2008 Season, Game Post

Game 66: White Sox at Tigers

238 Comments

PREGAME: The Tigers have assured themselves of a series win. That’s good. But it’s not good enough. Can we hope for the s word? A sweep? We’ve seen flashes of good play before, let’s hope that they can keep it going for an afternoon tilt.

It’ll be crafty lefthander day at the ballpark. All kids under the age of 14 get to take home a tantalizing breaking ball on the outside black. Kenny Rogers and Mark Buehrle do battle today.

CHW @ DET, Wednesday, June 12, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

Game Time 1:05

POSTGAME: So bummed I missed this one. I was at a conference learning about business intelligence and analytics. Interesting conference but it pales in comparison to a 1 run pitchers duel where the good guys won on a walk off from one of the maligned new stars of the team.

Kudos to Kenny who joins Verlander in slipping that ERA under the 5.00 mark. Not stellar by any means (the season, not the game), but rapidly improving. Polanco, Guillen, and Ordonez are all over .300 now. Things are starting to look like normal.

The Tigers did what they had to do in this series. Yet they are still 8 games in the red (both under .500 and in the standings). Still when it comes to the sweep you can put it on the boooaaarrrddd YES!

238 thoughts on “Game 66: White Sox at Tigers”

  1. Long time no talk to, Bill. Just wanted to let you know that Tigers Weblog is being featured right now on Baseball Nooz. If you get a chance, check out Tiger players in our new Mashup feature.

    Keep up the great blogging work (and good luck to Detroit the rest of the way).
    Regards,
    Walter
    lead editor
    “http://www.baseballnooz.com/”>Baseball Nooz

  2. The last 7 days or so…..is it just me? Or is Carlos Guillen looking like a major league infielder for the first time in a looooooong time. Accurate throws, making routine plays….shocking. He’s even bending over for ground balls. He hasn’t done that since 2005.

    I love it. Can it really last? Let’s hope so.

  4. Last time out against the White Sox, I count 4 first pitch strikes (along with 2 first pitch outs) from Rogers in 4+ innings. He just didn’t have it. Plus it was cold and windy that day. Plus it was a Sunday, in Chicago. 4 of his 5 runs allowed came on one pitch, after 2 walks and an infield single.

    I like Kenny’s chances today. I’m not making any predictions, though. It’s Mike R’s turn today, I believe.

  5. For the White Sox, the end is nigh. Mark Buehrle shall be destroyed. No quarter shall be offered. John Danks and Gavin Floyd shall wake up in a cold sweat for the rest of their days, terrified that they came so close to destruction themselves and yet grateful that the heavens for whatever reason chose to spare them from their comrade’s fate. After today’s game, such will be the humiliation that US Cellular shall be sown with salt so that no team may ever take the field there again.

  6. Ladies and gentlemen:

    SS Renteria
    2B Polanco
    3B Guillen
    DH Ordonez
    1B Cabrera
    LF Thames
    C K-Bot 3000 (the older one)
    CF Clevlen
    RF Raburn

    versus:

    SS Cabrera
    CF Anderson ??????? How is he not batting like 11th?
    LF Quentin
    DH Konerko
    RF Dye
    3B Crede
    1B Swisher
    2B Ramirez
    C Not Pierzynski!!!!!

    Cautiously optimistic.

  7. I am not sure what the deal is with Leyland, but I have a theory! First he says Cabrera and Guillen will be fine at 3rd and 1st respectively, them flips them. Next he proclaims Thames to be his full time LF only to throw Guillen out there. He also said Grandy will see more lefties. Then it was Inge to get more time at 3rd, but next tells everyone Inge and Pudge will alternate in the catcher spot.

    The theory is Leyland wants to confuse and exhasperate the media and public from ever asking him any questions concerning the team, ever again! Seriously, I see Grandy is out of the line up against Beurle and wonder why? He hit .300 off of him last year with a HR. If there was a type of lefty to hit against, Beurle is the guy. Yes, Raburn needs some time to play but you are going for a sweep and I would want my best overall player out there. Give Grandy sunday off against the kid Kershaw.

  8. That’s it – Dave BW is the official predictor. The Oracle. The Soothsayer. The Prophet Of (Not Our) Doom.

    Ryan – “K-Bot 3000 (the older one).” Sweet.

