Sigh. So much for that stellar pitching matchup. Justin had been on such a tear for the past month that I suppose he was overdue for a bad outing (he hasn’t had one since that game in Cleveland). He was dazzling in the second, third, and fourth, but in the first and fifth, his control just wasn’t there. Of course, the big damage came in the fifth, when he walked three to load the bases and then gave up the grand slam to Joe Mauer. Leyland says Verlander was a little overcharged, and maybe that’s true, cuz it was his first home start since the no-hitter, so he might have put a little extra pressure on himself. The bullpen actually did better than Verlander did. Macay McBride pitched two scoreless innings. Eulogio De La Cruz gave up five runs, but only two of those were earned, cuz the defense behind him kinda disintegrated in the ninth inning.

Johan Santana wasn’t at his best, but he was plenty good enough, especially with Verlander’s meltdown. Thank goodness for Polanco, cuz for some reason, 11-1 just doesn’t seem nearly as bad as 11-0. Polanco hit only his second home run of the season, and the first since April 17^th. All-in-all, it was a three hit night for him, and he ended up being a triple shy of the cycle. Meanwhile, Magglio has extended his hitting streak to 15 games, but unfortunately Carlos Guillen had both his hitting streak and his RBI streak snapped. The Tigers only managed six hits, and three of those belong to Polanco. The others belong to Maggs, Sheffield, and Pudge (who I really didn’t expect much from, considering the fact that he does not have good numbers against Santana, but he still managed a single off him; the Tigers were only able to get him as far as second base, though). Also, Lloyd McClendon got ejected in the first inning, and Magglio very nearly was ejected himself after he struck out looking (Carlos Guillen convinced him to return to the dugout). That’s the first time I’ve ever seen Maggs angry.

There’s been something I’ve been wanting to complain about but never mentioned until now. When they go to a commercial, the FSN guys usually say who is due up in the next half-inning. In the case of the Tigers, they’ll occasionally use some video footage of whatever player it is. In this footage, the player is standing in front of a green screen, and they’ll have him in several poses (standing with his arms crossed, walking forward, holding a bat, etc) while footage of him hitting home runs or making great defensive moves play on the green screen. I’ve never liked these, cuz the players are obviously not actors or models, and for the most part, they just look awkward in these poses. They don’t seem to have green screen shots for every player. I see Polanco’s a lot, and also Gary Sheffield’s, and occasionally I’ll see the one for Carlos Guillen (and Guillen in particular looks really uncomfortable in his green screen shot). Last night was the first time I saw one with Pudge. Unlike the others, he doesn’t look awkward, but he has this look on his face that is somewhere between “unhappy” and “annoyed,” and even though there are multiple shots/poses, his expression does not change one bit. I’m not sure if he was trying to look intimidating or what. Also, in none of these green screen shots does anyone smile. It probably would look less awkward if they did, but even that wouldn’t be much of an improvement.

In what looks to be a recurring feature, it’s time for another Bad Web Ad Involving Pudge. Last time, I showed you the ad featuring a cell phone with a text message that had the scores for three teams in one game. Last night, as I was checking the box scores of this most recent debacle, I was greeted with this:

I have seen commercials on TV for “Fatheads” before, but this is the first one I’ve seen online, and the first involving the Tigers. And no, I do not want a life-sized decal of Pudge or any other player on my wall. That’s just creepy.

Today, it’s Game 2 of this series. Andrew Miller will start for the Tigers. This’ll be the first time he’s started against an American League team. All of his other starts came in Interleague play against the National League (Cardinals, Mets, Phillies, and Braves). He’ll be opposed by Kevin Slowey, who is also a rookie, so you have to look out for the Reyes Effect in situations like these. The Tigers will be without Gary Sheffield, who will be serving a two-game suspension, so it’ll be interesting to see who will DH (If I were to guess, I would probably say Marcus Thames today and Pudge tomorrow, but I could be wrong on that; at least, I hope I’m wrong about Pudge, cuz I prefer seeing him as the catcher anyways). Hopefully those back spasms won’t keep Brandon Inge out for too long. This game is part of FOX Saturday Baseball (much to my chagrin, cuz I’m not real wild about their commentators), and I work until 5:00, so I’ll only be home for the later innings.

One Year Ago: On June 30, 2006, the Tigers began their road trip with a 7-6 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. It wasn’t an easy win, though. Detroit scored their seven runs early (including back-to-back home runs from Marcus Thames and Chris Shelton), but Kenny Rogers gave up five runs in 4 1/3 innings. Future Tiger Sean Casey had 3 RBIs in that game. The only reason the Tigers won was a game-saving diving catch from Curtis Granderson in the eighth and a strong outing from Todd Jones in the ninth.

2006 record: 55-25

2007 record: 46-32

This is a rare event for me, cuz usually when I work, I can only see the last couple of innings. This time I saw the beginning of the game and had to leave after the top of the eighth (I think the only other time I did that was back in April; in fact I believe it was the game where Carlos Guillen hit a grand slam; the Tigers lost that game, though). Apparently, I didn’t miss much, cuz the score was 5-2 when I left, and it remained 5-2. Kenny Rogers was outstanding again. His scoreless stretch ended, but it wasn’t gonna last forever anyways, and it was only one run. Chad Durbin continues to do well out of the bullpen. He also gave up a run, but I’m not concerned. I didn’t see Todd Jones, but it looks as though he had a 1-2-3 ninth, and he got the save.

