Number 5 All-Time Tigers First Baseman

5. Tony Clark Years of Service: 1995-2001
.277 avg 33HR 108RBI--- 1 time All-Star, 3rd place AL RoY

When I started this list I figured Clark would be on it but I did not expect him to end up this high. He had three seasons of over 30 homers and might have won the Rookie of the Year award if it wasn't for this Derek Jeter guy.

AL Power Rankings

1. New York Yankees (33-23) 4-2 last week
2. Boston Red Sox (33-24) 4-2 last week
3. Texas Rangers (33-23) 3-3 last week
4. Detroit Tigers (30-25) 2-4 last week
5. Toronto Blue Jays (32-27) 3-3 last week


6. Tampa Bay Rays (29-29)
7. La Angels (28-27)
8. Seattle Mariners (28-29)
9. Minnesota Twins (28-30)
10. Oakland A's (25-30)
11. Chicago White Sox (26-30)
12. Kansas City Royals (24-32)
13. Cleveland Indians (25-34)
14. Baltimore Orioles (24-33)

Top Ten All-time Detroit Tigers Firstbasemen

10. Carlos Pena Years of Service: 2002-2005
.244 avg. 28 HR 80 RBI

Pena was one of three players the Tigers received for trading Jeff Weaver and was hailed as the Tigers first baseman of the future. Pena showed good pop, but not enough to justify his low batting average and high strike out rate.

9. Dale Alexander Years of Service: 1929-1932
.331 avg 17 HR 126 RBI

Alexander posted the highest average of the players I looked at and his RBI numbers are up there as well.

8. Jason Thompson Years of Service: 1976-1980
.256 avg 26 HR 93 RBI--- 2 time All-Star

Thompson was a young slugger who was named an All-Star when he was only 22 and 23. The Tigers traded him for Al Cowens and first base became a revolving door until the acquisition of Darrell Evans. (1984)

7. Miguel Cabrera Years of Service: 2008- present
.307 avg 36 HR 126 RBI

Cabbby has only been in Motown for just over a season but his numbers make him impossible to leave off this list. All ready considered one of the best pure hitters in the league he is only 26 and about to enter his prime. He also led the AL in homers last year. (2008) The longer he stays in Detroit, the higher up this list he will move

6. Darrell Evans Years of Service: 1984-1988
.238 avg 31 HR 90 RBI--- AL East Champ 1987, WS Champ 1984

Evans came to Detroit late in his career but still put up solid numbers. The power hitting lefty led the AL in homers with 40 in 1985.

That Series Sucked!!

Game 1 Boston 5 Tigers 1
Matsusaka had stunk it up, right until we faced him of course. Porcello was OK, but the hitting was pathetic especially with RISP (2-11)

Game 2 Boston 10 Tigers 5
Lots of runs, explosion for the Red Sox. Tigers didn't get anything going until they were down 10 runs.

Game 3 Boston 6 Tigers 3
Tigers got up 3-0 right off the bat, then the Red Sox took advantage of Dontrelle's inability to hit the strike zone (damn, not good at all). Also, Miguel Cabrera injured his hamstring.


Just a brutal series, absolutely terrible in just about every faze of the game. The good news is that we have Verlander and Edwin Jackson the next 2. MOMENTUM IN BASEBALL IS AS GOOD AS THE NEXT DAYS STARTING PITCHER.

Number 1 All-Time Tigers Catcher

1. Bill Freehan Years of Service: 1963-1976

.262 18 HR 69RBI--- 1968 WS Champ, 11 Time All-Star, 5 Gold Gloves

Freehan is the Tigers career leader in most stats for catchers and was a rock behind the plate for 15 seasons. Freehan was also top ten in MVP voting 3 times.

Number 2 All-Time Tigers Catcher

2. Lance Parrish Years of Service: 1977-1986
.263 avg 30 HR 99 RBI--- 1984 WS Champ, 6 time All-Star, 5 Silver Sluggers, 3 Gold Gloves

"Big Wheel" was an integral part of the Tigers for 10 years, including the 1984 "Bless you Boys" World Series Champions. A big, power hitting righty who was proficient behind the plate as well, he set a standard that many hold a catcher to.

Number 3 All-Time Tigers Catcher

3. Mickey Cochrane Years of Service: 1934-1937
.313 avg. 6 HR 78 RBI--- 1934 AL Champ, 1935 WS Champ, 1934 AL MVP, 2 time All-Star

Cochrane came to Detroit late in his Hall of Fame career but still made a significant impact here. He served as player/manager all four years he was a Tiger.

