THE 2006 ROLLING TIGGERS THREAD

1) He needs to prove himself at the major league level before he earns a higher slot in the batting order.

2) He's doing great in the 6th hole, so why ruin a good thing?

3) He's a 6th-place hitter hitting right now like a clean-up hitter; he'll come back to Earth eventually, so there's no reason to move him in the order.

5) Getting out in front early makes you complacent.

er...how about that starting pitching!?!?!

Harold Reynolds upon being asked if he still believes April games count: "YES."

Is Mike Illitch EvenSteven???
Tigers up, Red Wings down???

I have not enjoyed watching the Tigers this much since 1987 or so.

They're 2nd to St Louis in Defensive Efficiency by .001:

http://baseballprospectus.com/statistics/sortable/index.php?cid=11582

Verlander, Rogers, Maroth and Robertson are 5, 7, 9 and 14 in the league in pitching VORP.

1/ Jason Johnson out, Kenny Rogers in
2/ Ordonez healthy
3/ Instead of Higginson/Young on the team, just have Young
4/ Nook Logan out, Granderson in
5/ Polonco starts the year with the team
6/ Trammell was not a very compitent manager, nor was most of his coaching staff
7/ Leyland is a better manager, and in the players eyes HE'S NOT TRAMMELL!
8/ No Urbina soap opera
9/ Troy Percival out, Rollercoaster Jones
10/ Rodriguez a year removed from his "personal difficulties"
11/ Verlander and Zumaya a year more mature
12/ Shelton starts the year as starting firstbaseman

They have a shitload of two-out runs.

Leyland gets some credit, of course.

When do the Tiggers play the Red Sox?

Rod Allen called it last night: "If Guillen gets a fastball here, it's game over."

After Magglio's homer just now: "I'LL SAY HE CHANGED IT!!! BOY he got on top of a hanging fastball and BUGGYWHIPPED that BAD BOY into the BULLPEN of the BOSTON Red Sox and BOY did the Tigers need some breathing room! FWOO!"

He's batting in the ass-end of the order, isn't he? That don't allow for much ribbing. Jimmy should possibly consider dropping sluggers like OMAR INFANTE down in the order and moving the Thames up.

Thames has added 2/5 since that post above, so the ratio doesn't look quite as ugly now. I'm pretty certain that his AVG with runners on was singificantly lower then, and it probably remains low when compared to his bases empty AVG. There have been at least two games I've watched where he has hit solo HRs and has either failed to advance or knock in runners during two other PAs. (Then again, the rest of the Tigers have hit a lot of solo HRs.) And anyway, RAP-O CLAP-O, your ass end of the order argument is nullified without this rambling 'cause NUMBER NINE hitting Inge is NUMBER TWO on the team in RBIs on the team (with the EIGHTH most ABs), so the runners are definitely there on a regular basis.

Amirite, Rod?

http://naterobertson.mlblogs.com/

oh right -- wins.

Saturday-
Brad Radke (9-7, 4.74 ERA, 1.48 WHIP) vs. Neil Robertson (9-6, 3.70 ERA, 1.29 WHIP)

Sunday-
Johan Santana (12-5, 3.04 ERA, 1.01 WHIP) vs. Jeremy Bonderman (11-4, 3.66 ERA, 1.17 WHIP)

HRs by month:
April: 10
May: 1
June: 4
July: 1

It's like measuring the elasticity of a dead cat dropped off a second story roof.

Regardless of how awesome your April is, managers will lose patience pretty quickly unless you do something for the rest of the season.

Looking at all the numbers and circumstances, the move seems like a wash. I've always thought the "Oh, if we just had ONE more LH bat in the lineup..." talk to be kind of overemphasized, anyway.

But no one should really listen to me at all since it is now mathematically impossible for the Tigers' year-end record to meet my above prediction.

... Detroit closer Todd Jones [...] wears only one pair of underwear when the Tigers leave town.

"I don't pack any underwear," he said. "I wear it into the park, it gets washed every day and I wear it out of the park. I guess that's weird. I'm not proud of it, but I'm cutting down on space."

Guy who looks like that wears the same under-roos on roadtrips? Now I've seen everything!

"I hit .289 in July, you fuckers! I guess I am supposed to hit many home runs with all this Mud Hens."

Sorry Tigers fans, it was a real nice run there.

I don't think Perez will be hitting leadoff every day.

He singled and scored in the first. I don't understand it, either.

Rob Neyer: (12:28 PM ET ) My opinion is that it's a good thing the Tigers have such a big lead.

