How much would you pay for a piece of the Tigers' 1984 World Series championship?
Would you pay $5,000?
That's the asking price on eBay for the World Series ring of former Tigers' infielder Doug Baker. As of Wednesday night, there were no bids on the ring, but the auction ends on Friday -- so there's time.
And to think I just spent way more on an engagement ring in the past year. Don't tell my fiance, but I think we know what would have taken precedence had this opportunity rolled around, say, 11 months ago (just kidding, honey). But seriously.
I guess feverishly checking all the couch cushions in the city will have to do.
Grab your Kleenex, Tigers fans. Curtis Granderson will be playing on the other team at 1 PM when the Yankees visit Lakeland to take on the Tigers in a Spring Training game:
Granderson will be on the Yankees' traveling squad for Wednesday's game against the Tigers in Lakeland, Yankees manager Joe Girardi told The New York Times on Monday.
It marks the first of what will be many games between Granderson and his former team. Tigers fans who are still emotionally attached to CG, get it out of your systems now. As I said when the deal first went down, it was the right deal and the Tigers will be better for it. Small sample sizes are the devil, but it's already looking good. Austin Jackson is 7-13 (.538) with a homer, and five walks to just two strikeouts this spring. Meanwhile, Granderson must be doing way too much charity work during the pre-season because he's hitting 1-12 (.081).
I don't mind if Granderson does well at his new home. In fact, in an ideal world, Jackson would do better, the Tigers would win the World Series, and Granderson would still play well, even in losses to the Tigers. However, now that he's an opponent, if him failing altogether means making the Tigers look smarter for dealing him, then I'm sorry, that's where my allegiances lie first and foremost. I hope Granderson all the best in his life, but on the baseball diamond he's now just a dirty Jankee.
Minnesota Twins closer Joe Nathan suffered a torn elbow ligament, which will sideline him for all of the 2010 season. Nathan is coming off a season which he recorded forty seven saves, four of which came at the Tigers expense. He faced Detroit in ten games, allowing just six hits over that span.
I'm not one to generally cheer for someones misfortunes, but I couldn't help but smile when hearing this. Perhaps I'm still bitter over the way last season ended. (I refuse to link to this, as none of us need a reminder of just how that went down.)
For the Twins, the loss will leave them scrambling to find an adequate replacement to fill their bullpen. Apparently one Twins fan is already feeling the pain.
All eyes will be on the debut of Nationals' pitcher, Stephen Strasburg, but the fact remains that his counterpart, Rick Porcello, is pretty doggone good, too. Unfortunately, you'll only get to see them throw a combined 3-5 innings this time around, but it'll have people on the edge of their seats nonetheless.
Tune in to MLB Network at 1 PM EST and not ten minutes later, or you might miss it all.
So the Tigers beat up on some college kids today and the most interesting story I can pull from the box score and random Tweets about the game is this one regarding Zumaya's less than stellar inning of work (HBP, BB, and a hit):
Now, I can't find highlights, and I didn't hear much of anything else regarding this little faux-confrontation, so I can't guarantee any accuracy to a depiction of the encounter, but I have one hell of an imagination. This is how I imagine it went down:
Zumaya throws gas into the middle of some scrawny, Division-2 baseball player's back. I've never been hit by a 100 MPH fastball before (I take 85 MPH off the chest at the cage in preparation for next season's hockey tryouts all the time, but never 100 MPH), so I can't imagine how much it might have hurt. However, I'm sure the kid winced a little, shat his pants, and realized he had to do something to seem really out of the ordinary tough for what just happened to his undies. Naturally, that grand plan was to fake charge the mound.
Zumaya, I'm sure, was getting the ball back, saying a couple quick 'thank yous' to the big man upstairs for not hitting the poor kid in the head and killing him, and thinking about his next guitar hero session. The last thing he probably expected was a 18-22 year old kid to charge the mound. Well, when he saw the kid stutter-step toward him and act like the ump was holding him back, Zumaya probably almost immediately thought back to Porcello taking down Youkilis last season: "little people have crazy strength and I don't want to mess with that one bit. I'm in a lose-lose situation here. If I fight back, I'm a bigger asshole than I already am for getting hurt all the time for having too much fun. If I don't do anything, he takes me down and I'm Kevin Youkilis for the next year of my lyfe. Aw, hell no."
Soooooo....
Zumaya decided to wave like a flirtatious college girl, apologize, and go over to shake the kid's hand. Tonight, the kid's back probably makes him look like a camel, but he's now got a game played against the Tigers, a handshake from Joel Zumaya, and some pride tucked comfortably under his belt with his erection. Good for him. Good for him...
UPDATE:
There's a picture of it! Zoom's afterthoughts: "Did he really just give me the handshake/elbow touch? Who does he think he is? I'm glad I plunked him."
Now that Fernando Rodney is gone, the only smell of grass will be from the freshly cut diamond as the Tigers take the field for the first time in 2010 on Tuesday against the top Division II NCAA team, Florida Southern.
Tuesday's lineup follows [Austin] Jackson with Johnny Damon, Magglio Ordonez, Miguel Cabrera in the cleanup spot, then Carlos Guillen, according to Leyland. Either Don Kelly or Kory Casto will start at third base and bat sixth, followed by Scott Sizemore, Gerald Laird and Adam Everett. Many of Detroit's veteran hitters are expected to bat only once or twice before the reserves enter.
Left-hander Phil Coke is scheduled to start for the Tigers and pitch two innings, followed by two innings each from Eddie Bonine and Enrique Gonzalez. Joel Zumaya, Fu-Te Ni and Cody Satterwhite are all scheduled to pitch an inning.
