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Samara went to the Robertson/Dice-k game
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Yearly Archives: 2007
Reviewing Ty and The Babe
Tom Stanton, who is probably best known for The Final Season
In the book, Stanton chronicles one of baseball greatest and bitterest rivalries. Cobb was widely regarded as the best player of his day, at a time when small ball, bunting and stealing were part of the science of baseball. Cobb was on top of the baseball world until a young slugger who was more brawn than brains captured the Nations baseball attention.
Stanton vividly describes their on field clashes and the venom that eventually turned to a mutual respect and even friendship years after their retirement.
The book also details the Has Beens Golf Tournament that took place after both retired from the game. It was a series of 3 matches that took place in Boston, New York and Detroit that got the competitive juices flowing for both old timers.
I thoroughly recommend the book. Stanton did a wonderful job spinning details of the battles on the diamond and the links. The book also presents Cobb in a much more favorable light than you are used to reading. He clearly wasn’t a saint, but he’s not depicted as evil either and at times Stanton even paints him as a sympathetic character.
For your enjoyment, here is an excerpt: Continue reading Reviewing Ty and The Babe
Tigers Minor League Wrap – 5/14/07
Toledo 1 Pawtucket 3
Chris Shelton, Timo Perez and Mike Hessman had the only 3 hits. Dennis Tankersley allowed 10 hits and 4 walks over 6 innings but limited the damage to 2 runs. Ian Ostlund allowed his first run after 4 Toledo appearances since his promotion.
Erie-DNP
Sarasota 1 Lakeland 8
Burke Badenhop allowed 1 run on 4 hits and 5 walks over 6 innings. Cameron Maybin singled and walked. Justin Justice missed the last couple games, but nothing has been reported int he Lakeland Ledger yet.
West Michigan 5 Great Lakes 4
Gorkys Hernandez and Lou Ott knocked their first homer of the year. Brennan Boesch added 2 hits. Lauren Gagnier allowed 3 runs on 7 hits.
Game 37: Tigers at Red Sox
PREGAME: The Tigers look to bounce back from a shellacking in the Metrodome by taking on the best team in the American League.
The Red Sox sport the best record, and the best run differential. Like the Tigers they are winners of 8 of their last 10 and 14 of their last 20.
The Red Sox will send out some rookie from Japan named Daisuke Matsuzaka. I hear he throws 14 different pitches for strikes at various speeds and arm angles. Basically, his pitches are like snow flakes, no two are alike. In all seriousness, he’s better than his 4.80 ERA and is striking out a batter an inning. He has struggled at home with two-thirds of his runs and only a quarter of his strikeouts coming at Fenway.
He’ll be opposed by Nate Robertson who has been quite good, except for his last outing where he was rocked by Seattle.
This series is always a treat. I really enjoy watching games at Fenway (on TV of course) and wish the Tigers traveled their more often.
Game time 7:05pm
POSTGAME: The Tigers have dropped two in a row since losing the first 2 games to Minnesota. Nate Robertson battled, but had a hard time putting hitters away. There wasn’t a lot of hard hit balls, but enough balls in play fell for hits to run up his pitch count and plate 3 runs.
Of course the Tigers couldn’t muster much offense either, save for Curtis Granderson. For the first time in a while they weren’t driving the ball. I don’t know if it was Dice-K, or the looming monster, but there seemed to be quite a few grounders to the left side. The right handers seemed to be looking to pull the outside pitch and there appeared to be a lot of “roll-overs.”
Bobby Seay was the latest member of the pen to blow-up. Turns out it didn’t matter much, except that with a high pitch count tonight, he probably isn’t available tomorrow. Tim Byrdak however did excellent in 2 innings of work.
Vasquez out, Byrdak in
The Tigers will have at least one fresh arm in the bullpen for the start of the Red Sox series. They purchased the contract of Tim Byrdak from Toledo. The 33 year old lefty has been effective this year, allowing 4 runs over 22 innings. He has fanned 25 against 7 walks. He has also spent parts of the last 2 years with the Baltimore Orioles so Fenway Park should be a little familiar with 5 appearances there.
Virgil Vasquez was of course optioned back to Toledo to make room on the 25 man roster. Kenny Rogers was moved to the 60 day DL to free up a spot on the 40 man.
Tigers Minor League Wrap -5/13/07
Toledo 3 Pawtucket 4
Mike Hessman went 3 for 3 and Chris Shelton, Timo Perez, Jack Hannahan, and Chris Maples all had multi-hit games. Roch Chiavacci pitched 6 2/3 innings allowing 1 run on 5 hits, no walks, and 5 K’s.
Erie 3 Akron 4
Erie only mustered 2 hits and 2 walks, yet scored 3 runs. Jair Jurrjens went 7 innings allowing just 1 run on 4 hits. He walked 5 and struck out 5.
Lakeland – DNP
Great Lakes 5 West Michigan 12
Gorkys Hernandez and Audy Ciriaco each had 2 hits and a walk. James Skelton went 4 for 5 with 2 doubles. Jonah Nickerson was touched for 5 runs on 5 hits, 3 walks, and 1 strikeout in 6 innings.
Game 36: Twins at Tigers
Virgil Vasquez – cr. Roger DeWitt
PREGAME: It’s the Tigers first appearance on Sunday Night Baseball this year, and the first appearance ever at the big league level for Virgil Vasquez. Vasquez is of course filling in for the blistering Jeremy Bonderman. The numbers speak for themselves, particularly the 5:1 K:BB ratio and Detroit Tiger Tales has a run down of his stuff.