The Tigers didn’t have nearly the success that they had the first time they faced Kevin Millwood. There might be a little bit of the Reyes Effect mixed in, but I’m not gonna call it that cuz the Tigers DID win. Magglio and Guillen extended their hitting streaks, and Guillen now has an RBI in eleven games in a row. Polanco snapped an 0-for-16 slump. I wasn’t even aware that he was IN an 0-for-16 slump in the first place. The two who REALLY couldn’t figure out Millwood were Inge and Pudge, who both struck out nearly every time they faced him. Inge did draw a walk his last time against him, but that was in the sixth inning, and a lot of Millwood’s pitches missed significantly. Pudge was not as lucky, cuz he struck out three times against Millwood (and oddly enough, two of those times, he struck out looking, which he doesn’t often do; if he goes down, he goes down swinging most times). It got to the point where it was almost a relief when he popped out his last time up instead of striking out (though that last at-bat was NOT against Millwood). However, I’m not too surprised he went hitless, cuz Pudge doesn’t have good career numbers against Millwood (he’s only, like, 4-for-36 against him or something like that), and his numbers against Texas in general aren’t much better. Gary Sheffield hit his first home run since June 10^th. He also stole a base and scored on a wild pitch earlier, so I’m gonna guess Sheffield was the star of the game.

Zach Miner returned to the team yesterday after completing his rehab assignment. He says he’s ready to go, but the Tigers probably won’t activate him until tomorrow. In the meantime, they’re gonna have to make another roster move. Before the game yesterday, there was serious talk of Justin Verlander starting the All-Star game. At the very least, the FSN guys are considering him a lock to appear in the game at some point. I’m not sure what it is that makes them so confident, but I’d certainly love to see him there. Speaking of All-Stars, Pudge made the front page of USA Today Sports Weekly. The article inside basically talked about the fact that he’s lasted so long in such a demanding position, and that he has a reasonable shot at surpassing Carleton Fisk in most games at catcher, provided he stays healthy (There’s always that caveat, isn’t there?). Also, Gary Sheffield agreed to serve a two-game suspension, so he’ll miss tomorrow and Sunday’s games.

Tonight, the Minnesota Twins come to Comerica for the weekend, and the first game in the series will feature what has to be one of the marquee pitching matchups this season, as Justin Verlander goes up against Johan Santana. If both of them have their stuff tonight, runs’ll definitely be at a premium (which is why I find pitching duels to be one of the most nerve-wracking types of games to watch). Now, here’s where I wish the Tigers had played better against Texas, cuz the rest of the teams they’ll face on the homestand are gonna be much tougher opponents. Minnesota may be in third place in the AL Central, but they always play Detroit tough, and (as last year proves), you can’t count them out, ever. They took two of three last time they were at Comerica, back in April, but lost the game that Santana started (Santana got a no-decision in that game though; Brandon Inge hit a walk-off home run). This’ll also be Verlander’s first home start since he threw the no-hitter, so I imagine there’ll be some HUGE crowds at Comerica. I’m curious as to how Jim Leyland’s gonna do the lineup tonight. Recently, he’s had Omar Infante leading off against lefties, but Infante is, like, 0-for-16 in his career against Santana, so that might not be a good idea. Pudge was the leadoff hitter at the beginning of the season, but I get the feeling Leyland wants to keep him down in the 6-spot. And I don’t think he’d want Granderson leading off, considering his struggles against lefties (though he has gotten a bit better of late). I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

UPDATE: Lineups are posted. Granderson is leading off, oddly enough. The weird part is that Brandon Inge is out, and Neifi Perez is playing third base. Also, the Tigers have, in fact, activated Zach Miner and made room for him by placing Tim Byrdak on the DL. Hmmm...

Well, due to the rainout last night, I have no game to report on. Today’s probably gonna have the same starting pitchers, although I’m not sure how Leyland’s gonna work the lineup, since the whole team ended up getting the day off. By the way, Leyland was royally pissed on Tuesday night, in case you missed his postgame interview (It lasted a grand total of about 20 seconds). Maybe that’ll give the Tigers a little extra motivation. Also, I learned yesterday that there were more issues with the battery during the ninth inning than I originally thought. Apparently, Todd Jones and Mike Rabelo just weren’t communicating at all well. I should’ve realized that when Rabelo dropped/didn’t catch one of Jonesy’s strikes. Jonesy had Sammy Sosa in an 0-2 count with one on and two out. The plan was for Jonesy to step off and look Michael Young back to first, but either Rabelo put down the wrong sign, or Jonesy misread it, cuz instead he delivered a pitch to Sosa, who hit a double. That wasn’t what broke the tie, but it didn’t help matters, and apparently Rabelo and Jones just couldn’t get on the same page after that, cuz Rabelo made several trips out to the mound while Jonesy was facing Marlon Byrd (and that matchup didn’t end well either). In a completely unrelated note, apparently Craig Monroe was a late scratch from yesterday’s lineup because he was having knee pain. He hopes to play today. By the way, Oakland FINALLY came through for us and beat Cleveland, so now the Tigers have a modest half-game lead over the Indians.