AL Power Rankings

1. New York Yankees (29-21)
A-Roid's return to the line-up has sparked the Bronx Bombers. Not only has he been raking but so has Mark Teixeira. The pitching staff is starting to come around also but still needs help.






2. Texas Rangers (30-20)
Best record in the AL, but only 7-6 since our last power rankings. Middle of the pack in most pitching categories. Simply put, they have an amazing, mainly home-grown line-up.






3. Detroit Tigers (28-21)
The Tigers offense has been slightly disappointing so far this year but the pitching staff has made up for that. The Tigers staff ranks first in the AL in ERA, BAA, and OPS. Verlander leads the majors in strikeouts and Edwin Jackson is second to Greinke in ERA for AL pitchers.





4. Boston Red Sox (29-22)
Somehow the Sox keep winning with some of the worst starting pitching in the bigs. (5.24 ERA for their starters) Its never a good sign when Tim Wakefield leads your team in ERA with a stellar 4.55. Youkilis (1.150 OPS) and Bay(15 HR & 49 RBI) are raking, and if Big Papi ever gets going... LOOK OUT.



5. Toronto Blue Jays (29-24)
Once the top team in our rankings they have lost 10 of 12 and are now in third place in the AL East. Injuries have decimated their pitching staff and caused the Jays to use 10 different starters this season. Roy Halladay is still a beast.







6. LA Angels (25-24)-- Only other AL team over .500
7. Chicago White Sox (24-25)-- 7-3 in their last 10 including a 5-2 road trip
9. Minnesota Twins (25-27)-- Justin Morneau in putting up MVP numbers.
10. TB Rays (25-28)-- David Price is up to the bigs. Can he spark the defending champs?
11. Seattle Mariners (24-27)-- Ichiro hit .377 in May
12. Baltimore Orioles (23-28)-- Good, young line-up just added #1 prospect Matt Weiteirs
13. KC Royals (23-27)-- Zach Greinke... Enough said
14. Cleveland Indians (22-30)-- Imagine if they had not gone 7-3 in their last 10
15. Oakland A's (19-29)-- P. A. thetic

Jackson and Verlander even series with Orioles

Justin Verlander shut em down on Saturday

Edwin Jackson shut em down on Sunday

Fernando Rodney got saves in both games and is now 10/10

This is the pitching that has the Tigers in first place. Don't get me wrong, we have our doubts with certain guys....Galarraga/Willis/Bondo

But, for now I will argue that our 1/2/3 starters are as good as any

Porcello has been nothing short of amazing this season, and he is following up two of the top pitchers in the league.

*on Sunday Granderson hit another HR (13), and Magglio ended his 16 game hitting streak.

Number 4 All-Time Tigers Catcher

4. Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez Years of Service: 2004-2008
.281 avg. 16 HR 80RBI--- AL Champ 2006, 4 time All-Star, 3 Gold Gloves, 1 Silver Slugger

While many fans complained about Pudge, his contribution to baseball in Detroit can't be denied. Signed as a free agent in 2004, he was the first big name to come to the Tigers and helped start the current resurgence.

Number 5 All-time Tigers Catcher

5. Birdie Tebbetts Years of Service: 1936-1942, 1946
.260 4 HR 64RBI--- Two time All-Star, 1940 AL Champ

Tebbetts was a player with average talent who out-worked everybody else and devoted his life to baseball. He cut three years out of the prime of his career and missed the Tigers WS championship in 1945 by serving in World War II. Solid defensively and a fan favorite at every stop in his career, he went on to play, manage, and scout for nearly 60 years.

Not So Fast Mr. Willis

Well,

Dontrelle went to the mound Friday Night. Tigers fans were looking forward to seeing him perform again.

Today was not that day.

TIGERS KILLER Luke Scott hit a Grand Slam, plus another Home Run. It is absolutely amazing how much better he plays versus Detroit.

There is always tomorrow, and lets hope it's better than today was (or yesterday for that matter)

Top 10 All-time Detroit Tiger Catchers (6-10)

When taking a look at players and ranking them it is important to have some ground rules. These rankings are based only on the players years as a Tiger. Other factors include statistical production (obviously) per 162 games (that is the listed stats), team success, and awards won. So here we go...

10. Mike Heath Years of Service: 1986-1990

.268 avg. 12 HR 51RBI--- AL East champ 1987

Acquired mid-season in 1986, Heath platooned with youngster Matt Nokes to backstop the Tigers to the AL East crown in 1987. Heath was a versatile player who played every non-pitching position in 1987.

