB  - Niemann    7.2 IP
                          R  H  E  (W - L)
Detroit     000 001 003   4  8  0  (73-61)
Tampa Bay   010 000 002   3  6  0  (72-62)
  W    Verlander  (16-7)
  L    Howell     (7-5)
  S    Rodney     (32)

Saturday, September 5th     7:08 pm
Starters:  DET - Galarraga  2.1 IP
           TB  - Shields    6.1 IP
                          R   H  E  (W - L)
Detroit     102 000 320   8  11  0  (74-61)
Tampa Bay   402 000 000   6   8  0  (72-63)
  W    Seay       (5-2)
  L    Balfour    (5-4)
  S    Lyon       (2)

Sunday, September 6th       1:38 pm
Starters:  DET - Jackson    8.0 IP
           TB  - Davis      7.0 IP
                          R  H  E  (W - L)
Detroit     010 000 004   5  7  0  (74-61)
Tampa Bay   012 000 000   3  6  0  (72-63)
  W    Jackson    (12-6)
  L    Springer   (0-3)
  S    Lyon       (3)

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Reader Write In...
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What a week!  I've got pennant fever!  Give 
me these:

1.  Placido Polanco in clutch situations (my 
vote for TOTW)

2.  Brandon Lyon in late innings

3.  Aubrey Huff, Jarrod Washburn back where 
they came from

4.  Gerald Laird behind the plate with runners 
in motion

5.  Gerald Laird, Adam Everett, Brandon 
Inge as DFs (designated fielders)

6.  Brandon Inge at the plate in only the 8th 
and 9th

7.  Wilkin Ramirez as a pinch runner (beautiful 
slide against TB)

8.  Jim Leyland with an expanded roster

9.  Armando Galarraga on the DL

10.  The Angels in the playoffs!

BEAST

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Toolie Trashtalk...
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What a week we had in Tiger Town!  The 
Tigers swept both series this week for their 
third six-game winning streak of the season 
and now hold a commanding seven-game lead 
in the Central.  The magic number, at 29 as the 
week began, plummeted to 20 as Minnesota 
lost twice to Cleveland and once to Chicago.  
With just 26 games to play the Tigers have a 
stranglehold on the division.  Assuming the 
Tigers coast to the finish line at 13-13, the 
Twins would have to go 20-6 just to catch us.   
However, the Twins (or the Sox, who are just 
a game behind Minnesota) aren't going to just 
lie down and die, and we learned in 2006 how 
hard it can be to close out the competition.  
The big difference in 2009 is there won't be a 
Wild Card waiting for second place. 

Six close wins this week resulted in five saves 
and a walk-off.  Fernando Rodney recorded 
three of those saves, but after working so 
often the skipper had to call on Brandon Lyon 
to close things out on Saturday and Sunday.  
Lyon, who saved 26 games for Arizona last 
season, worked a pair of perfect innings (as 
effective as Rodney without the drama).  
With the expansion of the rosters, Leyland has 
been pulling a lot more strings late in games, 
utilizing his speed on the bench and the depth 
at the catcher position (giving Avila some 
more at-bats with Dusty Ryan as the 
emergency catcher).  This week everything 
worked and life was good.  I can FEEL this 
division title...

I saw that Zach Greinke was pitching on 
Saturday and was hopeful that the Tigers 
would miss him this week.  Alas, the Royals 
are in a wrap-around series this Labor Day 
weekend and Greinke will be due to pitch 
again in the series finale on Thursday.  Nuts.  
A few times this past week, however, the 
Tigers have been tied or down late in the 
game and I've thought "Eh, it'll be all right if 
the Tigers lose this one" and they kept finding 
ways to pull the game out.  I'll have the same 
mentality when the Tigers take on the Royals' 
ace, but maybe I should expect more.  The 
boys have won their last two road series, both 
against teams with winning records.  For the 
first time in a while it feels like this team has 
some serious mojo.  

Making a triumphant return to the ball club, so 
far, has been Nate Robertson.  After 
struggling mightily in the beginning of the 
season, Nate-dog had surgery on his elbow 
and rehabbed in Toledo.  In his second start 
since returning to Detroit, Robertson threw six 
scoreless innings against the Tribe but got a 
no-decision when the bullpen blew a 3-0 lead.  
With Armando Galarraga struggling of late, 
Robertson could be the booster shot the 
rotation needs to tide the Tigers over until the 
post-season.  

Also returning to the big club this week was 
Jeremy Bonderman.  He pitched 1.2 innings in 
relief on Saturday, surrendering one hit and 
one walk but no runs.  It still doesn't seem 
likely that Jeremy will be a significant 
contributor in the playoffs, but his return is 
encouraging for the future.  

Brandon Inge... he does JUST enough at the 
plate for me to feel all right about him being in 
the lineup every day.  Of course his defense is 
stellar, but when he doesn't hit at all (.233 
AVG) it makes it tough to stomach.  But he'll 
come up with HUGE hits for the team that 
essentially win games: his three-run homer off 
of Yovani Gallardo of the Brewers, his two-
out shot in the 9th off of Houston's Jose 
Valverde, and most recently his grand slam 
off of Russ Springer in Tampa in the ninth 
inning of a 3-1 game.  Despite his average, 
Inge in second on the team in home runs and 
RBIs, and fourth on the team in runs scored, 
so the production is there.  It just seems to 
come in bunches... and at the most opportune 
times.  

Magglio Ordonez has become a much more 
dependable hitter lately.  He's getting close to 
activating his option for next season (which is 
based on plate appearances) and I don't think 
that Tiger fans should worry at all about the 
$18 million he will make next year.  Although 
the power hasn't returned, Ordonez is hitting 
.358 over the last four weeks.  It's tough to 
argue that a player like that should be sitting.  
And for all the good that Magglio has brought 
to the Tigers I say pay him... pay that man his 
money.  We signed him when we were bad.  
We had to give him a great deal to come here.  
He's produced like a pro and in my eyes has 
earned it.  

For my vote I think I would most like to party 
with Rod Allen.  He's got the stories, the one-
liners, and that stupid huge grin that would 
keep me laughing all night.  AND YOU 
KNOW that Rodzilla knows how to throw a 
mean party, PAD-NUH.  

Beast, I agree with most of your points 
except: Huff is starting to come around.  Let's 
see how he does this week.  Also, I think I 
may rather play New York in a short series 
than in a seven-game series... but if we do 
draw the Angels first it means that Boston 
would be out of the playoffs (with Texas 
winning the Wild Card).  So in fact I agree; I 
would rather play the Angels in the first 
round.  

I'm out until next week.  Let's keep things 
rolling in KC.


TIGERSWEEKLY.COM

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