I may have no game to talk about, but at least that gives me the chance to bring up a minor thing I’ve been meaning to discuss for a couple days now. As I browse through the schedule and news stories on the official website, I oftentimes come across this banner ad:

I certainly appreciate the gesture (2-RBI hits from Pudge are always welcome in my book), but there’s something not right about this ad. If you look at the message on the cell phone, it says “Ivan Rodriguez (DET) batted in 2 runs (78) in the top of the 6^th against the Indians. DET 7, CLE 4, FLA 2.” Why are there three teams? And where the hell does Florida figure in to all this? You could also point out that if Pudge is getting 2-RBI hits in the top of the sixth, it would mean that the Tigers are at Jacobs Field, and he’s wearing the home uniform in the picture, but that would be getting excessive.

One Year Ago: On June 28, 2006, the Tigers completed their sweep of the Houston Astros, defeating them 5-0. Justin Verlander pitched an absolute gem for eight innings, and Jason Grilli pitched a scoreless ninth. The scoring for the Tigers began in the fourth inning, when Pudge hit a one-out single, moved to third on a single by Magglio (who had to leave the game with a shin contusion after fouling a ball off his leg during this particular at-bat), and scored on an error. In the bottom of the sixth, Carlos Guillen singled, moved to second on an error, stole third base, and scored on a bunt single by Craig Monroe. Brandon Inge then hit an RBI single that scored Marcus Thames. Then in the bottom of the seventh, after singles by Polanco and Pudge and a successful sacrifice bunt by Alexis Gomez, Carlos Guillen was intentionally walked. This loaded the bases, and turned out not to be such a great idea, cuz Astros pitcher Andy Pettite then walked Marcus Thames, which forced in Polanco. Pettite was replaced by Brad Lidge, who proceeded to throw a wild pitch, which allowed Pudge to score. So if you look at it, the Astros practically gift-wrapped and handed the Tigers three of their five runs. Also, the Tigers stole a ton of bases in this game.

2006 record: 54-25

2007 record: 45-31

The game must’ve gone very fast (at least, until the end), cuz I didn’t get home until the top of the eighth inning, when a lot of the damage had already been done. I’ve tried to piece together what I can from the box score and from Gameday. I obviously didn’t see Nate Robertson pitch, but apparently he did well (by the way, the roster move to make room for Nate Robertson consisted of putting Fernando Rodney back on the DL). He only stayed out 5 1/3 innings, though. I still maintain that the bullpen is not the disaster area that a lot of the fans love to believe, but it seems that when one reliever has a bad outing, they all have a bad outing. They need to stop synching their bad outings together. It’s like when women live together or something (okay, guys, I’m done making you uncomfortable). The only bright spots for the bullpen seemed to be Eulogio De La Cruz, who started off a little rocky but recovered, and Bobby Seay, who only faced one batter but did what he was supposed to do. I wish someone could explain why Detroit’s road record is a whole lot better than their home record. They’re only two games above .500 at home, but their road record is outstanding (27-15). By the way, Cleveland put up a five-spot against Oakland in the bottom of their ninth inning in very similar fashion to what they did in that game against the Tigers at the beginning of the month, so we’re all tied again.

You know, one of these days that “bottom-of-the-ninth” rally will become reality, but it didn’t last night. At first, I thought the Reyes Effect had come a-calling again, which would have been strange, cuz it’s exceptionally rare for the Tigers to fall victim to the Reyes Effect for two games in a row. However, apparently Willie Eyre had to leave the game in the fifth inning after getting hit by Polanco’s line drive, and as I mentioned when the Tigers were in Texas, the Rangers actually seem to have a pretty good bullpen. Granted, Willie Eyre is normally out of the bullpen as well. I know he made a couple of appearances when the Tigers were in Texas, but I’m trying to remember what happened in those outings. I believe he might have been the guy that Guillen and Pudge hit back-to-back home runs against, but I’m not sure (UPDATE: I went back to the old box scores, and they hit their home runs against Littleton, not Eyre; the Tigers really didn’t do much of anything against Eyre in their series in Texas). It’s unfortunate that Todd Jones had to have a bad night on the same night that the normally unhittable Akinori Otsuka (the Texas eighth-inning guy) had serious issues with his control (by the way, I was not aware that “Rollercoaster” really is Jonesy’s nickname; I always thought that it was some sort of insult used by fans who don’t like him). Guillen and Magglio were able to keep their hitting streaks alive (though Maggs sure did pick a bad time to strike out), and Curtis Granderson hit his tenth home run of the season, which officially put him in the “triple-double” club (double digits in home runs, doubles, and triples).

