Here is a link to MLB Network's recap of the Tigers 2009 season.
It's hard to recap all of the joy and heartache in 3:50 seconds but they do a decent enough job of it. They key in on the successes of the starting rotation and spend some time on the race against the Twins.
As a bonus they pay special attention to Granderson's catch (1:11 mark) and Porcello's take down of Youkilis (1:40).
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Jim Leyland to fix baseball...sort of
Jim Leyland has been asked to be part of a very select committee that has been put together by Bud Selig to "analyze ways to improve" baseball.
He will join 3 other managers: Tony La Russa, Joe Torre and Mike Scioscia along with other greats such as Frank Robinson a number of GM's, owners and even George Will (!). This is a veritable who's who of the baseball world.
So what could such an august body hope to accomplish? Well there are a number of things that many people would like to see to "improve" the National Pastime.
Probably the most often heard complaint is that it is too slow. It is certainly not an exaggeration to say that most Tigers' games are around 3 hours long. I'm sure that this will be a major aspect of the committee's agenda. I'll be curious to hear about how they might tackle this. Thomas Boswell at the Washington Post has a few ideas:
He will join 3 other managers: Tony La Russa, Joe Torre and Mike Scioscia along with other greats such as Frank Robinson a number of GM's, owners and even George Will (!). This is a veritable who's who of the baseball world.
So what could such an august body hope to accomplish? Well there are a number of things that many people would like to see to "improve" the National Pastime.
Probably the most often heard complaint is that it is too slow. It is certainly not an exaggeration to say that most Tigers' games are around 3 hours long. I'm sure that this will be a major aspect of the committee's agenda. I'll be curious to hear about how they might tackle this. Thomas Boswell at the Washington Post has a few ideas:
-- I've "timed" every facet of the game. Okay, I'm a nut. But I'm right. The average "mound visit" wastes 60 to 70 seconds. Ban 'em all. Middle-aged guys stay in the dugout. Mike up the pitcher and a coach. Talk all you want. Use a crackberry. But no visits.
-- Putting a clock on mid-inning pitching changes is a must. If it only takes 150 seconds between innings, there's no excuse why "waving for the left-hander" should burn more than three minutes.
-- Sorry about "God Bless America" at the seventh-inning stretch, but it needs to go. It was a fine idea after 9/11. But it has served its purpose. And it wastes two minutes.
-- Yes, of course, wave the hitter to first on an intentional walk.
-- A huge time saver, since every relief pitching change eats about four minutes, would be curtailing the plague of relief specialists who now face only one hitter. This isn't "core" to baseball. It evolved. Then metastasized. Change the rules. A relief pitcher must face two hitters. The effect: more offense, and better pace of play, in late innings.
I don't agree with all of these (ie miking up the pitcher), but shortening the time for relievers to start pitching and eliminating God Bless America are fine with me. Do you remember Posada walking to the mound after every pitch during the last World Series? That was an exception, but it certainly slowed the game down.
With all of the games now televised that also slows down the game. We have to watch the ads because they support the TV. Baseball on TV can't survive without it and baseball without TV can't survive it's current cost structures, so that is a tricky problem.
Of course one of the beautiful things about baseball is that time is not relevant. You have to get 3 outs per inning. Sometimes that takes 5 minutes and sometimes it takes 30 minutes. You can't run down the clock, you have to pitch the ball and do your best. I would hate to see that disappear.
It thinks that the group of men that Selig has brought together will be able to improve the game and I am glad that Jim Leyland is one of the ones chosen for this task.
Friday, December 18, 2009
You keep some, you let some go...
The Tigers announced that they have signed Ramon Santiago to a 2 year deal. This keeps some valuable versatility in the infield as well as some short term power at the plate. There has been debate over the years as to why Santiago doesn't get more playing time. When he plays he has a decent bat:
His defense is solid too. His Ultimate Zone Rating has averaged 1.9 since he came back from Seattle until this past year when he dropped down to -2.5.
Plus he is from the Dominican Republic, and that is always a bonus with me!
On the "letting them go" side of the ledger, Ian at Bless You Boys reports that The Freddy Dolsi Era is Over. Dolsi pitched in 42 games in 2008 for the Tigers after working his way back up the minor league ladder. He gave up 50 hits in 47 2/3 innings that year along with 28 walks, giving him a WHIP of 1.64 and an ERA of 3.97. In 2009 he spent most of his time with Toledo and pitched only 10 2/3 innings for the Big Club. In those scant 10+ innings he 13 hits and 4 walks for a WHIP of 1.59 and an ERA of 1.69. Dolsi was DFA'd to clear up roster space and the Dirty Sox picked him up.
In 183 games with the Tigers since the start of the 2007 season, the switch-hitting Santiago has hit .274 with 17 doubles, five triples, 11 homers and 60 RBIs. (MLB).
His defense is solid too. His Ultimate Zone Rating has averaged 1.9 since he came back from Seattle until this past year when he dropped down to -2.5.
Plus he is from the Dominican Republic, and that is always a bonus with me!
On the "letting them go" side of the ledger, Ian at Bless You Boys reports that The Freddy Dolsi Era is Over. Dolsi pitched in 42 games in 2008 for the Tigers after working his way back up the minor league ladder. He gave up 50 hits in 47 2/3 innings that year along with 28 walks, giving him a WHIP of 1.64 and an ERA of 3.97. In 2009 he spent most of his time with Toledo and pitched only 10 2/3 innings for the Big Club. In those scant 10+ innings he 13 hits and 4 walks for a WHIP of 1.59 and an ERA of 1.69. Dolsi was DFA'd to clear up roster space and the Dirty Sox picked him up.
Who have been the best defenders in the 00's?
I came across this article while looking over Baseball Musings the other day. The people at "The Book" did a study of defense over the last decade and put together the top 5 defenders at each position. Would you like to know which (ex)-Tigers made the list?
Placido Polanco was the 3rd highest rated of 2nd Basemen in the MLB (based on runs saved). He prevented an average of 10 runs per 150 games over the last 10 years. We certainly saw that in Detroit where he seemed to grab anything near him as well as helping to turn some sweet double plays. I guess I'm happy that he spent much of that time wearing the Old English D.
Adam Everett comes in at the TOP of the list for Short Stops with an average of 18 runs prevented for every 150 games played. He isn't as flashy as Inge is at 3rd but don't let that take away from what he has achieved. In 2010 he will have to carry more of it on his own as Detroit breaks in a new 2nd Baseman, but I feel very comfortable with Inge at 3rd and Everett at Short. Miguel Cabrerra continues to improve with his glove at 1st so defense on the infield should not be a major issue.
Placido Polanco was the 3rd highest rated of 2nd Basemen in the MLB (based on runs saved). He prevented an average of 10 runs per 150 games over the last 10 years. We certainly saw that in Detroit where he seemed to grab anything near him as well as helping to turn some sweet double plays. I guess I'm happy that he spent much of that time wearing the Old English D.
Adam Everett comes in at the TOP of the list for Short Stops with an average of 18 runs prevented for every 150 games played. He isn't as flashy as Inge is at 3rd but don't let that take away from what he has achieved. In 2010 he will have to carry more of it on his own as Detroit breaks in a new 2nd Baseman, but I feel very comfortable with Inge at 3rd and Everett at Short. Miguel Cabrerra continues to improve with his glove at 1st so defense on the infield should not be a major issue.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Back up and running...
It has been quite a while since I could post. My laptop died (it was over 6 years old, so it had a very good run). But that's history- I have another laptop to use now so it's time to jump in again.
There has been so much that happened, especially at the Winter Meetings last week! I'll probably put more up on this later, but my household is grieving right now- Placido Polanco was my daughter's favorite Tiger and Curtis Granderson was mine. Now both of them are gone (although they should enjoy playing for top tier teams).
So many bloggers have given input to "The Trade of 2009" that I don't really have anything to add (especially a week later). See here, here, here and here. Suffice it to say that Dombrowski had better be RIGHT on this one.
For what it's worth I still see two large holes for the Tigers (and no, a closer isn't one of them). I still think they need a solid bat in Left Field and another one at DH. Jason Bay is still available (hint). Johnny Damon is still out there too.
That's all for now, but it is good to be back!
There has been so much that happened, especially at the Winter Meetings last week! I'll probably put more up on this later, but my household is grieving right now- Placido Polanco was my daughter's favorite Tiger and Curtis Granderson was mine. Now both of them are gone (although they should enjoy playing for top tier teams).
So many bloggers have given input to "The Trade of 2009" that I don't really have anything to add (especially a week later). See here, here, here and here. Suffice it to say that Dombrowski had better be RIGHT on this one.
For what it's worth I still see two large holes for the Tigers (and no, a closer isn't one of them). I still think they need a solid bat in Left Field and another one at DH. Jason Bay is still available (hint). Johnny Damon is still out there too.
That's all for now, but it is good to be back!
Monday, November 9, 2009
Meet your new 1B/Outfield/Running Coach...
