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.

Comings and Goings

Good news or bad news first?

In this long and lonely offseason, it's almost safe to say than any news is good news. Almost.

Joel Zumaya agreeing to terms with the Twins definitely isn't our idea of a fantastic situation. Who wants to see a once-adored member of the team go over to the Dark Side? And here we were, just starting to really pity the Twins for how bad they're going to be next year. Screw that. Sorry Joel, but we are never again praying for your return to glory.

So now the good news…Rick Porcello and Phil Coke have avoided arbitration and agreed to terms with the Tigers! This makes us very, very happy, seeing as we love Phil Coke's insanity and interesting hairstyles and Rick Porcello's physique and gorgeousness sinker.

Dressing Like A Boss

And for all who did not catch our main man Justin Verlander on Conan, it was a treat. He showed off his  fashion-forward blue and brown suit with some kick-ass brown shoes, and seemed funny and at ease. As he should be. If the man can throw two no-hitters, he can sure as hell go on a silly talk show for ten minutes. 

Some people out there in the blogging world and Twitterverse didn't like JV's attire, but we really did. Maybe we should start forgiving him for the Ed Hardy and overly-jelled hair.

The fact that a Cy Young and MVP winner can eat Taco Bell before every start not only makes us question our own dieting strategies, but it also makes us marvel at the strength of Justin's stomach. Who the hell can eat that much Taco Bell and not be embarrassingly sick the day after?!

Withdrawal

Media Darlings!

This winter is getting pretty gruesome. Not weather-wise, mind you, but baseball-wise. Dave Dombrowski and the rest of the Tigers' Front Office has figuratively thrown all us Tigers fans into a barren, cruel, no-Tigers-news world and slammed the Door of Exciting Offseason Moves in our faces.

Dramatic? Hmm, maybe, but are we really the only ones experiencing withdrawal so bad that it's only comparable to Jared Leto's condition circa Requiem for a Dream? We kind of doubt it.  Once we get over our misery, however, it would be good of us to note that there is some upcoming fun stuff for us Tiger faithful. Let us list them!

1. Justin Verlander is on Conan!
This one is actually very, very exciting. This Wednesday night at 11 pm Justin Brooks Verlander will be gracing us with his glorious and godly presence on Conan on TBS. Now that he is Cy Young winner/MVP/Lord of All Baseball, I'm sure JV and Conan will talk at length about baseball stuff, how it feels to be so amazing, what is up with all the Ed Hardy stuff, blah blah blah. Speaking of which, what will Verlander wear? Seriously, the two of them could talk about dirt and we would be glued to the screen. Anything that connects us to the Tigs is a win win!

2. Rick Porcello was on MLB Network
Yes, we know this isn't an upcoming thing and that it already happened, but still...LOOK AT HIM! Watch his glorious interaction with the group has he regales us with stories ranging from his legendary takedown of Kevin PUKElis (original, we know), his 2010 struggles, and how hard it is to find a girlfriend gym in the offseason. And as usual Ricky is looking damn fine, if a little pale. It was a "Hot Stove" indeed!!!!!!!!!!!!! And of course it was nice to see a Tiger finally on there.

3.
…

Yeah. "…"You know why? BECAUSE THERE'S NOTHING ELSE. As glorious as it was to see Porcello and it will be to see Verlander, we all better start praying to Tebow that there will be something else going on in the near future, because we are turning into empty, hollow shells of our former selves due to lack of Tigers news. Maybe this is a good thing; as soon as the baseball season does actually come around, the three of us begin to act like one-track-minded 13-year-old boys, but instead of girls and boobs and girls all we can think of is baseball and baseball and baseball. So at least we have a semblance of a normal life. BUT IT'S NOT WHAT WE WANT.

The only thing that could sate us would be some nice, big happy signing or a safe-yet-inventive trade. Something that would result in a quality player who is a great addition to the team. An interesting/good player is the only thing we ask for!

…Well, either that or Rick Porcello signing a contract to model for Calvin Klein Underwear.

Withdrawal really is making us crazy.

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!

Spring Training Thoughts

My only picture, and it sucks. Sorry.

As some of you know, last Saturday I (Laura) was in attendance at the Tigers vs. Braves game at Joker Marchant Stadium. We had really good seats--directly behind the dugout--so I was ready to take zillions of pictures of our glorious team. So, naturally, my camera died as soon as I snapped my first shot. But, no matter. I was still able to make a ton of observations on our team!

• Miguel Cabrera is my Tiger. Seriously. You have to see this guy, because he looks amazing. I know some of you have heard Rod Allen and others rhapsodize about how "firm" Miguel Cabrera's legs are, or something equally as disturbing. I also have heard many people say that Miggy is "fat". I am pleased to say that he really is much more muscled than I have ever seen him, and it looks like he lost a lot of the fat. So, for the people complaining about his weight? Muscle weighs more than fat. Duh. Also, some idiot in the row behind me had the audacity to scream stupidly about what a drunk Miggy is. Really? Say that to his face, a**hole. No one wants to mess with a 6-5, 270 pounds of (almost) pure muscled "alcoholic." No one. This has to work in our advantage-- Miggy is now ten times as intimidating as he was last year! And now other teams can't even pitch around him because...

• Victor Martinez is perfect. Even though he didn't get a hit or even a walk in the game I attended, V-Mart is going to do wonders for our team, both on and off the field. Not only are pitchers going to be kept up at night, dreading about how they'll deal with the Miggy/V-Mart one-two punch, but Martinez seems to be one of the nicest, most beloved players in the game. Every time he would walk to the mound to talk to a new pitcher, he would put his arm around him, pat him on the back, give him a hug (kidding about that last one. But that would be adorable). Everyone knows how much the Indians and Red Sox adored him, so our team should be no different. Dave Dombrowski wins again. Speaking of which....

• Dave Dombrowski was at the game! I don't know if he goes to all of them or what, but he was sitting about six or seven rows back behind home plate, just chillin' in his orange-and-white striped polo. I was thrilled to see him. Wouldn't it be sick to sit next to Dombrowski at a Tigers game?! 

• Will Rhymes wins second base spot. I honestly was not expecting this. I thought that Scotty would get it for sure. Neither of them started the game I attended--that honor belonged to danny worth. I can't say I'm not pleased about this, because who doesn't like Mighty Mouse and his twitter? Lets hope he can duplicate his success from last season while simultaneously give us unique tweets.

• Rick Porcello looked sharp...in more ways than one. He gave up one run and only three hits. He did give up about three walks, but he also had two double plays. So it really evened out. I am PRAYING that Ricky is over his sophomore slump and is ready to kick butt in the Verlander-Scherzer-Porcello triumvirate. Also, he looked tanned and gorgeous from the Lakeland sun, unlike some of the other lobster-red, sunburned Tigers. Just an observation.

• Andy Dirks....Detroit Tiger? Andy Dirks, as most of you probably know, is having a monster spring. A non-roster invite making the team? I kind of doubt it, but after seeing him in action on Saturday and driving in two runs in the bottom of the ninth for a walk-off win, who knows? I'm rooting for him, but he is still in a four-man race for only two spots. I feel like Brennan and Casper have the edge. I wish they ALL could make it.

• WTF Moment: Robbie Weinhardt didn't make the team? What?! I did not see that coming. He pitched really well in the game I went to, and he had been having a pretty good spring. Puzzling choice. We'll see what happens.