Detroit Tigers Blogs

With the Dog Days of August about to begin, now is the time for teams to decide whether they are buyers or sellers – that is, whether they should mortgage their future and go for it this year or trade away their veterans for up-and-coming prospects.  “Going for it” says to a team’s fans that the organization thinks it has a legitimate chance to win it all, but a more conservative approach can send just as strong a message.  While a middle-of-the-pack team may have to acknowledge that this isn’t the year, going out and building for the future – as long as it is not the distant future – can usually be taken to mean that the front office is willing to sacrifice an outside shot at the playoffs in order to increase its chances of winning in the long term.  Buyer or seller, every GM will be busy until tomorrow’s trade deadline.

Continue reading "Buyer or Seller?"

Thank goodness Joey Votto (.314/.422/.589 with 22 home runs) was elected to the National League All-Star team via the Final Vote.  Billy Wagner, Carlos Gonzalez, and Ryan Zimmerman are great players and were all worthy of roster spots, but Votto should have been the NL’s starting first baseman over Albert Pujols, and it would have been a travesty had he not made it in the end.  Votto leads the NL in both On-Base Percentage and Slugging Percentage and is tied for the lead in home runs; if the season ended today, he’d likely be voted the league’s Most Valuable Player.  It’s too bad, then, that Votto went 0-2 and did not make an impact in the game.  (Each of the other first basemen on the National League side – Pujols, Ryan Howard, and Adrian Gonzalez – went 0-2 as well.)

Continue reading "All-Star Game thoughts"

The All-Star Break is a chance for players to get away from the game and live normally for 3 days...and then go back to work.  Sometimes the break gives new life to a player, often that is not the case.  However, this season the ChiSox have emerged from the depths of a season-long fog to reach the sunlight and show that they have as much talent as the other AL Central contenders, the Twins and Tigers. 

Continue reading "Rest Up ChiSox, It Won't Be Easy To Win Title"

With All-Star rosters set to be announced this weekend, I’m hoping that fans made good decisions in for whom to cast their final ballots.  While voting began not long after spring training ended, the true All-Stars have revealed themselves over the entire first half of the season.

Continue reading "Who's on first at the Midsummer Classic?"

Though it was overshadowed by Armando Galarraga’s nearly perfect game, Ken Griffey Jr. announced his retirement on Wednesday, marking the end of a historic career.  Griffey’s various injuries over the last 10 years prevented him from breaking the all-time home run record, but The Kid will still go down as one of the very best of his era.  He was a 13-time All-Star (including 11 in a row) and totaled 2,781 career hits, 630 homers (good for 5th all-time) and 1836 Runs Batted In.  He won 7 Silver Sluggers and an MVP Award, and his 10 Gold Gloves tie him for third-most among outfielders; he won them in consecutive years.  Known for his sweet swing, tremendous defense in center field, and contagious smile, Griffey will take his place in Cooperstown before we know it.

Continue reading "Junior hangs 'em up"

The game of baseball lost two old-timers this week, as beloved Tigers broadcaster Ernie Harwell passed away at the age of 92 and Hall of Fame pitcher Robin Roberts died at 83.

Harwell is best known for his 42 years broadcasting Tiger games, but before his career in Detroit, Harwell made history.  For this, I turn to wikipedia:

Continue reading "Farewell to a pair of the game's greats"

As if Ubaldo Jimenez’s no-hitter was not enough excitement for one day, the Mets and Cardinals took part in a marathon contest, playing a 20-inning game Saturday in St. Louis.  If that does not…, the most remarkable part of the monumental occasion was that the two teams went scoreless through the first 18 frames!  That’s like back-to-back shutouts being thrown by both teams!  In a game that took nearly seven hours and featured an astounding 18 pitchers (two of whom were actually position players that Cardinals manager Tony La Russa sent to the hill), three Met hitters – Jose Reyes, Jason Bay, and Jeff Francoeur – went a combined 0 for 21.  That is an ugly line in the box score for three of the team’s four best offensive players.

Continue reading "Oh, what a night!"

Dontrelle Willis and the Detroit Tigers defeated the Royals 7-3 Thursday afternoon at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. 

Willis, who made his first start since last June when he was placed on the disabled list due to social anxiety, pitched six innings and surrendered only two earned runs. 

Continue reading "Dontrelle Willis Is Ready To Again ..."

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 – ..."

South Florida got hammered by Georgetown today.  That means that SFU most likely won't be invited to the big dance. 

Missouri got beat by lowly Nebraska.  That is very unimpressive.  The Tigers have a 10-6 record in Big 12 play.  That alone should qualify them for the NCAA tourney.  But losing in the first round to Nebraska who is 14 and 17 on the year is bad.

