I just saw this and thought I would post on it.
Dimitri Young played for the Tigers until 2006 when he sort imploded into a public and private hell. He got a fresh start with the Nationals and became Come Back Player of the Year in 2007. I sort of lost track of him after that. Now it looks like Washington has sent him to their AAA club.
I really hope he turns it around again.
He is a career .292/ .351/ .475 hitter
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
And now for something completely different...
No baseball for now. There are lots of trade rumors flying around. Tis the season for that kind of stuff and we all know that the Tigers are going to do something- we just don't really know what. We'll just have to wait and see what Mr. Dombrowski actually does (or doesn't do).
No, let's venture out a little. It's November 5th. I was up until 1 o'clock this morning watching the presidential election and the aftermath. It was quite a night. I remember 2000. I was working 2nd shift in Canada and couldn't watch on TV, but the internet was starting to matter and I was trying to follow the election that way. I remember hitting the refresh button over and over again and being surprised that Florida kept changing. Little did I know the drama that was starting to unfold over hanging chads and butterfly ballots and the apparent inability of the citizens of Florida to complete this most fundamental of democratic tasks- vote for the candidate of their choice. Back then the 'net was not the best way to follow an election.
This time around I used both the internet and TV. I am a junkie and I was getting my 4 year fix. I don't mess around with Fox or CNN on TV. No way. I go straight to PBS. Give it to me straight and don't muddle it up with silly holograms or fancy computerized displays. On the 'net I was bouncing back and forth between the Washington Post and NPR. I noticed that the Post was playing it very conservative when calling states. They were always slower to call a state one way or the other than either PBS or NPR. I'm guessing they relied less on exit polls and more on actual ballot counts? Who knows.
Yesterday's election was different for me. It was the first time I have ever voted for a Democrat in my life. I guess I was just not convinced that McCain was the guy. I used to think he was. I voted for him in 2000. I hoped he would run against Bush in 2004 but he waited until this year. But, except for the military stuff I just couldn't see him leading. I saw him following his advisors on economic stuff and following the GOP base on social stuff. Strange as this may be, I expect the President to lead. One of my biggest beefs with G. W. Bush is that he seems to abdicate way too much to others (especially Cheney and Rumsfeld until he fired him). Obama looks like someone who leads. He controlled his campaign and it reflected his style. I guess we'll find out in about 80 days.
I honestly don't know if he can control his party. That will be his toughest challenge. I remember how the Chinese challenged the Bush administration very early (remember when they forced a US intelligence plane down?) I'm sure that nations will challenge Obama also and he'll have to figure out how to react. I'm not sure you can really prepare for that in advance, so you can judge a person for not doing it already.
If Obama can control Pelosi and Reid then he has a chance to be the uniter he talks about being. I listed to Obama's speech last night and was very impressed. Yet, I remember G. W. Bush saying almost exactly the same things and then walking away from it. I hope Obama has the balls to remind Pelosi and Reid just how he got to where he is and makes them fall into line or they will tear it all apart in an effort to right all of the slights and wrongs they feel.
I don't feel like I was in a "Throw the bums out" mood yesterday. I just didn't feel as though the GOP had answers right now. Newt Gingrich has great ideas, but nobody listens to him unless they watch him on C-SPAN (like I do). I am probably more conservative than most people reading this in many ways, but is the GOP? They spend money like it's water. They don't even pretend to care about a balanced budget anymore. They put more and more federal programs into place (Perscriptions? No Child Left Behind?). And, seriously, don't get me started about the shredding of the Bill of Rights in the name of the War on Terror. There is nothing conservative about any of those things. There is pandering and fear mongering. There is a Department of Justice that became a fraternity house, with rush events and blackballing just like college. The GOP fought for the end to abortion (a very good and important thing) but never really said a word about torture of people.
No, I wasn't throwing the bums out. I was choosing a better option. I hope we made the right choice. I hope that Obama is able to live up to even 1/3 of the ridiculously high expectations being put on him. I hope that in 2 years the GOP has figured out how to get its head out of its collective ass and run candidates who are focused on making life better for everyone and not just the few who are the "base". If they don't then people like me (evangelical, conservative but not listening to what Dobson, Limbaugh, et al tell me to think) will continue to seek alternatives. I don't know who those alternatives are, but there probably won't be an "R" next to their names.
Next time we look at base ball again. Here hoping that Dombrowski finds some pitching! Go Tigers!
