Al's Detroit Tigers blog

2003-12-14T12:16:00.000-08:00

HOT STOVE LEAGUE
Well, the hot stove league action has prompted me to revive the old Blog. The report today is that the Tigers have signed Rondell White. Previously they inked Fernando Vina.

I have read that they overpaid for both guys but as a Tiger fan, I say good. It's Mr. Ilitch's money and I'm glad to see him spend it on a second baseman and an outfielder rather than a left winger or another goalie.

It only makes sense that Detroit will need to pay a bit of a premium over what other teams are offering to overcome that 43-119 stigma.

It also says in today's paper that they have offered 5 years/$50 million to Miguel Tejada and that he countered with 7 year/$105 million. Dave Dombrowski didn't give specifics but said the difference between the Tigers' and Tejada's position was "immense."

Wouldn't that be something if Detroit could lure Miggy in? It seems that if they can't get him, they will next target Rich Aurilia. I guess the Santiago/Infante keystone combo show will be opening in Toledo next season.

Two guys who's places are set for next season according to manager Alan Trammell, are centerfielder Alex Sanchez and catcher Brandon Inge. Both have starting spots that are set, according to Tram.

I guess that helps explain why we need to upgrade offense at the other spots so much.

2003-10-12T18:40:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't think Dave Dombrowski can build a winner. First of all, he has already built one world champion. Second, he has done much to build the current Florida Marlins who are two wins away from the World Series. An article in yesterday's Detroit Free Press says it much better than I could so I quote it here in its entirety.

DAVE'S REACH

October 11, 2003

Tigers president and general manager Dave Dombrowski ran the Marlins from their expansion birth in the early 1990s through 2001. All but five players on Florida's 25-man playoff roster can be traced to Dombrowski. Many of them entered the organization on his watch; others (noted below with an asterisk) have arrived since Dombrowski's departure in trades that involved Marlins from the Dombrowski era.

Starting rotation: Josh Beckett, Brad Penny, Mark Redman*, Dontrelle Willis*.

Bullpen: Nate Bump, Braden Looper, Carl Pavano*, Michael Tejara, Ugueth Urbina*.

Catching: Mike Redmond.

Infield: Miguel Cabrera, Luis Castillo, Alex Gonzalez, Derrek Lee, Mike Lowell, Mike Mordecai*.

Outfield: Brian Banks, Jeff Conine*, Juan Encarnacion*, Juan Pierre*.

Note: Dombrowski also traded for right-hander A. J. Burnett, perhaps the most talented of the Marlins' starting pitchers. Burnett is on the disabled list.

Former Tigers on the Marlins:

Encarnacion: Acquired last season from Cincinnati, which obtained him from the Tigers in the Dmitri Young trade after the '01 season.

Redman: Obtained from the Tigers in January for pitchers Gary Knotts, Nate Robertson and Rob Henkel.

Perry Hill: First base and infield coach. He coached with the Tigers in 1997-99.

By John Lowe

2003-09-30T17:25:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the delay in writing about anything. And sorry for an even longer delay since I wrote about the Tigers. Maybe I need to get on a schedule of writing each Sunday this off-season like Peter Gammons used to do with the Boston Globe.

What to say? Nice finish by the boys but I can't join in the group who say that it's some type of building block for 2004. Bobby Higginson understood that and made light of the finish. I think Trammell had the right perspective, giving the team credit for finishing strong and playing hard right to the end.

The best news of the week, however, was Mike Ilitch's statement that the Tigers will be active in the off-season, pursuing free agents and spending some money. I'll believe it when I see it but Ilitch does have a track record of bring in talent via free agency. Unfortunately it's all been with the Red Wings and not the Tigers.

Tom Gage had an interesting column in the Detroit News today discussing who might stay and who might go this off-season. On some of them, I hope he's right because it means considerable upgrades have been made.

The starting pitchers he believes will return are Maroth, Bonderman and Robertson. He says Robertson will battle for the 5th starter spot. I will guess that the only minor leaguer ready to battle for it is Rob Henkel. That'd mean the Tigers would have acquired two starting pitchers by trade or through free agency. I think that's needed. Cornejo, Knotts and Loux aren't the answer, though Cornejo is an innings eater and still only 23.

Gage had most of the bullpen returning---Walker, Patterson, Rodney, Matt Anderson and Spurling. He surmised that Roney, Ledezma and German will start at AAA. I'm not so sure that Ledezma isn't ready. German has a big-time arm if he can find the control he showed at Toledo.

In the everyday lineup, Gage projects Inge at catcher, Pena at first, Munson at third, Higginson in right, Sanchez in center, Monroe in left and Young at DH. Danny Klassen is the likely handyman. That means the Santiago-Infante experiment would be over up the middle, replaced either via trade or free agency.

That wouldn't be bad but I still think maybe those guys can play, given the opportunity for some seasoning.

If those guys are the ones who stay, that'll mean the ones to go include Cornejo, Infante, Santiago, Halter, Morris, Witt, Knotts, Loux, Torres and Petrick. I like Petrick myself if he was put back behind the plate.

If Cornejo could be traded for a starting 2B or SS, maybe I could see that. I still am of the opinion that the Tigers' need offensively is not 2B or SS or even catcher. Those positions can be covered up offensively if strong players are there defensively. Where the Tigers are not matching up is in the traditional power positions of OF, 1B, 3B and DH.

I believe that Pena and Munson were below average this year but they need to stay because they will only get better and are the foundation. We can blame Higginson's season on injury but I think the guy is done. His 100 RBI, .300 season of a few years ago is now looking very much like the exception rather than the rule.

Monroe is a lefty-killer but he can't play everyday. Sanchez is a huge liability in CF and can't get on base enough to make his speed work for him on a consistent basis. Witness his bunting at every opportunity the last couple of weeks of the season. At least it looks like he realizes he can't hit.

Dmitri is solid at DH and with his salary, he's not going anywhere.

I hope Mr. Gage is right. I hope we can trust Mr. Ilitch to shake things up a bit this off-season and give Tram something to work with for next year.

2003-09-23T10:21:00.000-07:00

I saw the best thing to hit Comerica Park this season on Sunday night---Bruce Springsteen. After leaving the Lions' game early and standing in line on and off for four hours, I was treated to the show of a lifetime.

With my general admission tickets in "the pit", I was in the third row right in front of the stage. I met a lot of other Bruce fans who travel around the country to see and hear him. I also was ruined on any other concert and any other way to see a concert.

What a night. Three hours plus by a 54-year old man giving his all. If only the Tigers could give that kind of effort...

Speaking of the Tigers, Bruce took note. He said that he understood that it'd been a tough year in Comerica Park and that he was going to do his part by performing a rock and roll exorcism on the place.

Later when he played Glory Days, I couldn't help but think of all the opposing pitchers who'd "throw that speedball by (the Tigers), made (them) look like a fool."

For those who are interested, here is the set list of songs he performed for the faithful:

Comerica Park
Detroit, Michigan
9/21/03

1. Souls of the Departed
2. The Rising
3. Lonesome Day
4. Night
5. Empty Sky
6. You're Missing
7. Waiting on a Sunny Day
8. The Promised Land
9. Local HERO !
10. Because the Night
11. Badlands
12. No Surrender
13. Mary’s Place
14. Jungleland
15. Into the Fire
16. My Beautiful Reward

Encore 1

17. Bobby Jean
18. HEATWAVE (with Martha Reeves)
19. Glory Days
20. I’m Goin’ Down
21. Born to Run
22. Seven Nights to Rock

Encore 2

23. My City of Ruins
24. Land of Hope and Dreams
25. Rosalita
26. Dancing in the Dark

2003-09-17T16:28:00.000-07:00

Quite honestly, lately I've been trying to forget about the Tigers' miserable season. I have actually gone to bed a few nights recently without knowing whether the Tigers won or lost. That hasn't happened for a few years with the exception of west coast trips.

But something today sparked my interest and maybe my loyalty. A column by Rob Parker. I've got to say that Detroit is cursed with some of the worst columnists in the country. Maybe it's the price they pay for being blessed with Mitch Albom.

Parker is probably the worst of the worst in my opinion. Nothing but negativity, mixed in with overtones of racism. In today's rant he argues for Dave Dombrowski to be fired and replaced with Bob Watson. The Bob Watson? Is he kidding us?

Typical for Parker's columns, he gives us conclusions with any support. He says that "(g)iving Dombrowski more time is no guarantee that he'll all of a sudden start making the right decisions and stop making the mistakes he has made almost from the minute he got to town two-plus years ago."

What mistakes were those? Of course Parker doesn't tell us. Trading Jeff Weaver for Jeremy Bonderman, Carlos Pena and Franklyn German?

He does give some insight into what Dombrowski's sins were.

He writes, "Dombrowski, who came highly regarded to the Tigers from Florida, has done a lot of damage in a short tenure. His two biggest mistakes: hiring Manager Alan Trammell and putting together one of the worst rosters in baseball since the 1962 expansion Mets."

