When the All Star game was in Detroit in 2005 I went to the Home Run Derby. It was fun and all watching Bobby Abreu pelt the Pepsi Porch with long balls. And then it got kind of old. If it weren’t for Pudge Rodriguez making it to the finals it probably would have been one of the most tedious nights I ever spent at a ballpark. Since then I kind of wait for the Home Run Derby to be over. This might happen before 10pm tonight, because of course Bronx is Burning couldn’t possibly start late right?
So feel free to use this space to post your thoughts on the Home Run Derby. I’ll watch Magglio Ordonez hopefully not screw up his swing, but otherwise I’ll probably be tuning out. If anyone wants to count the number of times Chris Berman says “BACK” I’ll give you a dollar, and you can put it towards the impending therapy.
In the meantime feel free to ponder the following:
- Best Tigers win of the season so far?
Verlander no hitter - Lowest point of the Tigers season so far?
Blowing the 5 run lead, twice, against the Indians - What is your favorite food at Comerica Park?
Mucho Nacho – not cheap but way too much for one person. I was close to finishing it at the Future’s Game in 2005. I was down to the last 1/8th or so and we were standing by the Baseball Tonight set and I realized that my skin was about as strained as John Kruk’s suit and I threw the rest away. - Who should get the next Tiger statue? Alan Trammell, Lou Whitaker, or Sparky Anderson?
I’m undecided on this one, but I’m leaning towards a join Tram/Lou statue. I don’t know if Sparky is statue worthy, but he should at least have his name on the wall with the other Hall of Famers. That is a huge oversight in my opinion.
#4: Definitely Whitaker and Trammell. Would a statute of the two of them turning a double play work? Lou flipping the ball to Trammell at second base?
In a way, this would be a tribute to the entire 1984 team, as it was a team built around good, solid, team-oriented players at every position, not one or two superstars. I believe they’re still one of only two WS champions in history without a Hall of Famer on the roster.
If three other people pledge a dollar each, I’ll do a shot each time. 🙂
You can send the payments to:
North Oakland Medical Center ER
461 West Huron
Pontiac, MI 48341
You lost me. So for $4 (not 3, not 2, not 1) you will take a shot every time Berman says “back”??
I am guessing the number will be in the triple digits. I hope you have your Will finalized.
I think the tigers are upset Sparky is wearing a reds cap in the hall of fame
Personallly, I wish Maggs wasn’t in the derby. He’s already in a long-ball rut, and now he has to go out there to specifically prove to the baseball world that he’s slugger-worthy.
I hope I’m wrong, but I think he’s gonna over-swing and maybe screw up his rhthym/swing in the process. He’s in a groove right now — why mess with it and/or jinx it? Not to mention the physical toll. I hear it takes a lot out of guys. I would rather have Maggs refreshed and let his second-half slugging numbers speak to his acumen as a hitter rather than have him participate in this futile vanity display…
And I’m sure Jeff will be donating all his proceeds to charity, right? 🙂
Best Tigers win: definitely the no-hitter, but I’d put this week-end’s sweep of Boston as a close second.
Lowest point: Billfer’s covered it adequately. I’m trying to forget.
Favorite food: The Big League Chew you can buy right across the street. Sorry, but the food inside Comerica is just too expensive, especially when you have the whole family along.
Next statue: I love the idea of a Trammel-Whitaker statue. And I do think Sparky should at least have his name on the wall. I guess there were mutual hard feelings when he left Detroit, but maybe it’s time to let bygones be bygones.
Here’s a question of my own: Where do you park when you go to the game? I used to park in the underground garage right across from the stadium, but that’s now up to $15 (used to be $5 before the team got so popular) so I’m auditioning new parking options. Any suggestions?
I think it’s easier to park west of Woodward. It’s a longer walk, but a lot cheaper and it’s a lot faster to get on the freeway (the Lodge in this case). Due to the Lodge work you have to shift over to I-94 to the Jeffries and that can be a bit slow, but that’s the only drawback.
I park over by the Gaslight at cass and bagley. I’m not sure how much it is, but there are other lots in the area. The main draw is getting right on the lodge from there. Its great. I can get home to Ann Arbor before friends at the game are even on the freeway.
I’m gonna have to agree with all 4 answers there.
Anne, for parking, the last couple seasons, I just parked for free on the street on Cass ave. and the streets just behind the theaters. I was never once bothered there, day game or nite.
