The curse of second base . . . reversed?

There is a long running theory in our house that the Tigers have some sort of Voldemort/Defense Against the Dark Arts type curse going on at second base. The origin of this curse, we felt, was when the Tigers let Placido Polanco walk, because as much as we hated watching Granderson leave,  that decision struck us as particularly stupid.

Yesterday, thanks to my husband, a new theory arose. It may have only partially been Polanco’s fault. No. The blame for the curse may have always rested on the shoulders of one Omar Infante.

Think about it! Omar Infante and Ramon Santiago were supposed to be the second baseman and shortstop of the future. In the 2004 season, Omar played 142 games, the majority of them at second base. And it did not go quite as planned.  Omar hit .264 in 2004 and .222 in 2005 (not all games at second, mind you). Sensing the need for a hitter at that position, the Tigers went to the Phills and picked up one Placido Polanco, who proceeded to hit very, very well from 2005-2009 before he was stupidly unsigned despite hitting .285 and winning a Gold Glove. (You know what he did for Philly the next year? Hit .298. But I’m not bitter.)

So, based on our previous theory, Polanco was bitter for not getting the offer from the Tigers he deserved and placed a curse on second base. I certainly wouldn’t blame him. But let’s consider Omar for a moment. Despite having his job taken, he hung around and played off our bench for two more seasons, playing pretty much every position on the field, and watched Polanco be the second baseman his team always wanted before finally going to the Braves for the 2009 season. Still, he played off the bench, playing only 30 of 70 total games that year at second.

But a funny thing happened in 2010. The Braves played Omar for 134 games, 65 at second base. He hit .321 that year and was assigned to the All-Star team as a reserve second baseman. Huh. In fact, over the years prior, though it was generally smaller sample sizes, he was quietly increasing his batting average. The Marlins obviously noticed this and made him their daily second baseman in 2011 and, as well all know, 2012, with good results. The Tigers, having endured multiple years of years of second base insanity (Raburn, Santiago, Worth, Inge, Rhymes, Guillen, Sizmore,  . . .), looked back to Infante, who was playing very well for a team that has become the laughing stock of the National League, and said “Son, your time as come. Come home”.

And what has Infante done since? In 15 games, he’s hit .315, 8 RBIs, 2 home runs, 2 triples.

Yes, Polanco might have cursed the second base position. But isn’t it equally likely that second base, after losing Polanco, has just been waiting for Infante to come home?

A brief conversation about Ryan Raburn going to the DL

Me: Raburn just went on the 15-day DL? I mean, for what, exactly? A sore ass?

Husband: Seriously? He hasn’t played in like a week. Splinters, maybe?

Me: Hee! Butt splinters!

And then we acquired a replacement Raburn, and I felt a little bad for the guy, but it was still funny. So there you go.

Tigers @ Rays 6-29-12: David Price is Really Good

If it feels like Tigers starters have given up an inordinate number of home runs this season, believe me, it feels much worse when you’re watching the Rays hit solo homer after solo homer off your ace.  But let’s not dwell on the outcome, because I have pictures!  I’ll post the whole set somewhere and have a link at some point, but for now, I’ll give you the highlights.  Please feel free to share with a credit back to this blog.  Enjoy!

Action Coke!  Tampa’s bullpen is on the field, so photo ops are easy.

Crossing a line

I’ve been staying off Twitter a lot lately, particularly during games, because it just makes me too angry, especially during a loss.  I’m usually pretty careful to follow people who only Tweet amusing things about games, even during ugly losses, but with the ability to retweet, I inevitably end up pissed off about something and have to log off.  This weekend, I cautiously ventured back onto Twitter, and generally enjoyed it, probably in no small part to the hysterical chronicles of the rain delay last night by people who were getting hailed on at the park.  

Something came up on my feed today, though, that set me off all over again.

I mean, for real?  There are fans who would actually do that crap?

Social media and the internet are great for a lot of reasons.  God knows I use them enough.  The downside is, though, that relative anonymity makes people brave.  For most of us, having to look someone in the face while saying something to them makes us censor ourselves a tad.  The internet gives you more of a hit-and-run mentality to being mean.  

I have no problems with people having opinions about how a team is being managed.  Fans will disagree, think they can make better decisions, play Monday Morning QB, etc.  That’s just how they are.  I’ve done it myself.  And, sometimes, fans will frame these opinions in an unnecessarily negative way.  I don’t like it (see: my opinions about booing home players), but that’s sports and it will never change.

But, really, that isn’t the issue here.  The problem in this case is that some fans think it is perfectly acceptable to voice their opinions on how a team’s manager sucks to that manager’s son.  That’s crossing a line.  Yes, Patrick is on Twitter, and probably sees passing comments from time to time.  But this person apparently Tweeted directly to Patrick, and that’s completely uncalled for.  I guess they thought, hey, Jim Leyland isn’t on Twitter, but his kid is, so this is the next best thing?  Maybe?  I don’t know what the thought process was, but it isn’t okay.

