2006 Season, Injuries, Playoffs

ALCS Playoff Miscellaney

19 Comments

I’m taking advantage of a break in the schedule to get some sleep tonight. But I will share this mish mash of information:

The Zumaya Injury

Detroit Tiger Tales has the Joel Zumaya situation thoroughly covered. Essentially it isn’t that serious, but Joel is worried, and he shouldn’t be out that long, but we don’t know how long that long is. And Carmen Harlen said on tonight’s local 4 broadcast that the MRI was encouraging.

Game Time Change

As you’ve probably all heard the first pitch will now be thrown at 4:30 tomorrow in an effort to keep the rather from being really freaking cold. Instead it will just be really cold. As for how this effects the team, we learned last night that Alexis Gomez likes hitting at 5:00pm.

Billfer on the radio

If you wonder what I sound like, I can be heard on today’s episode of Sports Bloggers Live. I’m on with the esteemed Blez of Athletics Nation.

Oh no, Deadspin likes the Tigers

Way back on the morning of August 8th things were sunny in Tiger Town. They had just knocked off Francisco Liriano and taken a 10 game lead and Deadspin gave the Tigers permission to print playoff tickets. They then went 19-31.

Well today Will Leitch once again endorsed the Tigers.

The Tigers look like they’re not gonna be beaten by anyone, in either league. Before the NLCS has even had a chance to start yet — more on this later — the Tigers have sucked the life out of the A’s and the ALCS like a grizzled, mustachioed, Olmos-faced manager pounding down some Winstons before taking questions for Thom Brennaman.

Festivities

Here’s the scoop on the events at Comerica this weekend:

  • Friday, Game 3: Mickey Lolich throws out the first pitch. National Anthem by The Temptations Review
  • Saturday, Game 4: George Kell throws out the first pitch. National Anthem by Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit
  • Sunday, Game 5: Ernie Harwell throws out the first pitch. National Anthem by Josh Gracin

The gates open at 2pm each day.

The Lions are playing on Sunday as well. If you are a Lions fan with a parking pass for the Tigers garage, you are to park in the Compuware garage and there will be a shuttle available to take you to Ford Field.

19 thoughts on “ALCS Playoff Miscellaney”

  1. The weather has nothing to do with it- FOX decided to job Det-Oak to keep NY in primetime. I had three friends coming over tomorrow night to watch it – that’s done.

    Does the day game favour anyone?

    Great Onion headline today: ‘Steinbrenner Fires Tigers’

  4. They have Game 5 all planned out. Do they realize it is going to take place only if necessary. So how much money does Detroit’s economy lose if they sweep the series as opposed to it going 5 games and bringing one more home game.

  5. I’ll have to rush to get to Comerica for any of the first pitches but it will be worth it. I haven’t seen any pictures of Mickey in years but he did seem to just keep expanding. Maybe they should call back Freehan to catch the throw — but I don’t think even Freehan could catch Mickey himself now if he jumped into Bill’s arms.

    It would be nice if WXYT gave Kell a chance to be in the booth Saturday. I doubt he’d say “It’s another beee–yooo—tiful day for a ballgame” this weekend.

    Is Larry Osterman still alive?

  7. No, what FOX and MLB did was dirty. You don’t do that to a city of shift workers. My buddies and I are already spending cash we don’t have to go to these games. But to change the time on us the day before is just low down nasty. Now we’re all getting screwed, whether it be unpaid hours, missing the game, using up sick time etc. Maybe a time change like this means nothing to the pussy yuppies sitting next to on deck circle, but it screws over those of us who actually work for a living.

  8. I love the 4:30 start. I’ll bug out of work early – go to the sports bar across from my office, and when the game is over – I can finally go out with my friends on a beautiful friday night.

    Much better than sitting in front of my TV and wasting my entire evening alone.

    To be a tiger Fan in DC is tough – no one around here understands why I’ve been glued to the TV for the last two weeks.

  9. Now I really hope the Tigers sweep this series so we don’t have to see American Idol losers sing the national anthem.

  10. I don’t mind the 4:30 start.In fact,I wouldn’t mind a 1:30 start.Night baseball,in October,in cities like Detroit or New York is insane,but that’s what television dictates(I guess I’m just not a hard-a**,nobody-works-harder-than-me kind of guy like Charly Streetgang).
    Too bad for Jeff Weaver that Tom Glavine stumbled onto some fountain of youth formula.The Tigers and Cardinals have a long history in the World Series and I’m still hoping to see a Bonderman-Weaver matchup.

  11. I know this is a long post, but check out Peter Gammons article from 9/26 (Pre KC, Pre NYY, etc.). Gammons is terrific.

