That’s a wrap!
posted in 2007 season, Analysis |And with today’s game over, the season has ended. It didn’t really bother me until Mario Impemba pointed out the next broadcast would be in March. MARCH. That’s five months and countless feet of snow from now! This baseball season just went so fast. Even with the disappointing premature ending, it was a good one. Just a few memories.
- Magglio Ordonez won the batting title with a .363 average. WOW! Who’d have thunk it?
- Placido Polanco went the entire season without an error. While that may not be a good sabermetric measure of a season, it’s still quite a feat. Especially when you consider he hasn’t made an error since summer 2006. His range may not be perfect, but he’s a solid second baseman every day. I think he’ll get some Gold Glove consideration, just for the fact voters will see no errors and go ga-ga. But it’s still political.
- Curtis Granderson joining Willie Mays and Frank Schulte in the 20-20-20-20 club. Granderson is the only in the 23-23-23-23 club, Lee at Tiger Tales tells us. It’s just a statistical thing of course. Sorta fluky in nature, but yet, a show off a well rounded player. Definitely cool.
- I was trying to think of my favorite memory for the season. That’s pretty hard to do. FSN showed a few clips.
- The 3:30 a.m. walkoff might have been my favorite. That was just amazing because the game didn’t start for so late, then seemed like it may never end. Considering Detroit really needed a win against the Yankees, it was all the better.
- Justin Verlander’s no-hitter was probably my favorite, because other than the excitement of the playoffs in 2006, I’m not sure I could think of a more electrifying game. By the time Magglio made a sliding catch and Neifi Perez made an amazing no-hit saving play, it was just all the more improbable and awesome. It’s definitely a game I, and probably most others, won’t forget.
- I also remember Granderson’s catch over the fence to rob Boston. Detroit was on a roll and swept the Sox and looked like the best team in baseball. *wistful sigh.*
So there were plenty of good moments. Some great achievements. A lot of fun, some heartbreak. Everything that makes you love baseball. Too bad it ended a couple of weeks too soon. Over the next month, I’ll try to analyze a few things that went right and wrong and, interestingly enough, show how April pointed out how the season might end.
And now we bid a fond farewell to Sean Casey, who won’t be coming back. I think this is farewell for Kenny Rogers, but we don’t know yet. Pudge, I think we’ll see again, but it is possible he spent his last day in the D.
Update: Danny Knobler reports the Tigers won’t exercise the option on Pudge, meaning they’ll be looking for a catcher. Earlier today, I had an outlandish, tossaway theory about trading Cam Maybin for a catcher and signing an outfielder. Hmm. Maybe I’m not totally loony. Nah. I probably am. If true, the Tigers need a shortstop, catcher and left fielder, in that order of priority.
In the meantime, Go Cubbies!
Great wrap-up. Today was the perfect way to end a non-playoff season.
I’m stunned by the Pudge news. I’m sure it will be discussed and talked about at length after it happens officially, but at least right now, I don’t like that move at all. First, it’s really a $10 million option, because Pudge gets $3 million in a buyout regardless. Plus, while he’s not the player he used to be, he’s solid, which is a lot more than we can say about the potential replacements out there (I’m assuming we don’t have a secret deal with Jorge Posada in place).
And now, a team that should be on the verge of making it back to the World Series, has to find a shortstop, a catcher, a left-fielder, perhaps two spots in the starting pitching rotation, and maybe even a closer. That’s a lot of holes to fill. Having one (catcher) solidified, would take a lot of pressure off of filling those other positions.
-Scott