What gives?

If the Tigers were in the NL, they would be the prohibitive favorite to waltz to the Fall Classic. In the AL, though, they are merely one of five, in the mix, running with the big dogs, but perhaps not even the favorite in their own division.

(snip)

It’s jarring to think that only three of the four top teams in baseball will make the playoffs.

(snip)

Leyland, the Tigers manager, gave that unappetizing prospect thought during a luncheon at the winter meetings. He took a sip of red wine and reflected on the razor’s edge between getting to the World Series in 2006 and missing the playoffs in 2007.

“It’s a subtle difference, and it can be hard to pinpoint,” he said. “But you know it when you feel it. And we didn’t like the way it felt.”

What’s that old line? That’s why they play the games. ]]> http://www.dailyfungo.com/2008/01/03/in-like-with-the-tigers/feed/ 0 http://www.dailyfungo.com/2007/12/13/the-ped-free-non-sequiturs/ http://www.dailyfungo.com/2007/12/13/the-ped-free-non-sequiturs/#comments Fri, 14 Dec 2007 05:28:47 +0000 Mike McClary http://www.dailyfungo.com/2007/12/13/the-ped-free-non-sequiturs/

• In the past, I used to write press releases that I liked to describe as “content-free.” In response to the Mitchell Report the Tigers today issued perhaps the shortest release (of any variety) I’ve ever seen. It’s really not worth your time to read it but here’s the second (and last) paragraph:
  

  The eradication of performance-enhancing substances in baseball and protecting the integrity of the game are the ultimate goals of the industry.

  Call me a cynic, but I thought winning baseball games and driving revenue growth, not in that order, were the ultimate goals of the industry.

• Christmas came early at The Daily Fungo headquarters. In less than a week we had two mentions in Rob Neyer‘s blog on ESPN.com (you can find them here and here). Be sure to check out my interview with Rob on the podcast.

• I don’t often read Drew Sharp‘s columns mainly because, well, more often than not I wonder what the hell he’s talking about. Take today’s column for example:
  

  It’s now officially the Steroids Era.

  It is?

  This statement — and the column’s headline, “Mitchell Report officially welcomes in Steroid Era”, which, in fairness, Sharp didn’t write — misses the point.

  I believe this report ushers out the Steroid Era. The Steroid Era started in the early 1990s — if not earlier — and ended quite recently.

  Perhaps today.

Today voting got under way for the Ford Frick Award and at first I was delighted to see Kell’s name on the ballot. Then I looked at the actual ballot.

Oy vey.

How do Kell’s fellow nominees strike you?

• Rod Allen
• Ed Farmer
• Ken Harrelson
• Al Kaline
• Steve Lyons
• Tim McCarver
• Bob Rathbun (!)
• Rick Rizzs (!!)
• Jim Price (!!!…)

Hell, I’m surprised I haven’t been nominated for my work on the podcast. There are, however, some high-quality names on the ballot, including:

• Dave Campbell
• Paul Carey
• Mario Impemba
• Jim Kaat
• Josh Lewin
• Al Michaels
• Larry Osterman
• Dan Shulman
• Steve Stone

You can read about the entire confusing process at the HoF Web site but here’s the gist:

The award was named after the former baseball commissioner and National League president who had been a broadcaster, sportswriter and public relations director for the NL. Frick was a driving force behind the creation of the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, and he helped foster the relationship between radio and the game of baseball.

And this:

Fans may vote for up to three of their favorites in balloting conducted on baseballhall.org. Fans can vote up to once a day throughout the month of November.

Vote early and often.

Granderson, along with Philadelphia Phillie Jimmy Rollins, is on pace to potentially join Hall of Famers George Brett and Willie Mays by having 20 homers, triples, doubles, and stolen bases. He’s also not grounded into a doubleplay this year which is some more rarified air.

The best part about Parker’s columns is the headline. Two reasons:

1. You don’t have to read the actual article.
2. The headline is written by someone else.

Unfortunately, those are the only Tigers prospects you’ll find.