I know the bullpen is gonna take the brunt of this from the fans (maybe; so far they’re not being as venomous as I thought they would; one fan went so far as to say “even the worst teams win sometimes”), but I gotta bitch-slap the defense as a whole. Over the past two nights, the Tigers have been playing like they did in the World Series (so-so pitching, not a whole lot of offense, and a slew of errors and wild pitches). On Monday night, the battery was having serious issues. Last night, the rest of the field joined the party. Yes, it was bad that Tim Byrdak gave up the three-run homer, but both Brandon Inge and Craig Monroe committed errors that came back to haunt them. Two of the runs in that 5-run seventh were unearned. If they had gotten out of the seventh with Texas only holding a one-run lead, who knows what would’ve happened (especially with the subsequent meltdown from Otsuka). Plus, the box score may credit Marlon Byrd (who is in line to follow the likes of Victor Martinez and Bill Hall in being the thorn in the Tigers’ side, both offensively and defensively) with a triple in the top of the ninth, but it really should have been a single and an error, cuz Magglio totally misplayed that ball. Obviously, the battery continued to have problems, as evidenced by the bad outing from the bullpen, but the other half of the battery isn’t totally off the hook either. Rabelo may not have any throwing errors or passed balls on the box score, but he came dangerously close to having one in the ninth inning, when he either dropped one of Jonesy’s pitches or never caught it in the first place. Somehow, it got ruled a strike, but Rabelo just seemed kind of flustered for the rest of the inning. He was also the only member of the batting order to not make any sort of offensive contribution (Polanco, Sheffield, and Monroe also went hitless, but both Polanco and Sheffield walked, and Monroe had a sac fly). That’s a little unusual, cuz I think it’s been a really long time since Rabelo’s had a game without a hit (well, he didn’t have one in that last game against the Nationals, but he didn’t start that game, so I’m not counting it). He struck out twice last night, including once in the bottom of the eighth with two outs and the go-ahead run at first base.

Now for some better news. They released the latest results for the AL ballot for the All-Star game, and now there are three Tigers who seem poised to start. Pudge and Polanco have increased their leads, and Magglio has had a 500,000-vote surge to put him in second among outfielders (oddly enough, Ichiro is still third; somehow Manny Ramirez got bumped off). I know it’s kind of dumb to get excited about my boys starting, because in the All-Star Game, no one stays in for the entire game, so I’d only be able to see Pudge, Polanco, and Maggs for the first couple of innings, but making the start is the only guaranteed way of seeing them in it, and it’s better than nothing. Also, I went to the mall yesterday kinda-sorta in search of that jersey once again (or, if nothing else, to bemoan how expensive they are). However, the only ones I could find were the ones that didn’t have the names on the back. Granted, one of those would probably be more practical (not to mention cheaper), but when have I ever been practical? I also stopped at Borders and took a browse through the sports books to see if there was anything on the Tigers. I found a book called The Essential Detroit Tigers Reader or something like that. I thought that might be interesting, but then I looked at the back and it said that the book covered “the more than 100-year history of the Detroit Tigers, from the early days to the arrival of Pudge Rodriguez.” Since Pudge joined the Tigers back in 2004, I figured that the book was seriously out-of-date, especially when you consider what happened last year. There was also a series of books on each position, and just out of curiosity, I kind of (very) briefly leafed through the one on catchers. That one was kind of out of date, too, cuz it only had stats up through 2004, but one thing that I found amusing was that there was a whole section that broke down the 30 starting catchers of the 2003 season by zodiac sign, followed by more fun facts about zodiac signs. Apparently, of the thirteen catchers in the Hall of Fame (wow, that’s certainly selective if there’s only thirteen), four are Sagittarius, and according to pretty much every commentator, sports expert, and sports writer, a fifth Sagittarius will join them when all is said and done (hell, even the book said as much, otherwise I wouldn’t be mentioning it).

Today is the first of two day games in a row, as the Tigers look to at least get a split of this series (Ah, them’s the brakes to these four-game series, cuz taking 3 out of 4 is a whole lot more difficult than taking 2 out of 3, but if you split at home, it’s viewed as a disappointment). They’ll have one of their best shots, cuz Kenny Rogers is taking the hill for the Tigers. It’s his first home start of the season. He was outstanding against Atlanta, so let’s hope he can keep it up against his old team. He’ll be opposed by Kevin Millwood, who has a whopping 7.31 ERA. Of course, the Tigers contributed to that number, cuz they beat him up pretty good when they saw him in Texas. Of course, they also did the same thing to Kameron Loe the first time they saw HIM, too, so you can’t take that for granted. The Tigers really need to win these next two games, though, because the rest of the teams on this homestand have much better records (Minnesota, Cleveland, and Boston). Unless something’s happened that I don’t know about (which is always a possibility), Pudge should be back in the lineup, and I read on the Detroit News Tiger Page that Polanco will have the day off today (so I was kinda right last time; I was just off by a day with Polanco), which means we’ll see either Omar Infante or Neifi Perez. Considering the fact that the offense still needs to perk up a bit, I’d rather see Infante, but that’s just my opinion. I probably will not see all of this game, unless it’s a short one, cuz I’ve gotta be at work at 4:00, but I’ll try to watch all I can. By the way, it’s supposed to get up to 90 degrees in Detroit with a slight chance of thunderstorms, so it ain’t gonna be easy conditions for the boys. Also, last night, the FSN guys made mention of the fact that Magglio hasn’t hit a home run in a really long time, but I didn’t realize that Gary Sheffield hasn’t hit one since the last game against the Mets. They’re both overdue (actually, you could argue that the only ones NOT overdue are Granderson, Guillen, Pudge, Casey, and perhaps Inge).