The Tigers will hope to rough up Boof Bonser and make it a little easier on their rookie. Bonser shut down the Tigers the one time they met last season. This year Bonser is striking out a batter an inning, but can be prone to wildness with games of 7 and 4 walks. Of course those 2 games represent over half his walk total for the season, so it isn’t a consistent problem.
Finally Happy Mothers Day to all the Mom’s in the DTW readership (like you Anne). I hope you had a nice day with your families and that your husbands/sons did their part today.
Game Time 8:09 with pregame sprinkled throughout Baseball Tonight from 7-8pm
POSTGAME: Aquilino Lopez’s 3 innings on Saturday look pretty significant now, as Jason Grilli, Wil Ledezma, and Jose Mesa all were burnt through last night. None were able to come in and hold down the Twins. Instead, they took each took a beating.
The Tigers offense was okay tonight, save for a rare Carlos Guillen 3 K performance. They racked up some hits, some walks, and some warning track shots, but that just wasn’t going to be close to enough.
Vasquez at least has that first start out of the way, even if it didn’t go well.
Tigers Minor League Wrap – 5/12/07
Toledo 3 Pawtucket 2
Dallas Trahern, who was called up from Erie to make the start in the wake of Virgil Vasquez going to the Tigers, pitched 6 1/3 innings. He allowed 2 runs on 5 hits, 3 walks, and 2 strikeouts. Ryan Raburn homered for the Hens.
Erie 1 Akron 2 11 innings
Kody Kirkland had 2 hits and has quietly pushed his season line to 295/345/467. Andrew Miller made his AA debut and allowed 1 run on 6 hits, no walks, and 7 K’s over 8 innings. He posted a 14:2 ground ball:fly ball mix.
Lakeland 7 Daytona 9
Mike Hernandez doubled twice and singled. Cameron Maybin added 2 hits and a stolen base. Andrew Kown allowed 6 runs, only 3 earned, in 4 1/3 innings on 7 hits and 2 strikeouts.
Great Lakes 3 West Michigan 2
Ryan Strieby had 2 hits and walk and is hitting a very respectable (especially considering his home ballpark) 314/387/466 with a 15/14 K/BB mix. Chris Cody pitched 7 2/3 innings and allowed 3 runs on 10 hits. He walked none and fanned 13. I know he’s old for the league and reports say his stuff isn’t great, but in any case isn’t it time to promote a guy who has posted a 1.46 ERA over 55 1/3 innings? Especially when you look at a K/BB ratio of 58:8?
Game 35: Tigers at Twins
PREGAME: The Tigers finally get some of that national exposure with an appearance on Fox Saturday Baseball. Of course Fox probably wasn’t looking for a Chad Durbin/Sidney Ponson match-up either so only 8% of the nation will get this game. And thanks to Fox’s exclusivity for Saturday afternoons, MLB.tv won’t be an option for you if you don’t live in Michigan, Minnesota, Northern Ohio, or Montana.
Once upon a time, Ponson was a good pitcher. That was 2003. This year he is 1 for 6 in quality starts.
With Chad Durbin you don’t really know what you’ll get. He was great in 2 of his last 3 starts, but walked 6 and didn’t make it out of the 4th inning in the other. (Half of Durbin’s walks for the season came in that one disaster, so at least it isn’t a habitual problem).
Game Time 3:45
Tigers Minor League Wrap – 5/11/07
Toledo 2 Pawtucket 3 14 innings
Timo Perez and Jack Hannahan homered to provide the offense. Ryan Raburn and Brent Clevlen each had 2 hits. Zach Miner had his best start of the season allowing 3 hits and 1 walks to go along with 6 K’s in 7 innings of shut out ball.
Erie 12 Akron 1
Clete Thomas was a triple short of the cycle as he racked up a 4 for 5 day plus a walk. Andres Torres was a single short of the cycle and walked. Kody Kirkland had 2 hits, a walk, and 2 stolen bases. Mike Hollimon added 2 hits and a walk and Matt Joyce had 3 walks. Jon Connolly allowed 1 unearned run over 8 innings despite allowing 9 hits and no strike outs.
Lakeland 6 Daytona 5 17 innings
Whole lot of baseball last night on the farm. Wil Rhymes was 4 for 9 and Cameron Maybin was 4 for 7 to lead the attack. There always seems to be someone who takes an 0fer on a night like this. Last night the unfortunate soul was Wilkin Ramirez who was 0 for 8 with 5 K’s – kind of like having a slump all on one night. Making it even more challenging, neither starter lasted through the 5th inning.
Cedar Rapids 2 West Michigan 4
Gorkys Hernandez went 3 for 4 and is now hitting 346/410/430. Scott Sizemore added a perfect 4 for 4 night as well. Duane Below pitched 6 shut out innings. He only allowed 4 hits and 1 walk while fanning 14.
links for 2007-05-12
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Word from MLB.com on what enhanced gameday does and doesn’t do. Ton of great stuff here, and this should be the reference point for those interested in using the data.
Times 5
Wednesday night the Tigers played their 32nd game of the season. That game is significant in that it basically represents one-fifth of the season. While it is a substantial number of games, you can still get some funny results playing the “on pace for game.”
The Offense
Using the Baseball Musings day by day database, it’s easy to get the performance over a given time period. The Tigers offensive performances over the first 32 games can be found here.
Below is a spreadsheet with all the counting stats multiplied by 5: Continue reading Times 5