Archive for the '2005 Tigers' Category

Game 1 (Final Score: 6-2, Diamondbacks win)

I’m going to ape Ernie Harwell by saying it but InterLeague play for teams without cross league rivals lacks zest. So the Tigers face the Diamondbacks (2nd in NL West) in their bid to win another series against a western opponent. Sadly I’m going to have to crib from various news stories to put the game together since there was no pitch-by-pitch report. Happily you won’t have to read as much of my gibberish to find out what happened.

If you like Tigers hitting then there’s not going to be much here for you. Brandon Webb continued his dominance of the Tigers by pitching no-hit ball through 6.1 innings. According to quotes from various article sources, it was more Webb’s skill than the Tigers’ lack of skill that produced this tremendous outing. He seems to pitch well at Comerica Park so he might be worth a look when he becomes eligible for free agency in a couple years (of course after he’s signed as a Tiger, it’ll prove to be a small sample size or having faced weak competition issue). The Tigers mustered two runs in the seventh to tie the score after Bonderman allowed two first inning runs and not much else (2-2).

The tie didn’t last long because the Diamondbacks dropped a pair of runs on the Tigers in both the eighth and ninth to go and stay ahead (6-2). Overall the Tigers’ pitchers allowed five doubles (four by Bonderman) out of thirteen hits and five walks and the hitters managed only six hits (two doubles) and one walk. This was just an anemic performance by both the hitting and pitching. I sure hope Bonderman is healthy because he’s been the losing streak stopper; Poor Johnson has been pitching well enough to win but still losing. Here’s to tomorrow being better.

Game 2 (Final Score: 2-3, Tigers win)

Nate Robertson faced Shawn Estes on Saturday to banish memories of last night and earn the Tigers an InterLeague win. Robertson and Estes kept the game scoreless until the top of the seventh, allowing only 4 base runners each, albeit in different ways. Robertson allowed 3 walks and a double and Estes allowed 4 singles. These potential runs for both teams were wasted with double plays and general poor execution at the plate.

In the top of the seventh, Robertson allowed singles to Ex-Tiger Tony Clark, Shawn Green, and Royce Clayton after striking out Troy Glaus. Luis Terrero mustered a sacrifice fly to plate Clark’s pinch-runner (1-0). Robertson walked his fourth batsman of the night (Koyie Hill) and was replaced by Doug Creek. Creek induced a groundball from Craig Counsell to end a bad inning before it turned ugly. In the bottom half, the Tigers actually strung together a couple of hits. Ivan Rodriguez smacked a leadoff triple and scored on Carlos Guillen’s single (1-1). Dmitri Young hit a one out single after Rondell White’s line out bringing up Craig Monroe, who loaded the bases with his walk. Marcus Thames and Omar Infante both had awful at bats ending in strikeouts to end the inning.

After Farnsworth’s dominant eighth (2Ks), the Tigers again hit well enough to make it interesting. Inge hit a one out double and Rodriguez advanced him to third on a groundout. Guillen was intentionally walked to bring up White, who validated the choice by harmlessly forcing out Guillen at second. Ugueth Urbina almost made the decision gold by loading the bases with the combination of two walks and a single in the top of the ninth before escaping with Counsell’s pop out. The Tigers went quietly to end the game but since it was tied, gave the hometown fans bonus baseball.

In the tenth, Franklyn German and Jose Valverde provided for a quick inning by getting the hitters out in order. The eleventh was a different story. German allowed a leadoff triple before mowing down the next two batters. He issued first base to Luis Gonzalez, bringing up Koyie Hill who scored Chad Tracy from third with his two out single (2-1). Counsell ended another inning by missing strike three. In the bottom half, Rodriguez had another extra base leadoff hit (a double). Rodriguez proceeded to tie the game when he scored from third on White’s one out double (2-2). Young was given first base on purpose and Monroe earned it after watching four consecutive balls on an 0-2 count. Thames came up again and smacked a single scoring White and winning the game (2-3).

Game 3 (Final Score: 1-0, Diamondbacks win)

I can’t describe how fun it is to write about the third game of a three game series and have the Tigers in a position to win it. Obviously taking the first two would be ideal but it is nice (not satisfying) to be competitive each time we face a new team. Jason Johnson went up against Javier Vasquez to decide the series’ winner. To be frank, these two were the deciding factor, hands down. Johnson and Vasquez both pitched excellent games with Johnson going eight and Vasquez nine innings.

That’s not to say Johnson didn’t make things interesting. He ended his no-hit bid on the first batter, Craig Counsell, who singled and stole second. Jose Cruz Jr. walked putting Johnson to his first test: Face the heart of the Arizona order with two men on and none out. Luis Gonzalez was out one (fly out); Troy Glaus and Shawn Green were Johnson’s first two strikeout victims. Yup, he got out without giving up a run. Johnson allowed a couple of two out singles and that was it until the eighth. Royce Clayton was on third after his single, Chris Snyder’s sacrifice to Johnson, and Johnson’s wild pitch. Craig Counsell hit a single into left, scoring Clayton (1-0). Vance Wilson helped Johnson out by going 1 for 2 on base stealers so Johnson’s two walks didn’t amount to any more scoring.

I wish I could say the Tigers got the run back in the last third of the game to get Johnson even, but they didn’t. I’m going to be slightly fair about this; Vasquez brought his nasty stuff tonight and tore through the line-up. He didn’t issue any walks, allowed only one leadoff hit, and never allowed multiple base runners in an inning, but he was vulnerable. Rondell White hit a two out double and Dmitri Young couldn’t get him home in the fourth. Brandon Inge hit a two out triple and Carlos Guillen couldn’t plate him in the sixth. Finally in the ninth, Guillen had a one out double but both White and Young couldn’t plate him and tie the game up. Thanks mostly to Vasquez, the Diamondbacks take the series tonight and incidentally are the only first or second place team with more runs allowed than scored.

