PREGAME: Detroit tries to avoid being swept and moving 11 games below .500. Oy.
Armando Galarraga against Joe Saunders.
Notes from Jason Beck include that Curtis Granderson is going to play against more lefties, starting tonight. Also Marcus Thames is the full time starting left fielder for the time being because he’s earned it over the last couple years. Make of that what you will. And Carlos Guillen gets the day off, and tomorrow, to take care of some “issues” if you know what I mean.
The Tigers lineup tonight is:
- Granderson, CF
- Polanco, 2B
- Thames, LF
- Ordonez, DH
- Cabrera, 1B
- Rodriguez, C
- Renteria, SS
- Inge, 3B
- Raburn, RF
DET @ LAA, Wednesday, May 28, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com
POSTGAME: I’m sleepy. Offense – good. You go Marcus Thames. Pitching – good. Galarraga had a shaky first inning and was helped by a double play and a diving play. Then it was cruise control until the 9th. Defense – good. See aforementioned diving play and add 2 more double plays.
Ladies and gentlemen: Your 4th place Tigers!
Why is Thames batting third? Oh crimeny, this team will be the death of me!
Bring on the pain, I say! The only thing we haven’t seen yet this dreadful season is a blown save from TJ. Let’s remind ourselves again the magnitude of ugly we have created:
1-27 in games scoring less than 5 runs.
A whopping 3 (count ’em 3!) runs plated in the last 33 innings after scoring 19 in the first 5 on Saturday night.
I wouldn’t miss tonight’s game for anything. Go Tigers!
I wonder what Billfer mean by “issues.” I feel I have a right to know.
The news about Thames is good. I like the lineup. Thames is golden with men on. Not so much otherwise.
#6 is just a typo on Billfer’s part, I’m pretty sure. Maybe just a Freudian slip – that guy used to play for the Tigers, right?
I wonder what Billfer mean by “issues.” I feel I have a right to know.
The news about Thames is good. I like the lineup. Thames is golden with men on. Not so much otherwise.
#6 is just a typo on Billfer’s part, I’m pretty sure. Maybe just a Freudian slip – that guy used to play for the Tigers, right?
I have a feeling we won’t see Guillen “sitting” the bench any time soon.
I think Joyce just lost it, and Thames hasn’t been horrible. It looks like the Tigers have decided that they will stay in house and see what happens.
Okay, Tigers, you get one hour to win me over tonight. You can’t expect me to miss WGN’s reruns of Scrubs episodes I’ve seen a dozen times for just anything.
I am sure Billfer’s note on Guillen was a misprint. What he meant to say was that Guillen “has to take care of some tissues.”
That’s some “drastic” lineup for tonight’s game.
Now more than ever, Carlos Guillen is a stand up guy.
Scrubs, maybe they have an espisode about roids on tonight.
I’m pleased Marcus Thames is finally being freed, but do we have to reserve Sheffield’s #3 spot for him? Over a full season, you cost Cabrera roughly 36 plate appearances by batting him 5th rather than 3rd.
Also pleased that Grandy’s going to play against lefties. That has to happen eventually.
Nice, Vince.
I the Tigers bats are due for coming alive tonight. It’s not like they’re going up against the Royals or anything. Granderson has to start it off with a leadoff homer. Has he ever done this vs. a lefty?
Why is Guillen the butt of all the jokes lately?
Man, just when we thought things were tough with red-hot opposing pitchers, in comes the hottest of them all: Joe Saunders. This is the worst team to run into at the worst time. That pitching staff is unbelievable right now.
Sean — Umm… jeez… I saw him do it in spring training once…
I feel good about this game, though. This team was built to crush lefties!
“Over a full season, you cost Cabrera roughly 36 plate appearances by batting him 5th rather than 3rd.”
That is a very good point. As much as I root for Thames at all times, Cabrera belongs at #3. (Now watch Thames win the #3 slot for keeps tonight.)
That was clutch, Chris.
I guess you’re telling me it ain’t gonna happen, huh Dave? I’ll take a triple instead.