One Year Ago: On June 27, 2006, the Tigers beat the Houston Astros 4-0. It was quite the pitching duel between Nate Robertson and Roger Clemens. Then in the seventh inning, after getting Pudge to ground out, Clemens walked both Maggs and Guillen. That opened the door for Craig Monroe, who hit a 2-RBI double. Craig himself would later score on an error, and Alexis Gomez hit a home run in the eighth inning. One thing that I noticed looking at this box score is that Todd Jones’s ERA is actually lower this year than it was last year at this time. Also, Pudge may have gone hitless, but he certainly proved his worth behind the plate, throwing out two would-be base-stealers. By the way, I took a look at the video highlights of this game on the website, like I usually do, and it looks like when Alexis Gomez hits a home run, he STILL runs hard around the bases, even more so than Pudge (who doesn’t really have a home run trot, either).

2006 record: 53-25

2007 record: 45-31

UPDATE: Lineups are posted. Polanco does indeed have the day off (with Neifi Perez playing in his stead), as does Craig Monroe (Marcus Thames will be playing left field). Pudge is back in the lineup, and oddly enough, he doesn't have great numbers against his old team. Also, I looked at the weather radar, and it looks as though there are some pretty big storms heading in the direction of Comerica Park, so the weather situation might be a bit dicey.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Yep, it's rained out. The game'll be made up on September 11 as part of a day/night doubleheader. In the meantime, the Tigers have one more game against the Rangers, and that's tomorrow afternoon. I assume we'll have the same starting pitchers (Kenny Rogers and Kevin Millwood), which means that things are also set for a Friday night showdown between Justin Verlander and Johan Santana.

Well, the two things I warned about seemed to come true last night. Once again, the Tigers didn’t do so well the game after an early-morning arrival. The pitching’s been so terrific recently that you had to figure they were due for a bad outing. The bullpen really wasn’t that great, but I’m not gonna bitch-slap them cuz the Tigers never made up for Bonderman’s deficit (who also struck out a season-high nine batters), so it really didn’t matter how many runs McBride and De La Cruz gave up.

Jim Leyland can deny it all he wants to, but this whole fatigue thing is starting to become an issue, cuz it seems to happen every single time. The aspect that takes the biggest blow is the offense, which becomes downright anemic. It was no different last night, but it also didn’t help that the boys were overdue for a visit from the Reyes Effect. The last time they saw Kameron Loe, they hit him around pretty well. This time, they pretty much couldn’t hit him at all. The extra-base hit trend remained alive (Curtis Granderson hit his fourteenth triple of the season), as did Magglio and Guillen’s hitting streaks (By the way, Guillen was named the AL Player of the Week), but there wasn’t much else to speak about.

Last time, I warned about the travel fatigue and I warned about the Reyes Effect. Something that never crossed my mind was defensive miscues. As I said in the title, it was NOT a good night for the battery. Jeremy Bonderman made a throwing error on what should have been the final out of the top of the third. Two more runs would eventually score, and that really changed the complexion of the game, because all other things being equal, the Tigers would have come back to tie, and then who knows what would’ve happened (bullpen pitching aside). Eulogio De La Cruz made a wild pitch in the eighth. Pudge just had a bad night all around. I didn’t mention this in yesterday’s post, but I made the prediction that he would not start last night. I turned out to wrong, but in retrospect, maybe he shouldn’t have (and I don’t mean anything critical by that; I’m just sayin’). He went hitless, bounced into a double play, got hit by two foul tips in the fifth inning (and he looked REALLY pissed after the second one), had a passed ball in the eighth inning (during which he became uncharacteristically flustered), and in the ninth inning, when he finally reached base on an error, Rabelo was brought in to pinch-run. That last one kinda raises the red flag just a little bit, because normally Pudge runs much better than Rabelo, so I don’t know if it’s because of the hamstring, or if it cramped up again, or if it had something to do with the foul tips that he took earlier, or what. On the other hand, it could mean nothing of the sort. I suppose I’ll find out soon enough, but at any rate, my guess is that he’s not gonna play tonight (if nothing else, those foul tips made sure of that).

Tonight, Nate Robertson makes his first start since coming off the disabled list, and ironically, he’ll be starting against the team that he faced right before going on the DL, and it was not a pretty sight. He looked really good in his one rehab start in Erie (six hitless innings), so here’s hoping that he’s back to being the Nate Robertson that we all know and love. The Rangers, meanwhile, took forever in deciding who they were gonna start (originally it was Vicente Padilla, but he’s been put on the DL), but it seems they’ve finally settled on Willie Eyre, who is normally a reliever. I’m just gonna hope that the Reyes Effect doesn’t show up again. As I said before, I’m just about 100% sure that Pudge won’t play, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Polanco got the night off as well. He got hit by a pitch his first time up last night, and it took him a while to recover from it, and he then proceeded to go hitless for the rest of the game. I’m gonna be at work, so I’ll only be able to catch the late innings live.

