All posts by billfer

Tiger History

And the walls, come tumbling down

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I haven’t written much about the demolition of Tiger Stadium, mostly because I haven’t had a lot to add to the discussion. There are many who feel it’s an eye sore and that there’s been enough time for something to happen. There is talk of moving on to spur development and revitalization. I guess there’s probably some truth to that, maybe. I just look at all the abandoned buildings and empty lots in Detroit and I guess I don’t understand why one more hulking mass can’t be there. At the same time I’ve pretty much resolved myself to the fact that it is going to be gone in a matter of time.

I had the chance last fall to walk around the field a little bit and head into the Tigers dugout. The place was beat up, and it was sad to see it in its current state. But it helped to get that one last glimpse of the place and to say good bye.

If you want the same chance, or at least a chance to peer inside you better head down to the corner quickly. The walls are coming down.

For now it is just the outfield walls as there is a last ditch effort by the Old Tiger Stadium Conservancy to save the areas from first to third base, including the clubhouses and press box. Gary Gillette who sits on the board of the conservancy is optimistic that something can be done by the August 1st deadline but there is a lot of inertia to overcome.

If you’re interested in learning more about the efforts to save the old park, visit SaveTigerStadium.org

On a related note, Paul DePodesta recently reminisced about the stadium on his blog.

2008 Season, Game Post

Game 90: Indians at Tigers

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PREGAME: Eddie Bonine tries to rebound tonight as he takes on Paul Byrd.

Byrd has given up at least 4 runs in 6 of his last 7 starts. The one start he didn’t you ask? When he held the Tigers to 2 runs in 7 innings sending them to a season low 12 games below .500. Jim Leyland, looking to avoid a similar fate sends out this gauntlet of a lineup:

  1. Granderson, CF
  2. Thomas, LF
  3. Guillen, 3B
  4. Cabrera, 1B
  5. Joyce, RF
  6. Sheffield, DH
  7. Renteria, SS
  8. Santiago, 2B
  9. Sardinha, C

Byrd has allowed 23 homers, so it probably makes sense to keep the team leader in homers on the bench.
CLE @ DET, Wednesday, July 9, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

POSTGAME: There was a time in my life that I despised Rafael Betancourt. Partly I hated him because he dominated the Tigers. But I thought I hated him because he worked sooo slow. After seeing the Tigers beat him up a couple times, I think it was the former that fueled my hate. I didn’t even notice him working slow tonight.

This game was downright ugly for the first 5 and a half innings. Bonine wasn’t good. The defense wasn’t good. Clete Thomas fought the sun and lost on a first inning fly ball and Carlos Guillen made a run costing error in the sixth. Meanwhile the offense couldn’t do more than tring 2 singles together at a time. So coming back from a 6-0 deficit didn’t really seem likely – especially with a less than primetime line-up.

But comeback they did.

  • What was the biggest hit? Guillen’s bases loaded double? Matt Joyce’s 2 strike homer? Miguel Cabrera’s walk-off? Does it matter?
  • Casey Fossum went 3.1 eventful innings. He loaded the bases with nobody out before fanning the side. In the end he finished with 5 K’s and kept the team in the game before handing it over to Joel Zumaya and Todd Jones.
  • Todd Jones needs to be buying dinner for Carlos Guillen tonight who turned 2 slick plays, one kept the Indians off the board.
  • Walk-offs and big comebacks are fun when your team does the coming back and walking off
  • FSN does a nice job with their postgame show. But one item was severely lacking tonight. When Matt Joyce was interviewed on the field there was no mention of the kitten. How does this happen?
2008 Season

Tigers ink Ryan Perry

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The Tigers have signed first round pick Ryan Perry to a $1,480,000 signing bonus. There was no slot busting drama this year with Perry signing for about the same amount as the guys immediately above and below him in the draft.

Reportedly the Tigers would like to bring up Perry when the rosters expand on September 1st. In the meantime he’ll head to Lakeland. I’d guess that he pitches out of the bullpen the remainder of this year.

2008 Season

Tigers housing rally kitten

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Maybe Matt Joyce found a good luck charm in the Tigers batting cage in the form of a kitten.

Tigers outfielder Matt Joyce, hearing the tiny black cat whimper, climbed up on a stool and, with batting gloves on to protect his hands, pulled the animal down, before carrying it up the stairs into the clubhouse.

The kitten was last seen being fed milk in a bowl by Joyce in the Tigers clubhouse kitchen.