Continue reading "Bubbles bursting by the minute."

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"

The New York Yankees have cruised through the 2009 baseball regular season, destroying teams with their 9 slugger deep line-up that includes not one player having a bad year. While every hitter is having varying degrees of success, not one man in that line-up is performing below their norms (save for mighty A-Rod, who's injury has slowed him down a bit to the tune of

Continue reading "Joe Girardi- Let the Force Be With You or Else."

In the National League, the elongated double switch shows again why pitching statistics are quite poorly attributed.  A traditional double switch involves the manager inserting a position player into the game  for the current pitcher and a new pitcher for a position player--typically one who just made an out, so that the new pitcher won't be batting for nearly a full trip through the lineup.

Continue reading "More Thoughts on MLB Pitching Statistics"

 Last Night B. Penny and the Sox came out on a mission and that was to break this losing streak and they did. But I personally was more concerned about our hitting. After getting swept by the Yankees in a 4 game series which has not happened in over 20 years, I wasn't concerned about our pitching (except Smoltz which the Sox dealt with after that 1st game massacre and giving up 9 earned, they put him on assignment) I was worried about our line-up.

Continue reading "Red Sox Get Much Needed Win and End ..."

The Kansas City Royals got Josh Anderson from the Tigers for some cash.  This was a good move for both teams.  But, a really good bargain for the Royals.  Anderson was designated for as

Continue reading "Small improvement for Royals."

You may be wondering how Joba Chamberlain came off the All-Star Break with 2 consecutive victories: 1 against the Tigers and 1 against the A's. Before the break, it just seemed to be no-decision after no-decision. He holds the Major League Record for most No-D's in a season.

Continue reading "How Joba Got His Groove Back"

*revised

May 1st, 2009

The Detroit Tigers will:

• win the Central Devision

• record = 92-70

• loose to the Red Sox in the ALCS

Continue reading "AARWICH – PRIDICTIONS *REVISED July 14th, 2009"

http://atdhe.net/7388/watch-mariners-vs-yankees    Yankees vs Mariners

http://atdhe.net/5632/watch-rays-vs-blue-jays : Blue Jays and Rays

  http://atdhe.net/5711/watch-red-sox-vs-orioles   Red Sox vs Orioles

Continue reading "More MLB Links"

The Chicago Cubs are 35-36.  The Chicago White Sox are 36-38.  Both teams are flirting with the .500 mark as we get closer to the half-way mark of the season.  Unless these teams are can go into after-drive and put the pedal to the metal, it is likely that these team will finish near the .500 mark.  The Cubs had a thrilling homestand and won some games with pulsating finishes.  Then they go on the road and make the Detroit Tigers look like world-beaters.  In one game, the Cubs have a one run lead late, but  their closer gives up a 2 run homer in the last of 9th to win the game for Detroit.

Continue reading "Chicago baseball is simply mediocre"

The MLB draft took place this week as 1,521 high school and college kids were selected by 30 teams. For most teams not named the Yankees, who can spend $400 million on free agents to replenish their roster, the draft holds the keys to future success or failure.

Continue reading "Past drafts mostly bad"

University of Texas pitcher Austin Wood throws 12 and 1/3 innings of no-hit baseball in a College World Series Regional Game.




I know most people are thinking, "Who in the heck is Austin Wood?" That in itself is a tragedy. The left-handed Senior threw 13 innings of scoreless relief against the Boston College Eagles, and did not even recieve the decision. The Longhorns did finally get the win, scoring a run in the 25th inning, five frames after Wood was removed from the game.

Continue reading "True Texas LONGhorn"

“The Corner” soon will be just another corner in a city filled with old, rundown and abandoned buildings. For some reason Tiger Stadium had to be the first to go.

The Detroit's Economic Development Corp. commission voted last Tuesday (7-1) to tear down the remaining portion of Tiger Stadium. Most of the ballpark was torn down last summer with just the portion between first and third base remaining. The commission sited safety and security (currently being paid by the Conservancy) concerns along with making the area viable to developers as their reasoning for the vote.

Continue reading "“The Corner” no more"

The next Lebron (James) doesn't even play basketball? Hmm, that's odd. The next Lebron, like Lebron, more than likely will never go to college before a pro career. The next Lebron, according to this week's Sports Illustrated, is a 16 year old high school baseball player from Las Vegas.

Continue reading "The next Lebron"

Comerica Park is home for the Detroit Tigers and apparently some squirrels!