One Year Ago: On June 26, 2006, the Tigers welcomed the Houston Astros to town by beating them 10-4. The Astros scored first, but the Tigers proceeded to put a five-spot up in the third and never looked back. Pudge had the biggest night of any of the Tigers, with three hits, including a solo home run and a two-run double. He finished the night with three RBIs. Curtis Granderson also had three RBIs. Zach Miner racked up five strikeouts, and Fernando Rodney struck out every batter he faced (4). Judging from the video highlights on the website, the Tigers also put on quite a defensive show, with impressive plays from Thames, Inge, and Polanco (the video of Polanco is actually quite hilarious). A couple of random notes: The Houston starter’s name was also Rodriguez, so that made reading this box score exceptionally confusing. Also, that has to be one of the strangest-looking pictures of Pudge that I have ever seen. I mean, normally I like that look on guys, but…I don’t know (by the way, he looked normal in the video highlights, or at least, as “normal” as you get with Pudge). Then again, I don’t find Pudge to be attractive anyways, so it’s kind of a moot point.

2006 record: 52-25

2007 record: 45-30

I heard somewhere that last year, the Tigers went 0-6 when appearing on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball. This year, things haven’t been much better, cuz they lost their first two ESPN games. Apparently, Andrew Miller was the solution. I got a little concerned at first cuz it was clear early on that his secondary pitches weren’t working very well, so he had to rely on his fastball, and I was just waiting for the Braves hitters to adjust or sit on it, but they never did. In the end, Miller did a damn good job, despite losing the strike zone on occasion. Chad Durbin made his first appearance out of the bullpen, and was very solid (though watching him kind of made me almost feel like I was watching another game, cuz I’m used to seeing him as a starter). He also got his first career save, and I’m still a little foggy as to what does and what does not constitute a save (and when I got the above photo off of Yahoo, the captioned identified Durbin as the Tigers’ closer; someone has not been paying attention). So while the offense stole the show at the beginning of this road trip, it’s been the pitching that’s dominated during this last series of Interleague play, both starting and bullpen pitching (by the way, I don’t know if anyone noticed during the brief shots of the bullpen tonight, but it looks as though Fernando Rodney has undone all his braids, and now his hair is a frighteningly large poof). Also, I would've used the photo of Miller, but he looked really bad in it, so you're gonna have to settle for Durbin. And it looks as though Washington put up a little Reyes Effect of their own on Cleveland, cuz the Indians were only able to muster one run against the guy that Detroit was able to score ten runs on. This mean that the Tigers have increased their lead to two games in the AL Central.

This game was eerily similar to Friday night’s game. Atlanta’s pitching has actually been pretty good during the series. It’s just that Detroit’s pitching has been better, the Atlanta offense is nonexistent, and both on Friday and tonight, the Tigers’ offense successfully adjusted to the starting pitcher the third time around the order (and both times, it happened in the sixth inning). During that sixth inning, Sheffield and Guillen both got RBIs (though Guillen’s was due to being walked with the bases loaded), and Pudge ended up with 2 RBIs on the night (single with the bases loaded, although an error by Atlanta allowed him to get to second), and would’ve gotten a third on a sac fly if not for the fact that Jeff Francoeur has a really strong throwing arm. That fifth RBI belongs to Chad Durbin. After Brandon Inge doubled and stole third (wow, he must be feeling real good), Durbin was able to get him home on a sac fly (because apparently Matt Diaz doesn’t have as strong a throwing arm as Jeffrey Francoeur).

Since this National League road trip was such a resounding success, the Tigers may not want it to end, but beginning tonight, they’ll be at Comerica until the All-Star Break. That’s a 13-game spread, so it’ll be a nice, long homestand for them. It’ll be nice to have the DH again, at any rate (and I’ll bet the person who is happiest about that is Craig Monroe). Their first opponent is Texas, who they’ll face for the next four days. Jeremy Bonderman will start for the Tigers. He hasn’t pitched quite as well lately. In his last couple games, he would cruise along for five or six innings and then give up three or four runs (this didn’t turn out to mean much, cuz the Tigers won all those games, obviously). Hopefully that’s an aberration. He’ll be opposed by Kameron Loe. The Tigers were able to beat up on him quite significantly when last they met, but apparently Loe has pitched much better since then, so you gotta look out for the Reyes Effect. And you also have to be wary of fatigue, since I’m gonna assume the Tigers did not get back to Detroit until about five in the morning. By the way, I have seen three different names for Texas’s starting pitcher in tomorrow night’s game. Also, Bonderman is only starting tonight because Nate Robertson will be activated off the DL tomorrow. The starting rotation will eventually be moved around so that Kenny Rogers is between Bonderman and Verlander (and I’m not sure which order Miller and Robertson will be in).

One Year Ago: On June 25, 2006, the Tigers completed their sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals by winning 4-1. The score was tied at 1-1 for most of the game. Bonderman struck out eight, but Sidney Ponson was also pitching well. Then in the bottom of the eighth, with runners at first and third, Curtis Granderson hit a double to put the Tigers ahead 2-1. This was followed by an RBI double by Polanco and an RBI single by Pudge (who was back in the lineup after missing the two previous games with a bruised wrist; he was playing first base, though).

2006 record: 51-25

2007 record: 45-29

As I mentioned previously, last night I went to a Toledo Mud Hens game, and as pathetic as it sounds, it was my first professional baseball game. I was kind of afraid that I wouldn’t be very much into it, since, well, the Mud Hens aren’t the Tigers, but I actually had a lot of fun. They were playing the Indianapolis Indians, which is the farm team for the Pittsburgh Pirates. I actually knew a couple of the names of some Mud Hens players. Chris Shelton, Jack Hanahan, Ramon Santiago, and Timo Perez have all played for the Tigers in the past, and apparently the catcher for Indianapolis used to be the catcher for the Cleveland Indians.

