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.

JV tries to kill us, Inge kills the internet, and this is only week 2

(This was written yesterday, FYI, so assume this was all yesterday morning after JV’s start.  I forgot to e-mail the post to myself from the work computer.  Oops.)

Why do I feel like this season has been at least a month long already? My heart should not be litterally pounding during the 10th game of the year. Insanity.

And speaking of insanity, this team (and the fans, actually) has rendered me incapable of coherent speech multiple times over already, so here’s a collection of disjointed thoughts for you.

– At some point during the third game against the White Sox, I had completely transformed into the “Y U No” guy and found myself screaming at the television:

TIGERS OFFENSE Y U NO HIT BASEBALLS?

BULLPEN Y U NO THROW STRIKES?

LEYLAND Y U NO KILL SCHLERETH?

PRINCE Y U INJURE OWN STARTER?

DELMON Y U NO LIKE RUNNING?

DUNN Y U HIT BASEBALL NOW?

FANS Y U NO LIKE OWN TEAM?

And so on. Thank God for Porcello and his rediscovered sinker. When you are reduced to meme-speak this early in the season, you know you’re in for a long summer.

– Boys, I know it is self-preservation, but you’re supposed to protect your pitcher. One of you couldn’t have stood still or knocked down that foul ball or something and kept it from hitting Wilk?

– I guess if you’re going to pass sinus infections and strep around the clubhouse, best to get it out of the way this early in the season. Maybe you don’t want to give it to your broadcaster who just went through chemo, though. Just a thought.

– The fan panic continues at a level that is so ridiculous that I can’t even read Twitter during games if things are going badly. Ryan Raburn should be burned at the stake! Miguel Cabrera is ruined! Jim Leyland should be fired because we lost a game/for leaving JV in/taking JV out/ever using his bullpen/using statistics to compose a line-up/breathing! After last night, it turns out I can’t even read Twitter during games when things are going WELL. I hopped on after Inge’s homerun of majesty last night to see if Samera was gloating (heh) and check the feeds of the few other Tigers fans I can stand to follow. According to a few of those folks, people have such a deep hatred for Brandon Inge that they were actually angry that he hit a home run. That broke a tie. And ended up being the difference in the game. And gave JV a chance at his first win.

… I don’t even know what to do with this information. If you hate a guy so much that you can’t tip your hat and say “huh, good job, I guess”, or even acknowledge that he might have changed the outcome of an entire game, I don’t want to know you. You might call yourself a fan of the team, but we have very different definitions of the word “fan”.

– Along that same line, should we really be upset that the bottom part of the order is stepping up to win games when the middle is so clearly slumping? I love you, Gerald Laird.

– I hate to get my hopes up, but I kind of want to marry this version of Austin Jackson. Never leave us Austin Jackson Who Hits Balls and Takes Walks!

– The MLB Tonight commentary during their live lookins during the 9th inning last night were hysterical. They were utterly convinced that Leyland had gone out to pull Justin during his mound visit and had been talked out of it. Having watched far many, many mound visits during Justin’s starts, my husband and I believed that, after his last start, Leyland was absolutely going to leave Justin in, even if he lost the lead. We never for a moment thought that mound visit was anything more than a “Look, you need one out, just get this done”. I even told my husband that it was all probably some sort of psychological thing for him after the last start and Leyland was letting him work through it. The reactions and expressions of pure relief and glee on Avila and Verlander’s faces after the final out confirmed this long before the quotes from MLB.com did. Do I agree with letting your star arm throw that many VERY FAST pitches in April? No, I do not. But I kind of get it, even if it almost KILLED ME DEAD.

– I hate the White Sox. I hate them in their stupid White Sox faces.

 

The Tigers prove they’re capable of losing, fans promptly lose their minds

::sigh::

Okay, listen Tigers fans.  Come over here and have a seat.  Don’t worry, I have tissues and beer.