Hitters	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	AVG	SLG
C Guillen	12	1	5	1	1	0.417	0.500
B Inge	13	0	2	0	0	0.154	0.385
O Infante	9	0	1	0	1	0.111	0.222
N Logan	13	0	1	0	0	0.077	0.077
C Monroe	10	0	0	0	2	0.000	0.000
C Pena	6	0	0	0	0	0.000	0.000
I Rodriguez	10	3	6	0	0	0.600	0.900
M Thames	5	0	2	1	0	0.400	0.400
R White	13	1	4	3	0	0.308	0.538
V Wilson	2	0	0	0	0	0.000	0.000
D Young	12	0	1	0	1	0.083	0.083
Totals	105	5	22	5	5	0.210	0.314
Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA WHIP
J Bonderman	6	7	2	2	4	4	3.00 1.83
D Creek	0.1	1	0	0	0	0	0.00 10.00
K Farnsworth	1.1	0	0	0	0	2	0.00 0.00
F German	2	3	2	1	1	3	4.50 2.00
J Johnson	8	5	1	1	3	6	1.13 1.00
N Robertson	6.2	4	1	1	4	5	1.45 1.29
C Spurling	2	3	2	1	0	2	4.50 1.50
U Urbina	1	1	0	0	2	1	0.00 3.00
J Walker	1.2	1	1	1	1	1	7.50 1.67
Totals	29	25	9	7	15	24	2.17 1.38

Last week, I promised to begin a series on Dave Dombrowski that should have continued today. Those plans were rerouted, however, with a request from another site to contribute to a series on baseball’s GMs with a column on Dombrowski, which, at Brian’s urging, I did. A lot of the analysis I had planned to pen here is now there, and I don’t think it makes sense to redo so much of it just so I can weigh in with my opinions on the 1996 Dustin Hermanson-for-Quilvio Veras trade. So it’s back to that tried-and-true blog technique: the news and notes.

• To write those Dombrowski posts, I had to do a fair amount of research, and I was surprised at how difficult it was to find his biography and career information on the web. It was shockingly hard to get the dates of his tenure in Montreal, though I eventually found them in a WMU press release. The amount of free baseball information on the web is staggering, from the comprehensive databases at Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet to the surprisingly useful collection of trivia at Baseball Almanac and the reams of real-time data at every major and minor news site. I’ve never seen a historic listing of baseball executives, though, that compares at all to the sort of histories out there for players and managers. Even Wikipedia is uncharacteristically blank when it comes to GMs. That’s a small niche out there for someone to fill.
• What is it with the Tigers and .500? It’s a glass ceiling they cannot crack (though they were 11-10). This year, since starting 7-10, the Tigers have reached 12-12 and 19-19 before fading back. Both of those all-out strides toward mediocrity were followed up with losing streaks (they fell to 12-16 and 20-22, respectively). A similar thing happened last year. After a hot start, the Tigers fell to .500 at 13-13 and got back there again at 19-19. After that, every time they’d get close, they’d fall into a losing streak. Back to 31-34? Lose five straight. Back to 37-39? Lose five straight again. Back to 50-54? Lose seven of eight. It’s as if so much energy is expended getting to .500 that the Tigers immediately dig themselves a hole. Or maybe this is just part of behing a bad-but-not-awful team.
• Carlos Guillen has been tremendous, obviously, but he’s emblematic of a problem the Tigers cannot escape: their best players are their most fragile. Things could get ugly in a hurry if Guilen or Pudge goes down, or Magglio doesn’t make it back. Just part of the price to pay for a 119-loss season and the perception — hopefully eroding now — that Detroit is a bad place to play.
• Guillen’s batting average stands at .375, within a rounding error of league leader Brian Roberts. Guillen, however, whose power may be sapped by his lingering injuries, has only 12 RBIs, putting him on pace for 46. That would be the lowest total for an AL batting champion since 1982, when Willie Wilson had a similarly anemic run-producing year, despite hitting .332 with 15 triples. 46 RBIs, in fact, was right about average for a full, great season for Wilson, meaning the Royals must have had some real bums batting eighth and ninth. Guillen is also on pace for only 8 HRs — but that would only be the lowest for an AL batting champ since Ichiro, last year.
• I never thought I’d say this — his career high in OBP before last year was .265, after all — but I believe that Brandon Inge has become a real major-league hitter, and it gladdens my heart. Inge is fourth in the AL in walks, almost doubling his rate from last year’s career year. If he can hold on to most of that improvement, he’ll be an asset to the Tigers at the top of the lineup for a long time. I am not, however, a believer in Nook Logan. He never hit in the minors, and has fallen off of late. Trammell needs to make sure Logan stays at the bottom of the lineup or on the bench, and that he only sees duty as as a pinch runner and replacement starter once Ordonez comes back.

For those of you interested in watching and talking about baseball while having a nice adult beverage, this Thursday Billfer (Detroit Tigers Weblog) and Ryan Sosin (Tigers Central) are going to be meeting up to watch the game. The site hasn’t been nailed down yet, but it will probably be somewhere in Royal Oak.

If you’re interested in stopping by, drop me a line so we have an idea as to the size of the table/area we’ll need.

Game 1 (3-4, Tigers win)

The Tigers have been playing .500 ball recently so it is awfully nice for the schedule to give them a home series against the D-Rays. Jason Johnson squared off against Casey Fossum and was his usual inconsistent self. He would have great innings where he started every hitter out with a strike, which he’d blow by making a pitch that he shouldn’t. Want some evidence?

He threw seven pitches in the first inning, including a three strike at bat (all looking) to Carl Crawford. In the second, he allowed a leadoff homer to Josh Phelps after getting behind in the count (1-0). The next four batters he faces all see strike one again. The third inning was only ten pitches but the fourth went like the second. Ahead 0-2 with two outs, he allows a single and an RBI double. The fifth and sixth were scoreless but the seventh was a problem. Alex Sanchez hit a single and moved over to third on Johnson’s throwing error when he tried to steal. Johnson gave up the lead again when Toby Hall singled him home. He followed this inning up with a scoreless eighth before being relieved in the ninth by Farnsworth.

It took the Tigers 2.1 innings to get on the board. Marcus “the River” Thames hit a single and scored on Omar Infante’s homerun (1-2). With two out, Brandon Inge got a free pass and advanced to second on Ivan Rodriguez’s single. Carlos Guillen battled Fossum before retiring on a weak pop fly, ending the inning. After two innings of quiet bats, the Tigers perked up in the sixth. Seth McClung, Fossum’s replacement, issued a leadoff walk to Guillen before striking out White. White’s strikeout was followed by Young’s and Monroe’s walk, bringing up Carlos Pena with the bases loaded and a tie game (2-2). McClung dusted off his nasty stuff to strikeout both Pena and Infante to end the inning.

In the ninth, trailing (3-2) the Tigers waited until their last out to get it done. Pena watched four balls to get on, a sacrifice to go to second, and the second out before Rodriguez entered the batter’s box. On a 2-2 count, Pudge tied the game with a single (3-3). Urbina pitched 1.1 innings of scoreless ball before yielding to Franklyn German in the eleventh, who struck out both men he faced. In the bottom half, Inge hit a single and made second on Crawford’s fielding error. Wanting nothing to do with Pudge, he was walked to bring up Ramon Martinez. Martinez laid down a great sacrifice bunt, which gave White runners on second and third. He promptly ended the game with his third hit of the night (3-4).

