Kuzul

Mike Ilitch is 81 years old. He’s an octogenerian owner who soon will be shying away from buying green bananas.

He’s owned the Detroit Tigers for about 18 years. He’s sunk a boatload of cash into the team. Correction: not a boatload—enough for a flotilla. He’ s been through four GMs and seven managers.

And he has one (1) playoff appearance to show for all of it.

This isn’t what he had in mind when he purchased the Tigers from fellow pizza magnate Tom Monaghan in 1992.

There will come a time—and I think it’s sooner than you think—when Ilitch will look at all he’s put into his baseball team, see what he’s gotten back, and make a decision that will pain him.

He won’t sell it. But he WILL clean its house.

Ilitch loathes firing people, even when it’s justified. When he canned Red Wings coach Jacques Demers in 1990, both men had a good cry at Ilitch’s home.

Ilitch leaves the rendering of the ziggy to his executives. Dave Dombrowski, while holding the singular title of team president for the Tigers, fired GM Randy Smith and manager Phil Garner early in the 2002 season. It was up to Red Wings GM Ken Holland to dump coach Dave Lewis after two seasons and two disappointing playoff exits.

Ilitch doesn’t like to fire. He likes to hug and squeeze and shower his people with gifts. He’s a man of stability, of loyalty. He doesn’t like upheaval. He likes consistency, routine. The Red Wings and Tigers are owned by Mister Rogers.

But Ilitch is also a businessman. He doesn’t get his mitts onto anything unless he thinks he can turn it into a buck.

His money poured into the Tigers has been mismanaged. He has a whopping payroll of well over $100 million and all it took was a couple of injuries to make his team look like the Toledo Mud Hens barnstorming with a few Tigers along for the ride.

The Tigers have lost 18 of 23, largely because they’re fielding Toledo North on any given night. And that’s not counting Brennan Boesch, who was so good in the first half that you thought of him as a seasoned big leaguer. Now Boesch looks like a Mud Hen himself.

The Tigers can’t compete, not with what they’re trotting out there currently. It’s soooo hard for them to score runs now.

Ilitch is 81 and another baseball season has slipped away.

Ilitch is mostly a hands-off owner. In observing him since 1982, when he bought the Red Wings, I don’t think there have been many occasions (they could probably be counted on one hand and you’d still have some fingers left over) where he’s vetoed anything his upper management people wanted to do. He’s usually erred on the side of spending.

In fact, when he does get involved, it’s usually in a constructive manner, as opposed to disruptive.

Don’t forget that it was Ilitch who called Dombrowski at home—a rarity in of itself—and told DD that Miguel Cabrera would look nifty in a Tigers uniform, so why don’t you make it happen?

I’m not sure Cabrera becomes a Tiger if Ilitch hadn’t placed that phone call to his GM.

Ilitch didn’t imagine, when he bought the Tigers in ‘92, that he’d have one playoff appearance some 18 years later.

Had he, he wouldn’t have bought the team. Period. He loves baseball and the Tigers, but not enough to make a bad deal to buy them.

Owning the Tigers has been a bad deal for Ilitch. His 18 years have been filled with losing. All he’s gotten out of it was the addition of Comerica Park, and the subtraction of Sparky Anderson—both things he wanted very badly.

The owner is 81 and he can see the sunset. He wants a World Series title in the worst way. And he sees that possibiliy fading away.

That’s why, I believe, Ilitch has Dombrowski and manager Jim Leyland on a short tether. He won’t like it, but I imagine he’ll broom them both out when Leyland’s contract expires after next year, barring an unforeseeable WS victory.

Dombrowski is more culpable than the manager. Leyland can only manage who he’s provided with. You can make solid cases against Leyland regarding his managing skills, but Dombrowski is the one who mismanaged the funds and who put the team perilously close to disaster in terms of depth.

Even before the Tigers signed Pudge Rodriguez in 2004, the team was thin as onion skin at catcher throughout the organization. Six years later, that hasn’t changed one bit. At the big league level, it’s gotten far worse.

The Tigers have embarrassingly gotten a combined BA of around .200 from their catchers, with few homers and a sprinkling of RBI.

The Opening Day shortstop, Adam Everett, is out of baseball.

The Opening Day second baseman was rushed to the big leagues, when an All-Star could have been retained.

There is no corner outfield depth, and that’s WITH Boesch’s amazing start factored in.

No one else can play centerfield other than rookie Austin Jackson.

Dontrelle Willis was kept over Nate Robertson, who was released by the Florida Marlins on July 27, but who wouldn’t have imploded like Willis (predictably) did. Robertson signed a minor league deal with the Cardinals a few days ago.

