Monday, May 14, 2012
Why I'm not worried about .500 on May 14...
The Tigers have played 34 games (1/5 of the season). They are wrapping up a long (9 game) road trip out west with 2 more games in Chicago. They are 1 game behind the suprisingly first place Indians.
You know what? I could have simply copied and pasted that paragraph from 2011. Each statement is almost exactly true from last year (Detroit was 3 1/2 games behind the "surprising Indians" then. How did 2011 work out? Pretty well (in my humble opinion). The Tigers were 2 games away from the World Series.
Let's take a look at the team we have today versus the team we had 12 months ago. Verlander, Fister, Porcello, Scherzer, Smyly versus Verlander, Scherzer, Porcello, Penny and Coke. Between you and me, gentle reader, I'll take this year's rotation.
For position players we have Jackson, Dirks, Cabrerra, Fielder, Young, Avila, Boesch, Peralta and Raburn. Last year it was Jackson, Rhymes, Ordonez, Cabrera, Martinez, Raburn, Inge and Avila. Again, I'd rather have the 2012 line up on my side than the 2011 version. Are they producing right now? No, they aren't. Is the sky falling down around us in burning heaps of molten sky? No, it isn't. In fact the Tigers are at .500 and 1 game out of first place. In spite of an OPS of .700 (the League OPS is .725) they are at a .500 record. In spite of only scoring 4.18 runs/ game they are at a .500 record.
Are the Indians better than last year's version? No, I don't believe so. How about the White Sox? No, I still don't think so. The Twins threw in the towel for 2012. The Royals are getting better, but I don't see them taking the AL Central Division.
In fact, let's look at who the Tigers have played so far this season. Boston, Tampa, CWS, KC, Texas, Seattle, Yankees and Oakland. Out of those 8 teams, 3 were in the playoffs last year (along with the Tigers) and another would have been if they hadn't imploded at the end. Not an easy first month of the year. For the rest of May they face the White Sox, Twins, Pirate, Indians and Red Sox. Not to take anything from those teams, but the rest of the month should be easier on Detroit than the first half was.
So, take heart. It's a long season, and as we learned last year, lots of great baseball can be played in the remaining 80% of the season. Don't jump off of the Bandwagon just yet.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Pitchers, Catchers and Bloggers Report
Today is day that pitchers and catchers report. It is also the day that part time bloggers report.
Like many players, I am not reporting in the best shape of my life (that distinction apparently goes to Miguel Cabrera). Maybe I'm more like Joaquin Benoit (at least according to Kurt) and kind of pudgy (not to be confused with Pudgy, not that any of you would do that).
Of course expectations are sky high going into 2012. The Tigers have both Miguel Cabrera AND Prince Fielder. They have Justin Verlander. They have Jim Leyland. For that matter they have Mike Illitch and he wants to win. He wants the whole enchilada and he wants it this year. I heartily concur with that focus. These guys are in their prime. The supporting cast is quite good (Boesch, Young, Jackson, Fister).
There are questions which remain. Can Rick Porcello realize the potential everyone sees in him? Can Max Scherzer put it together this year? Can we find a 2nd baseman who will do the job? Who will pitch on the days that the starters don't make it out of the 4th or 5th inning? Can Valverde come close to repeating last year's excellence? Who will be the 5th starter? (Does it matter?)
We can explore all of this as it unfolds. I think this is going to be an amazing year. Yet, I remember the disaster of 2008. I remember thinking about getting World Series tickets at Opening Day (yes, I really did). That didn't work out so well did it?
The difference between 2008 and 2012 is pitching. This year the Tigers have it. That year they didn't.
Either way let's hang on for the ride and enjoy our summer. It starts tomorrow with the first work outs of the year!
Like many players, I am not reporting in the best shape of my life (that distinction apparently goes to Miguel Cabrera). Maybe I'm more like Joaquin Benoit (at least according to Kurt) and kind of pudgy (not to be confused with Pudgy, not that any of you would do that).