Game 2 (Final Score: 4-6, Tigers win)

Ledezma got the start and started well, striking out the side in the first. In between the first two strikeouts, he allowed a solo home run to Julio Lugo and an early lead to Tampa Bay (1-0). His opponent, Doug Waechter, helped the Tigers out by misfiring on a pickoff attempt on Logan at first. Logan made it all the way to third on the play and scored when Inge grounded out (1-1). Ledezma added two more strikeouts in the second, better his career best by one, and the Tigers added two more runs. Dmitri Young leadoff with a solo shot and Craig Monroe followed him with a single (1-2). Monroe scored from second on Infante’s double after advancing during Pena’s groundout (1-3). This promising inning was stifled when Jason Smith was thrown out at second stretching for a double leaving Logan with Infante on third and two outs. He did about as much as the Devil Rays did in the top of the third i.e. nothing.

The bottom of the third was different than the top. Waechter again made a play for the other team when he botched Ivan Rodrguez’s one out grounder by dropping the ball at first. It really hurt because Rondell White chased Rodriguez home with a double, extending the lead (1-4). Things got worse when Jorge Cantu botched Young’s ground ball, giving Monroe runners at the corners and only one out. He delivered on an infield single, scoring White from third (1-5). Realizing that playing ten against nine is pretty hard, Pinella replaced Waechter (the best Tigers player today) with Jon Switzer. He managed to strike out two batters to end the inning but not before surrendering another run on Infante’s single (1-6).

Ledezma ran into a patch of trouble in the fourth when he allowed a single and a walk. Toby Hall came up with two out, two on, and hit a three run shot into left field, making things interesting again (4-6). Ledezma only lasted another half and Chris Spurling entered the game and successfully held the lead for two innings. Farnsworth pitched a scoreless eighth and Urbina a scoreless ninth for the win. I’m looking forward to a little bit of spring cleaning with a broom tomorrow.

Game 3 (Final Score: 6-2, Devil Rays win)

Bonderman was given an extra day off (a dead arm according to Trammel) so Maroth takes the mound against the winless Scott Kazmir. After a hitless first, Maroth got down to business in the second. Charles Johnson was looking at three base runners and one out after three singles to Josh Phelps, Aubrey Huff, and Nick Green; Jorge Cantu courteously struck out looking. Maroth walked the first run in before getting Damon Hollins to fly out (1-0). Apparently he liked it so he did it again, walking Carl Crawford (2-0). Mercifully Julio Lugo ended the inning with a groundout, TGiTB.

I can happily report that the Tigers weren’t hitting any of Kazmir’s pitches into space unoccupied by Devil Ray fielders and this went on until the fourth inning. Meanwhile the D-Rays were still having success. Jorge Cantu came home with Damon Hollins on his two run shot in the fourth (4-0). Lugo came on down when Huff hit a deep fly into the waiting glove of Craig Monroe in the fifth and Nick Green batted himself home in the sixth (6-0).

Finally in the bottom of the sixth, the Tigers started to generate some offense. Logan beat out a single and Inge earned a walk only to be forced out at second when Ivan Rodriguez hit into a fielder’s choice. Rondell White hit a single, scoring Logan and advancing Pudge to third (6-1). Dmitri Young hit the ball off Kazmir scoring Rodriguez but getting thrown out at first (6-2). Seth McClung replaced the hobbled Kazmir and ended the inning promptly. The Tigers got two men on in each of the eighth and ninth only to see them stranded. A sweep would have been nice but a series win is still great.

Hitters	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	TB	AVG	SLG
C Guillen	4	0	0	0	1	0	0.000	0.000
O Infante	10	1	3	3	2	7	0.300	0.700
B Inge	12	1	3	1	4	4	0.250	0.333
N Logan	14	2	3	0	2	3	0.214	0.214
R Martinez	3	0	1	0	1	1	0.333	0.333
C Monroe	12	1	3	1	1	3	0.250	0.250
C Pena	5	1	1	0	2	1	0.200	0.200
I Rodriguez	14	2	3	1	1	3	0.214	0.214
J Smith	4	0	1	0	0	1	0.250	0.250
M Thames	5	1	1	1	1	4	0.200	0.800
R White	12	1	5	3	1	6	0.417	0.500
D Young	12	2	3	2	1	7	0.250	0.583
Totals	107	12	27	12	17	40	0.252	0.374
Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA	WHIP
D Creek	1	2	0	0	0	0	0.00	2.00
K Farnsworth	2	2	0	0	0	2	0.00	1.00
F German	0.2	0	0	0	0	2	0.00	0.00
M Ginter	2	2	0	0	0	2	0.00	1.00
J Johnson	8	7	3	2	2	3	2.25	1.13
W Ledezma	5	5	4	4	2	7	7.20	1.40
M Maroth	6	9	6	6	2	3	9.00	1.83
C Spurling	2	0	0	0	1	1	0.00	0.50
U Urbina	2	0	0	0	1	4	0.00	0.50
J Walker	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	0.00
Totals	29	27	13	12	8	24	3.72	1.21

For those baseball fans out there looking for a great read, I highly recommend the “The Baseball Same Game: Finding Comparable Players From the National Pastime.” Armed with Lee Sinins’ Sabermetric Baseball Encyclopedia, author Steve Lombardi provides both a statistical and a historical analysis on pairs of players who are statistically comparable.

This book has a little something for every baseball fan. Each player pair are compared statistically, then Mr. Lombardi provides a nice narrative detailing the history of each player and his conclusions on why they’re similar. So the statheads get their stats, the historians get some history, and for those of you like me who are both, you get a ton of useful information.

Probably the most interesting comparisons are those between Hall of Fame players (or near Hall of Fame Players) and those who didn’t make it in. At times it almost seems like the whim of the voters decide who gets in, as opposed to the players accomplishments.

There are plenty of former Tigers, and while I don’t want to give too much away, my favorite pairing was Goose Gossage and John Hiller. Goose Gossage is one of my favorite pitchers (who didn’t throw for the Tigers) and I feel he warrants consideration for the Hall of Fame. John Hiller is one of my all time favorite players, and it was nice to see him matched up favorably with one of the very best.

You can pick up The Baseball Same Game by clicking here. You won’t be disappointed. And you can check out more of Steve’s work at his website NetShrine.com.

Tigerblog writer Jeff Gray did an excellent column on Dave Dombrowski over at Goat Riders of the Apocoplypse. Be sure to check this out. You can also check out more of Jeff’s work at his own site, Under the Bleachers.

The Tigers won yesterday, and have clawed their way back up to the .500 mark. Unfortunately, the still somewhat hot Sox are 17 games above .500 and the Tigers have a long way to go (8 1/2 games) to catch up to them. Tigers have won seven of their last ten, and with two more wins, can finish the first quarter of the season with a winning record. At the 40 game mark last year, they were 19-21.

Sometimes it’s nice being ahead of the curve. While Tigerblog isn’t the longest blog running (heck, it isn’t even the longest Tigerblog running by a long shot), I do feel I sort of got in before baseball blogs, and blogs in general, really came into there own. This blog has been around for a little more then two years, and when I started, I remember having a lot fewer options as far as website links.