  9. I guess we should start posting on this thread now, shouldn’t we? Anyway, I just wanted to bring up how much I like the phrase “no quarter”. Kudos, Dave.

  10. K-Bot 3000’s code:

    10 Walk to plate
    20 Swing
    30 IF everyone is angrily yelling at you, GOTO 40
    ELSE GOTO 20
    40 Sit down in dugout

    Could somebody better than me with computers please create a “batting eye” macro? I’m pretty sure I can hack Pudge.

  13. Ron – Dave covered it nicely, I think.

    Even though the Tigers can’t win with Pudge in there.

    That outburst shall be stricken from the record.

  14. Kenny better win a gold glove this year. Have you seen any other pitcher defend as well as he does?

    It’s ridiculous.

  16. I hope K-Rog picks someone off today. If I’m not mistaken, he is 1 pickoff away from tying the all time record for that (Mark Langston, I think).

  18. I hope Rogers gets the no-hitter on the anniversary of the last one. Would he be the oldest?

  22. I’m not following the game and actually wasn’t positive Rogers HADN’T given up a hit, so – jinx removed.

  25. Okay, I have to go to class in Ypsilanti. Don’t screw this up, guys (I’m looking at you, Sean)!

  26. Dave BW, excellent southern baptist minister prediction. Hopefully you will prove yourself the prognosticator of prognosticators. Sean C, thank you for conceding the list thing. I needed that. Also, I DO NOT like Ryan Raburn. I immediately frowned upon seeing him in the lineup, and then he immediately put us in the hole by trying to glove a ball against the wall. He best have at least one RBI today if he doesn’t want me to stitch a Raburn voodoo doll. I took witchcraft in college as an elective.

  29. He also has just one chance less than the leader, Brandon Webb. Maybe you’ve heard of him.

  30. Can you please return our mojo please. Raburn error. Awful third strike call on Miggy. Maggs robbed of a lead-off single. Thames wiffs on the high heat. Damn you, Ra!!. Take your ultraviolet orb of desolation elsewhere.

  31. “Take your ultraviolet orb of desolation elsewhere.”

    Instant classic. Are you in cahoots with T Smith and Coleman, Ken? Actually, that was almost a Dave BW line.

  35. Actually, I must finally confess, Sean C., as I can no longer carry this burden of guilt. I, Coleman, and T Smith are one and the same. I just had to use pseudonyms so I wouldn’t seem like a huge nerd with an exhorbitant amount of posts.

  36. My foreboding kept me away earlier…then when I saw the lineup, the forboding became more like a sense of doom…see there are a couple of Tigers at least doing better in day games, Granderson and Inge for instance…oh…fine Captain Lucky Strike, ignore my advice for the special diurnal lineup, you showed who runs this team! Oh, but at what cost…

  39. Read the injury updates and noticed it did not include that Wilson is out for at least another year, tore another ligament, and his career may be over. Good thing nobody wanted Inge.

  42. Sean, for pseudonyms to be effective you have to vary the posting styles somewhat. For instance, when I post under Ken from Cincinnati I dumb down the posts significantly.

  43. Pseudonyms indeed! I only use 100% genuine nyms.

    [Cue background music…the sounds of John Denver fill the room…”sunshine, on my shoulders, makes me crappy…”]

    OK, here ya go:

    Kenny Rogers:
    W-L record: 4 – 4
    Day games: 0 – 4
    Night games: 4 – 0

  45. I noticed on the trade rumors link that the Tigers may not be on the hook for Renteria’s buyout for next year, the Red Sox are on the hook for it.
    How hot would he have to get for the Tigers to pick up his option, like they did with Pudge. Oh, never mind.

  47. Neal – They – seriously – should have made taking Inge desirable for the Marlins. Somehow. Or just dealt someone else. Rabelo was serviceable, Pudge was fading, and Wilson no guarantee even then. Very bad to just “throw in” Rabelo like that.

  48. Ken – I hadn’t noticed the dumbing down. No offense to your other pen names, of course.

  50. Way to strike with the song parody, there, “Ken Coleman.” And so soon after your last post.

    What’s going on, folks? How bad is it?

  52. hey, just got onboard. I see on the gamecast that rayburn turned a double into a triple defensively. wha’ hoppen?