Granderson singles to left. Take that, Baseball Prospectus!
Polanco K’s after Mario and Rod talked for five minutes about how he doesn’t do that. 1 on, 1 out
Granderson is still batting (1-2) in my epoch, Dave, Nice to be able to peer into the future via DTW!
Thames homers (!), making me look like an idiot. 2-0!
As Rod likes to call him: “Country Strong!”
You don’t usually see two lineup moves payoff that quickly.
Nice job Marcus . . .
Thames homers, making me look like a genius. Marcus!!
Three singles in a row and Maggs scores. Saunders has thrown almost 30 pitches.
What a nice first inning – 3 off of Saunders already who is sporting a 2.31 ERA and 30 + pitches.
Brandon nearly made it 6-0.
Thanks a lot, Saunders, my fantasy team’s stats for the night shall be ruined
Gallaraga walks slugging machine Reggie Willits on four straight pitches
A good game for Pudge would even accounts for us nicely, Dave. And I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the updates, living here on Mars (did I hear a loud noise here the other day? Nah. Couldn’ta been.) Not only does it help me, this kind of thing also helps keep the game thread in context for those who read through later. Much obliged, my friend!
Sorry to feel it but I think these 3 runs will not mean anything at the end of the night….anyone else feel that way?
Sweet double play though!
Regardless of feelings….let’s hope for the best!
Double play, complete with a Polanco teeth-clench! Armando sure lucked out there
UPDATE: Awesome diving Granderson catch gets them out of the inning. A guy could get used to this Guillen-less defense.
Granderson seems on his game!…..That will make a difference!
Baseball’s a funny game. Saunders fans 3, but a couple ground balls find their way through the infield (yeah, I know he gave up a jack also). Galarraga walks a guy and allows to line drives but with no damage.
That double play’s gotta feel good, for them as well as us. Fire things up. Yeah.
Rod: “Wilson and Rawlings would be pleased to see the work of both teams the last few days. You see because those are the two largest manufacturers of gloves, and the defense of these teams has been outstanding”.
Thanks for the clarification, Rod.
The Tigers are due for some of this stuff to go their way, Billfer. They’ve been on the other side lately.
They still need to score two more to have a chance…
Rod would be in trouble if he tried to explain further, Dave. Unless baseball glove sales go up based on good defensive performances or something. Could be. : – )
Nice roids lines, guys. I noticed this morning, starting with Tom Gage and on to the radio guys, everyone had stolen my original Preparation DH line. I guess it was too obvious. Poor Carlos. Now no matter what he does that’s what you think about. Oy!!
Well, gave up on the Wings and switched on the Tigers. Wow. I am going to stop watching for a while, I don’t want to jinx anything. See you all a bit later.
Brandon is such a relief at 3rd…..Guillen has been soooooooooo unpredictable but Inge makes them money in the bank.
Did you see that………..? Inge did another one!
No, I’m fairly certain they stole it directly from you, cib. Jerks.
Could it be that Inge has snuck back into the starting lineup? I won’t tell if you don’t.
I hope so, Sean. In theory, we have the kind of offense that should be capable of supporting one all-defense/no-hit player
Thanks Dave, I do wonder if any of the writers lurk on this blog.
I’m trying not to watch but I do agree that it’s good to see Brandon playing third.
Now lets get those 12 runs we need to make me feel confident. . . .
Saunders is in a groove now. Aside from two bad innings in the last three days, Angels starters have been phenomenal
I almost guarantee some of the writers read this blog.
Not a game goes by with Inge at 3B, especially of late, where I don’t see positive comments on it here. Leyland has got to see it, and you know the pichers see it. The team has got to see it. I think it’s a fait accompli.
Ah, I’ve been waiting to use that one.
I almost guarantee the Tigers will win. (Kidding, Dylan.)
Saunders in a groove is not good. We can’t have a repeat of the pattern of the last 2 games. Score early and die. OK, one game.
