Month: April 2007

My Favorite Author Dies

David Halberstam was killed Monday morning in San Francisco and I’m more than a little bummed.

For a fuller obit, read the one from his former paper, The New York Times.

Halberstam was my favorite writer and I suppose he still is. The first book of his that I read was “The Summer of ’49” a wonderfully researched and written tale of an epic battle for the American League title.

“The Breaks of the Game” about the 1979 Portland Trail Blazers is another classic.

“October 1964“? Terrific

Yes, the man wrote about much more than sport but that was how I was introduced to him.

I did have the pleasure of being in the same room with the man once. It was the fall of 1994 and my wife and I were in a theater in downtown Chicago waiting for the film “Quiz Show” to begin. Before the lights were dimmed I noticed Halberstam sitting across the theater from me.

I knew then that I needed to say something to him and would regret that I didn’t take advantage of the opportunity. But I felt like I’d be bothering him and chose not to do anything.

Today I regret that decision even more.

11:15 a.m. PT Update:

Others weigh in: Peter Gammons on “The greatest journalist of my lifetime.”

Will Carroll in BaseballProsectus.com.

Tigers roadtrip recap: day 1

FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif. — I certainly should be in bed right now with a 6:30 wake-up call coming but thought I’d share some impressions from the first game on this two-day, two-game roady for the Tigers and for me.


Poor meal management on my part prevented me from seeing Grandy round the bases in the first inning. (Photo: Mark Avery / Associated Press)

I’m not sure if you could tell on TV the number of Tigers fans at Angels Stadium for Monday night’s game but it was impressive. I’m not good at deciphering percentages but I’ll go out on a limb and say a third of the fans were Tigers loyalists. I spoke to one fan from Southern Cal who moved not long ago from West Bloomfield and another Metro Detroit native who know lives in Houghton Lake. I interviewed her for the podcast.

I missed Curtis Granderson‘s leadoff homer because I chose to go first to the concession stand. So, while I was waiting for the Farmer John Grand Slam dog ($5), Grandy circled the bases. When I asked the concessionaire to explain the difference between the Farmer John hot dog ($3) and the Grand Slam version she said: “More meat.” Isn’t that always the case?

Placido Polanco‘s first at bat led to a curious call and an early exit for an Angels fan. The fan interfered with a foul pop down the left-field line and Polanco was called out. Soon three of Anaheim’s finest came to take away the offender. Can you imagine paying the ticket price for a first-row seat only to be bounced after two batters?

The Angels do something original between innings. It’s called “The Kiss Cam” where they pan the crowd and…What’s that? You’ve seen this at every sporting event in North America? Oh. Yeah, me too. But what you probably didn’t see on Monday night was when the camera guy (or gal) zeroed-in on Mario Impemba and Rod Allen during the Kiss Cam. Allen was standing and Impemba was seated, looking like he might have been broadcasting. Allen laughed and then leaned down to kiss the top of Mario’s head. Can’t confirm if there was actual contact.

Looking forward to a mini sweep of a mini series. My friend John Milton and I will be taking in the game with Bob Wright of the Baseball History Podcast. Followed by seven hours on the road back to Phoenix.

Life is good!

Tracking trends and thinking outloud

In no particular order:

  • Another solid outing wasted. And we can’t even blame it on Fernando Rodney. I’m convinced that if Paul Konerko had come to the dish for a seventh at bat, he hits a homer. (I said the same thing about ABs #1-6.)
  • With a free pass today, I suppose it’s no longer fashionable to get on Pudge about his lack of plate discipline.
  • Classic shot from today’s game: The fan using the tip end of his sunglasses to punch his All Star ballot selections. How many times I’ve used keys, drinking straws and whatever point-ish objects I could find at the ball park. I believe the MLB ballot invented the hanging chad.
  • In no way is this meant to be glib: What does Sean Casey give the Tigers that Carlos Pena didn’t? So far, all we get from The Councilman is steady glove work. A below .200 average? Carlos can give you at least .220.

    Think about it. Are you thinking about it?

  • In a comment to last week’s Non-Sequiturs, Josh Wallen called me on my man crush for Todd Helton. It wouldn’t be funny if it weren’t so true.
  • Remember last year when the Tigers left Detroit in April for the West Coast? Good things started happening then. Could that be the elixir again in 2007? Let’s hope so; I’ll be in Anaheim for Monday and Tuesday’s games.
  • I’ll be recording the next podcast from the road and The Big A. We’ll see how well this portable recording technology performs.

Enjoy your week.

Minutiae Morsels and Tigers Tidbits

As Detroit finally (?) emerges from the chill of winter/spring, we’re cool and rainy in the desert. Bygones.

Here are some items lifted/edited from today’s Tigers Game Notes:

  • Carlos Guillen enters today’s game with a .370 batting average (10 for 27) during his career versus Jose Contreras. Guillen is third among all active major league players with a minimum of 15 plate appearances against Contreras with a .370 batting average.
  • Placido Polanco collected his sixth straight multi-hit game at home last night to begin the season. Polanco is the first major leaguer to accomplish that feat since Chicago’s Chet Lemon also posted six straight multi-hit games at home to begin the year April 10-27, 1979. St. Louis’ Julian Javier accomplished the feat in seven straight games April 11-29, 1962.
  • Nate Robertson enters his start this afternoon seventh in the American League with a 1.80 ERA while he is tied for seventh with two wins and tied for 13th with 2.25 walks per nine innings pitched.
  • Speaking of Nate, he’s making his 57th appearance, 56th start, at Comerica Park during his career today. In his previous 56 appearances, he is 18-22 with a 4.29 ERA (342.1 IP / 163 ER) and 243 strikeouts.

I just searched DirecTV’s MLB Game Mix channel to see what channel the Tigers are on.

Gulp.

They aren’t on Extra Innings. They are, unfortunately, on WGN. I’ll have to watch with the sound turned down. Ken Harrelson is, well, words don’t describe how bad he is as an announcer.

If you want to read about how bad he was as the Sox’ GM in 1986, pick up a copy of Rob Neyer‘s “Big Book of Baseball Blunders.” In fact, the chapter on Maury Wills as the Mariners’ manager alone is worth the price of the book.

Around the Tigersphere:

  • Bill compiles a nice update on the Tigers minor league affiliates.
  • Brian at TigerBlog reports that phormer phenom Humberto Sanchez is slated for Tommy John surgery and out for the year. Probably explains why Alfonso Soriano never became a Tiger last year.
  • For my money, the most solid all-around Tigers blog these days is Ian‘s Bless You Boys. He’s making me look bad with his never-ending volume of posts. Curse you, Mr. Casselberry!

Have a great weekend.