Of course expectations are sky high going into 2012. The Tigers have both Miguel Cabrera AND Prince Fielder. They have Justin Verlander. They have Jim Leyland. For that matter they have Mike Illitch and he wants to win. He wants the whole enchilada and he wants it this year. I heartily concur with that focus. These guys are in their prime. The supporting cast is quite good (Boesch, Young, Jackson, Fister).
There are questions which remain. Can Rick Porcello realize the potential everyone sees in him? Can Max Scherzer put it together this year? Can we find a 2nd baseman who will do the job? Who will pitch on the days that the starters don't make it out of the 4th or 5th inning? Can Valverde come close to repeating last year's excellence? Who will be the 5th starter? (Does it matter?)
We can explore all of this as it unfolds. I think this is going to be an amazing year. Yet, I remember the disaster of 2008. I remember thinking about getting World Series tickets at Opening Day (yes, I really did). That didn't work out so well did it?
The difference between 2008 and 2012 is pitching. This year the Tigers have it. That year they didn't.
Either way let's hang on for the ride and enjoy our summer. It starts tomorrow with the first work outs of the year!
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
After 2 innings of play the Tigers are treading water…
Don’t get me wrong. The trends are very good right now, but the numbers don’t lie either. After the first 18 games (one “inning”) the Tigers were 4.5 games back in 3rd place. After the next 18 games (2 innings) the Tigers are 5.5 games back in 3rd place.
Yet, there are indications that what was planted in the spring is about to give fruit as summer approaches. Let’s look at some key numbers.
• 10-8 -The Tigers played .556 ball for this inning.
• 12 –The number of errors the Tigers committed this inning.
• 10-4 –The Starters record this inning with a WHIP of 1.11
• 3 –The number of walks taken by Tigers’ batters per game this inning.
• 7.8 –The number of strikeouts by Tigers’ batters per game this inning.
• 4.78 –Runs scored per game this inning (up from 4.22 last inning).
• 3.89 –Runs allowed per game this inning (down from 5.17 last inning).
Let’s look at those last two numbers again. The batters have found some mojo, especially in the last week. For the Inning they have hit for a better average (.266 vs. .244) and slightly more power (OPS of .731 vs .707). This has translated to a more RBI, 16 more for this Inning (or almost .9 runs per game). See how easy this is? If you put more runners on you can score more runs! Of course the infamous “Tigers threaten, but do not score” is still heard throughout the land all too often.
But averaging 4.8 runs per game will not win all that many games (there is a 7 game losing streak in the middle of this Inning to prove that). So how do you win more games? Look at the last number on the list- 3.89 runs per game. While the batters had their struggles, the pitchers were often dominating games, especially the starters. The Starters allowed only 40 earned runs in 18 games. That is only 2.2 per game. They also pitched 120 1/3 innings. That is 6 2/3 innings per start. In short, the Tigers are dominating opposing lineups. There were 5 games this Inning where 0 earned runs were allowed by the starter. 0! In almost 30% of the games! There were only 2 games where 5 or more runs were allowed. It isn’t only Verlander either, they all did it at least once.
One number which stands out from the Starters’ line is walks per 9 innings (BB/9). For the first 18 games it was 4.0 and for the last 18 games it has dropped to 2.4. That is 1 1/2 fewer baserunners with chances to score. It’s a minimum of 8 few pitches that have to be thrown. It’s just better baseball.
So what changed? I’m just a compiler of data, I can’t tell you what happened inside of people’s heads. I can look at these numbers and say that the starting pitching was much better in Inning 2 than it was in Inning 1. I can say that the lineup was on base more often and that allowed for more RBI. Beyond that, I can tell you that it is more fun to watch your team win than it is to watch them lose. The Tigers had bookend on this Inning of winning streaks and a nasty losing streak of 7 games in the middle. But after 36 games they are still very much in the race and chasing the suddenly amazing Indians. It looks to be a good summer!
Yet, there are indications that what was planted in the spring is about to give fruit as summer approaches. Let’s look at some key numbers.
• 10-8 -The Tigers played .556 ball for this inning.