*Some of the pros ought to watch some of the Little League games and get schooled by 12 year-olds with paper routes who have their fundamentals down. Backing up your fellow outfielders? Oh, that might be a good idea. Not doing double takes to see what's going on while running the bases... (TiVo the shit and watch it later!) and checking the base coach instead? Oh yeah.

He has had some clutch hits but it's tough to watch him at the plate. I might be stating the obvious but he has one of the ugliest swings I have ever seen -- he follows through like he's hitting from the wrong side of the plate.

Tigers AL Central champs chances down to 86.69817%!

Meanwhile... Maroth activated, Young released.

There are major issues with this team and the Tigers got rid of one of them when they released first baseman Dmitri Young. He was not accepted by teammates. Most of the smiles and hugs were public relations spin to convince the public all was ok. Tigers manager Dave Dombrowski got ride of Young because he was not producing at the plate. But he also got rid of him because of growing resentment in that clubhouse.
Young damaged his reputation in the clubhouse with his drinking and with unprofessional behavior toward teammates. Some guys could never get past that. Even though Young hit well early in his come back after being suspended, the Tigers were never the same team when he returned.
I am banking this move is partly to get team chemistry back. You know the old saying: "addition by subtraction."
I got an email from my Tiger player and he was happy with the move. Here is what he had to say
"In DY case, you did not honestly believe that DY would be accepted back with open arms, all the welcome back was all for PR. The guy playing time was severely limited; letting him hit third was to get the heat off of pudge, and of course lets not forget Magglio inability to play a decent game consistently since all star break. Magglio is not carrying his weight. Most of the guys feel that Magglio is only going to get worse as time goes on. That knee is not as good as they want people to believe. That is getting to be a sore spot in the club house."

They were Reds together.

Tigers pre-game showed some footage of a stern Young (in sunglasses) making his exit from the clubhouse. He and the Mayor hugged.

For all of the subsequent inside whispering that Young was a cancer, I'd suggest it's better to let yourself rot from the inside out and go down fighting than simply die with the anemia that comes with playing Sean Casey, solid citizen. If cutting Young was supposed to inspire people, it didn't inspire them to play well against the Twins last weekend, and the Tigers still aren't getting anything from their first basemen or their DHs. If they lose, it's because they made it so.

This month, Neifi (Marty Castillo) is DESTROYING Casey (Mike Laga) by over 100 pts. Maybe Leyland should try HIM at first or DH instead.

Baker D ss
Brookens T 2b
Johnson H 3b
Garbey B cf
Grubb J lf
Allen R dh
Laga M 1b
Simmons N rf
Castillo M c

I have his Coke can. I have the Coke can of Rusty Kuntz as well. Ditto Sid Monge. I have the whole set.

Maybe, maybe not

Polanco, who has been on the disabled list since separating his left shoulder in Boston on Aug. 15, repeated his response after being asked a second time. And when approached by a different reporter, outside the clubhouse, he said he might not be ready for the start of spring training next season.

Jones: touching

Leyland: touching

Robertson: doused Keating (profoundly irritating "Everything I say is profound" announcer) mid-sentence in the face with champagne

Ilitch: barely coherent, higher than a kite

(Andy, I do feel for you and hope you pull it out tomorrow)

The only thing I'm going to be pulling out? My hair.

It would be a shame to be in first since May and lose it -- or fucking tie, fuck a tie-breaker -- on the last day of the season.

Damn, I wanted a miniscule measure of karmic revenge for the last day of the 1987 season.

Chris Shelton = El Duque

OTOH, time and objective analysis has revealed that Trammell definitely deserved to win the MVP over Bell that year.

Luke Vibert is pitching for them right now.

hahahaha

Thank you, White Sox.

Hats off, Royals.

http://images.thetimes.co.uk/TGD/picture/0,,363472,00.jpg

Granderson spreads the gospel of a newly clean ballgame

Curtis Granderson woke up in London on Sunday for the first time in his life, and spent Monday morning being interviewed by representatives of a selection of British publications from Hip-Hop Connection magazine to The Times. Not bad for a 25-year-old who plays a sport that barely registers with most Britons.

When Major League Baseball were looking for an ambassador to help to spread the appeal of the sport to Europe, they chose Granderson, and it is easy to see why. The contrast between the friendly and articulate Detroit Tigers outfielder and a brooding, distant figure such as Barry Bonds, of the San Francisco Giants, or even the tongue-tied millionaires of the Barclays Premiership, is extreme.