We actually had pretty good seats. We were down the first base line almost at the end, in foul ball territory, so we had a pretty good view (except for the fact that there were a bunch of people in front of us that kept getting up to get more food). However, I still got a little “digital zoom-happy” with my camera, so that’s why some of the pictures are so grainy (that and the fact that I can’t hold the camera still to save my life).

I was surprised at the fact that I actually was able to follow the game relatively well without the benefit of play-by-play commentary. At the same time, though, I quickly learned that there are about 900 things you can potentially focus on, and, ADHD or no, I can only pay attention to a few of those at a time, so I was constantly missing parts of plays. For instance, in the third inning, Indianapolis scored first via the squeeze play. I’m still a little shaky as to what the squeeze play looks like, because the Tigers do it very rarely (Jim Leyland is not a fan of the squeeze. I think the Tigers have only attempted it twice this year. One was successful, but that was the game against the Mets that I could only get on the radio, so I couldn’t see it). However, I missed my chance to see it because I was paying attention to the batter and not the guy on third base. Also, I was surprised at how different some things look in person versus on TV. Base hits don’t go as far as I thought they did. Also, I think the fastest pitch of the night only got up to about 91, but it looked MUCH faster than it does on TV. I couldn’t imagine watching Justin Verlander’s fastball. Would I even see it?

This is the screen that was right across from us. I decided to take a picture of it while Dane Sardinha, the Mud Hens catcher, was at bat (and no, the image was NOT pixilated; apparently the screen did not agree with my camera). I never heard of him before last night, but I seem to have a soft spot for catchers, so there you go. This obviously is not a picture from the eighth inning, but it was in the bottom of the eighth (with the score tied 1-1) where Sardinha began a rally with a single. The Mud Hens would score two runs in that inning to go ahead 3-1. However, Indianapolis came back to tie things up in the top of the ninth.

There were a TON of double plays in this game, and I mean a TON. It seemed that there was a double play almost every inning. I looked at the box score this morning, and it turns out there were a total of seven double plays (4 for Indianapolis, 3 for Toledo). As you could probably guess, this resulted in the game moving very quickly. There was also quite a pitching duel going on until the later innings (and for some reason, the Indianapolis starter was taken out during the fifth inning). As a result, extra base hits were limited. There were a couple of doubles, but everything else was a single, and I was kind of hoping to see a home run. As the Mud Hens started the bottom of the ninth, I started thinking, “You know what would be really cool? A walk-off home run.” Well, as it turns out, Chris Shelton decided to oblige me, hitting the ball over the left field wall and into the glove of a fan standing under the scoreboard.

And there’s your final score, except…it’s wrong! Toledo won 4-3, not 5-3. Shelton’s homer was a solo shot. But, hey, a win’s a win. And there was something else to feel good about. If I had this much fun watching players that I didn’t know, imagine the time I would have watching guys that I AM familiar with…

By the way, I was there with my parents and my dad’s friend Chuck, who is a big Yankees fan (but likes the Tigers as well) and has been to a whole lot of Major League games (and therefore, has seen a lot of the big names in person), and actually has been very helpful in answering a lot of my questions throughout the season. As we were entering the stadium, he tried to inform me that I had the “wrong” name on the back of my shirt (no prizes for guessing which name that was). Apparently the “right” name was supposed to be “Mantle” (so regardless of which name was the “right” name, I still had the “right” number, oddly enough). However, he found himself vastly outnumbered at Fifth Third Field, cuz I only saw one “Mantle” T-shirt and a whole slew of “Rodriguez” shirts (and “Rodriguez” was by and large the most common name I saw on the fans wearing Tigers shirts, and that surprised even me; by the way, it is totally not my intention to slam Mickey Mantle; he’s definitely one of the baseball legends). He then proceeded to say a couple things about Pudge that weren’t very nice. However, about twenty minutes later, he did a complete turnaround and said that Pudge deserved to start at the All-Star Game because he’s the best catcher in baseball right now (no argument there). From that point on, he absolutely sung his praises whenever the subject came up again for the rest of the night. I’m not sure what brought about the sudden reversal, but I wasn’t about to question it. By the way, the subject did keep coming up. A lot. I kept trying to get him to talk about some of the other Tigers, and we did discuss Polanco a little and Verlander some (he is in awe of the 100 MPH fastball), but he kept bringing the subject back to Pudge (geez, I thought I was bad). And yes, he has seen Pudge in person. During the game, there were about two or three Mud Hens that tried to steal second, only to be thrown out by the Indianapolis catcher (Chuck kept criticizing the runners, because apparently they were foolish to try to steal on a Major League catcher, especially since the starting pitcher for Indianapolis was left-handed). Finally in the top of the ninth, Dane Sardinha (the Mud Hens catcher) got a caught stealing of his own. Indianapolis had tied the game, and they had a runner on second with one out. The runner tried to steal third, only to be thrown out by Sardinha. This rather dumb move by Indianapolis came back to haunt them, cuz the guy at bat ended up hitting a double, which would’ve scored the go-ahead run if the runner had not tried to steal third (the next Indianapolis batter struck out to retire the side). Anyways, I mentioned to Chuck that it was nice to see the Mud Hens FINALLY throw out a would-be base-stealer after being thrown out themselves all night. He kind of misunderstood what I said and replied, “You think that’s impressive? You oughta see Pudge. His throw is incredible.” I am so jealous. But…one can only hope. Perhaps it's not so farfetched after all.

