Some Changes for the Blog

First of all, I know I haven’t been writing much at alllll lately and this is do to several factors.  One being that I’ve been swamped with school and work, and the other being my up-coming wedding.
I’ve been keeping some very short mini-posts at tumblr a mini or micro-blogging service as well as frequently updating twitter.
You can find my tumblr blog here
You can follow me on twitter here.

I plan on writing a post about what the Tigs need to change and obviously the canning of the idiot known as Chuck Hernandez.

Sorry again for the low # of posts, I plan to get back to it in full swing again soon.

Why Todd Jones… Why?

 

Anyone remember the last time they saw Todd do that?

 

*Chugs a quick beer*

Ok I think I’m ready to write.

Tonight I spent my time split between watching and listening to this horrendous excuse for a loss.  Both Mario Impemba and Dan Dickerson were in great sound tonight.  Both sounding equally disappointed when they watched and called Jermaine Dye’s homerun over Magglio Ordonez head. 

Speaking of heads, I demand Todd Jones head on a platter after tonight.  I don’t want him to pitch another game.  I know that isn’t an actual reality but one fan can hope. 

To quote Jones after tonight…

"Sometimes you get beat. Sometimes you beat yourself," said Jones, who was trying not to give Dye a good pitch to hit. "I don’t think I beat myself tonight. I think I just got beat. Dye hit a two-run homer. I guess that’s the way it goes. There’s nothing I can say. He got me. I have to live with that."

No shit, Sherlock.  Except I have to disagree with Jones on this:  Jermaine Dye just hit the lob that you threw over the plate so you beat yourself as well Mr. Jones.   Speaking of which, is anybody else sick of hearing about how Todd Jones “Has to live with it” … I get the impression that this is his default excuse for every time he sucks it up out there…And I’m sick of hearing it… Thoroughly.

What happened? What were you thinking?  Just wanting to play with the fans? Making us think that maybe… just maybe you might have a quick 9th inning? Ugh…

No, instead, to quote the general feeling among the fans at the Bless You Boys forum, “you kicked us in the gut”. 

One can only hope Leyland is ready to make a change.  I don’t care who they throw in there. As long as its not Jones.  I’ve never seen a team look so confident at the plate when they face Jones.  Its like their thinking “Hey, he’s gonna hurl something over the plate that we can hit.”

I guess the only next question is… Where do we go from here?

Well, you look to your ace, Justin Verlander, to steal a game, and then take back this series.  And obviously you hope to not have to go to Jones again.

Should there be a trade?

Personally I think not.  Unless you can package Sheffield and Renteria for some decent pitching (starting or closing), I think the Tigs should stay put. 

What should you do with Jones?

Personally, I’d just try to hope he works his stuff out… Preferably down in the Minors for a bit.  But likely what they’ll do is save him for a game where we have large run lead and see if he can’t blow it.

Who would be his replacement?

The answer I want to say is Joel Zumaya.  BUT I don’t think he’s ready yet, he just gives up too many walks.  I think he has the talent, he just has to play some more games and get the command back.  So, the question becomes, where do you go? Dolsi? Rodney? Fossum? Who?  The honest truth is I don’t know. That is Mr. Leyland’s decision to make… and based on his decisions so far this season, I don’t know how confident I am with him. 

Should Jim Leyland still go?

Yes. I will not repeat myself.

*Chugs another beer* 

Ok, I’m done.

 

P.S. FIRE CHUCK HERNANDEZ!

135.00 ERA… Not a typo.

I was as stoked as anyone hearing Rodney was coming back… but tonight’s game was absolutely ridiculus.  The man needs to go to lakeland/Toledo/Doctor, to get something looked at because this is not just bad… its scary bad (see era above)  And with the loss that Chicago had earlier today this was another blown opportunity for this team to fight back in the AL Central race.
Frustating.

By the way, I’m not giving up on Rodney yet.  Not because I necessarily think that he’s any good, but more or less because of the fact that this organization spent so much time getting him back in the lineup.  It would just be a letdown all around for the Tigs to let him go right now.

Now the good news, It was great seeing Zoom Zoom back in the lineup. Leave it at that.

I’m pissed.. .this game just made me mad, it was just such a total collapse.  Offense dissapeared, and the one time we get decent pitching from our rookie, he gets let down by the disgraceful bullpen.

I’ll say it again… Chuck Hernandez needs to be canned.