"I didn’t expect to be put in a position to be an ambassador," Granderson said. "When you think of that word, you usually think of someone at the top of the game, known worldwide, recognisable, especially outside the United States - but to get a chance to spread the word about the positive sides of baseball, the fun of baseball, the reputation of baseball to those who aren’t familiar with it is a great honour. I definitely take it seriously and I’m doing my best to accomplish it."

He is too modest. Having reached the World Series (in which the Tigers lost to the St Louis Cardinals) at the end of his first full season in the major leagues, Granderson is on the brink of superstardom, and is likely to be one of a new breed of ballplayers who will sweep away the bad memories left by some of the big names of recent years, such as Bonds and Mark McGwire, whose achievements are tainted by the suspicion that steroids fuelled their home-run records.

"We definitely have to let the fans know that they are paying good money to watch an equal playing field," Granderson said.

"The players are all working hard and although talent may make some better, there is no more enhancement. I think we’re doing a good job in drug testing and handing out fines and suspensions. Football has done it, basketball has done it, and now baseball is doing it."

The Tigers’ success last season also demonstrates the health of the sport. "No matter who the favorite is and who the underdog is, on any given day, or week, or a matter of three weeks in the play-offs, you can be the best team and the fact that we have had a different [World Series] champion every year for seven years shows the game is in good shape. No matter how good St Louis are, it will be hard for them to repeat because there are 29 other teams that all want their spot, and it’s great knowing every year that you have a chance."

No team demonstrates that better than the Tigers. In 2003, they lost 119 of 162 games, only one short of the unwanted record held by the 1962 New York Mets. "I was in the minor leagues [in 2003] but we were watching it and talking about it, and I was just hoping that I could perform and help the team out. They were going to turn themselves around, no question about that, and I hoped I could be one of the reasons why they did."

Granderson made his debut the year after, playing in nine games, then played a further 47 in 2005. This year he played in all but three. Although not a first-round draft pick, he rose to become spoken of as the top prospect in the Tigers’ organisation, and lived up to his early promise last season as Jim Leyland, the new manager, inspired the Tigers squad that had been painstakingly built by Dave Dombrowski, the general manager.

Granderson averaged .312 in the first two rounds of the play-offs, driving home seven runs, including three home runs, as the Tigers overcame the heavily-fancied New York Yankees and then swept aside the Oakland Athletics. "Even when we made the play-offs, we couldn’t help but hear the criticism. We were playing the Yankees, traditionally one of the best teams, year in and year out, you guys have no chance. But we advanced to the next round."

But Granderson is more than a talented hitter and athletic outfielder. He graduated in business management and business marketing at the University of Illinois-Chicago, which he describes as his biggest accomplishment outside baseball, and which may help him when he is finally eligible to make big money. Whereas footballers such as Wayne Rooney can make whatever the market will support, baseball regulates the earnings of its youngsters.

"In the first three or four seasons, the team has control and is able to pay you the league minimum," he explained. "If they like what they see during that period they can offer you a long-term contract, which can add a lot of zeroes on. In years four through six you determine your worth compared to other players in your position. At the end of your sixth year is when the big money comes, because you become a free agent and you can put yourself on the market and go for what you like financially."

You get the strong sense that any number of zeroes on the payslip will not turn Granderson’s head. "My mother and father were very influential on my life," he said. "They are both educators themselves, and they showed me that education is important but also diversity in people. I give a lot of credit to them for the fact that I am able to interact with people in all walks of life.

"I like positive role models. There are so many good things that you can do and there’s nothing wrong with doing good things.

You are on TV day in and day out and everything you do is broken down and put under a microscope, whether good or bad.

I’m realising that more and more as I get older and play on a bigger stage. At the same time you can look at it as a positive.

Here’s your chance to let the world know who you are, and how you want them to remember you."

If he and the Tigers progress at the present rate, that could mean a place alongside Ty Cobb among the statues at Comerica Park, the Tigers’ recently built home in downtown Detroit. The Motor City has had some bad press in recent years, but it is typical of Granderson, although not a native, to see the positive side.

"Detroit is not the most appealing area compared to some of the other major cities, but at the same time the people are great and the fans are great, they love sports and they support with a diehard loyalty that is passed on through generations," he said. "They are trying their best to bring Detroit back to being one of the best cities in the US. There are great places to eat and shop, and the music is great there as well.

"I’m enjoying every moment, but at the same time I know it’s not as easy as it appears right now. There are players who have played for 20 years who never had the chance to accomplish what I had a chance to be a part of, so I have to understand that."