The other 98 players come from the other 29 teams. The Rockies have the most talent on the list with eight, followed by the Devil Rays with seven and the Diamondbacks with six.

Here’s how the bottom teams rank:

2 prospects: Blue Jays, Cardinals, Giants, Tigers

1: Nationals, Phillies, Rangers

0: Padres

All the pitching depth we hear about certainly hasn’t wowed the people at BA. It would seem that Vice President of Amateur Scouting David Chadd needs to fill that pipeline with more position talent. I’m sure he’s aware of that.

And if you’re the head of scouting and player development for the Padres these days, how are you feeling about your job security?

• 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.

Rarely do I check my online subscription to The Wall Street Journal, but today I did — and I’m glad. I found this interesting piece titled “A New Study Shows How Baseball Myths Can Hurt the Game.”

With pitchers and catchers reporting to the grapefruit and cactus leagues this week, it’s time for baseball fans to dust off the equipment they, too, need for the 2007 season. I am referring, of course, to calculators, statistics, economics and multiple regression analysis, which calculates how much one factor (such as market size) contributes to some outcome (team wins).

In the hands of Prof. Bradbury, of Kennesaw State University, Georgia, these techniques lead to counterintuitive results sure to spark a bar fight or two. His coming book “The Baseball Economist: The Real Game Exposed,” takes aim at all sorts of baseball lore to separate fact from myth.

It’s short but interesting.

Delicious.

I noticed this photo of Jim Leyland this morning and my immediate thought was: Why is he wearing a white bandana under his lid?

Thanks to Bilfer, I now see that it’s merely another case of New Era overthinking the baseball hat. MLB’s official hatmaker added what the aforementioned Bilfer dubbed “goofy white detailing”.

Bingo.

Miscellaneous thought: Last spring, Detroiters paid more attention to the Red Wings than they did the Tigers torrid start. Who could blame them?

This year, though, Detroit fans can justifiably claim attention-deficit disorder with two teams worth watching. It will be interesting to see the size of those April-night-game crowds at Comerica Park when the Wings are playing at home in the first round.

What do you think?

And yes, TSN thinks half the Tigers’ infield is basically a bag of garbage, but in the Spring Training Preview issue I received in my mailbox today, Detroit is ranked as the preseason No. 2 in its weekly Power Poll. The Motor City Tabbies are tucked right behind division rival Minnesota and just ahead of the Yankees and Reds Sox.

 Also in the Top 10 are the ChiSox (eighth) and the Indians (ninth). Go figure, the Tigers finally get competitive and they’re now in the toughest division in all of baseball! Even the eternally woeful Kansas City Royals were shown a little TSN lovin’ by being ranked No. 23.

 Also in this issue the Tigers received kudos for the best off-season move in their acquisition of Gary Sheffield:

The Tigers didn’t mope after losing the World Series; they went out and filled their biggest hole with a legitimate slugger.

The Tigers also were rated with the No. 2 off season in the division earning applause for the Sheffield and Jose Mesa acquisitions. The Indians earned top billing for adding “NHL-style grit” with outfielders David Dellucci and Trot Nixon, among other moves.

 

You have to dig deep into an otherwise shallow magazine to find worthwhile bits of information that aren’t some lame attempt to be funny.

(You may wonder why, if I loathe TSN so much, I continue to subscribe. Legitimate question. Trust me, I’ve tried on several occasions to cancel my subscription but they simply won’t do it. Maybe they don’t want to waste paper to send me a prorated refund of $1.26. At any rate, mark this date down: March 26 — the day my subscription runs out.)

Yet, in the spirit of making lemonade from lemons, I found two items of note in this issue (and one leftover from last week’s edition) that relate to the Tigers. First, the leftover. In the “Fantasy Source” section of the Feb. 5 issue, Placido Polanco was ranked dead last in the second baseman list. No criteria were listed so we’re left to wonder.

