A Team Effort

So, the first two series at home were pretty fun, right? Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder, the Dynamic Duo of Super BFF's smashing away. Dramatic, walk-off wins and awesome blowouts. Undoubtedly some fun stuff. Suck it, AL East powerhouses!!!

And then comes Chicago. Suddenly the big boys aren't hitting as much as they're supposed to be. Some of our defense is looking shaky. We're just not getting any productivity due to uncertain swings and bad luck. But we thought we were supposed to be destroying the Central! Everyone panic!!!!!!!!!!

We're kidding, obviously. People who are panicking at Miggy and Raburn and other players' hitting slumps, our somewhat questionable defense, and Jim Leyland's managerial decisions need to take a pill and shut the hell up. Do we sound a little harsh? Well, we mean business on this matter. What this team already realizes and what most fans need to understand is that this is a Group Effort this year, never mind the fact that we're only ten games into the season.

There are indeed some very confusing statistics to these first ten games. After six games of pure hitting prowess, Miguel Cabrera has yet to get a hit in this road trip. Ryan Raburn is hitting a truly awful .065: 2 hits in 31 at bats. And Doug Fister, who we were SO excited to see claim his #2 Ace Role behind Verlander, succumbed to injury early on. Brandon Inge returned to the lineup despite his anemic, pathetic batting numbers. Plus, no starter got a win in the first nine games, and Jose Valverde was doing his best Fernando Rodney Defibrillator Act.

And yet. And yet we are 7-3. Why do you think this is, haters and pessimists? Because we are more than just the Cabrera-Fielder show. Because we have more offensive depth than many initially thought. Because just because our number one closer can't get it done doesn't mean someone else won't.

Have you seen Austin Jackson? We know we talked about it last post, but Lloyd McClendon should be worshiped as a God right now. The eliminated leg kick seems to be exactly what AJax needs to really be a great table-setter. Look at his numbers. LOOK AT THEM. Boy is on fire, and though there is no way he'll keep his offensive production at this crazy pace, expect him to have a much better season than the last one. And what about sweet Rick Porcello? His last two starts have been good, and the one on Sunday was just plain dominant. He's hot, and in more ways than one. Don't forget Juh-honny Peralta, who seems to be slipping everyones mind, and Alex Avila, who hasn't missed a beat off of last season. They're two huge reasons why we have as good a record as we do.

And of course, Justin Verlander. While we shall not speak of the 9th Inning Atrocity vs. Tampa Bay, he has been absolutely killing it in all three of his starts. We didn't initially like Leyland's decision to keep him in last night, and it was terrifying, but Justin said he needed to prove it to himself that he could do it. And that last 100 mph pitch and his reaction was worth every second of torment that the fans went through.

So, bottom line is: if one of the stars (right now it's Cabrera, for reasons unknown) is struggling, don't think all is lost. It isn't. For one thing, we have a great all-around team. For another, he's Miguel Cabrera. He will fix it. He's in good hands. And as far as Raburn goes--we know. It's annoying. But we feel that he will come around too, even Saint Lloyd has to get in there and change some of his mechanics.

The season's very young, folks. Of course we're going to have some rough edges at the start. But look at our boys' potential, and look at what they've already done. This is going to be a good year. So relax, and enjoy the show.

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.

Bits and Giggles

Yippee!!!

Sorry we haven't been posting as much in recent days. We've been busy with work and stuff, but in the next few days we should be posting some special stuff in addition to our mid-season awards. Get excited, people.

For now, though, we just have a few observations. We're not the kind of "fans" who berate Jim Leyland mercilessly, call for Ryan Raburn's head on a daily basis, etc. But we do have a beef with Leyland about his lineup lately. Is he really putting the best players out there on a consistent basis? It kills us to see the lineup we have today: Santiago, Kelly, Raburn, Wells, and Dirks? I mean, everyone needs a day off once in a while, and Jackson has an owie, but really? No Magglio (who is playing MUCH more like the Maggs we know and love) and no Juh-honny? Bull. We know DK is Mr. Utility; in fact, all of our utility players are solid. We just don't buy into playing them all at once.