No, let's venture out a little. It's November 5th. I was up until 1 o'clock this morning watching the presidential election and the aftermath. It was quite a night. I remember 2000. I was working 2nd shift in Canada and couldn't watch on TV, but the internet was starting to matter and I was trying to follow the election that way. I remember hitting the refresh button over and over again and being surprised that Florida kept changing. Little did I know the drama that was starting to unfold over hanging chads and butterfly ballots and the apparent inability of the citizens of Florida to complete this most fundamental of democratic tasks- vote for the candidate of their choice. Back then the 'net was not the best way to follow an election.
This time around I used both the internet and TV. I am a junkie and I was getting my 4 year fix. I don't mess around with Fox or CNN on TV. No way. I go straight to PBS. Give it to me straight and don't muddle it up with silly holograms or fancy computerized displays. On the 'net I was bouncing back and forth between the Washington Post and NPR. I noticed that the Post was playing it very conservative when calling states. They were always slower to call a state one way or the other than either PBS or NPR. I'm guessing they relied less on exit polls and more on actual ballot counts? Who knows.
Yesterday's election was different for me. It was the first time I have ever voted for a Democrat in my life. I guess I was just not convinced that McCain was the guy. I used to think he was. I voted for him in 2000. I hoped he would run against Bush in 2004 but he waited until this year. But, except for the military stuff I just couldn't see him leading. I saw him following his advisors on economic stuff and following the GOP base on social stuff. Strange as this may be, I expect the President to lead. One of my biggest beefs with G. W. Bush is that he seems to abdicate way too much to others (especially Cheney and Rumsfeld until he fired him). Obama looks like someone who leads. He controlled his campaign and it reflected his style. I guess we'll find out in about 80 days.
I honestly don't know if he can control his party. That will be his toughest challenge. I remember how the Chinese challenged the Bush administration very early (remember when they forced a US intelligence plane down?) I'm sure that nations will challenge Obama also and he'll have to figure out how to react. I'm not sure you can really prepare for that in advance, so you can judge a person for not doing it already.
If Obama can control Pelosi and Reid then he has a chance to be the uniter he talks about being. I listed to Obama's speech last night and was very impressed. Yet, I remember G. W. Bush saying almost exactly the same things and then walking away from it. I hope Obama has the balls to remind Pelosi and Reid just how he got to where he is and makes them fall into line or they will tear it all apart in an effort to right all of the slights and wrongs they feel.
I don't feel like I was in a "Throw the bums out" mood yesterday. I just didn't feel as though the GOP had answers right now. Newt Gingrich has great ideas, but nobody listens to him unless they watch him on C-SPAN (like I do). I am probably more conservative than most people reading this in many ways, but is the GOP? They spend money like it's water. They don't even pretend to care about a balanced budget anymore. They put more and more federal programs into place (Perscriptions? No Child Left Behind?). And, seriously, don't get me started about the shredding of the Bill of Rights in the name of the War on Terror. There is nothing conservative about any of those things. There is pandering and fear mongering. There is a Department of Justice that became a fraternity house, with rush events and blackballing just like college. The GOP fought for the end to abortion (a very good and important thing) but never really said a word about torture of people.
No, I wasn't throwing the bums out. I was choosing a better option. I hope we made the right choice. I hope that Obama is able to live up to even 1/3 of the ridiculously high expectations being put on him. I hope that in 2 years the GOP has figured out how to get its head out of its collective ass and run candidates who are focused on making life better for everyone and not just the few who are the "base". If they don't then people like me (evangelical, conservative but not listening to what Dobson, Limbaugh, et al tell me to think) will continue to seek alternatives. I don't know who those alternatives are, but there probably won't be an "R" next to their names.
Next time we look at base ball again. Here hoping that Dombrowski finds some pitching! Go Tigers!
Monday, November 3, 2008
I'm back!
My Blogger dashboard tells me that I have not posted since August 10th. I have to believe that 2 1/2 months is plenty of time for a break. So let's jump back into this - shall we?
Let's sum up- in 2008 the Tigers spent more money on payroll than anybody but the Yankees. They started out 0-7 and never really recovered. They flirted with .500 but only enough to tease all of their fans before sliding backward, ever backward. They ended up finishing 74-88 for the year, good enough for last place in the AL Central. Even the Royals were a better club! For those of you who are looking forward to a weekly recap of those last 6 weeks or so that I didn't cover here- well... the Tigers sucked. That should about cover it.
