Month: September 2011

Rainout (Over)Reaction

rainout.jpgYou could’ve sketched out a dozen or more scenarios for Game 1 in this ALDS but a suspended game after an inning and a half with the game tied at one?

That might have been in your second or third dozen scenarios.

In what seemed like an eternity, Twitter was blowing up during the rain delay with dire prognostications of how the game and the Tigers’ suddenly appeared doomed. The thing is, at that point we knew nothing.

Now we do. And despite the rainout and the Tigers having to pitch Doug Fister and Max Scherzer at Yankee Stadium, I still like the Tigers chances. So too does Jim Leyland:

“This is not a big deal,” Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. I don’t worry about stuff like that. I think when the manager makes a big deal about something like that, it affects the players. It is what it is. Good Lord, it rained. So what? It’s all about three. It’s all about three. Win three, lose three.”

The rumors of a day-night doubleheader (should Saturday’s game get washed out too) never seemed right to me. And I’m glad Major League Baseball eliminated that option right away.

Continue reading “Rainout (Over)Reaction”

A Tigers-Phillies Dream Series? Not According to The Weather Channel

When the weather is bad in Detroit and most other Midwest and Northeast cities in April and early May, fans complain, as they should, about the crummy conditions at the ballpark. Bad weather in October is much more bearable because, hey, it’s the postseason and it’s supposed to be cold. Besides, not every team gets the pleasure of playing in the fall. So we deal with it.

The folks at The Weather Channel posted a story titled “A Fantasy World Series Pairing … Weather-Wise” and of all the possible World Series scenarios, a Tigers-Phillies matchup ranks as the worst:

Philadelphia’s Weather Basics:
Average Highs, Oct. 19-27: 63-66 degrees
Average Lows, Oct. 19-27: 45-47 degrees
Earliest Measurable Snowfall: Oct. 10, 1979 (2.1 inches)

Detroit’s Weather Basics:
Average Highs, Oct. 19-27: 57-60 degrees
Average Lows, Oct. 19-27: 40-42 degrees
Earliest Measurable Snowfall: Oct. 12, 2006

(snip)

Spending an October night in either of these stadiums has the potential to turn ugly. In the 2008 World Series between the Phillies and the Tampa Bay Rays, rain delays held up Games 3 and 5 in Philadelphia, the rain delay in Game 5 actually lasting two days. A storm system came through the area and forced a Monday night game to be postponed until Wednesday, when the Phillies finally won the championship-clinching game.

Detroit is also no stranger to nasty World Series weather. In their 2006 series against the St. Louis Cardinals, the Tigers hosted Games 1 and 2, which had first-pitch highs of 56 and 44 degrees, respectively. When the series shifted to St. Louis for Games 3-5, the temperature for any of those three games never made it above 53 degrees, and Game 3 had a first-pitch temperature of 43 degrees.

All of it true. Game four of the 2006 ALCS the 4 o’clock-ish game-time temperature was 45 degrees or so. By the time Magglio Ordonez launched his pennant-clinching homer, it was in the high 30s.

Didn’t matter. I wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere else. Same goes for this year. Snow or no snow, if I can get a ticket to the World Series in Detroit, I’m there.

Tigers Roster Set … and a Tad Upsetting

In 1984, the Tigers made the no-brainer decision to leave southpaw reliever Sid Monge off the playoff roster. Monge had an undistinguished half seaon with the Tigers after being picked up off waivers from the Padres — 1-0, 4.25 ERA in 19 games.

He didn’t pitch enough in the regular season and, left hander or no, he wasn’t going to appear in the ALCS or World Series. And God knows we didn’t want him to.

This morning we learned that another seemingly no-brainerish decision — to leave Brad Penny off the ALDS roster — was, in fact, not made. What the …? Jim Leyland hasn’t, and likely won’t, offer much to the media to chew on in the way of rationale for this decision.

Here’s the most obvious question: In what scenario, a Game 4 start, long relief, middle relief, would any Tigers fan feel comfortable seeing Penny on the mound? Speaking for myself: None.

Jason Beck reports on his blog:

Both Rick Porcello and Brad Penny are on the roster. One of them is expected to start Game 4 is necessary (sic). The other will work out of the bullpen.

