Tigers news:

• Gary Sheffield will start in right field tonight. (Detroit News)
• This is the flip-side of having two DH/RFs. Unless you’re Marcus Thames, but then you’re suddenly starting at first anyway. Sheff can play the field, and Maggs can flip-flop and get some rest as he will tonight.
• Speaking of Thames, how good did he look at first? Obviously I’m speaking relative. He’s not going to win a gold glove anytime soon. It’s debatable whether he would have scooped that throw from Pudge as Sean Casey did. But it’s mere months since he started learning the position and I thought he played it well enough last night that I feel comfortable when he starts there. Actually, if you want to get right down to it, if Thames can play the position, he’s the type of batter Detroit needs at the corner.
• After the rocky spring for Verlander, we were all a bit nervous. Not because of his innings pitched — that is a seasonlong reason to be nervous, you should probably continue — but fears of a slow start costing him. I don’t have a link, but Lynn Henning was so frightened he wondered about a trip to AAA to start the year. But 13 scoreless innings of five-hit ball later, Verlander is looking pretty good.
• Now if he could only keep his fast ball from getting high. Once he brings that down, he gets even better. And yet he’ll still give up a run.
• More on Craig Monroe: I’ll throw a damp towel. One wonders if his late-inning heroics would be so necessary if he had some early-inning heroics at the plate instead.
• But he is really becoming known for his clutch performances — whether or not you believe clutch exists — in the late innings and that’s always fun to watch.
• Mike Rabelo gets his first major league start tonight. I know Pudge had two days off already thanks to schedule and snow, but I’m surprised it took this long.
• Some stats:
• Thanks to the past two days in Baltimore, the Tigers moved up to fourth in the A.L. in ERA with 3.77. L.A (2.48), Oakland and Boston are ahead. Detroit starting pitches have a 3.28 ERA for third. Oakland leads with an amazing 1.98. The Tigers have had quality starts (3 runs, less than six innings) in five of eight games. (I recall a sixth game the starter came out one out short).
• Verlander (o.00) and Robertson (1.38) are in the top five in ERA in the A.L.
• Thanks to the past two days in Baltimore part 2: Detroit has a .308 OBP for 10th in the A.L. and is below league average in every category but triples.

Curtis Granderson news:

• This one gets its own special mention today.
• Granderson shared his thoughts on Jackie Robinson and his visit to the Negro League Museum in Kansas City.
• He also shared his thoughts on myriad topics on a video Yahoo! interview. He pointed out Kenny Rogers helped Tigers batters as much as pitchers.
• You always have to be impressed by Granderson as a person. A wise ballplayer thinks about life after sports. But Granderson, even with his business education, wants to get a masters degree in education and become a mentor. That’s what I really learned from that interview.
• He’s a guy who knows he can make a positive difference, and he’s going to. I am always impressed by him.
• Oh, and I think he’ll be doing Cold Pizza tomorrow. I heard his name but wasn’t paying close attention, never do, but always turn it on anyway.

Around the majors:

• Felix Hernandez outdueled Dice-K last night, taking a no-hitter into the eighth against a formidable Boston lineup. He crushed Oakland in his first start, 11Ks I think. The kid isn’t THAT good. But he is that good. When he’s not striking them out, he’s getting grounders at a rate of 87.5 percent. He’s turning into the pitcher he was hyped to be last season. (Seattle Times) (U.S.S. Mariner)
• The Yankees rotation had another setback when Mike Mussina hurt his hamstring. Doesn’t look like he’ll go on the DL but he’ll miss his next start. Much-hyped prospect Phillip Hughes may get a shot sooner than expected. (LoHud Yankees Blog)
• The World Series champs are cursed?! (Home Run Derby)
• No, it’s everyone. For us young people, I guess these two weeks are our dead-ball era. (Home Run Derby)

Share/Email This

There was no joy in Gotham
For the Mighty Yankees have struck out.

