[ The Daily Fungo: Detroit Tigers Baseball ] » Andrew Miller

Wednesday Walewanders: Fisticuffs Edition

Mike McClary — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 17:13:49 +0000

So where does last night’s dust-up rank in the annals of Tigers bench clearers?

Hmm.

Well, it wasn’t as interesting as the 1980 Tigers/White Sox brawl (a.k.a. Cowens v. Farmer Grudge Match), nor as violent as Tigers/White Sox circa 2000. Here’s a refresher on that one:

Sixteen players, coaches and managers suspended. Nine others fined. It was, MLB said, “the biggest mass suspension ever.”
That was the end result of two brawls that erupted at Comiskey Park, one in the seventh inning, the other in the ninth. In the sixth, the Tigers Jeff Weaver hit Carlos Lee with a pitch. In retaliation, Chicago’s starter, Jim Parque, plunked Detroit’s Dean Palmer in the top of the seventh. Palmer charged the mound, throwing his helmet at Parque before the real action started.

…And it wasn’t as wild as Tigers/Twins in 1982, which featured Dave Rozema’s flying-kung-fu acrobatics on Twins’ John Castino.

What do you think? Take this week’s Pulse Check –>

Other thoughts…

In last week’s Pulse Check — “What do you make of the Tigers’ recent roster moves?” — “Inspiration” (37%) edged out “desperation” and “exasperation” by a single vote. Time will tell, but so far so good at least from the Alex Avila perspective.
I think it’s great that the Tigers are injecting some youth into their anemic lineup. I just wish that Wilkin Ramirez had been called up for keeps and not given a ticket on the Toledo shuttle.
Does anyone else find it strange that the Tigers are skipping down to the Double-A level to tap reinforcements? By “strange” I mean that Triple-A was always where the top talent was — or at least that’s what we were led to believe. Over the past couple of seasons it’s become increasingly common. These are the first times in all the years of my following the Tigers that I remember it happening as a regular practice.

Of course, the Tigers promoted Andrew Miller from Class A in 2006 and proved that things definitely have changed in baseball. (Miller had a clause in his contract that he would be called up to the majors in ‘06.) Oh, and that move also forced me to rethink my lone criticism of baseball reality portrayed in the film “Bull Durham.” I never bought the notion of Ebby Calvin LaLoosh being called up to the big club from the South-Atlantic League. I guess it does happen.
The last time the Tigers relied on a rookie catcher to fuel a playoff spot was in 1987 when Matt Nokes made everyone forget about Lance Parrish. At least for one season, that is.

Finally, on this date in 1987, the Tigers acquired Doyle Alexander from the Atlanta Braves for minor-league pitcher John Smoltz. Gnash teeth if you must, but it was still a great trade at the time. Few expected Smoltz to emerge as a stud.

Wednesday Walewanders

Mike McClary — Wed, 21 May 2008 23:03:55 +0000

Dontrelle Willis returns to the D as a reliever. If he continues to pitch the way he has in Spring Training and early in the regular season, his name might very well end up ahead of Damion Easley as the Tigers most expensive contract-as-main-course ever. Rob Neyer’s already weighed in on the move.
Speaking of Mr. Neyer, in case you haven’t listened, today I posted an interview with him on the podcast. He thinks the Tigers are still very much alive in the A.L. Central; it’s Kenny Rogers and Willis, Neyer’s all but certain, who’re finished.
In case you need one more article on the effect of Jim Leyland’s verbal fireworks, check out Mike Bauman’s column on MLB.com.
Baseball and poetry? Why not? In college I penned a poem about my first game at Tiger Stadium. At BardBall.com, Tigers fan Jim Garner publishes baseball poetry — doggerel to be exact (I had to look it up). He’s featuring a poem on Freddy Dolsi’s first major league pitch. You remember it, the one to Manny Ramirez that might still be sailing. Here’s a sampling:

Freddy went down the middle
To show off his heat.
Manny clobbered that apple
Five hundred feet.
Remember Andrew Miller? (Ahem.) He has a birthday today — his 23rd. Other former Tigers celebrating include: Bryce Florie, Bob Molinaro and Earl Averill.
Wondering how some former Tigers are faring with their new clubs? Me too:
- Chris Shelton, Rangers: .179, 2 HR, 3 RBI
- Wil Ledezma, Padres: 0-1, 3.54 ERA, 1.54 WHIP
- Tony Clark, Padres: .238, 0 HR, 1 RBI
- Mike Rabelo, Marlins: .219, 1 HR, 7 RBI
And here comes the Omaha Royals Trio:
- Mike Maroth: 0-2, 12.91 ERA in three starts (7.2 IP)
- Roman Colon: 0-0, 6.30 ERA in 10 IP
- Jason Smith: .253, 10 HR, 27 RBI (His 10 homers lead the team.)

Finally, from Baseball-Reference.com, on this date in 1967, Earl Wilson gives Detroit its third straight win over the Yankees, 9-4. Mickey Mantle hits his fifth homer in six games but it’s not enough for Whitey Ford, who appears in his last ML game.

Tigers Feeling Buyer’s Remorse?

Mike McClary — Fri, 09 May 2008 01:37:33 +0000

The other day I sent an instant message to Ian Casselberry asking if, perchance, the Tigers may be feeling some buyer’s remorse regarding the Miguel Cabrera trade.

I admitted to Ian that it’s way early but that doesn’t mean that panic is not setting in everywhere around Comerica Park — but never at Fungo HQ!

