A Detroit Tigers Blog with a Feminine Touch

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

A Bittersweet Goodbye, An Unwelcome Hello

We all know it. We all hear it. We all love it (this is actually extremely questionable). But it seems as if the April in the D song, so synonymous with the start of the baseball season on Fox Sports Detroit, is not going to be renewed this year.

This is a very love/hate situation for all of us. On one hand, by the end of April you want to throw your TV out the window when watching Tigers games, if only to rid our heads of the incessant "April April in the D! FOX SPORTS DETROIT ON YOUR TEE VEEEEE!" Brings back memories, huh?

On the other paw, the April in the D song signifies the start of the most glorious part of the year: Baseball Season. It's been a tradition for, what, four years now? And we've gotten used to reviewing all the finalists and picking our favorites (who never seem to win, but whatever). Plus, it's the namesake of this freaking blog!

FSD has other ideas, though. Due to the overwhelming success amongst male Tiger fans and general hatred from the female ones, the network has decided to hold The Next Fox Sports Detroit Girl Search in hopes that they will find "talent" akin to Lauren and Ashley (is that her name? Whatever).

We've said it before: the FSD girls are hardly our favorite thing about watching Tigers games. In fact, we'd almost rather watch Fox games announced by Joe Buck then have to sit through 10 + commercials a game with Lauren/Ashley simpering and strutting for the camera. This isn't the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.

We've beat that horse pretty dead, we know. But if you're going to do that, why can't we just have Brennan Boesch or Rick Porcello or Austin Jackson in some smoldering ads as well? We need to give the ladies something to look at, too. Equal rights!!!!!

Anyway, this marks the dawn of a new age for Aprils in Detroit. Who knows if they will use some kind of April in the D song? At any rate, if they do use one, it won't be from a contest. Which might mean it could be a less-annoying April than usual in the D. We could get used to that.

As a final farewell to the April in the D contest, here is a very good rendition of the song by the band The Product. We love it. Too bad it won't be featured on FSD this year….enjoy!

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Battle of the Babies: Who Will Take the Fifth Spot?

For the second year in a row, the question of who the Tigers' fifth starter will be is a pressing issue in the minds of all serious tigers fans.  As it stands right now, there are six youngins who could make the starting spot.  Let's take a look at each of them, and we'll reveal who we think should get the top spot!

1. Jacob Turner
Probably the most well-known name on the list, Jake is also the youngest player that could make the starting rotation. He is known as the top prospect in the Tiger's minor league system and one of the top 30 prospects in the entire minor league.  However, in the three games that Turner started in the bigs last year for the Tigers, he was kind of a failure.  He got one loss, but had an ERA of 8.53.  Granted, last year he was just a baby, but he'll still be very young this year too.  We think he should probably stay in the minors for at least the first half of the season to build up his confidence before coming up to the majors again.  To have the starting job after having a few shaky outings last year probably wouldn't do good things for Turner, and it definitely wouldn't do good things for the Tiger's win/loss ratio.

2. Drew Smyly
Smyly has a lot of things going for him, including the fact that his last name is "smiley."  The tall kid from Arkansas played well with the Seawolves last year, starting in 7 games and finishing with an ERA of 1.18.  He's also a lefty, which would add balance to the starting five. (Max Scherzer is the only southpaw.)   The negatives for Smyly are that he's never played in the Big Leagues before, which is a serious concern, as we really can't trust him with a starting job if he's never faced Major League bats.  Also, although Turner may be the youngest, Smyly will only be 23 at the beginning of the season, so he's just a Tiger cub as well.  We see him more in relief this year, and maybe coming up in the latter half of the season if serious problems occur with our chosen starter.