Leyland, of course, has made some curious decisions, as he always does. He has a maddening fetish of resting players who don’t need rest, like the rookie Jackson. He sent a pinch-runner in for Cabrera—CABRERA!—in Boston last weekend. Also in Beantown, Leyland let his closer throw 60 pitches in what started as a non-save situation, rendering Jose Valverde useless for the next two games. He’s had a silly man crush on Ryan Raburn that’s bordering on obscene.

Leyland had a stacked team in 2008, and didn’t have them properly prepared in spring training to rise to their hype, stumbling out of the gate 0-7 and never recovering.

The Tigers, during the Leyland Era (2006-present), have too often been a fragile bunch, shockingly vulnerable to being knocked out of sync by outside forces like injuries and expectations.

Ilitch, for whatever reason, hasn’t been able to find that crack management/coaching team with the Tigers as he has with the Red Wings. The Dombrowski/Leyland tandem is without question the closest Ilitch has come with the Tigers, but it’s not good enough.

And the Tigers haven’t exactly been in a Rolls Royce division all these years, either.

The 2006 Tigers, in fact, are one of only two AL Central teams (2005 White Sox) to win the league pennant since joining the division in 1998.

Mike Ilitch is 81 and he made a bad deal in buying the Tigers some 18 years ago. He got rooked. Yet he can salvage his legacy as Tigers owner with a World Series title.

He may have no option but to part ways with both Dombrowski and Leyland in order to fulfill his dream, as much as he’d hate to do it.

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Living way out here in Connecticut, I know that my finger is not on the pulse of what Tiger fans are thinking as much as it was when I lived in Michigan.  However, I feel pretty confident that I am not the only one out there that thinks Don Kelly is a complete and total disaster. 

Why is this guy even on the club?

Let’s take a look at his 2010 season so far and see if we can find any justification for keeping this bag of bones around.  First, I’ll list the positives AND the reasons in which he may be on the roster to begin with—

1. He can play around the diamond a little bit.  He can play the outfield and the infield and I suppose that is valuable.
2. He is white.  People in Michigan love white people.
3. Jim Leyland is head-over-heels in love with Don Kelly.

Now a few reasons not to play Don Kelly.  All factual—

1. The Tigers are out of the chase and he is 30 years old.  As someone who will be 30 in less than a year, I feel for the guy.  30 is not old in the real world, but when you’re a shitty baseball player taking up space on a big league roster, you are ancient.
2. His OPS+ this season is 35.  35!!!  I am certain there are pitchers with bigger bats.  In fact, of all players in baseball with at least 150 plate appearances this season, only two players in all of baseball have a lower OPS+ than poor Don Kelly.  Garrett Anderson and Brandon Wood are the two poor saps.
3. Kelly possesses the power of a butterfly.  He has gone deep twice this season and is currently slugging a pitiful .279.  That mark is “bested” only by Wood and Luis Valbuena.
4. He is taking up a roster spot.

That final point there is what grinds my gears the most.  The Tigers are now out of contention.  Time to cut Kelly loose.  The Tigers are not exactly stocked in the minors, but they may as well give some playing time to a guy in the minors and see what they have.  We all KNOW what they have in Don Kelly.

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See that guy in the picture? That’s outfielder Magglio Ordonez. Do you know why he is sticking his tongue out at you? Because he is not on the field driving in runs. Because the Tigers look more deserving of a berth in a trash heap than in a pennant race.

Anyone out there have any faith that the Tigers are still in a pennant race?

I certainly hope not. If so, I’m sorry to burst your soap bubble, but allow me to disillusion you. The pipe dream you were in has expired, welcome back to reality.

The Tigers are in the midst of yet another late season tumble. Need proof? Look at the standings.

52-53, eight games back of the first place Chicago White Sox. 

Perhaps someone noticed that the Tigers totally took one on the chin from the Sox in the first game of today’s double header.

The Tigers had a very slim chance to regain some ground, and credibility, with a strong showing against the White Sox this week.

That particular pipe dream evaporated after a 12-2 beat down in game one. Game two hardly looks any more promising. The Tigers will send Jeremy Bonderman to the hill, he of the 5.05 earned run average. 

You may remember I wrote back on July 28th to say that essentially the Tigers were dead in the water.

They have done little to impress since then.

They lost the final two games to the Rays since then, followed by dropping two of three in Boston to the Red Sox. 

The Tigers have now compiled a record of 4-14 since the All-Star break. That in no way smells of contention for a division crown.

The Tigers are their own worst enemy. Ordonez, Brandon Inge and Carlos Guillen could not have gotten hurt at a worse time. 

Although, Inge has eaten plenty of Tums and is almost back from a broken finger already, it still reeks of too little, too late.

In addition to the injuries, the misdirection of manager Jim Leyland has been a stain on this ballclub, contributing to the two losses in Boston.