Now, blogs have basically gone mainstream and everyone has them. Whether it’s radio personalities (S&L in the Morning and Terry Foster) and now TV announcers Mario Impemba, it seems like blogs are everywhere.

So it’s interesting that guys like Billfer and Ryan Sosin paved the way for blogging in Detroit only to see the big boys (i.e. so called real media) come in and lay their own claim to their internet.

Tigerblog was mentioned in the Detroit Free Press today. A pretty interesting column on MLBlog’s new service, and Bleacher Guy, Billfer, and myself were all mentioned.

Dave Dombrowski is the man in charge of the Tigers’ future. His title is the ever-so-grand President, CEO, and General Manager, meaning that he is in charge of well, everything, except perhaps which kind of pizza pizza is sold at the Comerica Park concession stands. Dombrowski came to the Tigers three-and-a-half years ago with one of the jazziest resumes in baseball, building both the Montreal Expos and the Florida Marlins into contenders, and even prematurely breaking them down at the behest at management. But what player personnel decisions did he make? Now that we have the benefit of hindsight, which moves showed foresight, which moves were duds? This post begins a four-part series looking back on Dombrowski’s major transactions. This week, the Expos years.

Dombrowski joined the Expos organization from the Chicago White Sox in 1986. In 1988, he was named general manager. At age 32, he was the youngest top exec in baseball history. UPI named him baseball’s top exec in 1990, and the Expos won awards as baseball’s top organization in 1988 and 1990.

When Dombrowski took the reins for the 1988 season, he inherited a team that had won 91 games, and was led by a core of Dennis Martinez, Tim Raines, Tim Wallach, and Andres Galarraga, all of whom were in their prime, and all of whom (save Raines) would stay with the team until after Dombrowski left.

1988:

–Otis Nixon signed as a free agent. He got slightly less than the average salary, which is good, because he was never an average hitter, but boy was he fast. He was not going to be the answer in center.

–Traded Jeff Reed, Herm Winningham and Randy St. Claire to Cincinnati Reds in
exchange for Tracy Jones and Pat Pacillo. Dombrowski got the young players in this trade, but they didn’t pan out, and he gave up three borderline major leaguers to get them. A minor failure.

–Traded Mitch Webster to Chicago Cubs in exchange for Dave Martinez. A nice trade. Martinez was six years younger, cheaper, and immediately a better player, logging 1400 or so at bats for the Expos over the next few years, and he shunted Nixon right to the bench. Both players lasted a long time; Martinez played until 2001 and appeared for 10 teams.

–Traded Casey Candaele to Houston Astros in exchange for Mark Bailey. Candaele was a much better major-leaguer, but he was tiny and not particularly fast, and he played the outfield. The key stats for this trade: Candaele: 5’9″ 165, Bailey: 6’5″ 195. A reasonable risk for Dombrowski, even if it didn’t pan out.

–Traded Floyd Youmans and Jeff Parrett to Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for Kevin Gross. A minor coup. Youmans was done in the majors and Parrett had a career as a mediocre relief pitcher ahead of him, but Kevin Gross would become a league-average starter for a long time, even if he’d get priced out of the Expos’ range by 1991.

–Traded John Dopson and Luis Rivera to Boston Red Sox in exchange for Spike Owen and Dan Gakeler. A small win. Owen would hold down shortstop for the Expos for the next few seasons, albeit without much hitting. Gakeler made his only ML appearances for the Tigers, and pitched about as you’d expect.

1989:

–Traded Mark Bailey and Tom O’Malley to New York Mets in exchange for Steve Frey. Dombrowski gave up on the physically-impressive Bailey and foisted him, along with, O’Malley, a career AAA player, on the Mets for Frey, who became an effective lefty reliever. A good job of getting something for nothing.

–Traded Neal Heaton to Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for Brett Gideon. A good job of getting nothing for something. Heaton, though never a star, had a few good years left; he’d spend them pitching in Pittsburgh. Gideon never really made it.

–Traded Randy Johnson, Brian Holman and Gene Harris to Seattle Mariners in exchange for Mark Langston and a player to be named later; Montreal Expos received Mike Campbell. Finally, Dombrowski’s first big move. The Expos would later be known for all the star players they sold off to other teams and it’s easy to forget that in 1989 they were buyers. At the time of the trade on May 25, 1989, the Expos sat at .500, only three games out in the NL East, and they had the worst pitching staff in the National League. Langston was already a star, coming off great years in 1987 and 1988. In one respect the trade worked: Langston had a 2.39 ERA with the Expos, and their pitching improved to the middle of the NL pack. In a bunch of others it didn’t: the Expos finished at .500, exactly where they were at the time of the trade, Langston would sign a free-agent deal with the California Angels at the end of the season, and the Expos had to throw in a young player named Randy Johnson. No one knew Randy Johnson would become RANDY JOHNSON — he had the strikeouts, but he was wild, wild, wild. Still, no one could hit him, even then, even if they could watch ball four sail by with surpassing ease. Brian Holman was a good young pitcher whose shoulder fell apart, and Harris was never any good. A bold move by Dombrowski, but not one that history looks at kindly.

–Traded Sergio Valdez, Nate Minchey and Kevin Dean to Atlanta Braves in exchange for Zane Smith. Things looked good for a while after Langston was in the fold. When the Expos made this deal in early July of ’89, acquiring Smith (who one of my friends insists is the ugliest baseball player of all time) for very little, they were in first place. Smith would also pitch well down the stretch, before Dombrowski parleyed his giant (for the time) $2m salary into a great young outfielder the next season.

–Traded Mike Blowers to New York Yankees in exchange for John Candelaria. By late August, things had begun to slip. The Expos were still playing .540 ball, but had been caught from behind by the streaking Cubs, Cardinals, and Mets. Candelaria, coming off a long and successful career, couldn’t stop the bleeding, and would be released at seasons end. Blowers had a good career as a utility man. A net loss, though a reasonable shot in the thick of an increasingly grim pennant race.

1990:

–Oil Can Boyd signed as a free agent. Boyd got a two-year, $1.5m contract to replace Bryn Smith, who signed a much larger contract with the Cardinals after an excellent season. Dennis Boyd would put together a beautiful season in 1990, truly his last hurrah. A good signing for the still-competitive Expos.

–Traded Zane Smith to Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for Scott Ruskin, Willie Greene and a player to be named later; Montreal Expos received Moises Alou (August 16, 1990). 1990 was a quieter year in Youppi-land. The Expos were still a decent team with an excellent pitching staff of Martinez, Boyd, Smith, Gross, and Mark Gardner and had added young players like Larry Walker and Delino DeShields to their lineup. Still, the Pirates were unbeatable at the top of the NL East (those were the days), and Smith, an impending free-agent, was sold off for spare parts and a future star slugging left-fielder. Moises was only 23 and had made just 5 major-league at-bats at the time; that he was a PTBNL makes me think Dombrowski got lucky.