A couple months of the Cabrera/Guillen 3B tandem has provided a healthy dose of perspective
Apparently Willits is a fan of Kenny Lofton, which is fitting since they are the exact same player
The Tigers need to do something to get Saunders OUT of his groove. Something unexpected. Run out in front of a pitch and get hit. Fall down and feign seizures. Do something DIFFERENT, guys.
Experience has shown that we really need about a five run differential to make a game bullpen-proof
How is Galaragga? Better than last time?
Brandon Wood misses first base by about a foot, and Renteria gets on first on the error. An honest to god baserunner, guys!
I think Renteria leads the Tigers in reaching on errors (seriously). Interesting.
One thing that would help Sean is to swing the bat at strikes..especially with 2 strikes and pitches close.
Galarraga has definitely looked better than last time. He just struck out two in a 1-2-3 inning
Sky – Tigers not looking good at the plate again, I take it? How can a team like his sputter offensively for so long? What gives?
Aren’t you watching, Sean? Gallaraga looks sharp………very sharp.
They did score 3 runs and had a nice 1st inning, Sean. But nothing since. They have done that a lot this year.Why? If someone only knew!
AG getting stronger as the game goes on? He did, in fact, recover fairly well from one horrible inning last time out.
Is he at 83 pitches yet?
No, I can’t watch, Sky. No TV, no satellite, no high-speed Internet, living in the sticks and far from Detroit.
Galarraga’s at 45 pitches, 31 strikes.
Placido with a ground-rule double
OH MY LORD Thames homers again! 5-0.
Sean, Polly doubled…Thames just hit his 2nd homer…..5-0…Light is shining here in So Cal!
Country Strong delivers again!
And they have their 5 runs to give them a fair chance…
Billfer, I really think there’s something worth looking into about the Tigers scoring early and then going to sleep. Maybe just a test of that perception. Maybe it’s false, but it sure seems true. Why does it happen, what does it mean? Besides a losing record.
Are the Tigers going to find a way to loose again tonight?
BTW, the Royals somehow lost again, so right now we are all alone in fourth place. Fourth place! Party!!
Makes you think that if Thames had been batting 3rd all year we might be above .500, and Sheffield may not have a job when he gets back.
The Pistons pull to within 3! Man must be nice to be behind and think your team is going to win…
See, all I have to do is whine and complain. Country Strong – I love it! I’m rarely prescient (though that’s on purpose, of course), but Thames is delivering for me tonight.
Thames is my Tiger.
I just tuned in… I like the looks of our new 3rd hitter. 🙂
Let’s see if this works:
Why is Renteria batting seventh? Oh crimeny, this team will be the death of me!
Thames is just outrageous with men on, has been all year. His men-on OPS must be at about 1.500 by now. I’m not kidding. (Inge was at 1.115 not so long ago).
Hope it works, Dave. Good thinking.
Tigers are going to make me late for work again. In a better cause this time, I hope.
Thames was at 1.011 with men on before today. Obviously it’s going to be a bit higher now.
Sean….I hate to ask again. What does OPS mean?
cib, one from the memory banks: During the 1980 World Series when George Brett had a similar problem to Guillen, WRIF’s George “Dick the Bruiser” Baier referred to KC’s solution as “Preparation DH”. Great minds . . .
And… Renteria reaches on an error! Right?
I thought I knew so much….but this OPS stat is one I have never heard of….
Sky – On-base percentage plus slugging percentage. A truer measure of overall hitting prowess than average or slugging alone.
Saunders out, Speier in.
Here’s another thought…if Gallaraga is still shutting them out after 7…..does Leyland bring in relief? Why? What will it mean is going to happen? Just thinking ahead…………..
Thanks, Sean. It is interesting to learn, but I never had known of it. Makes sense too.
The Tigers are out after 8 pitches. They must have been double parked or something.
Uh-oh. Reliever in, Dave? Time for some BP against a bullpen, for a change. That would be the icing on the cake, and I DO want more runs in any case. Got a real complex about this now.
Yes, Armando, walk Brandon Wood. You don’t want to have to deal with that magic bat.