It started with the 61-pitch meltdown of closer Jose Valverde in the 6-5 victory on Friday that lead to his unavailability for the remainder of the weekend.

The repercussions from that? Leyland intentionally put the winning run on base in the ninth inning Saturday!

Was anyone surprised when the winning run scored from first on that David Ortiz double?

Finally, Valverde’s burnout meant Robbie Weinhardt was given free reign to literally throw the game away on Sunday.

I’ll slip a footnote in right here. Don Kelly put on a clinic in the outfield on Sunday, gunning down an unsuspecting Adrian Beltre at second, and making a great snow cone catch against the Green Monster late in the game. 

Kelly’s reward for his great play? On the bench for the start of both games of the double header, in favor of Ryan Raburn. 

Please someone step up again and waste your credibility defending Raburn. He still looks like a train wreck in the field, and is only hitting .210 after going hitless in the first game of the double header.

Granted, Kelly is only hitting .197 but his superior defense erases that deficit. 

Raburn’s WAR (win above replacement level player) value is -0.1, where Kelly’s is 0.1. 

So, you might disagree with much of what I say. Oh Dave, this is just the rantings and ravings of an outraged fan. 

You would be right that I am outraged. You should be too. After all, who could be happy with this club right now?

Inge might need the Tums for the calcium to help heal his hand. I need the Tums because watching this team gives me heartburn.

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Jim Leyland owes Brennan Boesch an apology.

I know it’s not popular to suggest that a manager apologize to one of his players, but Leyland has butchered this so badly that he must make amends.

By now, Boesch’s struggles have been well documented and I will not bore you with his stats. In the Detroit Tigers’ last three games against the Tampa Bay Rays, the Rays’ manager Joe Maddon decided to intentionally walk Miguel Cabrera and pitch to Boesch.

What made this unusual is that when Cabrera walked, first base was occupied. Boesch failed to deliver all three times and the Tigers were swept.

Leyland should have protected Boesch from ever being in that situation.

The first time Cabrera was walked without an open base should have been the last time Boesch batted behind him. Boesch would have been better off batting third in the lineup. This would have forced the pitcher to give him better pitches to hit in order to avoid walking him with Cabrera on deck. It also might have led to Cabrera seeing a few more hittable pitches because it became apparent that the Rays felt that Boesch was a sure out.

Now Leyland has compounded his mistake by benching Boesch for tonight’s game against the Boston Red Sox.

What is difficult to understand is why Leyland will not handle Boesch the way a struggling player must be handled. If a relief pitcher is struggling, you don’t pitch him in a tight ball game; you wait until the team is up or down by a few runs and allow him to pitch in a relaxed atmosphere.

This is why Boesch should be batting seventh in the lineup tonight. Let him work out his issues in a less stressful spot in the batting order.

His swing will not get fixed on the bench.

UPDATE: Johnny Damon is out with back spasms and will be replaced by Brennan Boesch for tonight’s game.

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Imagine you are responsible to select an all-time starting rotation for the Detroit Tigers.  The pitchers you pick will form the Tigers all-time team and compete against the best of their competition.

Who would you select?  To whom would you give the ball to face off against Walter Johnson, Lefty Grove, Whitey Ford, Jim Palmer, and Roger Clemens?  Who would be your backup pitchers and relievers as well?

The guidelines are simple: You may select pitchers from any era since the inception of the team in 1901.  Starting pitchers must have reached 1,000 innings for the Tigers, and relievers must have appeared in 250 games to be eligible for your team.

The Early Years: 1901-1945

The Tigers were one of eight charter teams in the American League.  Detroit had baseball before the Tigers got their start.  The Detroit Wolverines were a part of the National League from 1881-1888.  They won the pennant in ’87, but were soon contracted for lack of attendance after the ’88 season.

In 1894, the Western League, a minor league with big ambitions, established a team in Detroit.  Owner George Vanderbeck built Bennett Park in 1895 for the new team.

When the league changed their name to the American League in 1900, the team wrote to and got permission to use the name of a local military light guard unit with a heroic reputation, called the Tigers.

By the time the American League declared itself a major league in 1901, the team had the Tigers as its official name.

That first decade witnessed early success for the new team.

In 1905 the Tigers acquired Ty Cobb, who joined a talented team including Sam Crawford, Hughie Jennings, and pitchers Bill Donovan and George Mullin. 

By 1907, they were the team to beat in the AL, winning the first of three consecutive pennants.  Their best pitchers were George Mullin, who won 20 games five times; Bill Donovan, who went 25-4 in 1907; and Ed Killian, who won 20 games twice in his short career.

This pitching staff allowed the team to hold their American League competition at bay, while the offense took care of business.  But when it came time for the Tigers to face their National League opponents, it was a different story.