1991:

–Traded Tim Raines, Jeff Carter and a player to be named later to Chicago White Sox in exchange for Ivan Calderon and Barry Jones; Chicago White Sox received Mario Brito (February 15, 1991). Raines had been the face of the franchise since 1980, the only player left from the Expos glory years, and the biggest star ever to don Expos blue. In 1991, he was only 31, but was coming off two subpar years. His speed was still there, but his power was gone and he was getting expensive, though he would play at a reasonable level until 1988. Calderon would be Tim Raines plus some outs on the basepaths in 1991 but was just as expensive and out of baseball in three years, and Jones was decent out of the pen. Perhaps the trade was a wash at best, but it was certainly an unsentimental move, a lesson that should be kept in mind should the Tigers ever get a reasonable offer for Pudge or Dmitri Young.

–Jeff Fassero signed as a free agent. Fassero was 28 and had never pitched in the majors. He would be a an effective lefty reliever immediately and a good starter by 1994. An inspired move.

–Traded Tim Burke to New York Mets in exchange for Ron Darling and Mike Thomas. By July, when this trade happened, the Expos were seven games under and suffering through their first truly crappy season in years. Darling was still an effective pitcher, but, they had to give up Burke, a decent reliever, to rent him for a couple of weeks.

–Traded Oil Can Boyd to Texas Rangers in exchange for Jonathan Hurst, Joey Eischen and a player to be named later; Montreal Expos received Travis Buckley. A good move to unload free-agent to be Boyd after getting a decent year out of him, even if the prospects the Rangers gave back were middling. Eischen is still left-handed, and still pitching.

–Traded Ron Darling to Oakland Athletics in exchange for Matt Grott and Russell Cormier. This happened not three weeks after the Expos aquired Darling; it had to be some sort of delayed three-way trade, a la Mike Piazza to the Marlins. As far as grand plans go, this one fizzled. Cormier isn’t even the most famous Cormier ever to play in the Montreal organization. Tim Burke, the new Met, turned out to be the best player moved in the Darling shenanigans.

——————————————-

In September of 1991, Dombrowski left to take the reins of the expansion Florida Marlins for more money, more control, and a larger budget. What’s his legacy in Montreal? Effective player decisions within a budget. Dombrowski generally eschewed free-agent signings in favor of building through trades, acquiring undervalued and solid veterans for spare parts. The free agents his organization did sign were generally low-risk and moderate reward. The team was better when he got there than when he left, but that’s most likely a result ever-tighter financial restrictions. Dombrowski’s highest profile move, the acquisition of Mark Langston for Randy Johnson, was his biggest failure, a trade that should get mentioned more often than it does, and certainly more often than the Alexander-for-Smoltz deal (at least the Tigers won the division in ’87).

Not covered above, but just as important for the franchise, was the organization’s solid record in the draft (Marquis Grissom, Rondell White, Gabe White, Cliff Floyd, Mark Grudzielanek, Kirk Rueter) and in signing international players and other minor-league free agents (Miguel Batista, Wil Cordero, Matt Stairs, Antonio Alfonseca, Ugueth Urbina, Mike Lansing, Jeff Fassero). Coupled with solid development of young players signed under other regimes (Walker, DeShields, Galarraga, Mel Rojas), Dombrowski’s organization had built the foundations for what would become the best team in baseball in 1994.

Hopefully everyone’s enjoying the three new writers for the site. While I’ll pipe in on occasion, this will allow me to get ahead on the diaries and work on a couple of other projects I’ve been trying to get started on.

This was one of those rare weekend days where I didn’t have anything going on, so I got to spend some quality time with my son with the TV on in the background. I got to see the last few innings of the Tigers game, some of the Pistons game, and also the end of Phantom Menance. Any day that involves watching baseball with my kid is a good one.

Unfortunately the Tigers lost, and they left the game pretty dinged up. It’s interesting to see how the outfield situation has evolved. At the beginning of the spring, we were looking at an outfield of White/Sanchez/Ordonez and only one of those guys have really played. Pudge left the game with a bruised toe, and Dmitri Young left later in the game with a twisted ankle. Fortunately x-rays were negative on both, but even if they both miss a couple of games, they’ll leave large holes to fill.

Tampa Bay rolls into town on Tuesday. In the meantime, hopefully the Tigers can lick their wounds on during the off day, and a complete lineup out there to win two of three.

We went to Ridley’s Comedy Castle in Royal Oak tonight and saw Mike Green. To say the guy was funny would be a huge understatement, because the guy was really hilarious. He had a very unique style, and there was very little downtime between laughs.

And the guy has his own webpage. Be sure to check him out at Oreoman.com . He has a live CD that’s highly recommended that’s highly recommended (if you want to laugh..

Game 1 (Final Score: 2-0, Tigers win)

The Tigers sent Nate Robertson to the mound to continue the win streak started by winning the previous series against the Angels 2-1. Nook Logan smacked a leadoff triple to left to start the game against the Rangers’ Chris Young only to be stranded as the next three batters couldn’t get the job done. Logan was the only base runner for either team to make it past first base safely until the eighth inning.

Hats off to both Robertson and Young, who seemed to have all the batsman stumped for most of the game. This streak of dominance ended when Rod Barajas hit a leadoff two bagger. Barajas, the catcher, was replaced by Laynce Nix on the base paths. Gary Matthews Jr. laid down a sad bunt that Ivan Rodriguez quickly fielded and threw out Nix at third. The next two Rangers batters also weren’t up to the task and surrendered easily to end the inning.

Ex-Tiger Francisco Cordero came in to relieve Young in the ninth and face the heart of the Tigers’ order. Rodriguez and Rondell White went down quickly, but Cordero did Dmitri Young a favor and walked him on five pitches. On a full count, Craig Monroe hit a triple, scoring Young and giving the Tigers the lead (1-0). On a side not, I love watching Young chug around the bases since he looks like he’s trying so hard to run quickly. Carlos Pena added some insurance by singling Monroe home in the next at bat (2-0).

Jamie Walker came in to face Hank Blalock after Ramon Martinez ended a productive inning. He gave up a single and was replaced by Ugueth Urbina to close out the game. Urbina threw a lot of pitches that inning even though he got the job done. He made it interesting by issuing a one out walk to Kevin Mench, giving Richard Hidalgo runners on first and second with only one out. Hidalgo hit a fly that wasn’t deep enough to advance the runners and pinch hitter David Dellucci swung and missed strike three. The winning streak stands at 3 games.