Detroit controlled this game from the start, Jeremy Bonderman pitched like the ace we know he is, and the Tigers are moving on. Not just an impressive 8-3 victory, Detroit pitchers combined for 20 straight shutouts innings against what was called the best lineup ever assembled. And I hope it truly was the best lineup ever assembled, because that speaks all the better of Detroit’s pitching staff if it was.

Enjoy this one, we’ve been waiting 22 years to celebrate a series victory in the playoffs, and dang did the boys do it up right! Like Bilfer, I was speechless!

I wish I’d have been lucky enough to get tickets for this series. I thought what the players did, getting the fans involved in the celebration, has got to be one of the most amazing sights in baseball, if not all sports. This series had the feel of the Pistons-Lakers a few years back. No one gave the Pistons a shot, no one gave the Tigers a shot. On paper, it was no closer than the experts thought. But you’ve got to play the games, and both times, the Detroit teams came through, at first with a hint of victory to come, then both flat-out took what was theirs. When the Pistons finally clinched, and it was known from the middle of the game they would, there was a championship. The Tigers and fans just felt like they’d won one.

Nate Robertson blogs daily about his playoff experience. I have just one message for him: He and 24 of his closest friends will be remembered fondly as part of Detroit baseball history as long as we’re all around to remember it. What the Tigers did this season, both in the regular season and in the first week of the playoffs alone, has put them in the history books. I hope it’s a long, long chapter!

The bad news is, like Samara with the Red Sox, I follow the Athletics alongside the Tigers. I am not conflcted. I’m from Detroit and I grew up going to Tiger Stadium. Either way, I’m rooting for the winner, but until then, I have to put my affinity for the A’s aside. The good news is I should be able to do a pretty good and fair preview of the A’s series. The other good news is I’m making no predictions on that series because I have absolutely no clue what’s going to happen anymore.

But all of that can wait. What our Tigers accomplished this weekend is HUGE. I’m gonna enjoy the feeling for a long time!

Share/Email This

Somewhere, somehow, baseball is a spiritual game in a way no other game can touch. We saw that Friday night.

In Detroit’s first home playoff game in 19 years, Kenny Rogers gave Tigers fans hungry for playoff baseball one of the best pitching performances in the history of the organization. As exciting as Joel Zumaya was in the series’ second game, Rogers was transcendent.

Rogers threw the game of his life. He shut out a lineup that everyone proclaimed to be Murderer’s Row II for nearly eight innings, and Joel Zumaya and Todd Jones extended that to a 6-0 shutout through nine. Rogers, a guy with a perfect game under his belt, was as close to perfect as you could ever hope for in the playoffs.

The dream season that we thought had slipped away is no longer a dream. This is October. Now it’s a reality. That was Ernie Harwell’s voice coming from your television and radio, bridging the years. That was Chet Lemon’s name you heard mentioned when Curtis Granderson hit two home runs in a series. That was playoff baseball at its finest.

Jeremy Bonderman is on the mound this afternoon with a chance to erase the last game he pitched from our minds, and more importantly, the chance to send the Yankees back to New York City with yet another defeat.
I’ll write more Saturday. I can’t even begin to do it justice tonight.

Share/Email This

Okay, that got your attention. I like the Yankees. I really do. I like the Yankees because I hate the Yankees.

What is a movie with no bad guy? (Uhm, probably a winner at Sundance.) What is The Old Man and the Sea without that damned marlin? (I haven’t actually read it since sixth grade, forgive me if my memory failed, there was a marlin somewhere right?). What are the Red Sox without the Yankees? (AL East winners more often than not… okay, they’d probably accept that one.)

Baseball needs George Steinbrenner’s Evil Empire. Luke Skywalker wasn’t just fighting his dad, you know. Without the Yankees, what other team could draw so many people across social, economic, and divisional lines together in a throng of hate? Not the Angels!

I like the Yankees for the same reason I like the White Sox: I want to beat them. Bad. 162 games this season, and the ones that had me on the edge of my seat the most were against the White Sox. I hate the White Sox. They win too much. I hate the Yankees. They spend too much.