The report doesn’t mention a lot:

  1. What did they name the cat?
  2. Was it a black cat and is it in fact bad luck? How long had it been in the batting cage and is it in anyway responsible for for Edgar Renteria’s slump?
  3. Who gets to clean out the litter box?
  4. Will Joyce take the cat on road trips?
  5. Where will it live? Perhaps someone can make a bed out of a pillow in Brandon Inge’s locker?
  6. How the hell did a cat get in the batting cage?
2008 Season, Minors

Tigers Minor League Wrap 7-8-08

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Scranton 2 Toledo 10
Michael Hollimon was a homer short of the cycle. Brandon Inge had two singles and a walk, as did Timo Perez and Mike Hessman. Zach Miner pitched 4 innings allowing just 2 hits and 1 walk while fanning 5 and he did it with 60 pitches.

Erie 3 Reading 6
Wilkin Ramirez tripled and Kody Kirkland added a double. Josh Rainwater allowed 4 runs, but only one was earned, in 6.2 innings with 4 walks.

Lakeland 9 Brevard County 0
Brenna Boesch hit two homers and Mike Bertram was a triple short of the cycle. Jeramy Laster went 3 for 6. Rick Porcello allowed 1 walk and 1 hit in 6 shut out innings with 2 K’s.

West Michigan DNP

Oneonta DNP

GCL Tigers PPD

2008 Season, Game Post

Game 89: Indians at Tigers

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PREGAME: I’m not big on advocating games as must-win. The term is way overused and it’s something I’ve heard thrown around at least a dozen times already this season for the Tigers. So I won’t call this a must-win. Instead I’ll call it “they better freakin’ win.” It’s not that the game holds that many ramifications. But the Tigers send out their ace against a replacement starter. A replacement starter with a 7.53 ERA and half as many homers as strikeouts. It’s time for the Tigers lineup to wake up.

Jeremy Sowers takes the mound for the Indians. The last 2 times he faced Detroit he went 4 innings and allowed 5 runs on 7 hits. I’d take that again. If you look at his splits, they are all bad except for when the hitter is down 0-2. So Tigers hitters, don’t do that.

Justin Verlander, who was moved up a spot with the off day allowing him to make 2 starts on the homestand, will look to be more efficient. He’s been racking up strikeouts, but racking up walks as well with 12 in his last 17 innings.

Oh yeah, one more thing. Prior to tonight’s game Placido Polanco will become a US citizen. So we’ll have to remember this day to check his splits by citizenship.

CLE @ DET, Tuesday, July 8, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

Game Time 7:05

POSTGAME: Well 9-2 will certainly do. I have to admit I was worried at the outset. Verlander needed 25 pitches to get through a 2 run first inning, while it took the Tigers 9 batters before they hit a ball hard. But then it all got better.

The Tigers remembered they were facing Jeremy Sowers. Justin Verlander remembered he was a stud and the rest was gravy.

  • Very happy to see Verlander have a light workload with only 99 pitches. He’d been piling up the pitch counts as of late.
  • Miguel Cabrera seems to be hitting better with the bad hip flexor with a 4 hit night including a couple of sore leg friendly homers.
  • Marcus Thames stopped the sucking with a double and a opposite field homer yet he still isn’t allowed to finish a game.
  • And Edgar Renteria reached on an error. He seemed to like his time on base because he ripped a solid single to center his next time up snapping an “awful for his last lot of at-bats” funk.
  • Aquilino Lopez looked good. Real good.
2008 Season, Injuries

Update on Dontrelle’s knee

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Dontrelle Willis had his right knee examined by Dr. Steven Lemos as well as an MRI and the diagnosis is patellar tendinitis. Willis was given a cortisone injection to reduce inflammation and he was fitted for a brace to provide additional support. He will return to Lakeland later this week to resume his program.

Patellar tendinitis is commonly referred to as jumper’s knee. According to MayoClinic.com it results from overuse in that small tears develop in the tendons and the body can’t repair them quick enough. The primary treatment is rest and conservative therapy. While the cortisone shot should help with pain, it doesn’t help with the healing process and could weaken the tendon.

2008 Season, Minors

Tigers Minor League Wrap 7-7-08

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Scranton 1 Toledo 8
Brandon Inge homered and walked in 4 plate appearances in game 1 of his rehab assingment. Max St. Pierre homered as well and Brent Clevlen picked up 2 hits. Chris Lambert pitched a complete game 3 hitter.