• 12 –The number of errors the Tigers committed this inning.
• 10-4 –The Starters record this inning with a WHIP of 1.11
• 3 –The number of walks taken by Tigers’ batters per game this inning.
• 7.8 –The number of strikeouts by Tigers’ batters per game this inning.
• 4.78 –Runs scored per game this inning (up from 4.22 last inning).
• 3.89 –Runs allowed per game this inning (down from 5.17 last inning).
Let’s look at those last two numbers again. The batters have found some mojo, especially in the last week. For the Inning they have hit for a better average (.266 vs. .244) and slightly more power (OPS of .731 vs .707). This has translated to a more RBI, 16 more for this Inning (or almost .9 runs per game). See how easy this is? If you put more runners on you can score more runs! Of course the infamous “Tigers threaten, but do not score” is still heard throughout the land all too often.
But averaging 4.8 runs per game will not win all that many games (there is a 7 game losing streak in the middle of this Inning to prove that). So how do you win more games? Look at the last number on the list- 3.89 runs per game. While the batters had their struggles, the pitchers were often dominating games, especially the starters. The Starters allowed only 40 earned runs in 18 games. That is only 2.2 per game. They also pitched 120 1/3 innings. That is 6 2/3 innings per start. In short, the Tigers are dominating opposing lineups. There were 5 games this Inning where 0 earned runs were allowed by the starter. 0! In almost 30% of the games! There were only 2 games where 5 or more runs were allowed. It isn’t only Verlander either, they all did it at least once.
One number which stands out from the Starters’ line is walks per 9 innings (BB/9). For the first 18 games it was 4.0 and for the last 18 games it has dropped to 2.4. That is 1 1/2 fewer baserunners with chances to score. It’s a minimum of 8 few pitches that have to be thrown. It’s just better baseball.
So what changed? I’m just a compiler of data, I can’t tell you what happened inside of people’s heads. I can look at these numbers and say that the starting pitching was much better in Inning 2 than it was in Inning 1. I can say that the lineup was on base more often and that allowed for more RBI. Beyond that, I can tell you that it is more fun to watch your team win than it is to watch them lose. The Tigers had bookend on this Inning of winning streaks and a nasty losing streak of 7 games in the middle. But after 36 games they are still very much in the race and chasing the suddenly amazing Indians. It looks to be a good summer!
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
The first ½ inning is done…
The Tigers have played 9 games. The Regular Season is 162 games. This can be broken down into 9 “innings” of 18 games each (162/9 = 18). So 9 games = ½ inning. If I can remember where I first saw this laid out for me I’ll link to it because I can’t come up with stuff like this on my own.
• They are 3-6. So far they have won one game of each series (Yankees, Orioles and Royals).
• The Starters are 3-4 with an ERA of 6.49 and a WHIP of 1.60
• The Bullpen has 2 losses against it with an ERA of 5.61 and a WHIP of 1.36
• The Tigers have committed 9 errors in 9 games.
• The Tigers have walked 25 times (2.8 times/ game)
• The Tigers have issued 35 walks (3.9 times/ game)
• Detroit pitching has allowed 13 home runs (1.4/ game)
• Detroit batters have hit 13 home runs.
Starting out 3-6 is not how I pictured it. Why would I? They can hit (and they do) but they aren’t drawing many walks and they are striking out a lot (7.2/ game). By not taking walks and striking out often they don’t have men on base when one of the big boys knocks it out. For example, in Sunday’s game the Tigers hit 3 home runs (!) but only scored 5 runs total (and lost). So far the On Base Percentage (OBP) is .324
It’s certainly not time to give up on this team (it’s only the first ½ inning after all) but it is time to straighten some things out. For the hitters they have to get on base more in order to take advantage of all of that power (32 extra base hits in 9 games should equal some runs!). They have to take the walks and put the ball into play.
The pitchers were giving up home runs like clowns throwing candy at a Memorial Day parade. That has stopped now that they are back in Comerica National Park but the runs just keep on coming. It’s the opposite of what the batters are doing. The pitchers are putting men on base and setting themselves up for big hits. Opposing teams are averaging 6.0 runs/ game. That is not going to cut it. I want to watch the Tigers in the Playoffs this year. Something needs to change to make that happen.
