Archive for September, 2004

It looks like the Tigers are going to win their second in a row. After taking the opener against the Devil Rays, the Tigers had two days off because of the hurricane before coming back and taking care of the Royals in the opener (I’m assuming the Tigers will win, because they’re up 7-3 with one out in the ninth).

The win will put the Tigers nine games below .500. It was nice to see Will Ledezma throw a nice game, and Omar Infante had a three run double to break the game open in the eighth.

Aaron Gleeman has a well put together piece at Hardball Times about the AL MVP race. It’s nice to see Carlos Guillen get some recognition as he’s right in the mix of Aaron’s column. I was surprised to see he leads the AL in WARP with a 9.4, just ahead of Miguel Tejada. If you’ve never checked out Hardball Times, there’s a ton of information there, and something for just about everyone.

The Tigers won. Berroa hit a solo shot to put a little fear into me, but Gary Knotts got the three inning save.

I hope everyone had a nice holiday weekend. Three and a half weeks left in the season, so I’m hoping they’re good ones.

September 5, 1984 Tigers 1, Orioles 0 (89-51)

In the bottom of the first inning, Alan Trammell scored on a throwing error by Cal Ripken. Little did either team know that would be the last of the scoring for the day.

Orioles starter Mike Flanagan pitched a fine game, going the distance and giving up only six hits and one unearned run. Unfortunately for him, Juan Berenguer was just a little bit better, as he pitched 7 1/3 innings of two hit shutout ball. Willie Hernandez came in to finish the game after that, and he earned his twenty eighth save in the process.

The Jays lost, so the Tigers increased their lead to 8 1/2 games. With a day off before facing the Blue Jays in three game series, the Tigers magic number stood at fifteen.

September 4, 1984 Orioles 4, Tigers 1 (88-51)

Captain Hook was true to form as Dave Rozema gave up back to back singles, a sac fly to Cal Ripken, and then a third single before Sparky pulled the plug early. Bill Scherrer came in to stop the damage, as he got the final two batters out.

Then Sparky went to rookie Roger Mason, who made his major league debut. Mason pitched all eight remaining innings, giving up only four hits and striking out six. Unfortunately one of those hits was a two run shot by Rick Dempsey.

Alan Trammell and Howard Johnson both had two hits, but it was rookie Nelson Simmons, who also made his major league debut, that drove in the only run for the Tigers.

With the loss, the Tigers lead was cut to 7 1/2 games. With an upcoming series against the Jays, things were looking pretty dicey and the fans had to have been a little worried.

That last game versus Kansas City has been a major discomfort for me. I really didn’t like how they swung the bats and the overall malaise they seemed to exhibit in yet again losing another series to the Royals. At any rate, I had to question a Trammell decision in the 7th inning. When the first two batters got aboard with no outs, why bunt? Jaime Cerda had not been pitching anywhere near the plate so why give the Royals a sacrifice out in the inning when Cerda had yet to establish he might not walk Brandon Inge in that at bat. The inning fizzled from that point and I was disgusted. Nice pitching by Greinke, I don’t look forward to the Tigers facing him again this week. Our hearts and prayers should go out to all Floridians and the Tigers/D-Rays with the impending onset of the hurricane. I hope the Tigers remain safe.

With the hurricane on the way, it will be interesting to see how many games the Tigers get off over in Tampa. With both of these teams out of playoff race, it’s very possible that the games wouldn’t be made up.

As September goes on, the 1984 Detroit Tigers Championship Diary is winding down. Later in the month, the Tigers will clinch the division, and eventually break the 1968 Detroit Tigers mark of 103 wins. Then in October, there’s the playoffs.

I’ve had a lot of fun with diary, and it was definitely a learning experience. Going into the details of their 35-5 run, and then seeing their subsequent struggles showed how a team can go from red hot to ice cold with basically the flip of a switch.

