• On this date in 1984, Willie Hernandez won the A.L. Cy Young Award. Hernandez went 9-3, 1.92 ERA with 32 saves. #Tigers http://bit.ly/QoZCc #

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• Happy Birthday, Karim Garcia (34) http://bit.ly/3Va8vh Greg Gohr (42) http://bit.ly/25k6cn Darrell Brown (54) http://bit.ly/43DpTJ #Tigers #

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• Happy Birthday, Jeremy Bonderman (27) http://bit.ly/2MjVX2 and Bob Melvin (48) http://bit.ly/4cBfkJ #Tigers #D-backs #

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• Happy Birthday, Brent Clevlen, 26: http://bit.ly/4xKq8F Jason Johnson, 36: http://bit.ly/xx6ap Bip Roberts, 46: http://bit.ly/2KXb0z #Tigers #

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I’ve made the conscious choice. For the first time in my life I’m choosing not to watch the World Series this year, and here are five reasons why:

5. The Announcers. Enough has been written about the pathetic quality of baseball’s play-by-play crews this postseason so I won’t waste your time. I think, however, that I might be in the minority in saying that I don’t mind Joe Buck. His broadcast partner? Don’t get me started. Like so many things these days — Baseball Tonight, MLB Network, (gasp!) blogs, etc. — baseball has reached its saturation point for me, and the announcers certainly haven’t helped.

4. The Yankees. In the mid- to late-’70s, I hated the Yankees because they were always on TV, always in the playoffs and World Series.
Then came the mid-’80s and their irrelevance. In the 1990s I was happy for Joe Torre and Kalamazoo’s Derek Jeter (but bummed that Don Mattingly toiled all those years and never got a sniff of a World Series appearance). I also liked Bernie Williams and other players from those teams. This year’s club, though, reignited my disdain — mainly because of CC Sabathia and Mark Texeira. And for God’s sake, Joe Girardi manages every game scared to death.

3. The Calendar. Baseball’s refusal to stand up to the networks and make the postseason more tightly scheduled — a non-travel off day between games four and five of the league championship series? I can’t abide by a November World Series. Life has to go on, man!

2. The Phillies. Honestly, I have no problem with the Phillies. In fact, I like a lot of their players and have grown to love manager Charlie Manuel. But the only thing less appealing than an all-east-coast World Series would be a Yankees-Red Sox World Series, if that were possible. And don’t believe for a minute that Fox hasn’t thought about it.

1. The Tigers. Three weeks ago the most punishing Tigers season in my lifetime came to an end in Minneapolis and yet I’m still sporting the bruises. Perhaps it’s better that they lost Game 163 and spared us all the inevitable pain. (Though I still think they could’ve extended the Yankees in the first round.) The 2009 season’s disappointment eclipses ’08s debacle and it’s not even close.

I need time off to lick the wounds and heal the bruises. Time to read some books, watch some movies and clean the garage.

Tell me who wins.

• Yeah, I love watching pitchers hit. #
• It's 47 degrees right now in Philadelphia, 68 in Anaheim. Tell me again why the ALCS got the day game. #playoffs #fail #
• I don't have the stomach for (or interest in) a #Yankees/#Phillies World Series. #

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• Happy 67th Birthday to Willie Horton – the #Tigers' only non-Hall of Famer to have his number retired – http://bit.ly/4eVESG #
• Awful. #
• #MLB is run by idiots. #
• Dang. The #Angels look like the #Tigers. #impotence #
• Joba channeling Nuke LaLoosh in warmups. #bulldurham #don'tthinkjustthrow #

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• Happy 63rd Birthday to Rich Folkers http://bit.ly/VFr88 #Tigers #

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• I find it stunning that I'm more than 5 years older than Bobby Abreu. #truthhurts #
• Hall of Famer Goose Goslin was born on this day in 1900. He played 4 seasons with the #Tigers (1934-37) and hit .297 with 50 HR and 369 RBI. #
• Tremendous plate discipline by Manny. #Dodgers #MLB #
• Given the sorry state of the #D-backs' bullpen, wouldn't they be wise to reunite with free agent Brandon Lyon? #Tigers #

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• More Gibby: On this date in 1988 he hit that homer off of Dennis Eckersley. #Dodgers #A's #legendary #
• On this date in 2002, Kirk Gibson agreed to a three-year deal to become Alan Trammell's bench coach. #Tigers. He's AJ Hinch's today. #Dbacks #

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