PREGAME: The Tigers will hand the ball to Dontrelle Willis tonight. Willis has been solid in his last 2 starts and will look to keep it going. He’s still walking a few too many (8 in 17.1 innings with only 9 K’s), but it is a vast improvement from where he was.
Dontrelle’s career has many highlights, a Rookie of the Year award, a World Series ring, he’s a 2 time All Star, and a Cy Young runner up. He’s also in the process of bringing his career back from the brink, but there is something he still hasn’t accomplished…facing Matt Wieters [cue the trumpets]. Wieters has come to save the Baltimore Orioles and all of baseball for that matter.
The guy who has the honor of having Wieters catch his first big league pitch is Brad Bergesen. I’m sure Bergesen will have some jitters with Wieters behind the plate and hopefully the Tigers get can on the board before the smoke from the Wieters introduction fireworks clears.
Detroit vs. Baltimore – May 29, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday
POSTGAME: Missed this entire game as Mrs. Billfer and I celebrated our anniversary. I thinkn I had more fun than those of you who watched the game.
On the contrary, Bergesen’s nerves shouldn’t be too bad. He’s a rookie who came up with Wieters in Bowie and Norfolk over the last two seasons and they were very comfortable with one another. While it won’t be Wieters that gets his heart humming, I’m guessing that the near-sellout crowd will.
I know. That was a little bit of sarcasm, but the point you raise is a good one. Wieters has been catching a bunch of the O’s young starters in the minors.
I’m wondering why there has been no announcement by the Orioles concerning Zaun and Moeller. I’m wondering if one of them will be traded before the game. Hey, I think the Tigers could use a backup like Zaun.
I think this whole “Wietersday” hoopla is the most national coverage a Tigers game and the Tigers in general have gotten this year. Hopefully they’ll make it unpleasant for him.
Speaking of catching prospects, what’s the latest on ours? Ryan,Avila, etc?
I’m keeping my eye on Luke Scott, when I get back. Is Wieters the next Joe Mauer maybe, but it is hard to have that sweet a swing and play catcher as awesome as Joey does. Also don’t forget the sideburns. 🙂
Clete strikes again. His arm is gold.
It looks like Everett isn’t even trying to make these plays.
Why so quiet tonight?
Luke Scott. Are you. Kidding me.
Dear Jim,
Just f’ing Walk Luke Scott the rest of the Series. This is beyond crazy. Every ball the O’s hit is in a hole and every ball the Tigers hit is right at somebody, like to the point where they don’t have to move laterally. At all.
I’d like to punch that man in the *&#$ing face and wipe that stupid ass grin off his face.
And too bad Dontrelle got completely screwed over by the left side of his infield in that inning. Way to toss two outs out the window, guys.
You’ve gotta be #@!!*%*! kidding me….Luke #@!!*%*! Scott…Luke “Game Over” Scott…
Looks like in my pre-series prediction I may have been being too conservative as far as the RBI…
“62 Coleman May 27, 2009 at 5:30 pm
Yeah if it’s like last year at all we should score a bunch, because that clown Luke Scott will go 11-14 in the series with 15 RBI, and hit for the cycle twice…”
The O’s have probably the most talented outfield in the game. They are going to be a force in two years if they can develop their pitching.
And Dontrelle is looking like crap.
“Houston, we’ve got a problem…”
It looks like the curse of Luke Scott has reduced Dontrelle to a BP pitcher; meanwhile our Pitcher’s Best Friend lineup has got the rookie pitcher on pace for a 90-pitch complete game shutout…
Yep, Tigers don’t do the “pirana” thing very well.
This sucks.
Someone needs to throw at Scott.
Tomorrow I will be there and right behind home plate, maybe I will get the hear the crackle of his bones and the high-pitched screams after any of Zoom, Perry, or Verlander goes after him.
It’s really very simple: don’t pitch to that dick
What the Tigers lack right now is an emotional leader. They are lifeless. I normally would not promote this behavior, but I think a good deliberate beaning is what this team needs. Verlander oughta peg him.
