Sizemore is King; Casper is Crunk; Zoom Zoom is Cursed

Sorry we haven't posted in a little while, two out of the three of us had some finals to attend to, and the other had midterms! So with that pathetic little apology out of the way...

WELCOME BACK SCOTTY!

May we just say that we wanted him here from the start?  His numbers in  Toledo were stellar, and in his first start back up in the majors, he went three for four with a double, a run, and an RBI!  In the ongoing battle for second base, Scott is on top, and although he didn't hit well in tonight's game against the Yankees, (another win, people!) he is still hitting .500 for the season.  We girls at April in the D are willing to let the fact that Scotty has only played two games slide for the moment.  We're going to ride the I-told-you-so train as long as we possibly can. 

We're obviously glad to see that the six-foot stunner is back, but it breaks our hearts a little to see Will Rhymes gone.  Although he was hitting poorly, and his defense was nothing to get too excited about, it was impossible not to root for Will, and we wish him the best of luck in Toledo.  We predict that second base will be a revolving door position this year, so if Will plays well down in the minors, we're positive we'll see him back up in the majors before the season is over. Until then, au revoir notre petit monsieur!

Also, we'd like to add that Casper Wells may be the coolest/weirdest/funniest Tiger ever.  For those of you who tweet, or for those of you who have a twitter for the sole purpose of stalking the tigers (like us), please follow Casper (@UpstateBaller) because whatever he says never fails to amuse us. Take for instance, last night.  After our much, much, much needed win against the hated yankees last night, apparently, the Tigers were feeling "crunk" after the game.  It's hard for us to imagine some of the tigers getting "crunk," Brad Penny in particular. However, we all know that Jose Valverde has moves, and V-Mart must have some rhythm if he actually plays the accordion.  We also imagine that JV can do a pretty mean douggie. In the immortal words of Rod Allen, "We see you Justin!"

On a more serious note, we regret to inform you (although we're not particularly surprised) that, before you could even say "deja vu," Joel Zumaya is out for the season again.  It appears that he is undergoing season ending "exploratory elbow surgery," not to fix, but to discover what is actually wrong with his right arm.  What's worse, Joel is up for free agency this year, which means that if he doesn't end up pitching this year, he might be done pitching as a Tiger forever.  This is incredibly unfortunate news for everyone involved. For all you kiddies out there who never saw Joel Zumaya at his very best, he was a fearsome sight to behold.  We wish him the best in his recovery, even though it seems that wearing a Tigers uniform has cursed Joel to an interminable stay on the DL.  

Let's just try to forget that terrible, terrible losing streak and look forward to beating up on the Yankees again, shall we? 

Random Tiger Thoughts from Laura

Me (obviously) at Spring Training last year!

Every so often, the three of us decided we will do a Random Thoughts section about a bunch of different Tiger topics from just one of us. So I'm going to do this first one. These are my opinions and thoughts about our lovely Tigers, not my sisters. Mine!

ESPN Can Suck It


No, really, they can. It's weird for me to even write that sentence. But the way they are handling the whole Miguel Cabrera situation really pisses me off. First, they're labeling him an alcoholic. Really? You don't know him personally. None of us do. But for people like Jayson Stark to say that Miggy is "avoiding the problem"actually makes me want to kick his ass. When did Jayson Stark turn into Dr. Drew?
But thats not even the whole problem. Yesterday SportsCenter did a recap of the Tigers-Braves Spring Training Game. Cabrera went 0-3, and they made it sound like he was spiraling into a Gerald Laird-level of suck. Come on. He missed the first six days of practice and it's only Spring Training. This is probably the first and only time I'll say this, but ESPN needs to leave Cabrera alone.
All this is coming from someone who wants to work for ESPN one day. Just goes to show that you don't  mess around with my Tigers!



I Overreact Often, But...


...I think Max Scherzer is going to have a freaking amazing season. He's started out strong in Spring Training (yes, I know, it's just Spring Training. STILL). He took names at the end of last season, and was arguably our best pitcher. He has those crazy sick eyes of his that sear into batter's souls. He is the complete package. Admittedly, I was completely distraught at the loss of Edwin Jackson and the end of my favorite Tiger's bromance. But as soon as Mad Max picked up his game by destroying the A's all those months ago, I knew we had something special.
I'm still looking for a good new bromance though. Come on, guys!


I Really Love Twitter.