The Tigers announced that Tom Brookens (yes, that Tom Brookens) will replace Andy Van Slyke on Jim Leyland's coaching staff.
Here are the details...
Saturday, November 7, 2009
A schedule rant...
WHYGJG? asks the tough question- why don't they condense the regular season so we don't have a "snow bowl" for a World Series.
I completely agree. There should be more double headers scheduled in the season. They should also set the early season schedule with weather in mind (remember when Cleveland was snowed out for a week to begin the season a couple of years ago?). Stay down south to start the season and use the domes that remain! Don't worry, I'll still watch the games on FSD even if they are played in Florida or Texas.
2 All Star Games?
My friend Bob and I love to discuss baseball and the trivial aspects of it. So last week he asked me if there had ever been 2 All Star games in one year. My answer was "No." and "You're crazy." Everybody knows that there is only one All Star Game.
Well, Bob is a pretty smart guy and sent me enough info to convince me that there had, indeed, been a period of time when there were two All Star Games each year. I needed to know more. Here comes the history...
The relationship between the players and owners has always been stormy (I'm putting together a more comprehensive post on that for later). The short version is that the "Golden Rule" applied: "He who has the gold makes the rules." In MLB's case the gold belonged to the owners.
When the last competitor to the MLB collapsed in 1946 (The Mexican League) the players who had jumped over to it found themselves blacklisted by the MLB. At the same time a lawyer named Robert Murphy was secretly talking to MLB players, attempting to organize them into a union. TheAmerican Baseball Guild didn't really get anywhere, but it came close enough the the owners decided to allow the players to pick a group of player representatives. They also gave the players some concessions (minimum pay reductions, a minimum salary ($5000) and expense money for Spring Training and the promise to create a players' pension plan.
This brings us back to my original conversation with Bob about those doubled All Star Games. Although the owners had agreed to fund the pension plan that didn't mean they wanted to lose their own money to do it. So when the owners fell behind in their payments in 1959 a second game was organized to make up the difference. So, from 1959 to 1962 there were two All Star Games each summer. The first one was the "official" game. The second was for the players' pension.
There wasn't any apparent structure to when the 2nd game was to be played. One year they were only 2 days apart and other years they were almost a month apart. One year both games were played in National League cities. Other years they were split between the leagues. But eventually the fans started to vote with their tickets. The second game drew fewer and fewer fans. By 1961 there was talk of eliminating the 2nd game and after 1962 they did. The owners agreed to give more of the money from the original All Star Game to the players' fund and the 2nd game was dropped.
Here are some links to my sources...
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/history/all_star.jsp All of the scores of all of the All Star Games
http://eh.net/encyclopedia/article/haupert.mlb This is a fascinating paper on the economic changes in baseball over the years!
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/15/sports/baseball/15sandomir.html A NY Times article about the double All Star Games
Friday, November 6, 2009
And the cutting begins...
The Tigers started making room on their roster today by cutting two players, Matt Treanor and Marcus "Country Strong!" Thames.
Treanor only played in 4 games as a Tiger and had 0 hits with 4 strike outs. He spent most of the year on Disabled List. He was picked up last December and was supposed to be Gerald Laird's back up. He was a free agent when DD signed him but a hip injury that required surgery in April took that option away. In his career he is a .232/.318/.629 hitter in 278 plate appearances.
Marcus did not have a strong year this year at the plate with only 13 HR in 87 games. Because he isn't a very solid defensive player (rating -2.6 on the Fangraphs UZR ratings) he has to produce with his bat and that hasn't happened. He had some great stretches with Detroit but his SLG% has dropped off this year. Ironically, looking at his other batting stats he appears to be taking more walks and striking out a little less. But his Isolated Power has dropped from .275 in 2008 to .202 in 2009. If you are going to make your name as a slugger that is a bad way to go. He missed quite a bit of the early season after a pulling a muscle in his rib cage and having a strained abdominal muscle in Spring Training.
I have to believe that someone will pick up Thames and take a chance that the early injuries were the cause of his drop in production.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Tiger Rookie of the Year... (guess who)
Rick Porcello was chosen as the Detroit Tigers' Rookie of the Year.
Detroit News article here.
We won't know if he won the American League ROY until Monday.
Congratulations to Kid Rick for a great year!
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Who's My Tiger?
If you follow the Tigers on Fox Sports Detroit you will see Granderson in ads for different charities. He is often in the news for his work with kids. He has been an ambassador for the game. He was an All Star this year. He has his own charity foundation named Grand Kids Foundation.
On top of all of this he is just fun to watch play baseball. He made two incredible catches this year in center field. One was way back in May of 2009 against the Indians. Then there was this one to save the 2009 season for another day in October against the White Sox.
Curtis Granderson dives to make a clutch catch in the eighth inning Sunday, Oct. 4, 2009. (KIRTHMON F. DOZIER/ DFP).jpg)
Ryan Raburn celebrates following Curtis Granderson's big catch in the eighth inning against the Chicago White Sox in Detroit on Sunday, Oct. 4, 2009. (JULIAN H. GONZALEZ / DFP)
I do hope that all of Curtis' charity work doesn't interfere with his baseball. I remember Al Kaline making a similar comment when Granderson was given the Roberto Clemente Award for the Tigers. Jim Leyland has also implied that there was some conflict. Curtis keeps a grueling schedule and I have to wonder how that effects his game. It would be a shame for him to sink to less than super star status and have the charities he supports lose some of their spot lighting because of it.
But he is a son his parents can be proud of. Congratulations Curtis! You are my Tiger!
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Around the Horn... World Series addition
Well, not a Tigers' World Series addition, but the Yankees and the Phillies start the 2009 World Series tomorrow night. That means there may be as few as 4 games of MLB baseball remaining for this year! Since I am a one sport guy that means many long, dark months of boring.
But, there have been some Tiger-ish things happening and some great analysis being done of what was, in the end, a fruitless Tigers' season. So here are some things worth reading-
Firstly there is 2nd, as in 2nd Base. Since DD made what maybe his best trade ever and acquired Placido Polanco for an insane, homicidal maniac Polanco has been one of the best 2nd basemen in the game. He is a consistent .300 hitter who hardly ever strikes out (6.5% of his Tiger at bats have resulted in a K) he makes a great #2 hitter. Plus his defense is as solid as it gets (although he is getting older and late in the year he seemed to lose some of his range). But, DD has apparently decided that Detroit cannot afford to pay the salary that PP would make (deserve!) as a free agent. So, in his post-season news conference Dombrowski indicated that the Polanco era was over and that the Scott Sizemore era was about to start. That will sadly, but probably, still happen. But Sizemore, playing in the Arizona Fall League, fractured his ankle when he was slid into as he turned a double play (I wonder if he got the second out?). But he had surgery today and apparently everything will be okay for Spring Train '10. (Isn't that what they said about Zumaya and Bonderman?
Personally, I hate to see Polanco go. It seems to me that "as Polly goes, so go the Tigers". More so than Granderson, or even the big bats, it seems that when Polly is hitting the Tigers are scoring and his glove is always solid. I understand that Detroit has a huge payroll to cover and some of it that might pay Polanco is wasted on others (yes, I'm looking at you Robertson and you too Willis).
To see some analysis of Polly's work go to "Fire Jim Leyland" and check this out.
Tiger Tales takes an in depth look at Detroit's defense and offense position by position. So if you are playing "arm chair GM" and wishing you could pencil that big bat into the line up, Lee can help you decide where to put him.
Here we have what is best about blogs and the regular baseball writers: an idea gets thrown out there and somebody wonders "is that true?" and challenges it (the dialectic lives!). Monday in the Freep John Lowe postulated that the Tigers are terrible at hitting doubles, even in Comerica National Park (and Dave Dombrowski agrees with him).
But, Billfer at Detroit Tigers Weblog looked at it differently. Maybe it's the park and not the club?
Roar of the Tigers takes a hard (and funny) look at the pitchers of 2009.
I'm working on a bit of baseball history, so look for stuff like that as I try to make it through the dark months until Spring Training.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
2009- what a wild ride
So, when it is all said and done the Detroit Tigers finished 2nd in the AL Central. In what seems to be a disturbing pattern the Tigers lead their division for most of the season, but when it was over they had given up control t somebody else. This year it was the Twins, who took control after 11 innings in an extra game (#163) in extra innings (12) after the lead see-sawed back and forth for the last 5 innings. But how did it come down to that anyway?
Way back in Spring Training most of us were worried about the pitching. We couldn't tell whether or not we had 5 for the rotation. Would Verlander bounce back from 2008? Would Edwin Jackson be able to find the strike zone? Would this Porcello kid be able to hold his own in the Big Leagues? At least we had Galarraga right? (He did so well in the World Baseball Classic!). Would Dontrelle Willis, Zach Miner or Nate Robertson be our 5th starter?
Or how about the bullpen? Would Zumaya be our closer? Maybe it would be that new Lyon guy. It couldn't be Rodney though, right? Could Seay be the LOOGy? Could Ryan Perry hold up?