  54. Looks like Buehrle is carving them up today. I have faith that they’ll get to him, though. “Magglio Ordonez” and “epic HR” will be used in the same sentence at some point this afternoon.

  55. That sucked. Our lead-off singles are proving quite inconsequential. I swear, if we get shut out today I will be forced to blot out the sun over Comerica. How shall I accomplish this? The Mr. Burns technique? A self-constructed dome of foil, gum, and popsicle sticks? An extremely large Halloween fog machine? Roseanne Barr singing the national anthem at every home game?

  57. Sean it’s only 1-0. Tigers have 4 hits, Sox have 2. Remember your stat?

  58. Sean, I’m not even sure the entire Marlins roster makes what Inge does. They would have asked us to eat 90% of his contract to take him.

  60. Ken: go with the Burns technique. “For years mankind has yearned to destroy the sun. I’m going to do the next best thing – block it out.” Excellent.

  61. Thanks, Chris. Everyone is sure pessimistic for (merely) 1-0 Sox. Have a little faith, people.

  63. looks like Kenny is being economical – 65 through 5. Like that! not quite as good as JV last night, but acceptable. Now for some consecutive hits by the Tigs

  64. So far this game has been predictably–exactly according to trend–bad. Is there no ray of darkness to give us hope?

    And Sean, don’t go wishing Inge on the Marlins now, he may be the only one who can save us from this sunsucking disease (if the good Captain will unleash him)

  65. “They would have asked us to eat 90% of his contract to take him.”

    It would have been worth it. Pudge would be on the bench and soon traded, no 3B controversy, Cabrera would be settling in there OK and Guillen back to form at 1B.

  67. This whole day/night thing is beginning to become a nuissance. Did they all become cocaine addicts in the offseason? They no like-y bright lights…

  68. Since it’s almost the halfway point of the game, and we’re kinda stinkin’ it up offensively, isn’t it time for someone to resurrect the ‘daytime hex’ theory?

  70. I like what I’m hearing about Kenny. 65 through 5, 1 run. There’s a lot of hope left. If we (they) can’t get to Buerhle, we’ll (they’ll) get to their… um, never mind.

  71. Ugh. Another strikeout has been foisted upon us by the mighty Mark Buehrle. Top of the order will be up in the 6th, though. 5 runs will follow.

  72. If we all sing “25 or 6 to 4” in unison on my count, this game is a Tigers W. Ready?

  73. That was pretty funny what Dan Dickerson said on the radio “Behrle with the windup….Clevlen struck out the first time……….oh, and he strikes out again”

  75. Well, it’s only natural to be more pessimistic in the gloom of daylight.

    Chris makes a good choice for optimism though–Locks-of-Sampson and Carlos the Butcher are the only guys immune to the sunsucking malady (except for the aforementioned bench-sitters, Inge and Granderson)

  76. Ok, tigres. When I return from Chipotle, I expect to see runs. At the very least I expect to see news of an approaching solar eclipse.

  77. Took Pudge 5 seconds to run to 1st using the One Mississippi, Two Mississippi timer.

  78. And yes Kenny’s pitching seems encouraging–yet there’s still that 0-4/4-0 thing staring me in the face. I’m afraid he is a Pitcher of the Night.

  85. K-Rog should at least get through 7 today. Then we’ll see Freddy Solid.

  86. Not to be overdramatic, but by my calculations this is the ballgame right here…

  87. When was the last time we had a runner not go station to station??? Are we that slow, or that inept, or both?

  88. I’m going to start calling Polly ‘Craneo Deforme’. That means ‘misshapen skull’ in Spanish for those of you who are curious.

  94. It’s great to have a switch (Day game/night game) hitter! Nice going Carlos! And we got our other switch hitter up now

  100. As the calming sounds of John Denver follow Cabrera back to the dugout…

    OK, the eclipse was a longshot, but I was trying to be positive at least…

  101. OK for the rest of the game I’m going to pretend I’m Ozzie Guillen in my posts. Be warned. This team is playing like horse*&%^. Can’t even get a &*$% runner home from *$&#* third base with one &$^#% out.