Here’s the thing, you guys.  You’re all sports fans, and what’s more, you’re all TIGERS fans.  You know how this works.  Sometimes, teams lose.  In baseball, with the season lasting the better part of a year, the odds of this happening frequently is actually pretty high.  And, sometimes, your team will lose in a way that is so soul-crushingly, mind-numbingly, yell-obscenities-at-the-radio-and-nearly-drive-off-the-road terrible that you will question why you ever chose to put yourself through following them.  Do you all remember That Twins Game?  Yeah, you do, even if you try to pretend you don’t.

Yes, it is completely infuriating that Justin could pitch THAT WELL for 8 innings (I mean, less than 80 pitches?  What?) and blow it in the 9th.  It is more infuriating that Schlereth and Valverde gave back-to-back walks after he left the game and broke the tie.  And it is just BLISTERINGLY INFURIATING that Fernando Rodney, FERNANDO, could put down Cabrera, Prince, and Peralta in order.

Give me a second, I need to take a breath…

Okay, I’m better.  Look.  You can Monday morning quarterback this all day long, but here’s the truth.  The way Justin was pitching, no one could have guessed he would look that different the next inning.  Even after he started to struggle, fans were booing when Leyland went out to talk to him because they thought he was getting pulled.  Was Schlereth a good choice for the next pitcher?  Probably not.  Was it a good plan to put Valverde into a non-save, bases loaded situation?  Maybe not.  But statistically, it was probably just as likely for them or Verlander to blow the lead.  The manager has to make these choices, and if it works, he’s a hero.  If it doesn’t, fans wail and gnash their teeth, calling for his head.  After this team won the first four games of the season.  You know how many teams were undefeated this morning?  The Tigers.  You know how many wins the Twins had this morning?  Zero.  Just think about that for a minute before you start mentally firing the whole team.

I hate to have to bring this up again, but @catswithbats mentioned on Twitter that she really hoped she wasn’t hearing booing on the broadcast at the end of the game.  The only, ONLY reason I hope those people had was that they were expressing their displeasure for Rodney’s new-found abilities.  The Rays are a good team.  They swept the Yankees and, last season, beat them to make it to the playoffs.  Aside from the final inning, Verlander pitched like a master.  Shields also pitched a great game and we were frankly lucky to get the runs we did.  This was just one of those games.  If there were people booing simply because we lost, I’m frankly ashamed to call them fellow fans.

Valverde isn’t going to get every save, Cabrera and Prince aren’t going to get back-to-back hits every time through the rotation, Verlander isn’t going to pitch a no-hitter every outing, and we’re going to lose sometimes.  This team is made of win and magic and we’ll all enjoy this season a lot more if we can calm the hell down.  If we don’t, this is going to be a long, miserable season.

Take heed, American League teams

Oh, you all know we have this guy . . .

. . .  and this guy . . .

. . . and you may have heard we had this guy.

But, with all of that going on, you may have forgotten that we still have this guy . . .

. . . and this guy . . .

. . . and, of course, this guy.

So, you know, good luck with that!

Signs of the apocalypse; fans feel the first stirrings of panic

For Tigers fans, there are very specific events that might signify a coming apocalypse.  Inge batting above .250, Scherzer pitching with control for two consecutive starts ( . . . can you tell I’m watching the game right now?), etc.  I don’t know if any of you noticed, because he doesn’t belong to us anymore, but something happened this weekend that makes me think we may not have much time left.

Fernando Rodney has a win and a save this season for the Rays.  Already.  In fact, he got a save yesterday on one pitch.

I know, right?  I really have nothing else to say about it.  Just thought you all might want to be aware.

In other news, while our bats have proven as magnificent as we could have hoped (get it together, Brennan), the pitchers are responsible for the first stirrings of panic in our hearts.  I’m not talking about the 37 pitches Scherzer just took to get through one inning, either.  Fister is the first regular season DL victim, which I declared The Worst Thing yesterday, proving that I am not immune to the hysteria.  For those of us freaking out, Jim Leyland offered these comforting words:

“[Brayan] Villarreal has joined the team and we will have a starter at the appropriate time. Who it is, I have no clue. None.” (MLB.com)

I thought it was obvious that Below would be the starter, especially since Below pitched well above my expectations when he took over for Fister and thus can be on the same rest schedule as Fister, and Smyly would be pulled up as scheduled.  However, this also happened yesterday

Smyly- 1.2 innings, 3 hits, 3 runs, 3 ER, 2 BB, 1 SO

Ladies and gentlemen, your fifth starter!