No surprise that Parker criticizes Trammell now. He thought the job should have gone to Bruce Fields or Willie Randolph back in January. No mention of what mistakes Trammell has made to make him the biggest mistake Dombrowski has made. Not just none in this column, none in any of his columns that I reviewed doing a search on www.detnews.com.

The other obvious thought would be that hiring Trammell was a mistake because the Tigers have lost so much. Well, not so fast there. What did Parker think about the idea of playing to win this year vs. playing the youngsters to give them experience?

Well, on March 31, just after Opening Day, he wrote, "This season isn't about winning. If it were, half of these players on the roster would be in the minors. This season should be about players like Pena, the young players trying to get valuable experience at this level right here, right now. It definitely shouldn't be about older players getting prime-time at-bats. That won't help in the future."

Strange.

I wonder what Willie Randolph and Bob Watson would have done differently.

I could continue to pick apart that ridiculous column. Let me stop after I point out the most obvious thing. Not only are Parker's opinions suspect and unfounded, he can't even get the most basic facts straight.

Remember the sentence I quoted at the beginning of the story? "Giving Dombrowski more time is no guarantee that he'll all of a sudden start making the right decisions and stop making the mistakes he has made almost from the minute he got to town two-plus years ago."

Too bad that Parker couldn't even check to see when Dombrowski was hired by Detroit. He was named president on December 6, 2003. Randy Smith was still GM. Dombrowski took over as GM when he fired Smith and Phil Garner on April 9, 2002.

Man, stupidity gets my blood flowing. The good news is that it gets me passionate about the Tigers again. Maybe we can knock off Halladay tonight.

2003-09-15T17:17:00.000-07:00

MORE INGE FANS
Well, the Brandon Inge fan club continues to grow on a daily basis. First, skipper Trammell declares that the Tigers aren't looking for a catcher in the off-season. Then John Hunt of USA Today Sports Weekly says "Brandon Inge is finally showing his power/speed upside. The Tigers catcher is a good athlete who one day will be a solid fantasy catcher."

Then the topper came yesterday from Lynn Henning of the Detroit News wrote: "Turn to Brandon Inge. Everyone who has watched him closely during the past month sees a different hitter, a developing hitter. Will he have All-Star grade numbers next season, or in the future? Probably not."

"But when you can play a key position with the athleticism Inge regularly shows, all you need do is hit .260 or .270 with 20 home runs. Two months ago it would have been silly to have suggested as much, but you can see Inge's development is no illusion. He should reach those numbers beginning next season."

Like I said yesterday last week, I like Inge. I think he can hit .250/.330/.500 vs lefties. That's pretty good for a catcher with a rocket arm like he has. I still don't think he's shown that he can hit righties. In no way, have I seen any signs, even in this hot streak that he's capable of hitting .260 or .270 with 20 homers.

Bonderman has been sharp out of the pen for the Tigers, earning one, maybe two more starts. I hope Tram isn't just responding to the criticism he's gotten nationally for pulling Bonderman out of the rotation. The talking heads on ESPN accused him of pulling him to avoid losing 20. I just think the kid's thrown enough innings. To me the success in relief proves it. When he gets rest, he pitches well. I think he's tired and needs to shut it down for the year.

NON-BASEBALL INDULGENCE
Rough weekend for me. MSU loses just like the old MSU. Doesn't matter if the coach is Perles, Saban, Williams or John L. The Spartans can fall apart on a moment's notice. Then to follow that up, U of M rips Notre Dame. Of course, my night was topped off by De La Hoya losing to Shane Mosley. I like Sugar Shane but you have to pull for Oscar. Who else would give the other fighter a thumbs up after getting jobbed in the decision? Good man.

2003-09-12T05:01:00.000-07:00

FAIR AND BALANCED REPORTING
I told you earlier how much I liked Brandon Inge (vs lefties). Now this from the fine folks at Rotoworld:

Brandon Inge - DET - C - September 11
Speaking about Brandon Inge, manager Alan Trammell said, ''The way it's
looking right now, going into the off-season, we wouldn't be looking for a
catcher.'' Inge continues to play well defensively. He posted an 894 OPS
in August after coming back from the minors Aug. 7, but so far in
September his OPS is only 393.

As much as I like the guy (and have him on my SOM team), I don't think he's an everyday catcher. I think he needs to play vs lefties and be the defensive replacement vs righties.

2003-09-11T20:07:00.000-07:00

Tigers lost again tonight. It's not looking good for the good guys. I think the team record for losses is in the bag since I don't see them going 16-1 the rest of the way. The AL mark is probably pretty much a done deal as well since they'd need to go 8-9 to avoid that.

I still hold out hope that the Tigs can go 5-12 and avoid the record but at this point, really what does it matter?

It seems like more than half the teams in baseball are still competing for playoff spots and I sit here watching the Tigers struggle against Roger Clemens. Who am I kidding? They struggle against everyone but I still keep watching.

Some funny stuff out of our TV friends Rod Allen and Mario Impemba lately. Tonight they seemed a little sarcastic when Nate Cornejo got his second strikeout relatively early in the game. Good for them. I thought I was the only one who was noticing that hitters don't swing and miss often at Nate's vaunted sinker.

Cornejo did end up striking out three tonight. That's just one short of his season high of four. Impemba said that Cornejo doesn't care about striking batters out. That's good because it appears that he just can't do it. 52 walks, 41 strikeouts in 176 innings of work on the season.

Speaking of strikeouts, I had the chance to look over the Tigers' minor league pitchers. When I look at pitchers with a type of quick down and dirty evaluation, I have three criteria for success: 1) fewer hits than innings pitched; 2) twice as many strikeouts than walks; and 3) strikeouts greater than 2/3 times IP.

Now before I get a bunch of e-mails telling me how unscientific this is, remember, I said it's just quick and dirty. To get a real read of future potential for a pitcher, I realize we'd need to look at homers allowed, the park he pitched in, age and league he pitched in.

Obviously meeting all three of these criteria at the AAA level is more impressive than doing so in Rookie league. Obviously a 25 year old meeting the criteria in AA ball is not as impressive as a 20 year old doing that.

With no further ado, let me say, I think we may have some arms in the farm system. Here are a list of the guys who met all three criteria with their 2003 team and stats (IP-H/BB/SO):

Carlos Alvarado Lakeland/Erie 73-61/30/67
Rob Henkel Erie 83-67/27/70
Brian Schmack Erie 57-53/10/47 (too old for AA)
John Birtwell Lakeland 41-35/11/41
Mike Kobow Lakeland 34-24/14/28
Ian Ostlund W. Mich. 45-31/14/56
Joel Zumaya W. Mich. 90-69/38/126
Chris Homer Oneonta 28-17/10/30 (2003 24th round pick---Marist Coll.)
Matthew Pender Oneonta 23-16/8/19
Brian Rogers Oneonta 57-49/18/66
Kenon Ronz Oneonta 30-19/8/44 (2003 33rd round pick---Harvard)
Brian Santo Oneonta 41-32/16/35 (2003 43rd round pick--Mt. St. Mary's)
Jordan Tata Oneonta 73-64/20/60 (2003 16th round pick--Sam Houston St)
Eulogio Delacruz GCL 23-17/13/30
Christian Martinez GCL 37-35/13/39
Jay Sborz GCL 26-20/14/35 (2003 2nd round pick---high school)
Dustin Smith GCL/W Mich 74-51/20/69

Jon Connolly (166-128/38/104) would be there too if not for the low K's. Those are a sign that he might have trouble as he moves up the ladder. Some of the guys listed might be too old for their level to get real excited--such as the college pitchers throwing in the NY-Penn League.

It looks like Henkel and Zumaya are the crown jewels here but I like what Sborz did in his first look at pro ball. He needs to get the walks down but fared well for a guy just out of high school.

Also, another guy who had a good year was Dustin Smith. He dominated the GCL, giving up only 17 hits in 35 innings while striking out 39. He then moved up to the Whitecaps and continued to pitch well there (39-34/14/30). The problem is that he's 23. I don't know where he came from other than his hometown of Clarksville, TN but he must have been a college pitcher.

I also like the smart guys so we've got to keep an eye on Ronz. He's probably a bit advanced for the NYPL but dominated with those numbers. He's a 5-11, 185 pound lefty so let me be biased and say I'm afraid he's a junkballer who might not be as effective at higher levels.

All in all, plenty of reason to hope for the future as far as the arms go. The problem is the studs are probably at least two years away.

2003-09-07T17:23:00.000-07:00

Tigers watch--

To avoid setting a team record for losses, the Tigers need to go 16-4
To avoid setting an AL record for losses, the Tigers need to go 8-12
To avoid setting a modern major league record for losses, the Tigers need to go 5-15

Man, has it been since Wednesday that I've written here? Computer virus scare, busy week at work, carting kids around, wedding anniversary, yada, yada, yada...

Tigers lost again today. Just when it looked like there were some good signs of life, winning three in a row, including two come-from-behind, they have been shutout twice in a row for three losses in a row. Getting shutout by Roy Halladay is excusable but Josh Towers? Are you kidding me? I see he lowered his ERA to 4.85 with the outing.