  102. Compare this game to the April ones vs. White Sox, and take heart. Night and day. Mostly.

  104. It’s hard to score 5 runs or more without hits. And it’s hard to get hits with bats softened and de-natured by the ultraviolet rays. (OK, maybe something photosynthetic)

  106. Coleman, hate to rain on your daytime parade, but I think the reason that Inge and Grandy are riding the pines is that they both are posting OPS’s against LH of:

    Inge OF .476
    Inge 3B .409
    Granderson OF .544

    I guess Inge hasn’t caugt a day game yet.

  107. It is a bit sad that despite one of his better performances in a long time, K-Rog may still be on pace for a day-game 0 – 10 this season.

  110. Raburn is really struggling right now. He’s becoming a big liability, especially when he starts and gets more than a couple of AB’s a game.

  113. Neal points out:
    “Coleman, hate to rain on your daytime parade, but I think the reason that Inge and Grandy are riding the pines is that they both are posting OPS’s against LH of:

    Inge OF .476
    Inge 3B .409
    Granderson OF .544”

    First of all–please do. Rain, I mean.
    Secondly, looking at those stats…I’ll take it.
    OPS in day games:
    Thames .459
    Polanco .470
    Cabrera .587
    So it’s a lesser-of-two evils kind of thing. But if you play Inge and Granderson, they may get ABs against other pitchers. But the other guys will be playing in a day game all game long.

  114. Alright, top of the order lets get Rogers some runs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  115. I could be wrong however. But if so, don’t let it be said that Ken Coleman from Cincinnati can’t admit his mistakes.

  116. Is this Hockey, is Leyland playing for the tie? Don’t give up a run. Don’t we have have to outscore the other team? I think scoring runs would be good way to do that. I understand taking Thames out when we are ahead, but when it’s tied up. Is he that big a defensive liability?

  117. Whoa..2 consecutive starts where the starter works through the 8th? What’s Leyland thinking?

  120. Ol’ Captain Lucky Strike is starting to feel…”confused”…that crazyman with his daytime nightime nonsense…what if he’s right?? Cabrera and Thames sure do seem to be swinging like they are photo-…like they have that thing wrong with them…oh hell, I was gonna make a defensive change anyway, get Thames outta there…where’s my smokes?.,..

  121. Do you think they’ll have to use this thing I’ve heard of called the “bull pen” any time? I hear it’s neat.

  123. I guess my Outsiders impression wasn’t enough to inspire them. Looks like its gonna be a walkoff win today boys!

  124. tom: of course that post was in a *&%*$ Spanish accent you *$&#^ piece of horse*$^#. (That was Ozzie talking, not me)

  125. “Coleman, if this keeps up, those guys will be playing in night game.”

    You might have something there…so the old fox is shifting gears and covering all options now huh. Only a matter of time before he starts mumbling about Inge is the best daytime 3rd baseman in the game and starting him in LF

  126. OK since it’s a foregone conclusion that Jones will give up a run here, it’s time to second guess. Where is Freddy Solid, dammit?

  130. OOOOOOOOOH that looked out on game cast! don’t know how close it was on tv…

  131. Freddy Sol we could use…

    I swear by Helios Grandy is going to win this one…else Inge pinch hitting in later innings.,..

  142. Back from Chipotle just in time to see the walk-off. That gave me chills. Booyahhh.

  144. I don’t think his 255 bothered him running around those bases…WWWWWWWooooooooWWWWWW

  147. Is this for real? Series sweep, Miquel walkoff, a win scoring under 5 runs. Hope they don’t wake up.

  148. Dammit. Joey the K beat me to it. I’m going to do it anyway…

    You can put it on the boooaaaaaarrrrrddd – YES!

  150. Chris in D,

    Awesome job calling that HR, but nothing is as big as Polly’s head.

  151. If Demon-of-the-Night Cabrera can win a game with a walk-off, maybe that breaks the spell? Or maybe Smoking Man broke it when he pulled Thames? Or between innings Cabrera cast an anti-spell spell? And now they will as soon win as lose these day games, and this awful period will just seem like a bit of a daymare in hindsight?

  152. Chris in Dallas,

    “Ken: Chipotle rules. Those burritos are the size of Polanco’s head.”

    And if you throw your burrito against the wall they are the shape of his head as well.

  153. Awesome win by the Tigs – can’t say enough about Kenny’s pitching, and for Miggy to win it in the 9th at home is the icing on the cake. Now let’s hope the boys do better than they did after the Yankees series and use this week as a springboard to repeat their recent success in interleague play out west.