3. Andy Oliver
We say "no" to Andy, but we understand why he has his fans. He has been the most "tested" candidate, starting 26 games in the minor leagues and appearing in two games in the majors with one start. This is a plus, because he's used to the pressure of being a starting pitcher. However, he hasn't exactly been the most reliable pitcher, sporting a 4.71 ERA in the Toledo and a 6.52 ERA in his two appearances with the Tigers. Experience means nothing if you can't execute, and we're not so certain Andy is big league material, as much as we hate to say it.  If he performs well in Lakeland this Spring, then good for him, but the three of us are thinking that 2012 is not his year.

4. Casey Crosby
In our opinion, kind of a long shot. The tall 24-year-old from Illinois is about as seasoned as Oliver, starting 25 games on the Seawolves with a 4.10 ERA.  However, everything Oliver has done, Crosby has done a little worse... he played in AA instead of AAA, and although his average is a little better, he may not have faced the bats Oliver did.  Also, Crosby has never seen the bigs, and unless you're phenomenal (a la Rick Porcello) it's very hard to trust a young kid with a starting position without ever testing him at the Major League level first.  The same goes for Crosby as did for Oliver. If he does well, great, but he probably won't be starting this year.

5. Adam Wilk
Adam played five games in the bigs last year in relief, but we don't remember it too well. Maybe that's a good thing, because after he left we weren't screaming in pain and frustration.  He had a 5.24 ERA in the majors, which isn't great, but it's better than the guys we've listed before him.  Also, in the minors, he started 18 games and had an ERA of less than 3.30.  We still think Wilk is a long shot, but expect to see him in the relief rotation at least sometime this year.

6. Duane Below
Michigan's Pride Duane Below is our choice for the starting gig.  Duane has proven himself the most out of all the candidates, he's a lefty, and he's the only one of the candidates older than 25.  Age shouldn't matter that much, but with it comes maturity and composure, age helps (sometimes), and, as we all know, that's super important on the mound.  He started 18 games in Toledo and had a 3.13 ERA, and he played in 14 games in the big leagues (starting 2) with an ERA of 4.34.  He had a record of 0-2, but don't let that fool you.  Below came into some games in dire circumstances and showed incredibly composure for a minor leaguer.  He played in some pretty tight games and often came through for the team. We remember being very impressed by his performance in the major league.  If he can perform in Spring Training, we think Below will get the job over the more high-profile turner.

Actually, Leyland will probably just shuffle them around all year like he does with his batting lineup, so we don't know why we're thinking so hard about this stuff anyway.  Whatever the case, it's sure to be an interesting off-season as these six pitchers battle for that starting spot!

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Haters Gonna Hate

Trust In Them.
Photo Courtesy of the Detroit Free Press

At the Tigers' Spring Training this year there have been three big stories. The first is everything and anything that has to do with Prince Fielder. The second is Brandon Inge's supposed diva-like behavior, or lack thereof. The third and only really pertinent story (at least in our minds) is how well Miguel Cabrera can play third base.

This has been a hotly debated subject since the arrival of Prince to our team. At first, we didn't really care, because we got Prince freakin' Fielder. But now that we have had a month to calm ourselves down, it's probably best that we take a moment to wonder if this whole Miggy-at-First thing will really work.

The common consensus among NON-Tiger fans is that it can't, won't, will-not work. Cabrera is too big, to slow, too poor defensively, and hasn't played third in four years. Valid arguments. Except Cabrera has lost a lot of weight. He's been training since the end of last season to play third, and it's not like we have a Hanley Ramirez on our hands who isn't willing to move. Miggy wants to play third more than anyone.

Plus, people are making him out to be an atrocious defender. Sure, he's not exactly Gold Glove material, but he's not bad. He made thirteen errors last year at first. That's not good, but it's not consistently bad. He's not going to make vintage Brandon Inge-like acrobatic plays, but we really don't think he's going to be bad.

We also must not forget the man who is playing to Cabrera's left: the much ignored, unfairly maligned Juh-honny Peralta. He proved last year that, while he might not be on Asdrubal's level defensively, he is still pretty damn good. We think he will be more than ready to take on a bigger role defensively now that Inge isn't playing third.