So I was thinking, what next? And I have two “nexts.” The first of which is a volunteer assignment. A good friend of mine is going to be starting a Reds Blog here soon, Reds Cutting Edge. He was on the fence for a while, but he’s now finalizing his site, and it should be up and running here soon. “Blade” as he likes to call himself, is an interesting guy. Think of a salesman on speed. And acid. But seriously, the guy trains salesmen for a living (he’s weird about remaining unknown, so that’s all I’ll really say), so he’s going to bring more of a cheerleading aspect then what you’re used to here.

What I’ll be doing there is a 1975 Cincinnati Reds diary. The Big Red Machine’s first title, and probably the greatest world series of all time, I’m looking forward to learning about the feats of Joe Morgan, Pete Rose, and Johnny Bench.

So what about Tigerblog? I’m going to be pulling double duty, which is why I’ve been trying to line up some more writers, but what I have planned is, with assistance from Baseball Almanac, a 1935 Detroit Tigers World Championship Diary. I don’t think I’ll be able to do as good of a job as I did with the 1984 diary, because I don’t have play by play data, but I have boxscores and some other additional information that should help me write an informative and interesting take on the Tigers first World Series title.

And to kick things off, over the course of the offseason, I’ll be writing brief bios on some of the key players who played on that team. I’m really looking forward to this, and I hope my readers enjoy it as well. As always, if you have a suggestion, feel free to drop me a line.

Paintball this weekend. With my son being born, it’s the first time I’ve gotten out this year. Also looking forward to the long weekend.

Speaking of which, have a nice weekend.

September 3, 1984 Orioles 7, Tigers 4 (88-50)

Jack Morris was cruising along until the Orioles tagged him for three runs in the eighth inning. Aurelio Lopez would also give up a run before the damage was done.

Darrell Evans hit his fourteenth homer, and Alan Trammell and John Grubb both had two hits.

What is it about playing in Kansas City. They’re one of the worst teams in the entire league, yet we can’t manage to win a series out there.

A great pitching performance went to waste last night, as Mike Maroth threw a gem. He had a career high eight strikeouts, and gave up only six hits. Unfortunately, Joe Randa crossed the plate, and that was all the Royals needed.

The loss takes them down to eleven games below .500. I can’t recollect, and I don’t really have the time to check, but I think this is the farthest they’ve been to .500 all season. Maybe they can win 2 of 3 against the Devil Rays this weekend and change that.

The Red Sox continue their run, and now stand with a nice comfortable 3 1/2 game lead in the Wild Card standings. They also stand the same 3 1/2 games back of the division leading Yankees. It’s not in the bag, but both of these teams look like they’ll make the playoffs.

In the NL, it’s a little less clear. Five teams are seperated by three games, and even the Astros are back in the mix. Both they and Chicago could be tough playoff opponents once you get down to a shortened rotation.

September 2, 1984 Tigers 6, A’s 3 (88-49)

Dan Petry gave up eleven hits in 5 1/3 innings, but only let three A’s cross the plate as the Tigers topped the A’s. The Tigers put four runs on the board in the third inning, and that was basically all they needed. Aurelio Lopez pitched 1 2/3 innings of one hit ball, and Willie Hernandez threw two perfect innings to earn his twenty seventh save.

Lance Parrish drove in two runs, and Barbaro Garbey hit his fifth homer of the season.

September 1, 1984 A’s 7, Tigers 5 (87-49)

This one was over pretty quickly, as Juan Berenguer couldn’t escape the first inning. By the end of the first, he’d be gone, and the Tigers would be down 6-0. Doug Bair and Bill Scherrer pitched 7 1/3 great innings of relief, holding Oakland to one run the rest of the way, but the deficit was just too much to overcome.

Lou Whitaker and Rusty Kuntz both drove in two runs, and Barbaro Garbey scored twice. but Chuck Rainey did his best Willie Hernandez impersonation, and held the Tigers scoreless in 3 1/3 innings of relief.

Toronto won, so the lead now stood at 8 1/2 games. A nice cushion, but I’m sure after losing four straight, Sparky and the boys hardly felt secure.

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