So, now what do they do? Well, conventional wisdom says that they need pitching. They don't have a solid closer (now that Todd Jones has hung up his spikes). They are weak in the set up roles (with Zumaya a huge question mark and Rodney a series of different symbols followed by an exclamation point! For example: "What the @#$% just happened?!") The starters are just as uncertain. Verlander is still amazing, but his numbers aren't. Bonderman is hopefully recovering from shoulder surgery. Rogers will (or won't) retire- he won't say just yet. Willis and Robertson are mainly there to drive fans (who remember how solid they can be) just crazy. They fired the pitching coach. Maybe that will matter, maybe it won't. I don't know.
Their defense wasn't exactly helping the pitchers this year. They are statistically worse almost everywhere. The only player who really shined this year defensively was a pitcher. Not exactly what you're looking for at a payroll just north of $138,000,000. So Jim Leyland announced that Brandon Inge would be the starting 3rd baseman in 2009. I'm sure that will plug some of the holes on the left side of the infield. But that doesn't solve everything. Polanco is still a great 2nd baseman. Cabrera seems to be getting pretty good at 1st base. Everyone is talking about Shortstop and Edgar Rentaria. I'm not sure that he is that much of a problem. He didn't hit for squat in the first half of the season, but after that he was improving. In fact he shows some real good stats as you can see at Tiger Tales. I think that, with the limited payroll options the Tigers have right now that there are other places to spend their money. The outfield will be another area to focus on. Center is solid with Granderson. Right seems solid with Ordonez (assuming that he stays in Detroit). Left has been a question mark for a long time, but Leyland said that Carlos Guillen will be the starting Left Fielder. I'm not sure about that, but Leyland is better at this than I am so we'll see.
So the Tigers have a lot of questions to answer and apparently not a lot of money to solve them with. I think that it is fair to say that nobody is going to pre-maturely buy their World Series tickets this year. Hopefully they will do better than last place.
Let's sum up- in 2008 the Tigers spent more money on payroll than anybody but the Yankees. They started out 0-7 and never really recovered. They flirted with .500 but only enough to tease all of their fans before sliding backward, ever backward. They ended up finishing 74-88 for the year, good enough for last place in the AL Central. Even the Royals were a better club! For those of you who are looking forward to a weekly recap of those last 6 weeks or so that I didn't cover here- well... the Tigers sucked. That should about cover it.
So, now what do they do? Well, conventional wisdom says that they need pitching. They don't have a solid closer (now that Todd Jones has hung up his spikes). They are weak in the set up roles (with Zumaya a huge question mark and Rodney a series of different symbols followed by an exclamation point! For example: "What the @#$% just happened?!") The starters are just as uncertain. Verlander is still amazing, but his numbers aren't. Bonderman is hopefully recovering from shoulder surgery. Rogers will (or won't) retire- he won't say just yet. Willis and Robertson are mainly there to drive fans (who remember how solid they can be) just crazy. They fired the pitching coach. Maybe that will matter, maybe it won't. I don't know.
Their defense wasn't exactly helping the pitchers this year. They are statistically worse almost everywhere. The only player who really shined this year defensively was a pitcher. Not exactly what you're looking for at a payroll just north of $138,000,000. So Jim Leyland announced that Brandon Inge would be the starting 3rd baseman in 2009. I'm sure that will plug some of the holes on the left side of the infield. But that doesn't solve everything. Polanco is still a great 2nd baseman. Cabrera seems to be getting pretty good at 1st base. Everyone is talking about Shortstop and Edgar Rentaria. I'm not sure that he is that much of a problem. He didn't hit for squat in the first half of the season, but after that he was improving. In fact he shows some real good stats as you can see at Tiger Tales. I think that, with the limited payroll options the Tigers have right now that there are other places to spend their money. The outfield will be another area to focus on. Center is solid with Granderson. Right seems solid with Ordonez (assuming that he stays in Detroit). Left has been a question mark for a long time, but Leyland said that Carlos Guillen will be the starting Left Fielder. I'm not sure about that, but Leyland is better at this than I am so we'll see.
So the Tigers have a lot of questions to answer and apparently not a lot of money to solve them with. I think that it is fair to say that nobody is going to pre-maturely buy their World Series tickets this year. Hopefully they will do better than last place.
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