    How close was Maggs’ blast in the 9th?

  154. I think WE bloggers broke the daytime spell by beating a dead horse to exhaustion. I’m pretty sure Ra or Helios or whoever was like, “This just isn’t funny any more. I mean a few eclipse and vampire jokes are amusing, but this is just retarded. I’m ending the misery today.”

  155. Maggs blast looked good at first but he got a bit too much air under it and the sun held it up

  156. I have been screaming and jumping around my office like a little kid. Good thing my boss is gone. :-p

  157. Riley, it was to the warning track, but coming off of the bat I, Rod, Comerica, and Maggs all thought it was gone. It got caught in a wind coming directly in from left field.

  160. I’ll be interested to see tiff and cib’s accounts of what it was like at an undoubtedly rockin’ Comerica. Hopefully that will kickstart Gil a bit.

  161. Cabrera was really the best possible person to win this one too, since he’s been the one bearing the brunt of the disappointment this season.

  162. Sean, what do you mean “what if”? We can’t have our cake and eat it too.

  163. I thought that they HAD to sweep this series if they were to entertain any thoughts of turning this disastrous season around. I just can’t believe that they actually, you know, did it. Sun gods be damned.

  164. Also Cabrera has earned himself a wall-flattened tete-a-Polanco Chipotle burrito, and we all deserve to spend a moment or two now as a fly on the wall next to Ozzie Guillen because won’t he be fun!

  165. The schedule actually gets a bit easy for a while now too, there’s no Kansas City games for about 5 weeks.

  166. Tiger pitching in this series:

    27ip, 20h, 6r, 4bb, 8so, 2.00era, 0.89whip

    the bullpen threw a grand total of 3.2 innings in 3 games. The starting pitching has been much better the last few weeks, hopefully it’s a trend.

  167. also, Vance Wilson tore his elbow ligament again and will have to undergo another Tommy John procedure. Total bummer for Vance.

  168. I love those Chipotle Burritos as much as anybody. And I actually did consulting design work for their restaurants here in So Cal. But one thing everybody should be aware of is how fatting they are. Amazingly enough, if you skip the tortilla, sour cream and go very light on the rice & cheese, they are about half as fattening. I sometimes like to ride my bike from Venice Beach to the location in Marina Del Rey at lunch and get one of those. The 40 minutes of riding back and forth really helps with the indulgence.

    Miggy does deserve a light rice Chipotle Burrito Bowl.

    Go Tigers. Let’s keep it rolling against LA.

  169. Walter coming through with the good luck today as he posted a link to the “mashup” on Baseball Nooz and it was a link to Miguel Cabrera — no lies.

    And that walkoff gave me chills. So good. I hope he goes on a tear and we see just how talented that kid is. He’s easily a top 3 hitter in baseball when he’s right and clicking.

  170. The day game meant that I wasn’t able to watch the game here in Chicago…on the plus side, “Hawk” doesn’t announce on MLB Gamecast so I was spared another game like yesterday’s where he complained the rest of the game about Gil’s walk.

    What’s a stronger word than “homer”?…besides that clown I mean.

  171. Now I’m craving Chipotle. There’s one right down the street from work too…

  172. Mark in Chicago:

    Assuming you may endured this series from the very talented and insighful commentary of Hawk and DJ.

    They take it like men?

  173. Hi kids, I’m home! and the cable is back up. Well, after the 6th inning I was getting a bit toasty up in the 300 seats so I floated down and ended up in the standing area just past the statues. Really thought Maggs’ was going to do it but Gil’s shot was like a damn meteorite coming toward us. Everyone coming out of the park, high-fiving strangers – it’s what we love! I love the excitement but I hated the runners LOB during the game that would have obviated the need for such excitement!
    I think I need a little aloe gel on my shoulders. I missed a few places with my sunscreen. I know, TMI!!

  174. Andre – My favorite thing about the Hawk is that he LOVES Ernie Harwell. Can you think of one announcer is more of the opposite of Ernie than Hawk? It amazes me.