Would I feel better seeing David Pauley? It depends. If it’s relief, absolutely. And would I feel more confident in Porcello starting Game 4? Ditto. (But if there’s a rainout between tonight and Game 4, are we still to believe that Justin Verlander won’t make that start?)

And what about Ryan Perry? Can the Tigers afford his baffling inconsistency in the postseason?

So what we’ve got are four pitchers — the three P’s: Penny, Porcello, Perry, and Max Scherzer — on the ALDS roster that make us wonder if the good version or bad version will show up.

I have no problem with the position-player decisions, even backup catcher Omir Santos. There’s no way Leyland is going to lose a playoff game — or series — by having to put Brandon Inge or Don Kelly behind the plate. No chance. I think Santos makes sense.

But the real news here is Penny. I’m afraid that if we see him in this series we’re going to long for Sid Monge.

Dave Schoenfield weighs in on both A.L. Division Series rosters on the SweetSpot blog.

Who’s Picking Who?

Predictions are such a cliche, aren’t they? But, hey, the Tigers are in the postseason and in the spirit of supporting the home team, here’s a rundown of predictions for the Tigers/Yankees series from across the baseball galaxy:

Local Writers

  • Tom Gage: Tigers in five
  • Lynn Henning: Tigers in five
  • Tony Paul: Tigers in five
  • Bob Wojnowski: Tigers in five
  • John Niyo: Yankees in five
  • Mitch Albom: Tigers in five
  • John Lowe: Tigers in five
  • Michael Rosenberg: Tigers in five
  • Drew Sharp: Tigers in four

New York Writers

Newsday

  • Erik Boland (Yankees beat reporter): Tigers in four
  • Mark Herrmann: Yankees in four
  • Jim Baumbach: Tigers in four
    Anthony Rieber: Tigers in five

  • David Lennon: Tigers in five
  • Kimberley A. Martin: Yankees in five
  • Ken Davidoff: Yankees in four

ESPN

  • Jim Bowden: Yankees in five
  • Jim Caple: Tigers in five
  • Jerry Crasnick: Yankees in four
  • Jayson Stark: Tigers in five
  • Eric Karabell: Tigers in five
  • Curt Schilling: Tigers
  • John Kruk: Yankees
  • Keith Law: Yankees
  • Howard Bryant: Yankees in four
  • Dave Schoenfield: Yankees in five
  • Christina Kahrl: Tigers in five

Fox Sports

  • Ken Rosenthal: Tigers in five
  • Jon Paul Morosi: Tigers

The CBSSports.com Crew

Yahoo! Sports

  • Jeff Passan: Yankees in four
  • Kevin Kaduk: Yankees in four
  • Steve Henson: Tigers in five
  • Dave Brown: Tigers in five

And one final prediction: on the ride to work on Thursday I heard Larry King call into Power Alley with Jim Duquette and Kevin Kennedy on SiriusXM. Ol’ Larry picks the Tigers, for what it’s worth.

The Tale of 2011, Told Through Power Rankings Comments

One of my favorite parts of being the Tigers blogger on ESPN.com’s SweetSpot Network is contributing to the weekly MLB Power Rankings. While I don’t have a vote in where the Tigers rank, I do have a tiny voice in reporting the state of the club.

Rather than do a traditional season recap, here’s how the 2011 Tigers season unfolded, one week — and one comment — at a time.

