Players

Remember when Inge wasn’t talking?

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Brandon Inge, who keeps saying he just wants to play everyday, gets a chance to play and complains about it.

“Catching right there absolutely reinforces that third-base is my all-time love,” Inge said. “It’s not even a question. If it came down to it, where I was just catching, I’d have to find a way to separate it. I don’t know if I can, because I take too much pride in the catching aspect.”

and

“I’m a much better hitter this year than I have been in a long time,” he said. “That feeling that I got today was much more of a downer feeling. Don’t get me wrong: The actual catching part of the game [was] fun. It was awesome. But what fires me up is the offensive part. It’s very frustrating to me.

“It’s a fine line. I’m not saying that I’m frustrated about them making me catch. It’s frustrating because the way I feel offensively, and then how I feel catching offensively. It’s two completely different things. My mind’s not in it. Mentally, if you’re not into hitting, you’re not going to hit. Especially with the game plan I have now offensively, it’s tough.”

I had no problem when Inge didn’t speak to the media in the aftermath of the trade. He didn’t demand a trade, but in a conversation with Dombrowski he stated his preferences. I had no problems with those preferences. I’m sympathetic to the fact that he didn’t want to become a role player at this point in his career. I appreciate the fact that he wants to play everyday and would be disappointed if he was “ok” with a bench spot. He, like the majority of athletes, has a tremendous amount of confidence in his abilities. Again, no problem there.

I don’t begrudge him his contract and I’m not going to tell him that “he should feel fortunate” because who am I to say how someone should feel? He was lucky to be in the situation he was, playing for a really bad team that really didn’t have other catching options. Most would have been relegated to AAAA status.

I railed against those that said he got the contract based on one good year because he actually strung together 1800 at bats where he was an adequate hitter (774 OPS).

But these quotes were enough to put me over the edge. Stop talking Brandon and play.
Continue reading Remember when Inge wasn’t talking? →

2008 Season

Tigers Corner 2008

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Tigers Corner 2008Hitting store shelves this week is Tigers Corner 2008. This is the second edition of the book/magazine/annual from Maple Street Press. It is edited by Gary Gillette of ESPN fame (ESPN.com contributor, Baseball Encyclopedia, etc.) so it definitely lends some credibility to the motley crew of Tigers bloggers who contributed articles.

Brian Borawski helped out with last year’s version, and this year he invited myself, Lee Panas, Ian Casselberry, Matt Wallace, and Mike McClary to submit articles as well. So at the very least you know that the writers were passionate about the subject.

We join real writers (with apologies to Ian who is a real writer) like Bill Dow, Gillette himself, and David Laurila. The end product is actually quite impressive if I do say so myself. Keeping in mind that seeing my name in print is kind of a kick for a novice like me.

The book covers last season, as well as some deeper dives into Tigers history. It also looks forward with profiles of Rick Porcello and other Tigers prospects.

The table of contents is available at the Maple Street Press site, as well as ordering information. It is available on Amazon, but I understand there are some issues there with how it is classified and other things I don’t full understand. If you’re in the Detroit area I’m told it will be available at bookstores and I also saw it on the magazine rack at Kroger.

Links

links for 2008-03-02

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Uncategorized

Virtual waiting rooms are as much fun as real waiting rooms

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Detroit Tigers single game tickets went on sale March 1st, and it was a record setting day for the organization. The team sold over 80,000 tickets in the first 2 hours after the tickets went on sale. With a crush of demand it meant long lines no matter how fans tried to obtain tickets.

I heard reports on the radio of people waiting 4 hours at the Comerica Park box office. I swung by Hockeytown Authentics in Troy shortly after noon only to find a line that was still probably 50 people. And for those trying to buy from the comfort of their own homes, most experienced the tickets.com phenomenon of the virtual waiting room. Which like any good waiting room involves waiting for an indiscriminate amount of time and very little feedback as to when your turn might come up. I was trying the phone all morning as well never getting through.

Those that weren’t having luck with the prescribed methods were peppering Google with inquiries. Around the middle of the day “detroit tigers tickets” was the 3rd most popular query for the search engine.
google_hot_trends.JPG

Still, there seemed to be good tickets available early on, even for the bigger series with some On Deck Circle seats even popping up. But at this point you’re out of luck for some games unless you get lucky on some returned tickets or you become familiar with Stubhub and the like.

Some games, such as the Yankees series were down to standing room only tickets when I checked in the late afternoon. Others, like the Friday games for the Dodgers and Rockies, and the Labor Day game against the A’s had no tickets available.