  175. T,

    I did endure Hawk and DJ, today excepted since I’m at work. No, they absolutely did not take it like men. Andre’s post above is exactly right that they whined the rest of the game about Cabrera’s 14-pitch walk last night:

    “Javy thought he had him struck out…”
    “and the next play was an easy grounder to second, that’s two outs”
    “and if Javy throws that same pitch to Thames, it’s a 1-0 game”

    and on and on, from innings 2-9, not at all considering the fact that their team managed 1 run and 4 hits so it’s a moot point.

    man, I hate those jackasses. I look forward to catching the replay of today’s game so I can watch the ninth inning and listen to the stunned silence of Miggy’s walkoff. That will be so sweet.

  176. a relative of mine works for chipotle in marketing. so many free coupons. so much weight put on.

    i am 2% optimistic now. key is for tigers to pass the other two teams in front of them and be 5-6 back at all star break.

  177. stephen, you may have to start passing some of the coupons for free chipotle out, there seem to be a lot of fans on this board (myself included).

  178. Mark in Chi,

    Amazingly enough the one thing they did take like men, and subsequently changed the subject to something other than Gil’s walk, was the iffy tag put on Anderson (?) at second in the 9th…

    I’ll just chalk that to karma though 🙂

  180. well, yes and no, Andre. they whined about that too, although not as much as the Cabrera walk. However, I can understand that whining since it was absolutely a blown call, Anderson was 100% safe.

    They may have also realized that down 5-1, it didn’t matter.

    Either way, we all know they are the worst tandem on TV, bar none.

  181. I can’t wait for a staged rant from Ozzie where he “throws the GM under the bus” with no real consequence.

  182. Ozzie rants are fun. He’ll probably whine about the umpring or something, rip on Cabrera for being Venezuelan (irony is not Ozzie’s specialty) and tell everyone the Tigers were lucky to win any of these games.

  183. Mark: You forgot to add that said rant will be peppered with obscenities. Ozzie seems fond of the term “horsebleep”.

  184. Oh yeah, definitely, Chris. Good call.

    I guess my favorite part about Ozzie rants is that you can’t understand a %$^ing word he’s saying, you just know he’s mad and it’s filled with bleeps.

    Seriously, if they didn’t bleep his swear words, would anybody notice?

  185. At the risk of being an ungracious winner, I dug up this morsel:

    Harrelson served as a Chicago White Sox announcer from 1982 to 1985 and briefly left broadcasting during the 1986 season to become the White Sox’s General Manager. Many people questioned his work ethic as a GM because he was often found on the golf course instead of in the office. During that one season, Harrelson fired field manager Tony LaRussa, who was soon hired by the Oakland Athletics and assistant general manager Dave Dombrowski, who become baseball’s youngest general manager with the Montreal Expos just two years later. Harrelson also traded rookie Bobby Bonilla, later a six-time All-Star, to the Pittsburgh Pirates for pitcher Jose DeLeon.

  189. Interestingly, Hawk first grabbed Bonilla from Pittsburgh in the Rule V draft, so he got him for free.

    Here’s a list of all Hawk’s moves:

    ***http://blackbetsy.blogspot.com/2004_12_01_archive.html***

  191. Question: Um. On Konerko’s scoring in the second, WHY DOES THE THROW FROM CENTER GET CUT OFF?

    I mean, I know. They weren’t going to get him. But there’s no one else on base! Even if it goes wild and does some crazy stuff it’s not going to matter. Don’t cut it off! What if he trips or something?

    TELL ME?!

  192. I remember very when when Ken Harrelson went to Boston to replace poor old Tony Conigliaro. He did a good job…..but I have heard him as an announcer for years for the White Sox. Old Ernie Harwell, as avid a Tigers’ fan as ever there was, was never like Harrelson.Rod and Mario also are class acts. They always maintain professionalism and maturity in their approach. Harrelson is like a guy I sat next to at the scoring table at a high school football game. We were the visiting team and when we went ahead he wanted to throw me out.

  194. This seems to have been quite a game. I was following it on my phone, but it just wasn’t the same. btw, we are now THIS close to catching Cleveland.

  195. Mark in Chicago

    “Sean, why you gotta break balls and rain on the parade?”

    Ha. It cried out to be said, that’s all. I was an optimist all thread.

    I didn’t see the game, but someone should answer Adam’s question about why the Tigers cut the throw off on the Konerko play.

    Jeremy – No, I’m not the guy who brings up shutouts all the time. At least I don’t think I am.