Bonderman had a rough outing in relief, 1.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 0 SO. As I said earlier, I think it's time to shut him down. 150 IP for a 20 year old who hadn't pitching above A ball coming into this year is enough. They shouldn't do it because he's close to 20 losses, they should do it because he's tired and he doesn't need to be overused in a 40-120 something season.

It's no wonder the Tigers are getting shutout, the following are the OPS's for the nine starters in today's game: Petrick 661, Morris 699, Higginson 688, Witt 729, Young 909 (the one ray of light), Pena 794, Monroe 705, Halter 620, Inge 614, Santiago 547. That's pretty weak.

Add to that the fact that Monroe and Inge are way better vs lefties and it's tough to see how we could expect a lot of runs out of that group.

A few years ago I developed my own system for quickly evaluating players' stats, especially minor leaguers. They aren't anything like Bill James, John Sickels or Baseball Prospectus, but they give me a quick peek (I think) for evaluating players. Today I used my "down and dirty" method to look at the Tigers' hitters to see if there was any help down on the farm that we'd see in the future. And so I wouldn't be so depressed today.

The three areas is a hitters' stat line that I look at are batting average, extra base hits compared to ABs and walks compared to ABs. My criteria for batting average is .280. My criteria for extra base hits is that they are more than 10% of the ABs. My criteria for walks is that they are more than 10% of the ABs.

In the Tiger farm system there is only one player who is 3 for 3 on my criteria. Curtis Granderson, an outfielder for Lakeland, batted .285 in 476 ABs with 50 extra base hits and 49 walks. His OPS was "only" 823 but I like my system because I think it rewards a guy with balance because I think maybe they have more room for growth. Granderson is obviously someone with the ability to hit for average, hit for some power and draw a fair number of walks.

Here are the other Tiger farmhands who were close (batting average, ABs, extra base hits/walks):

Cody Ross, Toledo .287 470 61/32
Billy Munoz, Erie .280 328 35/45
Juan Tejeda, Lakeland .280 461 42/56
Tony Giarratano, Oneonta .328 189 18/12
Danilo Sanchez, Oneonta .264 121 14/15
Gilberto Mejia, GCL Tigers .360 175 25/13

Later this week, I'll share my criteria for pitchers and use it to evaluate the pitchers in the Detroit system.

2003-09-03T19:31:00.000-07:00

As I have been writing, the Tigers made a nice comeback, blew a 9th inning lead (by not having a decent defensive 2B) and then failed to get a hit with the winning run on 2nd with one out, got some relief pitching and won on a Shane Halter walk-off homer of all things.

After tonight's win, borrowing from Lee Sinins' ATM Reports, here is the Tigers watch:

To lose 110 games (to set a team record): 16-8
To lose 118 games (to set an AL record): 8-16
To lose 121 games (to set a modern major league record): 5-19

The Tigers announced that Bonderman will be pulled from his next start but Tram says maybe he'll start again before the year is over. I think it's time to just shut it down. He's clearly not the pitcher he was at the start of the season, giving up 10 HRs in his last four starts when he only gave up 10 in his first 20 starts. We've seen enough, Jeremy. Enjoy your winter break.

I am glad to see that I'm not the only guy who thinks Brian Kingman is a loser for wanting to show up for Mike Maroth's next start to see if he will lose 20. Of course, that was a nice pun, calling the last 20 game loser a loser. Tram said, "He won't be welcome in our clubhouse" while Jack Morris, never one to mince words, said "What's wrong with him -- is that a record to be proud of? I think it's asinine."

Big night for Cody Ross last night. Double, grand slam, sacrifice bunt, injury. You have to like the guy. He was up here in Charlevoix this winter on the Tiger caravan and seemed like a nice, down to earth guy. Even better yet, he posted a .515 slugging percentage in AAA. I wish he'd walk more (.333 OBA) but I still think he's a nice OF prospect in an organization that has had some flameouts there lately.

Another name jumped out at me today off the waiver wire--Jason Middlebrook. He is a Michigan guy, having gone to high school in Grass Lake, I believe. He went to Stanford where as a freshman he threw 96 mph and was touted as the best pitching prospect in college. His elbow blew out in his sophomore year and he missed two seasons. He was drafted by the Padres in '96, traded to the Mets and today was designated for assignment. He's 27 now and wasn't pitching badly in AAA (4.49 ERA, 118.1 IP, 121 H, 33 BB, 91 SO). His record looks better to me than say Nate Robertson or Gary Knotts. I hope the Tigers consider picking him up.

Last but not least, a FOB (Friends of the Blog) update:

Inge (since recall) 29 for 91 .319 4 HR, 17 RBI
Inge (vs lefties for season) .296/.348/.556
Piatt (since Tigers should have claimed him) 4 for 14 .286 2 HR, 3 RBI

2003-09-02T19:08:00.000-07:00

Big night for Fernando Rodney closing the game out tonight. I am not usually one to get swayed by one game but I think a bullpen with Rodney, German and a healthy Matt Anderson could be tough, tough, tough. Forget about the Chris Mears and the Brian Schmacks of the world.

I read on the Tigers' website that Bob Cluck says maybe four of the rotation spots for next year are clinched. I figured Bonderman, Maroth and maybe Cornejo were set. The surprise of the group is Nate Robertson, he of the solid August starts. Before coming up, Robertson had solid stats in Toledo (155 IP, 145 H, 47 BB, 102 SO).

He came over in the Mark Redman deal, having been drafted by the Marlins in the 5th round of the '99 draft out of Wichita State. He throws 93 mph and the question mark has been his secondary pitches. Let's keep our fingers crossec but I hope the Tigers are open minded and keep looking. I'm not convinced by a few late season starts. Remember Andy Van Hekken.

2003-08-31T08:54:00.000-07:00

No new posts for a while. Went down to watch Michigan State-Western Michigan football the past two days. New offense, new attitude for MSU. At least now while we're 1-0. Let's check back in on that attitude after eight games or so.

Anyway, I am not a big fan of the wildcard but what a year for baseball races. On Aug. 31, the only teams that are locks for the playoffs are the Braves and Giants. In the AL East, the Yankees are 4.5 up on the Red Sox. In the AL Central, the White Sox lead KC and the ######## by 1/2 game. In the West, the A's (winners of eight straight) are two up on Seattle. For the wildcard, Seattle leads Boston by 1/2 game.

In the NL Central, Houston and the Cards are tied for first with the Cubbies 1.5 back. The NL wildcard is unbelievable with the Phillies and Marlins are tied for first with the Astros/Cards one back. The Dodgers are 1.5 back, D-Backs two behind and Cubs 2.5 behind. I'm willing to overlook the phony nature of these races and be glad I've got the MLB Extra Innings on the dish.

Now for the obligatory old school comparison, if we went back to the old days of two divisions, the races would look like this: Yankees up by 4.5 in the AL East, A's up by two over Seattle in the AL West; Braves up by 14 in the East and Giants up by 10 1/2 in the West. The NL would be over now instead of having the two best races with the Central and the wildcard.

Now, without further ado, discussion on the other "race." The Tigers are sitting on 34-100 with the loss yesterday. It seems that different sources differ in their opinions but for me, Detroit needs to finish 41-121 to avoid having the worst modern day record. 40-122 is worse than the 40-120 '62 Mets however you slice it.

So...they are on pace to make it very, very close. A .254 winning percentage compared to the Mets' .250. They need to go 7-22 to get there. Trammell says he's keeping Maroth in the rotation even if he has a shot to lose 20. Maroth says he wants to stay in and it's our best chance to avoid the record.

The big news on the twenty loss front is what a loser this Brian Kingman guy seems to be. He's got voodoo dolls where he sticks pins in Maroth and Bonderman to "jinx" them so they don't lose 20 and take his role as trivia answer away from him. If that didn't qualify him as weird enough, I hear now that he plans to be there for Maroth's next start? Get a life, buddy.

Tough matchup today with Loaiza vs. Cornejo but you never know. Has anyone else noticed how hot Frank Thomas is these days? 10 homers in his last 13 games. Who said he was done?

2003-08-27T20:12:00.000-07:00

Today I had planned to deal with the remainder of the questions posed by Lynn Henning to Mike Ilitch in Sunday's Detroit News. The more I read them, though, the more they fell under one big category, whining about Comerica Park and asking what will be done to "improve" it.

I know that I'm in the minority but I am sick of these questions so I'm not going to deal with those repetitive questions.

Yielding to public pressure, the Tigers moved in the left field fence before this season. I agree that they do need to do something in that area so that it doesn't look so temporary. I'm guessing that'll be handled this off-season and that'll be that.

As far as the dimensions, I say, get over it. It's a pitcher's park, plain and simple, but what's wrong with that. I hear people say that it's not "fair." By this, I guess they mean that a ball can be hit well and still not be a homer. Big stinking deal. What about balls hit off the handle of the bat that fly out down the lines in Fenway Park? Or anywhere out of Enron? Are these fair to the pitchers?