WEEK RECORD RANK COMMENT
Week 1 1-2 15 Tigers pitchers solved Mark Teixeira’s early-season hitting woes — surrendering three homers to him in as many games during the opening weekend — and were lucky to leave the Bronx with one win.
Week 2 3-6 23 Other than a dominant performance by Justin Verlander against the Orioles and similar work by Phil Coke in his first start, the otherwise Tigers stunk it up last week with a dormant offense, dropping two of three to the Royals at Comerica (three hits off Bruce Chen?).
Week 3 7-9 16 The Tigers are starting to string together wins more regularly but won’t be able to do so consistently until the offense is better balanced. Their most urgent need is getting leadoff man Austin Jackson (.175 batting average) going — and fast.
Week 4 12-10 14 The Tigers used dominant pitching and opportunistic hitting to sweep the White Sox and finish a 5-1 week. Detroit pitchers held the Sox scoreless over the last 20 innings of the series.
Week 5 12-16 20 Back-to-back sweeps, first to the Mariners then to the Indians, have left the Tigers reeling. Free-agent prize Joaquin Benoit surrendered six earned runs in two-thirds of an inning this week and was tagged for two of the losses against the Tribe.
Week 6 17-18 16 Fans of the Jekyll and Hyde Tigers are in better spirits after a week in which they took three-of-four from the Yankees, Justin Verlander no-hit the Blue Jays and leadoff hitter Austin Jackson at last showed signs of life (8-for-24 this week) at the plate.
Week 7 22-18 9 From swoon to surge in a matter of weeks. The Tigers have won seven straight and 10 of their last 11. Speaking of surges, Jhonny Peralta hit .529 for the week to raise his season average to .307.
Week 8 23-23 14 So much for momentum. The once-surging Tigers scored 10 runs in their last six games — only five in the three-game weekend series against the Pirates. At the same time, the bullpen has unraveled, posting an ERA over 14.50 last week.
Week 9 26-26 16 Want just one reason the schizophrenic Tigers trail the Indians by six games? How about a run differential of minus-11 versus Cleveland’s plus-45?
Week 10 31-27 15 The Tigers are only 2.5 games behind the Indians for many reasons, including seventh-inning specialist Al Alburquerque. Last week, he struck out nine and allowed one hit in 4.1 scoreless innings. He has 35 K’s in 19.2 IP so far in ’11.
Week 11 35-30 10 The first-place Tigers’ offense depends on a lot of things, not the least of which is the suddenly hot Austin Jackson. After two sleepy months the Tigers’ leadoff man is hitting .370 in June with a .420 OBP.
Week 12 39-33 6 The past week belonged to Justin Verlander, who nearly threw his second no-hitter of the season on Tuesday. His line from two complete-game starts last week: 18 IP, 1 R, 6 H, 1 BB, 17 K. Oh, and this month he’s 4-0 with a 1.06 ERA in four starts.
Week 13 42-36 9 Three Tigers tidbits: In his start against the D-backs on Friday, Justin Verlander had 14 strikeouts. In his last 10 games, Austin Jackson has 14 strikeouts. Joaquin Benoit seems to have settled down: he’s allowed just two runs in his last 10 appearances (8.1 IP).
Week 14 45-40 11 Tigers pitchers surrendered 14 or more runs three times last week and 32 in a three-game set against the Mets. The 54-run total likely cost pitching coach Rick Knapp his job on Sunday.
Week 15 49-43 13 For the fourth time in Jim Leyland’s six years as Tigers manager, the club is in first place in the AL Central at the All-Star break. And last year they were only a half-game back. How this team finishes will determine if Leyland gets a seventh season in Detroit.
Week 16 50-45 13 The Tigers continue to play with fire: They’ve lost six of their past eight series but still manage to hang around the top of the AL Central. Look for them to make upgrades via trade soon to fuel a more consistent run to the division title.
Week 17 54-47 9 It looks like the Tigers have solved their second base problem with Carlos Guillen’s return to the lineup. Lou Whitaker he’ll never be, but if Guillen hits anywhere close to the .360 he’s posted in his first seven games, the Tigers will take the tradeoff of his slow-footed defense.
Week 18 57-51 10 After posting a 13-13 record in July, the Tigers look ahead to August, when they’ll face Central Division foes in six of nine series — including six games against the second-place Indians.
Week 19 61-53 10 The Tigers enter the week with a four-game lead on the Indians. With a three-game set on tap in Cleveland (one that unfortunately won’t feature a Justin Verlander-Ubaldo Jimenez matchup), they’re poised to put some serious distance between themselves and the Tribe.
Week 20 64-56 10 If the Tigers are determined not to run away with the AL Central, it mirrors their approach to winning games. The club’s last eight wins all were by one run. Their last win of more than a lone run came on July 29, a 12-2 win over the Angels.
Week 21 68-58 9 If you told Tigers fans a week ago that Delmon Young and Brandon Inge would play key roles in wins over the Twins and Indians, they’d have asked what bizarro world they were living in. Young batted .308 with two homers during the just-completed homestand and Inge homered in his first at-bat after returning from Triple-A.
Week 22 73-60 7 August has been a breakthrough month for the Tigers: Justin Verlander won his 20th game, the tireless Alex Avila is hitting .400, and Jose Valverde continues to rack up saves — to the tune of 39 straight. And they’re six up on the Indians, four more than on Aug. 1.
Week 23 78-62 8 Austin Jackson is getting hot at the right time for the Tigers. The leadoff man hit .500 last week (16-for-32) with two doubles, three triples and a pair of homers. What’s more, he had nine hits in the weekend sweep of the White Sox.
Week 24 84-62 4 How have the Tigers strung together nine straight wins? For starters, their standard lineup is hitting .339 so far in September, led by Victor Martinez at .361. Meanwhile, setup man Joaquin Benoit hasn’t surrendered a run since Aug. 2, a span of 16 2/3 innings.
Week 25 89-64 3 With the AL Central title secured, there’s little drama left for the Tigers. Remaining questions: Can Jose Valverde pad his his club record for saves and sustain his season-long perfection? And how many wins over 90 can they notch over the final 10 days of the regular season?
Week 26 92-67 5 The Tigers’ last bit of remaining business is to catch or pass the Rangers to secure home-field advantage in the ALDS. If Detroit and Texas finish with the same record, the Tigers will hold the tiebreaker.