The Marcus Thames Show: A Look at the Resurgence of the Detroit Tigers and the Importance of the Longgggggggg Ball

 

yup he’s been doing alot of that lately

A few points to start off: 

-I know, that was a long title, but it all had to be there

-Marcus Thames stats for the past 4 games (5 for 10, 5 HR’s) (including tonight’s game as of the 4th inning)

-The Tigers are undefeated when Marcus hits a home run.

With that being said, I would first like to say the obvious.  This man can no longer be an every once in awhile player.  He needs to be in the lineup as much as Granderson, Polanco, Cabrera… you get the point.  Why? He’s a decent fielder (very average, but decent), and he’s got an amazing knack for the longball.

I feel as though the longball has been one of the little talked about things lacking with this team.  It just has not been there consistently.  Thankfully Cabrera and Maggs have been getting hot.  Not to even mention Marcus.  The simple fact of the matter is that Homeruns not only energize a team, but also tends to be contagious to other hitters. 

Another thing to consider is that Home-runs, can rattle pitchers, change how pitches are called, and obviously can change the way the hitter approaches the plate. 

For these reasons the Tigers need to be following Thames lead and knocking the cover off the ball.  Obviously it is easy for me to say this, but execution is another thing entirely.  Cabrera needs to hit his 40 hr’s, Ordonez needs his 35, and Marcus needs to stay in this lineup for the Tigs to have any chance at making the playoffs and continuing their success of late.

Speaking of their success, I thought I’d make a few points:

-The PITCHING is winning these games, absolutely amazing pitching.  I’ll be the first to admit that I thought that Kenny had nothing left in the tank, but then he goes and only gives up 3 ER in his last 4 starts! That’s just sick pitching right there.  Absolutely filthy (in the words of Rod Allen).

-The Tigers still have to cut down on errors, which is frustrating because they look so perfect in the field one day, then the next put up 3 errors. ugh

-Did I mention that Slick needs to stay in the lineup?

-I want to see the Tigs go 11-4 overall on this trip.  I like bigger game windows to truly evaluate if this team is turning it around.  They are  6-0 so far, if they go 5-4 over the next 9 I may start to change my mind about the chances for this team making the playoffs. 

I’ll end this on an uplifting video since the Tigs have been putting me in a good mood lately

Technorati Tags: Tigers Thames

How Sweep It Is… A Poem

Come On Tigers, Show me something.

Show me that this 3 game sweep wasn’t a fluke.

Show me that Kenny Rogers still has an arm that can make batters flail.

Show me that Verlander is back to form.

Show me that Cabrera can still hit for the fences.

Show me that your better the White Sox, Twins, and Indians.

Show me that you can keep this type of high-quality play up.

Show me that I’m wrong, that you do care, can win, and will make the playoffs.

Show me that without 4 supposed key pitchers you can still dominate (Bonzo, Willis, Zoom-Zoom, and Rodney)

Show me that Chuck Hernandez isn’t a complete and utter moron…

Show me that the Marlboro man doesn’t need to retire, and still has a few tricks up his sleeve.

Show me that you can turn this season around.

Show Me Tigs, Show me.

Determining Fanhood

I have now had two people of late questioning my fanhood and more or less attributing me to be another “bandwagon fan.”  This compells me to respond to these individuals.

To begin, I would like to say that I’ve been a Tigers fan as long as I can remember (since age 6 to be specific).  I’ve followed them in the bad times (the late 90’s to the early 2000’s).  I’ve never been considered a bandwagon fan by anyone until lately when I wrote my post “Dear Tigers, I’m done with you till something changes.”  To clarify to those who don’t understand, I wrote this post out of frustration, something that any truly devoted fan tends to do… instead of yelling at the team and throwing my remote (which I’ve been tempted to do), I write blog posts.  I spit out what i’m thinking.  Kneejerk… YES! Well thought out commentary … OF COURSE NOT! These are things that I’m prone to doing as an emotionally invested fan.
In my post I used the phrasing “i’m done with you,” to clarify for fans who misunderstood, what this meant, was I’m gonna stop emotionally going berzerk after losses, and try to detach myself more to spend more time with other things such as my family and friends and avoid watching this team for awhile until significant moves have been made.  THIS DOES NOT MEAN THAT I STOP ROOTING FOR OR CARING ABOUT THE TIGERS.  I’m just taking a step back to prevent myself from ripping out my hair (what little I have left) and emotionally being depressed about my favorite Detroit sports team… After all I didn’t pick the name Tigsfan for nothing