I do! OK, at first when Twitter was starting out I really hated it. I don't care that so-and-so is eating toast for breakfast. I don't need to know when someone is going to the bathroom. I never understood the appeal...until certain Tigers joined the Twitterverse. Now I can't get enough. I love Will Rhymes's thoughts on music and his dogs. I adore Casper Wells's tweets about how much the Tiger's are going to kick ass this season. I find myself compulsively checking their Twitter pages just so I can catch a glimpse of what it must be like to be a Tiger. Clearly it's awesome. Plus, you get to see fantastic pictures like this! The appeal of Twitter is now obvious.

Could Spring Get Any Better?


No, it cannot. Do you know why? Because, in exactly two weeks I will be driving to Spring Training!!! I. Cannot. Wait. I will be taking a zillion pictures and trying desperately to meet my Tigers. I will also hopefully be doing a play-by-play analysis of the Tigers-Braves game on the 19th and then posting it to the blog later that night. Be on the lookout for it!

Angels in the Outfield

Sorry to all of our many readers (hahahahaha) that we're not posting as frequently. We're pretty busy--its called college. You remember it.
ANYWAYS, Spring Training games are officially underway, and our brilliant team has cranked out a 3-0 start, not that it matters. They took down the hated Yankees yesterday, so that can only be a good thing. Those three wins were mostly thanks to our pitchers, but today we're going to look at a different position(s): the outfield.

So Raburn, AJax, and Magglio seem to have the outfield positions all locked up. Or do they? We are going to take an in-depth look at not just the skills of these ballplayers, but their personality, looks, fan-appeal, looks....you know, the important stuff!


Austin Jackson (AJax)





Probably the only player who is a lock for an outfield spot, Austin Jackson was so good last year that he made us completely forget about Curtis Granderson. This is quite the feat, since we were the girls who openly wept when he was traded. Now, after seeing what a genius Dave Dombrowski is for making that deal, we are AJax's biggest supporters. He's young, attractive, and kind, though he can't get the right enunciation for the phrase "fair share". Even though he'll never be as beloved as Curtis was in the D, it's our firm belief that he'll be much better.

Brennan Boesch (Baby B)



Oh, baby Brennan. After such a successful first half, Brennan failed to impress in the second (and most important) part of the season. Will he win the spot reserve spot this year, or will Casper Wells steal it away from him? Either way, he'll look good doing it--his Cali-boy swag and strong physique have us (Rosie!!!) praying he'll make the 25-man roster. One can only hope that he will produce the same ridiculous stats he racked up in the first half. Yeah, sure.


Casper Wells (Ghostboy)





This Friendly Ghost is poised to overtake Brennan Boesch and fill our team quota of white-baller-who-wishes-he-was-black. Have you seen his tweets?!...Anyway, Ghostboy tore up the Big Leagues in the brief time he was there last year, and we think he will make the roster over Baby B this year. Once he gets more exposure, the fans in the D are probably going to love him. He obviously loves to connect with fans and is proud to be on the Tigers, so more power to him. Plus, he's kind of witty . Who doesn't love that?!

Clete Thomas (The Cleteus)



Ah, Clete. We're slightly embarrassed to say (especially after his performance last year) that we used to have a bit of a Clete Thomas Obsession. So much so that we hated Don Kelly when he came up for Clete in the 2009 season, and always scoffed at Rod Allen for his criticism. Now all of these feelings have passed, and it's time for us to get real about Clete's chances in the bigs this season. We don't think it's going to happen. Despite his redneck charm and deer-in-headlights smolder, Clete would have to have a hell of a spring training to beat out the likes of Don, Casper and Brennan.

Don Kelly (Don Kelly)

Don Kelly can do it all, and that's why he's definitely going to make the squad this year. He can play outfield, third base, first base, and supposedly catcher. There's no way, that with our surplus of injury-prone Venezuelans, we won't need a back-up in SOME position, and Don is the perfect guy to do it. As far as looks go, have you seen this guy in person? TV doesn't do him justice. Too bad he has the cutest kids ever...

Magglio Ordonez (Maggs)





The Tiger's answer to Fabio until he cut his hair, Magglio is the kind of player that makes both coaches and desperate housewives swoon (for very different reasons, obviously). We here at April in the D were terrified that last year would be his last in the Motor City, but Dombrowski flashed his genius once again and Maggs is here to stay (at least for the year)! Hopefully he doesn't run into any health issues -we all saw the affect his absence had on our team last year. So here's looking at a great 2011, Magglio--and please, grow that fabulous hair back.

Ryan Raburn (Ry Ry)

 


There's something about Ryan. You know what we're talking about. Just when you think he's starting to really suck big time, he goes crazy and hit .400 for the month of August. He claims that he does better when he knows he's going to play, and all evidence points that he's telling the truth. If he can be as productive as he was the tail end of last season, he's in for one monster year. We're rooting for ya!

Agree? Disagree? Let us know!