Comerica is a unique park and the best thing Ilitch can do is make it clear it's staying the way it is now. Then the bellyaching can stop and maybe the media can get back to bashing the Tigers.

Interesting Tiger stats...Franklyn German and Chris Mears are tied for the team lead in saves with five each despite the fact that both spent the majority of the year with Toledo...Fun vs lefties---Brandon Inge .286/.338/.500; Craig Monroe .321/.370/.706...Not so fun vs righties---Inge .179/.244/.288; Monroe .182/.239/.297...the average hitter against Tiger pitching is hitting .280/.346/.451...only two Tigers have a higher OPS (Young .920 and Pena .805)...the Tigers are hitting .239/.299/.374 as a team...only two American League hitters with enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting title have a lower OPS than the Tigers' team mark of 673 (Carl Crawford 663 and David Eckstein 654)

2003-08-25T21:59:00.000-07:00

Lynn Henning had a column in yesterday's Detroit News with the headline "Ilitch needs to own up to problems with Tigers." His premise was that Mike Ilitch owes Detroit (read "the media") answers for the Tigers' abysmal season. I'm not sure I buy that but okay, he's entitled to his opinion.

It seems that everyone wants an owner who is involved but only if they are involved in "a positive way." George Steinbrenner, Daniel Snyder and Mark Cuban get criticized by the media for their hands-on styles but Ilitch is praised as an active owner with the Red Wings. Personally I like the owners who are willing to shell out the bucks when needed but who leave the running of the team to the guys they hire.

I think the questions are really better posed to Dave Dombrowski, the president and GM, but I thought since they seem busy, I'd take a shot at answering them myself. I'll just take part of them today and finish them up down the road.

LH: How in your estimation did this (miserable 2003 season) happen?
Al: Rather than spend money to prop up a bad team and win 65 or 70 games, the decision was made to play the young guys, take our lumps and see who the MLB players were and who they weren't.

LH: What could or should have (Ilitch) done to prevent it?
Al: Nothing. It was painful to watch but hopefully it will pay off in the long run. More so than trying to sign more Craig Paquettes and Shane Halters. It was actually pretty courageous of him to eat the Easley contract. I think that shows he is dedicated to seeing the young players develop to turn this around.

LH: What do you see as a way out of this mess?
Al: Patience. Teaching young hitters that control of the strike zone is the key to success. Getting pitchers who have the stuff to make batters miss and not so many soft tosser types.

LH: Is there hope, in your estimation before the end of this decade?
Al: In a word, yes. The Tigers were honest in saying this was year one of a five-year plan. We can laugh and say we've heard that before but this was truly year one for the Dombrowski/Trammell regime.

LH: What do you think of (the) general manager?
Al: I don't agree with all of his moves but overall, I think he knows baseball and he knows talent. He made a great move in trading Weaver. He made a solid move in trading Bernero for Petrick. I think he can turn this team around with his drafting and trading.

LH: What do you think of (the) manager and his coaches?
Al: Similar to Dombrowski in that I don't agree with many of Trammell's in-game strategies. I think he is too oriented to play small ball but maybe that is out of necessity with the lack of hitting this season. I love the patience and positive attitude of the coaching staff though and I think that's what this young team needs to keep improving.

LH: What do you think of (the) players and be specific?
Al: Well, where to begin? Let me start with the positives. I think the guys who can be key parts of a championship team in Detroit are Bonderman, Pena, Munson, German and maybe Cody Ross. Guys who could be role players on a championship team include Maroth (#4 or #5 starter), Inge (overtaxed as everyday catcher), Santiago or Infante (utility IF or SS if the lineup is potent enough otherwise), Monroe (4th OF), Petrick (C/OF), maybe Roney or Ledesma as long men out of the pen. Dmitri and Higgy will be long gone before we contend. Now on to the negatives, I am not an Alex Sanchez fan. I think he needs to go. Ditto for Nate Cornejo if he can't figure out a way to get batters to swing and miss occasionally. Warren Morris is okay for a last place team but a 2B with a bad glove, no power, no on base ability and no other position he can play cannot help a good team.

LH: What do you think of the fans (who are collectively so upset with Ilitch)?
Al: You can't blame the fans for being upset. It's been a long, awful, miserable year. We were told it'd be a tough one but we didn't realize how tough. I just think about how great the fans were in '84 and '87 and still 20,000 fans a game are turning out for this team. How great will it be for the fans when this turns around?

LH: Have you assessed (the Tiger) scouting budget compared with other, successful clubs? Have you researched how scouting and talent evaluation have failed (the Tigers)?
Al: The question implies the Tigers spend less on scouting than other teams. I don't believe that's the case. At least it's never been reported to my knowledge. I think the failure of scouting in the Tiger system began with the Bo Schembechler system of drafting athletes rather than baseball players. Other problems have been the tendency to draft the high school pitchers like Matt Wheatland or the overused college pitchers like Kenny Baugh. It's passe to say it now but the Tigers need to look at college players who controlled the strike zone during their college days.

LH: How much money (is Ilitch) losing on the Tigers?
Al: Winning teams make more money than losing teams. I think Ilitch has winning rated higher than his short-term profit motive.

LH: What strategies are in mind for the off-season? (The Tigers) need hitting, pitching, defense. Thoughts, please, on how this club can acquire help?
Al: This is the tough one. I listed the guys earlier who I think can contribute to a championship team. I still think the jury is out on Santiago and Infante and I'd consider bringing them back as the DP combo again next year. I don't think we're two or three players away from contending, though, so I would spend little or no money on one-year free agents. I would hope that we could add a power arm by trade. They are tough to come by but perhaps someone who has struggled and needs a change of scenery like when Matt Clement took his 5.00+ ERA to the Cubs a year ago and turned his career around. I'd trade Dmitri and Higgy if we could get young talent (not A-ball prospects) in return. At catcher, I'd add a left-handed hitting catcher who can hit a bit who could complement Inge. If that fails, I'd give Petrick some extended time behind the plate to see if he can handle 250-300 ABs back there.

LH: What do you think about the Bobby Higginson contract?
Al: At the time Higgy was signed, I was all for it. He was coming off a great year (.300/.377/.538) and was 29 years old. There was no sign that he'd fall off like he has. I thought his signing was important to let us know that Ilitch wanted to win and was willing to pay to keep his most identifiable player. Sure in retrospect, it has hurt the ability to trade him and has tied up money that could be going to other areas.

LH: Did (the) Dean Palmer experience sour you on free agency?
Al: Again like the Higginson and Weaver signings, the Palmer signing showed fans that Ilitch wanted to win. We forget pretty quickly but Palmer hit 67 homers his first two years in Detroit. We remember much easier that he only hit 11 the last three years of the contract. If Higgy and Palmer were the same players they had been in '99 and '00, the Tigers' outlook would be much different.

The remainder of Henning's questions are related to the park so I'll pick those up another day.

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2003-08-24T20:18:00.000-07:00

Driving back from Detroit today listening to the game on the radio, thinking about yesterday's debacle, I was ready to pack it all in. Yep, I was ready to stop watching the Tigers. Stop watching them try to bunt everyone over and worse yet, fail to ever successfully bunt anyone over. Stop watching their bullpen throw gas on every fire. Heck, stop watching the bullpen start their own fires and then throw gas on them.

But wait, it all melted away when I got back home in time to see Brandon Inge crank that homer off Troy Percival to win the game today. You can say what you want about the Tigers (and I do) but they really don't give up.

So what did I see on my field trip to Detroit? Well, I saw my daughter spit in my oldest son's face. That was interesting. I saw Joey Harrington and Charles Rogers light it up. Man. I digress though.

That game Saturday was the worst. Tigers jump out 3-0 and 5-0 only to lose 14-8. It's actually pretty simple to figure. No relief pitching. Nate Robertson looked good again in his second Tiger start but the pen was pathetic. How pathetic you ask? Let's go to the numbers---4 IP, 11 H, 11 R, 11 ER, 4 BB, 0 SO. It didn't help that the Tiger's best reliever at this point, Danny Patterson was unavailable.

So, I'll give my friends the Tigers credit. What did they do today? Got three new relievers. Well, two old, one new. Franklyn German and Fernando Rodney are back. Brian Schmack (remember I mentioned him a couple of weeks ago) is new to the team, but at 29, not new to pro baseball.

The new guys stunk today as well. I'll spare you the gory details but leave you with one stat---the three of them threw 51 pitches in 2 1/3 innings. That's a lot. 26 of the 51 were strikes. That's not good. But Inge was the man and the Tigers pulled it out.

What a scene after the game. Of course it was the Tigers' first walkoff homer and first come from behind in the 9th since God knows when. Tram and Gibby looked so happy. I hope now maybe everyone can relax just a little bit. It sounded from the quotes in the paper this weekend that everyone was really starting to feel the strain of losing in general and beating the rap of worst team ever in particular.