If AG can shut out the Angels to end a 4 game skid, he’s got to be in like Flynn. 5 straight qualty starts, one from each guy? Please, let it be so.
Sorry, 3 game.
Sky, I didn’t know about OPS as recently as 2006, so don’t feel bad. You’ll catch up quick around here.
Sean I didn’t want to be the one to say it (regarding quality starts)…
I’m kind of hoping this team will be bizzaro 2007 team. Suck before the All Star break and then go on a tear after it. It’s pretty much my only hope right now…
Can’t stay up for the rest, will dream of good results. Night!
I want a shutout. In other words, I want 9 from Galaragga, even if he has to throw 150 pitches. But how will that make Bonderman feel?
tiff
I’m hoping this will be the bizarro 2006 team. They were 74-34 at the high water mark, i believe, and finished 22-32. Boy, something strikes me about those last 2 numbers.
Thames hits a sacrifice fly to move Granderson to third. Two on, one out. Ordonez gets the intentional walk.
Seriously, Thames has nearly hit four home runs tonight.
Cabs up with bases loaded one out. Booyah.
Cabrera sac flies Granderson home. 6-0. Very nearly had a grand slam, there.
Eerie lack of updates. Getting dark, cold. Spooky.
I fear the worst. Cruceta -miraculously available – came in, and now Seay is pitching in the bottom of the 12th.
“Cruceta -miraculously available – came in, and now Seay is pitching in the bottom of the 12th.”
What can I say, Sean, Leyland had a hunch 🙂
Thanks, guys, So fear and pessimism must be the key. Our good vibes last night cost Detroit one in the W column.
WHAT IS LEYLAND THINKING?! GALARRAGA’S ARM IS GOING TO FALL OFF, HE’S ALMOST AT 70 PITCHES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sean………you didn’t tell me if you are seeing this game…..or following online……..2 outs in bottom 7
Gallaraga pitching like Walter Johnson
You mean the hunch about Thames, Dave? Yeah, we’ve gotta give him credit for that.
Almost 4 HRs. Tell me, were men on every AB for him tonight?
Joyce replaces Thames.
Anderson pops out to Polanco.
Hunter K’s swinging.
Last night’s hero Matthews up.
EDIT: Matthews grounds out. Armando through 7 at 77 pitches.
Nevermind, doublepost
Sky – I did tell you. Go back. Short version: No, I can’t watch the game.
Dave, sorry, saw your post in partial form at first, with only the Leyland statement. I getcha now.
Seven innings gone…….We don’t need relief pitchers tonight!
I remember in the 60’s when all starters went all 9 innings even after giving up several runs. I know the game is different now..but why take someone out who is doing well…….like Bonderman last night?
Mario and Rod are now talking about Mario’s days as a dart-thrower in college.
I’m happy for Armando, for Marcus, for all the Tigers. Come on guys, don’t let up. These times call for a beatdown.
Mike R – LOL – Galaragga & 70 pitches
Do NOT tell me Leyland brings someone else in for the 8th. And be gentle if you do.
Sky, I’m with you. Let ’em pitch til they keel over!!!
Hey Mike R, you’ve gotta give Jim some credit for the sweet call on Thames at #3. Right?
This game has not been Ryan Raburn’s finest offensive performance
This is what’s aggravating. Renteria exhibits some baserunning skills and still gets stranded at third. Kiss of death.
Uh oh, Galarraga has allowed a baserunner. It’s probably time to take him out, Jim
I don’t know how much of a call it was. Thames normally plays against LH hitters and with Guillen out, you’ve got Inge on the infield somewhere (catcher, or, 3B like it is tonight) and your other option is Matt Joyce — a LH — to play the corner spot.
I mean, it’s worked out but I think he would’ve played even if Guillen were healthy. I do like that he’s going to Granderson to play against more LHP rather than not giving him AB’s against lefties and saying “he needs to learn to hit them.”
Edit: could have gone with Raburn but he normally likes Thames’ power when one of his big sticks (guillen and sheffield in this care) aren’t playing.
AG still pitching in the 8th!