In a related bit from this week’s issue, Brandon Inge is ranked last for third sackers. Last! Certainly Inge is no Brooks Robinson but he ain’t no Chris Brown either. Pathetic!

Moving beyond the la-la land of Fantasy Source, the magazine also ranks the outfielders of every MLB team. The Tigers outfield ranks #2 behind the Yankees:

Only two A.L. outfields produced more runs last season. Monroe and Ordonez are aggressive hitters. Granderson is the key to the outfield defense.

The Tigers are the only team to field an outfield with two 25+ homer-hittin’ players (Monroe and Marcus Thames).

Speaking of Monroe, here’s the Tigers item in the A.L. Report:

LF Craig Monroe believes he’s capable of becoming a better overall hitter, especially in terms of batting average and reaching base.

Imagine.

Technorati Tags: Detroit Tigers

On Thursdays (I think), The Detroit News puts together an outstanding weekly package of Tigers stories.

This is the first offseason in recent memory in which the Tigers earned any column inches of note in the snow-producing months.

What was there to talk about on Feb. 1, 2006? Nothing!

2005? Magglio Ordonez‘s signed with the Tigers, but what else?

2004? Pudge signed with the Tigers, but what else?

These are the glory days, folks.

Technorati Tags: Detroit Tigers

Read Lynn Henning’s feature on Sorensen’s journey from the bigs to the bottle to the clink.

The one thing that I can’t picture from the article is the McDonald’s at 11 Mile and Gratiot. Is there one there now? I can only picture the White Castle and, cater corner, the Coney place.

Technorati Tags: Detroit Tigers, Lary Sorensen

Once in a while I’ll search for Tigers news on Google just to see if there’s a random article of interest out there.

Man, did I find one this afternoon. In the Dec. 26 edition, The New York Times‘ baseball deity Murray Chass takes aim at Tigers owner Mike Ilitch, and to a lesser degree Marian Ilitch, about the blob of a grey area surrounding Ilitch Holdings, the Tigers and Motor City Casino.

In the piece, Chass writes that the issue of whether or not the Tigers and the casino are part of the same organization has been raised because of some similar circumstances back East:

The subject of baseball and casinos has arisen because Steve Swindal, a managing general partner of the Yankees, is a partner in a group that may operate three racetracks in New York State and have slot machines at one of them. Bob Nutting, chairman and plurality owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates, had also wanted to install slot machines at a Pennsylvania ski resort he owns.

Nutting abandoned his plan because he did not think he would be able to find a way around baseball’s rules.

Swindal’s and Nutting’s efforts prompted another look at the Ilitch operation. Technically and legally it may be free of any casino smell, but signs remain that a link exists, including the listing of Marian Ilitch as second in command of Ilitch Holdings.

The follow up question, of course, is:

If she is vice chairwoman of the company, and the Tigers are part of the company, how is she not part of the Tigers ownership or at least their executive group?

It’s a dandy of an article if you can get past Chass’s angry tone.

At the end of the article, Chass rips on Bud Selig for giving the Tigers free passes on the Phil Garner and Jim Leyland interview processes.

Read it for yourself and let me know what you think.

Technorati Tags: Detroit Tigers, Jim Leyland, Marian Ilitch, Mike Ilitch

No biggie there.

Inside, though, the editors asked recent winners of the award whom they would select as Sportsman of the Year. The Yankees‘ GM Brian Cashman (who got lumped in with the rest of the 1999 Yankees who were Sportsmen of the Year when they steamrolled through to consecutive World Series championships) selected Tigers manager Jim Leyland as his no-brainer for SoY.

Nice.

Update — Here’s a snippet from Cashman’s submission:

… The way he took that club and taught it how to win showed that you can develop players and also be successful at the big league level at the same time. … The way he carries himself is the definition of sportsman. He’s an easy choice for me.

Again, nice

Technorati Tags: Detroit Tigers, Jim Leyland