But since things have gotten a bit more active with a winning team and all, I’m not sure if that area is allowed anymore or not. Anyone know if thats still an acceptable place?
The other option is Greektown Casino. Validate the parking and walk a few blocks down to the park. Plus you’ve got pregame or post game activities right there.
The first couple years at comerica I parked on John R, just north of the stadium or the empty lots north of the stadium . Both were free. When the team became a bit more popular, that wasn’t possible, so I used the underground lot that was mentioned, for $5 or the structure in greektown (not the casino). Yesterday, we used the Ford Field structure, which was $15. Parking is slowly becoming a major expense for tigers games, which was never the case before.
I’ve never tried it for a Tigers game, but for the Wings, going to Nemos and taking their shuttle over works out well.
I couldn’t agree with you more about Sparky. His name should be on the wall and his No. 11 retired. I would love to see a Tram/Lou combo statue. That’s how I’ll always think of them.
I find the home run derby has too many rounds or too many participants. maybe they should just do one round and see who has the most. That and shove a baseball in Chris Berman’s mouth. The “back back back” crap is hard enough to tolerate for a baseball game. But we know there’s going to be more than a hundred home runs, so just give it a rest. I wonder how many more viewers they’d get without him.
Most memorable: Verlander no-hitter
Low point: definitely the blown ninth inning to the Indians.
Statues: Tram and Lou together. Can’t have one without the other.
as far as parking we always park at the lots right off the madison ave. off ramp. its usually 20$ but its really easy to get back on to the freeway after the game.
You can’t kill a mucho nacho?! oh man, those are good. Ever since they started using the Ferndale Fresh salsa this year I’ve been getting more nachos. Comerica’s food generally sucks to be honest. Their dogs and sausage and such arent good.
Although if you ever get the chance get a pass up to the Camacho Cigar Bar and get the two hot dogs and fries plate. Its only like 8.50 but the dogs arent dried out.
1. The second most memorable victory was a struggling Brandon Inge’s walk-off home run against the Twins.
2. The lowest point of the season was watching Zumaya walking out of the bullpen in KC, accompanied by the trainer. Honorable mention: Jones blowing the save and the game against the Angels after the Tigers completely improbable comeback.
3. The Pretzel accompanied with a nacho-cup full of mustard. You generally have to order this cup by ordering “cheese, hold the cheese”.
4. While Whittaker and Trammel certainly deserve a statue (and I’d prefer Whittaker to be on the pivot, personally), I say they should immediately build one for Heinie Manush, just so we could hear people try to say “Heinie Manush” in solemn and reverant tones.
1. By far the no-hitter.
2. Todd Jones blowing saves in Cleveland, Anaheim and Tampa. The D-Rays and Indians blown saves coming in the same week.
3. Call me old fashioned, but I go for a couple dogs with plenty of ketchup and mustard.
4. The Lou-Tram statue.
Hey everybody, I’m writing to you because I’m looking for people to split a party suite with me on July 20 against the Royals. I had originally bought this suite with my brother for his 10-year high school reunion, but most of his classmates flaked and now we’ve got about 10 extra seats in the suite. Anyone out there want to join us? The tickets are pricey, $80 each.
We’re a little confused on whether we get food with that price. My brother thought we did, but I’m pretty sure we didn’t. What I am sure of is that there is access to one of the exclusive concession areas and a private bathroom, not to mention the awesome seats.
If you’re interested, shoot me at e-mail at llcamp_AT_gmail.com.
For me the low point is every Craig Monroe at-bat.
Other that that, this season has been much better to watch than last. The way the team has played is a ton of fun, and even though they are a bit off the pace this year, they won’t go .500 after the all star break like they did last year, either.
I read billfer’s comment incorrectly. I was asking for $4 for each “back”. I figured that would be enough to pay for my bar tab with a little left over to defray the cost of the ambulance ride.
Lou:
I did the party suite package in 2005 (then you got 1 free game if you rented 2 other games). The food is NOT included. The beer is about the same price per ounce. You can order off of their menu, you can rack up some big bills, so be careful.
The highlight of our suite rental was having my daughter’s 10th birthday party in a suite on 7/3/05 (her actual birthday) against the Yankees. The Kitty’s lost 1-0, but we had a great time anyway.