Inge masterminds another double play!
could…not…stay…away…
I know what a liability Inge is on offense, but I bet the starting pitchers love his D. Nice DP!
Through 8 at 91 pitches.
PLEASE START HIM IN THE NINTH.
Amen Adam.
And Slashpyne, I wonder if the starters will band together and hide Carlos’s Prep H so that Brandon can stay at third. Are you reading this, Tigers starters???
Yeah, Mike, but I wouldn’t have been to surprised to see Thames at #7 and Renteria at #3. Outcomes are unpredictable when you use a Ouija board. Bringing in Cruceta last night was brought to you by Magic 8-Ball. I’m onto him now.
Good one, cib. How’s about a nice wedgie, Carlos?
A DP involving the third baseman? Have there been any without Inge in 2008?
“could…not…stay…away…”
Same here, Slashpyne. Boy am I gonna pay a price for this.
Yay!
Galarraga going for the complete game… 1 out
Two more, come on Armando!
Haha, Sean, I’m getting what you’re saying. Obviously him hitting 3rd tonight worked out. However, this one instance does not undo any other instances (like, the month+ where Sheff couldn’t lift a bat) in which he put an inferior hitter in the 3 spot.
Maybe that old dog Leyland learned some new tricks after the past two nights. Let the man pitch!!!
Oh no, Jim’s gonna pull him. DON’T PULL HIM!
AG walks Willits for the second time. Todd Jones is warming up.
EDIT: Maicer Izturis hits his first homer of the year. 6-2
Ohhhh….now you can pull him.
Wait Leyland, doesn’t a walk = a “no brainer?”
OK, maybe we were all a little bit wrong. Let’s get out of this, I need some sleep.
so much for that.
ok how many times have we given up a weak hitting players first homer of the year this season?
And out comes Galarraga. It’s Todd Jonestown Massacre time!
Everyone ready for the THIRD WALKOFF WIN IN A ROW!!!?!?!
I know I AM! Seriously though, if that happens there’s a rope in my closet.
This is a good move. When Galarraga starts to lose it, it goes really fast. With the heart of the lineup coming up, best not to mess around.
Thank God Leyland going to the bullpen. The blog would be
a-buzz tomorrow discussing this strange mysterious stat called a “CG”
Mike – I’m not sure what to blame the Sheffield thing on. He might have used a tampered-with Magic 8-Ball for that one.
Come on Armando!
It would be awfully difficult for a manager to make the wrong decision every single time.
That pop up would have fallen between Guillen and Renteria.
And Jones closes it out. This pitching change was a-ok by me.
Sean, he was throwing darts at a board full of results.
A win! And a painless Jones performance.
I still don’t like how many fly balls Galarraga gives up, though.
YAY FIVE QUALITY STARTS IN A ROW!!!
SHEFF IS ON THE DL! MARCUS IS STARTING! YAY! JOYCE AND HIS SOMBRERO ARE LEAVING! GRANDY IS GONNA PLAY MORE!
YAY!
You know, we might not have won the last two games, but I’d much rather lose like that than lose in the first inning.
CG? Oh, you mean our DH in waiting, right? Not sure what that has to do with pitching…
Tell me some good news please!
Don’t know if anyone noticed, but Craig Monroe had a pinch hit 3 run homer in the 9th inning which sent the Twins to extra innings, and ultimately the win over the Royals.
Oh, I’m so glad they won. 6-2? Adam’s right, lots of good news right now. Sorry about Joyce, though.
Bring on the M’s! Anyone else gonna be at Safeco for the series this year?
Tomorrow will be the first off day following a win for the Tigers this season. Also, nearly a third of their wins have come on Wednesdays.
I still can’t stop thinking about Carlos. Hope one of the reporters in the clubhouse asks how he’s feeling!! 🙂
Sorry, Kathy, but I’m all out of Carlos puns. Someone else will have to step up.
Nice to finally have a win after losing three winnable games in a row.
We’re getting lucky with the Mariners. We will miss Eric Bedard who was lights-out against Boston tonight.
