Gloom Returns. Doom to Follow?

Another postseason series, another rainout and another quartet of games in as many days. Oh, and another right-handed slugger shelved – but this one for the season, and possibly for good.

On Saturday the Tigers took Delmon Young off the ALCS roster. Today, right around the time they postponed Game 2, the club announced that Magglio Ordonez had a broken ankle and is done for the year.

Now the Tigers have to play four games in a row – today’s game will be played on Monday in Arlington at 4:20 ET – and, in the meantime, try to find a hitter to replace Magglio on the roster.

Neither is a simple task.

On the bright side, Game 2 starter Max Scherzer gets an additional day of rest, as does a dinged and dented Alex Avila, an offensively befuddled Austin Jackson.

The prevailing wisdom is that the Tigers could withstand the (perhaps temporary) loss of Young. I suppose. But can they absorb the impact of today’s news on Magglio?

If Ryan Raburn can make the mental leap from role player to starting leftfielder in the league championship series, the Tigers might be okay. And if Avila, who had a few decent swings in Game 1, can emerge from his October snooze that would certainly help.

But back to Magglio. Who replaces him on the roster? From what I’ve read on Twitter from those in Arlington you can count out Brennan Boesch, Carlos Guillen (imagine him up there last night against Neftali Feliz) and Clete Thomas (!). Andy Dirks might get more playing time now, but not against the Rangers’ lefties.

Not a pretty picture. But it’s the picture we have to watch.

One thing’s for sure, the pressure on Tigers pitchers just soared. And, for that matter, it did soared for the hitters too.

ALCS Game 1 Rapid Reaction

The Tigers simply can’t deliver when given platinum opportunities to do so. Leaving the bases loaded in the first and fifth innings cost them Game 1 – a game in which they out hit the Rangers.

Other thoughts:

Justin Verlander certainly pitched well enough to win that game. Homeplate umpire Tim Welke had a wildly inconsistent strike zone in the early innings.

How about Ryan Perry? In what could’ve been a disastrous move, Perry was flawless in his inning and two-thirds.

I think we might have witnessed Wilson Betemit’s last at bat as a Tiger. If you’re going to make an out anyway, why not just bunt Ramon Santiago over?

Speaking of Santiago, what a sweet drag bunt to leadoff the ninth.

Is anyone else concerned about Miguel Cabrera’s .250 October batting average?

ALCS Game 1 Pre-Game Grab Bag

When Brennan Boesch was shelved for the year, the Tigers pounced on the opportunity to acquire Delmon Young.

Now that Young will miss the ALCS due to a strained oblique, the Tigers can’t go out and get a bat to replace him on the roster. Nor can they simply slide the eternally convalescing Carlos Guillen into the lineup.

They can – and did – move someone into Young’s spot and who better than Miguel Cabrera? Another option would’ve been Magglio Ordonez but he’s now in the five spot, behind newly placed cleanup man, Victor Martinez.

Not having Young in the starting nine stings, but given the way Magglio’s been hitting and the better-than-average chance Ryan Raburn will heat up in Texas, the Tigers should be in decent, not necessarily great, shape.

What do you think?

[callout title=Tigers vs. Rangers All Time]

2011 Record: 6-3

2011 at Home: 4-2

2011 at Texas: 2-1

All-Time Record: 344-288

All-Time at Home: 183-136

All-Time at Comerica Park: 34-23

All-Time at Texas: 161-152

Justin Verlander vs. Rangers:

In 2011: 0-1, 2.00 ERA, 1 GS, 1 CG, 9.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K

Lifetime: 6-2, 2.31 ERA, 9 GS, 1 CG, 58.1 IP, 47 H, 18 R, 15 ER, 15 BB, 58 K
[/callout]

In other news …

Fox is going to clutter their ALCS broadcasts with some new statistical bling:

Want to know how the Rangers’ Josh Hamilton fares against a 95-mph-plus fastball? The swing-and-miss percentage of hitters against Tigers right-hander Justin Verlander with two strikes? The chances of the Rangers’ Ian Kinsler getting on base on an 2-1 count against Tigers righty Max Scherzer with the score tied in the sixth inning?

FOX will be ready with graphics for all that and more.