In all the Tigers sold 176,000 tickets as of the ticket office closing at 6pm. With a season ticket base of 26,000 combined with today’s sales the Tigers paid attendance is already over 2.25 million. A report earlier in the week revealed that nearly all of the 300,000 tickets set aside for group sales were reserved meaning that over 2,500,000 tickets are spoken for.

2008 Season, Spring Training

D-Train rockin’ the D against C.C.

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Dontrelle’s Spring Training Debut
credit Deran @ lftblog.com. Click pic for more.

While a game the first week of spring training probably means little, you can’t help but wonder if today’s 3-3 10 inning tie between the Tigers and Indians could be an indicator of how the 2008 season will transpire for these teams.

Of more immediate importance today was the debut of Dontrelle Willis in a Tigers uniform. Dontrelle was admittedly nervous at the start of the game. Willis allowed three hits, including a homer in two innings of work. But the reports were positive with Leyland complimenting Willis’s fastball and Willis tipping his cap to Ben Francisco who’s homer came on a good pitch. No word on whether Willis was using his full repertoire of if he was focusing on fastball-change as the other starters have done in their first appearances.

Other notes:

  • Brent Clevlen made a couple of nice plays in center field, at least according to Dan and Jim on the broadcast.
  • Speaking of Dan and Jim, they gave listeners a little bit of a scare saying that Miguel Cabrera limped to the bench after a ground out. They later clarified saying that everything was OK, but jeez. Don’t scare us guys.
  • I don’t put a lot of stock in spring stats, especially for established players. Like I’m not worried that Carlos Guillen doesn’t have a hit. But it is worth noting that Brandon Inge has only made 2 outs over 4 games. He’s 3 of 5 with 4 walks.
  • It was the locks for the roster that gave up the runs today with Willis, Todd Jones, and Tim Byrdak all surrendering a run on multiple hits. But it was a solid outing for Denny Bautista who fanned one and allowed a lone hit in his 2 innings.
2008 Season, Fan Experience

Feeding Frenzy: Single game tickets on sale

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Today at 10 a.m. single game Detroit Tigers tickets go on sale. We’ll use this post as a place for you to share your experiences. Some details about the sale today:

  • If you’re buying in person at Comerica Park, you’re probably already in line, and if you’re not you probably shouldn’t bother. Wrist bands were distributed last night so find a different avenue for getting tickets.
  • Don’t use ticketmaster! The Tigers dropped ticketmaster last year so don’t go to a TM outlet because you’ll just be disappointed.
  • Meijer: Meijer stores in the greater Detroit area will be selling tickets. That’s probably your best bet for buying from a ticket window. For those in the greater Troy area, Hockeytown Authentics at Big Beaver and John R will also be selling tickets.
  • If you want to buy from the comfort of your own home, the phone (866-66Tigers) and internet (tigers.com) are both valid options.
  • There will be no Opening Day tickets available. Those all went to season ticket holders. Red Sox and Yankees tickets will also be limited because new, partial season ticket holders who couldn’t get Opening Day tickets were given the option to purchase tickets for those games.
  • And if you’re into the goodies, here is the Tigers promotional schedule.

If you don’t get everything you want, there is always the after market for a second chance at those tickets.

Good luck, and let us know how you made out.

2008 Season, Spring Training

Rick Porcello’s Debut

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Rick Porcello
credit Roger DeWitt

The Tigers first round draft pick from a year ago made his debut of sorts today. Rick Porcello pitched 2 perfect innings, the first of which came while the Blue Jays regulars were in the game. Here’s how his day went:

  • David Eckstein grounds out, pitcher Rick Porcello to first baseman Jeff Larish.
  • Alex Rios grounds out, shortstop Mike Hollimon to first baseman Jeff Larish.
  • Vernon Wells pops out to first baseman Jeff Larish
  • Frank Thomas strikes out swinging.
  • Russ Adams grounds out, second baseman Scott Sizemore to first baseman Jeff Larish.
  • Matt Watson grounds out, third baseman Ramon Santiago to first baseman Jeff Larish.

Six batters faced and no balls leaving the infield. Plus getting The Big Hurt swinging and I think the outing can only be viewed as a positive.

2008 Season, Spring Training

Spring Training Game 3: Tigers at Blue Jays

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PREGAME: The Tigers make their first road trip today and the destination is Dunedin. Justin Verlander will start and be followed by new papa Nate Robertson. Rick Porcello is also scheduled to pitch today.

Tigers position players making the trip include Curtis Granderson, Placido Polanco, Edgar Renteria, Jacque Jones, Marcus Thames, and Brandon Inge. They’ll have the unenviable task of facing Roy Halladay.