So, I’m lobbing it out there: Are the Tigers wondering what they signed themselves up for over the next seven years?

Maybe.

Fast-forward to this afternoon and the latest installment of Jayson Stark’s Rumblings and Grumblings on ESPN.com. This time he reviews the off-season trades and the Tigers’ deals are getting anything but passing grades.

6. Braves-Tigers (RHP Jair Jurrjens and OF Gorkys Hernandez for Edgar Renteria): “At this point, Atlanta has won that deal,” said one scout. “Jurrjens [4-2, 2.84] has been their most consistent starter.”

Ouch.

And if you think that’s a harsh assessment, get a load of this:

9. Tigers-Marlins (Miguel Cabrera and LHP Dontrelle Willis for LHP Andrew Miller, OF Cameron Maybin, C Mike Rabelo, RHP Burke Badenhop, RHP Eulogia De La Cruz and RHP Dallas Trahern): We won’t be able to judge Florida’s half of this deal until about 2010. And Willis has been a mess. But the surprise is that Cabrera has been: (a) an offensive disappointment, (b) such a defensive disaster at third base that he had to be shifted to first within three weeks, and (c) so lackadaisical that players on other teams are privately questioning whether he flicked on his cruise-control switch after signing an eight-year, $153.3-million contract this spring. “I expected him to come in there and be superman,” said one scout. “He’s been anything but that.”

Ugly stuff.

Ready for more? Each week Stark touches base with big-league scouts on what they are seeing and hearing. It sure looks like no one likes what they see from Cabrera.

“For $150 million, you’d like to at least see him run a ball out. I watched him for a week, and I think there was one ball all week where he tried to extend himself. That was a double-play ball, and he was still like 4.8 [seconds] getting down the line. On a routine ground ball, he’s 5.2, maybe 5.1. It’s ridiculous to even pull the clock out.”

So, is it too soon to call this trade a blunder? Of course it is. And it would be a lot worse if, say, Cameron Maybin were tearing up the National League.

But you have to wonder if the Tigers brass is wishing they could take a mulligan…if not on the mega-deal with the Marlins, then at least on the month of April.

What do you think?

Vance Wilson’s St. Patrick’s (Birth)Day Celebration

Mike McClary — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 04:39:44 +0000

Three quick hits:

This past weekend my wife and I traveled to Indian Wells, Calif., to watch the second round of the Pacific Life Open tennis tournament.

When you take away the two-hour line to park and the gale-force winds, we had a great time watching some big-name players including Lindsay Davenport, Ana Ivanovic, Carlos Moya and defending champ Rafael Nadal.

Between matches I pulled out my recent issue of Sports Illustrated and read about youngsters and teams making noise in big-league camps. The first snippet was on Tigers phenom Rick Porcello:

Already Porcello, who has a repertoire of a mid-90s fastball, curve, slider and changeup is drawing comparisons to Josh Beckett (and even Jim Palmer) and stirring talk of a possible late-summer debut.

Jim Palmer? No pressure there. Though, with all the young talent the Tigers have brought along — or traded — in the past few years, I find myself longing for the days of Sparky Anderson’s predictions. Can you imagine what Sparky would have said about Justin Verlander, Curtis Granderson, Cameron Maybin, Andrew Miller and Porcello?

And while I’m glad the Tigers are high on Porcello, why even toy with a post-Sept. 1 callup? What’s the rush?
With a name like Michael Patrick McClary you can imagine that St. Patrick’s Day is a big deal in my family. Yet, March 17 is probably a much bigger day for Tigers catcher Vance Wilson who happens to have the good fortune of a St. Patrick’s Day birthday. He’s 35 today.
Did you happen to catch the Dontrelle Willis topic on ESPN’s The Sports Reporters on Sunday? It appeared that they needed a hook to talk about the Tigers and asked the panel if the D-Train would be running on time this year now that he’s with a better team. The consensus? A resounding “yeah, probably.”

Prior Considerations

Mike McClary — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 19:51:25 +0000

As the Cubs mull over the notion of dealing Mark Prior, here’s a question: Should the Detroit Tigers make a play for the right-hander?Why not, I say.

[S]ince he went 18-6 with a 2.43 ERA in 2003, Prior has had repeated physical problems, and has pitched in just 57 games over the last four seasons — and none in 2007.

But if you slide him into a low-pressure bullpen role in Detroit, perhaps you give him the opportunity to get well and regain his strength and sharpness. Assuming all that happens, all of a sudden you have a gem to slide into the rotation when Kenny Rogers departs for good. (Assuming, again, that he hasn’t already.)I don’t know about you, but I like the sound of a rotation featuring Verlander, Bonderman, Miller, Robertson and Prior.The idea of trading Prior isn’t the gaining headlines in Chicago. Instead, the Cubs want to sign him, or so it appears.

[The Cubs] hope to sign Prior to a two-year deal with incentives rather than let him play out the string with the Cubs and sign elsewhere in 2009. They may decide to trade or non-tender the right-hander if he doesn’t agree to a deal in the next month.

If the Cubs non-tender him I’d think the Tigers make a call.One has to wonder, though, if they go the trade route, what would it take to get Prior?Footnotes

If the Twins trade Joe Nathan to the Brewers or the Giants, I’ll be glad he’s out of the Tigers’ division. Oh, how I wish he were the Tigers closer. The guy throws bullets.
Good to hear that Gary Sheffield’s rehab is going well. I’d forgotten all about it.
I’ve got no problem with LaTroy Hawkins on a one-year deal. Two? You’re pushing it.