Luckily, Patrick handled it gracefully, which speaks volumes about his upbringing.  This was the next Tweet, which gave me some hope for humanity:

He also chose to post a video of his dad being interviewed as his response to any questions about Leyland’s loyalty to the Tigers, which I thought was a classy, appropriate response.  

So kudos to you, Patrick, for sticking up for your dad, and kudos to Jim for raising a good kid.  

Stay tuned for about a billion pictures from the Tampa games, as soon as I can narrow down which ones I want to post.  

Oops?

Here’s a fun secret I failed to anticipate about starting a blog following your favorite sports team.  When they’re winning, it seems super easy and fun.  When they’re not . . . well, less fun.  And kind of difficult.

I mean, really, how many different ways can you say the following things- screw the injury bug, the offense makes me want to set fire to the team, WTF Scherzer, please don’t talk to me about second base.  It gets kind of redundant, the way every loss feels exactly the same, how you can call when a guy is about to hit into a double play, how terrible pitchers are suddenly complete game throwers against us.  This wasn’t supposed to happen, you know.  But it is happening, and that makes it hard to find things to write about.

HOWEVER.

I will be attending three of the four Tampa games next weekend, so I should have plenty to talk about and I’m hoping that might get me going, at least for a bit.  I should also have plenty of pictures to show you.  Let’s consider this a blog reboot, shall we?

Until then, I’ll sit here on the couch and keep watching the Cardinals and our boys deadlocked in the most boring game ever played and pretend that our bullpen isn’t going to blow this thing.  Prince just hit a single, so maybe there’s hope?

Know your Tigers: a refresher for the folks at MLB.com

This picture has been in the MLB.com photo gallery for last night’s game against Oakland all day today.  Apparently, no one has felt the need to correct it.  You know, on the website dedicated entirely to professional baseball.  Thus, I feel the need to provide some information to help them properly distinguish between certain Tigers hitters.

The above picture is of Brennan Boesch.  Brennan Boesch used to hit second for the Tigers.  He is currently hitting .231 with an OBP of .254, an OPS of .604, and is slugging .351, which is why he is now batting 8th.  He has been playing with the Tigers since 2010 and has only ever worn the number 26.  He is huge but has a baby face and almost constant stubble.

(image from mlive.com)

This is Andy Dirks.  He is four inches shorter than Brennan, has a distinctively thick neck, and I have yet to see him play with stubble.  He’s played with the Tigers since last season and has only ever worn the number 12 in the majors.  He is hitting a ridiculous .371 with an OBP of .413, an OPS of 1.042, and is slugging .629.  This is why he is now hitting second in the lineup instead of Boesch.  

I hope you will find this guide helpful in the future.  Or, if you’d like, I would happily come write captions for your Tigers game photos for you.  I bet I would get all the names right and everything.

I have a lot of feelings on this matter, but Christy said every last one of them, so I’ll let her down the talking and say “ditto” for now.

NOT HELPFUL, DELMON

Are you freaking kidding me with this??

Okay, look, Delmon.  Let’s talk about this for a minute.  New York City is an exciting place.  I know you were probably excited that the team got in early enough to enjoy a little time in the city.  But New York is a great place.  There are many, MANY things to do that do not involve drinking and staying out until after 2am.  And, hell, if you were going to drink?  Have a beer.  Maybe two.  Meet some locals.  Go to bed at a descent hour.  But you are on a team that is slumping.  Drinking to a degree that impares your judgement the day before a game against the NEW YORK YANKEES is a STUPID IDEA.  One of your OWN TEAM MATES can provide you with endless reasons as to why this is true.
Also?  Your team just lost 6 of 7 games at home, 3 of those against the Mariners.  Fans are angry.  Your manager is frustrated.  The longest employed player in the organization, whom some of your team mates have known for 10 years, was just fired.  For one second, did you think that MAYBE putting yourself in a situation that COULD lead to trouble was the absolute LAST THING any of your team mates or bosses needed right now?  They’ve been through this before.  Recently.  I have a feeling their patience for these kinds of shennanigans are wearing very, very thin.

And, if we’re being really honest?  You’re no Miguel Cabrera, and you’ve been in trouble before.  You’re a free agent at the end of this year, and you’ve seemed very concerned about that fact whenever anyone thinks that maybe your lack of range in left may mean you should be a full-time DH.  Do you really think this kind of behavior is going to help you get a job next year?  Really?