  196. Chris in Dallas

    I regret to inform you that Joey the K called the walk-off win at 3;03.

    I still believe in you, though. Things will pick up, Champ.

  197. I am feeling pretty good about moving into inter-league play after the sweep. Especially considering the current state of the NL West. I remember thinking at the beginning of the season the Tigers got the short end of the stick this year, now it is not looking so bad.
    But, yet again I felt this good after the Seattle sweep, only to be heartbroken.

  198. And now a recap of the top running jokes of the day, including some with short but high-quality runs. These jokes were based upon the following true facts:

    1. Ivan Rodriguez strikes out a lot.
    2. The Tigers have a poor record in day games.
    3. Placido Polanco (evidently) has a large and misshapen head.
    4. Ken from the Unspellable City, Coleman, and T Smith are all funny guys with a certain commonality of style.
    5. Ken “Hawk” Harrelson is a broadcaster widely held in contempt for a number of reasons.
    6. Burritos from the restaurant Chipotle are big, good, and fattening.
    7. Posters here often try to predict the outcomes of at bats or entire games, sometimes facetiously.

    Best one liner, from judpma;

    who are these guys????????????

    Check out 2 posts at 3:23 and 3:24 for a double shot of comedy reminiscent of back to back jacks by Maggs and Miggs.

    And that’s it for today’s edition of “The Thread In Review,” Helping People Understand What The Hell We’re Talking About Here since about 20 minutes ago.

  199. Shane

    Ah, but this wasn’t Seattle. This was the White Sox. It’s huge. The thing to look back on and be sore afraid of is what happened after the Tigers swept the Yankees in New York. Talk about pride goeth before the fall.

  200. cib

    That was TMI. Now we all want to rub aloe on your shoulders – even “Hawk” Harrelson does. Please do not distract us from our OPS, BAbip, and ERA+ except to tell us more about the ballgame you witnessed.

  201. Chris in Dallas

    First it was Freddy Solid, and now Gil Cabrera. “Gil” hit the charts with a bullet, and it could end up being more than a regional hit. I’m talking number one on the Top 40. How do you do it?

    Damn you.

  203. There is no protection from the creeping evil that is Hawk Harrelson, cib. If you can see him or even hear him, it’s already too late.

  204. Wow! Just went through the entire game thread. You guys are just on fire these days! Laugh out loud stuff.

    (Oh yeah, the win was really exciting, too!)

  205. Alright boys and girls. I was out of town Friday through Monday. I recorded(tivo) all 3 black sox games to watch later at night. Series sweep. It’s official, I must record every game and watch later. I know this has been said before, but I truly believe this is a season changing series. The starters have been pitching great. Timely hitting, and good defense. I hope they can dominate the NL like last year.

  206. I am so excited after this sweep. The only thing I forgot to do was set the DVR to record the win today. I would have loved to heard the Who Sox crew today after that. I would only kick one guy while he was down or even looking at me and that would be Ken Harrelson.
    Great poster of him in the swinger suite …. Check it out, Andres post at 5:36 (thanks Andre). Anyway He looks like a bundle of sticks 😉

    After this sweep, we need to string together a nice 14-3 run to get back into it. This proves we can do it, now its all mental and up to the guys to prove to themselves they are contenders and stay with it.

    Lets go Tigers

    Steve

  207. Now that the Tigers have swept both the Yankees and the White Sox in the same season, they’ve done all I asked them to do, and I have no further use for them.

    But since they’re still hanging around…

    A question to consider: The Tigers may lose at least one game from here on out. What is that next loss going to be like? Are they going to lose like a winning team does, or is it going to be a return to where you ask yourself in the 5th inning why you’re still watching?

    Kenny Rogers is now 8-4 as far as I’m concerned. What a turnaround. He’s the going ace.

  208. A 3 game winning streak and sweep of the 1st place team, the first victory of the season when scoring 2 or fewer runs, Todd Jones’ record of 2-0, winning record at home, only 8 games out of 1st place. . .

    Is it time to believe that the team has righted the ship and going to make a serious run at the playoffs? Or is this just another false start? I got to believe the former. In 2006, they got all the good breaks. In 2007, the good breaks and bad breaks probably evened out into an average year. This year, nothing but bad breaks so far. Being good is nice, but being good and lucky is way better!

