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...

Random Tigers Thoughts From Laura: 12/28/11

I'm back! Finally. Not like much has happened since I left, but still...

Predictably, the three of us have been too busy/depressed to update when we say we will. Why are we depressed, you ask? It's because we have entered that horrible post-holidays pre-Spring Training time of the year. The sky is forever grey, the ground is covered with ice and horrible slushy brown snow, and the hot, sunny, baseball-filled months seem years away. Rough times.

And what has big bad Dave Dombrowski done to brighten these dreary winter days? Nothing. Nada. The only thing of note for the past few weeks has been poor Al Al going on the DL until the All-Star Break. Not exactly the ray of light us Tigers fans hoped for.

Plus, of course, no TigerFest. I'm disappointed, as I was actually planning on going this year. It would have been a perfect opportunity to stalk meet my heroes, but of course the Tigers had to snatch away that small joy too.

At least I, like most of you, got to celebrate the holidays. And with the holidays comes the chance to receive some more random Tigers stuff. TigerFest would have been the perfect platform to debut some of my finery, but since I obviously can't do that, you can see it below. You're welcome.

Tigers gear + church clothes = good look

What else? Besides the the Detroit Tigers website's thrilling news that Don Kelly likes to play Catch Phrase, all has been maddeningly calm in the baseball world. One thing you can do though is check out Roar of the Tiger's Eight Days of Terrible Chanukah Cartoons. The are equal parts informative, hilarious, and brilliant.  Click over there for some last bits of holiday cheer!

That's it from me. I wait with bated breath for ANY news AT ALL from the Tigers, but who knows what's going on with them. Until next time!

Random Tigers Thoughts From Laura: Postseason Edition

Hello! It's been a while since I've done one of these. I'll try to keep the girlish dithering to a minimum...but, honestly! It'll be kind of hard what with all the amazing, exciting, unbelievable things that have been happening to our boys lately. Bear with me on the randomness, too; who knows what I'll write in my sleep-deprived, Tiger-loving, overexcited and overstressed state!

First off, lets go with something that is unrelated (for now) to our Tigers…
Breaking News: Braves lose to Phillies, blow Wild-Card lead, Cardinals in the Playoffs
Seriously? Can you believe this s%$^ ?
I know many people are excited to see this kind of historic collapse happen (especially to the unbearably cocky, unbelievably overpaid Red Sox), but it makes me have horrifying flashbacks to the dreaded Game 163 and the weeks leading up to it. Thank the Baseball Gods that our 2011 squad is completely different, but it makes me feel sad for the Braves to pull such an epic fail. And as I type, Sawx Nation is crying tears of entitled fury as Jonathan Papelbon blows the save with one out to go. Orioles win! My God! Though I blocked out most of that incredibly disappointing season, even I know that our boys weren't this pathetic.
Ohhhmygawd! Longoria homers! Tampa wins!!! Is this even real life?!!?!?! Can you say Biggest Collapse Ever??????

Ahem. In Other News, It's Time to Take Down the Yankees.
I am now so happy we're not playing those crazy Rays. I mean, holy hell. Besides, I like, if not love, our chances with Verlander and Verlander Pt. II Dougie going in Games 1 & 2 in New York.  And sorry, Yanks, besides C.C., none of your pitchers can hold a candle to ours. I'm nervous for these games, but an excited, giggly sort of nervous. Now, if we were playing the Rays, I'd just be a blubbering, anxious mess. But not now. It's time to stick it to these pompous pricks from the Bronx (even you, Curtis!).

Miguel Cabrera. MVP.
Seriously. I mean those words. Not Justin Verlander (sorry dude). Not Jose Bautista. Definitely not Jacoby Ellsbury. Miguel Cabrera, the man who everyone said would succumb to his off-the-field issues. Miguel Cabrera, the guy who every sports writer in the country turned their backs on. Miguel Cabrera, the happiest, most huggable-looking guy in the clubhouse.
Well, guess what bitches? He just won the batting title. After being overshadowed all season by Adrian Gonzales.
That's right. All those jerks who said that Miggy was a failure or a lush or a distraction to the team can all shove it. If you couldn't tell, this particular topic is one I feel very strongly about. Even people who I thought were Tiger Faithful were turning their backs on our superstar. Well, here's the deal: without Cabrera, we wouldn't be going to the playoffs. He is the most feared hitter in baseball for a reason, and he seems to have gotten his off-the-field issues taken care of, not that it even matters. Sorry, haters…
PS-in addition to Miggy winning the batting title, Valverde has the most saves this year and Verlander won the AL Triple Crown. Sick. Just sick.

Oh Ozzie
Well, I'm not gonna go all Brandon Inge, Je T'aime on this one, but I'm actually going to miss this guy! He was always so freaking honest, and I just loved it when he would put his team down after we beat them. That was the best. So colorful, so inappropriate…so typically Chicago. I'm not sure who they're hiring to replace him, but anyone would look like a boring stiff in comparison to Oz. Oh, he will be missed. Good luck in Miami, buddy.

Random Random Ridiculousness
Ok, I know some of you who read this site are educated, serious, learned baseball lovers who, for some reason unbeknownst to me, come to this site to read the ramblings of three collegiate girls. But I also know some who come to this page do it for the fluff pieces! I stumbled upon this website a few months back and it is about as fluffy, ridiculous, and NSFW as a baseball site (or any site) can be. But if you're a girl (or just find baseball players attractive at all!) and you're not one of those stuffy conservative boring types who can't take some major inappropriateness, then GO. Go now. You'll see what I mean. Oh, but if any heterosexual guys read this site (unlikely)? I wouldn't click the link. I just wouldn't. You have been warned…

Before I go, a few things. We might be a little late on this, but I thought it would be cool if the three of us got a Twitter account so we could tweet our oft-hysterical reactions to the upcoming playoff games. Should we? Should we not? Who knows, it might be fun…
Oh, and if our boys make the ALCS? You can count on me and Megan being there. If they do actually make it, we'll tell you guys where we're at so if you see us you can say hello!

That's all from my end. Expect some MAJOR coverage as our boys take on those horrible Yanks on Friday and Saturday. And if you're bored, go watch that Evan Longoria walk-off clip again. Come on, you know you want to. It's so heartwarming! God, I love baseball...

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!)

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.

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!