Game 2 (Final Score: 4-5, Rangers win)

I had to open my mouth about the winning streak. Sigh. Jason Johnson got into a spot of first inning trouble when he allowed two singles to Michael Young and Mark Teixeira, who were sent home on Hank Blalock’s double (0-2). Alfonso Soriano hit a deep fly ball to right for a double, scoring Hank Blalock (0-3).

Extra bases were again a concern for Johnson in the second inning when Gary Matthews Jr. doubled to left. Due to some poor hitting, he was stranded at third. On the third pitch of the third, Blalock hit a solo home run making the hole even deeper (0-4). Chan Ho Park cruised through the first five innings surrendering only a few hits including the wasted one out triple by Rondell White in the fourth.

In the six inning, the wheels came off Park’s pitching parade. Carlos Guillen and White hit a pair of singles with Guillen advancing and White out on Dmitri Young’s fielder’s choice. Craig Monroe singled, scoring Guillen, advancing D. Young, and bringing up Ramon Martinez, who flied out (1-4). Omar Infante was up next and he jumped on Park’s second pitch, hitting it for an RBI double (2-4). Ex-Tiger Doug Brocail entered the game to stifle the rally, only to allow the third and fourth runs of the inning on singles by Nook Logan and Brandon Inge (4-4). Ivan Rodriguez struck out ending the big inning.

Johnson held the lead for a half inning until he surrendered a second solo shot to the powerful (career .384 Slg.) Matthews Jr. (4-5). The Tigers rallied again in the eighth with runners on second and third (one out used) but wasted the opportunity. Johnson completed the game for the Tigers and took the loss while former Tiger farm hand Francisco Cordero closed it out successfully. This was a disappointing result since the Tigers got 9 decent innings from Johnson and the hitters left 10 men on base.

Game 3 (Final Score: 6-5, Tigers win)

Again the Tigers found themselves in a decisive game three. I must say I enjoy seeing the Tigers in almost every series this year, especially on the road. Young Wilfredo Ledezma was riding a 3 game losing streak and he went up against a similarly situated Pedro Astacio.

Both pitchers were solid through 3 innings before they decided to give the fans a show in the fourth. Dmitri Young’s leadoff double would have been wasted except Nook Logan homered off Astacio staking Ledezma to the lead (2-0). In the bottom half, Texas threatened with Mark Teixeira reaching first on Ledezma’s error and Alfonso Soriano inexplicably drawing a walk. Ledezma got the next man to fly out, leaving himself to deal with Richard Hidalgo. Well, he sure dealt with him, hitting him and loading the bases. He also dealt with Mark DeRosa, walking him on four pitches (2-1). Sandy Alomar Jr. continued the two out rally by plating Soriano and Hidalgo with his single to left (2-3). At last, the inning was over when power hitter Gary Matthews Jr. flied out.

After a scoreless fifth, Franklyn German relieved Ledezma in the sixth only to give up a triple to Kevin Mench and an RBI single to Richard Hidalgo before settling down nicely (2-4). Happily he didn’t allow any walks this outing. Kameron Loe relieved Astacio and pitched, well, a bizarre inning. He allowed two infield singles, a stolen base, and a two run wild pitch with Logan scoring from first after the Alomar throwing error, tying the game up (4-4). After the walk on the wild side, Doug Brocail came out again to pitch to the Tigers in the eighth. He pitched just badly enough giving the Tigers a single, a walk, and an RBI single by none other than Carlos Pena (5-4).

In the eighth, Logan hit a single, stole second, and made it to third on a wild pitch, setting the stage for Inge’s sacrifice fly (6-4). Walker and Farnsworth combined for scoreless seventh and eighth innings, bringing in the revitalized Urbina to close the game out. He made things interesting with a solo shot to David Dellucci but finished the game and series out (6-5).

Hitters	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	TB	AVG	SLG
C Guillen	10	2	3	0	0	3	0.3	0.3
B Inge	12	0	5	2	1	6	0.417	0.5
O Infante	8	2	3	1	0	4	0.375	0.5
N Logan	12	2	8	1	0	10	0.667	0.833
R Martinez	7	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
C Monroe	11	2	4	2	1	6	0.364	0.545
C Pena	8	0	3	2	0	3	0.375	0.375
I Rodriguez	14	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
J Smith	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
M Thames	4	1	1	2	0	4	0.25	1
R White	8	0	3	0	1	5	0.375	0.625
D Young	12	3	2	0	1	3	0.167	0.25
Totals	109	12	32	10	5	44	0.294	0.404

Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA	WHIP
K Farnsworth	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
F German	1.1	3	1	1	0	0	8.18	2.73
J Johnson	8	8	5	5	0	6	5.63	1
W Ledezma	5	3	3	0	3	4	5.4	1.2
N Robertson	8	6	0	0	1	3	0	0.88
J Walker	0.2	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
U Urbina	2	1	1	1	1	3	4.5	1
Totals	26	21	10	7	5	18	3.46	1

Okay, I’ve been having some problems with some of my prewritten entries, so I’m going to have to play catchup this weekend. I’m sorry for not being current. I did a better job last year (pre-kid) keeping up with the diary.

With my kid being sick, I couldn’t get this up sooner, but I’m going to be on the radio in like a half hour (7:40 Detroit time). You can hear me at KRMS Radio. They have a link that lets you listen in. The Hardball Times has had someone on every Wed for a short bit, and it’s my turn.

As baseball commentators from all around the crowded ‘net have opined, we’re entering a bit of a silly-season for talking about baseball. The time for predictions is long past. Comments on hot or cold starts have already been made, and while the sample sizes they’re based on are trickling towards relevance, they’re not there yet. It’s also too early for talk about pennant races or contenders, and it’s too early to determine who should play for next season and who should, to borrow an expression that’s gone from obscure to overused in the course of a few months, go all in. No problem, though. We can watch games, or even go outside and enjoy the springtime.

We can also look ahead to the Midsummer Classic, to be held this year in lovely downtown Detroit. For years the Tigers have been merely incidental participants, granted a lone player but without a star or a storyline aside from whether or not a Detroit player will actually enter the game. Last year was an exception. Two Tigers made the roster for the first time since 1994. Ivan Rodriguez started, batted second, and went 2-4 with a triple, though Carlos Guillen, the fourth shortstop on the AL team, didn’t get any PT on the 30-man team.

I think we can be fairly sure that any Tigers that squeak onto the roster this year will make appearances in front of the hometown fans. What are the chances that we’ll get more than the obligatory one player? Let’s take a look.

Alan Trammell, odds: 1:10,000. This one’s cheating a bit, as Trammell has already been named a coach for this year’s team, under BoSox manager Terry Francona. It seems to be something of a tradition to name the home team’s manager a coach. Jerry Manuel was on the squad for the 2003 game at Comiskey though he would be fired at season’s end, and Jimy Williams received the same “honor’ last year in Houston even though he’d be fired the next week. Trammell is in no such immediate danger, however, and deserves a chance to receive a lusty cheer on national TV during the intros.