In more light-hearted, cheery news: JUH-HONNY IS AN ALL-STAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mr. 3000 finally did something right (did anyone else see the ESPN anchors practically pee themselves with excitement talking about him today?!) by withdrawing from the game, and Ron Washington wins the Class Act of the Week award for taking Juh-honny over his own man. Stat-wise, it might have seen like a pretty clear-cut choice, but it's surprising what managers do sometimes. So, go Ron Washington. And go Juh-honny!

Did anyone else hear Rod and Mario be bitches last night and mock a poor fanny-pack-wearing Royals fan? Well, that wasn't the only immature act going on in the baseball broadcasting world last night.  We're sure by now many of you have seen this epic meltdown by the Red Sox announcers last night. Too, too funny. One can only imagine how Rod and Mario would react in the same situation. We see inane giggling from Rod as a possibility, with Mario desperately trying to control the situation. Classic.

Isn't it amazing that our team isn't actually going to lose a series for once? Could it be that our Beloveds will actually...gasp!...win a series?!? Let's hope Charlie (one name only) can help push us into the break with a bang.

Random Tigers Thoughts from Laura 7/3/11

So, this is kind of a good news/bad news post, people. The good news is obvious:

ALEX AVILA IS STARTING THE ALL-STAR GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There is some justice in the world after all. Down by over 400,000 votes, somehow Tiger Nation rallied together and gave our boy the starting spot. As happy as I am about this, I can't help but think that the MLB powers-that-be helped out a little. Either that, or we are the best freaking fans ever. Take that, Yankee scum!

Also, JV and Miggy were voted in. Justin was obvious, but Cabrera had some stiff competition from Paul Konerko. So huge congrats to them both! Jose Valverde was selected to the team as well, and V-Mart is tagged as one of the five finalists for the fan vote final spot. Normally this would be cause for celebration, but I can't help feeling sorry for Juh-honny Peralta. He deserved it more than Valverde and more than V-Mart, too, and while I'm happy for everyone, it enrages me to see creaky, overrated Yankee Derek Jeter in Juh-honny's rightful place. I call bullshit on that one...

Speaking of bullshit, it has just been announced that Rick Knapp has been fired. Um...okay? Yes, our pitchers have been outrageously bad these past few weeks, but weren't are starters kicking ass about a month ago? I guess the Tigers superiors thought someone had to take the fall for this. If it works, that's fantastic, but I don't think it's going to make that much of a difference. A lot of the starting pitchers really liked him too, but it's obviously not all about likability. Still...couldn't they have fired someone else? Gene? Lloyd??

I'm obviously not a fan of those two, or this decision. Rogo over at DesignateRobertson has a funnier take on this mess. Go read it if you haven't and be prepared to laugh.

Also another thing: I'm noticing a stupid pattern with Don "Use Somebody" Kelly. Every time our boys start getting destroyed, Don enters the game in a ridiculous position, like behind the plate with a hockey mask or on the freaking mound. Okay, obviously this isn't a pattern--it's not V-Mart's fault he got banged up--but I don't like to see Don Kelly behind the plate, and as amusing as it is to see his nervous, sweet face on the mound, I never want to see him there again. Barring another massacre, we probably never will, but I like my Don Kelly spazzing in the outfield or at third, not anywhere else!

A final word: Vote, good people, vote! As sad as I am that Juh-honny won't be representing the D, we need to get V-Mart to Arizona!!!!!!! SO VOTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(PS-is it bad that I really wouldn't mind too much if Konerko went instead? He deserves it...but so does Victor!!! But you better believe I will be voting a zillion times for our boy!)

