The Tigers are in for a three game set vs. the Rangers next Tues/Wed/Thurs. I’ve got tix already for Thurs (taking my daughter to her first game), and am free on Tues night if anyone plans to make it.
Category Archives: Miscellaneous
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It’s safe to come out now. The you-know-what is over. I don’t know what it was supposed to prove, with the Tigers not in it, but I guess they’d already scheduled the event and couldn’t cancel on such short notice.
(NOTE TO FUTURE GENERATIONS IN SEARCH OF CONTEXT: At this point in the offseason, the following changes/events have taken place: Jim Leyland has retired. Four or five candidates to replace him have been interviewed and have also interviewed with other teams. Club declines to offer Brayan Pena a contract. Matt Tuiasosopo (Diamondbacks) and Darin Downs (Astros) have been claimed off waivers by other teams. Club declines to pick up Jose Veras’s option. Miguel Cabrera has had surgery to repair a groin tear and is expected to recover well before spring training 2014.)
To discuss, much of said discussion already in progress:
* Who will the new manager be? Who should it be? You, maybe? Commenting here gives you a leg up for the job, I’ve been told, so speak up.
* Whole new coaching staff or some holdovers?
* Catcher: Avila/Holaday? Holaday/Veteran Backup? Free Agent/Avila?
* First Base: Fielder an albatross? A slight overreaction, perhaps?
* Second Base: Pay up for Infante or let him go? Go with youth and potential in Perez, or make him serve an apprenticeship, under… who?
* Shortstop: Is Iglesias the shortstop of the future or an injury-plagued and mostly batless dead end?
* Third Base: Is Cabrera’s surgery really “no big deal”? Will his condition(ing) and health be an issue in 2014? How did that groin injury come about, anyway? (Rhetorical.)
* Left Field: Sink or swim with Castellanos? Hedge your bets with Dirks? Something more surprising, as in free agent in, other guys gone?
* Center Field: Continue to grant AJax Favored CF status, or pull a surprise? Could he bloom under a manager with actual confidence in him?
* Right Field: Is Torii the Hacker really your #2 hitter? I see a vacancy at #6.
* Designated Hitter: A position without a question mark, eh? Oops. Would Martinez batting immediately behind Cabrera be too much to ask for?
* Bench: Santiago and Kelly stick around? Seriously? What’s a good bench for this team?
* Starting pitching: Would they really trade Scherzer? Come on. Really? Is Smyly in the rotation a foregone conclusion? Is Fister such a lock? Does the occasionally brilliant young Alvarez stand a chance, and would it take an injury to one of the main dudes to find out?
* Bullpen: Is Benoit the “anchor” you want? Will the mythical appeal of “established closer” never die? Is it enough already with AlburCokey? Is Rondon the new Zumaya? As the bullpen purge proceeds apace, would you rather see a few “name guys” brought in or an effort to assemble a greater quantity of lesser-known talent? Rondon, Putkonen, Ortega, Alvarez – young turks and core of a new group or peripherals?
* AL Central: Would 3rd place in 2014 surprise you? It’s a jungle out there.
* Does a new manager really promise a more modern approach to baseball and a different style of play, or does “no culture change” mean what we think it means? Is Mr. New Manager going to be the placeholder for a train wreck, the one-season sacrificial lamb?
* Scan those free agent and arbitration-eligible lists, plot your brilliant trades, and order your brilliant lineups and batting orders. The Hot Stove League is upon us.
News and Notes: Playoff Off Day (for us)
Props to the Pirates. Good luck in the playoffs.
I’m really looking forward to tonight’s Cle/Tampa game. I’m going to pull for Cle.
A few interesting tidbits from the WSJ last week:
– According to Baseball Info Solutions there have been more than 7,800 “defensive shifts” in 2013, up from 4,500 in 2012.
– The frequency of sacrifice bunts and intentional walks fell to record lows this year. Stolen-base attempts sank to their lowest since 1973. The stats guys are winning out.
I heard this during a radio broadcast (can’t remember which game)
– There were 12 guys with 100+ RBI this year, two on the Tigers. In 2000 there were over 51 (including Bobby Higginson and Dean Palmer)
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And a thought which I’m carrying over from a Coleman/Smoking Loon exchange last week.
– I had a Strat-0-Matic set when I was young. Actually, it was my father’s and the player cards were from ’77-’79. Not the best Tiger years, but the Yankees and A’s could kill it. I remember playing whole games and keeping score. When I was very young, the great Jon Miller did play-by-play for the Rangers and lived a few houses down from us. I didn’t have any baseball consciousness then, but my parents buddied up with the Millers. Several years later he was in Arlington for an Orioles/Rangers series and he came by the house. Strat-O-Matic came up and he told me that he use to simulate entire seasons with one team, and would call the play-by-play and do the PA as he progressed through the games.
– With that in mind, can we talk for a bit about baseball video games? When I was six, my next door neighbor, Kyle, had baseball for his Atari. He used to dominate me when we played and would turn to me and do a menacing laugh every time he hit a home run. In fact, he’d load up the bases on purpose and then hit a grand slam. Over and over and over. Finally, he turned to me to start his laugh and I punched him in the nose. The laughs stopped and my team’s performance improved.
– I would like to single-handedly claim responsibility for the incredible Matt Williams 1990 season. If you’ll remember, Baseball Stars came out in 1989. Unless you wanted to play with the Lovely Ladies or the Japan Robins, you had to name your own teams (playing with the American Dreams just wasn’t fair). My buddy and I named every MLB team, including a 3B for the Giants named Matt Williams whom we had never heard of. He hit about .660 with 54 home runs in our first Baseball Stars season, and in 1990 he became an All-Star for the first time. Coincidence?
– I played RBI Baseball when I went to my friends’ houses who weren’t as fortunate to have Baseball Stars like me, but I felt sorry for them.
– I also played a lot of Tony La Russa baseball in the early 90’s on my PC. In fact, that’s how I really came to know many of the all-time Tiger greats. This was, of course, when I wasn’t playing Leisure Suit Larry.
– Baseball games kind of got lost for me once the consoles improved, as the focus shifted to Madden and NHL.
– I did, however, pick up MLB The Show a few years ago, and that game is unbelievable. I’d play more if the games just didn’t take so long. Plus, that was 2 years ago so I’m tired of trying to win with Brad Penny. They really have done an amazing job of making sure that you buy the new edition every year.