Not helping the pitchers is the defense. So far there have been 9 errors committed. That’s one per game! That means that those walks the pitchers gave up become Runners In Scoring Position more often. That means I’m yelling words at the radio that I shouldn’t be yelling and at a higher volume than is really necessary. That means longer innings for the pitchers. We learned in 2008 that porous defense will destroy your pitching. It just saps at your soul until you’re an angry, sullen husk of a pitcher with no juice or will to live who believes that they have to strike out everyone in order to survive.
To finish out this inning the Tigers face Texas, Oakland and Seattle. Texas (8-1) comes to Detroit and Oakland (4-5) and Seattle (5-4) are on the road. There is no time like now to turn this around.
Go Tigers!
• They are 3-6. So far they have won one game of each series (Yankees, Orioles and Royals).
• The Starters are 3-4 with an ERA of 6.49 and a WHIP of 1.60
• The Bullpen has 2 losses against it with an ERA of 5.61 and a WHIP of 1.36
• The Tigers have committed 9 errors in 9 games.
• The Tigers have walked 25 times (2.8 times/ game)
• The Tigers have issued 35 walks (3.9 times/ game)
• Detroit pitching has allowed 13 home runs (1.4/ game)
• Detroit batters have hit 13 home runs.
Starting out 3-6 is not how I pictured it. Why would I? They can hit (and they do) but they aren’t drawing many walks and they are striking out a lot (7.2/ game). By not taking walks and striking out often they don’t have men on base when one of the big boys knocks it out. For example, in Sunday’s game the Tigers hit 3 home runs (!) but only scored 5 runs total (and lost). So far the On Base Percentage (OBP) is .324
It’s certainly not time to give up on this team (it’s only the first ½ inning after all) but it is time to straighten some things out. For the hitters they have to get on base more in order to take advantage of all of that power (32 extra base hits in 9 games should equal some runs!). They have to take the walks and put the ball into play.
The pitchers were giving up home runs like clowns throwing candy at a Memorial Day parade. That has stopped now that they are back in Comerica National Park but the runs just keep on coming. It’s the opposite of what the batters are doing. The pitchers are putting men on base and setting themselves up for big hits. Opposing teams are averaging 6.0 runs/ game. That is not going to cut it. I want to watch the Tigers in the Playoffs this year. Something needs to change to make that happen.
Not helping the pitchers is the defense. So far there have been 9 errors committed. That’s one per game! That means that those walks the pitchers gave up become Runners In Scoring Position more often. That means I’m yelling words at the radio that I shouldn’t be yelling and at a higher volume than is really necessary. That means longer innings for the pitchers. We learned in 2008 that porous defense will destroy your pitching. It just saps at your soul until you’re an angry, sullen husk of a pitcher with no juice or will to live who believes that they have to strike out everyone in order to survive.
To finish out this inning the Tigers face Texas, Oakland and Seattle. Texas (8-1) comes to Detroit and Oakland (4-5) and Seattle (5-4) are on the road. There is no time like now to turn this around.
Go Tigers!
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
2.5% of the season is played…
The Tigers have played 4 games (3 vs the Yankees, 1 against the O’s). They have won 1 and lost 3. Let’s break it down…
• They have been out scored 28 to 20.
• They have hit 5 home runs and given up 10.
• They have gotten 13 extra base hits (including HR) while giving up 18.
• They have committed 4 errors (vs 2 committed in their favor).
• They have struck out 32 times while striking out 27.
• They have walked 10 times while walking 14.
• The starters have an ERA of 9.74 and a WHIP of 1.92.
• The Bullpen has an ERA of 3.55 and a WHIP of .95
There are many questions still unanswered even ½ a week into the season:
• Who is the starting Left Fielder?
o Can Boesch continue to hit at this pace? If he does then where do you put Raburn, the official LF?