The other night against Boston a squirrel made it's way onto the playing field in the second inning before being chased by stadium personal into the bushes in center field (see video ). From there it chilled out and watched at least a portion of the game.

Continue reading "Same Squirrel?"

Beckett Pitches 6 1/2 innings of Hitless Ball, But Tigers still make it interesting!
Sox came out last night looking ready to go and wanting this win. The Sox were on a mission to beat the Central Division's 1st place team, the Tigers!!  They started off like that to-- Pedroia led off the game with a hit, then JD Drew would hit his 200th career home-run and the Sox took an early 2-0 lead. The score would remain like this because Beckett was lights out!!  It wasn't until the 5th inning when the Sox would score 2 more runs making the score at 4-0 and Beckett still hitless and looking like a machine!!  Then in the 7th inning with 2 outs, Beckett faced C. Granderson and with a 1-2 count Beckett went for the corner of the plate and Granderson slapped it to right field for the Tigers' 1st hit of the game and ending Beckett's no hitter!!!  He would strike out the next batter, so after 7 innings the Tigers were down 4-0 and the Sox heading up to bat and this is when the game got even more interesting. The Red Sox came out in the top of the 8th like they were pissed for blowing the no hitter (even though it was no ones fault, that's just baseball) and would go through the entire line up with the Sox adding 6 more runs  making the score 10-0!!!! Every Red Sox starter ended with at least 1 hit including Big Papi who hit a 2-rbi double, so maybe this new lineup is working, scoring 10 runs and having 13 hits, solid!!  So you would think its over now, but like I said Detroit wanted to make it interesting and when Beckett came back out for the 8th then things ended up getting a little rough. B. Inge of the Tigers led off with a double off Beckett (only 2nd hit and that's all he allowed) then he would hit the next batter, and then the errors started. On a double play ball Pedroia missed Green leading to Detroit's 1st run and men at 1st and 2nd. So Francona came out and took out Beckett bringing in Bard. Beckett went 7.2 innings and only gave up 2 hits. He would still be charged for 2 earned, but he had 9 strikeouts- -Sick!!! Bard would have a little trouble, his 1st pitch was hit to Lowell and he would fumble the ball for another error and another run. Now with the score 10-2, still in the 8th with bases loaded when Granderson again does damage and hits a triple scoring 3 more, but then Bard was able to stop the bleeding after 5 runs were scored and 3 errors all in that one inning!!! Now with a 10-5 lead heading into the bottom of the 9th, somehow Sox relievers would give up a hit and 2 walks loading the bases, a little scary let me tell you. It was 10-0 now it's 10-5 and the Tigers had the bases loaded!! The next Sox reliever, Saito, comes in with the bases loaded and he would be able to close the door and give Beckett the Win he deserved. Final score: Sox 10--Tigers 5.  Meanwhile the Yankees lost, so with our win we move into a tie for first place with NY, Sweet!!! Beckett has looked like his old self for last 3 starts and the Sox are looking good taking 2 out of 3 so far with game 3 tonight.  Come on Sox get the Sweep, you can do it.  

Continue reading "Boston Back in First Place"

Dice-K gets 1st Win of the season and Francona records his 500th win with the Sox!!!
Dice pitched very good last night, allowing 6 hits but only 1 earned run and leaving Detroit looking hopeless. After the third inning the Sox had a 3-1 lead which they would only build on as the game went on-- leading to Dice K's first win in 2009(if he wins 17more in a row he will have the same record as last year 18-3, not likely, but headed in right direction) which is exactly what the Sox needed, A healthy Dice!!!

Continue reading "Dice K Gets First Win and Francona Gets 500th"

As of now, if Rick Porcello stays in the majors and keeps getting the workload he has been lately, he's on pace for 180+ innings as a 21 yr old rookie.  Now i know all the old sentiment of when pitchers pitched 20 complete games a year and never had issues, but this is just a different time.  Innings and pitch counts are monitored more closely than a guys heart rate or blood tests and may have helped prolong some careers.  The point is still, can he hold up and if not, what can the Tigers do?

Continue reading "The Rookie"

In case no one has noticed, the Tigers pitching staff as a whole has been tremendous to this point in the season.  Aside from Gallaragas last 2 starts, even the suspected weak link in the bullpen has been excellent(although a lot of that may have something to do with limited Lyon sightings).  So far  the whole staff has easily outperformed expectations.

Continue reading "Why the Tigers can win it all"

I know it's only one game. It's only one win. But when was the last time one game or one win created such excitement for one player?

That player is Dontrelle “D-Train” Willis.

Continue reading "D-Train in Motion for the Detroit Tigers"

Here, open up your wallet and grab out that $20 bill.