It has turned into a type of bizarro pennant race. I see the Detroit papers are running a daily comparison of the Tigers to the '62 Mets' record. Well, it stinks for the players but it gives us fans a reason to keep watching. It's history.

One thing that jumped out at me while in Comerica Saturday was how supportive the fans are. They seem to really feel for the team and want them to win. The place really exploded on the homers and the Tigers' comebacks in the late innings. Of course, Jamie Walker was roundly booed for his pitiful performance allowing all three inherited runners to score in the 7th.

Last, but not least, I'm introducing a new feature here.

F.O.B. (Friends Of the Blog)
Inge (since recall) 22 for 62 .355/.393/.548
Piatt (since Tigers should have claimed him) 3 for 9 .333/.333/889

Well, really last, I was sorry to see the Tigers let Steve Sparks go today. He deserved to finish the year with Detroit. Then again, actually maybe he deserves to finish it somewhere else. Ironically he was the one guy signing a ton of autographs on Saturday and two of my boys were lucky enough to get them. We've come into contact with him a few times at the stadium or down in Lakeland and he's always seemed like a real class guy, great with the fans and kids especially.

He deserved better than what he got this year, watching the Tigers turn their starting pitching into a tryout camp when they had him stuck in the pen, mopping up. He never complained once that I heard and now he's gone. I hope he hooks up with someone and gets that knuckler moving again.

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2003-08-21T15:28:00.000-07:00

Bad news on the field, bad news off the field. What a season this continues to be.

It now sounds likely that Eric Munson will miss the rest of the season with his broken left thumb. Keeping Shane Halter at 3B for the final games makes it more likely that the Tigers will break the '62 Mets record for worst record in a season. If only we had Piatt to stick down there (okay, I'll drop that).

That wasn't the only bad news today. I got on the computer earlier and found a headline on Yahoo saying "DETROIT TRADES SANCHEZ." I just knew Tram was just kidding about Sanchez being the answer for the Tigers in CF. Did they take my advice and try to trade him to the Rangers for Laynce Nix? I knew that ARod had a lot of pull. Once he said they should get Alex, they went and got it done. Great.

Oops. That was Pepe Sanchez being traded with Cliff Robinson to Cleveland for Bob Sura. Never mind.

Today I also read that not only is Jeff Weaver, he of the 5.80 ERA, 187 hits in 144 IP, only in danger of losing his spot in the Yankees' rotation, but also may actually be sent down to the minors. It's too bad he burned all his bridges in Detroit when he was traded because maybe the Tigers could get him back cheap. He's still only 26 years old and may just not be cut out for New York.

With that in mind, I have been tough on Dave Dombrowski previously and it's good to remember that one of his first trades with Detroit was to move Weaver for Jeremy Bonderman, Franklyn German and Carlos Pena. Baseball America actually said that the Tigers made a mistake at the time.

I shudder to think what the Tigers' future would look like without that deal. I don't think any GM today would trade Bonderman for Weaver even up. Although German struggled with his control (to say the least) at the major league level, his command has returned at AAA and he still has to be considered the closer of the future. Pena is our everyday firstbaseman, and although his development isn't as fast as we'd hope, he's still a cornerstone to our future, as is Bonderman.

Nice job, Dave. I don't hesitate to criticize when I think it's called for, so I need to be fair.

Yesterday, I discussed the Tigers' move to pick up John Ennis but I didn't realize it was Tyler Walker who was released to clear the spot. Walker gave up a lot of hits down in AAA but as I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, his secondary numbers were solid (126.1 IP, 44 BB, 113 K's, only 13 IP). The move surprised me, given our need for promising arms and Walker's previous status as a good prospect in the Mets' system. Rotoworld mentioned that he had missed time with back problems so maybe that was a factor.

Today, with the Weaver deal fresh in my mind, I'll cut DD some slack. Wish me luck this weekend, getting to Comerica earlier enough to get my Alan Trammell bobblehead. I'll be back here on Sunday.

2003-08-20T19:43:00.000-07:00

Tigers lose a couple more in a row. Is there any wonder why I dwell on things like who's available on the waiver wire?

Good news, bad news today on the waiver wire front. The Tigers didn't claim Matt Bruback as I had hoped. The Padres grabbed him up. Just so we're keeping score here, Adam Piatt gets claimed by the second worst team in baseball, the D-Rays. Bruback gets taken by the third worst team in baseball, the Padres.

I guess I wasn't that far off in suggesting that these guys get scooped up since the only team to pass on both was Detroit. Tampa Bay and the Tigers both passed on Bruback but S.D. didn't.

Just to show that I don't want the Tigers to pick up everyone else cut by other teams, I pray we don't go after James Baldwin.

Anyway, on to the (reasonably) good news. Dombrowski did claim someone off waivers, John Ennis, from Atlanta. Ennis was rated as the Braves' #26 prospect last year which isn't that great until you take into account the depth of the Braves' minor league system. John Sickels' Prospect Book rated him as a C+ prospect this year but B- the previous two years.

Ennis is 23, throws 90-92 mph with a good curveball and change-up. This year he hasn't lit up AAA, going 2-11 with a 5.56 ERA. His secondary numbers are decent though with 37/76 BB/K ratio in 100 IP. He's only given up 11 HRs but other hits have been his downfall with 121 given up in the 100 IP.

He's still young and was much better at AA (149 IP, 131 H, 62 BB, 103 SO, 4.18 ERA) and single A (138 IP, 111 H, 45 BB, 144 SO, 3.58 ERA). All in all, I'd say it's got the potential to be a nice pickup. I will go out on a limb and say that John Ennis will be a better pitcher for us than Shane Loux or even my guy Andy Van Hekken.

Let's hope that Sickels hit the nail on the head with his writeup in this year's Prospect Book when he wrote that Ennis "has been a bit overlooked amidst all the pitching prospects in the Atlanta farm system, but would be a crown jewel in many organizations." Keep your fingers crossed.

2003-08-19T17:17:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't written in a while. I went out of town this weekend on a non-baseball related matter. The Tigers continued to lose while I was gone. Six straight now. Go figure.

For the first time this year, I'm starting to believe they are going to lose more than the '62 Mets. They just have so many ways to lose, it's amazing.

Last night was a new one, losing in 16 innings. Nate Robertson looked good in his Tiger debut, 8 IP, 0 BB, 2 R. Solid job but the announcers brought up a great point comparing it to Andy Van Hekken's first game last year. The problem with the soft tossers is that they have to have their great command each time out. When they don't, they get pummeled just as Van Hekken is finding out this year. I'm not optimistic about Robertson but it was a solid job.

And it's no embarrassment getting beat on an A Rod homer after he went 0 for 6 to start the night. Still in addition to the lack of talent, it sure looks like the Tigers are snakebit. They had a lot of chances to win but couldn't get it done.

I am heading down to Comerica on Saturday to get an Alan Trammell bobblehead and to see the Christian concert, er, I mean, Tiger game. Nice that they haven't lightened up on the promotions in this miserable season.

Maroth is down 4-2 tonight in the 4th. It looks like he's on his way to loss number 18 but I hope I'm wrong.

Well, Dombrowski didn't take my advice on Adam Piatt. The Tigers passed so then our sister team in misery, the Devil Rays claimed him. Just as we should have. They will probably give him an extended audition the rest of the year to see what he's got. Why can't we do that? I guess we're pretty much set in the outfield with Craig Monroe (708 OPS), Sanchez (696 OPS) and Higgy (708 OPS). Solid.

On the one thought I had that Dombrowski did share, recalling Brandon Inge has worked out. The guy just continues to stick the ball. Three hits again last night. The disturbing bit of news on Inge from the broadcast was that the Tigers have asked him to play winter ball and he is refusing. That's certainly Inge's perogative and catching is an exhausting job, but come on. First of all, working on your craft is something every worker needs to do. Second, having a chance to impress your bosses is a good idea. And third, ticking them off by refusing to do something they want isn't real smart either.

If the Tigers really want Inge to head to winter ball, they should play Petrick more behind the plate down the stretch here and see what he's got. Maybe Brandon would feel a little more motivated to improve his standing with the team if he knew he had more competition than Matt Walbeck. Just a thought.

Lastly, Baseball America has a cool new feature, putting all of a team's minor league stats on one webpage. Previously if you wanted to check out the Tigers' affiliates, you had to go through team by team. Now with one click you can see how the guys on the farm are doing.

2003-08-15T17:30:00.000-07:00

I see that we are guaranteed to see superstars playing in Comerica Park no later than 2005. The All-Star game is coming to town. I saw that tickets for this year's Midsummer's Classic were $125 to $175. I don't know what they got for the home run derby, celebrity softball or Futures Game. With three kids, three nights lodging, I'd better start saving now.

I hope that Dave Dombrowski combs the waiver wire everyday. I'm sure that he does. There are a couple of guys who might help us dangling out there.

