Category Archives: 2006 Season

2006 Season, Minors

Tigers Minor League Wrap – August 29th

Toledo 6, Durham 1
Ryan Raburn was 3 for 5 including his 20th homer. Chris Shelton was 1 for 3 with 2 walks and a strike out. Brian Boehringer pitched 7 strong innings allowing 1 run.

Trenton 11, Erie 2
Nate Bumstead was pounded for 9 runs on 10 hits and 4 walks over 4 innings. Brent Clevlen was 1 for 2 with 2 walks.

Lakeland 8, Dunedin 2
Jeff Frazier had 2 homers and Jeff Larish singled, doubled, and walked. Dallas Trahern allowed 2 runs on 3 hits and 2 walks over 5 innings.

Lansing 7, West Michigan 4
Justin Justice went 2 for 3 with a walk and a stolen base. Cameron Maybin was 1 for 3 with 2 walks. Erik Averill allowed 4 runs on 6 hits, 2 walks and 4 K’s. Ricky Steik allowed 3 runs in the 9th inning to take the loss.

Oneonta – Cancelled (Rain)

2006 Season, Game Post

Game 132: Tigers at Yankees

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So the game was cancelled just as I was about to post this. I’ll leave it here for commenting, and hopefully it will be applicable tomorrow.

PREGAME: A couple weeks ago the Tigers were coming off a 5 game losing streak and heading to Boston. Things looked bleak with the Tigers facing Schilling and Beckett while the White Sox went off to play 4 games against Kansas City. There were some that predicted the Tigers 5.5 game lead would be cut to 2.5 within a matter of days. The Tigers did the unexpected and took the first 2 games of the series and were able to keep there lead intact.

Now the Tigers head to the Bronx with a similarly daunting task. Their chief competition in the Central are off playing the Devil Rays, and the Royals while the Tigers take on the Yankees. I’m not saying the Tigers will take the first 2 in this series, just illustrating the situational similarities and given the despair of 2 weeks ago, not a lot has changed from the Tigers perspective.

As for the game itself Nate Robertson will take the hill for Detroit. His last start contributed to the worst loss of the season for the Tigers. But at least he almost got through 7 innings on a day when the bullpen was largely unavailable.

Chien-Ming Wang will oppose the Tigers. After putting together 17 scoreless innings over 2 starts, Wang has had uneven results over his last 4. He’s not a strikeout pitcher, but the Tigers are a strikeout team so we’ll see what happens.

2006 Season, Roster Management

Completing the Shuffle – Nook Logan DFA’d

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Finishing up the roster moves that were announced on Sunday, Nook Logan was designated for assignment to make room on the 40 man roster for Alexis Gomez.

Also, Tony Giarratano was recalled and immediately placed on the 15 day DL. I’d imagine this is a prelude to a transfer to the 60 day DL which would 1. make room on the 40 man for Mike Maroth to be activated this weekend, and 2. allow the Tigers the option of making another infielder playoff eligible.

2006 Season, Defense, Tiger History

Off Day Linking and Site News

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  • It appears that comment spam problem is taken care of. It wasn’t a specific attack on me, but Akismet, which is a service that does spam filtering went down. The tide has been stemmed so no need to register for now
  • Tiger blogger night is one week from Tuesday. Big Al will be joining the ranks and I received emails from a couple readers as well. If you’re interested in joining us, we are sitting in mezzanine section 212 row 1.
  • Greg Eno draws parallels between the upcoming series, and a labor day series against the Yankees from 1961.
  • Baseball stat guru Tom Tango (aka TangoTiger) and author of The Book is conducting his annual Fan Scouting Report. In past years the Tigers have been underrepresented in the polling. With a little more interest this year, there might be more response. (Hat Tip Tiger Tales)
  • Kurt broke down the Tigers recent string of losses. It just goes to show there are many ways to lose a game.
  • While I disagree with Pat Caputo on a regular basis, we’re on the same page in terms of Neifi Perez. While other local writers are still defending the move and Leyland’s decision to play him everyday, it’s nice to see one member of the media see what everyone else is seeing.
2006 Season, Minors

Tigers Minor League Wrap – August 28th

Durham 8, Toledo 7
Alexis Gomez got in one last game before heading to New York and he went 1 for4 with a walk. Josh Phelps was 3 for 5. Chris Shelton was 0 for 5. Jordan Tata started and allowed 5 runs, 3 earned, in 5 innings before being lifted after 73 pitches.