Game Time 1:05 and it will be available through MLB audio.

IN GAME: The Tigers struck first when Jacque Jones singled leading off the second and Ryan Raburn followed with a double. A first pitch ground ball from Inge scored the run. Jeff Larish popped out on a jam shot and Raburn was stranded at third.

Verlander allowed only an infield single to Matt Stairs (chew on that for a moment) in his 2 innings of work.

-Granderson homered on a full count pitch against a southpaw leading off the 3rd inning.

Rick Porcello recorded two 1-2-3 innings, and was facing the starters in his first inning. Nice start for the kid.

Francis Beltran pitches into, and out of trouble in the 7th inning.

2008 Season, Injuries, Spring Training

The dream continues, and other stuff

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The Tigers are undefeated, and here we are all of 2 days into spring training. Detroit beat a back-up Toronto Blue Jays roster by a score of 4-1.

Curtis Granderson and Magglio Ordonez were the offense with Grandy belting a 2 run homer and Ordonez picking up two hits. The pitchers had little trouble with the makeshift lineup with Virgil Vasquez pitching 2 perfect innings and Bobby Seay getting the save by fanning 2 in the ninth.

Vasquez got the start because Nate Robertson was busy birthin’ a baby boy who was born early this morning. That’s the happy news. On a sadder note, Yorman Bazardo is away from the team because his father passed away.

I didn’t do a game post today because a) the game wasn’t being broadcast at all, and 2) yesterday’s didn’t generate many comments. Still, I noticed quite a bit of traffic today during the game, so if you want spring training game posts let me know.

Reliever injuries

Fernando Rodney’s shoulder is easiest the biggest concern of camp at this point. Yes it’s early and there’s still a full month before the season, but this injury crept up in the first week of camp. Rodney had 2 DL stints last year, and the idea of Rodney being a month-on, month-off pitcher won’t do anything to help a bullpen full of question marks.

The good news is that Zumaya has been cleared to throw and is pain free after his first session. Who knows what will happen, but it has to start somewhere.

Other stuff

2008 Season, Game Post, Spring Training

Spring Training Game 1: Mets at Tigers

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PREGAME: I’m not expecting another 17 runs, but we’ll see what the Tigers lineup can put up against Mike Pelfrey. The Tigers are going with all their regulars save for Gary Sheffield who is busy with that Scott Boras nonsense. Timo Perez will DH in his stead and bat third. Danny Knobler has the lineup, and Jacque Jones is batting 9th with Renteria 7th.

The Tigers send out Jeremy Bonderman.

Game Time 1:05. This one’s on the radio so we can listen along.

POSTGAME: The Tigers prevailed 4-2, but it was a matter of the Tigers bench and minor leaguers knocking off their Mets counterparts. Jeremy Bonderman gave up a run in each of the first two innings. However he was pleased with his performance because there was no pain, and he wasn’t using his trademark slider at all.

The Tigers regular lineup only mustered an infield single. But Marcus Thames, Brandon Inge, and Mike Hessman all contributed to a 7th inning rally.

The Tigers bullpen allowed only 2 hits and a walk over 7 innings.

Links

links for 2008-02-27

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2008 Season, Spring Training

Play Ball

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Realish, live, Tigers baseball today. It’s the annual spring training kickoff against Florida Southern. The game is 1:05pm. Todd Jones gets the start, and most of the regulars will be playing for only an inning or two. There’s no broadcast, but there is a live box score at the Florida Southern site.

Miguel Cabrera homers against Florida Southern

POSTGAME: Well, the offense seems to work. The above photo was taken by Deran of Lakeland Flying Tigers Blog (click the picture for more from today’s game) and it is Miguel Cabrera smacking a missile to center field. The ball hit off the top of the batter’s eye which is located beyond a fence that is 420 feet from home plate.

It was the second homer of the inning following a two run Placido Polanco shot. The Tigers offense rolled up 17 runs including a solo homer from the beleaguered Brandon Inge. Mike Hollimon, my choice for utility infielder I’ll have you know, hit a 3 run jack of his own, to go with a double. In all the Tigers had 5 dingers with Scott Sizemore adding one to his two walks.

Jeff Larish had two hits and two walks while Freddy Guzman had a 3 for 4 day with a triple.

Jordan Tata was charged with all 4 runs in 1 2/3 innings and he didn’t help his cause with 3 walks.

Yes, the Tigers are projected to have one of the best teams in the majors while Florida Southern is a college. The Tigers were supposed to win big. I’m just happy to have a post game report to do, and I’m happy that the good guys did what they were supposed to.

Detroit 17 Florida Southern 4

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