Joey the K (Kalamazoolian?),
I live in North Idaho and went to Safeco the last two years for the Tigs, but won’t make it this year.
Tigers come thru. No 0fer Motown tonite.
Better than prep H is ice, shrinks em right up in no time.
Seeing the Angels intentionally walk Maggs in order to get to Cabrera was really quite telling. He definitely has not established himself as an offense threat at all in the AL. Having only 30 RBIs while batting 5th at this point is really not very scary for the opposing teams.
Do not fear Miggy. He’s not as good as he used to be.
“Do not fear Miggy. He’s not as good as he used to be.”
Yet. I’ll buy you a ballpark beer if he finishes the year under .300 with fewer than 25 HR.
Chris: Magglio was BB’d because he’s been on fire (.359/.406/.598 with 10 doubles, 6 Homers April 23rd, coming into tonight). Miguel Cabrera is the lesser of two evils right now, which is not an indictment on what he’s done this year, rather, a praise of how hot Magglio’s been.
Coming into tonight, Miggy had been hitting .324/.366/.544 since May 17th, coming into tonight.
And sitz baths too, ron. Carlos should stay off his feet as much as possibe. Too much pressure, if you know what I mean, even as a “Preparation DH”.
Eric – he’s already on pace for 25 HR’s and 92 RBI’s as it is, and that’s with his supposed ‘pathetic’ play so far. If that’s struggling by Miggy’s standards, I can’t think of a higher compliment to his skills. If this is struggling, then holy *$&# batmat, when he gets hot you’ll see numbers never before produced on the diamond! At least a slight downtick was to be expected with the adjustment to AL pitching, but starting in June, he’ll face NL pitching with interleague play(4 for 11 with an HR and 2 Doubles vs. Arizona), and he’ll start seeing these AL pitchers for the 2nd and 3rd times.
Any rippping on Miggy’s hitting shouldn’t be taken seriously. How can it be? Obviously its just intended to get a reaction. It’s laying a trap, and I can hear trollish snickering with each response. I’d wager that most, if not ALL, Hall of Famers had a 2 month cross section a lot worse than Miggy’s current stretch.
Joe P. has a great description of how Monroe’s homer went down:
http://joeposnanski.com/JoeBlog/2008/05/28/the-moment-before-the-pain/
Kyle thanks for the link. Joe P’s writing is so good and fun to read. I could almost feel the pain myself!
Agreed, cib. I finally got around to buying/reading “The Soul of Baseball” (you can get the hardcover for $6 on amazon.com now). What a treat.
Not sure if anyone thought about the three hits Galarraga gave up going into the ninth; with a little better defense we’re looking at a possible no hitter at that point. The first couple hits seemed like they may have been in Santiago’s or Inge’s range.
Renteria’s range to his right is below average at best. Inge stepped it up and made some plays at third, which really only makes Renteria look older and tired playing next to him. Renteria’s range to his left appears better — but not sure if that’s just a subjective observation. The third hit was was one Polly gets nine times out of ten — can’t really fault him on that one. Just thought it was interesting that the defense had shots all three hits.
WTF? Why did the number in that ‘W’ column in the league standings increase for the Tigers? It must be a misprint.
any way we can hold a gun to leyland’s head to get cabrera batting third where he belongs? what’s the logic… don’t wanna pressure the guy? he makes $20mil a year and could be the best hitter in the league… i think he can handle the pressure.
I think Leyland wants Cabrera batting 5th in order to protect Magglio. Logically, if we had another high-OBP guy (which would be Sheff, normally. Even injured his OBP was still pretty good) that sets things up for your best all-around hitter and raw power coming up with men on base.
Since Sheff is out, moving Guillen to the 3-spot is a reasonable move. Cabrera could go there, but I speculate Leyland is afraid he would clog the bases.
Honestly, I think any combination of Senor Hemmorhoid, Ordonez and Fatty in 3-4-5 would work. Right now Guillen at 3 makes sense to me since Cabrera hasn’t exactly set the world on fire yet. I’m confident he will, though. OK maybe not confident. Hopeful is a better word. It could be a long 8 years with him…
I want Thames batting 3rd.
