Archive for the '2006 World Series' Category

If I ever said anything bad about Sean Casey, i take it all back.  Every Single Word.  Two run shot for Casey and it’s Tiger 2, Cardinals 1

***UPDATE***

Well, that lead didn’t last too long and Brandon Inge just struck out to end the game.  Congratulations to the St. Louis Cardinals on there series win.  The game recap will be up tomorrow at the Hardball Times and I’ll do a little retrospective most likely on Sunday.

I’ll have a full report over at the Hardball Times tomorrow.  This was a tough game.  Needless to say, you hear the words “must win” in a lot of situations where it really doesn’t apply.  This time it does.  The next TIgers loss will be their last of the 2006 season because their season will be done.

Man do I need some sleep.

It’s ten o’clock and MLB is meeting with the teams.  I can’t see this game happening tonight.

Alright, they haven’t lost yet, but I want to get to bed so I’m writing this up as the Tigers bat in the ninth.  This is a pretty short story though.  It began and ended with Chris Carpenter.  The Tigers managed only two hits off of him and he needed only 82 pitches to get through eight innings.

A lot of people dislike Tim McCarver as an announcer.  Prior to tonight, I didn’t mind him too much.  I wouldn’t say I’d put him in my top ten, but I thought he did a good enough job.  That was until he decided to make the point, about a dozen times, that Joel Zumaya shouldn’t have thrown to third base when he fielded a comebacker with runners on first and second in the seventh inning.  The two runs that scored opened the game up but didn’t turn out as neccesary.  Regardless, we understood that he should have went to second base the first time.  And if we didn’t, we certainly got it the tenth time.

Tomorrow it’ll be Jeremy Bonderman against Jeff Suppan.  This is obviously a big game for the Tigers so hopefully Jeremy throws a solid game for us.  If not, we could be in trouble.

One-Two-Three in the ninth.  Tigers lose.  Sigh.  Good night.

The World Series starts back up tonight and the Tigers face Chris Carpenter, the Cardinal’s ace and last year’s Cy Young winner.  Have you noticed that Nate Robertson has faced the opposing team’s best pitcher in each of the three series so far?  Whether intentional or not, this isn’t a bad strategy.  While Robertson had a good season, I consider him our fourth best starter.  If he goes against the ace, it would normally give us a distinct advantage in each of the other three games.

I’d feel a lot better about this lineup if Sean Casey could play the field so Marcus Thames could then DH.  That’s a pretty big upgrade over Ramon Santiago in the lineup and it would probably give Ivan Rodriguez some protection as well.  Then again, I’m not certain what Casey’s condition is.

The Cardinals were a pretty good team in their new ball park this year.  They won 49 games, which was one less then the New York Mets to lead the National League.  Then again, the Tigers are the best road team with 49 road wins.

I did a very brief writeup on Alan Trammell’s new job over at the 1984 Tigers site.

Alright, the Tigers took game two and things are all even.  Kenny Rogers threw eight shutout innings, Carlos Guillen hit the ball very well, and Todd Jones almost gave us all a heart attack. 

 I wrote up a decent review over at the Hardball Times so check it out tomorrow morning.

Alright, a three run third inning capped off by an Albert Pujols homerun has put the Tigers down 4-1.  The Tigers didn’t answer in the bottom of the third and Scott Rolen, who took Verlander yard earlier in the game is leading off the fourth inning.

***UPDATE***

Anthony Reyes just put the Tigers down in the fifth inning.  Still 4-1.  Verlander has looked pretty good since that third inning and now has struck out eight through four innings.  It looks like they’re going to get this one in before the rain starts.  They might not be so lucky tomorrow.

***UPDATE***

Three more runs in the sixth inning for the Cardinals and this one is now ugly.  The Tigers are hacking away and popped up twice in the bottom of the sixth.  Nine more outs and I don’t like the Tiger’s chances.

***FINALE***

Ugly, ugly, ugly.  Anthony Reyes at one point put down seventeen straight Tigers and two big innings by the Cardinals were the difference.  Craig Monroe did give the Tigers a run on a solo shot in the bottom of the ninth but it didn’t matter much.  It’s just hard to believe that this is the first time the Tigers have lost in two and a half weeks. 

Tomorrow it’ll be the return of Jeff Weaver to Comerica Park as he’ll go against Kenny Rogers.  This will obviously be a pretty big game for the Tigers. 

It seems like the Tigers have just about everything going in their favor heading into the 2006 World Series.  They’ve gotten a week of rest while the Cardinals have been fighting for their lives in a tough NLCS.  The Tigers handled the Cardinals pretty easily when they came to Detroit, the rotation is set just like Jim Leyland wants it and Albert Pujols is nursing a hamstring injury.  The Tigers are red hot after winning seven straight while the Cardinals have been pretty much winning one game at a time.  The Tigers are heavy favorites and it seems like nobody is giving the Cardinals much of a chance in this series.  Most feel the Tigers should sweep while I’ve heard several people “hope” it goes to six just so the Tigers can win at home.  It’s like everything is in the Tigers’ favor.

Which is why I’m worried.  Nobody gave the Tigers much of a chance against the Yankees just a couple of weeks ago and nobody gave the Tigers much of a chance against the Cardinals back in 1968.  While it’s great to be optimistic, I think we shouldn’t be getting ahead of ourselves.  Anything can, and probably will, happen.

Justin Verlander will get the start in game one. I was a little surprised by this, and expected Kenny Rogers in that first game.  Maybe Leyland wanted Rogers in a game six if it goes that far instead of Verlander.  Another rookie will be on the mound for the Cardinals in Anthony Reyes, who has some very good stuff.  He didn’t have quite have the success that Verlander had this year but remember this guys’ name because he’s going to be a good one.

So, here’s how I think this is going to play out.  Tigers win game one.  Then Rogers finally hits a wall and loses game two.  The Cards get a strong and emotional outing by Jeff Weaver and he gets plenty of help from Albert Pujols, who has a monster game against Rogers.  The Cardinals will then throw everyone for a loop and take the series lead with a win in game three when Chris Carpenter outduels Nate Robertson, but the Tigers then win three straight to win the series in six.  The final game will see Carpenter throw on short rest and get shelled for his efforts.  World Series MVP will go to Justin Verlander, who will win games one and a critical game five.

Works for me.

The St. Louis Cardinals.  The same team that beat us in the 1934 World Series and the same team we beat in 1968.  The same team that has former Tigers Jeff Weaver and Juan Encarnacion.  The same team who’s manager, Tony LaRussa, gave Tigers’ manager Jim Leyland his first big league job.  I know Fox is cringing at this, but we have an all midwest World Series.

Once I see how the starters are going to play out, I’ll do my predictions, most likely tonight.  Game one is tomorrow at 7:30.  I’m putting my bet down on Kenny Rogers as the game one starter.

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