Look at it.

Smell it.

Taste it.

Well, maybe not taste, but you get the picture.

What I'm trying to get at is in these rough and tumble economic

Continue reading "Detroit Rock-bottom"

TIGERS ARE LOSING THEIR GAME THIS SEASON. IN OTHER WORDS, THEY SUCK MORE THEN THEY DID LAST SEASON. THEY NEED SOME DEFENSE PLAYERS AND ANOTHER COACH. THEY ARE LETTING ALL OF THE OTHER TEAMS BALLS OUT

Continue reading "tigers"

THE TIGERS HAVE BEEN GOOD MOST OF THE SEASON. BUT TO ME THEY SUCK. THEY ARE HAPPY BECAUSE THEY WON AGAINST THE TEXAS RANGERS. I WENT TO THE GAME. THE SCORE WAS AMAZING BECAUSE THE TIGERS HAD A LONG LE

Continue reading "TIGERS OVERALL PERFORMANCE"

TIGERS ARE DOING ALRIGHT THIS SEASON. THEIR PLAYERS ARE BETTER THAN LAST YEARS.But i dont like them because everybody cheers them on when they lose.i mean really their first game against the texas ran

Continue reading "TIGERS"

During last nights Detroit Tigers/Minnesota Twins game manager Jim Leyland was ejected for arguing with home plate umpire Paul Schrieber. The argument had to do with Schrieber putting his hand on the back of Tigers outfielder Magglio Ordonez to huury him along while he argued a called third strike.

Continue reading "Ump makes contact with Ordonez"

I have been thinking about creating a sports blog for some time.  Specifically a baseball blog, preferably one that covers the Detroit Tigers.  Writing about baseball is something I am meant to do.  I grew up watching Tiger's baseball in 1977, so while I suffered through the 1970's I was spoiled with the 1980's.  The Detroit Tigers were one of the most successful baseball teams during that decade.  I have followed them during my childhood through the good and bad times and have always enjoyed them.

Continue reading "Birth of a new Tigers blog"

    

    Fantasy baseball has begun!!! As the regular season starts, so does our effort to provide you information in the best way possible. Looking for a trade? Looking for someone on the waiver wire? Who should I start? These questions are answered by the best team in sports - the Fantasy Sportsgirl team. Too bad we can't just draft them, but you can see them here and get your fantasy fix.

Continue reading "Fantasy Baseball Information by Fantasy Sportsgirl"

It certainly seemed like an ordinary day today. You wake up to a bright sun that belies a chilly April morning. Eat breakfast, take a shower, maybe catch a little SportsCenter if there's time. Bemoan the fact that the Red Sox are in last place in the AL East. Just another day in a seemingly endless series of them.

Continue reading "Free "Bird": RIP 1954-2009"

If you read through my top five infields post, then you know that a correction was made: Mike Fontenot beat out Aaron Miles for the Cubs' second base job.

This time around, with the outfields, there's the possibility that Felix Pie will start over Luke Scott for the Orioles, and Skip Schumaker may start at second base for the Cardinals. Keep that in mind as you read on.

Continue reading "MLB's Top Five Outfields"

It’s Day Two of The Sports Don’s 2009 Baseball Preview, and I present perhaps the toughest division in baseball to predict. The American League Central could finish in any order, and I wouldn’t be the slightest bit surprised. And yes, that includes the upstart Kansas City Royals winning the division for the first time since 1985 when George Brett was 32, and the Royals defeated the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series.

Continue reading "The Sports Don's 2009 AL Central Preview"

I remember how then-Atlanta Braves closer Mark Wohlers was a sight to behold. If you were a Houston Astros fan, you cringed at the idea of seeing Wohlers come into a game to protect a close lead.

Continue reading "First Steve Blass, then Mark Wohlers, ..."

 

How about this? My very first article by the smart-assed blogger who has a vivid interest in the Detroit Tigers. It’s now spring training, I, for one, am excited to see the snow melt (it will come back to Michigan, it snows till April here) and see the tigers kick some tail in Florida (somewhere I wish I was at right now). So, for my first entry, this smart-ass blogger wanted to give an analysis for some of our players. Here goes:

Continue reading "Predicting the 2009 season with my crystal ball!"

1:11 PM CST: Well, after staying up til 4 am watching videos from the Lonely Island (you know you've done it too), I managed to sleep through the majority of the first halves of the opening games. There are now just seven minutes remaining in my featured game and the 15 seed Cal State Northridge is down by just one to Memphis. They've even led the Tigers by as many as six points. I have Memphis and John Calipari's greasy hair going to the Final Four, but I want this to happen.

