2012 Season, Playoffs

Waiting In The World Series On-Deck Circle

17 Comments

Just a few thoughts while we wait patiently to see if Detroit will have a World Series rematch with St. Louis, or if the Tigers will take on the Giants.

Regardless of who the other half of the World Series matchup is, Detroit will begin the series Wednesday on the road. The blame for that falls on none other than Justin Verlander (although one could make a case for blaming Bud Selig), who laid an egg in his All-Star start and gave home field advantage to the NL team.  I imagine he is in for some good-natured ribbing.

If St. Louis beats SF on Sunday, the 2012 World Series will be the first ever in which two teams with under 90 regular season wins face each other.

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And because Wednesday’s game is in the NL park, our ALCS MVP DH will have to find a new gig; Leyland confirms the plan is to play Young in LF in Game 1.  This may cut down on Quintin Berry appearances.  It is worth noting that Q-Berry hit .314 (11-for-35) with a HR and 5 RBI in Interleague play.

Young will get a chance to practice his fielding, um, skills on Sunday and Monday: Jim Leyland, having experienced the 2006 World Series where the Tigers came out flat after having 6 days off, decided to try something different this time around, and is bringing players from the instruction league in for some scrimmage time.  My advice to the scrimmagers:  bunting, lots of bunting (those who remember 2006 will understand).

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Speaking of Leyland, Dave Dombrowski has publicly proclaimed:  Jim Leyland is welcome back.

Here is Leyland talking about the Yankee sweep.

Gene Lamont got less love:  Boston seemed uninterested in Lamont this time around in their managerial search (Farrell appears to have the job, although Toronto will have to be compensated).  Lamont says the Red Sox would have been better off if they had gone with him last time around.

And just for fun, let’s review some of the numbers from the Yankee series:

  • The Tigers swept the ALCS without ever trailing, joining the 1984 Tigers as the only teams to do so.
  • The Tigers became the first team to win 5 straight postseason games against the Yankees
  • The Tigers are the only team in the AL to be undefeated in posteason series vs the Yankees (3-for-3), and their 10-3 record gives them the best winning percentage of any franchise.
  • Delmon Young became the first player to have the game-winning RBI in all 4 wins of a postseason series.
  • The starting staff finished with a series ERA of 0.66, the 2nd best ever in a best-of-seven series (the 1966 Orioles had 0.61 against the Dodgers).

17 thoughts on “Waiting In The World Series On-Deck Circle”

  2. a lot of positives taken from the ALDS & ALCS…let’s hope the pitching portion carries over to the WS

    1. As usual he is wrong. Injuries can happens at home or in weird forms. Scherzer? Avila hit by Fielder.Alburquerque hit in the bullpen
      Being cold is the recipe for injuries.

      1. “As usual he is wrong.” Glad you’re being objective.

        His point is that if someone gets injured during the scrimmages, there’s going to be a lot of Monday morning quarterbacking going on. I love the idea of these guys staying fresh, but do you really want minor leaguers pitching to Cabrera and Fielder? Who knows what kind of command they have. Other injuries, like someone pulling a muscle, would be less of an issue because that could happen during any kind of workout.

  4. “Lamont says the Red Sox would have been better off if they had gone with him last time around.”

    We were all pulling for you Gene.

    1. A Cardinals-Tigers rematch would be fun, but the Giants may actually be less of a challenge to the Tigers. Despite the record difference, I think the Cardinals, especially the offense, is a better team than the Giants.

      1. I think the Giants could present more of a challenge for the Tigers, though I can’t provide good evidence for this. I was hoping for the Cardinals and so-called revenge, but I’ve changed my mind. I don’t know why I would prefer a challenging WS to a sweep of the Cardinals, but I do. I think I’ll compromise and hope for a challenging sweep of the Giants.

      1. Valverde has given up 7 ER in the postseason – the rest of the staff – 9.

        Remove Valverde’s 7 ER in 2.1 IP, and the Tigers’ postseason ERA is .89 with a 1 WHIP.

  7. Hey Coleman, Many thanks for making this post as because of lack of Tiger games, I was getting rusty in my analytical analyzes!!! This will keep me in shape into the WS starts.

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