Coping with the Post-Clincher Letdown

I guess if you watch enough baseball in your life you do get to experience just about everything. From the delirium of 1984 and ’06 to the body blow that was Game 163, I thought I’d gone through every emotion as a Tigers fan.

Then came Saturday morning. That’s when the letdown set in and I’ll be damned if I can’t shake it.

This is new terrain for me.

In 1984, the Tigers clinched the American League East with 11 games remaining on the schedule. The same is true this year. Twenty-seven years ago, at least as I remember it, those final games seemed to zip by as the Tigers prepared for the ALCS against the Royals. (Sparky’s club went 7-4 after securing the division title.)

This year, though, these final games are nothing short of excruciating – like a baseball version of “The English Patient“. (Add a Tuesday-night disaster from Brad Penny and it only gets worse.)

Maybe the remaining games will gain some zip when the Tigers return home on Thursday for the final two series of the season and get a raucous welcome home from the Detroit faithful.

Let’s get to the playoffs already.

Am I alone on this?

Random Thoughts on the Clincher

Watching the Tigers celebrate in the visitors clubhouse Friday night was surreal in a lot of ways. There they were, spraying champagne on the likes of John Keating and generally, in the words of George Kell, kicking up their heels in Oakland.

I was pleasantly surprised that MLB Extra Innings allowed extra airtime for the revelry. Usually they clip the broadcast right after the final out. Here are some things that came to mind as I watched:

The Unexpected Crew. Brandon Inge fielding the final out was, as noted elsewhere, fitting as the longest-tenured Tigers player. Two months ago it would’ve surprised no one if we never saw Inge again given his miserable first half, but there he was. … Then there was Ryan Raburn, another frustrating player (understatement?) that emerged from his first-half slumber to get some big hits – none bigger than this one two weeks ago. … Don Kelly‘s homer on Friday only solidified his position as an essential piece of this team. I have to admit that I cringe whenever I see him in the starting lineup but he rarely disappoints … Delmon Young has effortlessly worked his way into this team’s lineup and it seems less and less odd to see him in a Tigers uniform … Magglio Ordonez seemed about as done as a player can be, but has hit enough to be a scary option off the bench and especially in the playoffs. What other team can boast someone of Maggs’ caliber in a pinch-hitting role?

Dour Dave Lightens Up. It’s not often that you see Dave Dombrowski smile, at least not like this. Friday night was something to behold, watching the usually buttoned-down CEO getting doused with champagne and wearing that God-awful hat. It really is too bad that Mike Ilitch couldn’t attend, and what sad circumstances too.

The Brookens Factor. The last two times before Friday night that the Tigers have won a division title, Tom Brookens was in uniform. I wonder what it felt like for him as a coach to be a part of Tigers division crown. Too bad it couldn’t have happened with Tram, Gibby and Lance on staff.

With the Central title in hand, let’s see how far above 90 wins the Tigers can get while we wait for the ALDS matchup.