Now that is quality television.

And that’s why the Tigers playing the Yankees in their first postseason is so fun. No offense to the Twins and to Oakland, both very good teams, but they aren’t the those pinstripe wearing so-and-sos from the Bronx who walk around with a crown on their head and media lapdogs 100 thick in their wake.

Now, two things can happen. Detroit can beat New York, and we have a very good time dethroning the already coronated. I don’t think I’d have been nearly as happy Thursday with a playoff victory over Oakland. I know I wouldn’t have been. Or the Yankees can take two of the next three games, and I hate the Yankees even more next year. Either way, I have a good time.

Game 2: A New Hope
Game 3: The Empire Strikes Back

I hope not. But another George had an idea how to make pretty good drama about 25 years ago, and that worked out fine in th end.

Bad guys wear black hats. The White Sox figured that part out. But Steinbrenner has perfected the Darth Vader march, putting All-Stars everywhere in his lineup and rotation and spending as much money as the other three American League playoff teams combined. And he still might not win his first title since 2000. That’s what makes it so fun.

I hate the Yankees. I like that. It’s a three game series. Joel Zumaya just blew up the Death Star, and it’s going down in our own backyard now. Boo the bad guys, cheer for the good guys, and let’s see what happens next. Now this is good drama.

Share/Email This

Marcus Thames, Joel Zumaya, Curtis Granderson, welcome to the big time. Justin Verlander can show you around, he’s a bit more familiar with the media exposure. The three guys stepped up big time to help the Tigers get out of New York with a 4-3 victory and a 1-1 series split. The next two games are in Detroit. If the Tigers can protect their house with Kenny Rogers and Jeremy Bonderman on the mound Friday and Saturday, they’ll move on.

(By the way, the AP photo didn’t identify the guy in the jacket and I can’t figure it out for the life of me, any clue? Let me know.)

Former Yankee Thames scored twice, went 3-for-4 and had an RBI. Granderson hit a triple in the bottom of the seventh for what turned out to be the game-winning run. And Zoomer was Zoomer. He struck out Jason Giambi on a 103 mph pitch after making a light dinner out of the heart of the Yankees’ lineup. He’s gonna be mentioned all over the media today. Thames will be, too. Hopefully Granderson gets some love.
Todd Jones naturally scared the crap out of me but did the job. Just like all year. It was a bit scarier is all.

That win was incredible. Beating the Yankees in Yankee Stadium in October when you’re down 0-1 in the series was just so incredible a feeling. I’d actually say it’s better than winning the AL Central title would have been. This is what baseball is all about. That was the best feeling I’ve had as a baseball fan when Granderson caught the final out.

I’ll probably have another post after work when I can actually think.

EARLIER:

WHOA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAH!!!!!!!

4-3 Tigers and they’re heading back to Detroit with a 1-1 series.

More later. Must…breathe…. must…. breathe!

Congrats to Eric Byrnes for being the only ESPN commentator to correctly call today’s winner.

Share/Email This

Nate Robertson’s blog post tonight hit on the feeling I had in this game.

The big thing is, the experience of the first game of the playoffs, for everybody that hadn’t been there before, it’s all said and done. We got our feet wet, so we can kind of shove all that aside, come back tomorrow. Now we’re experienced.

I thought that was the thing. Detroit has some guys who’ve been there before, but most of them haven’t. The Tigers put up a valient effort, wasted a few opportunities, maybe got rattled once or twice, and came up on the wrong end of an 8-4 game. The feet are wet. Now they can get down to business.

