I haven’t written a lot lately, or anything as a matter of fact. There isn’t much left to say about a team spiraling toward infamy that hasn’t already been said countless times. However, when I opened up my newspaper this morning there was actual Tiger “news.” Mike Illitch has finally decided to speak. While I’m not a proponent of the overly involved owner (ie Jerry Jones), Illitch’s refusal to answer for, or even comment on the product he is putting on the field until now is unacceptable. This interview was granted 160 games into the season, and probably should have been done sooner, but at least it has happened.

There are several points in the article, and I’ll comment on each.

First the good news: “I am going to do what I feel is necessary to field a good team,” said Ilitch. “I am going to go out and sign free agents. I am going to operate like other teams because I feel I have a foundation. I understand our youth and it is not real complicated now. We are going to fill the holes and see how it works. Everybody can pass judgment on it.” I’m thrilled to see that Illitch is willing to spend money to improve the team. Unfortunately, this is coming a little too late. After 10 losing seasons, Dombrowski is going to have a tough time marketing this team to impact level free agents. Dombrowski will have to be a tremendous salesman, and probably still overpay. What’s a tad distubring is that Illitch thinks this team has a foundation. While it does have some pieces (Munson, Pena, Young, and some pitching) I don’t really see a foundation yet.

Ilitch believes things would have worked out better if Comerica Park opened two years earlier instead of 2000. The original plan was to build it behind the Fox Theatre and open in the summer of 1998 when fans flocked to new stadiums across the country in droves.

But Ilitch said civic responsibility delayed the opening. I’m not sure how this would have helped. The only advantage I can see is that Palmer would have looked at Comerica’s dimensions and never signed here. This seems like a typical Illitch statement in which he offers something, and then no evidence to support it.

“I know the Lions lost 12 games in a row, and all you heard was about the coach and the president,” Ilitch said. “I have a bad year and all I hear about is Mike Ilitch. I don’t know about that. Does it bother me? It’s just strange what approach people want to take in analyzing situations.” Well Mr. Illitch, Bill Ford Sr. has been a constant source of criticism. Because while the Lions have had numerous presidents/coaches/players the fact is the Lions have still lost on their watch. At the same time under the current NFL labor agreement, there is a salary cap in place and there is much less owner discretion in setting payrolls. Now let’s look at the Tigers. Since Illitch has owned the team, they get impossibly worse each year. The fans were told that the team needs a new stadium to compete. That worked for a year, and then because of the cost of the stadium, it was necessary to cut payroll. Furthermore, Illitch’s silence only adds to the speculation and criticism. By answering for the team, Illitch could have staved off some of the criticism.

So in summary, I’m happy that Illitch has spoken, and I’m happy he’s committed to making the team better. However, he is still a little delusional.

I’ll be back this week with a season long wrap up and a look into the future as well.

Just a quick note to say I was still here and still paying attention to the Tig’s. Work has been really hopping lately. Plus, football season is in full swing (Go Blue) so my Tiger blogging time has been significantly cut into.

As a die-hard Tiger fan (die hard seems especially appropriate this year) I found this article comforting: For Tigers true Fans, miracle on horizon

Boros named special assistant to Dombrowski

Overall
August saw the “explosion” of the Tigers offense, and unfortunately the implosion of the pitching staffing. The result is that the Tigers finished the month 6-23. The Tigers also managed to string together their longest losing streak of the season at 11 during the month.

Transactions
The month began with Andres Torres returning to Toledo to make room for AJ Hinch coming off the DL. Two days later Hinch was back on the DL and Brandon Inge was called up (more on Inge later in the post). Unfortunately Danny Klassen was called up when Eric Munson’s season ended while going after a foul ball. Nate Robertson was called up and became an instant starter while Chris Mears was returned to Toledo until the September call-ups. The bullpen received a major shake up when Steve Sparks was DFA’d and Eric Eckenstahler and Matt Walbeck were optioned to Toledo in favor of Franklyn German, Fernando Rodney, and Brian Schmanck. August also saw the Tigers sign first round pick Kyle Sleeth.

Offense
On the surface the Tigers offense appears to have improved dramatically. They moved out of the cellar in most statistical categories, and their home runs and slugging percentage were 5th in the AL for the month, despite 16 of the 29 games being at home. However, the increased production only had a limited effect on the number of runs they scored. Despite being an average offense overall for the month, they were next to last in runs scored. If you look at their run efficiency average, which is runs divided by total bases plus walks (I did some more on REA earlier in the year) for the month, they were 13th at .242 against a league average of .270. If the Tigers were an average team in terms of efficiency, they would have scored an additional 14 runs, or almost .5 RPG. If you look a little deeper you see the Tigers struck out and hit into more double plays than any other team during the month. Which are two offensive events that just won’t help you score more.

Individually, the story has to start with Brandon Inge. In 21 games since being recalled he is hitting .338/.376/.550 with 3 home runs and 14 RBI. He has raised his average on the season to .208 which is 58 points better than the .150 he was hitting before his demotion. The real question is this for real or a hot streak. If you look at Brandon’s career numbers, .208 still qualifies as his best season. His 700 previous at-bats show he is a .190 hitter at best. While I’m rooting for the guy, I’m still not convinced this isn’t anything more than a hot streak. If he can keep it up for a second month in September, I might come around.

Other big performances include Craig Monroe hitting 8 home runs and slugging .605 in an effort to solidify a place with the Tigers next year. Carlos Pena continued his streaky ways by hitting .273/.357/.556 despite being in an 0-12 slump currently. Also interesting is that despite 6 home runs, Pena only had 8 RBI for the month. Higginson on the other hand has turned a month in which he hit .212/.262/.425 into seven home runs and 22 RBI. Dmitri Young is in the midst of a 15 game hitting streak and continues to have a monster year. Finally, Alex Sanchez seems to have found his base stealing groove again with 11 steals against only 2 caught stealing.

Defense
Oh Boy. The pitching staff is starting to produce the type of numbers we expected coming into the season. The bright spot for the month was Nate Robertson who in 3 starts is 1-0 with a 3.72 ERA with 14 strike outs. Jamie Walker was productive in the pen in 14 appearances with a 3.77 ERA. Danny Patterson has given up runs (7 in 11 appearances) but his peripherals are solid with 12K/4BB in 11.1 IP. The rest was ugly. Ledezma/Roney/Spurling/Mears all tanked in the bullpen with ERA’s over 7. Franklyn German has walked 5 in only 3.1 innings. Bonderman gave up 9 homers to go along with 15 walks and 15 strike outs in 31 innings. He did manage to win two games though. Maroth appears a lock to get 20 losses after going 1-4 for the month.

Looking Forward
Are the Tigers good enough to go 8-19 the rest of the way an avoid becoming the worst team ever? I’m not so sure. The players are feeling the pressure, and I’m worried they’ll tighten up. Also, will Tram continue to hold auditions, or play the team with the best chance of winning? Will Maroth and Bonderman reach 20 losses? Will Brandon Inge continue to swing a hot bat and claim the catching job for next year? Will the bullpen get anybody out? Will Illitch announce his intentions for adding payroll next season? This last month of the season will have lots of drama, and for mostly the wrong reasons. The Tigers have 4 games left against Cleveland, and 6 against Toronto. The remaining 17 games are against contenders. The Tigers do have the chance to have an impact on the AL Central race with 14 games left against KC and Minnesota.