It's Good To Be Back

It's that time of year again, folks: Spring Training is back in all its glory. Everyone knows that teams don't live or die by Spring Training, and that it doesn't go too far in determining the outcome of a season. So why bother to get so excited?

Because our boys are back on the scene, that's why. Maybe in limited quantities, and maybe under the hot Florida sun in March instead of the dreary Michigan sky in April, but still, it's them. And not only do they look good, they look hungry. Make all the Prince Fielder jokes you want with that example, but our guys are looking sharp and ambitious and just plain good.

Yes, we're only five games in. But we're also 5-0. And it's hard not to get excited when you hear about Fielder, Avila and Cabrera blasting huge homers, or Verlander, Scherzer, Porcello and Fister looking sharp, not to mention young guys like Andy Oliver and Drew Smyly impressing coaches and fans alike. There isn't too much to be troubled about at this point, and that's just making us more and more pumped.

Of course, there is one bit of sad/nostalgic news. Carlos Guillen, one of the few remaining players from the '06 team who was with the club last year, has officially retired. There were a lot of good moments with Carlos over the years (and also a lot of injuries) but our favorite favorite FAVORITE came during the 2011 season, when the Tigers were in a heated, tied game with the Angels. It was billed as a potential Cy Young showdown between JV and Jered "Whiny B****" Weaver, but instead the game will be remembered as  Weaver vs. Guillen.

When Weaver talked smack to Magglio Ordonez after he hit a 2-run homer, and then continued to jaw at Miguel Cabrera, Carlos took issue with that. As he should have. What he proceeded to do was drill a pitch from Weaver for a solo shot, and then spectacularly and wildly inappropriately showboated in retaliation for Weaver's smack talk. 

Mature? No. Necessary? No. Hysterical? YES. Weaver then got his butt tossed out of the game after throwing at Alex Avila's head, and Detroit fans will forever hate him. That says a lot about Carlos Guillen, though. He wasn't going to let Weaver trash poor sweet Magglio, who we kind of doubt has ever showboated unnecessarily in his life. "The way he reacted to Magglio, he's my teammate. We're a team," said Carlos.

That epic event aside, Carlos will always be one of the classiest Tigers (and one of the flyest dressers) and the baseball world will miss him. And his gold chains. We love you, man!!!

BLACKLISTED: Jered Weaver

What an exciting two days it's been! We will talk about the veeerry interesting trade in due time. However, today's post will be focused on Class Act Jered Weaver and the rest of his team's actions in today's game.

First of all, this was hyped to be, and was, a thrilling game to watch. Weaver vs. Verlander, the top two competitors for the Cy Young Award battling tooth and claw on the mound. This game was supposed to exemplify everything that is fantastic about baseball. Two great teams in the pennant race going head-to-head, fighting, not only for the win, but to see whose pitcher was the most dominant.

Verlander, as per usual, was spectacular. Even more so than usual, no-hitting the Angels through 7.2 innings. Weaver's "stuff" was equally as impressive, making some incredible hitters look like little leaguers whiffing the baseball.  Though the pitchers both had amazing talent, this game didn't make us squeal with unabashed baseball ecstasy. Today, some of baseball's unwritten rules were violated, and though it made for an exciting game, it also made for an ugly one; it was not nearly the shining example of America's pastime we were hoping for. Today, we're not going to recap, but instead, we'll say who was really in the wrong, and who was justified. We are attempting to make sense of the overdramatic mess this game turned out to be!

Follow us after the jump!

Megan Attempts a Play-by-Play; Overuses Exclamation Points

Okay, so this is my first attempt at a play-by-play of a game, so by all means skip around.  We're playing against the Oakland Athletics, a pretty cruddy team, so let's hope we win this one huh?  Here we go!

Top 1st


-Rick looking smokin' today. As per usual. And the lineup looks pretty sweet as well. Poor A's don't stand a chance!

-Jemile Weeks reaches on an error. I spoke too soon.

-AHHHHH GO ALEX!!!! Weeks thrown out at second. It's almost like that error never existed! You best thank your teammates, Miguel.

-Sweeney strikes out. Two gone.  Rick's stuff looks pretty good today!

-Coco Crisp to Magglio Ordonez and it's a fairly quick first inning. Go Tigers!

Bottom 1st


-Austin up to bat.  Everyone's been saying he can't hit recently, but I think he's doing pretty well. Not too bad anyway. His speed certainly helps him once he gets on the bag.

-I spoke too soon again!  Austin strikes out. I guess it's true that he's always striking out.  I need to stop complimenting people, I suppose.

-Brennan Boesch grounds out. Two gone really fast.

-Maggs singles!!! I'm so glad he's back in the lineup.  If he can keep hitting well, we really have a pretty darn good lineup!


-Aaaaand I spoke too soon again. Cabrera strikes out and the inning is over.  What a great idea to do a play-by-play!! It's been so exciting thus far!

Top 2nd


-Let's have some action! Let's see some defense!!


-If catching a pop up counts as defense then I guess we're seeing some. Brandon Inge catches a ball in foul territory to get Hideki Matsui.  Didn't he used to be an MVP?  Oakland must be where talented players go to die.

-SCOTT SIZEMORE!!! Oh I forgot about you, my beautiful boy!! How are you?  I can't say I miss you too much, but it's nice to see you again! (I must be losing my mind.)

-Scotty Boy strikes out swinging. Two gone.


-David DeJesus is up to bat.  For some reason I hate this guy.

-And Ricky hits him with a pitch!! Not too smart, Ricky, but I'm not too concerned. We've got two outs still, and hopefully we can get out of this inning unscathed.

