Happy 10th Birthday, Comerica Park

Ten years ago today the Tigers opened Comerica Park with a 5-2 win over the Mariners. Anyone who was there might still be thawing out.

Here, courtesy of the Tigers Media Guide, are some Comerica Park firsts — some from that day, others a bit later:

First Pitch: April 11, 2000 — 1:18 p.m. (Brian Moehler, strike to Seattle’s Mark McLemore with umpire Rick Reed behind the plate)

First Hit: April 11, 2000 — Seattle’s John Olerud, double, top of first off of Brian Moehler

First Single: April 11, 2000 — Gregg Jefferies, bottom of first off of Seattle’s Freddy Garcia

First Double: April 11, 2000 — Seattle’s John Olerud, top of first off of Brian Moehler

First Triple: April 11, 2000 — Luis Polonia, bottom of first off of Seattle’s Freddy Garcia

First Home Run: April 14, 2000 — Juan Gonzalez, bottom of third off Tampa Bay’s Ryan Rupe. With Gonzalez’s three-run shot, it marked the longest stretch without a home run of any new ballpark opened since 1989.

First RBI: April 11, 2000 — Gregg Jefferies, bottom of first

First Stolen Base: April 12, 2000 — Seattle’s Mark McLemore off Dave Mlicki/Brad Ausmus, 2nd base.

First Shutout: April 12, 2000 — Seattle’s Aaron Sele, 4-0.

First Grand Slam: April 19, 2000 Boston’s Trot Nixon, top of the 6th off Jim Poole.

First Tigers Grand Slam: June 27, 2000 — Dean Palmer, bottom of fifth off New York’s David Cone.

First Inside-the-Park Home Run: September 2, 2000 — Juan Gonzalez, bottom of the first off Texas’ Kenny Rogers.

Detroit Tigers 2010 Season Preview

Nanoseconds after Carlos Gomez slid across home plate in the final regular-season game of 2009, sending his Twins team to the playoffs and dispatching the Tigers to an offseason of soul searching, the last thing a Tigers fan wanted to do was think of Opening Day 2010.

Maybe I’m just projecting my own coping skills on the legion of Tigers followers, but it’s safe to say that, considering how the 2009 season ended, we all needed a break. The good news is: break’s over.

Opening Day 2010 is here and with it comes the joy of seeing the Royals, White Sox, Indians and, yes, the Twins 18 times each over the next six months. Think of it. Savor it.

And, bathe, won’t you, in the Opening Day clichés that will flow over the next 24 hours – Hope springs eternal on Opening Day! Everyone’s tied for first place on Opening Day! Jeremy Bonderman discovered a third pitch in time for Opening Day!

But in the meantime, let’s take a look at what’s in store for Jim Leyland’s Tigers in 2010, at least from our view.

Continue reading “Detroit Tigers 2010 Season Preview” →

One More from “One in a Million”

This clip has more game footage and continuity errors galore. Also, is it me or is the bat LeVar Burton uses taller than he is?

Blast from the Past: “One in a Million: The Ron LeFlore Story”

I can’t explain why I don’t: (a) Own a copy of Ron LeFlore‘s autobiography (with Jim Hawkins) or (b) Own the CBS TV movie on DVD.

Thanks to eBay, I can get the book. The movie is proving to be a tougher find — at least in tangible form. Thanks to YouTube we can enjoy clips from the 1978 epic.

A few things to point out: the bush-league replica Tigers jerseys worn by nearly afro’d “Mickey Stanley“, Jim Northrup‘s silver hair
(we’re supposed to believe he was a current-day player?), and Norm Cash’s un-sculpted build.

Also, check out the mix of old-school dark green paint with the blue that replaced it.

Edgar Renteria Comes Clean on His Awful Season. No, Not 2008.

We’re not one to hold a grudge — ahem — but after reading this about Giants’ shortstop Edgar Renteria …

… [He] played all last season with a bone spur in his right elbow, about the size of a piece of pea gravel.

— snip —

Renteria hit a career-low .250 with 19 doubles, five home runs and 48 RBIs in 124 games before the Giants turned to hot-hitting Juan Uribe as they fought for a playoff berth down the stretch. It was the fewest homers for Renteria since 1998 and resulted in a season that he called simply “embarrassing.”

… don’t you wonder how he would characterize his 2008 season with the Tigers?

In case he comes up short, here are a few suggestions: slothful, unprofessional, disrespectful, arrogant, dreadful.

Any I missed?