The 1907 and 1908 World Series pitted the Tigers’ prolific offense against the Cubs dominant pitching.

The Cubs came out on top both times, featuring one of the most dominant pitching trios in baseball history in Mordecai Brown, Ed Reulbach, and Orvall Overall.  The Cubs trio shut down the Tigers offense both years and took home the titles.

The Tigers again brought their game in 1909, armed with new pitching stars Ed Willett and Ed Summers, who combined for 40 wins in the regular season, joining Mullin (29 wins) and mainstays Donovan and Killian.

The Tigers handled Lefty Leifield, Deacon Phillippe, and eventual Hall of Fame pitcher Vic Willis at various points in the series.  It was Pittsburgh control artist, rookie Babe Adams, who stole the show, winning three complete games, including a shutout in Game Seven.

So, Ty Cobb remained thwarted of baseball’s biggest prize, a World Series title.  In 1907 and 1908, it was the dominant pitching of the Cubs, and in 1909, it was Honus Wagner and a sensational rookie pitcher.

The Tigers never again appeared in a World Series during Cobb’s considerable career as a player and manager through 1928.  They twice finished second in 1915 and in 1923.

The next resurgence of Tigers greatness came in the mid- and late 1930s.

Going into 1934 the team made two moves: They brought in veteran (and future Hall of Fame) catcher Mickey Cochrane and future Hall of Fame outfielder Goose Goslin.  They teamed up with Hank Greenburg, Charlie Gehringer, and third baseman Marv Owen to make one of the greatest offensive juggernauts the sport has ever seen.

Fronting the team on the mound were developing stars Tommy Bridges and Schoolboy Rowe.  Over the next three years, the duo won 128 games and pitched 25 shutouts.  They are one of the great pitching duos is baseball history.

Schoolboy Rowe was a strapping, naturally gifted athlete.  He became a fan favorite for his good looks and devotion to his high school sweetheart, Edna.

Eddie Cantor picked up on Rowe’s quotation of, “How am I doing, Edna?” The phrase caught on through radio broadcasts and was chanted at games.  Rowe featured excellent command, leading the league in K/BB ratio in both ’34 and ’35.

Tommy Bridges stood 5’10” and weighed 155 pounds, dripping wet.  Despite his slight frame, he possessed some of the best stuff in the league, leading in strikeouts in both 1935 and ’36.  It was his drop-off-the-table curve that opponents held in wonder.

In 1935, the Tigers finally won their first World Series title.  They beat the Cubs in the Series. Bridges won two games.

Despite Rowe being given the attention and lead starting roles in the World Series, it was Bridges who beat Dizzy Dean in the ’34 Series, and came away with a career record of 4-1 in the Tigers’ three World Series battles, including a win in the 1940 series against the Reds.

Bridges remained a leading pitcher in the league until he left for the war after the ’43 season.

Just two seasons later, the Tigers were in a youth movement.  They featured young star hurlers Dizzy Trout, Hal Newhouser, and Virgil Trucks. 

What a difference two years makes.

In ’43, Newhouser went 8-17.  But the following year, he flipped the switch, and became the dominant pitcher in the American League, winning 80 games over the next three years while winning two MVP awards.  He led the Tigers to a pennant and World Series title in ’45. 

The Tigers showed little patience toward former hero Tommy Bridges waiting for him to come back to form after he returned from the war.  The team basically sent him packing, telling him he was washed up.  But Bridges had some gas left in his tank, pitching a perfect game in ’47 and winning the ERA title in the Pacific Coast league.

With a bit of patience, the Tigers might have had a second Hall of Fame pitcher to go along with Hal Newhouser, as Bridges’s career total wins ended at 194, just short of the 200 opening the door for HOF consideration.  Newhouser ended with 207 wins.

Giving support to the efforts of Newhouser was Tigers workhorse Dizzy Trout.

Not being able to enlist because of a hearing impairment, Trout was one of the top AL pitchers during the war, winning 27 games in 1944.  He was instrumental in the Tigers second World Series title in ’45.

The Early Years Rotation

1. Hal Newhouser, 1939-53: 200 W, 33 SHO, ERA-plus 130

2. Tommy Bridges, 1930-46: 194 W, 33 SHO, ERA-plus 126

3. Dizzy Trout, 1939-52: 161 W, 28 SHO, ERA-plus 125

4. George Mullin, 1902-13: 209 W, 34 SHO, ERA-plus 102

T5. Bill Donovan, 1903-18—140 W, 29 SHO, ERA-plus 109

T5. Schoolboy Rowe, 1933-42: 105 W, 16 SHO, ERA-plus 114

Spot Starters: Hooks Dauss (223 W, ERA-plus 102), Virgil Trucks (114 W, ERA-plus 114), Fred Hutchinson (95 W, ERA-plus 113)

The Modern Era: 1960s to present.

