Tigers Weekly 2005 Season

Week 8: 5/24/05 - 5/30/05

"This team, I think, was a little ticked off over the
weekend.  They don't like losing."  --- Orioles'
manager Lee Mazzilli after Baltimore defeated Boston
on Monday night.
 
This week the Tigers were the Yankees' best friends. 
Detroit started the week by getting swept in the Bronx
and finished the week by sweeping the AL East leading
Baltimore Orioles in Camden Yards.  Personally I would
have preferred the sweeps to have been flipped, but it
was a great recovery to come back and finish the short
road trip at 3-3.  The Tigers have been sorely
struggling for offense, and the series in Baltimore
could be just what they needed to turn things around. 
On Sunday we witnessed something we hadn't seen all
season.  The Tigers came back from a five run deficit
to win a game and swept their first three game series
of the season.  The Tigers come home for six games
before the hardcore interleague schedule heats up. 
Texas has won eight in a row and Baltimore will
certainly be looking to exact revenge.  It should be
an interesting week.
 
New Subscribers...
 
Jeanie "The Dream" Fowler

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Week of 5/24 - 5/30
 
Record:  3-3  LLLWWW-
 
Undy-Five-Hundy:  The Tigs had to work hard over the
weekend to make sure the index remained at two.  Did
anyone watch the end of the game on Friday night? 
Urbina had me tied up in knots, but he got the job
done.  Ugie also closed out the other two games of the
series, but with less similarities to a Todd Jones
close.  Much like the 2000 Tigers, this club just
can't seem to crack the five-hundy mark.  If this team
is to compete, they are going to have to accomplish
this sooner than later.
 
Up Next for the Tigers...

5/31 - 6/2  Texas
6/3 - 6/5   Baltimore
6/6 - 6/8   @ Los Angeles 
 
AL Central Standings...

CWS  34 17 -
MIN  29 20 4
CLE  24 25 9
DET  23 25 9.5
KCR  13 37 20.5
 
Tigers Division

CWS  34 17 - 
|
MIL  24 25 9
CLE  24 25 9
DET  23 25 9.5
PHI  24 27 10
SFG  23 26 10
 
Tigers News and Notes:  no notes...

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Tiger of the Week...
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No questions this week, the man of the weekend was Craig Monroe. Monroe entered the series with the O's with just four home runs. He came through in three close games by homering in each of them. The last home run capped a five-run comeback and gave the Tigers a lead they never relinquished. Monroe's home run on Friday (a two-run blast) also turned out to be the game winner. The Tigers haven't had much power this season and Monroe provided it when it was most needed. Rondell White gets honorable mention for his stable play over the last two weeks (he currently has about a 16 game hitting streak).

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Poll Question...
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Wil Ledezma has been the weak link in the Tigers'
rotation so far this season.  I don't have much
confidence when I see Ledezma's name on the matchups. 
I was hoping that he would have a breakout season but
it certainly hasn't happend.  The Tigers babied Wil
last season, keeping his inning count low.  The result
has been that Ledezma has the highest ERA of all
starters by over two runs (6.75), the highest WHIP
(1.65) of all starters, and has pitched over five
innings in only three of his nine starts.  The club
amazingly is 4-5 in his starts.  
 
What happens to the Tigers' fifth spot in the
rotation?  Do you think they'll stick with Ledezma,
call up another pitcher to take his spot in the
rotation, or try and make a trade?  What do you think
should be done with Ledezma? 

