Tigers Weekly 2008 Season

WEEK 8: 5/23/08 - 5/29/08

The Tigers outscored both the Twins and the 
Angels in their series this week.  That should 
translate into a winning week, but sadly the 
Tigers' runs came in a lopsided fashion.  Despite 
having a higher total output than their opponents, 
the Tigers lost both series two games to one.  
Aside from the two games where the Tigers 
actually put up some runs, the hitters let the team 
down in a big way.  The most telling game was 
the 1-0 loss on Monday where, three times, the 
Tigers failed to score a runner who was on third 
with less than two outs.  They lost three games in 
a row where the starters gave up one, zero, and 
two earned runs in at least seven innings of work 
each.  It's getting to the point where I no longer 
get perturbed with a pathetic performance.  I'm 
coming to expect these pitiful outings.  It's really a 
shame, because the Tigers have so much talent 
and should be a lot of fun to watch.  More 
changes were made this week; hopefully these 
ones work.

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Week of 5/23 - 5/29

Record:  2-4  LWLLLW-

Undy-Five-Hundy:  Bummer of a week bumps 
the UFH up to nine games.  Did you know that 
the Tigers are 9.5 games behind... the Devil 
Rays?!?!  Looks like they are having a 2006 
Tigers type season.  Their pitching is terrific, and 
they are a stellar 21-12 in the AL East.  But will 
the Rays (no Devil, to be current) finish 2008 like 
the '06 Tigers or falter down the stretch like the 
'03 Royals?  That's one tough division.  

Up Next for the Tigers...

May 30 - June 1  @ Seattle
June 2-4         @ Oakland
June 5           no game scheduled...

AL Central Standings...

CWS 30 23 -
MIN 28 25 2
CLE 24 29 6
DET 22 31 8
KCR 21 33 9.5

Tigers Division...

CHC 33 21 -
|
SFG 24 31 10
WAS 23 32 10.5
DET 22 31 10.5
KCR 21 33 12
SDP 21 34 12.5

Tigers News and Notes:  Gary Sheffield pulled a 
muscle in Anaheim on Tuesday, earning him a trip 
to the DL.  Power-hitter Jeff Larish was called up 
from Toledo to take Sheff's place.  Larish was 
hitting .277 at AAA with sixteen homers, forty-
three RBIs, and ten doubles.  Mike Hessman, 
who saw some time with the Tigers last year, has 
twenty homers.  Long-balls are a dime a dozen 
for the Med Hens, it seems.  In a sort of a 
surprise, Matt Joyce and his five home runs were 
sent back to Toledo and Clete Thomas was 
recalled.  This means that Marcus Thames will be 
getting playing time versus righties as well.

Click HERE for full story on Detroit Tigers.com

Joining that trend is Curtis Granderson, who will 
now be playing more against left-handed pitchers.  

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Tiger of the Week...
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No one Tiger stood out above the rest, here, but the pitching rotation put together a collectively impressive week. Armando Galarraga had a rough start against the Twins, but the last run through the rotation has been solid. In those five games Tiger starters surrendered just eight total runs. Sadly the Tiger hitters haven't been able to provide consistent run support, which brings back memories of 2003 (ok, so that was no run support, but... eight shutouts already?). They are still looking for their first shutout of the season; they were close on Wednesday. They should have had one on Monday.

Anyway, a turnaround will have to be accompanied by good pitching, so this is a promising sign. Time for the hitters to do their part.

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Poll Question...
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It's a long fly ball to deep left field... Cabrera is 
going back...it's... a home run!  No, it's a double!  
What is it???

This week has seen a startling number of home 
run and non-home run calls that have been highly 
controversial.  This has sparked a lot of talk 
about introducing instant replay into baseball for 
the purpose of getting these types of calls correct.  
If implemented, replay could possibly be used for 
a number of things like:

Home Run / Non Home Runs
Fair or Foul Balls
Close Calls at First Base
Game Deciding Plays (think the one-game playoff 
in the NL last year)
Balls and Strikes

What level of replay would you like to see 
implemented in Major League Baseball?  Also, 
what is the worst blown call that you've ever had 
to sit through?  