9. Ray Hayworth Years of Service: 1926-1938
.248 avg. 1 HR 58RBI--- AL Champ 1934, WS Champ 1935

Hayworth was an eight year starter before the Tigers acquired Hall of Fame catcher Mickey Cochrane, who he backed-up in 1934 and 1935.

8. Johnny Bassler Years of Service: 1921-1927
.308 avg. 0 HR 66RBI

Bassler is one of only two players on this list to have a career batting average above .300. His lack of power (1 career HR) is offset by his solid RBI numbers and the above average defense that he played.

7. Matt Nokes Years of Service: 1986-1990

.268 avg. 25 HR 78 RBI--- AL East Champ 1987, 1 time All-Star, 1 Silver Slugger

Nokes platooned with Mike Heath to backstop the Tigers to the AL East crown in 1987. Nokes was a power hitting lefty who finished third in AL rookie of the Year voting in 1987.

6. Mickey Tettleton Years of Service: 1991-1994
.249 avg. 32 HR 95RBI--- 1 time All-Star, 3 Silver Sluggers

Tettleton helped form the core of some of the Tigers most prolific home run hitting teams. While his batting average was low, he walked alot to give him a Tiger career OBP of .389 which is very comprable to the others on this list.

Tigers Go Down in Series Opener

The Baltimore Orioles may be a last place team, but they have some talent. Their lineup is tough from top to bottom, and has a lot of speed and power. The one problem is their pitching staff, but in the last week they have had 3 youngsters come up from AAA and show they have some real good young talent coming up. They will also call up the #1 prospect in baseball (according to some) on Friday (catcher Matt Wieters).

The Tigers were bad today.

The offense stunk, they left guys stranded on 3rd in back to back innings with less than 1 out.

Galarraga was definitely better, but still made too many bad pitches. The Orioles made sure that they capitalized on those mistakes.

The Tigers send Dontrelle to the mound Friday night, and they will need a better overall team performance.

Orioles 5 Tigers 1

First Place Tigers Win Series

The Tigers behind their Rookie Starting Pitcher Rick Porcello beat the Royals today. Josh Anderson led off for Detroit, and started 4 for 4 from the plate and stole another base. Miguel Cabrera hit his 10th Home Run in the 2nd inning, and the Tigers rolled from there.

Porcello threw another quality start, 6 innings and only 2 earned runs. This was his 6th win in the young season, and he looks to a very promising future.

The Tigers move to 5 games up in the loss column and have a nice hold on top of the Central.

The Pitching was strong all series, and only the all mighty Zach Greinke could slow down the Tigers.

Rubber Game Wednesday

Long day for BL, so I will make this short.

Both team's Aces got the job done, Game 3 decides the series between the 1st place Tigers an the 2nd place Royals.

The Tigers Through the 40 Game Mark

Sparky Anderson seems to get credit for it around here, maybe because he had a team go 35-5 through 40 games, but the 40 game mark is where MLB Managers say they can tell you about their team. By the 40 game mark a fan, a coach, a team should all know what they got.

Going into the season I thought the Tigers would be in trouble. This was because of 2 major problems.

1. Starting Pitching
2. Bottom 4 Hitters

Both have been great. The Starting Pitching has been as good or better than any team in the MLB. The bottom 4 led by Brandon Inge and the SS combo of Santiago/Everett has also played well above expectations.

Through 40 game the Tigers sit at 24-16, 8 games above .500, the only team in the Central Division with a winning record. 4.5 games ahead of the second place Royals.

Even better their is a multitude of positives.

- Joel Zumaya looks to have his arm from a couple years ago, and has walked 1 batter all year
- Fernando Rodney is yet to blow a save
- Justin Verlander is the hottest pitcher in the AL not named Greinke
- Edwin Jackson has a stud arm, can go deep into games
- Brandon Inge's off-season adjustments have proven to be amazing
- There actually is a chance that Dontrelle and Bondo will contribute
- Perry and Porcello both actually look to belong in the Majors
- The Central Division has proven to be weak, and the White Sox lost out on SP Peavy
- Granderson and Cabrera are studs, Cabrera MVP Caliber
- Zach Miner has done a ton to help this team
- The players who have been called up have been awesome
- After a slow start the defense has picked up
- The Tigers actually have some speed

Even with all that, there still are some question marks

- Armando Galarraga, what is he? Lately terrible
- Will Dontrelle continue to Win games, or be back in Toledo?
- How many games will Leyland allow Brandon Lyon to lose?
- Maggs and Guillen look old and slow, not hitting either, will they return to form?
- Will the division leader stay near .500?
- Our Catchers are hitting under .200, will they get to a reasonable .240?
- Can Big Marcus Thames contribute, DH versus LHP?