Don't Forget the Little People

Our Tigers are now 42-36 and have a full one game lead over Cleveland in the AL Central. We fans have witnessed two great games in a row, in which our two biggest stars have come through in outstanding fashion. On Saturday we saw Justin Brooks Verlander continue his year of amazing-ness, striking out 14 (14!!!!) and going eight innings while allowing only 4 hits. The next day we saw Sparky Anderson's number retired in an emotional ceremony and then watched Miguel Cabrera be clutch--again--while driving in the game-winning runs in the bottom of the eighth.

As great as these two are, and as much as we should appreciate their skills, we do have to remember that others on our team have been making significant contributions as well. In fact, we would argue that without  certain players stepping up and filling in key supporting roles, we wouldn't be winning the Central right now.

Austin Jackson-The Catalyst. Despite his pretty bad day at the plate yesterday (4 strikeouts-yeeeeesh), Ajax has been hitting well lately, and whenever he's on, the whole team follows. Obviously nothing needs to be said about his defense. We all know how good he is at that.

Victor Martinez-The Quiet Leader. More than a few Tigers have commented on how good a leader V-Mart is. He seems to lead both in the clubhouse and on the field, and it is great to see him get all emotional and riled up whenever he delivers a clutch hit or slides dramatically into home. He also has helped out a bunch of younger players (Jackson, Alex Avila) with their offensive swings this year.

Alex Avila-Pitcher's Compliment. Verlander is obviously an amazing pitcher, and Max Scherzer is getting a lot of work done, too. However, people tend to forget that not only is Alex Avila kicking ass and taking names at the plate, he is also helping out our stellar starters behind it. He is a genuinely good guy, too, and deserves perhaps more than anyone on this team (save Verlander) to start the All-Star Game. If you haven't voted yet, vote!

Juh-honny Peralta: The Comeback Kid. No one, especially us, thought Juh-honny would be an offensive asset this year, especially coming out of Spring Training. Not only is he hitting over .300 but he also has the best fielding percentage of all shortstops in the American League. Quite a departure from his lackluster seasons the past few years.

Brennan Boesch-The Comeback Kid Pt. 2. After his miserable second-half last year, many wondered, including us, if Baby B was just a fluke. He has (hopefully) proven us wrong again, hitting close to .300 and getting on base whether he's hitting 2nd, 3rd, 6th, or wherever.

Max Scherzer-All I Do Is Win. What is it about Mad Max? He gets on the mound, we score runs. Period. Sometimes he doesn't deserve the win, but why quibble? A guy like that is always an asset to the team, and his W-L record shows it. Hopefully he can get win number 10 tonight.

Jose Valverde-The Stopper. Despite him giving us a few heart-attacks this season, Papa Grande has not blown a save this year, not a one. Perhaps he wasn't as completely dominant as he was last season, but he gets the job done, and acts like a rock star while doing it.


Al Alburquerque-The Surprise. This guy isn't just having a few good outings--he is consistently making batters look like assholes as they miss his sinker by feet. He is on pace for a ridiculous number of strikeouts this year, and he has only let one runner he has inherited score. Oh, and he's 5-1.  No one expected this out of him, which is part of what makes him so amazing.

Don Kelly, Ramon Santiago, Casper Wells, Andy Dirks-Supporting Players Extraordinaire. Though many people have issues with one or more of the Tigers above, we love them all. They have consistently stepped in this year and delivered. All of them! Though we may mock Don Kelly for his sometime unfortunate hitting skills, his defense is not to be ignored, and lately he has been coming through in the clutch.

Ryan Raburn-The Comic Relief. This has to be the reason he's starting all the time. Jim Leyland must love to get a good laugh in, right? There can't be any other reason, right?!?!

So, as much as Verlander and Cabrera deserve to be credited for getting us into first place (and believe us, they deserve a lot of that credit!) the Tigers mentioned above are vital to our success, too. We're liking the look of this team a lot, and not just the physical one. A few pieces aside, we seem to be on track to be serious, serious contenders in our division (fingers crossed!).

Where is the Love?