How Miguel Cabrera’s Recovery is Playing in Venezuela

Jorge Arangure Jr. writes an interesting piece today on ESPN.com’s La Esquina blog [$]. Here’s the gist of it:

Cabrera needs to repair his reputation, not only in Detroit, but also in his native Venezuela where he remains a polarizing figure. Despite being perhaps the best player from his country, Cabrera is universally beloved — not even close. Even this latest news, as humanizing as it was, may not be enough to sway public opinion yet.

“Some fans were a bit skeptical,” said Venezuelan journalist Efrain Ruiz, who writes for El Univeral. “Miguel has a difficult personality, without a doubt. But he’s always been asked to replace Andres Galarraga as the country’s national idol, and he simply doesn’t have that type of charisma. I really believe that’s weighed on on a lot, the tremendous pressure that exists to replace ‘The Cat.'”

How are you feeling about Cabrera these days: holding a grudge or forgiving and forgetting?

Happy Birthday, Lloyd Moseby

Happy 50th Birthday to Lloyd Moseby, a long-time Blue Jays outfielder that joined the Tigers as a free agent for the 1990 and â€˜91 seasons. (For what it’s worth, in 1990 he wore #17 and #15; in ’91 he stuck to #15.)

His best overall season was 1984: .280, 18 HR, 92 RBI and 15 triples. For the Tigers he simply kept centerfield warm for, ahem, Milt Cuyler.

The Portland, Ark. native hit .255 in two Detroit seasons with a total of 20 homers. He retired after the 1991 season at the surprisingly young age of 31.

Tuesday Night Therapy Session: Game 163 A Week Later

If someone with a stopwatch had timed my lightning-quick zap of the TV last Tuesday evening after Game 163, my guess is that the stopwatch would’ve read less than three seconds.

I couldn’t watch the Twins celebrate, again, on their turf. (Still can’t.)

Think about it: the last time the Tigers were a division champion, they (and we) had to watch Dan Gladden and the suddenly despicable Twins celebrate on Tiger Stadium’s infield.

And the time the last two times the Tigers got close (2006 and ’09), we had to watch Joe Nathan and Co. dance a jig on the Metrodome concrete.

Sickening, really. This time I showed a rare combination of maturity and resignation all at once. Sort of.

So anyway, after a week of stewing and fretting, devouring three servings of sour grapes, followed by a weekend of Schadenfreude, I’m almost ready to move on. More or less.

Three things are still rattling around in my head a week later:

Continue reading “Tuesday Night Therapy Session: Game 163 A Week Later” →

Roger Angell on Tigers/Twins Game 163

Not sure when the last time (if ever) the Detroit Tigers appeared in anything related to The New Yorker, but Tuesday’s game was fascinating enough to earn a blog post from veteran baseball writer Roger Angell. Here’s a taste:

The only complaint anyone could mount against last nightâ€™s one-game playoff victory by the Minnesota Twins, who topped the Detroit Tigers, 6-5, in twelve innings, is that itâ€™s about to disappear. The Twins, winners of the American League Central Division, will play the Yankees this evening in the first game of the A.L. Divisional Championship, while the National Leagueâ€™s Phillies take on the visiting Colorado Rockies and the Cardinals engage the Dodgers in L.A. Tomorrow, the Angels and the Red Sox start their part of the playoffs in Anaheim.

(snip)

What we do know is that none of these games are going to be any better than the one played last night, which we will only dimly remember by the time theyâ€™re over.

It’s not the cleanest copy you’ll read — players’ names misspelled, a factual error about Miguel Cabrera (he didn’t spend “a night in jail over the weekend”) and so forth — but it’s worth a read anyway.

Hey, Tigers fans appreciate the appreciation. We’d just rather be basking in it tonight at Yankee Stadium.

Game 163: Microcosm, The Sequel Nutshell

ESPN highlights available here.

The Score: Twins 6 – Tigers 5, 12 innings

The Gist: The Tigers and Twins played a game for the ages and both teams followed the respective scripts of the past three weeks. For the Tigers, that meant squandering countless opportunities and watching a division lead evaporate. For the Twins: everything going their way. Rick Porcello was awesome, Miguel Cabrera showed up for the first part of the game and Fernando Rodney, while taking the loss, pitched almost brilliantly in what was assuredly his last Tigers performance.

The Quote: “No matter what we did, it seems like it wasn’t meant to be. This is the best game, by far, that I’ve ever played in no matter the outcome.” — Brandon Inge

The Stat: 1 – The go-ahead run scored by Don Kelly in the 10th. Oh, how I wish it would’ve held upâ€¦for his sake.

Up Next: Spring Training, Lakeland, Fla., February 2010

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