The Tigers have put themselves into tremendous shape. They are miles ahead of the other teams in the Central. There still is a lot to prove even with what we have done so far. We need to show that we can beat the best teams in the AL, the Boston, NYY, LAA, Tampa Bays and Torontos of the world.

The Tigers were able to pretty much avoid the cold weather this year which I believe is an underrated part of our start. The past two seasons the Tigers have started very poorly, and have played terrible when the temperature was below 50 degrees. This season we played in a grand total of 2 cold weather baseball games, and those were two of our worst games of the season. I know we live in Michigan, but I believe the 40 degree days are behind us.

Some Tigers grades through 40

Verlander: B+, A+ as of late
Edwin Jackson: A-, an absolute steal for Matt Joyce
Rick Porcello: B, if he keeps this up it will be an A+ considering he is 20
Armando Galarraga: C, great start, terrible lately.
Dontrelle Willis: N/A, last game was best game of Tigers season in my books

Brandon Lyon: D, terrible. I feel uncomfortable every time he is on the mound.
Ryan Perry: B, too many walks. His 2-seamer is almost unhittable.
Bobby Seay: B, I know he has been bad as of late. But for a month he was A+.
Fernando Rodney: A+, I know he has given up runs at times, but he is 8/8.

Granderson: A-, average low, every other part of game amazing
Polanco: C, still good, needs to get average above .300
Magglio: D+, I feel his hitting coming. June will be good month for Ordonez
Cabrera: A++, MVP candidate. Big hits, tremendous average, good power numbers.
Guillen: F, Cannot find a spot for him in the field, and wasn't hitting before DL stint.
Inge: A-, been the biggest shocker for me on team, Great D and power hitting.
Laird: B+, I know he hasn't been hitting, but Catchers get credit for Pitching too.
Santiago/Everett: A++, after first week being bad for AE, rest has been near perfect for combo.
Anderson/Thomas/Raburn: A, can't expect anymore from young gun OF.

It's amazing how much this team has proved they are not what people thought before the season. Comerica Park is going to have a lot of people there come summer time. The Wings are almost done, and then the FIRST PLACE TIGERS will be the only show in town.

Setting up a great summer in the D, and a playoff run again.

GO TIGERS!!!

What a Series

Come in facing off against a Rangers team that had won 7 straight.

3 days in a row, 3 dominating Starting Pitching performances.

Clutch plays on defense i.e. the double play to end the game to save it for Rodney

Clutch hits i.e. Granderson's HR, or Cabrera's 2 out single to get the lead back for the Tigs.

This team is playing hell of good ball right now, and we are going into a series now versus a National League team that is really down on themselves right now.

best things from the Rangers series

5. 3 straight against #2 team on BL's Power Rankings

4. Granderson and Inge displaying their power some more

3. Wilkin Ramirez adding to the list of Mudhens that have contributed.

2. Justin Verlander showing he is an ace, maybe even a top end Ace.

1. DONTRELLE M_______ F_________ Willis!!!!!!!!!!

This Team Might Just Be.....

Pretty Damn Good

That's right. I am going back on my prediction already. Sorry guys, I am not one to FLIP FLOP. But I am one to admit when I was wrong, and at this point I think I was wrong.

Too much pitching right now for the Tigers not to be good.

Verlander goes out again and dominates. His 8 Ks from today seems like nothing, that's a heck of a total.

Cabrera is still hitting at a ridiculous pace, and the offense is producing with a bunch of Mudhens in the lineup.

5 in a row.

Damn great day to be a Tigers' fan.

Tigers 5 Rangers 3

*thats 10 losses in a row for the Rangers at Comerica Park.

That a Boy Dontrelle!!!!!

What a day for the Tigers.

What an even better day for Dontrelle Willis.

The hottest team in baseball comes to town, and 5 pitchers combine to 1 Hit them. Wow.

Dontrelle Willis gets his first W as a Detroit Tiger.

6 and 1/3 inning pitched for Dontrelle only giving up 1 hit, and 2 BB. ZERO Runs against.

Please take this into your next start. Lets GO TIGERS!!!.

TIGERS 4 RANGERS 0

AL Power Rankings

1. Toronto Blue Jays (26-14)
Halladay now has 8 wins, thats pretty sick at this point in the year. They have a run differential of +59 (2nd place is +31 DET) 28 runs better than the next best team in the AL. The talk was about the Rays, Yanks, and Sox, but may turn into the Jays.

2. Texas Rangers (23-14)
The Rangers have won 7 straight, taking them up from 6 to 2 in the BL Sports Power Rankings. Everyone knows about the Rangers powerhouse lineup, but in their 7 game winning streak it has been the arms. The Rangers pitchers have allowed 3 runs or less in 5 of the 7 games in their win streak.