Continue reading "NCAA Tourney Running Commentary"

The Blues

The Blues responded nicely last Thursday with a 2-1 overtime win to follow up an ugly performance in Columbus. They finished up the home-and-home with Nashville on Saturday by losing 1-0 in overtime. It was a great job by Chris Mason to reel in one point, but St. Louis can't afford to leave points out there at this stage, especially at home. Even though the Blues got a point in that game, they still fell a point further behind Nashville since the Predators picked up a pair of points with the win. Tuesday's game against Phoenix was crucial since the Blues' next eight games include four road games in addition to home meetings with the Sharks, Stars, and Red Wings(twice) who are three of the strongest/hottest teams in the league. Points will not be easy to come by over that stretch, so they needed two against the Coyotes. The fact that it came in regulation was a huge boost, as was the gift goal that David Perron collected on a center-ice chip-in. I'd feel bad about that, but the Blues have been killed by fluky goals all year. It's about time went our way.

Continue reading "A look at NCAA basketball and the Blues"

Well, get ready for another season of Detroit Tigers baseball. We have been spoiled the last couple of years. The team actually has expectations and unfortunately so do the fans. Can Mo Town survive another sports team to fail miserably like the hapless Lions? Are we just a hockey town? I don't have the answer to that, but I do get excited for Tiger baseball. As a proclaimed member of the Red Sox Nation, I still love the Tigers. I watch most games and even try to get to the ballpark. I lived in misery because all my neighbors are "Tigers for Life". So my sports life is much better when the Tigers are winning.

Continue reading "Detriot Tigers look to impress in 2009"

The sport of Major League Baseball just can't catch a break. The steroids era is very damaging to the game. Not to long ago the fans suffered major disappointment learning of the alleged steroid use of such stars of Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens. Not to long before that Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa cases were presented before us. We all thought what a relief that we still have coveted stars whose names weren't implicated in any of that mess. Well fans... we were all wrong. The games savior Alex Rodriguez admittedly used performance enhancing drugs. I was indeed shocked but I almost expected this. How many more players are there out there who no in doubt cheated the game and all of us? I don't exactly know, but I am beginning not to even care. The fact that drugs have played a part in the game that I love the most, has become reality and there is nothing I can do to change it. I believe in Major League Baseball. I am confidant that the Commissioner and his office, the owners and the players association have taken enough heat to try and get the game back on track. No doubt that there will be more stars that will have there past made public, but after enduring A FRAUD's ignorant publicized apology, I believe we the fans can handle all of the rest that will no doubtedly come.

Continue reading "Are You Serious???"

This off-season has ultimately been a poor one for the Twins. From the terrible Pat Neshek news, to failed trade attempts and failed free agent signings, the Twins have missed out on a great opporunity to improve their team in what is a very watered down market in terms of dollars. The weak corner outfield market really hurt the Twins, since they were undoubtedly looking to trade either Michael Cuddyer or Delmon Young. Personally, I don't think the Twins did anything wrong by passing on both Casey Blake and Ty Wigginton. Neither player strikes me as a very good hitter, and while Wigginton's numbers look good on the surface, they are very misleading. I'll get into the exact stats and explanations of those stats sometime this week, but for now just trust me that his Home/Road splits are terrible, and leaving hitter friendly Minute-Maid Park should cause Wigginton's numbers to come crashing back to earth regardless of where he goes. (Unless the Rockies sign him, which won't be happening.) The team also failed in not signing at least one solid reliever when their bullpen is clearly the team's biggest weakness. With relievers like Jeremy Affeldt, Brandon Lyon and others signing for very reasonable deals, it's frustrating to see that the Twins haven't made a move yet.

Continue reading "A Failed Off-Season And Kubel's Extension"

The names Guillermo Moscoso and Carlos Melo aren't names you're familiar with, but you may in a couple short seasons.  The Rangers and Tigers made the trade as expected would happen with a surplus of catchers to trade at will.  This move is a good move for both clubs.  Guillermo Moscoso and Carlos Melo have strong upside and their bodies were built to be pitchers.  Moscoso has the potential to be a young Pedro Martinez and he may be the first one of the two to make the 40-man roster. Melo, on the other hand, has good upside; his fastball can reach up to 100 MPH, but his control is an issue. 

Continue reading "Rangers make early move in the Winter ..."

For my first blog I'd like to focus on 4 simple things the Tigers need to fix in order to become a legitimate World Series contender in 2009. The fact is that they're only two years removed from being one of the best teams in baseball. Most of the necessary pieces are still in place, and if it weren't for some sloppy play and poor management decisions, I think 2008 could've been a playoff caliber season as well.