-Aaaaand Connor Jackson contributes to a force out at second!!  The Tigers get out of the inning without a run scoring thank goodness. Rick seems like he hits batters a lot. That's something he needs to quit doing. However, missing inside is still better than missing right over the heart of the plate!!

Bottom 2nd


-OKAY!  Let's go offense!! I have a great feeling about this half inning! Martinez is up to bat.

-Victor flies out to center. Great. Hooray. Go offense.  One out.

-Juh-Honny flies out to left field. Great. Yippee. Go offense. Two outs.

-Ahhh Carlos! It's still surprising to see him up to bat! How I've missed him. Now hopefully he can prove that the real Carlos Guillen is back and not just some broken nobody.

-Carlos singles!! Hooray! It's really Carlos!

-And Avila draws the walk!! Avila actually has the second most walks on the team with 36 now. Miguel has the most, and has almost double Avila's total. Anyway, I was just trying to point out that the kid has a pretty good eye. Good work, Avi!

-And it's all up to Brandon Inge. Come on Brandon!!! Show all your haters what Brandon Inge can really do!! I'm rooting for you!!

-Brandon Inge strikes out swinging.  Great. Woohoo. Go Brandon.  To the Top of the 3rd we go.


Top 3rd

-Another one of those in the stands thingies.  Chris from Florida, who looks about 8, is the Best Tigers fan ever.  If I ever have a son then he better be as loyal as this kid.

- It's really sad but I have no idea who these Athletics guys are.  Kurt Suzuki flies out to Magglio. One gone.

-Pennington singles on a short hit to center. So long no hitter!

-This Weeks guy is almost as short as Will Rhymes! He's only 5'9". He may be short but he's the A's best hitter.  He's hitting .317 since the beginning of June.  Good for the rookie, I guess, but it's not so good for the A's.  We really need to beat them.

-Can Rick get together with Justin and learn a pick-off move? Actually, can Justin just teach a class to his teammates?  Can he get together with Max please? His move stinks.  Weeks flies out to center.  Two gone.

-Rick's stuff looks pretty good, but he's already thrown over 40 pitches. Looks like we're gonna need the bullpen in this one.

-Rod and Mario keep talking about how bad the A's are. They've only had 52 home runs total. Porcello strikes out Sweeney! End 3rd. That's three K's for the kid already.  If he can lower his pitch count, then this might be a good game for him. His stuff looks good today!

Bottom 3rd

-Ewwww it's DeJesus!! I forgot all about him! Ajax just flew out to him and I feel sick.  He was the Royal's best player once upon a time. One of the many "Tiger-Killers" in the American Leauge.

-Brennan promptly grounds out to Scotty Boy.  Two Out.

-Maggs grounds out to the pitcher. Three out. That took about five minutes!!  As Rod says, "Our offense is stumblin'."

Follow us after the break!

Beam Me Up Scotty!

As many of you know, we have a lot of talent and potential at the second base position.  Carlos Guillen, a veteran and fan-favorite, continually has pop in his bat and has played second base incredibly well, but we have a lot of fresh young boys--Mighty Mouse (Will Rhymes), Scott Sizemore, and danny worth--who could do the job as well.   Earlier this week on DesigNateRoberson(a great and very funny Tigers blog if you haven't checked it out), the second basemen were compared by many variables, which inspired us over here to look, in depth, at what makes baseball players important.

LOOKS.

So why don't we start with who really should get the job?

Carlos Guillen

Although he has great numbers
(Career .286 AVG, and .801 OPS, our personal favorite statistic, (PLUS he hit .320 in '05 and '06)),
he still manages to look so bad in every picture he takes! How does he have a double chin? He's an infielder!  We've also heard that he's a flirt, which we guess is a plus, but that's about all he has going for him.
Okay, in truth, Carlos is a fantastic player, and has done a lot for the Tigers in the past (the magical '06 season, to be sure).  He may be a little old and fragile right now, but if the Tigers were to base their second baseman choice on experience and skill, then he would be the choice.  But, obviously, the Tigers need to account for "other" factors... so on to the backups.

Will Rhymes

Everyone loves Mighty Mouse.  Everyone.  But let's take a look at his statistics, shall we?
5'9, 155lbs, and greasy hair that looks like a 70's porn star. 
Will is great because of the way he involves the fans in everything that he does. And on the plus side, he's got intelligence: he graduated from William and Mary with a degree in molecular biology, so when he's too old for baseball he can be a famous doctor or something; but we're not gold diggers here at April in the D, we pick our men based on APPEARANCES...not income.
In real life, Will has proved himself in his limited time in the majors.  In 191 AB he's hit .304 with 19 RBI and an acceptable OPS of .763. His main competition comes from our last contender, last year's starting second baseman:

Scott Sizemore

Good Lord!! The guy that just last year Jim Leyland said was "as pale as a milk bottle" is stronger, faster, and better looking than ever!  Let's see one more:


PHOTO BY JASON RZUCIDLO / ©AMERICAJR.com


So nice.  Scotty has amazing minor league numbers, but when he came up to the big leagues last year,  despite us all rooting for him, he kind of crashed and burned.  According to Leyland though, he's looking better than ever.  Although his major league numbers are worse than Rhymes' (143 AB, . 224 AVG, 14 RBI, .631 OPS)  he has a larger range than Will (maybe because he's +3 inches?), and is much better at turning the double play.  We believe, here at April in the D, that THIS one deserves the job!  (Just look at those eyes! Good lord!)

Here's lookin' at you, Scott!