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Game Linescores...
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May 24:  Detroit 3 - New York Yankees 12
Starters:  DET: Ledezma 4IP - NYY: Mussina 7IP
DET  000 000 030   3 10 2
NYY  010 460 01X  12 14 0
W: Mussina (5-2)
L: Ledezma (2-4)
 
May 25:  Detroit 2 - New York Yankees 4
Starters:  DET: Maroth 5IP - NYY: Wang 6.1IP
DET  000 100 100  2 6 1
NYY  100 003 00X  4 8 1
W: Wang   (3-1)
L: Maroth (4-4)
S: Rivera (10)
 
May 26:  Detroit 3 - New York Yankees 4
Starters:  DET: BOnderman 6IP - NYY: Brown 7IP
DET  002 100 000  3 12 2
NYY  010 120 00X  4 11 2
W: Brown     (4-4)
L: Bonderman (5-3)
S: Rivera    (11)
 
May 27:  Detroit 4 - Baltimore 3
Starters:  DET: Robertson 7.2IP - BAL: Ponson 8IP
DET  100 102 000  4 10 1
BAL  000 001 020  3  9 0
W: Robertson (2-3)
L: Ponson    (5-3)
S: Urbina    (6)
 
May 28:  Detroit 5 - Baltimore 3
Starters:  DET:  Johnson 8IP - BAL: Penn 4.2IP
DET  010 020 020  5 8 0
BAL  010 110 000  3 7 1
W: Johnson (3-4)
L: Julio   (1-1)
S: Urbina  (7)
 
May 29:  Detroit 8 - Baltimore 6
Starters:  DET: Ledezma 4IP - BAL: Chen 6IP
DET  000 101 600  8 13 1
BAL  000 150 000  6  9 1
W: Spurling (1-0)
L: Reed     (0-2)
S: Urbina   (8)
 
May 30:  no game scheduled...

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Readers Write In...
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Dallas "Big D" Senters
 
Getting on base:  walk, intentional walk, hit by
pitch, fielder's choice, strike out-pass ball, strike
out-wild pitch, pinch run...is that all?
 
TW:  i don't hate interleague play.  i don't love it
either.  as a novelty i like the matchup of reds v.
indians, but i don't like the fact that one of 
my favorite teams is going to lose ground (little or
no) in the division race because of an otherwise
meaningless exhibition.  pittsburgh could qualify as a
rival for the indians, which could let cincy play the
tigers.  that would be fun to watch with some detroit
fans.  or the tigers and pirates could play in the
"blue collar" interleague series.  anyways i 
like interleague play better than the un-balanced
schedule.  do the tigers play baseball?  i was just
wondering because i NEVER see them. i barely see the
final score on the bottom line during baseball 
tonite (doooo doo doo doot doo dooo [for weiland]) 
danny graves has been pretty awful this year for my
reds...no longer...but i hear that the cubs might try 
to get him...just what the cubs need---another gallon
of gasoline to throw on their ninth inning fires.
i am still waiting for a good time to play hooky from
work to go see a game.

I doubt that indianapolis indians will be a big
enough draw for that, but cincy isn't too far away,
and i have heard rumours of a hillsdale-flavored 
trip to comerica...we'll see. {pistons v. heat =  a
great chance to watch my boy, #6, eddie jones}
done
 
dallas

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Andy "Kin Korn" Karnitz
 
Matt-

In answer to "Keith" Primeau's question, here are
the ways to get on base-

1). A single, double, triple or home run. we'll count
    these all as "hits".
2). A walk
3). Hitting into a fielder's choice. This will
    create(when there's no error) an out or two in
    front of the batter, but he/ she will have reached
    base safely.  
4). An error by the defense.
5). Batter hit by pitch.
6). Catcher drops ball(or passed ball)/wild pitch on
    third strike to the batter. The batter may attempt
    to reach base safely.
7). Catcher interference. The catcher may not impede
    an attempted swing by the batter. If the cacher
    touches the bat(or the batter's body, though I
    don't recall ever seeing this) the batter will
    be awarded the base.
    
I think that's all.

I think a lot of people would leave out #3 because
of the resulting outs. I also think people
would leave #7 off because as often as it doesn't
happen, it is a lot more common than #6. I just don't
recall catcher interference ever impacting a
big(read:post-season)game.