Toward the end of the 1940s, Newhouser’s arm was shot, and the Tigers drifted into mediocrity over the next decade until the 1960s.

As the ’60s began, the team was blessed with some fine position players like Al Kaline, Bill Freehan, ’61 batting champion Norm Cash, and later, Willie Horton.  The team also featured dependable starters Frank Lary and Jim Bunning.

Bunning’s career really took off after he left the Tigers and put up some great years for the Phillies.

But it was not until the next generation of pitching started to emerge that the Tigers surged to the top of the league standings, winning the pennant in ’68 after narrowly missing the year before.

It was flamboyant Denny McLain who stole the show in 1968, winning 31 games, the Cy Young Award, and the MVP Award.  Even during his peak, McLain burned the candle at both ends, playing organ in a musical group which appeared at night clubs.

If it was Denny McLain who got the Tigers to the World Series, it was blue collar, lunch pail-carrying Mickey Lolich who brought home the title in the World Series.  Lolich was fearless, shutting down a great St. Louis team with his darting fastball and poise on the mound. 

When Game Seven came around, it was Lolich against the great Bob Gibson, who had already set the single game strikeout record (17) against the Tigers in Game One.  In one of the greatest series ever played, Lolich brought home the MVP award by winning his third game.

It was the Tigers’ third World Series title.

Denny McLain soon self-destructed, getting involved in gambling and the wrong ilk. It wasn’t long before he was out of the game.  One could only wonder what could have been if McLain could have controlled his problems.

The Tigers remained a good team for several years, making the postseason in ’72 with a rag tag group of older veterans including their core, pinch-hitter Gates Brown, super sub Tony Taylor, and late-season acquisition Frank Howard.

Their playoff series against the eventual World Series champion A’s was one of the most hotly contested playoff series in history.  It took every bit of greatness available to the three-time World Champion A’s to turn back the Tigers in this playoff series.

Twice Mickey Lolich pitched nine innings of one-run ball without coming away with a win. 

In Game Four, down two games to one in a best-of-five series, the A’s scored twice in the top of the 10th inning after Lolich left the game.  The series was theirs until the Tigers clawed back to score three runs in the bottom of the inning to send it to a fifth game.

Most of these Tigers players knew this was their last chance at postseason success, and they didn’t go down without a fight.  Game Five came down to the last at bat for the Tigers, down 2-1 and facing a dominant Vida Blue sent in as a reliever.

However, this time there was no miracle come-from-behind win, and on to the World Series went Catfish Hunter, Vida Blue, Reggie Jackson, Rollie Fingers, and the rest of the legendary A’s. They went on to win three titles in a row.

Mickey Lolich won 25 and 22 games in ‘71 and ’72, but narrowly missed winning a Cy Young award.  He came as close as any pitcher has to 3,000 strikeouts (2,832) without passing the milestone.  His 41 shutouts, World Series heroics, and career resume give him a strong case for the HOF.

After the old guard retired, the Tigers needed to rebuild.

They brought in Sparky Anderson, manager of the team of the decade in the ’70s—the Big Red Machine—to lead them onward.  Beginning in 1980, the Tigers began to surge, winning two division titles in ’84 and ’87 and finishing second in ’83, ’88, and ’91.

The magical year for the Tigers proved to be 1984.  They broke out of the gate at a record pace, going 35-5 to open the season.  The team never looked back and won the World Series.

The formula again was the convergence of strong position players with strong pitching. 

Catcher Lance Parrish led an offense that included Allan Trammell, Lou Whittaker, Chet Lemon, Kirk Gibson, and Darrell Evans.  They featured plenty of power and some great infield defense.

Leading the pitching staff was workhorse and ace Jack Morris, accompanied by Dan Petry and Milt Wilcox.

However, any mention of the ’84 Tigers would be remiss if it didn’t give ample credit to “Captain Hook’s” go-to guys, Willie Hernandez and Aurelio Lopez.  They combined to pitch in 151 games and 278 innings, giving up only 205 hits while saving 46 games between them.  They were truly amazing.

Jack Morris was consistent and strong throughout the ’80s for the Tigers.  But it was after he travelled on to the Twins and Blue Jays that he won two more championship rings and dazzled a generation of fans with his 10-inning, shutout performance in Game Seven of the ’91 series.

The Tigers, after winning only 43 games in ’03, built their way back to being competitive.  In their first year with Jim Leyland as manager in ‘06, they made it to the World Series.

Poor weather hindered the play of the Series.  Several costly errors by the Tigers pitchers also spelled the team’s doom, as they lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in an anti-climactic Series.