Ivan Rodriguez, odds: 2:3. Pudge was named starter by the fans last year, but may lose out to Jason Varitek as the inescapable outpouring of Red Sox love extends into the All-Star voting. Furthermore, though he’s off to a decent start, Varitek, Javy Lopez, and Joe Mauer are all off to significantly better ones. Still, Pudge is well-liked, will be hitting .300, and is seen as the best player on the team. It says here that if Mauer stays healthy for the first half of the season, Francona squeezes four catchers onto the roster. Maybe they should always have a DH in the All-Star game so they can overload a position. At catcher, I think they’re going to need to for some of these guys to get a chance, because the era of Mauer is about to begin.

Carlos Guillen, odds 2:3. Guillen is the AL batting leader, and his odds are only this low because of the chance that he could get hurt. He, Miguel Tejada, and Derek Jeter should make the team. The only thing, aside from the DL, that could keep Guillen out is a serious slump coupled with Red Sox nation throwing Edgar Renteria or even Orlando Cabrera into the mix as the starter.

Jeremy Bonderman, odds 3:1. Bonderman just needs to keep it up. He’s currently tied for second in the league in wins, he’s third in strikeouts, and 19th in ERA. If a couple of bad outings push his ERA up into the upper fours, he’ll struggle to make it. If he’s got 11 or 12 wins with an ERA under four come selection time, he’ll be hard to deny.

Dmitri Young, odds 8:1. Nothing wrong with Dmitri’s start: .302/.362/.528, 15th in the AL in OPS as of this writing. The fact that he’s quotable, gregarious, and made headlines on opening day doesn’t hurt, either. He’ll need to pick up the home-run pace, however, not to be denied by a decent cornerman from a one-player team. Players like Mike Sweeney, Aubrey Huff, and Travis Hafner stand directly in Young’s path.

Brandon Inge, odds 15:1. Inge’s fast start has been tarnished by a flu-influenced slump, and he’s clearly behind the likes of A-Rod, Melvin Mora, Hank Blalock, and Adrian Beltre in the ranks of most valuable AL third basemen. Still, Beltre is off to a horrific start, Blalock a mediocre one, and Mora’s emergence is not so widely recognized that should he get cold and Inge hot, the true order of things might get reversed. It’s not terribly likely that he’ll be better than Mora, but that doesn’t mean that Inge’s improvement over the last couple of years is any less remarkable.

Ugueth Urbina, odds 40:1. Troy Percival’s injury opens the door here. Urbina has started to pitch well; no reason he can’t uncork 20 saves in 35 games if the team gets hot and Percival doesn’t come back.

Troy Percival, odds 70:1. No reason he can’t uncork 20 saves in 35 games if the team gets hot and he comes back in the minimum 15 games.

Jason Johnson (100:1), Nate Robertson (95:1), and Mike Maroth (80:1). All three pitchers are off to reasonable starts with ERAs under 4.00. It’s not likely however that they’ll both improve on their performances and vulture some wins. Maroth has the best chance, as he’s striking out more hitters than at any point in his career and might seem like he deserves a reward for 2003. Robertson and Johnson are walking as many batters as they strike out.

While I always like to hear what Will Carroll has to say about any injury, for now I’ll have to accept the vague mainstream reports that call it “some kind of forearm injury.”

While 3.65 is hardly a good ERA for a closer, it was coming down after topping out well above five for most of April. It’s too bad that the Tigers “other” big free agent acquisition has also gone down with an injury. The officlal report is putting him out for 4-6 weeks.

In the meantime, Urbina will close. Chris Spurling was called up to fill Percival’s roster spot.

And if you’re don’t subscribe to Baseball Prospectus’ premium content, Will Carroll’s injury report, Under the Knife, is well worth the subscription by itself. Be sure to check it out.

Game 1 (Final Score: 3-4, Angels win)
The Tigers started Wilfredo Ledezma against the AL West leading Anaheim Angels of LA, or whatever their name is. To motivate the team, he gave up a first inning run on a Garret Anderson single (0-1). Fortunately Kelvim Escobar gave up a first pitch solo home run to Marcus “the River” Thames in the top of the second (1-1). The score remained tied until Ledezma allowed base runners on a pair of singles by Anderson and the light hitting Juan Rivera in the fourth. Up comes Steve Finley and out goes Ledezma’s third pitch for a two run triple (1-3). Things stayed quiet until the sixth when Dmitri Young and Thames waste the leadoff walk drawn by Ivan Rodriguez and Rondell White’s one out single by grounding out to second and watching strike three respectively. Ledezma imitates Escobar’s sixth by issuing first base to Rivera on a lead off walk and getting Orlando “You want to pay me how much?!” Cabrera to fly out. The similarities ended there because it seems Finley liked second base so much the last time on his way to third, he decided to double himself there, scoring Rivera (1-4). Jamie Walker enters the inning and gets out of it when Finley’s age catches up to him as he tried to steal third and Jose Molina pops out. In an effort to make things close, Rodriguez and Carlos Guillen hit back-to-back doubles off Escobar and his relief, Scot Shields (2-4). A White walk is followed by a Young double scoring Guillen and we have a ball game (3-4). This valiant rally is snuffed out by another Thames strikeout and a Ramon Martinez groundout. Franklyn German holds the score close with a 13 pitch eighth inning allowing the Tigers the privilege of facing Francisco Rodriguez in the ninth. Ugh. Carlos “176” Pena pinch hits for Omar Infante and promptly become Carlos “174” Pena. Nook Logan sees 10 F. Rodriguez pitches before whiffing on strike three. Brandon Inge walks on the 23rd pitch of the inning bringing up I. Rodriguez who grounds out on the 24th.

Game 2 (Final Score: 2-1, Tigers win)
Jeremy Bonderman was sent to the mound to halt another losing streak against Bartolo Colon. It was a quiet game until the bottom of the third when Dallas McPherson decided to atone for his throwing error in the top half by hitting Bonderman’s first pitch into the seats in right field (0-1). The only event that occurred to break the tedium of the middle innings created by good pitching and poor hitting was the ejection of both Craig Monroe and Alan Trammell in the top of the fifth. Monroe didn’t like the close call at first and slammed his batting helmet on the ground right after crossing the bag; Trammell didn’t think Monroe’s action warranted an ejection and argued until he got tossed. It seemed that this was part of Trammell’s master plan because Carlos Pena and Jason Smith managed a single each. Nook Logan advanced Pena to third on a fielder’s choice giving Brandon Inge runners at the corners with two outs. Two pitches later Logan was picked off at first to end the inning. The top of the eighth featured a leadoff single by Pena who was advanced to third on Colon’s balk and Smith’s sacrifice, and scored on Logan’s single (1-1). Inge sent Logan to third on his single and Ivan Rodriguez got him home on his sacrifice fly and our first lead of the series (2-1). Inge made it to second on Steve Finley’s throwing error (it was his arm that felt his age this game) giving Carlos Guillen a man in scoring position, who he wasted with a foul out to left field. Bonderman held serve in the bottom half Colon did in the top half of the ninth, which brought Troy Percival a chance to ice his old mates. Percival allowed only one base runner on a Vladimir Guerrero single and finished the inning in 12 pitches (9 strikes). For those of you that are complaining about Trammell’s game management, please note that’s a victory by one (1) run.