I’ve attended several games this year, (even some after my supposed “jumping off the bandwagon” post as some have claimed).  And I plan to go to several more.  I love watching my team play winning and losing.  I remember catching my first baseball when Alan Trammel belted a foul ball into the second deck at Tigers stadium that I ran after in grabbed (at the time I was surrounded by empty seats).  Since then I’ve attended tons of games and have been a Tigers fan for life.
I came into this season after drinking the TIgers Koolaide hoping for a championship.  What would be the first of my lifetime.  I anxiously sat and watched as we started the season 0-8 and my hopes continued to fade as we are 11 games under .500 as of this posting.  I still hold out hope though, that one day this team will be as dominant as we had all hoped.  I just believe that changes need to be made before that can happen.  This is not to be misinterpretted that I am going to stop watching, or staying up till 1:30 watching us blow a game by walking in the winning run.  Or stop screaming at Todd Jones when he drives us all through a rollercoaster ride of an inning.  Or stop calling out players who I think are underperforming.  Its my job as a fan to be reactionary, thats what makes us fans.  I’ve NEVER rooted for another baseball team in my life.  I never plan to.  When I have kids the first experience I want to have with them will be taking them to a Tigers game.  My post was something I wrote as a fan to this team.  It was by far my most popular post that I’ve written.  I write kneejerk thoughts, I cater to the fans that think “I wish I could trade this whole damn team away” one day, then the next say “WOW WE HAVE THE NEXT MURDER’S ROW” the next.  Its how fans are, we react this way as emotional human beings.  I write about how I would fix things, not how I hate the Tigers, not how I’m giving up on them and jumping off the bandwagon. No. I write about how I would change things, and how lack of change is hurting this team.  I write how to fix, as oppposed to how to give up.  This is because i’m NOT a fairweather fan.  Hopefully my readers will understand that as I write more and more about this great team.
The Tigers are a part of my life, and always will be.  And today they did something that is worth noting…

Dontrelle Willis was sent to Lakeland to figure out what the hell is wrong with him.  This is progress, this is change, something I am ecstatic to see after watching the Tigers drag him out there and crossing there fingers as he tossed bombs.  I can only hope that he doesn’t have the dreaded “It” disease… See wikipedia for clarification.
I hope this move is the first of many to come.  Chuck Hernandez eating some tomatoes is my next hope haha.  At what point do we realize that he has done nothing to help this once talented pitching staff?  Also, does anybody remember that he got fired by THE DEVIL RAYS???  Funny thing is, look how the Rays are doing without the guy …   They might just have to be my new favorite team……. Just kidding of course.

To summarize I still love my Tigers, root my tigers, and invest what little monetary income I have to going to Tigers game at the most beautiful park in the league.  I’m liking the changes being made so far, though much more are needed.  I still think Leyland needs to retire, Inge needs to get more playing time, and Sheffield needs to hang up the glove and bat.
Tigsfan for Life,

Chris

P.S. Thank you to Mike who clarified what a real fan is and what a bandwagon fan is not and for prompting me to write this post…

“A bandwagon fan is someone who follows the team when all is well, and bails on the team when it struggles. A real fan invests in the team during the ups and downs.”
Amen.  Truer words were never spoken.

Dear Tigers, I’m Done with You till Something Changes

UPDATE:  To clarify for certain readers the term “i’m Done with you” refers to me not investing myself emotionally in the Tigers for the rest of the year until something changes.

The Tigers continued to rip at the heart strings of fans everywhere, when they tallied a 4th terrible walkoff loss in there away stand against Seattle.

I’ll summarize for those of you lucky enough to not watch this game…

- Willis had 5 walks, in 5 innings, gave up no runs.

- Gallaraga relieved and gave up 3 runs in one inning, then pitched pretty solid 2 innings after his 5 inning debacle.

-  Hitting was not there… a bunch of runners left on base in a poorly pitched game that totaled 22 walks…. and no thats not a typo.

-In the 11th, the A’s load the bases, get a bloop INFIELD single to win the game.

After staying up (again) to watch the Tigers lose a heart breaker I’ve decided to go drastic.  I’m not going to be writing about the Tigers until I see a significant change.  Be it the retirement of the Marlboro man, or seeing Verlander come out of his slump, or how about when our hitting can string together a couple of consecutive good games.