Erie – PPD

Lakeland 5, Dunedin 5 (in progress)
Jim Essian was 3 for 5. Eddie Bonine lasted 7 2/3 innings and allowed 3 runs on 8 hits, 1 walk, and 9 K’s.

West Michigan 3, Lansing 1
Mike Hollimon homered and walked. Cameron Maybin took and 0 for 4. Sendy Vasquez was excellent over 6 innings. He allowed 1 run on 3 hits, no walks, and 9 K’s.

Oneonta 11, Tri-City 4
Scott Sizemore had 3 hits and a walk. Ronnie Bourquin was 2 for 4 as was Jeff Junkel. Duane Below, up from the GCL, allowed 4 runs, 3 earned in 5 2/3 innings. Lauren Gagnier pitched 2 scoreless innings in relief.

2006 Season, Roster Management

Roster Shuffling – Andrew Miller’s up

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The Tigers made several roster moves today.

Brent Clevlen was sent back to Erie and Alexis Gomez was called up.

And on the pitching side, Colby Lewis was returned to Toledo and Andrew Miller will be joining the bullpen. Also, tenderness in Mike Maroth’s elbow will mean that Wil Ledezma will take Maroth’s spot on Wednesday in New York.

I suspect these moves are highly fueled by setting up the playoff roster. As near as I can figure to be eligible for the playoff roster, a player must be on the active roster or the disabled list as of 9pm August 31st.

Essentially the Tigers believe that they’d rather have Alexis Gomez than Brent Clevlen for the playoffs. This is certainly a debatable point given what Clevlen has shown. In terms of defense, Gomez is solid, but Clevlen certainly can hold his own. Offensively Clevlen showed quite a bit during his MLB stretch, but keep in mind he’d only been hitting 220 at the time he was called up. Sample size issues abound. Also, Gomez has been hitting very well for Toledo going 308/360/681 in August. I’m not taking sides on this move, just presenting information.

The good news for Clevlen is that this demotion will only be until Friday when the team can expand its roster.

As for Miller, his first few games have certainly been impressive in Lakeland, and he very well may be ready. But this is a huge jump for any player. It’s not just moving to the big leagues from essentially college, but doing it for a team intent on locking up a post season spot.

Now back to that playoff eligible roster thing. There are loop holes in that a player of the same position (OF/OF, IF/IF, P/P, etc) can replace a player that is on the 60 day DL. I believe (but I’m not sure) that the Tigers could add a minor leaguer, such as Tony Giarratano, to the 60 day DL and then be able to replace him on the playoff roster with any other infielder in the organization – say Chris Shelton. Now I bring this up because the recall of Gomez means a 40 man roster spot needs to be created. Mike Maroth’s activation will also require a 40 man roster spot.

2006 Season, Game Post

Game 131: Tigers at Indians

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PREGAME: For the 3rd time in the last 3 weekends the Tigers come into Sunday looking to avoid a lost weekend. It will be Kenny Rogers and Cliff Lee today.

On another note, I’ve been bombarded with spam comments over the last 12 hours – to the tune of 300. The spam filters are catching many, and others are being held for moderation, but still too many are getting in. I’m considering switching to a system where you’d have to register with the site to leave comments. Would any of you be opposed to that?