I was buoyed by the bats. They’ve continued to hit well lately. The pitching, well, no blame on Robertson, but it wasn’t up-to-par I’m sure he’d admit. One bad inning was what he had. Five runs. A couple hits strung together and a two-run home run. The inning sped up and before you knew it, New York led, 5-0. Outside that inning, no one could say the Tigers don’t belong in this postseason, or they can’t beat New York in the series. They belong. Can they avoid the big inning? We’ll see. That’s a key. I wondered why we didn’t see a relief pitcher in the sixth, but Leyland has done this sort of thing all season and it works out frequently enough. His answer to the question in the press conference was that New York would just pinch hit anyway. But you can’t let what your opponent will do change your mind, I don’t think. In any case, the damage was done in the five-run third.

It was nice to see young Curtis Granderson respond so well to the challenge, batting leadoff with three hits, including a home run. He’ll be around for many of these things, I’m sure. It was a great way to start what we hope is a promising postseason career. If people outside Detroit didn’t know him before, I’m sure some will remember him now.

And then there’s Mitch Albom, whom many people often dislike for his hokey, repetetive style, but who can still capture a moment so well. I thought his column was a reminder of the Albom of the past, the one greatly missed by this guy who grew up reading him.

It is possible, in the Persian bazaar outside Yankee Stadium — sausages, stuffed animals, knishes, a 1914 Calliope, a man screaming about religion through a small amplifier, the creaky thunder of elevated trains, the smell of perfume and cigar smoke, fans crushing the turnstiles to cheer the best team money can assemble — to feel, shall we say, intimidated?

… Look, nobody said this would be easy and few people think it is even possible. But I still like the Tigers being here. I think this is for the best. If they are not good enough to win the World Series this year, let them at least face the biggest, baddest team in the biggest, baddest stadium and let the young guns feel what it is like to be washed in the spotlight. There is truly nothing like playing in Yankee Stadium, prime time, October in New York, not in the stadium, not even on the way to the stadium.

They say momentum is only as good as your starting pitcher the next day, and a good one in Justin Verlander takes the mound tonight. He still needs to get his feet wet, but hopefully watching his teammate helped. A big game from him would really get Detroit fired up.

To me, it’s just exciting to have postseason baseball include the Tigers again. Seeing “ALDS” on the field with the bunting flags decorating the walls of Yankee Stadium, listening to Joe Buck talk about your young pitching staff and the fact Detroit will be back in the playoffs guided by it, watching Ronin Tynan sing “God Bless America” in the seventh inning — this is what you dream of in March if you’re a baseball fan. Twenty-two teams have gone home, several managers have been fired, most teams are working on their rosters for 2007, exercising or paying out on club options, six four teams played in afternoon games, and the Tigers play ed on the biggest stage in the sport. It might be a short stay or long, but we’re here now. This is pretty fun.

Share/Email This

Well, Detroit lost 6-4. I got annoyed during the game with the way the Yankees kept getting bloops, the defense allowed things they should have gotten to, Neifi Perez stinking and the umpire having a small strike zone. I hope the players kept a bit cooler than me, but it appears Jim Leyland didn’t. Fortunately I had to leave for work in the sixth inning.

Just a short recap of my thoughts:

Jeremy Bonderman got hit a lot, that he only gave up four runs is a testement to Bonderman given the offense he faced. Not that he did perfect by any means, but he didn’t do too bad. New York really did get on base a lot during the series but didn’t come away with runs much at all. The Yankees crossed six runs on 14 hits. That many hits with a few walks, that was a problem for Bondo. But he didn’t let it get out of hand. In contrast, Detroit scored four runs on five hits.

Why must Neifi play! why!!! Why must Thames play behind Young? Why!!

Monroe is my Tiger.

I thought the batters did, while not a perfect job, a good enough one when you consider Randy Johnson was on the mound. Same thing goes for against Wang yesterday. As Bilfer pointed out, the pitches per plate appearance ranked with the Yankees. It may not have turned out as we’d have liked, but that was Yankee Stadium and the home team does do pretty well when it’s there.

I expected a win at Yankee Stadium. I got it. I didn’t expect MN to lose two games at home to KC. They did. And I still think Chicago has the toughest road ahead. I don’t enjoy losing one bit, but it certainly wasn’t a bad series, it just didn’t turn out.