Looks like the plan might be to stretch Willis out tonight – see just how many hits and walks he can give up in 100 pitches. So far he has been pretty efficent though, tossing only 77 pitches. We could get two more innings out of him, which will save the bullpen.
Why not? We’re obviously no match for the buzzsaw that is Luke Scott.
As a random, vaguely-on-topic (with Dontrelle pitching) note, I noticed that Khalil Greene has gone on the DL with “anxiety-related issue…”
I bet anyone a million dollars that the goddamn Twins will make a run at trying to acquire Luke Scott.
@ Chris – I told my wife the same thing.
Quick, time for the last-minute rally, now that we’ve got Babe Scott out of the game!
Pretty limp.
two pitchers with a total of 3 wins now that they have 2 against the Tiger’s Tame the Pussycats….where is the offense??????
From CBS:
The last three of Scott’s seven career multihomer games have come against Detroit.
Unreal.
the orioles designated chad moeller for assignment.
It is also time for the Tigers pitchers to give ####face scott some uncomfortable at bats. Pitch in on the fists, hips, up and in, (and to any other hitter that seems to bat .900 against the Tigers. like the other poster said Verlander with his New Mr.MeanGameFace, Zumaya, or Perry who is just wild enough to put a fastball on one of scott’s metacarpal.
Agree 100%. Leyland must be against that though becasue otherwise they would have already hit Crede, Konerko or Dye.
Oh, I couldn’t agree more. I was sitting there tonight behind home plate hoping to god that someone would thrown the ball inside to him and either a) get Scott off the plate, or b) Hit him. Nate almost tried on that ball 4 he threw to walk him. I was almost pleading for Willis to IBB him with the bases loaded.
Ron,
Hopefully I never have to read your comments in the event that a White Sox pitcher breaks Cabrera’s hand.
I don’t like it when we start sounding like WSox fans either.
I’m back. Please see post #6 in this thread. First sentence.
I missed the game but am disheartened by the number of people on this site calling for intentionally hitting a batter with a pitch. Seriously? Rob Neyer wrote a good article about this a few weeks ago. You should read it. And before lashing back at me or contriving a response that refers to ”emotion,” ”hardball,” ”guts” or whatever else, ask yourself why you would wish that experience and its obvious risks on another human being. Think about what happened to kirby Puckett, tony conigliaro, or if you must, think about what your reaction would be if it was your kid who was hit ntentionally. If that doesn’t change your mind, maybe you would have to consider how you would react if, say, Bobby Jenks intentionally beamed granderson because some bellicose sox fans didn’t like the way he jumped up to cockily Back-slap ordonez following a blow out win. If some pitcher did that to one of our precious tigers, would you applaud him for trying to spark some emotion for his team?
Meh, I’m not saying hit him in the head. Coming up and in to him wouldn’t hurt though. You make a valid point but plunking a guy in the ribs never hurt anyone. Not seriously anyway. But it has stopped guys from diving over the plate. I think sparking emotion from the team is silly, but I don’t think it would hurt to get Scott thinking about a pitch coming at him, and knocking him down once or twice tomorrow to send him a message.
If nothing else, the Tigers Pitchers have been pitching him away almost exclusively and cming in close could help get him out once in a while.
BTW, if someone did that to a Tiger I would be pissed and want the Tigers to retaliate. That doesn’t mean it was the rihgt thing for the pitcher to do for his team, though.
yes
but it isn’t done for emotion per say. Most fantastic pitchers(ie Bob Gibson) go up and in with regularity. If I had Verlander’s stuff/command and was pitching to Albert Pujols I might throw a pitch or two at his head. It messes with the hitter, and helps to establish the inside part of the plate.
These guys are pro hitters and can move. Plus with the armor they wear and the gear they have, they’ll be fine.
Ray Chapman was killed by beaming – late 1920 which totally changed the game. At that time they wore caps to the plate instead of helmets, and even during that period very few people were hurt badly.