  209. Was at the game, got chills when Gil hit it out of the park. I made friends with the guys behind me, and right when Maggs was at the plate he was like “I’m calling it, walk off home run.” Too bad he had the wrong guy. Of course, I couldn’t have been happier for Gil. He trotted home! Trotted, I say.

    I think the moral of the story is I need to quit my job and attend the rest of the games on the schedule, both home and away. I’m willing to sacrifice for the team.

  210. “Tiger pitching in this series:

    27ip, 20h, 6r, 4bb, 8so, 2.00era, 0.89whip”

    It’s the innings pitched that impresses me. That’s a lot for 3 games.

  211. tiff

    “I think the moral of the story is I need to quit my job”

    I actually did quit my job in 1984 so I could watch the Tigers in the World Series.

  213. I’m not saying I recommend it, tiff. But it wasn’t much of a job, and how often are the Tigers in the World Series?

  214. Carolyn said Miggy would come around big time. She belongs in that inner circle with Dave, MikeR and Chris from Dallas.

  215. I want in the circle too! I never doubted Miggs. The only problem I ever had with him is that he’s married, with a kid. /end fangirl sentence.

  217. Tiff, make a prediction on tonite’s game, and if correct, you too can be one of the select few. I do know that there are probably fewer girl sports fans than boy fans, but the girls who are dedicated to their teams are usually more passionate and knowledgeable of their favorite team than 98% of the boy fans.

  218. Yay! I made the inner circle! I must admit I have the advantage, though, living in South Florida and all.

    That being said, he usually stinks against Lowe and that sinkerball (3 for 20), but I still have confidence.

  219. Lineup guess (test of true psychics) for first Dodgers game:

    CF Granderson
    2B Hollimon
    3B Guillen
    RF Ordonez
    DH Cabrera
    SS Renteria
    1B Larish
    C Inge
    LF Clevlen

  220. Pretty good guess, Sean. I’ll go with:

    Granderson CF (this was a tough one)
    Thames LF
    Guillen 3B
    Ordonez RF (also a toughie)
    Cabrera 1B
    Larish DH
    Renteria SS
    Inge C
    Holliman 2B

    I resisted the urge to go with the quad-magglio for this lineup.

  221. Sean, well you had 22 good years before you had to quit again in 2006. Have you found another job yet?

  223. Jiust kidding there. Actually, this job (where I’m not typing this from as we speak) is probably the first I’ve ever had where I’ve had my own computer and the freedom to use it as I see fit. Responsibly, of course. Like now.

  224. Mark, I consider your lineup more likely than mine. I took a couple wild swings, based on my own Leyland-like (well…) hunches.

    Boy, does Lowe own the Tigers.

  225. Sean, I like the quad-magglio lineup best of all, but I was trying to be reasonable about my guess. Given’s Leyland’s schizophrenia, one could argue your lineup is at least as likely.

  226. We go from those hated Chisox announcers to the best in the game, Vin Scully. His call of Gibson’s homer in the 88′ WS was terrific, but Don Drysdale on the radio side was classic; describing every little detail from the time Kirk left the dugout to the time he hit the home run. You had the feeling something big was going to happen. I think Drysdale was psychic.

  227. Does Vin Scully still do the entire game himself, no color commentator? That was always the most impressive thing about him.

  228. Mark: Vin is a one man band in the booth. Impressive. I love hearing his anecdotes about third string second baseman. He’s got a backstory for everybody. Classic.

  229. He’s amazing but have you confirmed that he’s gonna be at Copa? He does not always travel, esp. far. I love staying up late and watching Dodgers games on the package, Scully is awewome, and I never cared much for him when he was a National broadcaster.

  232. I say Migglio (Gil) puts on a show tonight. Derek Lowe will suddenly remember he’s from Michigan, suffer remorse, and atone for past sins.

  234. my predictions:

    Mike Hollimon, while wearing high socks, will get his first major league RBI.

    Gil will hit another opposite field blast, this time with runners on base.

    Grandy will make a spectacular catch, and steal a base, which will boost his confidence and he’ll win the game with an RBI triple.

    Guillen will make a spectacular defensive move that makes us think less about Inge.

    Inge will catch.

  238. Good luck going tonight guys – looks like it’s going to rain all night, though.

    I’m predicting a day-night doubleheader for Sunday…

Comments are closed.