Continue reading "4 Things the Tigers Need for a Successful ..."

The Royals according to the Kansas City Star,  are actively attempting to trade Mark Teahen to the Cleveland Indians for Franklin Gutierrez, Ben Francisco or minor-leaguer Trevor Crowe.  Great!  So essentially the Royals will get Ben Francisco for Carlos Beltran.  The Royals traded Beltran in 2004 for three studs, Mark Teahen, John Buck, and Mike Wood.  With Wood no longer in the Royals, Buck proving he is not a major league catcher, and Teahen potentially heading to Cleveland, the Royals and their fans got stuck with nothing for one of the best center fielders in baseball.  If you recall, the KC was in negotation talks with other teams, including the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees for the Beltran sweepstakes.  The talks with the Red Sox were for acquiring Kevin Youkilis (then a third baseman) and catcher Kelly Shoppach.  The Yankees countered with Robinson Cano and Dioner Navarro.  Instead of cornerstone players like Youkilis and Cano, the Royals get Franklin Gutierrez.  Gutierrez hit .248 last year, an actual downgrade from Teahen (.255).  Mark Teahen hit .285 in 2007 and .290 in 2006.  Yes Dayton Moore, lets trade Teahen at his lowest trade value.  If Mark Teahen has a bad first half in 2009 then trade him at the deadline.  I think we atleast owe that to him, after all we did trade Carlos Beltran for the guy.  Then we can put all our eggs in the Trevor Crow basket.

Continue reading "What Could Have Been Royals"

Ok dawg fans it’s game day. We got some things to cover so lets get to it. Last week Georgia rolled past vandy in a 24 to 14 victory. Again the Dawgs struggled in the red zone putting points on the board. Freshman kicker Blair Walsh missed a couple gimme field goals but put one through the uprights to seal a 10-point lead late in the 4th. Knowshon had a great day with a career high of 176 yards. You didn’t see any blow out runs down the sideline but the thing about Knowshon is that he is making great runs even if its only for a 2 or 4 yard gain. Sometimes he should be stuffed in the backfield for a loss and he breaks a tackle or spins away and carries it up for a positive gain. As I predicted A.J. Green had another big day exceeding the century mark in receiving yards for the second time this year. A.J. a true freshman leads the sec in receiving yards. This guy is a great weapon lets continue to inflict pain with him.

Continue reading "Vandy Wrapup LSU Pre-game !"

A big thanks to everyone who participated in the "Inbound Link Contest".  We have a winner!  A big congratulations go out to Marija.  Thank you for all your hard work on this.  While we had a lot of people participate, Marija was able to win with only 4 links!  So it wouldn't have taken a lot to win this contest!  We'll be having another contest soon so stay tuned.

Continue reading "Inbound link contest winner announced!"

The air is beginning to clear, now, as the dust settles from both the Chris Angel demolition escape stunt and the major league baseball non-waiver trade deadline... Both of these events proved to be not much ado about anything; despite the hype that promised the World, as we knew it, would be very different, in their aftermath. About the only thing that has changed, today, is the skyline of Clearwater Beach, where the scheduled hotel demolition took place and provided the backdrop for Mr. Angel's latest illusion... As for the latest baseball trading deadline, well it was mostly a case of the more things changed, the more they stayed the same...

Continue reading "American League Trading and Demolition Limited"

    For the third time in a week, the Mets showed some moxie last night in winning convincingly the day after a disconcerting loss.  First, it was John Maine's solid performance against the Phillies the day after the bullpen blew Johan Santana's eight-inning gem.  Then, it was Santana going the distance to conserve the worn out bullpen the day after the five-hour, 14-inning loss to St. Louis.  And last night Oliver Perez fought through six innings, allowing just the one first-inning run, after the bullpen blew an eighth-inning lead on Monday.  David Wright gave the Mets an early lead with an RBI double in the first and Carlos Beltran put New York ahead with a rare two-out RBI single in the sixth.  Carlos Delgado jacked a two-run homer in the eighth for insurance, and Heilman pitched two scoreless innings for the hold, before Billy Wagner tossed a perfect ninth for his 27th save.

