Category: Fungoes

Breaking News: My Tiger Stadium Seats Arrived

I haven’t been able to un-box them, but my Tiger Stadium seats arrived today. If you’ve ever wondered how much two molded plastic stadium seats weigh, I can tell you: 90 lbs. At least that’s UPS’s estimate.

I’ll upload some photos soon but in the meantime, here’s some quick info on them:

  • Filthy. A good hose-down and a sponge bath should get them sparkling new. Well, you know what I mean.
  • Blue. I held out hope that orange seats would arrive but the more I thought about it, I rarely sat in the orange seats, so these will do just fine.
  • Damaged. Not much, but the rivets on the left seat have popped off, presumably in shipping. They look simple enough to repair.
  • 10 and 11. Those are the seat numbers. Man, do I wish I knew what section, row, etc., these seats came from.

I helped the UPS driver lift them off the truck. He was intrigued when I told him what was in the case. Of course, he wanted to see them. He thought it was neat but didn’t gush.

Perhaps he’s a bruised Diamondbacks fan.

Now, where to put these things…

20 Years Later, a Tigers Player Again Comes Up Short in MVP Award

The chances of the Tigers’ Magglio Ordonez winning the American League Most Valuable Player award seem to dwindle every time Alex Rodriguez comes to the plate.

This certainly should not be the case. Ordonez brings these monster stats to the ballpark this afternoon:

  • .360 batting average
  • 53 doubles
  • 28 home runs
  • 137 RBI
  • .431 on-base percentage
  • .592 slugging percentage
  • 1.023 on-base plus slugging percentage

Still, he’s not likely to win the MVP.

A crime? Yes. But only a misdemeanor. When you take a look at A-Rod’s eye-popping numbers through Friday night, you’ll see the main reason why he’s going to win:

  • .309 average
  • 30 doubles
  • 53 home runs
  • 151 RBI
  • .418 on-base percentage
  • .637 slugging percentage
  • 1.064 on-base plus slugging percentage
  • Plays on a playoff team

The Baseball Writers Association of America, the voters of all post-season awards, will likely select A-Rod as the MVP because he’s on a playoff team. That’s because the BBWAA loves winners, plain and simple.

Most of the time.

In 1987, the Cubs’ Andre Dawson took home the National League MVP. The Cubs record? 76-85 good for last place in the N.L. East, 18-1/2 games out.

So much for the winners thing.

That same season, Alan Trammell‘s MVP-caliber year failed to measure up to that of Toronto’s George Bell—at least in the minds of the writers. Bell put together a phenomenal year. But, unlike Trammell, he failed to deliver when it counted: with his team’s season on the line. We’ll get to that shortly.

One can argue that Ordonez’s season, backed by a stratospheric batting average, shouldn’t be dismissed merely because the Tigers won’t be playing in the postseason and because Rodriguez and the Yankees will. Let’s face it: that’s going to be the reason Ordonez doesn’t win.

While it’s not the first time we’ve heard this argument, it wasn’t applied in 1987.

Looking at the final 11 games of the 1987 season, Trammell appeared to have pulled ahead of Bell for the MVP award. Over that span—in which Detroit played seven thrilling, one-run games against Bell’s Blue Jays—Trammell hit .381 with two homers and six RBI. More impressive was his performance in the seven games against Toronto: .417, one home run and four RBI. In fact, Trammell delivered the game-winning hit in the eleventh inning on the next-to-last game of the season, a win that put the Blue Jays on the brink of a historic collapse.

As for Bell, his ’87 campaign didn’t end quite as impressively. In his final 10 games, including three games at home against the Brewers, Bell batted a modest .250 with no home runs and just two RBI. In the final series against the Tigers in Detroit, Bell hit an anemic one-for-11 with no RBI.

In the end, and despite a career year, Trammell narrowly lost out to Bell in the MVP voting. Bell captured 16 first-place votes to Trammell’s 12 in one of the closest ballots in baseball history. Trammell and the Tigers advanced to the A.L. Championship Series; Bell went home to San Pedro de Macoris.