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Game Linescores...
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May 23:  Minnesota 9 - Detroit 4
Starters:  MIN: Slowey 6IP
           DET: Galarraga 6IP
MIN  030 011 031  9 13 0
DET  000 000 400  4  9 0
W: Slowey   (1-4)
L: Galarraga (3-2)

May 24:  Minnesota 3 - Detroit 19
Starters:  MIN: Bonser 3IP
           DET: Robertson 6.1IP
MIN  002 100 000   3  8 2
DET  204 670 00X  19 17 0
W: Robertson (2-5)
L: Bonser    (2-6)

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Toolie Sees a Ball Game...

With just over a month to go until Toolie ties the 
knot, the boys threw me a bachelor party.  
Fittingly, that party included a trip to CoPa for 
some hot Tigers/Twins action.  A steady 
afternoon of good food, good drinks, and good 
times preceded the game, so I was in high spirits 
upon arrival.  Almost immediately, the Tigers 
started laying it on Twins starter Boof Bonser.  
Magglio had a great night, collecting two homers 
and six RBIs before exiting the game.  It looked 
like the Twins would hang around, tying the score 
at two in the third, and then answering the Tigers' 
big third inning with a run in the fourth.  But a 
couple of monster innings put those thoughts to 
rest.  I can't say I remember the details.

We had seats in left right in line with the foul pole, 
but we could all see pretty well.  More 
importantly, the beer stand and the restrooms 
were right behind us.  Late in the evening, one 
Tiger fan was being helped up the stairs by her 
girlfriend... she looked like one might have 
thought I'd look being that it was my bachelor 
party.  I gave her a hearty Rob Schneider-esque 
"You Can Do It" and she made it wherever she 
was going (home, I hope).  

Buzz was high in town as both the Pistons and 
Red Wings were in action that night.  The Wings 
won their game, but I was really surprised with 
the number of Penguins jerseys I saw over the 
course of the night.  A lot of them probably knew 
the way to Detroit well, with the Steelers playing 
in the Super Bowl just a couple of years ago.  

Biggie Bagel won the Dunkin' Donuts race.  
Never bet on The Original Dashing Donut.  I 
swear he never wins!  Nothing too hilarious to 
report from the bachelor party... unless you think 
that me getting hit in the junk is hilarious.  It was a 
fantastic day (except for the "junk" part, which 
was not fantastic).  

---

May 25:  Minnesota 6 - Detroit 1
Starters:  MIN: Perkins 7.2IP
           DET: Verlander 7IP
MIN  010 000 041  6 9 0
DET  010 000 000  1 8 0
W: Perkins (2-1)
L: Cruceta (0-2)

May 26:  Detroit 0 - Anaheim 1   F/12
Starters:  DET: Rogers 7IP
           ANA: Garland 7.1IP
DET  000 000 000 000  0 5 2
ANA  000 000 000 001  1 9 0 
W: Arredondo (1-0)
L: Dolsi     (0-1)

May 27:  Detroit 2 - Anaheim 3
Starters:  DET: Bonderman 7.1IP
           ANA: Santana 9IP 
DET  020 000 000  2 3 0
ANA  000 000 021  3 8 0
W: Santana (7-2)
L: Lopez   (2-1)

May 28:  Detroit 6 - Anaheim 2
Starters:  Galarraga 8.1IP
           ANA: Saunders 5IP
DET  300 020 100  6 11 0
ANA  000 000 002  2  4 1
W: Galarraga (4-2)
L: Saunders  (8-2)

May 29:  no game scheduled...

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Readers Write In...
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Adam "Doc" Goyt

Dear Matt,

I was in Michigan on Tuesday and I saw the 
series opener with Seattle.  I kept score, and it 
was interesting to look at the score card at the 
end of the game.  The majority of the markings 
on the tigers portion in the first 6 innings and the 
majority in the Seattle half in the last 3 innings.  I 
was thrilled to see Verlander get 7 K's in six 
innings.  The best though was probably the 425 
foot homer run to straight away center (I think 
this was Guillen's homerun).  A little rough at the 
end, though, having to go through 3 pitchers in 
the 9th inning, but fun nonetheless.  I'll be 
watching the series with the twins this weekend.  
I'm hoping it's not a dud.