3. New York Yankees (20-17)
The Yankees are starting to roll. A-rod is back and the offense is getting going. Jonny Damon is hitting like crazy, and with power. XBH in 10 of 11 games. When/if the pitching gets going watch out. Current team ERA of 5.30 is 12th in the AL.

4. Boston Red Sox (22 -16)
The Red Sox are currently treading water, and benched David Ortiz this week. Jason Bay is on a tear with 11 Homers and 40 RBIs, but the Sox pitching is giving up 5 runs a game. Not good enough to make the playoffs that much is for sure.

5. Detroit Tigers (20-16)
The Tigers were swept by the Twins losing two heartbreaking games, and then swept the A's over the weekend. The pitching has been great, but Galarraga has the Tigers nervous. The bats have been hot all over the lineup but the likes of Magglio, Guillen, and Laird all need to get going.







6. Tampa Bay Rays (19-20) Riding the insane bat of MVP candidate E Longoria
7. Kansas City Royals (20-18) Had a rough week, but still have the unhittable Greinke
8. LA Angels (18-18) Got swept by divisional foe Texas, Lackey threw 2 pitches in 1st start
9. Seattle (18-20) Another victim of the Rangers, swept early in the week by them
10. Minnesota Twins (18-20) Not getting people out, not scoring runs. Still near .500
11. Baltimore Orioles (16-22) Adam Jones and Markakis form one of the best AL OF Pairings
12. Oakland A's (13-21) Looked like a minor league team over the weekend vs DET
13. Chicago White Sox (15-21) Worst hitting team in AL. Not like the normal Sox
14. Cleveland Indians (14-25) Looks like they really are the worst team in AL

We Won.....but we might just have a problem

Armando Galarraga for whatever reason, has been absolutely awful in his last 4 starts, and that is not good considering I thought he was going to be good for 15 wins. Teams are pounding him, knocking him all around Comerica Park.

Today he didn't make it an inning. 2 outs, 5 runs, 4 hits and 3 walks later he was on the bench. Thank goodness for some offense and some great bullpen work, Zach Miner was a stud today.

The Tigers fell behind 6-0 and it looked very bad.

In the 3rd inning though with 2 outs the Tigers rallied for 4 runs behind triples by Josh Anderson and Ramon Santiago. Two innings later Santiago would hit a 3-run job giving the Tigers their first lead.

From that point on the Tigers would control the game versus the struggling A's team. CG would add his 10th HR of the season, and the bullpen would shut down Oakland.

Tigers prevail, and sweep the weekend series 3 games to none.

Tigers 11 A's 7

Porcello, Stay Put

For weeks now, there have been rumors of a Willis or a Bonderman, or even both coming up to the Tigers. The talk was that Porcello would most likely be heading to AAA. At this point, that wouldn't make a whole lot of sense. He has come out and gave the Tigers a chance to win almost every time out.

Porcello's combination of fastball, curveball, sinker, and slider is the stuff that great starters are made of. Most young pitchers come up and try and throw their fastball past MLB hitters and it just does not work, this Tigers' rookie is a step ahead.

Porcello gave the Tigers 6 more good innings Saturday (1 ER 5 Ks). The offense did the rest. Cabrera once again raked, 4 RBIs worth. Ryan Raburn has been reading BL Sports and is quite pissed, so he decided to hit a 3-run HR the day after hitting a GS in the first inning.

Tigers 9 A's 1

For Those Who Complained About Pudge

There were many, many Tigers fans in past few years that complained that their Catcher Ivan Rodriguez either struck out too much, or swung at too many bad pitches (high pitches usually), or what have you.

The thing was he still hit over .290 as a Tiger catcher. Well lets for comparison's sake look at the catchers of the Tigers now.


Starting Catcher Gerald Laird is 17-87 (.195)
Backup Dane Sardinha is 1-16 (.063)
Misty May Treanor went 0-13 (.000 lol)

That puts us at 18-116 for a mammoth average of .155 on the season at Catcher.

In the Month of May, Tigers catchers are 2-42 (.048), Laird is 1-28 and Sardinha is 1-14.

Just because it needs to be mentioned in this article Pudge is hitting .283 with 4 HR for the Houston Astros this season.

Rain, Rain, Go Away...PLEASE!

The Tigers would have to wait an hour before the game would start due to rain in the Detroit area. When the rain slowed the Tigers got off to a hot and fast start Friday night, it was just a matter of whether or not the game was even going to count.