The BBWAA loves winners? Not so much. At least not in 1987.

Twenty years later, Tigers fans will find themselves holding out hope the BBWAA will see Ordonez’s 2007 campaign as superior to A-Rod’s.

Chances are, Ordonez will find himself in the same position as Trammell in ’87 and Cecil Fielder in 1990 and 1991: long on stats, short on hardware.

Nice to have you in town, Ron

Some of my earliest childhood memories of Tigers baseball involve Ron LeFlore. He was stealing bases left and right with reckless abandon and, if I remember correctly, driving Tigers GM Jim Campbell nuts. I liked watching him play.

When the made-for-TV movie about LeFlore’s life, “One in a Million”, first aired on CBS, I remember clearly trying to follow along using the script that the Free Press published that morning.

Two things stood out for me from the film:
First, LeVar Burton didn’t look like LeFlore and he was pathetic baseball player.

Second, the guy who played Ralph Houk looked more like Alan Hale and was far-too tall. (But had quite a prolific acting and stunt career.)

I read about old number 8 in Peter Golenbock‘s book, The Forever Boys, which tracked the former big league players who formed the Senior Baseball League, a competitive league of former professional players over age 35.

At the time Golenbock researched the book, LeFlore was trying to return to the bigs as an umpire.

Flash forward to the final game at Tiger Stadium in 1999. During the parade of Tigers greats streaming in from centerfiled, LeFlore was busted cold by Detroit’s finest for not paying child support.

Or alimony. Or both.

Proving that some habits are hard to break, Ron LeFlore is back in the news:

Today, he went back behind bars at age 58 for $73,000 in unpaid child support.

Acting on a tip from LeFlore’s ex-girlfriend, Wayne County sheriff’s deputies arrested LeFlore, of Clearwater, Fla., Saturday on a civil warrant while he signed $4 autographs at the Gibraltar Trade Center in Mt. Clemens.

Four-dollar autographs? He’d have to sign 18,250 of those to come up with 73 Gs.

Here are some LeFlore tidbits:

  • Debuted in 1974
  • All Star in 1976
  • Played for the Tigers, Expos and White Sox
  • Finished his nine-year career with a .288 average
  • Finished in the top five in stolen bases from 1976-80
  • Led the American League in steals in 1978 (68) and the National League in his only season with the Expos (97)
  • Led the A.L. in runs scored in 1978
  • Finished at number two in hits for the A.L. in 1977 and ’78

First Uggie, now Ronnie. Who’s next?

Photo: Wayne County Sheriff’s Office

My Favorite Author Dies

David Halberstam was killed Monday morning in San Francisco and I’m more than a little bummed.

For a fuller obit, read the one from his former paper, The New York Times.

Halberstam was my favorite writer and I suppose he still is. The first book of his that I read was “The Summer of ’49” a wonderfully researched and written tale of an epic battle for the American League title.

“The Breaks of the Game” about the 1979 Portland Trail Blazers is another classic.

“October 1964“? Terrific

Yes, the man wrote about much more than sport but that was how I was introduced to him.

I did have the pleasure of being in the same room with the man once. It was the fall of 1994 and my wife and I were in a theater in downtown Chicago waiting for the film “Quiz Show” to begin. Before the lights were dimmed I noticed Halberstam sitting across the theater from me.

I knew then that I needed to say something to him and would regret that I didn’t take advantage of the opportunity. But I felt like I’d be bothering him and chose not to do anything.

Today I regret that decision even more.

11:15 a.m. PT Update:

Others weigh in: Peter Gammons on “The greatest journalist of my lifetime.”

Will Carroll in BaseballProsectus.com.

Tigers roadtrip recap: day 1

FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif. — I certainly should be in bed right now with a 6:30 wake-up call coming but thought I’d share some impressions from the first game on this two-day, two-game roady for the Tigers and for me.