Best,
Adam

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Toolie's Trashtalk...

OK so there are some significant changes that we 
will see implemented here.   Marcus Thames will 
be in the lineup much more often playing left, and 
Jeff Larish should get some considerable time as 
designated hitter.  The Tigers faced a lefty in 
Larish's first game, so that meant he rode the 
pine.  The strategy worked, though, as the Tigers 
got to the surprisingly tough Joe Saunders for a 
win.  

I tell you what, with the hitting not coming 
through, I'm very much in favor of Curtis 
Granderson playing every day and Brandon Inge 
getting more time at third base.  Carlos Guillen 
has been very unimpressive in his time at the hot 
corner, and there have been a few balls that Ryan 
Raburn has not been able to track down that I've 
been sure Curtis would have snagged.  You can't 
tell me that Sheff at DH and Guillen at third is 
better than Guillen at DH with Inge at third.  And 
is Raburn's hitting against a lefty more valuable 
than Granderson's defense?  I think not.  On a 
further note; Granderson should try and improve 
his bunt-for-hit ability.  Do that more often 
against the southpaws, and maybe his average 
against them will improve.  I'm not saying I want 
Alex Sanchez back, but the little guy's ability to 
drag-bunt was awesome.  

Thanks to a wretched losing streak by the 
Royals, the Tigers are out of last in the Central.  
But their deficit has now reached eight games 
behind the White Sox.  Chicago comes to town 
in a couple of weeks, along with the Tribe.  The 
Tigers are 0-fer against the Sox and Royals this 
season.  I'd say they're due for some wins.  

Tuesday I was at Crunchy's Bar in East Lansing 
celebrating the latest win of the Liouville Sluggers, 
the math department softball team (4-0 in the 
grad league so far).  I was happy to see Miguel 
slam a two-run homer in the second inning of 
their game with the Angels.  Then the offense 
dried up, and I crossed my fingers that Bondo 
could hold the slim lead.  After the game became 
tied in the eighth, I stormed off to play pinball.  If 
you love multi-ball, then play The Sopranos 
pinball machine.  I won about three free games 
and had multi-ball in each one.  I even gave away 
my last free game as I tired of playing a mean 
pinball.  By the time I returned the game was 
over: 3-2 Angels.  Apparently Aquilino Lopez 
walked two of the Angels' worst hitters before 
giving up the game-winning single.  I think the 
man upstairs had pity on me and bestowed free 
game after free game upon me to save me the 
anguish.  BADA-BING!

For the record, I am in favor of NO replay.  Is 
there anything more boring than waiting for plays 
to be reviewed in the NFL?  It would introduce 
unnecessary mid-inning commercial breaks, and I 
believe that most of the time the umps get it right.  
The most trouble I ever have with an ump is 
when he has a bizarre strike zone, but I am most 
opposed to replay being used for balls and 

strikes.  That's the last thing the league needs.  I 
don't like review for homers because you can't 
definitively say what would have happened if it's 
ruled to have stayed in the park (not such an 
issue for fair/foul home run disputes).  Would he 
have ended up on second or third?  Would that 
runner from first have scored?  Make the call and 
live with the mistake.  Sometimes you get Don 
Denkinger-ed, but most of the time things will 
work out.  

Click HERE for story from Wikipedia

Red Wings lead 2-1 in the Stanley Cup Finals 
and the Pistons trail 3-2 in the NBA Eastern 
Conference Finals.  It won't be long before the 
curtain falls on the other Detroit teams and the 
Tigers will face the full scrutiny of the Michigan 
fans and media.  If things don't improve, there will 
be a lot of negativity floating around the 
newspapers and the airwaves.  There is still time 
to save the season, but that big winning streak, 
which we know the Tigers have in them, needs to 
quickly become a reality.  

I'm out...
 





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