Danny Knobler isn’t too concerned over August. I’ll have my monthly Q&A in the afternoon. My thought right now is the Tigers didn’t have to lose that many games. On the other hand, it could have been worse and wasn’t all doom and gloom.

Share/Email This

Craig Monroe has now hit 13 of his 23 home runs in the seventh inning or later. He’s been clutch. He’s been exciting. And he lifted a 2-out, ninth inning pitch just over the left-field fence to help the Tigers win, 5-3, in the nightcap of a double header at Yankee Stadium. Man, that was awesome. Mo Clutch? Naw, I’m just reaching. You know it, C-Mo is gonna stick as a nickname. And you know what? Right now, I don’t mind if it does! Ask me again in the morning, I’ll surely disagree.

Fangraphs is a good site for tracking the odds of a team winning at any given point in a game. But think about that name. Fan graphs. Because it probably reflects your mood over the course of the game. My mood from the start of the first game forward: Neutral, good, nuetral, bad, bad, bad, worse, worse, worse, realllly bad, neutral, good, bad, realllllllly realllllllly bad, CRAIGDONEITAGAIN!

There was a lot to be happy about today, believe it or not. Five runs allowed to the Yankees in two games. The Yankees. They score 5.6 runs a game, and they scored 5 runs in a double header against the Tigers pitching. Yeah, today stunk for like, most of it. But you have to look at that and say “You know, it’s not all bad.” The Tigers have actually faced the top five offenses in the league since playing the Twins Aug. 9. And the Angels actually scored 133 runs in August, so they may not be the pushover I’d hoped for. Perspective, it’s a wonderful thing to have.

On the other hand, Neifi Perez is really about out of chances with me. He did get on base a few times today, but I have a bad feeling when he’s up. He is simply not playing lke an upgrade over what Omar Infante would do. Maybe in theory he’s a better player, and that is debatable. But there’s no way he should be taking Infante’s playing time. He hasn’t earned it. Dmitri Young didn’t exactly make me think he should be playing over Marcus Thames either. Our offense stinks, but not playing Thames and Infante is likely a contributing factor.

On the whole, the win felt great. Really great. The Tigers pitching is continuing to carry the team. I’d like to see those offense problems fixed soon. But with Jeremy Bonderman on the mound in the afternoon against a struggling (at times) Randy Johnson, we have a decent chance to take a series in Yankee Stadium. And suddenly the world is looking much different than it did just 24 hours earlier.

Share/Email This

Nate Robertson went out, allowed two runs in seven innings, and got tagged for a 2-0 loss. No, this isn’t a summer re-run. (See pitching stats) It just feels like one. (See August losses).

The Tigers offense could barely get the ball out of the inield against Chien-Ming Wang, one of the best sinkerballers in baseball. And when they did get on base, it was a lonely duck. They worked the counts well early and had his pitch count at 59 through four innings. But after that, whether Wang’s doing or their own, he still got into the eighth inning to preserve the Yanks’ bullpen for tonight. A Tigers runner reached third just once, when Neifi Perez did so on a Curtis Granderson double. And Magglio Ordonez flew out on the first pitch he saw as pinch hitter.

It’s a feeling a lot of other teams have had, but when Detroit’s bats continue to fail them, it’s just all the more frustrating. And don’t blame Jim Leyland’s lineup for this. He has several older players to deal with and a day-night double header. Alexis Gomez got on base. Maybe you’d have preferred Marcus Thames bat, a career 2-for-5 against Wang. But today, I doubt that really changes things much.

Robertson’s only fault was that he didn’t throw a shutout. Too many runners got on base, too many times he had to be saved by the double play. But you know what? He held the Yankees’ offense to two runs and saved the bullpen. He did a spendid job but didn’t get rewarded.