• Is Magglio’s ankle really healthy? He missed a game with tenderness and you have to be concerned with the impact his bat plays in the lineup.
• Will the starters settle in quickly? Through the first rotation the only one who was deadly was Verlander (6 IP with 3 ER on 4 BB and 8 Ks). Penny (4 1/3 IP with 8 ER on 4 BB and 3 Ks) and Scherzer (5 IP with 6 ER on 2 BB and 6 Ks) didn’t set my heart on fire. Porcello (5 IP with 5 ER on 1 BB and 4 Ks) rounded out a rough weekend for our guys.
o As a side note, the 5th starter was used out of the Pen this week. Coke allowed 2 ER in 2 1/3 IP on 0 BB and 0 Ks.
• Now that we have left New Yankee Stadium will the long ball be such a problem? 9 were allowed there (4 by Scherzer alone). Some were legit and some were just over the short wall in Right Field.
• How healthy are the Tigers right now? Aside from the injuries there are also rumors of illness, sickness, ague. People spied emptying themselves during games during the road trip. I haven’t heard much more than rumors, but this may have an impact on the…
• Defense! When will we see some real defense? There have been 4 errors in 4 games. There were other fielding issues that weren’t scored as errors as well. I can’t see the games, so I can’t judge, but defense has been a concern for this team and they are doing nothing to put those concerns to bed so far.
What can we take away from this?
There is 97% of the Season left to play. The Rotation will settle in to a solid performer. The Bullpen looks pretty good so far. The batters have struggled, but are still averaging 5 runs per game. Defense is still a concern (at least for me) and is a key (more on this in a later post). The Home Opener is Friday. It’s against the Royals. This should be good.
• They have been out scored 28 to 20.
• They have hit 5 home runs and given up 10.
• They have gotten 13 extra base hits (including HR) while giving up 18.
• They have committed 4 errors (vs 2 committed in their favor).
• They have struck out 32 times while striking out 27.
• They have walked 10 times while walking 14.
• The starters have an ERA of 9.74 and a WHIP of 1.92.
• The Bullpen has an ERA of 3.55 and a WHIP of .95
There are many questions still unanswered even ½ a week into the season:
• Who is the starting Left Fielder?
o Can Boesch continue to hit at this pace? If he does then where do you put Raburn, the official LF?
• Is Magglio’s ankle really healthy? He missed a game with tenderness and you have to be concerned with the impact his bat plays in the lineup.
• Will the starters settle in quickly? Through the first rotation the only one who was deadly was Verlander (6 IP with 3 ER on 4 BB and 8 Ks). Penny (4 1/3 IP with 8 ER on 4 BB and 3 Ks) and Scherzer (5 IP with 6 ER on 2 BB and 6 Ks) didn’t set my heart on fire. Porcello (5 IP with 5 ER on 1 BB and 4 Ks) rounded out a rough weekend for our guys.
o As a side note, the 5th starter was used out of the Pen this week. Coke allowed 2 ER in 2 1/3 IP on 0 BB and 0 Ks.
• Now that we have left New Yankee Stadium will the long ball be such a problem? 9 were allowed there (4 by Scherzer alone). Some were legit and some were just over the short wall in Right Field.
• How healthy are the Tigers right now? Aside from the injuries there are also rumors of illness, sickness, ague. People spied emptying themselves during games during the road trip. I haven’t heard much more than rumors, but this may have an impact on the…
• Defense! When will we see some real defense? There have been 4 errors in 4 games. There were other fielding issues that weren’t scored as errors as well. I can’t see the games, so I can’t judge, but defense has been a concern for this team and they are doing nothing to put those concerns to bed so far.
What can we take away from this?
There is 97% of the Season left to play. The Rotation will settle in to a solid performer. The Bullpen looks pretty good so far. The batters have struggled, but are still averaging 5 runs per game. Defense is still a concern (at least for me) and is a key (more on this in a later post). The Home Opener is Friday. It’s against the Royals. This should be good.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
It's baseball time!!!!