#6 seems to have a lore of its own. Announcer's
love to bring up [so-and-so's]"four srike out
inning." #6 also played a big role in the 1941 World
Series. Don't hold me to all the specifics here, but
I'll try:

Brooklyn has won the first game against the
Yankees. Brooklyn leads game four 4-3 (Yanks up 2-1 in
the series), and the Yanks have two down w/none on in
top of the ninth. Tommy Henrich has two strikes when
he swings at strike three, but Dodgers' catcher Mickey
Owen lets the ball by(passed ball). Heinrich  reaches
first. The Yanks are still alive.  Yankee batters then
take advantage, rallying for a whole lot of runs,
deflating "dem Bums' " sails for not only the bottom
of ninth but the rest of the Series(I think the
Yankees won it in game 5). In a season that is notable
for DiMaggio's 56 game hit streak as well as Ted
Williams batting over .400(hasn't been done since,
folks), Owen's passed ball and the resulting rally is
just as compelling a story and shouldn't be forgotten.
      
-Andy

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Toolie's Trashtalk...
 
Curses to A-Rod!  After Tuesday, Rodriguez is four for
four against Wil Ledezma with four home runs!  That's
astounding.  A-Rod continued to dominate the Tigers on
Thursday with a go-ahead two-run home run that was the
difference in a 4-3 loss.  Curses also to Derek Jeter
for his sweet catch on Wednesday.  The Tigers got a
close look at a great team as they were tamed by the
Yankees.  I had been feeling lukewarm about the Yanks
lately, but now I don't think I'll be cutting them any
more slack.  Their lineup is unbelievable.  You just
see one slugger after another coming at you.  If you
retire Sheffield you have to face A-Rod.  Take care of
A-Rod and you've got Posada to deal with.  Don't
forget about Jeter or Matsui either.  Any pitcher that
tosses a shutout against these guys deserves a bonus.
 
What does one think about a week like this?  It was
all bad and then all good.  The glass half full
approach would be that the Tigers recovered nicely
with their sweep of the Orioles.  The glass half empty
approach would view this as a waste of a sweep, as it
only offset the negative effects of the four game skid
they had going into Friday.  Also, the Indians have
moved just ahead of the Tigs.  I think you have to
stay positive as they finished on a good note.  They
have momentum as they face the red hot Rangers. 
D-Town took two of three earlier in the year in Texas
and they are throwing some of their better pitchers at
the Rangers this week.  
 
What is it about boxing movies that make them so
appealing?  It seems like the biggest movies lately
have been boxing related.  Million Dollar Baby won the
award for best picture, and this new film Cinderella
Man has been getting great reviews.  Apparently you
have to be a real idiot to screw up a boxing film. 
 
The same cannot be said for baseball movies.  There
have been a bunch of good ones and a bunch of bad
ones.  What makes a baseball movie good?  A lot of
baseball films happen to be comedic (more recent
baseball movies were Fever Pitch and Mr. 3000).  The
serious ones never make big waves in the industry (For
Love of the Game), though gems like Field of Dreams
and The Natural defy this line of thought.  What do
you think makes a good serious or a good comedic
baseball flick?
 
I got a chance, this Memorial Day, to get out to a
field with Ch"Aase" Claus and others and hit a ball
around.  Nothing like having enough people for
semiserious batting practice.  Now if we could only
organize a full game...
 
It would be great if Carlos Pena could hit.  He's so
stellar at first base, it's a shame that they have to
sit him sometimes because of his bat.   I recently
read, in an issue of Baseball Digest, that shortstops
should be valued more for their defense and their
ability to stymie opposing offenses than their ability
to spark their own offese.  This is not the case for
first basemen, however, as they are expected to
produce offensively and a light hitting first baseman
has little place on a major league roster.  Carlos
will have to picke things up or we'll be seeing a lot
more of Dmitri at first.  I'd much rather see Carlos
there.  
 
The weeks keep rolling along and we are roughly a
third done with the season.  Still competing.  That's
nice.  
 
I'm out.
 





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