    Don’t dismiss the Tigers in October
    posted: Tuesday, September 26, 2006

    Granted, the Tigers struggled to get here, compared to where they were on Aug. 1. And, granted, when the playoffs begin next week, the Yankees are huge favorites to win it all, presuming Mariano Rivera, Randy Johnson, Mike Mussina and Jason Giambi are healthy.
    But remember last October, when even on this page the White Sox were considered long shots against Boston in the first round, much less World Series contenders. The White Sox limped for two months until they put away the Indians the last two weeks, then rode their starting pitching — which as a group reignited and dominated the Red Sox, Angels and Astros.

    So the Tigers do not deserve to be ignored. They began the final week with the Twins on their back, but whether they win the division or not, whether they play Oakland or New York in the first round, on the morning of Sept. 26 they had the same record as the Yankees, 94-62. Their run differential (+158) was still better than New York’s (+155).

    Granted, the Tigers haven’t been to the postseason since 1987, but with Pudge Rodriguez, Carlos Guillen, Magglio Ordonez, Placido Polanco and Sean Casey, their core consists of veterans managed by Jim Leyland, who know what it’s like to win and lose in October; when his Pirates lost their 1992 heartbreaker to the Braves, Leyland faced the media for as long as it took to allow his team to regain its collective composure.

    Granted, the Tigers’ on-base percentage (.328) is the third worst in the American League and a warning that they could struggle against good pitching. But (1) they haven’t faced that pitching yet, (2) who knows how Curtis Granderson, Guillen and others will step up, and (3) if they play the Yankees in the first round, it is far, far better to face them in a five-game series.

    If the Tigers can use this final week to get their starters rested, they can do some damage. Those starters are 74-44, 3.09 — best in the league. They have 87 quality starts, second to the Angels, and the defense behind that pitching has been near the top in efficiency and the ability to turn ground balls into outs all season. If Todd Jones, Joel Zumaya, Jamie Walker, Fernando Rodney, et al are hot, the bullpen should be fine and has been in the top four in the league.

    Yeah, yeah, yeah, we all know the knocks on Kenny Rogers and don’t want to think about him starting Game 1 in Yankee Stadium, but he is 17-6, 3.63 and has 207 career wins. If Justin Verlander, whose season-inning high was 130 going into 2006, has enough in the tank, he can be magical. Plus, he’s also won 17 games.

    If you want the sleeper of the Tigers’ staff, it is Jeremy Bonderman. He had his moments during the season, and at times threw too many sliders, but he still is a power pitcher embarking on a power pitcher’s month and is as tough as they come.

    “We have to play the way we’ve played all season and not worry about expectations or history or what people think,” Leyland says. “We’ve done things no one expected. We’ve brought excitement back to Detroit; we’re sold out every night. It’s been great, and it can continue.”

    Every one of the playoff teams, including the Angels and Astros as we speak, are flawed. The Yankees are the best team, but if either Johnson or Mussina is hurt, and the bullpen wears down, even they are beatable.

    We have seen what has happened to the Cardinals with all their injuries. The Padres and Dodgers have spent the entire season denying adversity, and so have the Athletics.

    So the Tigers have limped into October. But their accomplishments over the bulk of the season and the ceiling of their starters are worthy of respect when they return to the playoffs for the first time since the Reagan Administration.

  15. My two cents:

    It really wasn’t too cool changing the time one day before. Whether it works better for some fans or not, it certainly will be more inconvenient for a vast number of people. There have to be some people who have tickets , made plans on the 8:00 start, and who simply cannot make the 4 pm start–regardless of economic hardship (which sucks, too) So are we going to have Comeria 80% full for the first pitch? I certainly hope not. We need the fans to quiet the As from inning 1.

    Anyway, just my two cents.

  16. Let’s also keep in mind that we didn’t know what time the game would be when we purchased the tickets. So we’ve all had to change our plans, but we could easily have been in this situation from the get-go.

    My long underwear is on, and I’m off to the game.

  18. upon reading my rant, it did seem kind leftist-communist….wasn’t my intentions…i was just typing without thinking…Go Tigers!

  19. Tonight’s lineup features no Thames, Alexis Gomez, and (drumroll please) no Perez!

    Here it is –

    1. Curtis Granderson (CF)
    2. Craig Monroe (LF)
    3. Placido Polanco (2B)
    4. Magglio Ordonez (RF)
    5. Pudge Rodriguez (C)
    6. Carlos Guillen (1B)
    7. Omar Infante (DH)
    8. Brandon Inge (3B)
    9. Ramon Santiago (SS)

    Got it off of the Detroit Free Press.

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