The Day is here (well, it's here tomorrow)! In about 16 hours Austin Jackson will receive the first pitch of the 2011 Regular Season. Let's take a look what we have to look forward to this season.
Here is our Opening Day roster:
Austin Jackson
Will Rhymes
Magglio Ordonez
Miguel Cabrera
Victor Martinez
Ryan Raburn
Jhonny Peralta
Brandon Inge
Alex Avila
Justin Verlander will take the ball, after promising to have a better April than he has previously. We all hope that he has it figured out.
Overall the Tigers had a good Spring (I know, it doesn't count, it's small sample size, blah blah blah). Regardless of all of those truths, the Tigers had a good spring. They finished at 20-14. The starters had an ERA of 4.00. And Max Scherzer's final outing brought that up after allowing 11 earned runs in 2 1/3 innings to close out his spring.
Really, Max and Jhonny Peralta are the only starters who had bad Springs. Jhonny hit .206 and 0 RBI. That's not what we want out of our SS, but everyone says he will turn it around. If not, then Worth or Sizemore will be available to "fill in" for him.
I believe that this will be a good year for the Tigers. And I don't mean in the "hey, at least we can watch baseball again" way. I mean I don't see any reason why this team can't make the playoffs. The pitching seems solid. The lineup seems to provide plenty of opportunities to score. The defense isn't the greatest, but Jackson and Inge will give us some oohs and ahhs while everyone else should keep the runs down.
I'm not alone, but in the interest of fairness and balance I should point out that many don't see Detroit taking the AL Central by storm.
Fangraphs:
Sports Illustrated sees a photo finish against the Twins (again).
American Spectator picks Detroit.
So, this should be quite a ride. I don't think they will start off 35-5 again, but I don't think they will start off 0-7 either. Ask me again in 24 hours how the first day went!
Here is our Opening Day roster:
Austin Jackson
Will Rhymes
Magglio Ordonez
Miguel Cabrera
Victor Martinez
Ryan Raburn
Jhonny Peralta
Brandon Inge
Alex Avila
Justin Verlander will take the ball, after promising to have a better April than he has previously. We all hope that he has it figured out.
Overall the Tigers had a good Spring (I know, it doesn't count, it's small sample size, blah blah blah). Regardless of all of those truths, the Tigers had a good spring. They finished at 20-14. The starters had an ERA of 4.00. And Max Scherzer's final outing brought that up after allowing 11 earned runs in 2 1/3 innings to close out his spring.
Really, Max and Jhonny Peralta are the only starters who had bad Springs. Jhonny hit .206 and 0 RBI. That's not what we want out of our SS, but everyone says he will turn it around. If not, then Worth or Sizemore will be available to "fill in" for him.
I believe that this will be a good year for the Tigers. And I don't mean in the "hey, at least we can watch baseball again" way. I mean I don't see any reason why this team can't make the playoffs. The pitching seems solid. The lineup seems to provide plenty of opportunities to score. The defense isn't the greatest, but Jackson and Inge will give us some oohs and ahhs while everyone else should keep the runs down.
I'm not alone, but in the interest of fairness and balance I should point out that many don't see Detroit taking the AL Central by storm.
Fangraphs:
Hardball Times (vis BaseballMusings)Detroit has put together enough talent that barring a major injury to one of their top players they should be in the race for the divisional title with the other flawed contenders for the 2011 American League Central crown.
CBS Sports
- Chicago White Sox
- Minnesota Twins
- Detroit Tigers
- Cleveland Indians
- Kansas City Royals
TigersYahoo Sports picks Detroit 2 times and Chicago 1 time (of 3 predictions)
Twins
White Sox
Indians
Royals
Sports Illustrated sees a photo finish against the Twins (again).
American Spectator picks Detroit.
So, this should be quite a ride. I don't think they will start off 35-5 again, but I don't think they will start off 0-7 either. Ask me again in 24 hours how the first day went!
Friday, March 18, 2011
Friday!
It's Friday! The weekend has started and it's time to look back a little.