To quote the legend
“Baseball is a red-blooded sport for red-blooded men. It’s no pink tea, and mollycoddles had better stay out. It’s a struggle for supremacy, a survival of the fittest. ”
Tyrus Cobb
Probably the most fun thing to watch for me in baseball (and it doesn’t happen very often – hardly ever) is when a runner tries to bowl over the catcher.
This isn’t Tennis (no slight to tennis as I like it). You have to play hard/be willing to take out the other guy to win and coming inside is part of that.
As they say
If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.
You could of course leave the “kitchen”…or, here’s an idea: play better.
I like the fact that Justin pitches inside, but I wouldn’t like him head hunting. Especially since this is the AL, its not like he’s risking retaliation in-kind. Sure they could rush him on the mound, but the more likely scenario following a Tigers pitcher throwing at, say Pujols’ head, is the Cards throwing at Cabrera’s.
Well played everyone. Lets not have pitchers and batters actually compete in terms of the game, instead, lets see who can be more intimidating through threat of physical injury. That’s the game I want to see. What? We can’t get Luke Scott out the old fashioned way? Ok, throw at his head then! Real mature.
“These guys are pro hitters and can move. Plus with the armor they wear and the gear they have, they’ll be fine. ”
Granderson must have broken his hand punching a wall then last year, and not at the plate right?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bn6DJAuky0I
Do any of you remember when Placido took a pitch in the jaw?
I wish there was a better way to say this, but…You guys are retarded.
I agree. I hate sore losers and bad sportsmanship. I give the Orioles credit for playing great so far and doing their homework.
I certainly don’t advocate braining Luke Scott. But I think making him move his feet and/or hit the deck is perfectly acceptable.
Al Kaline said the same thing a few times last night.
Sorry, to me, establishing the inside of the plate doesn’t require making a guy “hit the deck” (if we’re talking about going up high). I really don’t like the implication of it. You can argue that intimidation is ‘part of the game’, but to me, you’re already losing, as a pitcher, if that’s your only answer to a batter. We wouldn’t appreciate Cabrera being targeted like that, so why call for it? Cabrera for Scott, you think that’s a good trade of injuries?
Again, no one wants Luke Scott to get injured. But 96 at his right elbow would back him off a bit.
It really doesn’t matter. Verlander’s going to strike him out twice tonight anyway.
You can’t have it both ways. If you don’t want Scott to get injured, don’t go out of your way to increase the chances that he will be.
You shouldn’t make up for a lack of skill by trying to intimidate, its a poor substitute.
Having said that, I agree that today should be different with JV on the mound.
sorry but your wrong
Dontrelle’s unraveling last night did not look pretty. Poor guy.
Lucky Verlander is smoking hot right now and hopefully smart enough not to give Luke Scott anything he can hit into the seats.
Verlander will pitch well. He’s from the area and will have family there. He usually pitches well in Baltimore
So….did we leave the offense in KC or what?
Just because Verlander is from the area is no guarantee he’ll pitch well. I hear that kind of statement from time to time and think its silly. What about the guys that actually play near their hometown and have family there? Why don’t they pitch well every time out? Because its a silly argument, that’s why.
That said, Verlander is 2-0 in 3 starts at Baltimore with a 1.64 ERA. He’s given up 13 H and 9 BB in 22 IP, but with only 12 K. So maybe he will pitch well. :>)
I advocate drilling Luke Scott. He has to be sent a message that we aren’t going to tolerate his dominance against us any longer. I’m not saying bean the guy, just pitch him inside. I would advocate knocking him down on the seat of his pants a time or tow to let him know that this isn’t his own real-life MLB ’09 game where he gets to hit .600 and have a 1.300 SLG average. If he comes up with the bases empty and two outs at any point of the game, I drill him in the rib cage if I’m Verlander.