I see the A's designated Adam Piatt for assignment. It wasn't that long ago that Piatt seemed like a sure thing to be a productive MLB outfielder. In '99 in AA (in a hitters' haven), he went nuts, walking 93 times, hitting 48 doubles and 39 homers for a .345/.451/.704 year. He was the first Texas League player to win the league triple crown in 72 years.

The next year, he went .299/.392/.490 for the A's in 157 ABs. In 2001, he contracted viral meningitis and hasn't been the same since. He's still got some punch (10 doubles in 100 ABs this year) and is only 27. I think DD should pick him up and give him a look see for the rest of this year.

Ditto for Matt Bruback, a 24 year old pitcher down in AAA who was designated for assignment by the Pirates after they just got him from the Cubs in the Aramis Ramirez deal. Bruback posted a 3.16 ERA in AA last year, striking out 158 in 174 IP. He was rated as the Cubs' #18 prospect by Baseball America. Keep in mind their system is a lot more loaded than Detroit's so he'd rank higher here. John Sickels gave him a C+ rating in his 2003 Prospect Book.

He's slowed down a bit this year, with a 4.10 ERA and a 45/106 BB/SO ratio in 147 IP. Still I'd like to see what he could do for us replacing Roney, Ledesma or Bonderman in the rotation in September.

I got the Sickels' Top 50 Hitting Prospects list yesterday. Big shocker there--no Tigers either. We need to find some diamonds in the rough off the scrap heap.

2003-08-13T19:30:00.000-07:00

I see Baseball Prospectus did an in-depth assessment of where Pete Rose ranks all-time today on their site. I had a good idea yesterday apparently but not all the sabermetric tools. Excuses, excuses.

2003-08-13T18:24:00.000-07:00

Bonderman won again last night. He's the one Tiger we can all get fired up about. If he stays healthy. It's easy to forget the guy is only 20 years old and was a high school junior just two years ago. I'm no baseball researcher but I think it's a rare 20 year old that comes up to MLB and fares as well as he has. Forget the won-loss record, his average run support is 3.2. I choose to look at the 89 K's in 127.2 IP. Pretty good.

It's been kind of a weird year for him, though. Of his 23 starts, 13 have been quality starts, including seven in a row at one point, and another was 5 IP, 1 ER so he just missed it. But he's had three starts where he was pummeled and couldn't get out of the third inning. That'll damage the ERA in a hurry. I think he's a keeper.

Speaking of keepers, I told you that Inge deserved another shot. Since he's been recalled (just four days after I called for it here), he is 8 for 19, including a 3 RBI game last night. P.S. The News had different, more flattering stats yet for him but I go with STATS. I know there's a sample size problem but Tram says Brandon is hitting the best he's ever seen him. OK, you sarcastic bunch, I know that's not saying a lot.

Well, apparently it's not just Trammell that's high on Alex Sanchez. A Rod is apparently lobbying for the Rangers to go after him in the off-season, calling him the "missing piece" in their rebuilding. I hope Dombrowski reads the Free Press. Make that call, Dave. Maybe we could get Laynce Nix (no typo) for him. Nix is hitting .260 but struggling a bit with a 4/24 walk/strikeout ratio in 80 ABs.

Still he was their #4 prospect in Baseball America and graded a B+ rating in John Sickel's Baseball Prospect Book. Aw geez, what am I thinking? John Hart can't be that dumb, can he? Wait a minute, you don't think Tram was upping Sanchez's trade value with his vote of confidence earlier, do you?

Lastly, speaking of John Sickels. I got his latest e-mail newsletter today and noticed that not one Tiger was mentioned in his rating of the Top 50 Pitching Prospects. Maybe that's why I'm not too excited about the signing of first round pick, Kyle Sleeth. The Tigers have drafted pitchers for their first round pick eight of the past 10 years and only Jeff Weaver has made an impact in the majors.

I don't think we're going to see Cade Gaspar, Mike Drumright, Seth Greisinger, Matt Wheatland or Kenny Baugh in Comerica Park any time soon. I hope Sleeth proves to be the exception.

2003-08-12T17:35:00.000-07:00

I took the day off from blogging yesterday. Is it actually called blogging? Who knows? Anyway, I knew it was time for a break when I started waxing poetic about the Tigers of the '80's and longing for the days of old.

Instead I rented American Pie 2. Not as good as the original if you ask me. (Geez, I sounded like Larry King there)

I digress...big day in baseball news today. I will get back to the Tigers tomorrow. Maybe they'll win a game in the meantime.

In case you've been under a rock, Will Carroll of www.baseballprospectus.com broke the story that Pete Rose has cut a deal with MLB to be reinstated without a confession that he bet on baseball. The report was immediately vehemently denied by MLB and also denied by Pete's business manager.

It's hard to believe they'd let him back without an apology. For me the biggest question about Rose when his name comes up is where does he belong as far as the greatest players of all time. I know that he was voted to the All-Century team in 1999 but that always seemed a bit high to me. He had the 9th most votes among outfielders, outdistancing Roberto Clemente, Stan Musial, Joe Jackson, Frank Robinson and Barry Bonds (pre-73 HR season).

Looking at the list, the amazing thing is how low Bonds was (#18) and how high Junior Griffey finished (#8). Goes to show you how much difference a few years make.

Back to Rose, in Bill James' New Historical Baseball Abstract, he has Rose ranked 5th among rightfielders, below Ruth, Aaron, Frank Robinson and Mel Ott. Robby and Ott finished below Rose in the fan balloting. Unfortunately for me, the James book is tainted by unbelievably one-sided discussion of how "extremely weak" the evidence is that Rose bet on baseball.

If you watched the Pete Rose "trial" last month on ESPN, you got to watch James demolished on cross-examination by Alan Dershowitz, the highlight of the whole show for me. What a great program that was for me, combining my vocation of lawyering with my avocation of baseball. Kind of like the Kobe Bryant trial. Then again maybe not.

Anyway, voters had him 9th among OFs, Abstract ranks him 5th among RFs. James' Win Shares shows him with 547 win shares, 13th of all-time. Musial is the guy really gooned by the voters according to that methodology since his 604 win shares put him 8th all-time.

Rose scores 54.9 on the HOF Standards scale developed by James years ago and found on baseball-reference.com . Fifty is the score for the average Hall of Famer.

To me, I am torn on the guy. He's a Hall of Famer because he is the Hit King. He's the Hit King, in large part because he hung around until he was 45. After the age of 40, he was a pretty awful player. His OPS is those years ranged from 602 to 714. This hanging around netted him an additional 559 hits. Of course, he had 3,697 before that. Additionally, those last seasons he spent eating up a spot at 1B where the lack of offensive production was really damaging.

So where am I going with this? I like the guy. Great role model on the hustling all the time, not such a great role model in betting on the game and lying about it. The only people now who don't believe Rose bet on baseball are Bill James and those who believe in the tooth fairy. Even Johnnie Cochran couldn't tell his "jurors" that with a straight face.

He also seemed nice when we saw him back in March at the Embassy Suites in Cincinnati but I don't think he's one of the 25 greatest players of all-time. His career OPS was 784. He won one MVP award. He led in OBA twice. He was in the top 10 of OPS for the league only three times in his 24 year career.

I know a lot of his career was in a more pitcher-dominated era, he was a "winner" and he was one of the Big Red Machine. The irony of all this is that I bet (oops, Freudian slip) that if he didn't bet on baseball and have all this notoriety, he wouldn't be so highly regarded.

P.S. Thanks to TigerBlog for the kind words on this space.

2003-08-10T19:18:00.000-07:00

Well kids, another day, another loss. Cornejo threw 8 shutout innings, giving up only four hits, walking one and striking out three. Unfortunately those innings came after a disastrous first inning when he gave up four runs on five hits and two walks.

Higgy got tossed followed closely behind by Gibby. They showed a fire that's been pretty rare for the Tigers this year. It didn't used to be that way.

Yes, it's true. The Tigers used to be a good team. I've got a 13 year old and the Tigers have only had a winning record two years of his life and none since he was three. My other two guys (7 and 5) have never experienced a Tigers' winning season.

It's tough to raise Tiger fans these days. By the time I was 13, the Tigers had won a World Championship, been in the playoffs one other time and had nine winning seasons. When I was 14 ('78), they broke in a few guys you might have heard of, Trammell, Whitaker, Parrish and Morris. Although they were "only" 86-76, we knew they were building something. They nearly stole a 2nd half championship in the strike season of '81, largely due to red-hot new guy, Kirk Gibson.

Then in '83, they finished second, six games behind Baltimore. In '84, they put it all together and won it all. In '85 and '86, they finished third. In '87, they had the best record in baseball but lost in the AL Championship Series. In '88 they were second again, finishing one game out.

They had stars. They were a force, year in and year out.

I know I need to come back to the present but I need to remember these things. These days I question why I'm a Tiger fan myself. God only knows why my boys would care about this team.

2003-08-09T19:29:00.000-07:00

Well, the Tigs are down 8-4 in the top of the 10th and despite Rod Allen saying the Tigers can still come back, it's over. This one was a tough one. How many times have we heard that? Detroit led 4-0 early on and even after the Twins came back to tie it, the Tigers had their chances.