The leader of the Tigers staff today is Justin Verlander.  Verlander won Rookie of the Year award in ’06, and has generally turned in strong performances on his way to a significant career.  Other young Tiger pitchers have shown promise but not the ability to sustain success to this point.

The Modern Rotation

1. Mickey Lolich, 1963-75: 207 W, 39 SHO, ERA-plus 105

2. Jack Morris, 1977-90: 200 W, 24 SHO, ERA-plus 108

3. Frank Lary, 1954-64: 123 W, 20 SHO, ERA-plus 116

4. Jim Bunning, 1955-63: 118 W, 16 SHO, ERA-plus 116

5. Denny McLain, 1963-70: 117 W, 26 SHO, ERA-plus 110

Spot Starters: Milt Wilcox (1977-85), Justin Verlander (2005-10)

The Relievers

There are four relievers to mention when looking to name an all-time Tigers team.

Todd Jones leads the Tigers in saves with 235, but has a rather pedestrian ERA-plus of 114 for a reliever.  Mike Henneman has 154 saves and a very respectable ERA-plus of 136.

Both of these closers have inflated WHIP marks of 1.456 and 1.305.  This relates to having runners on base.

The two I am selecting for the team are John Hiller, who pitched in 545 games, had 125 saves, and an ERA-plus of 134 with a 1.268 WHIP, and Willie Hernandez, who appeared in 358 games, had 120 saves, and had an ERA-plus of 135.

There is certainly room for interpretation here in the choice, but I feel confident with the latter two, Hiller and Hernandez.

The All-time Rotation and staff

1. Hal Newhouser

2. Tommy Bridges

3. Mickey Lolich

4. Jack Morris

5. Dizzy Trout

Spot Starters: George Mullin, Bill Donovan, Schoolboy Rowe, Denny McLain

Relievers: Willie Hernandez, John Hiller

In Conclusion

If you’re a fan of Virgil Trucks, Jim Bunning, or Frank Lary, they could certainly go in the spot starter group in place of those listed.  The team is deep at this level of pitching.

Throughout the team history, success has depended on the combination of strong position players and sturdy pitching.  When the two came together, the team surged to success.

With a couple of breaks here and there, this rotation could be touting four of its pitchers as members of the Hall of Fame.  Bridges and Lolich have strong cases, and Jack Morris is still up for election.

The Tigers have a full-flavor history.  The pitchers are no exception.  Each one of these starters has a great story behind them.

It is my wish that Tiger fans understand and embrace their team history and the formula for future success that is so clearly laid down in their history.

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Is the baseball season really a marathon? Or, can injuries, poor play, and bad luck end your season in just a couple of weeks? The Detroit Tigers will be able to answer that question rather quickly.

After a mediocre first two months of the season, the Detroit Tigers scratched and clawed their way to the division lead on June 28. As the Minnesota Twins spun their wheels in first place, objects in their mirror were closer than they appeared. 

The Detroit Tigers were sparked by an 8-1 stretch during interleague play against Pittsburgh, Washington, and Arizona. The Twins were swept by the last-place Milwaukee Brewers and had given back what was a five-game cushion in the AL Central. With Justin Morneau going down with a concussion just before the All-Star break, the Minnesota Twins looked like they could be the odd team out in a division that was thought to be there for the taking.

An awful start by Tigers pitcher Andrew Oliver allowed Minnesota to avoid a sweep at home to the Tigers in their final game before the break, so instead of being five games behind the Tigers, the Twins were only three-and-a-half games behind the streaking Chicago White Sox. Not only did the Tigers let the Twins inch closer, but the White Sox, behind a 25-5 record in June, took over the division lead by a half-game.

Out of the break the Tigers couldn’t have played any worse. They were swept by the last-place Cleveland Indians in a four-game set at Progressive Field. They followed that up by losing the first two to the Texas Rangers by a combined score of 16-6. The Tigers offense scored only 12 runs in the first six games out of the break, and the pitching staff allowed seven or more runs, four times.

Then the a freight train of injuries stormed through the Tigers clubhouse, pretty much ending any chance they had of contending this season. First, Joel Zumaya went down before the break with a fractured olecranon in his throwing arm. After the break, a series of injuries began on July 22 when Brandon Inge was hit by a pitch and broke his hand. He went to the DL and is expected to miss six to eight weeks. Following that up, on July 24 Magglio Ordonez broke his ankle sliding into home plate and was immediately placed on the DL and will miss six to eight weeks as well.

With the Twins and Sox playing well over the past week or so, the Tigers have fallen five-and-a-half games behind the White Sox and four-and-a-half behind the Twins. The White Sox are reportedly favored to acquire perennial power hitter Adam Dunn.

The Twins are in search of pitching help and with the continued absence of Justin Morneau, they could be in search of a right-handed bat to balance out their left-handed dominant lineup.