It seemed that pitching would be the biggest weakness for the Tigers in 2009. Wow, was that wrong!
Verlander not only bounced back, but lead the Majors in strike outs (269) and is in the conversation for the American League Cy Young award. Edwin Jackson became a strike throwing machine (at least for the 1st half of the year) and was an All Star. Rick Porcello is in the running for Rookie of the Year for his 14-9 record.
Fernando Rodney not only earned the role of closer but saved 37 of 38 opportunities. Unfortunately, if it was not a save opportunity he sucked (except for #163, he was very good in that one). Ryan Perry was "effectively wild" in his first season with Detroit (with some time in Toledo to fix some bugs). Brandon Lyon started out poorly, but became an absolute lock as the set up man with a WHIP of merely 1.07 over 64 appearances. That guy nobody knew about (Ni) sure became known as he had a WHIP of 1.06 in 36 appearances and became the fill in for Seay after Seay was injured late in the year. For most of the year Seay was the most effective man in the bullpen. Toward the end of the year Seay started to appear more human (probably his injury before it became known).
Over all the Tigers starters had 60 wins and 55 losses with an ERA of 4.34 (5th in the League). They allowed 461 earned runs (3th in the League).
So pitching was a great success for the Tigers in 2009. We'll look at the other aspects of the game in future posts.
Friday, October 9, 2009
The Game of the Ages...
It is Friday and my voice is just getting back to normal. That was, without question, one of the best baseball games I have ever watched (and I was only able to watch the last 4 innings on TV).
I missed seeing the Magglio home run in the 8th, but I was yelling and screaming in the car as Dan and Jim called the play. I missed seeing Rick Porcello strike out 8 men in under 7 innings, but thanks to Mike's text updates I knew he was doing it. My response was- "Kid Rick thinks he is JV jr!" and the now traditional "KKKKKKKK!"
By the time I got home it was the Twins' half of the 8th and Lyon was doing his thing. When Minnesota brought in Joe Nathan in the 8th and sent him out in the 9th I really thought we had it. For crying out loud, when the bases were loaded and Brandon Inge got hit by the pitch I thought we had it (wow did the ump blow that call)! For what it's worth, I really though Granderson was safe when he was doubled off 1st base on Magglio's bullet to short.
That game was not played. That game was fought. I know of people who don't even like baseball who could not turn off that game. That was a battle to the death. When the Twins finally pushed that winning run across home plate I could at least know that the Tigers did not give up. I could see that they tenaciously and ferociously battled back and forth with a team that was their equal in almost all ways. If you have to play an extra game then it should be balanced. If you watch a rookie make a blunder that sets up the tying run, then at least he should do it by trying to end the game on a difficult catch (yes, Raburn- that is you).
In the end, what cost the Tigers this game was the same thing that cost them the division- when they had men on base they could not get them home. Laird left 10 men on base, Inge left 8 and Polanco left 5. If you can't score then the great pitching and defense won't matter.
And I must give credit to Fernando Rodney! He faced 15 men before it was over. Leyland just sent him out there over and over again. I'm not impressed with Leyland there, but I am impressed with Rodney. He may never pitch for Detroit again, but that was an amazing performance.
I will be looking at the season in the days to come and as off season news happens I'll be putting my 2 cents worth in, but for now I will let my throat rest and relish the season that just ended.
Thank you Detroit Tigers for a crazy ride.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
There can be only One...
That is what this last month has felt like as I watch the Tigers slog their way through the American League Central. They started strong, fell flat and then picked themselves up and battled on. They could never quite put the Twins away though, and there is no script writer making sure our heroes prevail.
As today started the Magic # was 2. The Tigers, with Verlander on the mound and Granderson everywhere else, held the White Sox to 3 runs while scoring 5 themselves (Ryan Raburn with 2 home runs and Magglio Ordonez showing us that he can pull homers to left too). So the Tigers finally got a win in October and had to sit and wait to see if the Royals could overcome the Twins to end the race.
But that was not to be. The Twins beat the Royals 13-4.
So now there will be a one game, sudden death, winner take all, play off game. There can be only one. That game will be played in the HHH Dome. A truly horrible place to play a high pressure game if you are not a Minnesota Twin. (And we thought we were done with that place.)
The Tigers are 7 and 11 against the Twins this year. From what I can make out at Baseball-Reference.com the Tigers are 2-7 in the Dome this year. Rick Porcello will pitch for Detroit (according to Leyland after today's game). Rick is 1-2 in 4 starts against the Twins this year with a 3.09 ERA in 23 1/3 innings (according to my numbers). He did not win in the Dome.
But the Tigers have scored an average of 4.89 runs/ game off of the Twins this year so this should be a fight.
No matter what this has been a great ride. After 162 games the Tigers finished 86-76 in 1st place (tied of course)! I hoped that they would not embarrass themselves this year and that Dombrowski could make 2010 competitive, so to have 2009 be so competitive was great (and frustrating at times to be sure).
It all comes down to Tuesday night. The game is on TV on TBS.
There can be only one!
Week 26 Games back Elimination # Tigers -- -- Twins -- -- W. Sox 7 E Indians 21 E Royals 21 E
The End is Near?
Going into the month of September the wisdom was that if the Tigers played .500 baseball they would win, unless the Twins played incredible baseball. Well, in the month of September the Twins have played solid baseball (16- 11) .591 and the Tigers played .571 baseball (16-12). Part of the problem is that the Twins have not had a losing streak of more than 3 games. The Tigers were very streaky at the beginning of September (6 W's followed by 5 L's). During that time the Twins went 4-7. Since then the Twins have played 15-5 (.750). The Tigers have played 8-10.
The point at the end of this proverbial stick is that we are not seeing a collapse on the part of the Tigers, this is the baseball they have played all year (actually September was their 2nd best month of the year). The Twins are playing way above their previous ability. I don't know if it's their manager or their system or the closing of the Dome. Regardless of the reason, the whole season comes down to today (and possibly Tuesday, but let's hope it doesn't get to that).
I am now going to get ready to watch The Game. Justin Verlander goes for his 19th win today, and a chance to win the pennant. Remember, nothing has changed all week- if the Tigers win and the Twins lose the Tigers clinch the AL Central crown.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
The proverbial "wire"...
What an awesome year this has been to be a Tigers' fan! According to my handy, dandy calendar the Tigers have been in first place since the end of April and have owned it all by themselves since May.
This is not a "blow your doors off" type of team. As we sit mid-way through the "most important series since 1987" I want to look at what we have in front of us.
Pitching: according to baseball-reference.com the team ERA for the Tigers is 4.27. They give up an average of 4.54 runs per game according to my numbers. I have mentioned this on a couple of the BYB game threads, but the Tigers have allowed 2 runs or less in 26% (41) of their games so far this year! In fact, so far this year they have allowed only 713 runs. The only team in the American League who is better is the Boston Red Sox (709). The Tigers hold their opponents to few runs consistently (with 9 shutouts so far).
The other piece of that puzzle is the defense. Again the Tigers have made huge improvements this year. Looking at Fangraphs you can see that in 2009 the Tigers are rated 3rd best team in Major League Baseball. In 2008 they were 26th! This was the drum I was beating last year: the pitchers couldn't trust the defense to make outs, so the starters had to make extra outs too often. This gave more and more opportunities to the opponents to score runs. This year that is not true at all. It simply makes the great starting pitchers and relievers more effective.
I give all of the credit on this to Dave Dombrowski. In 2008 he tried to win with another "murderers row". He traded off defense for runs. It didn't work at all. The Tigers scores lots of runs, but allowed so many more that they finished last in the AL Central. DD took his lumps and fixed it. He dumped Renteria and got Adam Everett. He got Gerald Laird, who is simply amazing on defense. He put Inge back at 3rd. Add that to the always awesome Placido Polanco and the ever improving Miguel Cabrera at 1st and we have a very solid infield making tons of amazing plays all year. The outfield is a little more porous. Magglio is not a fast as he used to be, so Clete Thomas has had lots of defensive playing time in RF. Guillen has settled in at LH now that he is no longer hurt. Granderson is not as purely awesome as he has been, but he is still an outstanding CF.
As far as scoring... well, as I said above- Dombrowski has now set up a lower scoring but better fielding team. So the Tigers have scored 722 runs this season so far. This is definitely worse than anyone expected from them, but it has been consistent. We can look at injuries and off years and age and all sorts of issues that effect hitting a baseball to the right spot consistently, but after 157 games we know what we have. The Tigers have scored 2 runs or less in 45 games (29%). This puts them right in the middle of the pack for runs (15th). Compare this to last year when they scored 821 (4th).
The important thing is that right now, as I wrap up my lunch break, they are in 1st place on September 30th. They have a 2 game lead over the Twins with 5 games left to play. They are a good team in a very weak division. They have every reason to be confident that they will win the AL Central, the pitching is there and the defense is there. They need to score some more runs, just one run more than their opponents for the last 5 games.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Ernie Harwell's good bye
I originally had this at the end of Week 24's update, but it deserves it's own spot.