Looking back to this afternoon- the Tigers won again. I like the sound of that, let's hear it again. "The Tigers won again." Yes, it has a beautiful ring to it. Today they beat a split squad from the Red Sox. But with Scuturo, Youkilis, Pedroia, Veritek and Ortiz in the line up I would say it was a fair fight.
Scherzer went 4 1/3 giving up 2 runs, 2 hits, and 3 walks. Alburquerque finished up the 5th for Max and allowed a run on 1 hit and 2 walks. After that the Tigers' pitchers shut down the BoSox with Villarreal, Ni and Thomas pitching 4 shut out innings between them. All of those goose eggs allowed the Tiger bats to get to work. Buchholz must have gotten tired (or predictable) because he allowed only a solo home run until the 5th where he gave up 2 on his own and Okajima relived him and gave up 2 more. Boesch and Raburn each homered and then Dirks put the nail in the coffin with a 2 run shot in the 9th. Overall Detroit had 9 hits for the day. I like baseball like this.
The Tigers have won 7 of the last 10 they have played (I know, "it's only spring training", I KNOW!). Just to prove that "spring training" point more- guess which AL team has a higher winning per centage than Detroit. Go ahead, guess. If you guessed the KC Royals, well see the lady at the counter for your prize. But still, 7 for 10!
Other things I missed this week:
In a very tough week for NPR yet another blow is delivered. This time from within. Garrison Keillor says that he plans to retire in 2013. It doesn't rain, but it pours for NPR! Because I vowed not to rant in this space, I will not discuss the circus that is being created around NPR right now. I will allow others to do it for me.
Monday was Pi Day (3/14 get it?). So in honor of Pi Day, here is a video showing some of the wondrous aspects of Pi.
If you could drop 20000 super balls from a 4 story building, would you? Of course not! That would be irresponsible. The responsible thing to do is to drop 20000 balls from a helicopter on to a parking lot! This is pure awesome. Since this took place in Utah, of course everyone helped clean up.
Finally, in honor of Geek Week here is a link to the best picture of Saturn moon you'll see today.
Looking back to this afternoon- the Tigers won again. I like the sound of that, let's hear it again. "The Tigers won again." Yes, it has a beautiful ring to it. Today they beat a split squad from the Red Sox. But with Scuturo, Youkilis, Pedroia, Veritek and Ortiz in the line up I would say it was a fair fight.
Scherzer went 4 1/3 giving up 2 runs, 2 hits, and 3 walks. Alburquerque finished up the 5th for Max and allowed a run on 1 hit and 2 walks. After that the Tigers' pitchers shut down the BoSox with Villarreal, Ni and Thomas pitching 4 shut out innings between them. All of those goose eggs allowed the Tiger bats to get to work. Buchholz must have gotten tired (or predictable) because he allowed only a solo home run until the 5th where he gave up 2 on his own and Okajima relived him and gave up 2 more. Boesch and Raburn each homered and then Dirks put the nail in the coffin with a 2 run shot in the 9th. Overall Detroit had 9 hits for the day. I like baseball like this.
The Tigers have won 7 of the last 10 they have played (I know, "it's only spring training", I KNOW!). Just to prove that "spring training" point more- guess which AL team has a higher winning per centage than Detroit. Go ahead, guess. If you guessed the KC Royals, well see the lady at the counter for your prize. But still, 7 for 10!
Other things I missed this week:
In a very tough week for NPR yet another blow is delivered. This time from within. Garrison Keillor says that he plans to retire in 2013. It doesn't rain, but it pours for NPR! Because I vowed not to rant in this space, I will not discuss the circus that is being created around NPR right now. I will allow others to do it for me.
Monday was Pi Day (3/14 get it?). So in honor of Pi Day, here is a video showing some of the wondrous aspects of Pi.
If you could drop 20000 super balls from a 4 story building, would you? Of course not! That would be irresponsible. The responsible thing to do is to drop 20000 balls from a helicopter on to a parking lot! This is pure awesome. Since this took place in Utah, of course everyone helped clean up.
Finally, in honor of Geek Week here is a link to the best picture of Saturn moon you'll see today.
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