Game Time 1:05

POSTGAME: Sigh. Last night the Tigers put a hit and run on, and the ball was hit right back up the middle – right to the 2nd baseman covering on the play. That’s pretty much what the Tigers fortunes had been for the last 20 games. Today, in the 6th inning with Kenny Rogers trying to end a threat with runners on 1st and 2nd induced a foul ball bouncer down the third baseline. Inexplicably it bounced back fair right before the bag, and right into Brandon Inge’s glove. Inge stepped on 3rd and the rally was thwarted. Like the ball changing directions, hopefully the Tigers fortunes will be also.

The Tigers needed a pitcher to put a stop to the bleeding, and they turned to the old man with the history of 2nd half collapses to shut down a very potent offense. Rogers gave the team 7 innings or 1 run ball when they needed it the most. If nothing else it tells you how ludicrous it is to have discussions about post season rotations before the All Star break.

Marcus Thames got a rare start, hit a homer, and was of course lifted for a pinch hitter. I don’t get it.

Curtis Granderson really seems to be getting his stroke back with a homer, double, walk, and most importantly no strike outs. Strike outs typically don’t bother me, especially if they come with a high OBP or big power numbers. Granderson hadn’t been providing those other elements making the K’s more of a concern.

Another good day for Omar, hope he enjoyed it. He had a couple hits and made nice defensive plays to both the glove and barehand sides.

2006 Season, Game Post

Game 130: Tigers at Indians

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PREGAME: This afternoon I watched Tiger Town. You remember the movie right? A made for TV, Disney Sunday night movie about Billy Young, a Tiger legend who was nearing the end of his career and the boy that believed in him.

I only bring this up because if Roy Scheider can lead a team from 16 games back to capture the division, than anything can happen right?

Tonight the Tigers once again turn to Justin Verlander to play the role of stopper. Last month he pitched in Jacobs Field when the Tigers bullpen had been pretty worn out and went toe to toe with CC Sabathia for the victory. Here’s hoping he can have the same fate against Jake Westbrook.

Game Time 7:05

2006 Season, Minors

Tigers Minor League Wrap – August 25th

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Toledo 10, Louisville 4
Mike Maroth made his 4th rehab start. He allowed 2 runs on 7 h its, 1 walk, and 4 K’s while throwing 79 pitches over 6 innings. Ryan Ludwick was 2 for 4 including his 27th homer and Alexis Gomez singled and doubled twice. Chris Shelton was 0 for 3 with a walk and 3 K’s.

Erie 3, Binghamton 2
Jair Jurrjens pitched 5 innings and allowed 2 runs on 6 hits, 2 walks, and 5 K’s.

Binghamton 5, Erie 0
PJ Finigan started and allowed all 5 runs on 8 hits. Chris Maples picked up 2 singles, which was exactly half of the team’s offensive output.

Lakeland 7, Fort Myers 6
Jeff Larish was 1 for 2 with 2 walks. Kevin Ardoin allowed 5 runs over 5 innings. Kevin Whelan picked up the save fanning 4 of the 5 batters he faced.

West Michigan 3, Fort Wayne 2
Matt Joyce homered and Cameron Maybin was 2 for 4. Matt O’Brien allowed 2 runs, both unearned, over 6 innings.

Oneonta 12, Vermont 3
Ronnie Bourquin and Brennan Boesch each had 3 hits. Scott sizemore took a rare 0 for 4. Zach Piccola allowed 2 runs, 1 earned, over 6 innings. Jonah Nickerson allowed only a walk and a solo homer in 3 innings of relief.

2006 Season, Game Post

Game 129: Tigers at Indians

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PREGAME: The Tigers head to Jacobs field in search of their first weekend win since, well since the last time they played the Indians and swept them with late inning heroics.

Jeremy Bonderman meanwhile will be in search of his first August decision – preferably a win of course.

He’ll be opposed by Jeremy Sowers who’ll be facing the Tigers for the first time this year.

Game Time 7:05

POSTGAME: The silver linings are getting harder and harder to come by. At least Omar Infante made the most of his opportunity for whatever it’s worth.