Our defense isn't going to be good. It will be mediocre at best, which will not result in good things for Rick Porcello's ERA. But with our very, very good offense and our very, very good pitching staff (don't let anyone tell you otherwise) we should be alright. We should learn to trust more in our coaching staff and front office--in the span of a year they have brought us nothing but good things.

The doubters? Some have they're reasons, but others are just jealous haters. And haters gonna hate.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Voila!

In a concerted effort to make our blog less of an eyesore, we've revamped the place a little bit.  Please bear with us as we make a couple of changes.  We hope you enjoy our new look!

Monday, February 20, 2012

Random Tigers Thoughts From Laura: Pre-Spring Training

It's a casual, boring Monday night. You have work or school or SOMEthing in the morning, and it has been a stressful and exhausting day. There aren't even any good games on tonight. Yet, something feels different. Something magical is in the air…

BASEBALL. BASEBALL STARTED TODAY.

No, it's not the regular season. It's not even the start of Spring Training games. It's just pitchers and catchers reporting. But there's nothing "just" about it. Baseball is baseball is baseball and will always be baseball, and right now Tigers Baseball is starting and our boys are finally reuniting under the Lakeland Sun!!!!!!!!!!

They'll be in Comerica before we know it, folks, but for now they're stationed on the hallowed grounds of Joker Marchant. After the jump are a few lingering thoughts from me as the first baseballs are thrown...

Thursday, February 16, 2012

You're Doing It Wrong

Happy (belated) Valentines Day errryone! We have a special gift for you on this Hallmark-made holiday: A Rant.


Before we get to the real point of this post, a disclaimer: We know we are not the most serious of blogs, the most interesting of blogs, or probably even that good of a blog. For God's sake, we're pink!  So we know we're not the greatest authority on everything on baseball culture.  But one thing we do know a lot about is what it's like to be a female who is obsessed with sports.  That's who we are. That's why this blog exists.  So that's also why we were kind of disturbed to see the emergence of a new baseball app for women which you can read about here.


Basically, it's a fantasy baseball league for women (or men, we guess!) where the user picks a "Baseball Boyfriend."  The user accumulates points based on their "boyfriend's" stats of the day, and you can dump and choose a new boyfriend at anytime. Well we're all for free enterprise, but for the creator of this application, we have something to say... you're doing it wrong!


More raging after the jump...

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Stars over...Kansas?

The three of us here at April in the D are very very excited.  Why, you ask?  Because a brand new star outfielder is coming to the Tigers. We know you're screaming right now, "YOENIS CESPEDES?!" and doing a happy dance, but we have to tell you that this star is even better.  A brand new baseball celebrity  has been born, and that star is this man:


Yes, Detroit's big new baseball sensation is the corn-eatin', tractor-ridin', Kansas-born, thick-necked sweetheart Andrew "Andy" Dirks!

We know. We were surprised to hear this too, but according to this article, Andy is quite the smash in the Dominican Republic, where he is currently playing with the Dominican Republic's Escogido Squad in the Caribbean League.  He had recently made a quite a few clutch, late-inning plays, and although he's only hitting .262 or so, the fans there absolutely love him.  Chants of "Andy! Andy! Andy!" have apparently been heard in the stadium on multiple occasions, and his performance has turned him in to a "mini-celebrity" on the island. 

We're proud of our boy Andy, and we hope he can bring this momentum into Spring Training and hopefully into the 2012 season as well.  However, if Andy enjoys his celebrity, we wouldn't actually mind him staying there if we can get Yoenis Cespedes in the meantime. In all seriousness though, we didn't know lil' Dirks had this in him, and we're really proud that he's reppin' the D all the way in the Dominican Republic!  With Prince Fielder, Justin Verlander, Miguel Cabrera, and most importantly, Andy Dirks, we have far and away the most star power in the AL Central, as if they weren't far enough behind already.  Take that, Twins!

In other news, we can't wait for the season to start!  We need baseball. Enough with the waiting.