Remember when Tigs slappies were claiming the Tigers had turned a corner after the series against the Mariners?  Yeah, I told everyone hold up, lets look at the next 12 games…

Since I’ve said that, the Tigs have went 4-7…

These Tigers are officially getting called a bust in my book for the season. They won’t make the playoffs and even worse THEY LOOK LIKE THEY DON’T CARE *cough* Cabrera *cough*!!!

This all has led me to just give up until something changes… I’m tired of beating myself up, convincing myself that this team is better then its played… but when you’ve played 58 games a fan has gotta start to think rationally.

My thoughts:

- Fire Jim Leyland, I’ve called him out before, but he needs to go.  And he needs to quit because Dombrowski won’t touch him.  He inserts no passion into this team anymore, and something is clearly not working, I start with the head coach (manager).

-  He can take his hitting and pitching coaches with him.

-  Verlander needs to step up…. I know hes pitched decent of late, but decent won’t cut it with this team.  He needs to go above and beyond and earn his contract.

-Speaking of earning contracts, anybody see Cabrera lately? Does he ever get clutch hits? how about hits in general? Isn’t this what we brought this fat man who supposedly had a fat bat in here for?

-  Bullpen needs to not ALWAYS give up a run every time they come in with men on base.

-  Does anyone else think that we have a team of DH’s ? (Guillen, Cabrera, Thames, Magglio)

I want changes Tigers. I don’t want the “well this team is better then its playing “ bullshit we’ve been getting fed from Leyland.

Pitch Good… lack hitting, Hit good… Lack Pitching…

Justin Verlander is off crying somewhere today

He and his team suffered the plague of losing yesterday after the marvelous game on Saturday.  It was a game that Justin handed to his team, pitching 7 innings and only giving up 1 run.  Then Cruceta came in, and the wheels fell off.  A grand slam later and this was marked as another loss in the Tigs column.
I’m not gonna write much about this game, except a few notes:

-  Verlander looked strong. Period.  Finally seems to be turning the corner this season and he deserved a win yesterday.

-  Cabrera must have the most silent .276 i’ve ever seen… He still seems to be struggling at the plate to a point of embarassment  … maybe Lloyd McClendon will get off his ass and try to keep his job by getting this superstar to hit the cover off the ball again.

-  Sheffield has been hitting… THANK GOD! Hope he stays this way… cuz $13 million and batting .216 don’t add up …

-  This offense is the most rollercoaster offense I think that I’ve ever seen… 19 runs on Saturday followed up by 1 run (on a Guillen HR) on Sunday? REALLY?????

-  Am I the only person that misses Jair Jurrjens? Was he worth giving up for an aging Renteria?

-I Love this picture from the Tigers MVN blog… very amazing

WOW… did that just happen?

The Stat Line For Today’s Game

Thought that would be an appropriate start to this entry.

My feelings immediately after watching the Tigs game today can be summed up nicely in 2 words, WOW (see above) and frustrating (see below).  Tonight, your 2008 Detroit Tigers were 3 runs away from setting a team record (21 runs) for runs scored in a single game.  Yes, tonight’s game made me smile, and yet was also extremely frustrating.  Let me explain:

Tonight we saw the ridiculus “murderer’s row” type lineup that we were promised (despite what Guillen seems to think), which had me thinking… ummm Where was this the past 40 games?  Our team has the ability.  And while our starting pitching is still weak, the hitting should be there.  Tonight villified it.  I want everyone to think about something.  We have 7 games where the Tigs have hit for 7 or more runs.  Guess how many times we have gotten shutout… 7 times… THOSE NUMBERS DON’T ADD UP!!! Teams that score 19 runs in a single ball game, DO NOT GET SHUTOUT 7 TIMES, especially before the halfway mark of the season!!!  The Tigs are averaging 10.6 runs per game in the past 5 games, a fantastic ammount of runs for a team that was predicted by many to score a 1000 runs before the season started.  So, the only thing that we can hope, is that this is something that we can expect to continue.

On to the next frustrating part of this matchup today.  Nate Robertson actually didn’t pitch terribly!!! 3 runs over 5 innings is bareable from him (though not great by any means)… Where was this pitching earlier in the season against such powerhouses as the Royals?  Frustrating…

Another thing… Sheffield has been hitting. This man still belongs on the DL (IMHO), but its nice to see him being anything other then a black hole in the offense.  Another strong game again today 2 hits, 3 RBI’s, and is now batting over .200!!!! WHOOOOOOO! *sarcasm* Wake me up when he’s batting .275.