You’ve been warned.
Let’s hope we never have to worry about Cabrera playing for the Yankees, but here’s what he told Buster Olney about what it might look like:

The Tigers’ players loved hitting in Yankee Stadium, loved taking batting practice there because of the short porch in right field. For left-handed hitters, the nearby seats in right are an alluring target, and the right-handed hitters loved trying to flip the ball into the stands. In the midst of batting practice before Game 5, Miguel Cabrera — who has steadily hit 30-35 homers a year while playing his whole career in pitchers’ parks in Florida and Detroit — was asked how many home runs he would hit in Yankee Stadium if he were with the Yankees.

“Thirty-five,” he said.

The same number as usual? Why?

Cabrera lifted his hand up to his chest. “They would pitch me in here,” he said. “They would pitch me totally different if I played here. Inside, all the time.”

Some teammates totally disagreed with his assessment, saying that Cabrera would hit another 10-15 homers a year if he played for the Yankees, because his natural swing is to take the ball to right-center field and right field. But once Game 5 started, every Yankees pitcher working to Cabrera tried to throw fastballs inside to him, as he said.
Happy 61st Birthday to Enos Cabell.
On this date in Tigers Postseason History:
- In 1940 with only one day off, Bobo Newsom came back for the Tigers and nearly had enough to win Game Seven of the World Series. The Reds Paul Derringer gave up seven hits in the first six innings but set the Tigers down in order in the final three for a 2-1 win, giving the Reds the Series.
- And in 1945, Stan Hack’s double made a tricky bounce over left fielder Hank Greenberg’s
  shoulder with two outs in the 12th inning to score runner Bill Schuster and gave the Cubs an 8-7 win in Game Six to even the World Series with the Tigers.

Finally, Happy 68th Birthday to Chevy Chase.

Leftovers: Putting a Bow on the ALDS

It’s taken me about 22 hours to regain my regular heart rate but I think I’ve finally settled down.

Was Game 5 the best Tigers game I’ve ever seen? I keep asking myself and I couldn’t decide, mainly because the competition features games with different circumstances and consequences:

1984 ALCS Game 3

Scenario: Tigers ahead of Royals 2-0 in best-of-five
At Stake: Trip to World Series
Result: 1-0 win

1987 Final Weekend

Scenario: Tigers enter weekend one game behind the Blue Jays

Tigers take two of three, force one-game playoff
Blue Jays take two of three, they win A.L. East
Tigers sweep gives them division title

At Stake: A.L. East Title
Result: Tigers sweep

2006 ALCS Game 4

Scenario: Tigers ahead of A’s 3-0 in best of seven
At Stake: Trip to World Series
Result: 6-3 win

But then it was an easy choice. In all these other games the Tigers had room for error. Not Thursday night – or any game in the series. So, yep. This ALDS was the most grueling – and gratifying – set of games I’ve ever experienced in my Tigers-following life.

Other leftovers …

Remember when the Tigers acquired Doug Fister and led us to believe he’d be the fifth starter? If Fister’s the fifth man in the rotation, where does that put Brad Penny? Eighth? Truth is, Dave Dombrowski probably never thought of Fister anything less than what he’s proven himself to be: a number-two starter with ace-ish ability – and he proved it with gusto on Thursday night.

Here’s something about this five-game series that I’ve never experienced before: the difficulty I had enjoying the game as it was being played. Every pitch seemed to have so much hanging on it I resigned myself to studying the box score to get a reality check on a player’s performance. This was the case with Fister. As I watched Game 5, it sure seemed like he was throwing a gem — and lo and behold, he was: five innings pitched, five hits, one earned run, four strikeouts and just two walks.

And how about Magglio Ordonez? He hit .455 in the ALDS after going two for three in Game 5. Jim Leyland sure seems to be in perfect sync with Magglio, when to play him, when to give him a day off. With a couple of lefties on the horizon in the ALCS, I’m thinking we’ll see more Magglio rather than less.

If you can stand to watch (and I don’t recommend it), Around the Horn looks at Game 5 through the prism of “Praise the Tigers or Blame the Yankees?”

The Los Angeles Times’ Bill Plaschke uses the Tigers’ champagne celebration to make the point that revelry after winning a first-round series is more than a little over the top.

On the field, the Detroit Tigers did what tough baseball teams do, defeating the New York Yankees, 3-2, in a deciding Game 5 to win the American League Division Series at Yankee Stadium.

Off the field, the Detroit Tigers then did what all silly baseball teams do, celebrating the series victory with a raucous, over-the-top champagne party that was far greater than the entirety of their achievement.