The game is an excuse for Tigers' legend, Al Kaline, to catch the Tigers and his grandson, Colin, at the same time. Colin, a Birmingham Groves product, is hitting .289 with 5 RBIs through 13 games so far this season. Florida Southern is 13-1.
Joel Zumaya will be giving the college kids keg stand tips after he pitches. And, lastly, let's just hope this game doesn't shatter Eddie Bonine's confidence. 1st pitch is set for 1:05 PM EST. First home run is set for when Miguel Cabrera bats.
As is the case every year, there's been much speculation about who the Tigers 5th starter might be this season. With Opening Day just a little over a month away and spring training games starting in a week, Jim Leyland weighs in:
Jim Leyland said he knows who he wants to be his fifth starter. He just doesn't know his name (yet). "I know it's whoever can get guys out," he said. "I don't care what his name turns out to be."
I still think it'll wind up being Phil Coke, but Nate Robertson has a legitimate shot to regain his old role. As Leyland said, it'll be whoever pitches best in the spring games -- even if it's Chewbacca. I also assume that, as the season rolls on, the guys who lose out in spring training will have plenty of opportunities during spot starts. It's a long season, folks.
Tigers third base coach, Gene Lamont, is much better with his driver than he is as a driver, apparently. During his and Jim Leyland's joint effort in taking down Rick Knapp and Lloyd McClendon in a round of golf, Lamont also managed to drive over Jim Leyland's pinky toe with the golf cart:
Lamont drove the cart over his foot -- and broke Leyland's right little toe. [...]
[...] "I was hoping to say I hit it accidentally with my 9 iron." Leyland said. "Actually, I wasn't going to bring it up at all. ... They're telling me that with the way it feels, it has to be broken."
Leyland needed only a cig and some chocolate milk for recovery. Besides, he's complaining more about his bunions, anyway. Gene, meanwhile, will probably have to ride back seat with the seed bucket for the rest of spring training as punishment.
The All-Star outfielder who once sold his soul to play for the Jankees has reportedly agreed to sign a one-year deal, worth $8 million, with our beloved Detroit Tigers.
The reported deal comes after weeks of speculation and waiting. It looked like a sure thing when Damon said he wanted to play in Detroit after nobody expressed any interest in the ancient defensively deficient player. Then the Braves came out and tried to lowball him, making the Tigers initial offer seem that much more attractive. Then A.J. Pierdoucheski tried to convince Damon that he'd look great with dyed blonde hair after the White Sox offered a deal -- a deal reportedly less than the Tigers, so it seemed like even more of a no-brainer that this Scott Boras client would choose the Tigers. But then Damon's wife complained about Detroit because she's not very smart, and it also seemed as if Boras was trying to milk as much out of the Tigers as he possibly could because he's good at his job.
Which is why the reported one-year, $8 million is a surprisingly great deal for the Tigers. They get out of that ill-advised second year and $6 million guaranteed despite Boras' initial demand for his client.
As I alluded to earlier, the Tigers are getting an all-star outfielder who hit 24 homers last season (although 17 were courtesy of Yankee Stadium's softball dimensions in right). My dog can whip a tennis ball with his neck at more velocity than Johnny Damon's arm can a baseball and he often needs a GPS system to track down fly balls, but he's the steady .280-.300 lefty bat the Tigers have been looking for - especially since trading former lefty leadoff hitter, Curtis Granderson.
Damon has found plenty of success at his new home: He has a .363 BA, .412 OBP, .550 SLG, with 5 HR and 25 RBI during his career at Comerica Park. Let's just hope those numbers are not a result of poor Tigers pitching and he truly feels comfy in the spacious ballpark.
The one major question mark to me is Damon's age. He's 36-years old and obviously, not getting any younger. He had a stellar season at 35, but every year after 32 (usually the tailend of one's prime), in my opinion, is somewhat worrisome. Add in the fact that Damon had such a great year and is coming off winning the World Series, it does make me wonder if he'll suffer a hang over when going to a new team in a bigger ballpark. I also hope his wife isn't a bitch and doesn't make his life in Detroit a living hell.
Last but not least - will Damon be bringing back the caveman look now that he's not with the corporate Janks? He and Magglio would have one hell of a mane-off.
A little less than a week ago, I dropped the bomb on you all that Jim Leyland may have trouble smokin' his 'boro's at Comerica Park because of Michigan's new anti-smoking laws that will come into play May 1. Leyland scoffed at the law, but said he'd try to abide, and may break it occasionally, too.
"I'm not swearing this year. I use my seatbelt all the time and I'm not swearing," Leyland said Friday, needing to correct himself only once.
"And everything is on the record this year, too. If I swear, it's on the record. But if I don't want to talk about something, I just won't answer the question."
Why no swearing?
"Because I swore a lot -- and it doesn't sound good. So, I'm making a conscious effort not to swear that much."
No swearing and wearing your seatbelt? What's next - losing the 'stache? Switching from Bubbalicious to sugarless Trident? Letting Rick Porcello bat cleanup?
Leyland's sort of a legend amongst Major League managers because of his candid interviews, during which he's often eating; being one of the only managers to wear cleats in the dugout, and smoking a pack in the tunnel during the games. If he's repenting from smoking and the cussing, what's left is a pretty normal manager without the Pinella pot belly. That's weak, fucking shit.
Jimmy, never change, baby. Never change. Here, I'll help you break your own rule the easy way: mentioning Jason Grilli.
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The Bloguin Network allows advertisers to promote their products and services to our ever-growing number of visitors. We offer both site-specific ad placements as well as the ability to run a network-wide campaign. If you're interested in working with Bloguin to meet your advertising needs, please contact us.
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