Open letters from opening day

Tragically, I was at work for the majority of the game yesterday.  Not nearly as tragically, I was at home in front of my television in time to watch Austin Jackson work some magic!  Through the magic of technology, I was following the game as closely as possible and have some open letters to our dear players for the start of the season.

To Prince Fielder, Please keep being adorable with Cabrera in the dugout.  Rubbing his back?  Hugging him from behind?  Priceless.  Maybe having a hetero-lifemate will keep him happy and out of trouble.

Jhonny Perlata- People said that there was probably no way you could have another season like last year.  They said that, based on your career numbers, last year was a fluke.  Well.  You quietly went about your business having a ridiculous spring, and no one talked about it.  And then?  Three-for-three with a walk on opening day.  You just keep doing your thing and we’ll keep laughing that no one seems to notice.

Dear, dear Austin Jackson, THIS.  That’s all I can say.  Do this, always, and maybe you can earn a small piece of the love that we had for Curtis Granderson and help us to heal.  Obviously, you loved it, too.  Did you see the replays of your smile after you hit the game winning run?  Be still, my heart!

Miguel.  Listen, buddy.  We’re not going to worry about the hitting, because you took three walks and they had the balls to walk you intentionally to get to Prince.  We laugh at that strategy.  And your ridiculous roll after catching the foul fly?  Adorable.  But what happened on that error?  That wasn’t even a ranging play.  The only thing I can imagine is that you had a flashback to the exploded face incident and balked.  And, honestly, I don’t blame you, but you’re out to prove something, and that something is not my lingering fear that you won’t make it as a third baseman.  Get it together.

Dearest Papa Grande, I don’t blame you.  Those people who apparently booed when you finished the inning?  They’re ungrateful idiots.  You weren’t going to stay perfect and everyone knows that.  Granted, blowing it on opening day was not ideal, but at least the monkey is off your back and you can start a new streak, right?  Please don’t ever change.

Oh, Tigers fans.  Speaking of booing, I have a note for you, as well.  Stop.  Booing. Your.  Own.  Team.  Stop it.  Did you really boo Inge when he was announced, on opening day, even though he’s on the DL and not playing?  Seriously?  I know you’re fickle when it comes to Inge, but that’s a new low.  And those of you who booed Valverde when he blew a save?  After all he did for the team last year?  Disgusting.  Please don’t start the year this way.

Justin, Justin, Justin.  Did you think I forgot about you?  How could I?  105 pitches, 8 innings, 1 walk, and 7 K’s.  I love you.  I love you so, so hard.  My in-laws sent us boxes of Fastball Flakes this week.  You have your own cereal, that’s how hard we love you.  DO THIS ALWAYS.

I love you, team.  Keep this up, and we’ll be just fine.

 

PLAY BALL!

Can you feel me vibrating from here?  The rosters have been set (…kinda), the Mud Hens exhibition has been played, and I have been repeatedly sunburned at games despite my best attempts at sunblock application.  You guys, there is actual, non-spring-related Tigers baseball on national television tomorrow afternoon.  While I’m at work.  Because, you know, why wouldn’t it be while I’m at work?

This means the end of my Tiger watching and new pictures until they come to Tampa in June.  I mean, my camera is terrible, but at least they were pictures.  As I sit here watching Intentional Talk to psych myself up, I thought it would be fitting to give the spring a little send-off, so here is a completely uninteresting summary of my thoughts on the roster, colored by what I saw down here over the last month.

Pitching:

Starters- Verlander, Scherzer, Porcello, Fister, and Smyly, in case you forgot.  I’m cautiously EXTREMELY excited about this.  Cautiously.  IF Porcello keeps throwing his slider like he did this spring, IF Scherzer can throw strikes the way he did most of the spring (with the exception of yesterday, what in the WORLD was that??), IF Fister and Verlander are themselves, and of course IF we’re all healthy, we will have a formidable rotation.  Smyly has been accused, mostly by twitter, of earning the 5th spot by not walking as many people as Below and Oliver.  I was all set a few days ago to mock those people until Smyly suddenly imploded all over himself.  So, we’ll see.  I predict we’ll see at least two other starts at various points in the season, OR this will be another Armando/Porcello/Verlander situation where we pull someone up early and they have a fantastic year.

