Detroit Tigers

In my life I have attended many more major league games than minor league ones, but 2010 will be a chance for me to experience the minors like never before.  I will be working in media relations for the Toledo Mud Hens of the International League.  The Mud Hens are the Triple-A affiliate of the Tigers and play at Fifth Third Field, just an hour from Detroit, which means that Tigers on rehab assignments will likely make cameo appearances throughout the season.

Continue reading "Next stop in my baseball career – ..."

The 12-inning thriller that was the last regular season game ever played at the Metrodome was exactly what I wanted to see.  When the Twins and Tigers played a four-game series in Detroit last week, I found myself rooting for the Twins to close the gap in order to create an exciting finish to the regular season – ideally a one-game playoff.  When that happened, I decided it would be great for the city of Detroit to send their team to the playoffs, but what I wanted most was to see a great game.  My wish came true when the two teams played a nail-biter that could have gone either way, but eventually sent Minnesota to the postseason.  Props to both teams for giving the fans what they deserved.

Continue reading "Twins-Tigers game was exactly what I wanted"

Braves manager Bobby Cox announced this week his plans to retire after the 2010 season and to immediately take on a consulting role with the team.  Cox has won 2,409 games as a manager and is fourth all-time in the category, behind only Connie Mack (3,731), John McGraw (2,763) and current Cardinals manager Tony La Russa (2,550).  Cox has five pennants and one World Series title to his name, and won the Manager of the Year award four times.  Under his leadership, the Braves have won 100 games six times.  The next manager of the Atlanta Braves will have big shoes to fill.

Continue reading "Bobby Cox has one more season in him"

With the MLB playoffs set to begin, there is a subtle difference in the air compared to start of any other postseason. In the NHL, fans can potentially look forward to a great Canadians/Bruins series that is not only exciting, but has a historical kick to it. Likewise basketball fans always have the chance to see if the Suns can finally get past the Spurs and football fans love seeing the rivalry of the Eagles Vs the City of Philadelphia when the Eagles so much as get tackled for a loss.

Continue reading "The Ups and Downs of the MLB Playoffs"

Most Disappointing Team: Detroit Tigers

Remember when this team was supposed to be one of the greatest offenses of all-time, have one of the best rotations in the league and have a bullpen that was solid with a couple hard throwers and a savvy veteran closer, and runaway with the American League? Yeah, me either. Talk about totally underachieveing. Miguel Cabrera, Magglio Ordonez, and Curtis Granderson had fabulous seasons. Placido Polanco was his normal steady self, and they got solid contributions from Carlos Guillen (albeit while battling through injuries) and Marcus Thames. What happened? Well, Ivan Rodriguez was average at best and a problem in the clubhouse, so he was dealt to the Yankees before the trade deadline. They got just about nothing from Edgar Renteria and Gary Sheffield, their defense was god awful, and, most of all, their pitching was ravaged by injuries and ineffectiveness. Dontrelle Willis (who, before this season even started, was the most overrated pitcher in baseball) could never get anything going, and last I checked was getting bombed at Single-A. Jeremy Bonderman got hurt and never came back. Their ace, Justin Verlander, was average at best, well below average if you take into account the expectations the team had for him. Kenny Rogers and Nate Robertson were terrible, and the bullpen had to suffer through injuries to Joel Zumaya and Fernando Rodney, forcing Tigers fans to suffer through a whole lot of Todd Jones sightings. The one pitching bright spot was rookie Armando Galaragga, who was very good for them this year, but considering most pundits thought they would be one of, if not the best team in the AL, it was certainly a forgettable year for the Tigers.

Continue reading "It's AL Central Time"

To add to yesterday's post, neither Ibanez nor Washburn was dealt after they were claimed on waivers. According to the Post-Intelligencer, the Twins put in claims on both, and their waiver number was higher for Jarrod, while the Tigers claim was highest for Ibanez.

Continue reading "Waiver Update"

One of the All-Star Break traditions: Reassessing our predictions from the first half of the season. Some of mine have changed, some have stayed the same—and some were just damn wrong. Living in the West, I will take the contrarian position and roll from west to east in my choices.

Continue reading "Second Half Predictions"

With the strangehold that FOX has on Saturday afternoon baseball (see my earlier rant on this), I get the distinct pleasure today of watching the 23-31 Tigers muddle around the diamond with the 20-35 Mariners, a matchup with all the excitement of watching two toddlers tussle in the sandbox over a broken Tonka truck. I'm sure this looked like a good game during the preseason FOX schedule-making, but now it's barely enough to hold my interest.

Continue reading "Weak Saturday Baseball: Mariners vs. Tigers"

Two weeks into the 2008 season and the Boston Red Sox must be pleased with how the season has gone thus far. Granted they are only two games over .500 at 8 and 6 and have split their last 10 games, but things could be much, much worse. When the Yankees went to Japan to open the season, they proceeded to go 11-19 in the first month of the season before finally snapping out of it and going on to win the division. Boston is only half a game out of first place in the tightly packed American League East which is currently lead by the surprising Baltimore Orioles who do not figure to hang around much longer.

Continue reading "Red Sox Should Feel Good About The Season So Far"

Detroit Tigers

Given their offense, does it matter that the Tigers have huge questions with their pitching?

Continue reading "MLB 2008 Season Preview: AL Central"

Continue reading "American League East is a Beast of a Division"