Here is a wrap up of some of the tributes for Mr. Harwell as well as what he said in his own words.
Ernie said his farewell this past Wednesday. He knows that he won't be able to say good-bye later, so he did it now. There have been many tributes from all over baseball- Detroit News, Freep, USA Today. Major League Baseball will name one of their production studios after him.
Here is his speech to the fans at Comerica Wednesday night.
Here is his talk to the media that night.
Here he is on the Huge Show.
Here is how he ended his final regular broadcast in 2002. (thanks to USA Today)
Mr. Harwell you have certainly been a very big part of many of our lives. We thank you.
Here is a wrap up of some of the tributes for Mr. Harwell as well as what he said in his own words.
Ernie said his farewell this past Wednesday. He knows that he won't be able to say good-bye later, so he did it now. There have been many tributes from all over baseball- Detroit News, Freep, USA Today. Major League Baseball will name one of their production studios after him.
Here is his speech to the fans at Comerica Wednesday night.
Here is his talk to the media that night.
Here he is on the Huge Show.
Here is how he ended his final regular broadcast in 2002. (thanks to USA Today)
"And rather than good-bye, please allow me to say thank you. Thank you for letting me be part of your family. Thank you for taking me with you to that cottage up north, to the beach, the picnic, your work place and your backyard.
"Thank you for sneaking your transistor under the pillow as you grew up loving the Tigers. Now I might have been a small part of your life. But you have been a very large part of mine. And it's my privilege and honor to share with you the greatest game of all."
Mr. Harwell you have certainly been a very big part of many of our lives. We thank you.
Week 24: How badly do they want this?
The Tigers have just completed their 2 worst weeks of the season after completing two of their best weeks before that. I guess that is just how this team plays the game. In this last week they did do one thing differently though: 3 of the 4 aspects of the game sucked for Detroit instead of only 1 or 2 areas lacking.
Starting Pitching: how about an ERA of 6.69? That is 27 earned runs in 36 1/3 innings pitched for the starting rotation this week. Believe it or not, the starter with the best game was Nate "Gum Time" Robertson! Nate returned from his injury with a 5 hit, 2 run performance over 5 innings on Sunday to salvage one game from the Twins in the H.H. Dome. Other than that it was: Verlander getting hung with 5 runs twice (although I think Leyland left him in too long on Saturday and he was tired). Washburn didn't make it into the 2nd inning giving up 4 runs from his injured knee. Jackson gave up 5 runs in 5 innings. Porcello pitched well with only 3 runs allowed in 6 innings, but the Tigers couldn't give him any run support in a 3-0 loss.
Bullpen: if a 6.69 ERA wasn't bad enough, how about adding 4.21 on top of it? 12 runs in 12 2/3 innings this week. That was certainly not stopping the leaks left by the starters. Casey Fien, Bonderman and Galarraga gave up the runs in batches (4,3,3 respectively). Certainly it was an improvement over Week 23's ERA of 9.35 but it still came out to an average of 2 runs per game. Add that to the 4.5 runs/ game the starters dished out and your are in a hole and need LOTS of run support to have a hope of winning. Which brings us to...
Lineup: I'm not sure "lineup" is the correct term for this week's performance. Perhaps "rollover" or "lay down" is more appropriate. The batters (whatever name you wish to give them) came into Sunday's game against the Twins scoring only 2.5 runs per game for the week. This was the 2nd weakest week of the season for runs scored (Sunday's game brought it up to 3/game for the week). In fact after this week the Tigers have been OUTSCORED for the season! Yup. The Tigers have scored 678 runs and allowed 681. To let you understand how completely the Tigers have given up the concept of scoring runs in the last two weeks, compare that stat to where they were just 2 weeks ago. On 9/13 they had scored 630 and allowed 607. In the last two weeks they have scored a total of 48 runs while allowing 74! Don't forget the teams they have played in the last 2 weeks- KC 6 games, Toronto 4 and Minnesota 3. KC! Really? KC? Yes. Detroit allowed KC to pull their own winning % up from .375 to .409.
The one area where the Tigers continued to excel was defense. This past week had zero errors charged to Detroit. The improvements made on defense this season have been amazing. Polanco is playing an amazing 2nd base (he is a free agent this year). Inge even makes great plays on foul balls, just because he can and we like to see it. Laird has been rock solid behind the plate and throws out more baserunners than anyone else. He cut down 2 men in Saturday's game like the sheriff in an old western- bang! bam! Go sit down! There were some miscues (like Kelly's losing a flyball in the Dome Saturday) but who hasn't done that in the Dome?
So where does that leave us? Well, for me personally it leaves me depressed that they have allowed this to become a race when it never should have been. But with 13 games left to play in this season the Tigers are 3 games ahead of the Twins and 6.5 over the White Sox. They are still in 1st place and other teams have to catch them. However the Twins have caught the Tigers at the last minute before (remember 2006 anyone?) and the Wildcard is not coming from the AL Central this year, so I'm pretending not to be nervous here.**
Here are your end of week standings with 13 games to play:
| Week 24 | Games back | Elimination # | |
| Tigers | -- | -- | |
| Twins | 3 | 11 | |
| W. Sox | 6.5 | 7 | |
| Indians | 18 | E | |
| Royals | 18 | E |
Next up is a road series starting in Cleveland and then to Chicago. The last 7 games are in Detroit against, yup- the Twins and White Sox. I'm hoping that the Twins' series is simply prep for the ALDS against the Yankees.
(**note, when I first posted this I had 9 games remaining. It's like that test in grade school where you had the correct answer but second guessed yourself and then put the wrong answer. Regardless, there are indeed 13 games left to play as of 9/21).
Other things of interest from this past week:
Rookies have no right to dignity. (Bless You Boys)
We learned what some Tigers enjoy off of the field. (Roar of the Tigers)
We were exhorted to keep perspective by Kurt at Mack Ave Tigers
The wrap up of the "8th Inning" of 2009 from Detroit Tigers Weblog (this is a very cool analysis)
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
2010 Tigers' schedule
MLB has released next season's schedule. The Tigers open up on April 5 in KC. The Home Opener is April 9 versus Cleveland.
Here is the link.
Here is the link.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Week 23: is it a late August?
I guess this is called "regressing to the mean". The Tigers started the month of September by going 6-0, their longest winning streak of the year. They continued the month by falling back to earth and losing 5 straight (regression can be tough). This team impressed me by being able to play through August without sliding disastrously toward irrelevance. Maybe they forgot that August was over (or maybe the calendar was turned back in the clubhouse.) Fortunately neither the Twins or the White Sox were able to take advantage of the slide.
The culprits of this slide are not the hitters. They actually batted .305 for the week (the 2nd best week of the season) and scored 4.5 runs/game. There have been many weeks where that would be enough to win most of their games for the week. But in those weeks the our pitchers didn't allow 5.8 runs per game as they did this week.
The starters had an ERA of 4.54 this week on 17 runs in 33 2/3 innings. Verlander, Robertson and Porcello each had good starts of less than 3 earned runs. But Washburn, Jackson and Porcello (again) each had starts where they allowed 3 runs or more. Washburn allowed 7 hits plus 3 walks in 5 IP, Jackson allowed 8 hits with 1 walk (but 3 of those hits left the park) in his 7 IP and Porcello allowed 7 hits on 0 walks in his 6 IP during his first game of the week.
The Bullpen had its worst week of the year, by far. They allowed 18 runs (3/ game) for an ERA of 9.35. They allowed 18 hits and 13 walks in only 17 1/3 IP to set the table for the 5 home runs they let go out. Based on my records the only reliever that did not allow a run to score was Ni. Rodney gave up 5 runs in 3 1/3 IP for the week. Galarraga came in to relive Robertson and gave up 3 in 1 1/3 IP. The list goes on and on. If you want to really dissect the rotting corpse that was the Tigers' Bullpen this week then check out Billfer's autopsy at Detroit Tigers' Weblog.
On the positive side of life there was only one official error charged this week.
On the even MORE positive side, as I mentioned above, the White Sox and the Twins each had problems of their own and could not catch up any ground. And there isn't that much ground left for them to make it up on. Going into Monday's game the Tigers have only 20 games left to play in 2009. If the Tigers stay at a .500 pace they will finish with 86 wins and 76 losses for the year. For the Twins for the White Sox to catch them one of those teams would need to start playing at almost an .800 winning pace (far above what they have done so far this year). I don't see this as likely. However all three teams play each other for the rest of the month. Detroit plays 6 more games against Minnesota and 3 more games against the White Sox.
Here are the current standings.
The culprits of this slide are not the hitters. They actually batted .305 for the week (the 2nd best week of the season) and scored 4.5 runs/game. There have been many weeks where that would be enough to win most of their games for the week. But in those weeks the our pitchers didn't allow 5.8 runs per game as they did this week.