This game leads to me questioning Tram's managing even more. Kevin Witt singled to lead off the 7th. Tram had Carlos Pena try to bunt him over, resulting in a 1-2 count. To Pena's credit, he then worked the count to 3-2. Tram sent pinch runner Ben Petrick on the fullcount pitch. It was ball four but the Twins threw down to second on the steal attempt and Petrick touched 2nd but overslid and was tagged out. What a bizarre play. Then of course Munson singled so Petrick would have scored.

In the 8th, Sanchez had a leadoff single and Tram had Morris bunt him over. Higgy and Monroe then proceeded to fly out.

I know the Tigers are struggling to score runs (and to prevent them) but I'm not sold on the sac bunt as the key piece of an offense. With Morris, maybe I can see it. With Pena, no chance. The announcers were saying that Pena should have gotten it down as it's practiced everyday. I agree with that. But I don't think that's the play to make.

I'm sure Gibby practiced bunting a lot when he was with the Tigers but I don't remember him sacrificing much. (I looked it up, 3 sacs in '84) I know many will think that when the offense is struggling that's the way to go. It severely hurts your chance to score more than one in an inning.

According to Baseball Strategies, a book put out by the American Baseball Coaches Association, you have a 43% chance of scoring with a runner on first and no outs. That chance only goes up to 45% with one out and a runner on second. So you gain a 2% chance of scoring the one run but decrease greatly your chance of scoring more than one.

Bad tradeoff. If high school coaches know this, why don't MLB managers?

P.S. Bad day for Michigan baseball teams all the way around. Midland loses in the Great Lakes Region Little League final, 7-1. One win away from heading to the Little League World Series.

2003-08-08T21:21:00.000-07:00

Well, I am pretty clueless but catching on to this blog thing. Slowly. I got a nice e-mail back from Aaron of Aaron's Baseball Blog responding to a nuts and bolts question I had about HTML. Aaron gave me some helpful sites to refer to so hopefully I can make some changes over time to the look here.

I did go ahead and make a couple of changes. The major one was the name. As I said yesterday, I didn't realize there was a site called The Detroit Tiger Weblog. On further notice, my goofy name, The Detroit Tigers Blog, was a bit presumptuous on my part. And a little bit similar to The Detroit Tiger Weblog if you ask me. It would have been kind of embarrassing to get a cease and desist letter so...this site is now known as Al's Detroit Tiger Blog.

I hope that alleviates all the confusion. Ha! This site looks like a typewritten newsletter compared to the cool graphics of my brother sites. Anyway, this space did get a mention today on The Detroit Tiger Weblog.

2003-08-08T17:49:00.000-07:00

Inge started again tonight vs a lefty (Johan Santana). Doubled in the first and walked in the fourth. Just flew out in the sixth. I guess that chat with the sports social worker (I read that we can't really call him a psychologist because he doesn't have the degree) really helped out. Then again, as I said last week, maybe he can hit lefties a little bit. Then again (again), maybe it's just a real small sample size.

In any event, Inge is back.

2003-08-08T14:40:00.000-07:00

Is it time to say the blasphemy I've had in my mind out loud? A little background is in order here. I love Alan Trammell. Even with Gibby being a Spartan and Mr. Emotion and all the things I love in a player, Tram was always my guy on the Tigers. I wore number 3 because of him and he was always my favorite player. He was a class act all the way. He still is.

But...and it's a big but. Does he know what he's doing as a manager?

A little article in the Detroit News was the latest thing to get me wondering. The headline alone made me shudder. "Sanchez is quite a find." I've never read any sarcastic articles by Tom Gage so I feared that he was serious. Reading the article I found that not only does Gage think Sanchez is a find. So does Tram.

"At least going into next year, absolutely (he's claimed the CF job)," Manager Alan Trammell said. "I don't think there is any question. I'd say he's the guy."

Say what, Tram? What about the fact that he can't draw a walk to save his life. Have no fear, says the skipper. "Yes, that could be better," Trammell said. "But we're going to talk to our players about things to think about this winter, and that would be an area for him to improve upon. He likes to swing -- and I don't think we're ever going to get 80-100 walks out of him -- but we'd like to increase that somewhat. " Somewhat??? Like maybe by 200%???

What about the fact that he has a terrible arm, Tram? Trammell's answer? "He doesn't throw real well, but we've told him, 'So what?' He's not the only player in baseball without a real good arm out there. Get the ball in, hit the cutoff man. That's what we're trying to help him with."

So let me get this straight, he has no strike zone judgment and no arm and he's got our CF job for next year wrapped up? Maybe I could buy that if he could hit 30 HRs a year for us. But a slap hitter that doesn't walk and plays less than adequate defense? Ouch.

Maybe what Tram is really saying is that Dombrowski and Ilitch won't foot the bill for a "real" centerfielder. I hope so. I hope he's not actually thinking Sanchez is the man out there. I know he might be incrementally better than Gene Kingsale and Andres Torres, but come on. Tram has seen a real CF before. He played with Chet Lemon after all.

Alex Sanchez, I knew Chet Lemon. I watched Chet Lemon play centerfield. I saw Chet Lemon bat. You sir, are no Chet Lemon.

2003-08-07T20:18:00.000-07:00

Gone to a funeral for a couple of days. While I was gone, I realized that I am a moron. Or at least not the baseball detective that I thought I was. There is so much info on the web that it's tough to find things, at least it is for me. I started doing some posting after reading Aaron's Baseball Blog and some other blogs and not finding any for the Tigers.

Now that I sent my site out to a few guys, I am pleased (not to mention embarrassed) to learn that there are at least three other sites out there: Tiger Blog, Tigers Central, and Detroit Tigers Weblog. Maybe I didn't need to do this after all. ;-(

Then again, then who would keep the world updated about Jack Cust. 0 for 2 with a walk yesterday, but 1 for 3 with a 3-run game-winning blast today. Where are the doubters now? He's no multi-dimensional player, like oh say, Craig Monroe, but he'd do nicely in the middle of the Tigers' lineup.

And, Brandon Inge. I plug the guy and not only does he get called up (OK, it took an injury to Hinch to do it) but Tram plugs him right in, hitting 2nd vs lefty Barry Zito. Brandon doesn't disappoint, going 1 for 4. Did I mention he can hit lefties a little bit?

Speaking of our Detroit boys, strange win today with Bonderman doing his best to avoid 20 losses despire 47 strikes and 47 balls in his five innings of work (5-3-2-1-6-3, not pretty) and Munson supplying the offense with a three-run shot of his own. Ah, what a middle of the lineup we'd have with Higgy, Cust, Pena, Munson. We would be so set. But I digress.

With it becoming more and more commonly known that controlling the plate is key for pitchers and hitters, it's sad to see the state of the Tigers in this category. Generally I think that for every 10 ABs, a player needs one walk to evidence plate discipline. How many Tigers do you think meet this threshold? Well, er, uh, that would be two. Two. Higgy with 306 ABs, 42 BBs and Munson with 295/34. Pena is right on the line with 381/37 and Dmitri is 381/37.

Saddest is the guys who the Tigs have tried at leadoff: Torres 138/7 and Sanchez 242/10. Unbelievably bad. Tonight Tram tried Petrick in CF and at leadoff. He can't be any worse.

On the flip side, I usually think for pitchers a guy with a 2:1 K to walk ratio is doing fine. How many Tigers have that going for them, you ask? Not counting Danny Patterson and his eight innings, it's Walker, Mears, Spurling and Bonderman. Not too bad, right?

Then ask yourself, how many of the pitchers are striking out at least six guys every 9 IP? Of the guys with at least 40 IP, there's one, Bonderman. The bottom line (no shocker here) is that Detroit has nothing but soft tossing, control type guys with the exception of Bonderman. The problem there is that those type of guys need to be on every time out and they haven't been.

The guys we have who supposedly throw hard, like Loux or Roney, have soft-tosser type numbers, probably due to lack of movement on their pitches. Whatever the reason, they aren't making many people swing and miss.

The three pitchers with impressive K/BB and K/IP ratios at Toledo are Franklyn German (remember him?) with 20.2 IP/3 BB/25 K, Fernando Rodney (remember him too?) 34.2 IP/11 BB/48 K and Tyler Walker 115 IP/40 BB/103 K. At AA Erie, there is Rob Henkel (from the Redman deal) at 69.2 IP/27 BB/66 K and reliever Brian Schmack 48.1/9/41. Schmack is 29 and wasn't in Baseball America's Top 30 Tiger prospects. Not exactly uplifting.

Then again, did I mention we've got Bonderman?

2003-08-05T17:45:00.000-07:00

Over the past couple of days, two other guys for the Tigers to consider picking up came to mind. Both are guys who are unappreciated by their current organizations and need a change of scenery.