Game 3 (Final Score: 10-1, Tigers win)
The rubber match featured starters Mike Maroth and Jarrod Washburn duking it out to see if the Tigers could win a series in Anaheim for the first time since Jimmy Carter was president. Brandon Inge continued the Tigers’ winning ways with a leadoff home run in the first (1-0). That was pretty much all the scoring. OK, I guess the third inning was pretty exciting, if you like that kind of thing. The Tigers batted around with Omar Infante, Nook Logan, Brandon Inge, and Rondell White (RBI) all collecting singles, Dmitri Young hitting a double (no RBI – White scored on the error by Garret Anderson), and Ivan Rodriguez (3 RBI) hitting a triple (6-0). That was it for Washburn, who was replaced by Kevin Gregg. Gregg proceeded to no hit the Tigers the rest of the inning but gave up a run anyway. Craig Monroe, Infante, Logan (RBI), and Inge (RBI) all walked (8-0). The two guys with long faces in the dugout were Carlos Guillen and Ramon “I can’t believe I’m still getting a million dollar major league paycheck either” Martinez who didn’t reach base safely. Maroth threw two scoreless innings and looked good even with the sixth inning solo shot by Robb Quinlan (8-1). This run was quickly earned back with interest by the Tigers in the bottom half when Chone Figgins scored White on his throwing error during Monroe’s infield grounder with two men on (9-1). With Monroe on second, Martinez made me feel bad for insulting him by doubling Monroe home (10-1). Ex-Tiger Esteban Yan finished the sixth with an Infante fly out. The game went scoreless the rest of the way and the Tigers earned a sweet series win on the road.

Hitters AB R H RBI BB TB AVG SLG
C Guillen 12 1 4 1 0 5 0.333 0.417
O Infante 6 1 1 0 1 1 0.167 0.167
B Inge 11 2 4 2 3 7 0.364 0.636
N Logan 10 2 3 2 1 3 0.300 0.300
R Martinez 8 0 2 1 0 3 0.250 0.375
C Monroe 6 2 0 0 1 0 0.000 0.000
C Pena 4 1 2 0 0 2 0.500 0.500
I Rodriguez 11 2 2 4 1 5 0.182 0.455
J Smith 3 0 2 0 0 3 0.667 1.000
M Thames 7 1 1 1 0 4 0.143 0.571
R White 11 2 3 1 1 3 0.273 0.273
V Wilson 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0.000
D Young 13 1 4 1 0 6 0.308 0.462
Totals 103 15 28 13 8 42 0.272 0.408

Pitchers IP H R ER BB SO ERA WHIP
J Bonderman 8 4 1 1 0 8 1.76 0.50
F German 1.1 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00
M Ginter 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.00
W Ledezma 5.1 7 4 4 3 3 7.06 1.96
M Maroth 8 3 1 1 2 2 1.76 0.63
T Percival 1 1 0 0 0 0 0.00 1.00
J Walker 1.1 0 0 0 1 1 0.00 0.91

My apologies for the unreadable nature of the statistics. Anyway, those are totals calculated for only this series and I used the box scores at ESPN. Any mathematical and typographical errors are mine and I welcome corrections.

For the second straight series, the Tigers won the first game, only to lose all of the remaining games. Jeremy Bonderman came through on Monday with a gutsy performance (i.e. he struggled but still held on to win), but since then, the Tigers have lost three straight.

And the schedule doesn’t get easier. The Tigers get to travel to Anaheim to play the Angels this weekend. The Angels have been hot as of late, so we’ll see how the Tigers can do.

Yesterday’s game was particularly disappointing. Jason Johnson threw his best game of the season (7 innings, one run, eight hits) only to see the Tigers’ bats go dormant. Urbina lost his third game of the season, and the Tigers could only manage three hits.

And with the White Sox on fire, the Tigers already find themselves 8 1/2 games back of first place. The time to win is now, so hopefully we’ll be able to take 2 of 3 against the Angels.

I know it’s pretty easy to start your own blog these days, but I’m looking for people who’d be willing to write for the site. I’ve tried this in the past with mixed results. While it doesn’t have to be completely Tiger specific, it should have a definite Tiger slant (so an AL Central weekly round up would be something along these lines).

I have a few ideas in mind, but I’m limiting myself to them, so if you’re interested in devoting at least one column a week, drop me a line at brianbor@yahoo.com .

Things really looked like they were falling into place. The Tigers had won five in a row, and they had a nice two run lead on Saturday. The White Sox came from behind to take that game, then Jon Garland threw his second four hitter of the week today as the Sox destroyed the Tigers 8-0.

Now the Tigers are riding two straight losses and they have the struggling Red Sox coming to town looking to get their footing back. Fortunately Curt Schilling is on the DL, so we won’t see him. And Matt Clement threw today. Bonderman is throwing tomorrow, but according to Yahoo, both he and Maroth are facing John Halama the next two days. Not sure who will get him, but the Tigers should have their top two guys throwing against pitchers they should be able to hit.

With the word “should” being the operative word. It’s encouraging that we’re playing them at home, because Fenway is always a tough place to play. At this point, splitting the two game series would be acceptable, but with the pitching woes of the Red Sox, you can always hope to take three of four.

That’s not a pretty bad stat line, for a hitter. But for a closer, it’s pretty shoddy. And unfortunately Troy Percival has saved two games, but he’s done it in five high pressure situations. I know he’s two for four in save opportunities, but the run he gave up April 12 lost the game, so I’m counting it.

Typically, your closer is considered your best relief pitcher, and Percival isn’t pitching like he’s the best. Probably most concerning is his 5/5 strikeout to walk ratio. And while his WHIP isn’t bad (1.26), it’s not in line with what you’d expect from even a middle tier closer.

At the start of the season, the bullpen moves that the Tigers made were praised. But to date, the pen has been rather mediocre. Hopefully over the next couple of weeks, they’ll get their stuff together and start winning us ballgames, instead of costing us.

Lost in this is the fact that the Tigers won last night. They’re riding a five game winning streak and that they’re only three games back of the White Sox in the loss column. Nate Robertson had his best outing of the season, and tonight it will be Jason Johnson vs. Orlando Hernandez. Let’s make it six in a row.

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