Three wins. They were throwing a New Year’s Eve party for three wins. Think about that.

They were spraying each other over wins that could have occurred over the course of a long summer weekend. They were pouring it on each other for wins that totaled less than 12 hours.

The Detroit Tigers just played three good games, yet felt it necessary to celebrate with countless cases of liquor and cigars, and it just makes no sense.

It isn’t just the Tigers who do this, of course, it’s every baseball team after every postseason series win, the constantly popping corks adding to baseball’s reputation as a big fraternity house while diminishing the parties that really matter.

What do you think? I agree that in general watching four champagne celebrations is a bit much … when it’s not your team doing it. Here’s hoping we see another one in the next week or so.

And with that, adios, New York. Hello, Arlington.

Game 5 Recap: Tigers 3 – Yankees 2

ESPN highlights available here.

The Score: Tigers 3 – Yankees 2

The Gist: Jim Leyland’s bet on Don Kelly paid immediate dividends as Kelly gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead two batters into the game. Three batters in, Delmon Young gave Doug Fister a 2-0 cushion before he threw a pitch. Fister was terrific, as was Max Scherzer who gave the Tigers 1-1/3 innings of relief. Victor Martinez gave the Tigers a 3-0 lead when he drove in Austin Jackson in the sixth. Joaquin Benoit got five huge outs, walked in a run and withstood some head games played by Joe Girardi. Jose Valverde threw a Mariano Rivera-type ninth inning, setting down Curtis Granderson, Robinson Cano and Alex Rodriquez in order for his 51st save of the year.

The Quote: “He’s the 25th guy on the team, I guess, but I wouldn’t rather have another 25th guy.” – Leyland on Kelly

The Stat: 3 – Delmon Young‘s home run total for the series, the most ever by a Tigers player in a single postseason series.

The Stat II: 13 – The number of strikeouts by Tigers hitters in Game 5

Up Next: American League Championship Series

Saturday: Tigers @ Rangers in Arlington | Start Time TBD | On the air: Fox/AM 1270 and 97.1 FM

Justin Verlander vs. C.J. Wilson

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The Game 5 Non Sequiturs

Here we are, a couple of hours from the most nerve-wracking Tigers game since Game 163 and the club’s first winner-take-all game since the 1972 ALCS, as Lee Panas pointed out after Game 4. Let’s see what happens. (Not unlike to my approach to this post.)

Jim Leyland this afternoon explained why we’ll see Max Scherzer and not Justin Verlander should the Tigers need a long-man:

“I don’t think it’s a wise decision. Like I said, those innings he pitched the other night, all the innings he’s piled up this year, all the strikeouts, all the adrenaline, and the fact that he’s throwing 100 miles an hour in the eighth inning [on Monday night], if he comes in this game tonight, there’s no telling what he would be throwing with the way this crowd is going to be and everything. I just don’t think it makes sense.”

Tonight’s game marks the seventh time in the Tigers post-season history they’ve had a series go the maximum number of games. Detroit has compiled a 2-4 record in the previous six series.

Wins: Game 7 of the 1945 and 1968 World Series
Losses: Game 7 of the 1909, 1934 and 1940 World Series; Game 5 of the 1972 ALCS

Jerry Crasnick focuses on Doug Fister and Delmon Young in this ESPN.com story. Here’s one scout’s view on Fister:

“The gun doesn’t tell the story on him,” the scout said. “He’s a movement guy with good location, and velocity doesn’t matter that much. He’s so tall [6-foot-8] and he’s straight over the top, so he gets great ‘down’ plane. When he’s down in the zone, it’s like hitting a bowling ball.”

By the by, Fister surrendered five home runs over his final 19 outings of the season dating back to June 14, a stretch of 129 innings pitched. He allowed 0.46 home runs per nine innings this season, lowest in the American League.

On this date in 1945, a goat and its owner make an appearance at Wrigley Field for Game 4 of the World Series between the Tigers and Cubs. The pair is told to leave before the game ends, angering the owner (and presumably the goat). The Cubs lost to the Tigers, 4-1. The Tigers go on to win the Series in seven and the Cubs won’t win another National League championship for the rest of the 20th century. And thus was born the Curse of the Billy Goat.

Young’s two home runs during this ALDS matches a Tigers record. Both Curtis Granderson and Craig Monroe hit two home runs for Detroit during the ALDS in 2006.