The starters had an ERA of 4.54 this week on 17 runs in 33 2/3 innings. Verlander, Robertson and Porcello each had good starts of less than 3 earned runs. But Washburn, Jackson and Porcello (again) each had starts where they allowed 3 runs or more. Washburn allowed 7 hits plus 3 walks in 5 IP, Jackson allowed 8 hits with 1 walk (but 3 of those hits left the park) in his 7 IP and Porcello allowed 7 hits on 0 walks in his 6 IP during his first game of the week.
The Bullpen had its worst week of the year, by far. They allowed 18 runs (3/ game) for an ERA of 9.35. They allowed 18 hits and 13 walks in only 17 1/3 IP to set the table for the 5 home runs they let go out. Based on my records the only reliever that did not allow a run to score was Ni. Rodney gave up 5 runs in 3 1/3 IP for the week. Galarraga came in to relive Robertson and gave up 3 in 1 1/3 IP. The list goes on and on. If you want to really dissect the rotting corpse that was the Tigers' Bullpen this week then check out Billfer's autopsy at Detroit Tigers' Weblog.
On the positive side of life there was only one official error charged this week.
On the even MORE positive side, as I mentioned above, the White Sox and the Twins each had problems of their own and could not catch up any ground. And there isn't that much ground left for them to make it up on. Going into Monday's game the Tigers have only 20 games left to play in 2009. If the Tigers stay at a .500 pace they will finish with 86 wins and 76 losses for the year. For the Twins for the White Sox to catch them one of those teams would need to start playing at almost an .800 winning pace (far above what they have done so far this year). I don't see this as likely. However all three teams play each other for the rest of the month. Detroit plays 6 more games against Minnesota and 3 more games against the White Sox.
Here are the current standings.
| Week 23 | Games back | Elimination # | |
| Tigers | -- | -- | |
| W. Sox | 5.5 | 15 | |
| Twins | 6 | 14 | |
| Indians | 15 | 6 | |
| Royals | 19 | 1 |
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Rodney suspended...
It's a good thing Brandon Lyon has been practicing his closing skills. Fernando Rodney has been suspended for 3 games. Rodney has appealed, but he will probably serve it sooner or later.
After his near-meltdown on Friday night Rodney threw the ball into the stands. He claims he was "in the moment" and "throwing it to fans". It appeared to baseball writers that he was frustrated and chucked it, apparently with some velocity on it, towards them. Apparently the Commissioner's office also felt it was more than just giving souvenirs.
Here is what Jason Beck reports happened...
The heave came after Rodney gave up two runs in the ninth inning but still held on to save a 4-3 Tigers win over the Rays. After giving up an RBI single and double, Rodney stranded the potential tying run at third base and go-ahead run at second with a groundout. Rodney got the ball from first baseman Miguel Cabrera and flung it towards the seats behind the plate. The ball hit off the front row of the press seats and bounced into the back of the press box.
Don't worry Rodney. If you hadn't gotten that last out most of the Tigers' fans would have wanted to chuck the ball at you!
Sunday, September 6, 2009
OMG! (or "I think this is starting to happen!")...
When this week started the Tigers had to finish one game of their 4 game series against the Tampa Bay Rays and then play the Indians before leaving on a road trip to Tampa Bay and KC. Back then the Tigers were 3 1/2 games ahead of the Twins.
Tonight the Tigers have just completed a run of 6 consecutive victories and have put a full 7 games between themselves and the Twins.
The starting pitchers have really allowed this to happen. Washburn and Galarraga did not pitch well in their starts. Washburn allowed 8 earned runs in 5 2/3 innings on Monday. That was the final game of the home Tampa series and did not seem like a good start to the week. It was later learned that Washburn had a sore knee (and has had one for much of the season).
But for most of the rest of the week it was the starters who controlled the games for Detroit. Porcello came in the next day and held the Indians to only 2 runs in 7 innings. Nate Robertson followed up his debut with an even better performance, allowing no runs in 6 innings. Verlander continued his Cy Young worthy season with a 1 run performance to start the Tigers' road trip in Tampa Bay. Galarraga was the only fly in the ointment as he allowed 6 runs in 2 1/3 innings on Saturday. This afternoon Jackson allowed only 3 runs in 8 innings.
So, for the week the starters allowed 24 runs over 7 games (3.4 runs/ game) with 14 of those runs in only 2 games.
The bull pen has been pretty amazing this week. The best example was the game Galarraga started. The pen took over in the 3rd inning and stopped the Rays in their tracks. Six pitchers combined for 0 runs in 6 2/3 innings. But for the entire week the pen allowed only 9 runs. The only two bad performances were from Ni on Thursday (3 runs on 1/3 inning) and Rodney's nearly blown save on Friday (2 runs in 1 inning).
All of this pitching has allowed time for the batters to do their thing, and they have started to do just that. In every game in Tampa the Tigers have trailed until late in the game. Friday night they won it with an 8th inning rally. Saturday they did the same thing. Sunday they waited until the 9th to take the lead.
The bats have not been dominating. The team batting average for the week was .277, respectable but not dominating. The slugging % was .483, again not particularily great. The runs per game was 5.71 though, so the hits were timely. And what hits they were too. Polanco hit game winning hits both Thursday and Friday. Saturday it was Everett with a Suicide Squeeze. Inge hit a 9th inning Grand Slam on Sunday to reverse a 3-1 Rays lead- plenty of drama on that one! Earlier in the week the home run led the way as they beat the Indians on Tuesday.
So the Tigers completed back to back sweeps over the Indians and the Rays. They are 11-4 in games against the Indians in 2009 and they finished up 5-2 against the AL Champion Tampa Bay Rays.
This week they have a trip to Kansas City for 3 games before heading home for a 4 game series with the Blue Jays. Detroit hasn't played Toronto since the open series of the year. Let's hope the Tigers do better this time around.
| Games back | Elimination # | |
| Tigers | -- | -- |
| Twins | 7 | 20 |
| W. Sox | 8 | 18 |
| Indians | 15 | 15 |
| Royals | 24 | 3 |
Friday, September 4, 2009
Grady Sizemore out for the rest of the year...
(photo from mlb.com)MLB.com is reporting that Grady Sizemore will have surgery on his left elbow.
This is another blow for the Indians, after they traded away Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez in an effort to bring in more talent and rebuild for the future.
I guess it makes sense to have the surgery now from their points of view. It gives Sizemore almost 6 months to get ready for spring training next year and the Indians are currently 14 games behind the Tigers, so their season is also pretty much over.
Sizemore has not had as good of a year this year as he has in the past, and the sore elbow has surely had an impact. Coming into this season he was averaging .281 for the past 4 years. This season he is hitting only .248 and his OPS % is down 88 points from 2008.
This is too bad. Sizemore is a great player. I love it when Detroit plays Cleveland because I believe that Sizemore and Granderson are two of the best center fielders in the game. They are both fast on the basepaths and in the field, both hit for lots of extra bases. It is not the same division with the Indians struggling as much as they are (but I'll take it).
Ernie Harwell has cancer...
Sad news this morning. It is being reported at the Detroit News that Ernie Harwell has inoperable cancer. He has been in and out of the hospital this year for different reasons, but Ernie said yesterday that he has cancer in his bile duct which cannot be treated. Reading the article it sounds like his prognosis is less than a year. He has a great outlook though...
"Whatever is in store, I'm ready for a new adventure."
Monday, August 31, 2009
Quotes worth sharing
Two quick quotes that are worth sharing today:
First from Justin Verlander (via Jason Beck's Twitter page)
Secondly from Bob Wojnowski's article in this morning's Detroit News:
First from Justin Verlander (via Jason Beck's Twitter page)
Verlander: "Nate [Robertson] pulled out Gum Time again today. Hadn't seen that since 2006."
Secondly from Bob Wojnowski's article in this morning's Detroit News:
"I knew it (his HR Sunday) had a chance when I hit it," Polanco said. "I was blowing and kind of pushing it, saying, 'Go, go, please go.' "
Hey, maybe a Tigers theme for the season: Go, go, please go.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Week 21... Signs of life?
Week 21
4 Wins, 2 Losses
Soooo, perhaps this team can compete in a playoff series after all? It seems to look more and more like it. You might ask "Are you crazy?!" and you might ask with good reason, but here is what I am seeing right now that makes me believe that this team might advance in the post-season.
Exhibit A: this past week the 1st place Detroit Tigers took a series in LA against the Angels. The Angels are another 1st place team and have a better record (74 - 48 when the series started) than the Tigers (65-58 at the time). The Angels (36-22), like the Tigers (40-20), play very well at home this year. Yet Detroit came in and took the first 2 games (and the Season Series) this week. Washburn and Verlander each won their games, and neither was especially dominating. Each gave up 8 hits and Verlander walked 4, but they didn't allow those runners to score.
Exhibit B: after taking down the Angels the Tigers came home to face the defending AL champion Tampa Bay Rays. Tampa is another good team (69-58 at the start of the series) who score lots of runs but don't allow many. But Detroit in Detroit is nearly unbeatable and they have proven it so far in this series. Friday they scored 6 runs and allowed only 2 (Porcello picked up the win). Saturday they seemed t0 sleep (again) losing 1-3 but Sunday Polanco provided an 8th inning 3 run HR to give the Tigers a 4-3 win. Once again, a good team beaten at a crucial time.