Our Tigers are currently lurking a game behind the Cleveland Indians with a record of 34-28. We are 6 games over .500, matching our season best. We have also won 10 of our last 12 games, making us one of the hottest (if not the hottest) teams in baseball. We are getting offensive production from nearly everyone (sorry Ryan Raburn) with a team OPS of .741. This means that not only are we getting on base but also hitting for power, and it has showed in recent games. Our starting rotation has pitched quality starts in over half of the games we've play this year. Alex Avila is the best hitting catcher in the American League. Miguel Cabrera has the fifth best batting average in the American League, followed closely by Juh-honny Peralta (!!!). Baby Brennan and Action Jackson have been on a hitting surge lately, hitting .342 and .341 respectively in their last ten games.   Rick Porcello is a man on a mission, going 5-1 with a 3.58 ERA in his last six games started after starting off 2-2 with an ERA of 4.25. Justin Brooks Verlander has been, typically, Justin Brooks Verlander.

So, we ask you: Where's the Love?

We can assure you: had the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies, or San Francisco Giants done something comparable to these feats then everyone would be talking about it. And they have. The Red Sox and Phillies have both been outstanding this season, and they have gotten a  large amount of attention over it. For example, in the recent ESPN power rankings, the Tigers were ranked at a mediocre 15th, while the Yankees (33-26) were 1st, beating out the sensational Phillies (2nd) rotation and the then-red-hot Texas Rangers (4th) to name a few teams.

Not that some of these teams don't deserve the attention. They totally do. But so do we!!! Why is it that no one outside of the Tigers fanbase seems to appreciate our ragtag bunch of misfits? A forum in which this neglect is all too obvious is in the All-Star Fan Voting (a stupid thing to begin with; We don't really need the average Danny McDumbass to be voting all his fave Yankees into the game). Alex Avila is currently in third. Not bad, you say? Well consider the fact that he is 100,000 votes behind Joe Mauer, who has played NINE GAMES this year (NINE GAMES!!!!!!!!). Maybe even more ridiculous still is the fact that he is 600,000 (?!?!?) votes behind Russel Martin, who has a hefty (not) average of .238. Really, America? Really?

But can we even blame our ignorant populace? There are not nearly as many people who live in Detroit as compared to New York City, but if the schmucks at ESPN and other major sports media didn't ignore the Tigers as much as they do maybe we wouldn't be having this conversation. For example, Juh-honny is hitting .313 and is over 1,000,000 votes behind Derek "Mr. 3000" Jeter. His batting average? A full .50 points lower than Juh-honny's at a robust .261. This is crap! And don't even get us started on poor, poor Miguel Cabrera. Wasn't his DUI notoriety enough to get him to at least second in the voting?! (Kidding. Kind of). If the people who are currently in first place in the starting lineup remain there, then we are probs losing the All-Star game, people. We're pretty freaking positive that A-Roid should not even be going to the game, let alone be starting.

Look. This isn't just a call-to-arms to vote for the Tigers. This is us saying that the Tigers deserve more recognition than they're getting. Hopefully within the next week we don't go on some crazy losing streak to completely make this post irrelevant, but we're pretty sure we won't. Frankly, we're proud of this Tigers, and we're sick of feeling like the only people who have noticed this team's ability are our own fans.

EDIT: Look who listened to us! It's definitely not the best article we've ever read (why Brennan?) but still. It's tough for us, being so influential.

Random Tigers Thoughts From Laura Pt. 1

Hey everyone! I'm planning on doing 2 posts on two entirely different topics, one today and one tomorrow (hopefully). So here's Part One of randomness...

Is our team freaking weird or what? When it rains, it pours, apparently. And I guess the opposite is true as  well. Now that they boys are on a two-game winning streak, snapping our previous five-game losing streak, which in turn snapped our seven-game winning streak (etc.), should we expect four or five straight wins followed by five or six losses? What is the formula with this team?
In theory, we sound like a team with bipolar tendencies that has strengths and weaknesses across the board. In reality, we have one extremely good pitching staff, one freakin' terrible bullpen, and an offense that is truly a mystery.