Ryan Raburn (AKA the worst player in the majors this season) hit a Grand Slam on a 2-2 pitch in the 1st inning, as part of a 5 run first. Then they would score 2 runs in the third, and 2 runs in the 4th before the rain came again. In Major League Baseball you have to go 5 full innings to have a game count. The score was 9-1 and after an hour I was starting to wonder if this game was going to count. Luckily, it did about 80 minutes later.

Edwin Jackson, who has been unlucky in the W-L department this season came out, most thought to try and get 3 outs, get his W and go to the bench. He did well enough though in the 5th, and felt good enough to go 3 full. He went 7 innings, giving up 6 hits, 0 BB, and had 6 K's. His season ERA is now 2.42. How's Matt Joyce doing (in AAA)?

Brandon Inge would follow up Raburn's Slam with one of his own in the 6th. That would mark the first time since 1968 the Tigers would hit 2 Grand Slams in one game (Northrup hit 2 that day).

Tigers 14 A's 1
The race to 22-18 is still going strong, that would mark a good enough start not to firesale (I think)

Ouch Bullpen, Ouch

Verlander looks unhittable for 6 innings. Bullpen gives up 5 run lead.

Justin Verlander had 13 Ks in 6+, and the offense had scored 5 runs on Baker, who at times looked like he was also unhittable. Everything was pointing towards a Tigers win, and then came Bobby Seay. Seay had been great up to today, Today however, he got crushed.

Hit after hit, either to the wall, or Joe Crede's (the Tiger killer) broken bat GW blooper. It didn't matter, we just could not get an out.

What a waste of a great start by JV.

That hurt, and we just got swept by a divisional opponent. The final two, just crushing games back to back within 12 hours of each other.

We will need to rebound, and quickly. Oakland comes to town Friday.

AL Power Rankings

1. Toronto Blue Jays (21-12)
Right now, this team is the best team in the American League. Halladay is still Halladay (6 wins), but the hitting has been amazing. The Jays are tops in the AL in both Batting Average, and Batting Average against.



2. Kansas City Royals (18-13)
Every baseball fan knows about Greinke and his 0.51 ERA, but some may not realize the Royals are #1 in the A.L. in quality starts which means the other starters are also producing.



3. Los Angeles Angels (15-14)
The Angels have guys injured all over the place and are still in the AL West race. The Angels and manager Mike Scioscia just play Angels baseball, and that is good enough to win more than not. It looks like another good year out west for the LAA.


4. Boston Red Sox (19 -12)
The hitting has been as good as expected (outside of Papi). But the pitching has been dreadful. Josh Beckett has an ERA of almost 7, and the Sox are in the bottom half of the AL in almost every pitching category.


5. Detroit Tigers (16-13)
The Tigers have had better than expected results from their starting pitchers. Edwin Jackson, Armando Galarraga, and lately Justin Verlander have been outstanding. The hitting has been inconsistent, and Guillen is back on the DL, but if the SP keeps this up they will compete for a playoff spot.




6. Texas Rangers (16-14) need better pitching
7. Tampa Bay Rays (15-17) not quite the Rays from last season
8. NY Yankees (14-16) Going to get better, starting slow
9. Seattle (15-16) on a 6 game skid
10. Chi Sox (14-15) Typical hitting missing, 13th in AL AVG, 12th in runs.
11. Minnesota Twins (15-16) Need a better Liriano
12. Oakland A's (11-17) Not taking advantage of great pitching (2nd in AL in ERA)
13. Baltimore Orioles (13-18) Dreadful pitching (.296 BAA), team lead in Ws is 2.
14. Cleveland Indians (11-20) ERA of almost 6 (last in AL), not hitting well either (.266)

The Catch of a Lifetime

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a catch, wow. GW Catch. Don't here that often, but it was the case. Up 1, Verlander pitches a gem and BAM Grady Sizemore crushed one to the centerfield wall....and CG leaps and grabs the ball. Honestly, one of the best catches of all time (regular season) considering the circumstance. VIDEO AT BOTTOM.

Justin Verlander was not good his first few times out. In his first 4 starts of the season he gave up 21 Earned Runs, and had not won a game yet. In his last 3 games he turned it around, IN A HUGE WAY.

Last 3 games by Justin
7 IP o ER 9 Ks
7 IP 1 ER 11 Ks (only gave up 2 hits)
9 IP 0 ER 11 Ks (2 hits)

Cliff Lee pitched real well for Cleveland but was up against a hot pitcher. The only score for the Tigers offense was on an infield single from Clete Thomas.

Tigers 1 Indians 0

HAROLD REYNOLDS TALKS ABOUT CG'S SEASON AND ESPECIALLY THE CATCH!!!!