The Tigers acquisition of Jhonny Peralta from the Indians can’t hurt the team, but it’s likely too little too late. Losing three top-tier athletes in less than a month looks to be too much to overcome for manager Jim Leyland. The Tigers might be better off selling off assets this season to build towards next year. By the time Ordonez and Inge put on their cleats again, the division should be all but sewn up.

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Hate to say it, but it’s the truth.

The Detroit Tigers aren’t winning the AL Central.

It’s been a nice smoke and mirrors run so far, but now the warts on the Tigers roster are starting to rear their ugly heads, and the boys from the Motor City are about to find their level.

Let’s be honest, no real division contender drops four straight to Cleveland.

The signs have been there for a while, but in the first half of the season, the boys of summer kept doing just enough to eek out wins against the league’s bottom feeders to give fans a glimmer of hope.

But now the facts and this latest downswing have made the truth impossible to ignore: the Tigers simply aren’t good enough.

For starters, since Jim Leyland took over in 2006, they have yet to play over .500 ball over the second half of a season.

An 0-5 start to this second half doesn’t exactly inspire confidence that it will be any different this time.

The bottom of the lineup sucks so hard that to call it a black hole doesn’t even cut it.  I mean, occasionally even a black hole lets a bloop of radiation out past the astronomical infield.

To put it in perspective, here’s the RBI production from the 7-8-9 hitters of all the teams in the AL Central (as of July 18th):

1) Minnesota – 117 RBIs
2) Chicago – 114 RBIs
3) KC – 107 RBIs
4) Cleveland – 96 RBIs
5) Detroit – 74 RBIs

Yeah, the bottom of the batting order is driving in less than one run a game.

And if Ordonez, Cabrera, and Boesch are cold with the bat, like they were against Cleveland last weekend, this team might as well not take the field.

Of course, it helps when the career under-.500 manager, that gets a free pass from every media outlet in the region, continues to find ways to put Gerald Laird in the lineup.  He of the .183 batting average.

Do you understand this, Mr. Leyland?  Mario Mendoza feels bad for this guy, okay?

Neifi Perez wants you to put Laird out of his misery like Ol’ Yeller.

Yet, you not only keep penciling him into the lineup, you keep bringing him in for clutch situations.

Are we sure Leyland’s not dyslexic, and thinks that reads .381?

The bottom of the lineup will only be made worse with the news that Brandon Inge has a broken hand that will sideline him for four to six weeks.  I know, Inge wasn’t exactly an offensive powerhouse, but let me tell you a little secret—Don Kelly makes Inge look like Albert f’in Pujols, okay?

Umpires are going to look at the bottom of the Tigers batting order, look at Leyland, and say, “if it’s okay with you, I’d just like to get on with the next half inning.”

The pitching staff hasn’t been much better.  The Tigers can’t get anyone to pitch consistently enough to secure the third, fourth, or fifth starters.  Hell, Porcello’s been having trouble locking down the number two role.

Even Verlander will tell you he’s been shaky at times.

Meanwhile, the bullpen that has survived through what amounts to used chewing gum, Popsicle sticks, and duct tape has finally started showing their cracks.  Losing Zumaya for the season has only exacerbated the problem that these bullpen hurlers really can’t get the good batters out when they need to.

Valverde has been the quality of closer that the Tigers have been looking for since near forever, but it’s becoming increasingly hard to hand him the ball with the lead.  And it’s only going to get harder as the season progresses.

It was a fun ride, Tigers fans, but I think it’s time to turn out the lights.  Not even being in a very mediocre division is going to help them.

They’re pretenders, not contenders.

Accept it, move on, enjoy the train wreck, and hope they’ll find some answers next season.

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The Detroit Tigers are in a tough predicament. They are one game behind the Minnesota Twins, one game ahead of the Chicago White Sox, and they have lost one of their best relievers in Joel Zumaya.

Zumaya fractured his right elbow throwing a 99 mph fastball against Minnesota’s Delmon Young. And just like that Zumaya was done for the season.

Zumaya had a history of injuries with the Tigers. In the past three seasons he has ruptured a tendon in his right hand and injured his right shoulder multiple times.

Zumaya’s injuries in the past few seasons have been disappointing. However, this season it is especially unfortunate considering how much he was contributing to the Tigers’ surprisingly stellar bullpen. Zumaya had an ERA of 2.58 with 11 holds and 34 strikeouts, but now the Tigers have to move on with out him.

It’s not the end of the world Tigers fans, but Detroit will need to rely on some young arms to carry the team to the post-season. One pitcher that could the club is particularly looking for some help from is Ryan Perry.

Although Perry is currently on the DL, he is expected to return to the active roster soon. He was put on the DL for bicep tendinitis in his right arm, but Jim Leyland said that it was more of a break Perry than recovery from an injury.

