As far as I can tell, the main point is: someone in this organization would have been given a pink slip long ago (Mclendon? Leyland? Paws? I dunno) if the team happened to play in New York. To counter this point, I don’t think there can be any argument. Of course this is not necessarily a state to which to aspire and emulate — but on the other hand, there is an uncanny correlation between performance and accountability.

Be that as it may, stephen could have underscored his point without so much fuss by simply citing Matt Millen’s illustrious tenure in Detroit…

The East Coast, at least the one I live in, is filled with good people but also jerks who would climb all over you to get your job. You are mistaken if you think i am holding it up as a paragon of virtue. Where I live, the governor had to resign because of a prostitution scandal and the state senate was held hostage by a senator, as far as i could tell, who wanted a bigger office and a job for his son.

But there IS more accountability. The media markets are so much more competitive that they are often cruel and unfair, but that competition drives people to find more stories which makes politicians, gm’s, execs more accountable and feel like they have to work harder.

I just feel Tigers fans are so relieved they no longer lose 100 games they think that’s good enough. I do think certain cities are more accepting and forgiving than other cities. That’s a great thing if you want a good life and low stress which is 99% of life. But that forgiving nature has a 1% downside. And I think the examples I gave suggest that downside.

Ok, need more Tostitos. Gotta go.

And it’s harder than it sounds. When you are bad, it’s harder to get good than when you are already good. Fans don’t go to games, so you have less money.
Players don’t want to play for your team; so to get good players you have to pay them above their market value–with the money you don’t have because fans aren’t showing up. Unless maybe the players are enticed by the chance to live and play in the vacation mecca of Detroit. And maybe your team is awful and also has few or no spanish-speaking players at a time when the best free-agent players in the game are Latin–that’s another big draw I’m sure. Ever hear the phrase Tiger Tax? That’s why the Pudge signing was such a huge deal.

We might not be one of the top 5 organizations in baseball–yet–but we are one of the few that have climbed from the depths of small-market disaster. I don’t see any signs of sliding back. I think we are moving forward. And I plan to enjoy each step of the way.

Don’t tell me how to vote either. Last year fans voted in Jason Varitek when he was hitting about .200. Things like popularity, league contributions, and defense should count when you vote for All-Stars. Inge is deservingly an All-Star this year. The Tigers team and the fans would be hurting greatly without him.

To me it’s just sour grapes. I feel a little insulted and I’m always going to be on the defensive side because we Detroiters have been the whipping boy to the rest of the world for the past 50 years. Detroiters in general share a common believe that we can overcome whatever is thrown at us. Just like the 2009 Tigers.

Inge has rise and fallen, and risen again. He’s a excellent role model to us all. Some day this city will rise to the top again too.

1) There is no window closing. With the economic climate, the window is as closed right now as it gets, unless Ilitch dies. I don’t really see any connection with the finances of the early 90s Pirates.

2) Very disappointing. Many problems, both avoidable and unavoidable, went into it.

3/4) You know the last-man vote participants were decided by the league, right? All the fans did was vote for Inge out of the five choices. And there was a very good case to be made that Inge was deserving. And I don’t think that ten pop flies and an inning of hanging out around third are having any lasting effects on his health. Rest is great for him, but he was only actually doing stuff for like 12 minutes at the game. I could never ask him to forsake what will probably be his only chance at an All-Star game.

5) You’re serious? The East Coast instills accountability? I can’t even…

Anyway, what? Sports stars are accountable to their employers, not to the public. If Magglio is not trying 100% when I’m at a game, I’m less likely to buy tickets, which hurts the Tigers. Magglio is in no way accountable to me. Auto companies are entirely private. Assuming the federal loans get paid back, the auto companies have no responsibility whatsoever to me, as a non shareholder. They are free to succeed and fail as they see fit. Politicians are not allowed to hold office until they receive a plurality of “votes” in an “election”. That sort of breeds accountability. Just like on the east coast!

I really don’t see the failure of the people of Detroit and Michigan to demand accountability, or being too willing to settle, or whatever your argument actually is. The reason people are reacting so negatively is that, intentional or not, you’re painting Detroit and Michigan residents as backwards morons who either can’t or won’t evaluate situations to your satisfaction. It’s great that, in what I can only assume is Massachusetts, you have a good baseball team and a good economy. But that really isn’t a result of the public demanding accountability and refusing to settle for good enough. It is a result of a good GM hire and not ever having had an almost entirely manufacturing-based economy. Please don’t act like things are better where you are because the people there have some sort of innate quality that inexorably improves all things it touches.

Some people don’t take well to patronization. I’m one of them.

Stephen,

I understand your point about Inge, but at the time of the voting, he really WAS deserving of consideration. Look at his numbers relative to other 3B. Yeah, he used a monster April to carry a lot of that weight, but that fact is, he was truly among the best at his position when you factor in all aspects of his game. That fact that it’s luck, or that he is a career .230 hitter, doesn’t matter. An All-Star game is a snapshot in time, the back of his baseball card is the movie version. Sometime they tell different stories.

That’s to say nothing of the value of All-Star games as an indicator of value. Like Gold Gloves and RBI, they are not. But his numbers to that point placed him (however briefly) among the best performers at his position at that point in time. Nothing more, nothing less.

As for the acceptance of mediocrity, I think you have a reasonable point. However, the organization was in such a shambles for so many years, it is perhaps our midwest modesty that prohibits us from demanding something to which we don’t feel we are entitled. We want the Tigers to succeed, but do not accept it as fact that they must. What we can demand are players who play hard (Maggs gets routinely ripped around here for a lazy run to first. Same for Sheff when he was around.) and a management that treats the fans to something worth watching. By and large, I think they’ve done that. You may disagree. There is a fair amount of wasted resources (mostly dollars), but they have also begun drafting well and are not shy about giving young kids a chance. That makes them interesting to follow and fun to watch.

Anyhow, nice to see you back around here posting, it’s an interesting discussion.

Also, be thankful you didn’t go, ’cause we did. And while I enjoy every game I go to (ok, maybe not some from last year), it really did put a damper on things to be sitting in 87 degree cloudless, sunny heat for 3 hours and 20 minutes (after having not a lot of players come to our side of the field during the photo day promotion) and then watch the errors and the lack of hitting with RISP. It was a miserable day and a miserable game.

*** The Detroit Tigers currently lead the AL Central by 2.5 games, with a 51.74% chance of making the playoffs. ***

All RaBurning and Chevy Citiations aside, this team is more likely than not to make the playoffs. With all the RISP failure and timely Keystone Kops defense and Inge’s velcro knees and stuff. Instead of fretting about RISP failure, think of how good this team will be when the RISP BA moves up to about .260, as it almost inevitably will. It’s bad luck. It will probably normalize.

The Tigers don’t have to be good. Just better than the White Sox and Twins. I like the chances.