Exhibit C: this one is more historical. So far in Leyland's tenure as manager the month of August has not been a good month for Tigers' baseball. They were a combined 31-50 in the past 3 Augusts (2006-2008). In 2006 and 2007 they watched their division rivals over take them in the Dog Days. (Of course in 2008 they didn't worry about being chased). Yet this year the Tigers are 15-12 with one game to go. Whether is is the young talent coming up from the farm system (Avila, Thomas) or the pick ups of Guillen off of the DL and Washburn in a late trade. Magglio Ordonez has gotten hot with his bat (yes, I know that he still isn't hitting home runs but he is still the second best hitter since the All Star Break) (thanks to Spot Starters for doing the work on that). Cabrera is smok'n hot right now. Inge and Granderson are starting to warm up again after slowing way down. (Maybe it's the tattoos on Inge?) Who cares?
In the "month of August" (weeks 18-21) the hitters have scored 114 runs (4.38/ game) on 228 hits (.258 BA) and a Slugging % of .436. Compare this to July (weeks 14-17) where they scored 91 runs (4.14/ game) on 186 hits (.249 BA) and SLG % of .391 and they were 10-12.
This is a good thing because it appears that the pitchers are starting to show that they are human (at least the starters). The ERA for the starters has risen to 4.57 in August. The WHIP hasn't risen a great deal, but the number of HR they have given up has risen. Home runs per 9 innings pitched in August was 1.52, by far the worst month of the season for that stat.
I don't have the stats set up to break down the Bull Pen's numbers, but Tiger Tales has done a much better job of it than I could, so look here to see that the Pen is doing well.
Defensively the Tigers allowed 16 errors weeks 18 through 21, an average of .62 per game. This has been pretty consistent all year.
So, to wrap up- August is basically over and the Tigers made it through better than any time in the last 3 years. 80% of the season has been played and our Detroit Tigers are still in first place!
here are the standings....
Tigers 1st
Twins 2nd 4.5 back
W. Sox 3rd 6.0 back
Clev 4th 11.5 back
Royals 5th 19.5 back
4 Wins, 2 Losses
Soooo, perhaps this team can compete in a playoff series after all? It seems to look more and more like it. You might ask "Are you crazy?!" and you might ask with good reason, but here is what I am seeing right now that makes me believe that this team might advance in the post-season.
Exhibit A: this past week the 1st place Detroit Tigers took a series in LA against the Angels. The Angels are another 1st place team and have a better record (74 - 48 when the series started) than the Tigers (65-58 at the time). The Angels (36-22), like the Tigers (40-20), play very well at home this year. Yet Detroit came in and took the first 2 games (and the Season Series) this week. Washburn and Verlander each won their games, and neither was especially dominating. Each gave up 8 hits and Verlander walked 4, but they didn't allow those runners to score.
Exhibit B: after taking down the Angels the Tigers came home to face the defending AL champion Tampa Bay Rays. Tampa is another good team (69-58 at the start of the series) who score lots of runs but don't allow many. But Detroit in Detroit is nearly unbeatable and they have proven it so far in this series. Friday they scored 6 runs and allowed only 2 (Porcello picked up the win). Saturday they seemed t0 sleep (again) losing 1-3 but Sunday Polanco provided an 8th inning 3 run HR to give the Tigers a 4-3 win. Once again, a good team beaten at a crucial time.
Exhibit C: this one is more historical. So far in Leyland's tenure as manager the month of August has not been a good month for Tigers' baseball. They were a combined 31-50 in the past 3 Augusts (2006-2008). In 2006 and 2007 they watched their division rivals over take them in the Dog Days. (Of course in 2008 they didn't worry about being chased). Yet this year the Tigers are 15-12 with one game to go. Whether is is the young talent coming up from the farm system (Avila, Thomas) or the pick ups of Guillen off of the DL and Washburn in a late trade. Magglio Ordonez has gotten hot with his bat (yes, I know that he still isn't hitting home runs but he is still the second best hitter since the All Star Break) (thanks to Spot Starters for doing the work on that). Cabrera is smok'n hot right now. Inge and Granderson are starting to warm up again after slowing way down. (Maybe it's the tattoos on Inge?) Who cares?
In the "month of August" (weeks 18-21) the hitters have scored 114 runs (4.38/ game) on 228 hits (.258 BA) and a Slugging % of .436. Compare this to July (weeks 14-17) where they scored 91 runs (4.14/ game) on 186 hits (.249 BA) and SLG % of .391 and they were 10-12.
This is a good thing because it appears that the pitchers are starting to show that they are human (at least the starters). The ERA for the starters has risen to 4.57 in August. The WHIP hasn't risen a great deal, but the number of HR they have given up has risen. Home runs per 9 innings pitched in August was 1.52, by far the worst month of the season for that stat.
I don't have the stats set up to break down the Bull Pen's numbers, but Tiger Tales has done a much better job of it than I could, so look here to see that the Pen is doing well.
Defensively the Tigers allowed 16 errors weeks 18 through 21, an average of .62 per game. This has been pretty consistent all year.
So, to wrap up- August is basically over and the Tigers made it through better than any time in the last 3 years. 80% of the season has been played and our Detroit Tigers are still in first place!
here are the standings....
Tigers 1st
Twins 2nd 4.5 back
W. Sox 3rd 6.0 back
Clev 4th 11.5 back
Royals 5th 19.5 back
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Week 20
3 Wins, 3 Losses
The week started out fairly positive. After their first day off in 17 days the Tigers took a home series from the Mariners. This is almost becoming so routine it may become boring. So far in 2009 the Tigers are 40-20 at home. So they basically win 2 of every 3 they play in CoPa. That is just amazing.
What is not nearly so amazing (because that is a positive word and this isn't positive) is that they are 25-38 on the road. That is only .396, slightly worse than the opposite of their home record. It is this road record that is the only reason there is a race for the AL Central right now. If the Tigers could even get to .450 on the road they would walk away with it.
The final series of the week showed this well against the A's. The Tigers won the opener on the strength of their pitching (Jackson) and their defense (Polonco in the 9th with an amazing stop). But Saturday they lost 2-3 and Sunday they got smacked 4-9.
At home they find ways to win. On the road they don't. They generally get good pitching regardless of where they play. But on the road the bats fall silent.
This week they continue their road trip to visit the Angles. LA has won 6 of their last 10 and lead the AL West by 5 1/2 games as the series starts. They are a very good team (both at home and away). The Tigers have Verlander, Washburn and Jackson going up against them- so pitching probably won't be the problem. We will just have to see if the bats join them.
Standings-
Tigers 1st
W. Sox 2nd 2.5 back
Twins 3rd 4.5 back (and gaining)
Cleveland 11 back
KC 18 back
The week started out fairly positive. After their first day off in 17 days the Tigers took a home series from the Mariners. This is almost becoming so routine it may become boring. So far in 2009 the Tigers are 40-20 at home. So they basically win 2 of every 3 they play in CoPa. That is just amazing.
What is not nearly so amazing (because that is a positive word and this isn't positive) is that they are 25-38 on the road. That is only .396, slightly worse than the opposite of their home record. It is this road record that is the only reason there is a race for the AL Central right now. If the Tigers could even get to .450 on the road they would walk away with it.
The final series of the week showed this well against the A's. The Tigers won the opener on the strength of their pitching (Jackson) and their defense (Polonco in the 9th with an amazing stop). But Saturday they lost 2-3 and Sunday they got smacked 4-9.
At home they find ways to win. On the road they don't. They generally get good pitching regardless of where they play. But on the road the bats fall silent.
This week they continue their road trip to visit the Angles. LA has won 6 of their last 10 and lead the AL West by 5 1/2 games as the series starts. They are a very good team (both at home and away). The Tigers have Verlander, Washburn and Jackson going up against them- so pitching probably won't be the problem. We will just have to see if the bats join them.
Standings-
Tigers 1st
W. Sox 2nd 2.5 back
Twins 3rd 4.5 back (and gaining)
Cleveland 11 back
KC 18 back
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Come back for more...
Clete Thomas completed the 2nd come from behind win of this 3 games series today with a single past the diving 1st baseman in the bottom of the 9th as Miguel Cabrera scored from 3rd. The Tigers came back from being down 4 runs two times in this rain delayed game. Before the delay the game appeared to be all Seattle. But the Tigers had loaded the bases as the rains stopped play. The sun came out and so did the Tigers.It was great for them to not roll over on this "get away" game. They might have folded when down by so many runs as they thought about the plane trip out west to Oakland. Instead they focused on what it took to win. They may have folded as the Mariners' defense took hit after hit away, but they just kept working it. Finally Thomas had the chance to drive in Cabrera after Inge had driven in Guillen just one batter earlier.
Alex Avila had a key, pinch hit single for 2 RBI. Raburn had 3 hits including a home run. Inge had his 24th home run also. Cabrera set up his winning run with his 2nd double of the day.