Poor meal management on my part prevented me from seeing Grandy round the bases in the first inning. (Photo: Mark Avery / Associated Press)

I’m not sure if you could tell on TV the number of Tigers fans at Angels Stadium for Monday night’s game but it was impressive. I’m not good at deciphering percentages but I’ll go out on a limb and say a third of the fans were Tigers loyalists. I spoke to one fan from Southern Cal who moved not long ago from West Bloomfield and another Metro Detroit native who know lives in Houghton Lake. I interviewed her for the podcast.

I missed Curtis Granderson‘s leadoff homer because I chose to go first to the concession stand. So, while I was waiting for the Farmer John Grand Slam dog ($5), Grandy circled the bases. When I asked the concessionaire to explain the difference between the Farmer John hot dog ($3) and the Grand Slam version she said: “More meat.” Isn’t that always the case?

Placido Polanco‘s first at bat led to a curious call and an early exit for an Angels fan. The fan interfered with a foul pop down the left-field line and Polanco was called out. Soon three of Anaheim’s finest came to take away the offender. Can you imagine paying the ticket price for a first-row seat only to be bounced after two batters?

The Angels do something original between innings. It’s called “The Kiss Cam” where they pan the crowd and…What’s that? You’ve seen this at every sporting event in North America? Oh. Yeah, me too. But what you probably didn’t see on Monday night was when the camera guy (or gal) zeroed-in on Mario Impemba and Rod Allen during the Kiss Cam. Allen was standing and Impemba was seated, looking like he might have been broadcasting. Allen laughed and then leaned down to kiss the top of Mario’s head. Can’t confirm if there was actual contact.

Looking forward to a mini sweep of a mini series. My friend John Milton and I will be taking in the game with Bob Wright of the Baseball History Podcast. Followed by seven hours on the road back to Phoenix.

Life is good!

Tracking trends and thinking outloud

In no particular order:

  • Another solid outing wasted. And we can’t even blame it on Fernando Rodney. I’m convinced that if Paul Konerko had come to the dish for a seventh at bat, he hits a homer. (I said the same thing about ABs #1-6.)
  • With a free pass today, I suppose it’s no longer fashionable to get on Pudge about his lack of plate discipline.
  • Classic shot from today’s game: The fan using the tip end of his sunglasses to punch his All Star ballot selections. How many times I’ve used keys, drinking straws and whatever point-ish objects I could find at the ball park. I believe the MLB ballot invented the hanging chad.
  • In no way is this meant to be glib: What does Sean Casey give the Tigers that Carlos Pena didn’t? So far, all we get from The Councilman is steady glove work. A below .200 average? Carlos can give you at least .220.

    Think about it. Are you thinking about it?

  • In a comment to last week’s Non-Sequiturs, Josh Wallen called me on my man crush for Todd Helton. It wouldn’t be funny if it weren’t so true.
  • Remember last year when the Tigers left Detroit in April for the West Coast? Good things started happening then. Could that be the elixir again in 2007? Let’s hope so; I’ll be in Anaheim for Monday and Tuesday’s games.
  • I’ll be recording the next podcast from the road and The Big A. We’ll see how well this portable recording technology performs.

Enjoy your week.

Minutiae Morsels and Tigers Tidbits

As Detroit finally (?) emerges from the chill of winter/spring, we’re cool and rainy in the desert. Bygones.

Here are some items lifted/edited from today’s Tigers Game Notes:

  • Carlos Guillen enters today’s game with a .370 batting average (10 for 27) during his career versus Jose Contreras. Guillen is third among all active major league players with a minimum of 15 plate appearances against Contreras with a .370 batting average.
  • Placido Polanco collected his sixth straight multi-hit game at home last night to begin the season. Polanco is the first major leaguer to accomplish that feat since Chicago’s Chet Lemon also posted six straight multi-hit games at home to begin the year April 10-27, 1979. St. Louis’ Julian Javier accomplished the feat in seven straight games April 11-29, 1962.
  • Nate Robertson enters his start this afternoon seventh in the American League with a 1.80 ERA while he is tied for seventh with two wins and tied for 13th with 2.25 walks per nine innings pitched.
  • Speaking of Nate, he’s making his 57th appearance, 56th start, at Comerica Park during his career today. In his previous 56 appearances, he is 18-22 with a 4.29 ERA (342.1 IP / 163 ER) and 243 strikeouts.

