Typically a title like this would follow when a team wins the third game after dropping the first two. However, this weekend the Tigers had a chance to sweep, and it got away from them. Jeremy Bonderman, while not dominating was effective in allowing only three runs. He scattered 9 hits and 3 walks but benefitted from 3 double plays. Bonderman threw 114 pitches, which is about his limit (hopefully).
Freddy Garcia also pitched well, but he wasn’t dominating either. He only allowed only 5 hits, but he went to a full count on 10 different hitters. Similar to the Oakland game against Hudson, the Tigers squandered several scoring opportunities. This time, I think Trammell is at least partially to blame.
While Trammell isn’t the one on the field making plays (or failing to make the plays), he is the one making the calls. Twice today, he called for sacrifice bunts. In the second inning, the Tigers got Higginson on via a walk, and Monroe followed with a single. So the Tigers had runners on first and second with nobody out, in the second inning of a scoreless game. Carlos Pena was then called on to bunt. This was the second inning! Garcia was having trouble with his command, and Trammell was playing for a run with a poor bunter at bat.
In the eighth inning with the Tigers behind by two runs they once again got the first two men on base. This brought up clean-up hitter Bobby Higginson. Bobby Higginson, who in the series up to that point had reached base in 8 of 12 plate apperances. Higginson was called on to bunt, and he failed. With the winning run at the plate, and six outs remaining Trammell was willing to sacrifice his cleanup hitter to get the tying run to second base.
I like Alan Trammell as a player. I like him as a teacher. I like how he kept the clubhouse together last year despite everything going on. However, he failed to put his players in a position to suceed in this game.
Quick Hits
-I dumped the tables in the page layout and I’m now using CSS. I tested in IE, Netscape, Mozilla, and Opera on a PC. However, I haven’t done any Mac testing, and the browsers I used were all newer. My CSS validated, so I hope it’s okay. Please let me know if anybody runs into any problems
-After touting Omar Infante he’s gone 0 for 8 with 4 strikeouts.
-In 26 plate apperances with runners in scoring position Greg Norton has 0 hits and 8 strike outs. He has walked 7 times though.
Just when you think Tram’s fascination with the sac bunt has waned, he sneaks a few in.
In general I never have understood why a coach will ask clean-up hitter to bunt, whether the guy is a prototypical masher or not. If you put him in the clean-up spot that day then I imagine you have a notion of him driving in runs, not scarificing people over. I am sure Tram is of the school of thought that, as team players, any guy in his lineup should be willing and able to lay down a bunt if asked. But come on – Tram has to start weighing the benefits and risks of bunting guys like Pena and Higginson with runners on base against the benefits and risks of letting them swing away.
I agree, Tram was my favorite player when I was growing up. But his managerial style has proven maddening at times.