In other news:
- Here is an article listing the playoff contenders with closer worries. Guess who is NOT on the list! (ESPN)
- What is Gary Sheffield up to anyway? Well, apparently sulking for not getting a contract extension. (Baseball Musings)
- Zach Miner and his wife had a baby boy on Tuesday. (Jason Beck)
- Chris Lambert, who gave up a ton of runs during his short stint with the Tigers, was claimed by Baltimore. (Jason Beck)
As mentioned above, the Tigers are flying to Oakland for the beginning of a 6 game road trip. Unfortunately that means late night games for us in the Eastern time zone.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Pudge moves to the Rangers
Pudge Rodriguez has been traded from the Astros to the team where it all began (for him). The Free Press reports that he has been traded to the Texas Rangers for 2 minor leaguers.
I hope he can wrap up his career there on a high note (so long as it doesn't interfere with a Tigers' playoff spot).
I hope he can wrap up his career there on a high note (so long as it doesn't interfere with a Tigers' playoff spot).
Monday, August 17, 2009
Grinding it out....
This will be mostly a catch up post because I couldn't possibly do the past weeks justice.
The Tigers are still in first place. As of right NOW they are 2.5 games ahead of the White Sox and 6 games over the Twins (but both of those teams are playing (and losing) as I write this, so stay tuned).
It is awesome that Detroit is leading the AL Central. Mainly because in either other division this year they would be lost in the pack. The Yankees are starting to walk away with the AL East and the Angels are 5 games ahead in the West. The Tigers have a .530 winning per centage and that would put them at 4th place in the East and 3rd in the West.
But, the reality is that they are in the Central. Maybe this is something like "reigning in hell", but it beats trying to catch the Yankees or Boston. So far this year Detroit has played well against everyone but the AL East. They are 17 and 10 against the West (thank you Texas!) and, even more importantly, they are 27 and 20 when facing the AL Central.
The glaring reason they are in 1st place is the same reason they weren't last year- pitching.
The bullpen hasn't been slouching either.
If the bats coud keep up with the pitchers the race for the AL Central would be over. But the bats are anemic so the Tigers win on pitching. Detroit has played 23 games where the opposing team scored 1 run or less. That is almost 1/3 of their 62 wins so far. The down side is that they have played in 21 games where they have scored 1 run or less. They have won only 2 of those games. That ties the number of games like that from last season (although last year there were many more shutouts against Detroit).
Today the Tigers traded for Aubrey Huff from the Orioles. I don't know much about him yet. He has 72 RBI so far this year, so maybe can help the area the Tigers are worst at - hitting with men in scoring position. In the past 3 weeks the Tigers have left 332 men on base, 332! Huff is a left handed batter who, until this year, was a power hitter. All I remember is reading that he threw dirt in Brandon Inge's face during a game a couple of weeks ago- apparently they are friends.
Ordonez is hitting again. Guillen is hitting. Cabrera never really stopped hitting. Maybe Huff is the guy they need.
But I don't think the Twins can catch them. The White Sox can (and might) but I think Detroit can and should win the division. And with their pitching the playoffs could be sweet.
It's time for bed.
Week 19
Place - 1st
Tigers -
W. Sox 2.5
Twins 6
Indians 11
Royals 16
only 46 games in regular season.
The Tigers are still in first place. As of right NOW they are 2.5 games ahead of the White Sox and 6 games over the Twins (but both of those teams are playing (and losing) as I write this, so stay tuned).
It is awesome that Detroit is leading the AL Central. Mainly because in either other division this year they would be lost in the pack. The Yankees are starting to walk away with the AL East and the Angels are 5 games ahead in the West. The Tigers have a .530 winning per centage and that would put them at 4th place in the East and 3rd in the West.
But, the reality is that they are in the Central. Maybe this is something like "reigning in hell", but it beats trying to catch the Yankees or Boston. So far this year Detroit has played well against everyone but the AL East. They are 17 and 10 against the West (thank you Texas!) and, even more importantly, they are 27 and 20 when facing the AL Central.
The glaring reason they are in 1st place is the same reason they weren't last year- pitching.
- Justin Verlander is an absolute stud. He has had two bad outings in the last couple of weeks, but his ERA is still only 3.28 and he has 194 strike outs in his 13 wins. He was the only pitcher who could shut down the Red Sox last week.
- Edwin Jackson has not been as totally dominant as he was earlier in the summer, but he is still coming in with a 2.94 ERA. Both Verlander and Jackson face an average of only 4.1 batters per inning. That shows that they are keeping men off the basepaths (and as a result, it is hard to score off of them).
- The Kid (Porcello) has also been having a Rookie of the Year season (IMHO). He has 10 wins and a 4.34 ERA. His WHIP is only 1.39. And let's not forget that he flipped Kevin Youkilis to the ground during the only fight of the year- pretty good for a 20 year old!
The bullpen hasn't been slouching either.
- Bobby Seay has slipped a bit in the past few weeks, but he still allows only 1.06 batters to reach per inning. He just gave up his first 2 homeruns of the year.
- Brandon Lyon was slow to start but he has established himself as a firewall to any rally the other team might consider putting together. In 44 appearances he has allowed only 17 earned runs. His WHIP is only 1.05.
- Then there is Ni. He can barely speak any English, but he has struck out 17 batter in only 21 innings pitched while only walking 7. There is just a metric ton of confidence in these guys taking the ball right now.
- Rodney is no longer perfect in saves, but as scary as he is- he gets the job done.
If the bats coud keep up with the pitchers the race for the AL Central would be over. But the bats are anemic so the Tigers win on pitching. Detroit has played 23 games where the opposing team scored 1 run or less. That is almost 1/3 of their 62 wins so far. The down side is that they have played in 21 games where they have scored 1 run or less. They have won only 2 of those games. That ties the number of games like that from last season (although last year there were many more shutouts against Detroit).
Today the Tigers traded for Aubrey Huff from the Orioles. I don't know much about him yet. He has 72 RBI so far this year, so maybe can help the area the Tigers are worst at - hitting with men in scoring position. In the past 3 weeks the Tigers have left 332 men on base, 332! Huff is a left handed batter who, until this year, was a power hitter. All I remember is reading that he threw dirt in Brandon Inge's face during a game a couple of weeks ago- apparently they are friends.
Ordonez is hitting again. Guillen is hitting. Cabrera never really stopped hitting. Maybe Huff is the guy they need.
But I don't think the Twins can catch them. The White Sox can (and might) but I think Detroit can and should win the division. And with their pitching the playoffs could be sweet.
It's time for bed.
Week 19
Place - 1st
Tigers -
W. Sox 2.5
Twins 6
Indians 11
Royals 16
only 46 games in regular season.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Tigers vs. Twins Aug 9, 2009 (I was there!)
I got to see the Tigers win a game in person! A first time for me. I've seen about 12 games in person, but they have always lost until yesterday. Here are some of my impressions-
It was very HOT!
We saw Marcus Thames hit his 100th career home run- (very lucky pic)
That ball landed about 40' away from where we were standing (in Section 148). Cabrera followed him with a homer of his own.
Earlier in the game Curtis Granderson stole his 20th base of the season.
We missed the back to back home runs that the Twins hit in the 4th (we made a beer run and walked down to Section 148, so we couldn't see the field. But after the Twins pulled ahead in that inning the Tigers came back with a major 4th inning of their own (including Thames' and Cabrera's home runs). Offensively each Tiger starter scored a run or drove in a run. Washburn did not have a great game, but kept the Tigers in the game. Lyon impressed me. Rodney gave up a bullet home run to Cuddyer- I mean that left the park in a hurry! but otherwise got 3 ground ball outs to Inge to end the game. Tigers win 8-7.
Comerica Park is great. I don't think there is a bad seat in the house. We were in Sec 343 which is waaay up and down the left field line (we were almost in line with the foul pole). There was a nice breeze through the whole game, so we didn't bake in our own juices. The fans were all having a great time (nobody was obnoxious around us).
We weren't there in time to catch batting practice (maybe next time).
Overall a great day watching the Tigers win an important game. Right now they are losing to the Red Sox 3-4 but I think they will turn this game around too.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Game 88: Tigers @ Yankees
Tigers 3- Yankees 5
Okay, if I have to be at work at 6 am on a Saturday and there is nothing to do right now I can at least catch this blog up a little. (Just keep the coffee coming!)
Last night the Tigers blew a game against the Yankees. Joel Zumaya deserves most of the blame, but there is enough to go around. There were many encouraging things in that game too.
Hits-
To sum it all up. The Tigers could have and should have won last night's game against the Yankees, but they let it slip away. Both Chicago and Minnesota won, to the Tigers' lead over those teams was diminished by 1 game.
Verlander takes the ball today against Sabbathia.
Okay, if I have to be at work at 6 am on a Saturday and there is nothing to do right now I can at least catch this blog up a little. (Just keep the coffee coming!)
Last night the Tigers blew a game against the Yankees. Joel Zumaya deserves most of the blame, but there is enough to go around. There were many encouraging things in that game too.