Continue reading "Heilman Holds Perez's Lead, Delgado Puts it Away"

The Detroit Tigers did their best Kimbo Slice impersonation Monday night when they manhandled the Kansas City Royals 19-4 in Kansas City. The Tigers used a 10 run eighth to propel themselves to their third 19 run game of the season. According to Elias Sports Bureau that last team to do that was the 1950 Boston Red Sox. The team that was projected to score close to 1000 runs at the beginning of the season is starting to come into form. And that should be a scary thing for not just teams in the AL Central, but for the entire league. Miguel Cabrera went 5-6 with 6 RBI's while Matt Joyce was just a double away from a cycle going 4-6 with 5 RBI's. All this damage came at the hands of a team who had dominated the Tigers in their previous encounters earlier in the season. The Royals entered this game with a 6-0 record against Detroit in the 08 campaign. Also the Tigers did this with arguably their best hitter Magglio Ordonez out of the lineup. On the pitching side of things the Tigers got an incredible start from Zach Miner. He was making his first major league start since April 2007. Sandwiched in between those two starts were 32 relief appearances. Zach threw 6 shutout innings giving up 3 hits and one walk while striking out another. He gave a sleek start that should give confidence to the Tigers organization that they have finally found their guy to be the fifth starter in the rotation. The number one overall pick in the 2006 draft Luke Hochevar started the game for the Royals giving up 8 hits and 7 earned runs in 5 innings. Believe it or not he did not have the worst line of the game for the Kansas City pitching staff. That belonged to Jimmy Gobble who walked 4, gave up 7 hits and 10 earned runs in just one inning! It was a night that he would soon like to forget.

Continue reading "Tigers Blast Royals 19-4"

http://mysportsrumors.com/blog/2008/07/21/the-pittsburgh-swap-mar 

Every playoff contender in baseball seems to be calling the Pittsburgh Pirates, looking for an upgrade for their playoff push. The Pirates have numerous players that interest those contenders, in this article we’re going to talk about five of those guys. Those that have been drawing the most interest are Xavier Nady, Jason Bay, Jack Wilson, John Grabow and Damaso Marte.

Continue reading "The Pittsburgh Swap Market"

To try and motivate our bloggers to get inbound links we're going to have a contest to see which blogger can get the most inbound links to their blog. The contest begins now and ends July 31st, 2008. To be entered in to the contest all you have to do is go out and get as many websites to link to your blog as you can and at the end of the month send us an email listing all those links. All links must be active from August 1st through August 7th when we'll be judging the entries - a winner will be announced on August 7th. All entry emails must be received by Midnight on July 31st, 2008. You can email them to sportsfan@nbabasketballonline.com

Continue reading "Inbound link contest - Win $100!"

Brendan Harris, moved from third to short to replace the injured Nick Punto, continued to swing a hot bat to lead the Twins over the Tigers on Saturday, 6-5.

Harris went three for three, homered and drove in four runs to lead the Twins, who have won three straight over Detroit after being swept at Fenway Park in Boston.

Continue reading "Twins top Tigers again"

As promised, Ill continue to trapeze my way through all 15 American League clubs, stopping and giving credit where credit is due to the biggest blood-suckers in the game-- the All-Underachievers.

Continue reading "All-Underachieving Squad (cont.)"

Many Twins fans were probably thinking "Here we go again" when the Twins fell behind Thursday.

The Twins were down 6-2 to a tough Tigers team playing at home. I heard the scored on the radio and thought, "Oh, no, they're going to be out of the race before long."

Continue reading "Gut check for Twins"

"And no ones gonna save you from the beast about strike you know its thriller, thriller night". Those are the words sung by yes the crazy man himself Micheal Jackson in his hit song Thriller

Continue reading "Tigers 8 Indians 6....What a Thriller!"

Jamie Burke is a team player. He proved that yesterday. Not only does he never complain that he is the #3 Catcher on the active roster, he is willing to play wherever needed to help the team. Even Pitcher.

Continue reading "Jamie Burke: Man Of The Hour...Bedard: ..."

The series against the Tigers began badly for the Twins, losing a close one. But they took the final two games in the series, taking the finale in a laugher.

Nick Blackburn pitched seven innings of three-hit ball, and Jesse Crain and Boof Bonser completed the shutout against a team that had been hitting above .300 lately.

Continue reading "Twins cage Tigers, win 7-0"

Should this really be a surprise? After all, didn't the NBA Players' Union file a grievance after the Golden State Warriors tried to void the rest of their contract with Latrell Sprewell? You remember: Spree was angry at new head coach P.J. Carlesimo's telling him to "put some mustard on those passes" and subsequently grabbed Carlesimo twice around the neck.

Continue reading "As expected, MLB players union files ..."

Twins fans should breathe a sign of relief. They proved Tuesday that they can beat the Tigers.

How often? We'll find out.

Craig Monroe's three-run homer in the fourth inning was the biggest blow in the game. Monroe played several years for the Tigers and had plenty of motivation for this series against the team that gave up on him.