No, really. I’m serious. At least against lefties. Or at least until he fails to have a 2-homer game.
I like Guillen #3 otherwise. It would be interesting to see Granderson there, but that is clearly not going to happen.
If they don’t start hitting with any consistency (the good kind), they may as well bat Inge or Pudge 3rd.
Anyone care to look at the team’s record pre and post Neifi Perez? I think that is the pink elephant in the room that we’re all ignoring…
Agree, Sean, Guillen in the third spot makes a ton of sense. He switch hits so he’s tough to go righty-lefty against out of the pen, he gets on base at a good clip, is a smart, though not especially fast baserunner and can drive in runs if there’s guy on in front of him. I’ve always thought he would be good in that role.
Although I was perfectly fine having Sheff at #3 last year while he was productive. He did a ton of damage in that spot in the first half last year before he got hurt. If he proves he’s healthy, I don’t mind seeing Sheff there.
That is a frightening point, Chris.
I think Chris in Dallas might be on to something. The lineup protection Neifi Perez provided is now missing, and the cascading lineup effects of his absence were too much for this offense to overcome, not to mention the chemistry he provided the entire team, now missing, his departure has lead to stagnant and lifeless clubhouse. This team has lost its way without Neifi providing the glue to hold them together.
Help us Neifi-won Perezi, you’re our only hope.
Well, since I brought it up, the Tigs are a whopping 60-61 since the last time Neifi suited up. He was one fat little geeked up intangible, I’ll tell you what. Seriously, though, Guillen at #3 makes perfect sense. He’s a really good hitter, and the switch hitting thing does make it a little more difficult matchup-wise late in games for the opponent. Plus his back/neck hair is truly intimidating. Which, in a roundabout way, brings me to another point. This team has too many right handed hitters. Historically, even. When was the last time they had a true masher from the left side?
Last year – Sean Casey
hmmmm, masher from the left side. Does Higginson count? probably not. Mickey Tettleton was a switch hitter.
Norm Cash? Ty Cobb?
that’s a good question, Chris, I really don’t know. Maybe they always felt they didn’t need one since the porch in right field at Tiger Stadium was so short. Or maybe it’s just one of those weird things, like goldfish named ‘fluffy’.
Casey, though gregarious, does not qualify as a “masher”. Didn’t Matt Nokes hit lefty? He had that one good year. Higgy had his moments of mash-dom. Of course my all-time Tiger was a lefty, but not exactly a slugger. That being Lou Whitaker. Anyway this is a nice discussion. It’s distracting me from the severe hemmorhoid flare-up that has been the 2008 Tigers.
Left handed mashers?
Al Kaline and Norm Cash come to mind….more recently? Hmmm… Kirk Gibson maybe…. but I don’t think Bobby Higginson counts.
Kaline was right-handed at the plate. Gibby had 5 straight years where he hit between 25-29 HR, but the highest he ever finished was 7th in the league. Very iffy to call that a “masher”
Nokes had one good year with 32 HR, but never came close to approaching that again. This is an interesting question, I don’t think anybody mentioned outside of Norm Cash is really in consideration.
I was kidding, Casey is a good guy, but a masher he is not.
Very interesting comments on the lefty masher thing. I have nothing to add it but a question: Are the Tigers unique in this regard, or have other teams also show(ed) the same imbalance, either currently or traditionally?
The Tigers have had plenty of lefty pitching in recent years. It’s fun (even if pointless) to consider that, had things worked out slightly differently, the Tigers could have an all-southpaw starting rotation. Rogers, Willis, Robertson, Maroth, Miller. At least they could be an answer to a trivia question.
So you think Neifi Perez is missed? I won’t dispute that, but I’ll tell you one move that has really come back to haunt the Tigers: Letting go of Jose Mesa.
I just know, deep down inside, Jose would have gotten it done against the Angels. It was such a bitter pill to swallow when they let him go last year.