-Sam
Billfer, Thanks for the Nacho tip. I will try to hammer the whole thing in later this summer.
Will advise.
Steve
Sam, thanks for the tip.
There really ought to be a Whitaker/Trammel statue. It’s an outrage that Lou Whitaker is not in the hall of fame and Ryne Sandberg is. Lou was the better player, won a WS, and from all accounts was the better person than Ryne. Yet, Lou couldn’t even get 10% on the first ballot.
I always see people walking around with those giant Nacho hats – where is that concession? I’ll be there for KC, and I’m really hankering for those nachos.
What I eat at Comerica? Those donuts! You can just keep poppin’ them and the next thing you know you’ve eaten the whole bag!
I totally agree that it needs to be a Tram/Lou statute, but hopefully without them looking conjoined.
As for parking, I always find free street parking on Broadway, John R, or Library, in the Harmonie park area.
I’d just like for the entire All-Star game to just go away. It’s terrible because it “means something” yet the fans vote in players that don’t deserve to go and every team is represented. Both would indicate this is an exhibition. Eliminate fan voting and representing every team and stop the play-1-inning-and-get-taken-out-of-the-game and manage it like it’s a legit game, or else just make it an exhibition like it should.
I’d prefer no Tigers play in the all-star game. I could care less about home field in the world series except for game 7. And I like Scott Boras’ proposal of a 9 game world series and making it a big weekend event.
As for statues, Lou/Tram would be the obvious choice. I would like to see MLB take the initiative and retired Larry Doby’s number either league wide, or AL wide. Outside of that, I don’t really think there should be any other statues built. It’s a special thing for a special player.
And about those statues, I hate how they look. I wish it was just the player, no need for the stuff trailing, say, Horton’s bat to show that he’s swinging; we can see that. Good tribute, but I think they’re poorly executed and too eccentric.
the Home Run Derby is boring if cute in a kitschy sort of way, but I just loathe the whole All-Star Game and all that comes with it. I could just ignore it before the Tigers started to send sixty-million players, but now I sort of HAVE to watch it. Oh, life is such an ordeal…
1. Verlander’s No-hitter
1a. Neifi Perez’ suspension
2. Agree, losing to the Indians in that game sucked.
3. Traditional hot dog with mustard.
4. Statue – Sam “Wahoo” Crawford
Chris Berman = Paris Hilton = Irrelevant
Ok Maggs got two in the derby. Thats fine with me. Leave it to ESPN to spend half of his turn interviewing Bonds. Now Maggs can go back to hitting 370 again and not try to hit homeruns.
Hey everyone, thanks for the parking tips. Anything that offers quick freeway access after the game is a big plus. Then again, free is pretty nice too.
I’m not watching the HR Derby, but can anyone explain why they’re interviewing Bonds during Maggs’ turn, when Bonds isn’t even competing? Well, besides the ratings/media circus thing that is. Ugh.
I watched the Derby and found it entertaining and surprisingly difficult for most of the guys. Maggs got a couple and that was fine by me. At one point, he had his little girl with him, cute as a bug’s ear.
1. Best Tiger Win — Verlander no hitter without a doubt.
2. Worst Tiger moment — Craig Monroe’s platinum sombrero. It’s tough watching him struggle
3. Best food at Tiger Stadium (whoops I mean Comerica Park) –I still have not gone to Comerica yet, but I have gone to U.S. Cellular, and cheered for the Tigs against the White Sox, so the best food there is victory, because we always kick their a**
4. Tiger Statue — I like the idea of a Tram/Lou statue. Neither one by themself, but together they were the best double play combo in the league for a long time. And Sparky didn’t go into the hall as a Tiger, so he doesn’t get a statue, he gets a bobblehead day.
Three More:
MVP of First Half: Maggs
Off season action wish we could take back, and looking at the all star break we say why… Letting Jamie Walker slip to Baltimore. I would almost argue 5 more wins, if we didn’t do that.
Best trade bait: Same as always, Inge.
Completely disagree on letting Jamie Walker go. Absolutely, without question, 100% the right move. A LH specialist is not worth $4 mil/year. And peep his numbers, he’s not exactly “lights out” for the O’s this year. And I’m not sure how much trade bait Inge is with his hefty deal and a .250 BA.
The lack of recognition for Sparky (number retired, statue) goes all the way back to him siding with the players over management by refusing to manage replacement players.