Which brings us to the most exciting point: Andrew Miller saw his first major league action. No runs. No hits, except the one into Craig Wilson’s knee, no strikeouts. And his stuff sure looked like above-average major league stuff as he did it. He looked like he will play a real part of the Tigers’ pitching staff in September, and we’re going to like it. I doubt he throws tonight on ESPN or FSN for you guys who had to work to see, but maybe you’ll get to see some replays. Yeah, I’m pretty excited over him. Too bad a win didn’t overshadow his debut.

New programming typically starts in September. I hope we don’t have to wait too much longer.

Share/Email This

Since last Saturday, the Tigers haven’t looked like the Tigers we all know and love. Well, I take that back a bit. They have at times resembled the Tigers. They’ve fought and fought every game, though opponents’ pitching held them to a few shutouts and low scoring games. Coming back against the Yankees, and coming within 1 out of defeating the Red Sox Friday still didn’t really feel quite like the Tigers, though it was getting close. Saturday’s 6-2 victory in front of a sell-out crowd was just what the doctor ordered.

Actually, I feel like the Tigers proved they can “play with the Red Sox.” I scare-quotes that because I don’t really think it had to be proved. If not for a blown save, the series would be 2-0 Tigers right now. But it’s 1-1, and Detroit has played soundly against another quality team. So I am not in the least concerned.

I am not as sure if the Tigers proved much against the Yankees. Not that it matters too much in the long term, but it would have been nice to at least tie that series, though the Yankees seemed to out play Detroit in the innings I saw. That and the Tigers most decidedly did not look like themselves, making mistakes left and right we havent’ seen all season.
But back to the present. Jeremy Bonderman set down 13 in a row, showing he can still be the pitcher he’s projected to be. He gave up three hits. Jason Beck points out Bonderman has been a real thorn in the side of the Boston Red Sox as of late.

He has won his last three meetings with Boston …, all of them at Comerica Park.

More later, I’m sure.

Some Housecleaning

Roman Colon is a bullpen guy, according to Jim Leyland. Leyland wasn’t going bench him after one start, he seems to want guys not to feel their job is on the line with every pitch, but he saw all he needed to, I guess. I’m not really going to dispute his opinion.

Maroth will be out 2 to 3 months, the Tigers say. We hope the best for him, not because his statistics have looked nice, but because over the years in the Olde English D, he’s always been a good guy, and you always want the good guys to find success.

The Daily Fungo Podcast gave me a couple nice compliments. Go check out the podcast if you haven’t already. And no, I was not eaten by mosquitos. But I do have a few black fly bites from my last time fishing.

Danny Knobler wonders why people aren’t showing up, even though they do for the Lions, Red Wings and Pistons. If I had to speculate, I would say filling a 40,000+ seat stadium on a nightly basis is more difficult than a 22,000-seat arena two times a week or so, or a football stadium once a week for 10 weeks over the course of 5 months. I could be wrong. I really don’t know. But I have a good feeling winning like they have, the Tigers will continue to see a mostly-full park.

At Fox Sports, the Inside Pitch thinks Jim Leyland will ignore calls to replace Jones.

But the fact is that while Jones is now 0-3, Friday night’s 2-1 lead was only the second he has blown through the early days of the third month of the season. That’s pretty good for a closer.

And Jones’ history shows he’s much more effective finishing games than he is setting them up, which is what he’d be doing if Leyland replaced him as closer.

It could be worse… Derrick Turnbow blew three saves in the last four games of action for Milwaukee.

The Yankees beat the Tigers 3 of 4 times. Fox Sports Dayn Perry rewarded them with the No. 1 power ranking. After two weeks of leading, Detroit is No. 2.

Detroit is No. 5 in the ESPN power ranking. Their top-choice, the St. Louis Cardinals, have had some injury problems, including the loss of Albert Pujols. Maybe we don’t want to be No. 1…

A few days old, CBS Sportsline has Detroit No.2 behind the White Sox. After this week I don’t know if either team will hang on to that area.

Nearly a week old, Sports Illustrated ranked Detroit No. 1 before the Yanks series.

Share/Email This