Well, okay, maybe our bullpen isn't terrible anymore. With the joyous fortunate timely demise of Brad Thomas's arm, Charlie Furbush, only recently called up from Toledo, came into the game to kick some serious ass, rookie-style. It speaks to the levels of suck that our bullpen has reached this season that Charlie (I can't call him by just his last name) gave possibly the best relief appearance by anyone this season. This includes Papa Grande, who has been perfect in save situations, and pretty crappy outside of them (see Monday night's game for a prime example). Lets hope Thomas stays injured (or his green card expires; I'm not picky) and that Phil Coke is okay. Charlie is a pleasant surprise, and so adorable!

Speaking of pleasant surprises, Juh-honny Peralta has really shocked me so far this season. Second on the team in home runs and hitting almost .300? Damn. Who thought that Juh-honny of all people would be, at times, carrying our offense? It would be nice if Juh-honny, V-Mart, and Cabrera would all click at the same time. When they do, our team can't be beat. When they don't, we have zero offense, which is inexcusable. I was terrified we were going to lose Porcello's beautiful start on Sunday because a) we weren't really hitting, and b) our bullpen is crap. Maybe Lloyd McClendon could wake up from his interminable nap long enough to do his job and get our offense to hit consistently. Is that really so much ask?

So. If we can take these next two series at home against two very good teams, we should be back on track. So much work needs to be done. However, nothing warms my heart more than seeing two rookies propel our team to a win. Keep it up, kids.

Yankees vs Tigers, 3/31/11: WTF?

Oh, Justin...

Huh?
Did anyone else besides us think that Opening Day was kind of...strange? Justin Verlander throws 115 pitches in 6 innings and gives up a 3-run homer to Mark Teixeira. Phil Coke gives up another two runs in relief. Jim Leyland thinks it's a good idea to play Alex Avila against CC (is it really a good idea to be playing Avila at all? He really needs to earn his stripes this year). The Beloved Curtis Granderson kicks our ass.

First of all, Justin Verlander is never 100% in April. Ever. And he still kept us in the game, so its not like he pitched terribly. And the two runs Coke gave up? We feel like that's bound to happen after pitching as a starter for the whole of Spring Training. Not that that's a good excuse, but still. If Avila can't hit a ball, though, this is going to be a rough season. We will need production from our catcher position if we want to do well this year!!!

As you're reading this, you might be thinking, 'Shut up! It's Opening Day! You need to relax.' And you'd be right. After all, it's the first game of the season. Against the Yankees, at Yankee Stadium. And as much as we hate the Yankees, they're not a bad team. There were some positive points in the game, such as:

-Miguel Cabrera. Two walks, a hit and a sacrifice fly RBI. Clearly he is ready to kick ass and take names. No one wants to mess with him! NO ONE.
-The Team Drives in Runs. Juh-honny! Inge! Last year we left way, way too many men on base. Cabrera was really the only one we could count on to consistently get an RBI with a guy on 3rd and no outs. Seeing production from the bottom of the lineup is refreshing.
-Ryan Raburn. He hits! He plays defense! He does it all!!!! We kid, but we are really, really excited to see what Raburn can do with consistent playing time. Hopefully his defense really has improved as he says it has. It looked great yesterday!


All that being said, our boys do need to get a good win tomorrow. We need to show the Yankees, ESPN, and the entire MLB world that the Detroit Tigers can hang with the best of them.

PS-One thing that is NOT forgivable about yesterday's game was the stupid ESPN announcers. Could they have their heads any further up the Yankee's asses? They were even making fun of Will Rhymes. Even though it's undoubtedly easy to do, only Rod and Mario are allowed to poke fun at Mighty Mouse. Screw you, ESPN!

PPS-Don't forget to check out Laura on "The Knee Jerks" at 7 pm on Monday! www.thekneejerks.com