Mike McClary's Detroit Tigers blog featuring analysis, commentary and history | Est. 2006 — And don't be fooled; this site is not updated daily.
Posts from the “Featured” Category
Three for Thursday: Tram and the Hall, The Return of Willie Blair and Lame Journalism
Mike McClary
Posted on December 20, 2012
A few morsels for you on a slow news day: 1. Now that most of the glitzy offseason moves have been completed, attention is turning to the Hall of Fame ballot. For Tigers fans that means lots of anti-Jack Morris articles and a few pro-Alan Trammell pieces. At SI.com, Jay Jaffe makes the case for Tram: Despite his Hall of Fame-caliber numbers, the BBWAA voters have given Trammell little recognition in 11 years on the ballot. His candidacy deserves a closer look while he’s still got at least a puncher’s chance. Jaffe does an excellent job examining Tram’s career and how it stacks up against his American League East contemporaries. 2. Remember Willie Blair? Sure you do. In four seasons with the Tigers, 1997…
2012 Top 10 Stories: #7 – Tigers Trade for Sanchez and Infante
Mike McClary
Posted on December 18, 2012
Based on Number Eight in this completely subjective Top 10 list (The Black Hole at Second Base), Number Seven should come as no surprise: the Tigers move aggressively to fill the void at second base by reacquiring old friend Omar Infante and add a blue-chip starting pitcher, Anibal Sanchez, to bolster the rotation. The July 23 trade with the Miami Marlins came at a steep price: top prospects pitcher Jacob Turner and catcher Rob Brantly, along with 6-ft. 8 -in. minor-league lefty Brian Flynn and a 2013 compensation draft. (The day before the trade, Turner pitched 5.1 innings against the White Sox in a 6-4 win that put the Tigers a game and a half ahead of Chicago, and showed potential trade partners that…
And There Goes Plan B (Or Was It Plan A?)
Mike McClary
Posted on December 17, 2012
Not sure I speak for the majority of Tigers fans, but I’ve given up hope that anyone but Jhonny Peralta would be the Opening Day lineup for the Tigers. There’s plenty of time between now and then, but with the Red Sox plucking Stephen Drew off the free-agent market, the Tigers lost perhaps the club’s top shortstop target. So now what? Well, I suppose there’s a chance the Tigers zero-in on a shortstop as they shop Rick Porcello. Although, if we believe the chatter, a closer is a bigger priority for Dave Dombrowski. On the other hand, Dombrowski is sticking to his Bruce Rondon story. As for Peralta, I get all the anti-Jhonny arguments (and Lee makes them as well as anyone), and of…
Just Released: “Detroit Tigers 1984: What a Start! What a Finish!”
Mike McClary
Posted on December 16, 2012
A few years ago, I was offered a chance to contribute to a book about the 1984 World Series Champion Tigers – the team of my high school years and a team for the ages. What an incredible experience it was to write four player biographies for the book and, along the way, talk with two former Tigers that played crucial roles for that club. If you’d have told me in 1984 that some day I’d talk on the phone with Johnny Grubb or I’d sit in the Royals’ spring training clubhouse talking to Rusty Kuntz, I’m not sure I could’ve conjured up a plausible scenario where those events would’ve come together. From the book’s cover: Detroit Tigers 1984: What a Start! What a…