The Tigers have it in them to win, I saw it tonight, and I sincerely hope for Tigs fans alike that this is no longer going to be a rare sight, Its now or never Tigers…  Show the world what you can do.

Flex that Detroit Muscle.

Notes:

• Magglio has been a beast of late.  2 HR’s today… simply amazing, arguably the best right-handed hitter in the game.
• Cabrera still seems to be struggling to me.  He still is looking lackadaisical at the plate and swinging at bad pitches, but his play at 1st base has been very encouraging.
• Aquilino Lopez is still playing pretty damn good (2.2 IP, 1 H)
• GO WINGS!!!

Newsflash: Passion is there, but Tigs Still Struggling

First of all, everyone take a DEEP BREATH.  Now hold it.  Because thats what we all should be doing over the next 12 games, when we can finally truly evaluate this team after there 3 straight wins against the Mariners.  3 wins in a row is pretty (*coughs* Seattle is Terrible *coughs*), though tonight we all were quickly brought back to earth with an ugly loss at Minnesota (a good team).

Gallaraga had his “back down to earth” game, where he walked 5 and gave up 5 earned.  It all came down to a bad inning, the 2nd namely, where he gave up 3 bad runs.  He pitched alot better during the next 4 innings, as he went on to give up a total of 5 runs over 6 innings pitched.

After the bats literally disappeared throughout the first 6 innings, it looked like the Tigs would tie it up, they scored 4, though got a costly out when Marcus Thames belted it and scrambled for a double, only to overrun the bag, then proceeded to overrun 3rd base and get out when the shortstop dropped the ball trying to tag him on his way to 3rd…Crazy play, and a costly one.  The tigers then ended the inning, and were down 5-4 heading into the 8th.  Then, the oh so loved bullpen came in, and it was time for our 30 million dollar bullpen man Mr. Dontrelle Willis to come in… what did he do? He sucked and nearly put this game out of reach on his own.  Here’s his stats for the game:

1 IP   1 R  1 H  1 ER  2 BB 0 SO

Translation: He has yet to pitch a strikeout this year, and was terrible again Friday night.  To quote one of my favorite bloggers and blogs, MikeMcCleary writes on BlessYouBoys “The number of strikeouts by Willis, opposed to the 11 walks. In other words, he has more balks than strikeouts. Oy vey.”

So to summarize the bullpen came in and promptly gave up 4 runs over the next 3 innings, and the tigs lost 9-4.

Now to take a look at the pros and cons of this game:

Pro: Jim Leyland showed anger, getting kicked out of the game after arguing a call (that was NOT a strike against Guillen), something that had me and many fans questioning his passion for the team.

Con: The bullpen. Can anyone remember a time when the bullpen came in with a man on base where they DIDN’T end up scoring?  Its getting ridiculus.  Good news is Zumaya and Rodney threw this weekend… see below for more details.  *Note: Bobby Seay needs to get out Lefties… thats his damn job*

Pro: The team didn’t seem to look completely lackluster.  They showed passion during the rally.  Though this also leads me to my con.

Con: I’m fine with them showing passion but sometimes they look TOO loose in the dugout, smiling and joking around seems inappropriate to me when your doing as terrible as they have been, and especially during close games (which it was at one point in the game).

Con:  Dontrelle WIllis. See stats above. Nuff said.

BIG CON: They lost the damn game. Good teams find ways to win these games, teams like the 2006 Tigers.  I still don’t feel like this team can comeback and win games.  I just don’t feel that confidence.  Who is their Mr. Clutch? (Anybody else miss Craig Monroe?)

I”m gonna try to end this post on a good note.  Zumaya and Rodney threw a bullpen session today, and guess what? Zumaya hit speeds of 96 and 98.  Rodney hit speeds of 94 and 95… WOW is all I have to say to that.  I honestly doubted that Zumaya would break 95 even fully recovered. This is great news for Tigs fans and hopefully these guys can get out there soon so that I don’t have to deal with seeing Bobby Seay (sorry I know i’m picking on him alot) and Zach Miner any more ( I know he didn’t play today but he still makes me sick to my stomach).

So far on my 12 game evaluation , post Seattle, the Tigs are 0-1.  Lets hope they change this around quick.