That’s a bunch of crapola. If you don’t want a hot bat to beat you, then you just pitch around him. Give the guy a free pass. Beaming him is a rather pathetic thing to do. Luke Scott hasn’t showed up our pitchers one bit. He’s hit the ball well, then ran around the bases without even looking back at our pitchers. The guy deserves respect if anything.
If you do play that way, then just remember that If you hit me with pitches, then I’m going to hit you back twice as hard. Then come the bench clearing brawls, and then players get fine and suspended, and some may even get hurt.
Anybody remember this-
“Rozema got off to a tremendous start in 1982, compiling a 3-0 record and an ERA of 1.63 (Adjusted ERA+ of 248) in his first eight games. In a televised game against the Minnesota Twins on May 14, 1982, a bench-clearing brawl erupted after Twins pitchers hit both Chet Lemon and Enos Cabell. Rozema came running out of the dugout and attempted to deliver a flying karate kick to the Twins’ John Castino. Rozema missed and tore eight ligaments in his knee and had to be carried off the field on a stretcher. He had knee surgery the next day and was put on the disabled list for the rest of the 1982 season.[2]”
source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Rozema
Injuries are part of the game. Fights are part of the game. If you want to “pussyfy” the game then go ahead walk him.
You must be against takeout slides, or anything else that shows a meanness and all out effort to win. You run over catchers if you have to. If people don’t like you for it tuff cookies.
If it were me I’d prefer to go at him head on.
David,
“Injuries are part of the game. Fights are part of the game.”
They are ‘part of the game’ in the sense that they occur; but they aren’t the point of the game, and are usually avoided. Fan-interference also ‘part of the game’, as are blown calls and manager/player ejections.
Trying to break up a double play by sliding isn’t, in and of itself, the same as throwing at a guy with the intent to injure. Sliding with your cleats up high would be. There’s also a difference between going for a guy’s head with your elbow up, at the plate vs. using the broad side of your body to knock him over.
I guess the difference between us is that I don’t link meanness and effort to win, but given your idol, I’m not exactly surprised. If you’re better than me, I’m not going to cheap-shot you to get the upper hand. Cheap-shots occur, so I guess YOU would call them ‘part of the game’. That’s fine, but I prefer teams I root for to win or lose on their own merits. Think of how much greater Cobb’s legacy would have been without all the “meanness”, or do you think that’s why he did so well?
“If you want to “pussyfy” the game”
Nice to see there are still misogynists around.
Cobb wasn’t what people have recently played him out to be. Please, if you can, site all these (factual) meanness examples… that this guy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzkEphQAi7U
did.
And I am by no means a hater of women. Its funny that you would think that based upon one word that has become a common phrase.
What in gods name is a cheap shot? And also what is winning on your own merits? If its legal its legal, if it isn’t it isn’t and you get ejected. That is one reason why there are umpires.
You don’t link effort to winning??? Wow, just WOW. I think I’m done arguing/chatting with you, as someone who doesn’t believe in that just simply doesn’t understand sports or life in general.
David,
Was that clip supposed to change my mind about Cobb’s “meanness”? It was certainly interesting, and he was definitely one of the great baseball thinkers of all time…but that hardly counters the notion that he wasn’t exactly a nice guy.
Since the prevailing opinion is on my side, I’ll match your one example with another:
“In spring training in 1907, Cobb, considered a racist by many, fought a black groundskeeper over the condition of the Tigers’ spring training field in Augusta, Ga., and ended up choking the man’s wife when she intervened.”
http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00014142.html
“If its legal its legal, if it isn’t it isn’t and you get ejected.”
Kind of like when you throw at somebody’s head, right?
Sorry, I should have phrased it: I don’t link “meanness” with “effort to win”…as in you can win without meanness, at least without meanness in the sense of wanting to go out and injure the other guy.
If you throw at someone, just expect retaliation at it’s fullest. I don’t know why you’re on tilt by losing a few games to Baltimore anyway. Baltimore isn’t a heated rival. We didn’t score many runs in those games either.