Continue reading "Twins tame Tigers"

You can't ask starter Glen Perkins to do more than he did. Against the potent Tigers, he allowed just two runs in six and one third innings.

But the bullpen let the team down, giving up three runs as Detroit came back to win, 5-4. It was a tough loss that put the Twins two and a half behind the White Sox, who beat Cleveland, and only two and and a half over the Tigers.

Continue reading "Bullpen lets Twins down"

I know that most people consider the All-Star break the mid-season point in the baseball season but it's not so let's get right to it.

(Before I start I should say, other then my mid-season awards, I will not be talking about the NL.  There is not a team in the NL right now that can beat the Red Sox, Rays, Yankees or Angels in the World Series.  I'll get back to you if a team, mainly the Cubs, makes a nice trade to improve their team.)

Continue reading "Mid-Season Report"

Tough to top the Cubs' huge win against their intercity rival Friday.

Late homers by Aramis Ramirez, one in the seventh and the winner in the ninth, proved decisive in the 4-3 win. Kerry Wood pitched the ninth to get the win.

Continue reading "Cubs come back to tear Sox"

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/822239/mlb_why_the_detroit_tigers_will_win.html?cat=14

Check out my article listed above:

I truly do believe that the Tigers will comeback to win the World Series!  8 wins out of the last 9 games, the team is getting healthy with Rodney, Zumaya, and Sheffield comming back! 

Continue reading "Why The Detroit Tigers Will Win the World Series"

Looking at the offensive league leaders in both leagues, the N.L. should kick the A.L.’s butt in this year’s All-Star game.  The Senior Circuit should defeat the Junior Circuit and claim Home-Field Advantage in the World Series for the first time since it became the winning team’s prize in 2003.  Josh Hamilton is an incredible player, but there’s no way he can carry the American League All-Stars against a National League team boasting guys with names like Berkman, Chipper, and Utley.

Continue reading "This year’s All-Star Game should be no contest"

The Twins must wish the Nationals were in the AL Central so they could play them more often. The Twins win Wednesday night, 11-2, with good games from starter Kevin Slowey, center fielder Carlos Gomez, and the MM boys, Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau.

Continue reading "Twins swat Nats again"

Last winter the Florida Marlins put the slugging third baseman Miguel Cabrera on the market, fearing they wouldn’t be able to afford him when it came time to show him the money. In return for such talent, the Marlins demanded top prospects or young big-leaguers. The Dodgers, among other teams, balked at the prospect of giving up players such as Matt Kemp, James Loney or Clayton Kershaw. The Detroit Tigers, however, did not, acquiring Cabrera and pitcher Dontrelle Willis for five prospects, including Cameron Maybin, Burke Badenhop and Andrew Miller.

Continue reading "Dodgers Lose to Tigers, Make Yesterday's ..."

Mariners fans experienced another failed experiment by Mastermind and GM Bill Bavasi on Sunday night, watching Carlos Silva get shelled by the Tigers for 7 ER in 2/3 of an inning. After receiving a 4 year, $48 million contract in December, Silva has been horrible recently. In his last six starts, Silva is 0-5 with an 11.00 ERA. Though he did show promise at the outset of the season, a player doesn't earn $14 million a year by showing potential. The thing is, all Silva has produced over his career has been potential and just as much disappointment. He has only had two winning seasons as a starter, and his last two years with the Minnesota Twins he had an ERA of 5.94 and 4.19 respectively. How does a player like this end up getting the second biggest free agent pitcher contract last offseason? Easy, Bill Bavasi. But Silva isn't the only one cashing in on Bavasi's shopping spree, overpaid players have littered the M's roster in recent years.

Continue reading "The Genius of Bill Bavasi"

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"

I was really excited coming into this baseball season - the Detroit Tigers were perhaps one of the most hyped teams entering the season.  The trade for Miguel Cabrera was supposed to be huge and the Tigers had made several other offseason acquisitions geared towards giving the team the offensive push to be a real contender.  Then the season opened... opened to a sweep by the Kansas City Royals.

Continue reading "They're not Tigers at the end of ..."

The Mariners just keep on giving. They give until it hurts and lately it has been hurting a lot. Taking their generosity on the road, the Mariners have engaged in a tour of their fellow bottom feeders. Their first stop was Detroit, home of the stupid, giant plastic tiger. The team that dwells under that tiger has not fared so well this season. After bloating its payroll to NY/Boston proportions all they have to show for it is last place in the AL Central. This proves two things, baseball, like the rest of the country, is not recession proof and Leyland works better with a small budget. Still, the Mariners made these guys look like shades of the ’06 season.

Continue reading "Mariners Take the Tigers off the ..."

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