The first is Jack Cust, a favorite of statheads everywhere, and an OF for Baltimore. He struggled big-time at the start of the season but is now hitting .285/.422/.426. I thought of Cust because the Orioles just recalled him for the third time this year but he has yet to appear in a game. He is apparently a horrendous defender but someone needs to trade for him and plug him into the DH spot for 600 PAs. I don't think he's ever had a season with less than a .400 OBA. Usually he hits for power but that's down considerably this year.

Some would argue that carrying a fulltime DH on the team limits a team roster-wise through loss of flexibility but it hasn't seemed to hurt the Mariners and Edgar Martinez.

The other guy is a one that normally a Sparty like me wouldn't consider, Drew Henson. My heart does go out to the guy, though, probably because he seems to truly love baseball. He's been playing and struggling in AAA this year. I didn't make the connection but apparently his home fans in Columbus, OH have some bad memories of him as a U of M QB and don't have a lot of sympathy for his .227 batting average.

In today's Detroit News, I see that Henson is saying he'd like to play somewhere where he's wanted. Well, that's definitely not New York. Not only did the Yanks go out and get Aaron Boone but they rubbed salt in Henson's wound through GM Brian Cashman's comment that the trade for Boone "said volumes about (Henson's) development."

Either he or Munson would have to move from 3B, either Henson to OF or Munson back to catching, but I still think Henson would be worth the gamble. He's only hitting .228/.287/.401 but he's a guy whose power was being compared to Mark McGwire not that many years ago. Add to that the fact that he's a local guy and the fans would back him. Take the shot, Dombrowski. These guys can't hurt.

2003-08-03T17:28:00.000-07:00

A.J. Hinch gets activated from the DL. Started today and went 0 for 4. I guess that spells the end of the Ben Petrick two game experiment. Maybe Petrick isn't a great glove (don't know, just guessing) but it'd be nice to have a catch who can either hit or throw.

Can someone explain to me why Brandon Inge had to be banished???

TIGER CATCHERS
Walbeck 122 AB .172/.192/.213 (405 OPS)
Hinch 58 AB .207/.226/.345 (671 OPS)

Inge 167 AB .150/.225/.275 (500 OPS)

Maybe they went with Walbeck and Hinch for their play behind the plate.

Walbeck 6 for 24 (25%) throwing out opposing runners
Hinch 2 for 19 (10.5%)

Inge 11 for 47 (23.4%)

Oops, guess that wasn't it. Maybe it's that Hinch went to Stanford and Walbeck is the "cagey veteran" who can lead a pitching staff. I couldn't find catcher's ERA but I think it's safe to assume that with the latest slide by the pitchers, Inge would lead in this category as well.

He's no world beater, but he beats Walbeck hands down. What is Tram thinking wasting so many ABs on Walbeck??? Give Petrick a shot if Inge isn't ready.

2003-08-03T08:25:00.000-07:00

Hey, we won one. Finally. I ran across a neat website, www.motowntigers.com. Good discussions by a lot of frustrated fans. Underlying the posts is a debate that I think is a good one: should the Tigers be doing more to win now with mid-range free agents (ala Pirates, Brewers) or should they be taking it on the chin with the young guys?

I was advocating for the latter, talking about the upsides of guys like Santiago and Infante, when I read that Infante has frustrated Larry Parrish, his manager down at Toledo, just as he frustrated Tram in Detroit. Parrish said ''You'll watch Omar [in the field] when we're giving signs, and he has his glove off and is looking in the stands.'' That's not good. I would still take him over Jose Hernandez, but losing sure gets old fast.

I'm just not convinced that picking up a Reggie Sanders or Kenny Lofton next year is the answer. As another poster said on motowntigers, wasn't that what we tried before with Halter, Paquette and Palmer? Amen, brother. Now if we had Michigan guy John VanderWal, then we'd really have something. ;-)

I did run across one answer for us though. This blurb came across www.rotoworld.com. "Reds signed first baseman Calvin Pickering to a minor league contract and assigned him to Triple-A Louisville. Pickering, the former Orioles
prospect, had been tearing up the Mexican League, batting .323 with 25 HR, 63 RBI, 84/75 K/BB and 1 SB in 291 AB. He's probably not going to make it back to the majors with the Reds."

Perfect, let's bring him back to the majors with the Tigers. This guy can't play much D, I hear, but he mashes the ball and gets on base. Those Mexican league stats are a .463 OBA, .625 SLG for a 1088 OPS. Granted, the Mexican League isn't the AL, but he's worth a shot. Of course, then we wouldn't have the revolving DH spot open for Dmitri Young to land in from time to time. Ah, let's take the hit on D and put Dmitri in LF fulltime.

2003-08-01T17:58:00.000-07:00

New town, same Tigers. Down 5-0 after one in Minnesota. Since Bonderman threw almost 50 pitches in the 1st inning, I don't think he's out there for long. At least I hope not. There's been a lot of talk about pitch counts in places like Baseball Prospectus, etc. and it appears statistically that to assess possible damage in high pitch counts, you need to look not only at pitches in a game but pitches in an inning. Too many high pitch innings can damage an arm. Of course, the Tigers' major league staff knows all this. That's why Bonderman's up in the first place, to be coached by major league coaches and not the minor leaguers. More to come...
Ed. note: Bonderman was pulled after throwing 60 pitches in 2.1 innings

2003-07-31T19:28:00.000-07:00

Trade deadline day. Tigers do nothing. Three straight blowouts at the hands of the Mariners (total score 28-8). Any good news out there? I guess Chris Spurling did well today, throwing three perfect innings. I'd chalk that up to the M's being tired from hitting the ball so hard.

The worst of it for me is that I look forward to these western trips so I have something to listen to on the radio as I drift off to sleep. It was better when Ernie Harwell was doing the announcing but...then again, it was better when the Tigers were a decent team. The last couple of nights by the team my head hit the pillow in the 2nd or 3rd inning, the games were over for all practical purposes.

The starting pitching that was the "surprise" (or fluke as I see it) of the start of the season is now falling apart. It shouldn't be a big surprise with the exception of Maroth or Bonderman. There was no way that Nate Cornejo with his three K's per 9 IP, Gary Knotts with no track record and Adam Bernero with his mediocre track record, would continue to post even league average seasons. Now Tram has shipped out Knotts and Bernero and replaced them with Roney and Ledesma. Well...they can't do much worse. Can they? Steve Sparks will be in that rotation before you know it.

One guy that doesn't look like he will is Shane Loux. When he was recalled, Tram was asked if Loux would get a chance according to the Detroit Free Press, Trammell said, "Not necessarily." That wasn't all, he said that Loux was "a guy with just average stuff."

You know what? Good for Tram. Don't hype a guy based on his 11-6 AAA won-loss record. A bigger indicator of his likelihood of MLB success is his 58 K's in those 128 IP. Looks like he's got the average stuff Tram was talking about.

Speaking of AAA stats, it's great that Toledo is filling their new park (Fifth Third Bank Park, not to be confused with the West Michigan Whitecaps' park of the same name), and posting a new .500 recorrd but there is no help there to be found. Omar Infante is hitting .215/.295/.308 in 107 ABs since his demotion. Actually he's been somewhat hot as of late to get to those lofty numbers.

Brandon Inge is at .262/.318/.426 in 122 ABs for the Mud Hens. Why can't the Tigers see that Inge won't make it as an everyday catcher but would have decent value as a backup catcher with a rocket arm who hits okay vs. lefties (.245/.305/.491 this year). I only know this because he's my platoon catcher vs. lefties in my SOM league.

Gene Kingsale is a washout at 101 ABs, .238/.291/.356. Cody Ross has decent triple crown numbers (14-45-.279) but that ignores his poor 22/73 BB/SO ratio in 359 ABs. I give Detroit credit for being willing to try the so-called AAAA players to get some offense (Craig Monroe, Warren Morris, Kevin Witt) but geez, the Hens look like a AAA All-Star team of the mid-90's with Kevin Jordan, Ernie Young, Tom Evans and Patrick Lennon on board.

The pickup I like best that the Tigers have made this year is Tyler Walker. His 2-8 record and 4.60 ERA belie his solid secondary numbers (115 IP, 40 BB, 103 SO, 11 HR). The rest of the Hens' staff offers no help. Knotts has reasonable 3-2, 4.40 marks but lousy secondary numbers (53 hits in 43 IP, only 28 K's).

This weekend I'll take a look at the rest of the farm system. Maybe we'll luck out and find that the Tigs have all their studs stashed down at Erie in AA (doubtful).

2003-07-29T18:31:00.000-07:00

Day one, Post one-----I couldn't find a Detroit Tiger blog anywhere so I decided I'd start one myself. It's a depressing day for Tiger fans with the team coming off a loss to Jose Lima of all people and the trade deadline approaching. There's no help in sight and I see that Scott Schoeneweis, one of the few guys the Tigers have been reportedly interested in, went to the White Sox. At least we haven't seen any of the frontrunning "Why Did the Tigers Give Up So Quickly on ?" articles on Lima that the News and Free Press made famous after the Luis Gonzalez trade. Tonight matters should get worse as Detroit opens a road trip in Seattle.