I just searched DirecTV’s MLB Game Mix channel to see what channel the Tigers are on.

Gulp.

They aren’t on Extra Innings. They are, unfortunately, on WGN. I’ll have to watch with the sound turned down. Ken Harrelson is, well, words don’t describe how bad he is as an announcer.

If you want to read about how bad he was as the Sox’ GM in 1986, pick up a copy of Rob Neyer‘s “Big Book of Baseball Blunders.” In fact, the chapter on Maury Wills as the Mariners’ manager alone is worth the price of the book.

Around the Tigersphere:

  • Bill compiles a nice update on the Tigers minor league affiliates.
  • Brian at TigerBlog reports that phormer phenom Humberto Sanchez is slated for Tommy John surgery and out for the year. Probably explains why Alfonso Soriano never became a Tiger last year.
  • For my money, the most solid all-around Tigers blog these days is Ian‘s Bless You Boys. He’s making me look bad with his never-ending volume of posts. Curse you, Mr. Casselberry!

Have a great weekend.

Sheff’s NPR Interview Kicks Off Book Tour Blitz

On most days you can hear NPR on my office stereo. Yesterday was one of those rare days in which I didn’t have it on.

My bad.

Yesterday Gary Sheffield appeared on All Things Considered, NPR’s national afternoon news program, to promote his new book, Inside Power, which will be published on Opening Day. (Sigh.)

If you missed it you can listen to it here.

There’s also an excerpt from the book itself. If you want to buy the book, use this link and a portion of the purchase will support The Daily Fungo media conglomerate.
Gary Sheffield on NPR. Only in America.

A Random Sampling of Half-Baked Thoughts to Start Your Day

It’s night-night time here in Arizona but I have a few Tigers-related thoughts rattling around inside my noggin this evening (actually morning). Here goes:

  • Working from home has its advantages. Take, for example, the ability to watch an afternoon Spring Training game on ESPN. I only saw a couple of hitters before I had to scoot out the door for a meeting (the only time all week I have to leave the friendly confines of McClary & Co., Inc.‘s World HQ, wouldn’t you know it). Gary Sheffield wearing #3 looked strange, I’ll admit. Not as weird as his beardlette.
  • Regular readers know I’m no fan of The Sporting News (for proof, see the countdown timer in the left sidebar –>). Still, I can occasionally extract a bit of info that I might not have uncovered elsewhere. Most of the time it’s nothing important, just stuff to file under “Nice to Know.” To wit: A veteran scout says Justin Verlander throws the best heater in the bigs:

    The pitch comes alive late and seems to jump on the hitter, His effortless arm action and delivery make it appear even faster than its 98-mph clocking

    Another TSN nugget: 233. That’s the number of pitches over 100 m.p.h. that Joel Zumaya fired in 2006. According to Baseball Info Solutions, that’s the most in a season since 2002 (when they started tracking it).

  • Last one: TSN rated four current MLB players who are likely big-league managers and four who likely won’t be a skipper. The Tigers have one on each list: Carlos Guillen on the “probably list” (TSN says he already has Jim Leyland‘s endorsement) and Sheffield on the “probably not” list.
  • The most intriguing Tigers player to yours truly — in an otherwise un-intriguing Spring Training — is Kyle Sleeth. Wouldn’t it be something if this kid pulls it together and then you’ve got him in the mix for the rotation in the near future. If only he were left handed.

Finally, I’ve got tickets to four Cactus League games in the next three weeks. My first game is tonight at the Peoria Sports Complex where I’ll watch the new-look Diamondbacks take on the Padres.

Speaking of the D’backs, I’ve started a Diamondbacks-focused blog, SnakeBytes, over at MLBlogs. I just started it on Sunday so it needs some work. Check it out at www.snake-bytes.com.