One of the reasons I love professional baseball is because this kind of crap doesn’t seem to happen with nearly the frequency it does in, say, the NBA or the NFL.  I want the athletes I root for to be good role models for my kids someday.  Good people make mistakes.  Good people make poor choices.  But the information coming forward that this may have a anti-semetic aspect to it makes it harder for me to write this whole situation off as “one of those things”.  Drinking lowers our inhibitions.  It doesn’t change who we are as people.

Jim Leyland stood up in front of a room full of people just days ago and praised your team for who they are as people.  Do you remember what he said?

“We just have a wonderful group of guys. In fact, to be honest with you, if we’re going to win this thing, we’ve got to find that little mean streak that’s in all of us. We need that, and we’re going to have to have that. We are going to need that little mean streak, I can assure you, that little swagger, because we’re the hunted. But I’ll take my chances with this group. We’ve got a lot of characters, a lot of wonderful guys with great, great personalities.”

“I’ve never really seen many good players or good teams that didn’t have a little mean streak, a little selfishness in them, to be honest with you. I mean that in a good way. … In our case, I think it’s particularly important because a lot of people have talked about our club, blah blah blah.  There’s time to be a real nice guy and a gentleman, but it’s not when the game starts. You have to have a little bit of [a-hole] in you, if you want to know the truth.”

This isn’t what he meant.  Not at all.  I’m sure he’s embarassed by what happened this morning, and I hope you appologize to him and the fans for representing the club in this way.

the hardest goodbye yet

Well, that was fast.

I knew it would happen.  I knew it would happen this season.  I hate that it happened at the end of a completely disastrous homestand.  Because, look, we can all agree (even this supporter) that Inge has been terrible aside from the random extra base hit, but he’s been with the team since 2001.  He was part of the 2006 club.  I cannot imagine that losing a guy like this as a teammate after being SWEPT BY THE MARINERS and before you get on a plane to New York felt very good.  The only good thing I see in this as a fan is that Inge no longer has to endure the hail of boos that happens anytime he shows his face on the field.  It felt cruel and cheap and I was sick of hearing it.  He said he thought it was funny, but when they showed close-ups of his face during games, it was like looking at a different person.  I think he was miserable, and maybe this was the best thing for him.  Have fun with your kids, Brandon, and I hope someone picks you up.

Really, I’m just angry, and not for the reason you think.  I’m pissed because I’m sure there are fans who feel like they’ve won, like they booed hard enough, complained loudly enough, that the front office heard them and gave them what they wanted.  And that just isn’t true.  This was going to happen one way or another, and I hate that people feel giddy about it.  There’s nothing good about watching a guy try so hard but fail.  Nothing.  Inge leaving doesn’t fix this team.  Leyland wanted the guys to get angry.  Maybe this will help.

As I’ve said, I was a late fan.  Brandon Inge was the first player I called “My Tiger”.  I don’t know why I zeroed in on him, but I’ve always liked him, and I’ll keep wearing my Inge jersey until it falls apart.  I’ll miss seeing his goofy, ridiculous face on the team, and if he lands somewhere in another uniform, I’ll follow him, no matter how wrong it looks, just like I have with Granderson in pinstripes.

Random baseball happenings, some of it Tigers related

We’re not talking about last night, so here’s a delightfully random collection of linkage:

Apparently, we have re-acquired Zach Miner.  I have no interpretation for that.  Just thought you all might want to know.

Pudge finally makes it official.  How much do you love that Avila got his first catcher mitt from Pudge?  Aw.

Phil Coke’s Brain gives you a rundown of Tigers Twitter insanity, both official and not.   There’s some great stuff here and definitely worth a look.  I haven’t been able to handle Twitter during games lately, but if you’re brave, I recommend @RodAllen12, @mario_impemba, @philcokesbrain, @blessyouboys, @spacemnkymafia, @catswithbats, and @RoarTigers for information and laughs.

Have you guys seen the Chevy spots featuring the Tigers?  Check out “On Deck”, “Wind Up”, and “Rear View”.  The first two are my favorites, particularly “Wind Up”.  Simple and effective.  Love.

Apparently, Mike Rizzo has said that Strasburg will be shut down after between 160-180 innings, regardless of the Nationals’ playoff situation.  This makes my brain explode.  Nationals fans, you have my sincerest apologies in advance for how your season could potentially end.

Joe Posnanski is my favorite baseball writer and has just left Sports Illustrated for a new project.  You can check out his revamped blog here, though!

I don’t need to tell any of you that Curtis Granderson hit three home runs last night in consecutive plate appearances, right?  Because you all heard that already and wept quietly into your pillow.  Favorite reaction- last night, during the Tigers broadcast, Mario said “So, it looks like Curtis is having himself a day”, to which Rod replied, with a knowing, weary tone “What has he done?”.  Because everyone misses Curtis.