This is Perry’s second season with the Tigers, and since he has been in the bigs he’s accumulated an ERA of 4.32 with a remarkable 78 strikeouts.

Perry would bolster the Tiger bullpen and join fellow mid-relievers Fu-Te Ni, Phil Coke, Casey Fein, and Eddie Bonine.

With the AL Central race moving full-throttle past the first half of the year, the Tigers will need help from Ryan Perry and other young relievers more than ever to stay in the competition for a post-season birth.

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In a fairly unsurprising move, Bud Selig has announced that he will not in fact reverse the blown call by umpire Jim Joyce that cost Armando Galarraga the 21st perfect game in the history of Major League Baseball. 

Selig did say “that Major League Baseball will look at expanded replay and umpiring”. This is an improvement over the current system in place, but it doesn’t change the fact that a young pitcher has been robbed of baseball immortality. 

We have been spoiled with three perfect games over the past year and two in the last month. The recent successes of Mark Buerhle, Dallas Braden, and Roy Halladay might make the rarity of a  Perfect Game a little less legendary than we once thought.

We can often forget that there was a 34 year gap between perfect games at one point and the last perfect game before Buerhle’s gem, was back in 2004, thrown by Randy Johnson. 

Some of us could be old men before we see another piece of perfection.

Is that a reason to reverse the call? No, but it puts into perspective the magnitude of Galarraga’s accomplisment.

Or Joyce’s blunder. 

I didn’t expect Selig to reverse the call. The man is a spineless commissioner who makes far too much money. The man’s legacy will largely be made up of things he didn’t do, rather than his own accomplishments. 

Selig largely did nothing to punish the players who juiced up to win World Series, earned fat paychecks, and stole our love and loyalty, which was then spoiled due to events such as the BALCO scandal and the Mitchell report. 

I don’t expect Selig to be as bold as to reinstate Pete Rose, but for God’s sake, do something to earn your $18 million a year. 

None of us are really ready to call this the worst call of all time, but it very well may be. The perfect game is one of baseball’s elite accomplishments and Galarraga was denied his place in history by an admitted botched call. 

Overturned calls are rare and don’t really happen that often.

Perfect games are also rare.

There has never been precedent for a situation like this, which is precisely why Selig should step in and and reverse this mistake. 

With great power comes great responsibility.

Bud Selig has the power to do the right thing.

He just doesn’t really seem to care.

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On June 2, Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga was robbed.

Not robbed of a home run, but of a perfect game.

Galarraga retired 26 straight hitters, placing him one out away from a perfect game.

Jason Donald of the Cleveland Indians stepped to the plate, the last chance to end perfection.

Donald slapped a ground ball between Miguel Cabrera at first and Carlos Guillen at second. Cabrera ran over to field the ball, backhanded it, and threw it to Galarraga at the bag. The throw beat the runner by half a step. A perfect game! Right?

Wrong.

Umpire Jim Joyce ruled Donald safe at first, causing Galarraga to lose a perfect game. Everyone in the stadium, even Indians fans and players, knew that the Tigers’ hurler had achieved perfection.

Afterwards, Joyce admitted to his mistake.

“I just cost that kid a perfect game,” he said. “I thought he beat the throw. I was convinced he beat the throw, until I saw the replay.”

Despite the umpire’s blown call, Galarraga remained calm on and off the field. The two would meet and embrace. Joyce apologized to Armando for his mistake.

The following day, Joyce was behind the plate to umpire the Detroit game. In a class act, Galarraga delivered the lineup card before the game, instead of manager Jim Leyland. Both men displayed a great deal of class throughout an incident that could have been much uglier.

Now, there are discussions taking place to see whether or not the call should be overturned. So far, it appears that commissioner Bud Selig will not change Joyce’s call.

Although some may disagree, I believe that would be the right decision.

I would love to be able to give Galarraga his perfect game. After all, he earned it.

However, if the call is reversed, what will it do to the game of baseball?

Human judgment and error has always been a staple of America’s pastime. Some say to change the call just this time. Unfortunately, that is not an option. If this call is overturned, then there will be argument over future calls that impact games.

A batter called out on strikes to end a game with runners on base could be reviewed. It directly impacts the outcome of the contest. Overturning Joyce’s call would be beneficial in the short term, but controversial in the long term.

Umpires will make mistakes. We all do. It is a part of being human.

In fact, there may have been other mistakes in the game that were in Galarraga’s favor. Obviously, they were not magnified like the final call.

But, simple missed ball and strike calls can affect the mindset of pitchers and hitters.

The bottom line is that umpires make mistakes. It has always been a part of baseball. If Joyce’s call is overturned, it will change the game of baseball forever. We shouldn’t change the game over just one incident.

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