Hits-
- Luke French can get Yankees out! In his 3rd Big League start he allowed 5 hits in 5 innings and only 1 earned run. He had 3 strike outs. Unfortunately he gave up 3 walks too. But the Tigers were winning while he was pitching.
- Curtis Granderson takes baseball seriously! He started the game with a double and followed up in the 5th with a homerun. He also made some nice plays in the field. Lynn Henning of the Detroit News suggested that Curtis needs to "make baseball his fixation". Last night Granderson did.
- Clete Thomas and Josh Anderson can throw! Thomas got hung with an error in the 1st for a throw that was off line from Right field to catcher Laird. I don't think it should have been an error- but the run scored and somebody had to be blamed for it I guess. If nothing else he gave the Yankees something to think about as they ran. Josh Anderson redeemed himself for a dumb error by gunning down Posada at home from Left.
- Too many runners left on base. Last night there 18 runners left behind. Burnett was vulnerable and the Tigers didn't take enough advantage. They were 1 for 12 with Runners in Scoring Position.
- Errors. Last night there were 3 of them, the two I mentioned above and one on Inge that I didn't see. (And I'm not convinced that Thomas' was really a error).
- Zumaya. At this point he deserves an entire post of his own. He can not (or will not) pitch effectively right now. He came on in the 7th last night and served up 5 hits and 1 walk. Rod Allen of FSN Detroit commented that "it looks like (Yankee batters) know what's coming!" This stat was brought up in the Bless You Boys Game Thread last night...by tigerfaninChicago
I’m not a fire Jim Leyland guy but if Leyland puts him in the 7th or 8th inning again with a lead he should be fired. Last 9 outings (counting tonight) he has 4 blown saves and 8 earned runs allowed … he is done!
To sum it all up. The Tigers could have and should have won last night's game against the Yankees, but they let it slip away. Both Chicago and Minnesota won, to the Tigers' lead over those teams was diminished by 1 game.
Verlander takes the ball today against Sabbathia.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Catch up... Week 11 & 12
Almost swept? A sweep! (A "benching" and a haircut!) Another sweep! Almost swept? Do you see the pattern here?
Week 11
4 W, 2 L
The Tigers were on the verge of being swept out of St. Louis (in a nightmarish re-run of the '06 World Series filled with pitchers' errors, fielders' errors and little scoring). But Detroit pulled it together for the last game of the series and then marched into Milwaukee and earned a sweep over the Brewers. In the last 4 games of the week the bats scored 28 runs on 45 hits, apparently the slump was over.
Week 11 was, by far, the worst week of the year for fielding. The Tigers made 9 errors in the week (almost all of them in St. Louis). Improved defense has been a trademark of this 2009 team, but Busch Stadium apparently befuddles gloves and arms wearing the Old English D. Inspite of week 11 the Tigers continue to do very well. For a great explanation of what this improvement means for wins and losses, check out another of Lee's articles on this key at Tiger Tales.
Because of the lack of production from Magglio Ordonez, Jim Leyland kept him out of a few games to try to "get him started". Mags has clearly not produced at the plate this year and his fielding is slipping. He doesn't make errors (2 so far this year) but he doesn't get to balls as easily as faster, younger players do. Kurt lays it out very well here. The beauty of baseball is that numbers don't lie. But- they also don't tell the whole truth. This deserves its own posting, but I don't have time so I'll do it here: Magglio Ordonez has been a fantastic player for the Tigers. He plays every day. He doesn't complain. He is a terror against the White Sox (that is worth extra points for me). He hit The Home Run that put the Tigers into the 2006 World Series (that picture is still my computer screen background). You can't cut him loose to save the salary (as some have suggested). There is another reason that such a thing would be a seriously sleezy thing to do- although there aren't many details to be found, it is clear that his wife is seriously ill. That has to impact a player, just as it would impact anyone trying to do their job while the personal life in in upheaval. To see no drop in his production would indicate that he is a heartless SOB (which he clearly is not). Work him through it, help him where you can. Wait until he is freed from the burden of his wife's problems and we will all be rewarded with a rejuvinated Magglio to help the Tigers in the stretch this fall.
Week 12
4 Wins, 2 Losses
The Tigers were more like the Tigers we are getting used to during Week 12. The bats cooled off, the gloves recovered and the pitching (for the most part) kept the team in the game. Verlander has not dominated lately like he did in May and early June but he finished the week with 8 wins. Rick Porcello also finished the week with 8 wins. Jackson should have at least that many by has 6. Gallarraga got his 4th win this week (and seems to have figured out something or other about pitching in 2009). Figaro was given a chance to be the 5th starter (replacing Willis who is on the DL again for causing the fans so much anxiety). Figaro won his first game but was shelled in Saturday's game against the Astros. Leyland thinks he was too timid and he was sent down and will be replaced by French.
One thing that was different about Week 11 and 12 was the home runs. Detroit hit 24 homeruns in 12 games! We have not seen that kind of power in a looonngg time. I don't track HR seperately in my spreadsheet, but Inge and Granderson both have 18 for the year. Cabrera has 16. Thames has 5 in only 27 games. Even Polanco is getting in on the act, hitting 2 the last two weeks! Clearly they are not playing "small ball" right now.
Standings:
Team Place Games Back
Detroit 1st -
Minn 2nd 4.0
Chicago 3rd 5.0
KC 4th 9 1/2
Cleveland 5th 12
roster moves:
Robertson to DL ("mass on elbow")
Ni up from Toledo to replace Robertson
Figaro up and back to Toledo
French up to replace him
Guillen is apparently feeling better
Week 11
4 W, 2 L
The Tigers were on the verge of being swept out of St. Louis (in a nightmarish re-run of the '06 World Series filled with pitchers' errors, fielders' errors and little scoring). But Detroit pulled it together for the last game of the series and then marched into Milwaukee and earned a sweep over the Brewers. In the last 4 games of the week the bats scored 28 runs on 45 hits, apparently the slump was over.
Week 11 was, by far, the worst week of the year for fielding. The Tigers made 9 errors in the week (almost all of them in St. Louis). Improved defense has been a trademark of this 2009 team, but Busch Stadium apparently befuddles gloves and arms wearing the Old English D. Inspite of week 11 the Tigers continue to do very well. For a great explanation of what this improvement means for wins and losses, check out another of Lee's articles on this key at Tiger Tales.
Because of the lack of production from Magglio Ordonez, Jim Leyland kept him out of a few games to try to "get him started". Mags has clearly not produced at the plate this year and his fielding is slipping. He doesn't make errors (2 so far this year) but he doesn't get to balls as easily as faster, younger players do. Kurt lays it out very well here. The beauty of baseball is that numbers don't lie. But- they also don't tell the whole truth. This deserves its own posting, but I don't have time so I'll do it here: Magglio Ordonez has been a fantastic player for the Tigers. He plays every day. He doesn't complain. He is a terror against the White Sox (that is worth extra points for me). He hit The Home Run that put the Tigers into the 2006 World Series (that picture is still my computer screen background). You can't cut him loose to save the salary (as some have suggested). There is another reason that such a thing would be a seriously sleezy thing to do- although there aren't many details to be found, it is clear that his wife is seriously ill. That has to impact a player, just as it would impact anyone trying to do their job while the personal life in in upheaval. To see no drop in his production would indicate that he is a heartless SOB (which he clearly is not). Work him through it, help him where you can. Wait until he is freed from the burden of his wife's problems and we will all be rewarded with a rejuvinated Magglio to help the Tigers in the stretch this fall.
Week 12
4 Wins, 2 Losses
The Tigers were more like the Tigers we are getting used to during Week 12. The bats cooled off, the gloves recovered and the pitching (for the most part) kept the team in the game. Verlander has not dominated lately like he did in May and early June but he finished the week with 8 wins. Rick Porcello also finished the week with 8 wins. Jackson should have at least that many by has 6. Gallarraga got his 4th win this week (and seems to have figured out something or other about pitching in 2009). Figaro was given a chance to be the 5th starter (replacing Willis who is on the DL again for causing the fans so much anxiety). Figaro won his first game but was shelled in Saturday's game against the Astros. Leyland thinks he was too timid and he was sent down and will be replaced by French.
One thing that was different about Week 11 and 12 was the home runs. Detroit hit 24 homeruns in 12 games! We have not seen that kind of power in a looonngg time. I don't track HR seperately in my spreadsheet, but Inge and Granderson both have 18 for the year. Cabrera has 16. Thames has 5 in only 27 games. Even Polanco is getting in on the act, hitting 2 the last two weeks! Clearly they are not playing "small ball" right now.
Standings:
Team Place Games Back
Detroit 1st -
Minn 2nd 4.0
Chicago 3rd 5.0
KC 4th 9 1/2
Cleveland 5th 12
roster moves:
Robertson to DL ("mass on elbow")
Ni up from Toledo to replace Robertson
Figaro up and back to Toledo
French up to replace him
Guillen is apparently feeling better
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)