Bullpen- Balester, Below (for now), Benoit, Coke, Dotel, Schlereth, Valverde.  Marte’s starting the season on the DL because apparently we hadn’t met our DL quota for the month.  This also has the potential for awesome.  Valverde will blow a save sometime in the first week or so, no biggie.  I love Schlereth, I do, but I have concerns.  His walks started piling up again by the end of the spring.  I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw Villiarreal within the first few months.  I really, really, REALLY like him, and I’m actually surprised Schlereth got the spot over him.  Of course, we should also be getting Alburquerque back, so this could get interesting.  Not a lot of room to move people up and down, really.  Of course, again, my optimism is ridiculously cautious, because this is the Tigers bullpen we’re talking about.  There’s History.

Catchers: I mean, Laird and Avila.  Given no one’s knees explode, we’re okay.  Laird was even hitting this spring!  It was beautiful to behold.  Many are predicting that Avila’s average will creep down toward earth a bit this year, but with the extra rest Laird can give, I could see it staying about the same.  He looked good this spring- healthy and extremely happy.  I don’t think I ever saw Avila not smiling and joking with people during work-outs.

Infield: Here’s where I think we have the potential for the most motion during the regular season.  We have SO MANY infielders, people.  Cabrera, Fielder, Peralta, Santiago, and Worth are listed as opening infielders.  Cabrera looked better than I expected he would at third and his hitting like an animal, but again, we have History here.  Fielder is Fielder.  I was not impressed with his first base playing, but that’s not why we’re eating pizzas for the next 9 years.  Santiago was Santiago this spring, and Worth was hitting well but not impressive in the field.  I really didn’t see him fielding enough to make a good judgement.  HOWEVER, listed under infielders, we have Kelly and Raburn, who also spent a ton of time in the infield.  In fact, Raburn is supposed to get the bulk of the playing time at second.  Both of them had good springs, Raburn’s spectacular (both hitting and fielding), though he was coming back to earth by the end.  I don’t think this was unexpected and I’m not convinced he won’t repeat his pattern of making everyone crazy until July.  THEN we have Inge hanging out on the DL, who played insanely well at second but hit in a very Inge manner.  As Leyland pointed out, though, he was making good contact, so we’ll see.  I’m still not convinced he’ll spend the entire season on our roster.

Outfield:  Finally, we have Boesch, Dirks, Jackson, Kelly, Raburn, Clete, and Young.  I already talked about Raburn and Kelly.  Boesch had a great spring, so I’m excited.  Dirks proved why he was a Dominican hero and hit better than I expected.  Jackson looked like he was going to repeat last season for half the spring, then started hitting AND taking walks, which made me want to kiss him.  I want Delmon to be the DH so, so badly, but he despises the idea.  People, he cannot play left well.  Watching him make plays over there was painful this spring.  In fact, he was heckled several time by Tigers fans.  He was hitting so well, though, that I feel like this is another Cabrera situation.  Whatever, as long as he’s hitting, right?  Clete is an interesting situation.  His hitting was hella streaky, but his outfield range was a wonder to behold.  In my perfect world, he plays left and Delmon DH’s.

In conclusion, yes, we have some issues, and some of those issues have the potential for flaming disaster, but unless they happen all at once I don’t see them sinking this team.  We have remarkable flexibility with the roster, straight down to the minors, and that’s in our favor if we want to keep everyone healthy.  While I don’t foresee the need for any big moves down the line, I also didn’t see the need to sign someone like Prince, either, so what do I know?  Still, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see guys like Clete, Inge, or Worth disappear at some point for various reasons.  Cautious optimism, yes, but definitely optimism.

On a final note… you guys, the Marlin’s stadium is so tacky.  So, so tacky.  Do yourself a favor and turn to ESPN right now and feast your eyes upon the home run statue.  Words fail me.