Manny Ramirez suspended 50 games

Performance Enhancing Drugs will cost him $8 million dollars

MLB announced today that Manny Ramirez will be suspended 50 games for violating the leagues anti-drug policy.

The Dodgers currently lead the league with a 21-8 record including a 13-0 home record.

Ramirez is hitting .348 with 6 HR and 20 RBI on the season.

New lineup Sparks offense

Anderson leads off, Granderson and Ordonez hit 5 and 6

Carlos Guillen was put on the 15 day DL and Jim Leyland took the opportunity to shake the lineup around. He moved Anderson up to leadoff, CG to the 5 spot, and Ordonez down to the 6 hole.

The Tigers wondered how it would work, well, for one day it worked very well. The Tigers came out early and exploded. After scoring 1 run in the first, the Tigers put a 5 spot up in the 2nd. A Single by Anderson, Double by Santiago, and Triple by Clete Thomas did the damage. In the 4th inning Cabrera and Granderson went back to back to put the Tigers up 9-0, and that would be the final score.

Porcello was on the mound coming off of two bad starts pitched amazing. He may not have needed to be great today, but he definitely was. 7 innings pitched, and only 4 hits allowed.

Tigers 9 Twins 0

*Sidenote: Frederick Alfred Porcello is the Rookie Standouts full name.

Cabrera's Homerun was measured at 440 feet to Left Field. Check out the video by Clicking Here

Need better hitting than this...

The Tigers offense had only 1 hit through 6 2/3 innings, than with a 2-0 count Cabrera smoked a low and inside pitch over the left center field wall. That tied the game, but only for a minute.

Once again the Tigers went scoreless for 5 innings to start the game, this is just too taxing on your Pitching Staff. Jackson started out really strong, only allowing 1 R through 6, but was hit hard in the 7th inning allowing 5 Runs. It probably didn't help that we were DH'ing a minor leaguer (Raburn). The bullpen gave up a couple more, and the game looked uglier than it really was.

Tigers get 4 whole hits, not good enough. Not even close actually.

Twins 7 Tigers 2

Tigers Week That Was.....

Tigers went 3-3 versus Cleveland and the Yankees

The Tigers began the week versus the Yankees. Game 1 was Monday and the Tigers sent Verlander to the mound against C.C. Sabathia and the Yankees.Verlander would pitch a gem, striking out 9 Yankees in 7 innings, and not giving up a run. The Tigers won that game, but lost the next two. Tuesday the Yankees exploded for 10 runs in the 7th in a 0-0 game. Edwin Jackson was once again money, but the bullpen on this day was horrible. Wednesday, in the series deciding game, the Yankees led throughout, and the Tigers 5 run 9th inning was not enough. Porcello was awful on this day.

Friday would be the series opener against divisional foes, the Indians. Galarraga would take his first loss. Like the game prior vs NYY, the Tigers would score 5 runs late, and it still wouldn't be enough. The Tigers would win the next 2 games. Saturday in a great game with many lead changes, and a GW HR by Granderson. Sunday they won behind another stellar effort from Verlander.

The Tigers would finish the week 3-3, and on a 2 game win streak. The starters were strong, and the pen was solid other than the 10 run explosion vs NYY. Rodney, still is yet to blow a save, and CG is a stud.

Weekly Grades:
Hitting: C+ (stayed off the scoreboard for 4+ innings too many times)
Starting Pitching: B+ (Galarraga was bad, others were good to great)
Bullpen: B (Couple bad innings, but still solid)

Overall: B- (3-3 record, too many zeros offensively)

5 most important things from the week that was
1. Verlander, Verlander, Verlander (14 IP, 20 K, 1 ER)
2. CG is a stud
3. Carlos Guillen needs to start hitting
4. Edwin Jackson looks like a steal
5. Too many errors defensively

It Rained,

and then the Tigers offense forgot the game got started back up

Galarraga was not at his best Friday night, and the game was delayed 40 minutes which pitchers hate. That being said, the Tigers hitting has been bad for about a week now. It is very difficult to win games when you go 4-5 innings scoreless day after day.

The Indians scored 4 runs in the 2nd and ended up carrying a 6 run lead for most of the game after that. The Indians starter Carl Pavano had been rocked all season, well, not today. The Tigers would remain scoreless until the 8th inning when they piled on 5 runs, capped by a 3-R HR by slumping Miguel Cabrera. The Tigers would fall a run short as closer Kerry Wood would shut the door on the Tigers in the 9th.

Indians 6 Tigers 5

The Tigers are now 11-11 on the season, which is fine, but it would be nice to get a win on Saturday and Sunday so they don't lose back to back home series.