That’s all I’ve got. Except for this: Tigers 5 Yankees 2.

Enjoy the game.

How the Tigers Have Bounced Back from Postseason Blowouts

For your consideration:

The last time the Tigers lost a postseason game by the score of 10-1, it also came in a Game 4 – of the 1968 World Series. The Tigers won Game 5 at Tiger Stadium, 5-3, behind Mickey Lolich.

They also won Games 6 and 7, in case you’d forgotten.

In Game 1 of the 1945 World Series, the Tigers were defeated, as they were Tuesday night, by nine runs. In Game 2, Virgil Trucks beat the Cubs 4-1.

Just sayin’.

It’s Not Just You: The Tigers Don’t Deliver with Bases Loaded

In the first inning of Tuesday night’s ALDS Game 4, Yankees starter A.J. Burnett was on the ropes. He’d walked the bases loaded and with two out Don Kelly ripped what appeared to be a liner over Curtis Granderson’s head in centerfield. (Lord knows we still love Grandy in Detroit, but his reaction to that ball might’ve been one of the reasons the Tigers were willing to deal him in 2009.)

Unfortunately for Kelly and the Tigers, Granderson recovered and made a leaping grab that definitely saved the game for the Yankees and perhaps the series.

It was the second game in a row the Tigers had loaded the bases in the early innings with a chance to blow the game wide open. At least in Game 3 Miguel Cabrera plated a run when he grounded into a double play.

How many times this season have we seen the Tigers load the bases only to come away empty handed?

For the past six months I asked that question only rhetorically. Thanks to some horrific relief work in the eighth, I had time (and good reason to) visit Baseball-Reference.com’s Play Index to get the definitive answer.

Continue reading “It’s Not Just You: The Tigers Don’t Deliver with Bases Loaded” →

Game 4 Recap: Yankees 10 – Tigers 1

ESPN highlights available here.

The Score: Yankees 10 – Tigers 1

The Gist: Compared to what most experts predicted, A.J. Burnett tossed a spotless game against the Tigers. He walked the bases loaded in the first inning and nearly saw the game slip away early when Don Kelly laced a ball to center that Curtis Granderson nearly misplayed into a bases-clearing triple. Instead, Grandy made the catch to end the inning. Except for a Victor Martinez solo shot in the sixth which made the score 2-1, the Tigers were stymied. Rick Porcello struck out five and walked just one but wasn’t good enough. The Tigers bullpen? Don’t ask.

The Quote: “This is not 2006.” – Jim Leyland

The Stat: 32.34 – The combined ERA of Al Alburquerque, Phil Coke and Daniel Schlereth in Game 5.

Up Next: ALDS Game 5 – Thursday: Tigers vs. Yankees @ Yankee Stadium | 8 p.m. ET | On the air: TBS/AM 1270 and 97.1 FM

Doug Fister vs. Ivan Nova

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Tigers Look to Porcello to Repeat What Bonderman Accomplished in ’06 ALDS Clincher

Five years ago this week, the Tigers sent a young, often frustrating righthander to the mound in the fourth game of the American League Division Series.

With a win, no sure thing with the unpredictable starter, the Tigers would eliminate the Yankees and move on to the American League Championship Series against the Oakland A’s.

Twenty-three-year-old Jeremy Bonderman was the Tigers’ starter that chilly Saturday afternoon and he faced righty Jaret Wright, who’d gone 11-7 witha 4.49 ERA in 30 appearances (27 starts) for New York.

Tigers fans didn’t want to seem overconfident, but compared to the Yankee starters in the series’ first three games (Chien-Ming Wang, Mike Mussina and Randy Johnson) Wright seemed like a notch above batting-practice quality.

That day, the Tigers staked Bonderman to a 3-0, second-inning lead on home runs by Magglio Ordonez and Craig Monroe. They tacked on five more runs by the end of the sixth. (Detroit chased Wright with two outs in the third after he’d surrendered four runs on five hits.) The late Cory
Lidle allowed three runs in his inning-and-a-third of work.

But at the start of the day, all eyes were on Bonderman. Could he handle the big stage, an elimination game against a New York lineup that Jim Leyland dubbed “Murderer’s Row and then Cano” and prevent a trip back to the Bronx for a decisive Game 5?

Could he ever.

Continue reading “Tigers Look to Porcello to Repeat What Bonderman Accomplished in ’06 ALDS Clincher” →