Erie 3 Bowie 4
Erie only managed 3 hits, one of them a homer from Casper Wells. Lucas French fanned 6 in 6 innings allowing 4 runs, only 2 of which were earned.

Lakeland 5 Brevard County 9
Ryan Strieby homered. Devin Thomas was 1 for 3 with a walk. Matt O’Brien was rocked for 11 hits in 5.1 innings.

West Michigan 1 Dayton 9
Audy Ciriaco hit his 7th homer for one of the Caps 3 hits. Andrew Hess allowed 3 runs in 5 innings of work. Noah Krol surrendered 4 unearned runs in 1 inning on a homer and 2 other hits.

State College 1 Oneonta 4
Eric Harryman had 2 hits and scored 2 runs. Trevor Feeney allowed 1 run on 4 K’s, 1 walk, and 6 hits in 5 innings. Anthony Shawler pitched 3 scoreless innings and Tyler Stohr picked up his sixth save with a scoreless ninth.

GCL Blue Jays 8 GLC Tigers 6
Josh Workman singled and hit a grand slam. Chao-Ting Tang homered and doubled in 4 at-bats. Nicholas Cassavechia pitched 4 innings of relief and recorded 8 strike outs and no walks.

2008 Season, Injuries

Does Willis have a torn ACL?

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Dontrelle Willis was brought up from Lakeland to have his knee examined yet again. Willis has of course been “not right” all year long. He struggled with his control in the spring and it never got better before or after he slipped on the mound in Chicago culminating in a demotion to Class A Lakeland. Is it possible that Willis did more than hyperextend the knee and perhaps damaged the ACL?

Eddie Bajek of Detroit Tigers Thoughts believes this to be the case and he provides a pretty interesting theory. I’ve known Eddie online for several years and the guy isn’t a dummy. At the same time he’s a mechanical engineer and not an orthopod, nor does he have access to any test results. But the chronology and events around this, as well as some photographic evidence from Dontrelle’s Lakeland appearance don’t add up.

Willis experienced pain during his rehab assignment. He hopped around in each of his appearances and even solicited a visit from trainer Kevin Rand during his Oakland start. And yet the knee was deemed fine. If the knee is the source of his control problems in some respects it is reassuring that said problems could be correctable. But if the above is true that is pretty damning of the staff that it got this far.

2008 Season, AL Central

About that Verlander-Sabathia match-up

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For those of you looking forward to Justin Verlander and CC Sabathia locking horns (as if they were deer, what a dumb expression that is) on Tuesday night, you might have to settle for Justin Verlander and Jeff Weaver. That’s almost the same thing right? Sabathia has been traded to the Milwaukee Brewers for a passel of prospects including Matt Laporta. He’ll join the team and be successful in the next year or two and the Indians will lock him up through his arbitration years and then they’ll trade him in 2013 at the trade deadline for more prospects.

The Indians continue to transform the club with this coming after the Tribe DFA’d Joe Borowski. The AL Central continues to transform as well with Sabathia joining Johan Santana as southpaw Cy Young winners headed to the senior circuit.

2008 Season, Injuries

Tigers getting pieces back

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It appears that Brandon Inge is close to returning and he’ll join Toledo on Monday for a rehab assignment.

Also, Rod and Mario mentioned during today’s broadcast that Ramon Santiago could be back for the Cleveland series. Going into tonight’s game (and he’s 0 for 2 as I write this), Santiago is 2 for 21 with 2 walks and 6 K’s with the Mud Hens. So he hasn’t found that stroke he had going with the Tigers earlier this season.

Of course Santiago’s return likely means that Michael Hollimon gets sent down. Hollimon has played well since some jitters in his first start in San Francisco.

2008 Season, Pitching

An old dog teaching himself a new trick

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Kenny Rogers was pitching a mighty fine game on Friday when he decided he needed a little something different. So he “invented” a cutter during the game.

“It keeps guys a little honest,” said Rogers, who ran into trouble in the eighth, allowing a walk, a hit-batsman, and a two-run double to Jose Lopez . “I just didn’t use it in the eighth. “But it’s a pitch I can throw inside to righties. It makes the plate that much wider.”

I find this pretty remarkable on a couple fronts. First that he tries out a new pitch in a game and is able to command it and be successful with it. Second, and more surprising, is that he hasn’t tried it out in the past. For a guy that hasn’t been relying on “stuff” for quite some time and has been looking for every edge he can get (insert pine tar joke here) I can’t believe he wouldn’t already have it in the arsenal if he could command it.