Let's go boys, Miner takes the hill Saturday afternoon looking to get the Tigers back in the Win Column.

I Am Calling for it NOW!!!

Pretty much since the day Granderson stepped foot on the Comerica Park Field I have said that he is not a leadoff hitter. He just isn't exactly what you want from the leadoff position. He is a gap to gap hitter, and seems to be turning into a possible 30+ HR guy. Granderson needs to move down in the lineup, for a few years it was understandable why he was at the top. We didn't have anyone to move up to the 1 spot. Now we do, and it would be a move that helped the team in a variety of ways. How about this lineup.

1. Anderson LF
2. Polanco 2b
3. Granderson CF
4. Cabrera 1b
5. Ordonez RF
6. Guillen DH
7. Inge 3b
8. Laird C
9. Everett/Santiago SS

To me this balances the lineup better, and it moves speed to the top of the lineup. Now when opposing pitchers are facing the likes of Granderson, Cabrera, Ordonez they will also have to think about the fact that Anderson is on base and might steal on them.

I am not here telling you that Anderson is the next Ricky Henderson, definitely not, this is more based on the fact that I believe that moving Granderson down and letting him knock some more runs in would really benefit this team.

Anyways, I highly doubt Jim will even think of this, but he should.

*Anderson hasn't helped my cause in the past few days with his less than stellar play in the field.

2 days, 2 bad innings

Once again the Tigers lost the game in one bad inning. Today it was the 4th inning. Rookie SP Porcello left a lot of pitches up and over the strike zone tonight and got beat up for it. The yankees scored 7 runs in the 4th to go up 7-1.

The Tigers cut the lead to 8-6 on a 3-run HR in the 9th by Curtis Granderson, but it was too little too late. Bad couple of days for the Tigers. They will need to get over it quickly, and avoid the big innings.

The Yankees were led by Nick Swisher. He hit a HR from both sides of the plate and had 4 RBI for the bad guys.

Yankees 8 Tigers 6

That's a Pretty Bad Inning....

So,

The Tigers struggled at the plate all night. Edwin Jackson was once again money. Lasting 6 scoreless innings. He dropped his ERA on the season to 2.25. The bullpen today let them down, as did the defense. Josh Anderson dropped a fly ball with one out in the 7th with the score still 0-0, and that opened the floodgates.

What seemed like an hour after the dropped ball, the inning ended. At that point the Tigers had gone through 4 relief pitchers and the score was 10-0! Wow.

Ugly inning, wasted performance by Jackson. But, it's baseball. You play almost every day, you play 162 games. Things like this happen, and at some point in the season we will have a game that goes like this in our favor.

Tigers 0 Yankees 11


Porcello hits the mound in Comerica for the first time tomorrow night.

Welcome Back, Justin!

It sure was a nice sight today at Comerica Park. The old Justin Verlander showed up and pitched an outstanding game for the Tigers. Throwing 7+ innings, giving up 7 hits and striking out 9 Yankees.

The Tigers went up 1-0 on a RBI Single by clean-up hitter Miguel Cabrera in the first inning. They would go on to score 3 more in the 6th, 1 on a double by Polanco, and 2 more on a HR by Magglio Ordonez.

The rest of the work would be done by Verlander and his bullpen. Verlander ran into some trouble in the 8th inning, but Bobby Seay came in and saved the day. Seay entered the game with 2 runners on and nobody out. He left after retiring Damon, Texiera, and Matsui and without a run scored. Fernando Rodney was extremely shaky in the 9th, but held on.

Tigers 4 Yankees 2

Tigers Hang On 3-2, Take Division Lead

Brandon Inge and Josh Anderson led the way offensively and SP Armando Galarraga did his job again. The Tigers held the lead from the time Brandon Inge hit his 7th HR of the season in the 2nd inning. Josh Anderson went 3-3 at the plate, and helped manufacture the key third run, stealing a base and then advancing on back to back sacrafices.

Galarraga went 6 innings, only giving up 3 hits, but his control was definitely missing. He issued 5 Base on Balls. Seay, Perry, and Rodney closed the door and the Tigers held on by a run.

The Tigers end the road trip 5-4, mostly out west. Anytime you can head off to Seattle, Anaheim, and the Royals and come back with a better record than you left with, it's a very good thing.

The Tigers now return home for a series against the New York Yankees starting Monday. That series is followed with 3 straight series against divisional opponents. Key two week stretch ahead. Lets get to 22-18, that's my short term goal for this team.

Tigers 3 Royals 2
(10-8 through 18 games)