Anyways, that was my night at the ballpark in a nutshell. And now it’s back to watching the big team on TV…

Okay, this is gonna be a shorter one, cuz I gotta go to work really soon. As we left for the Mud Hens game last night (more on that later), the score in Atlanta was 2-1 Detroit, and apparently it stayed that way. Justin Verlander looked real sharp, this time striking out eleven. The bullpen looked real sharp as well. Even Rodney didn’t give up a hit.

Obviously, when you only score two runs, there isn’t a whole lotta offense to talk about, but there is some. Carlos Guillen scored both those runs, one on a single by Sean Casey, and the other on a solo home run. The Tigers only got six hits, and they didn’t really spread the wealth in that area, so Granderson, Polanco, Pudge, and Inge all went hitless. Curtis Granderson struck out four times. Pudge only struck out once (though, to be fair, that was the at-bat during which Magglio stole second base, so I’m gonna guess the “swing and a miss” came because Leyland put on a hit and run, since Magglio doesn’t run that often). He seems to be chasing a lot of elevated fastballs lately, though. He also got hit by the pitch (barely) in his first at-bat. Magglio has extended his hitting streak, and Sean Casey went 2-for-4.

I have a couple other observations. I watched very little of this game “live.” At the beginning, I was looking at the box score on the Internet at work, and I noticed that Willie Harris had stolen second base, and that made me think, “How the hell do you steal on the Verlander/Pudge combination?” Apparently the answer is that it would otherwise have been a wild pitch, cuz it was a breaking ball (I think) that took a weird bounce in the dirt and got away from Pudge. I’m not sure why it was ruled a stolen base and not a wild pitch, but that’s one of those finite points that I’ve yet to figure out (remember, this IS the Total Amateur Analysis). Also, this game featured two ejections in the bottom of the ninth. Both the Atlanta catcher and manager were tossed (and I find it slightly amusing that somehow Pudge always ends up kinda hanging around in the middle of things, even when it's the other team's guys being ejected; it's only slightly amusing because my guess is that one of these days that's going to backfire on him). That would’ve made things real interesting had the game gone into extra innings, cuz Atlanta had already used their backup catcher to pinch-hit earlier in the game. Bobby Cox is now tied for most career ejections.

Tonight, the Tigers go for the sweep against Atlanta, on ESPN no less (meh). Andrew Miller, who has been assured of a spot in the rotation, will start for the Tigers. He’ll be opposed by Chuck James, who held the Red Sox in check in his last start. Sweeping a team on the road is one of the hardest things to do in baseball, but here’s hoping the Tigers can do it.

One Year Ago: On June 24, 2006, the Tigers won a close game against the Cardinals 7-6. Detroit actually trailed 6-5 going into the bottom of the ninth, but a homer by Marcus Thames tied the game and sent it into extra innings. In the bottom of the tenth, with two outs, Curtis Granderson walked and Polanco drove him in. This kind of reminds me of that game against the White Sox back in April.

2006 record: 50-25

2007 record: 44-29

Well, during the pregame show, Pudge said that Kenny Rogers would be the Kenny of old, and he was right. The Gambler picked up right where he left off in the World Series by pitching six shutout innings. I didn’t realize just how much I missed him until last night. Kenny also demonstrated that he’s lost none of his defensive ability as well, making a stellar play in the fifth inning. And the bullpen (Grilli, Seay, and De La Cruz) was solid as well (and yes, it was really strange to see Wilfredo Ledezma in a Braves uniform; it was even more frustrating that he proceeded to strike out the side). Not only did the bullpen not give up any runs, they didn’t even give up any hits. By the way, as you probably know by now, Mike Maroth has been traded to the Cardinals (for “a player yet to be named”). St. Louis could certainly use the help, and it’s not like this is out of the blue, cuz he’s been at the center of trade rumors for weeks. I feel kinda bad about it, but I understand the logistics of it as well, cuz at the moment, the Tigers have too many pitchers (boy, that’s a dilemma I bet a lot of teams wish they had). By the way, Andrew Miller is gonna stay in the rotation, for now. Chad Durbin will move to the bullpen once Nate Robertson comes back. Also, the Indians lost last night (to the Nationals, of all teams), so the Tigers now have first place all to themselves. At least for now (and no, I do not expect Washington to keep beating Cleveland).

Well, this looked like it was gonna be a rather frightening pitching duel for the first five innings. The first time through the rotation, the Tigers were stymied by John Smoltz’s pitching. The second time around, they still couldn’t get anything going, but they made him work for his outs. Then in the sixth (third time around the rotation), the Tigers finally figured him out, putting up a 5-spot against him. And the most impressive thing was that all five of those runs came with two outs. Magglio, Guillen, Pudge, and Inge all chipped in with RBIs (and Casey, who sacrificed himself in a rundown so Pudge could score). There was a very scary moment in the eighth, when Maggs got hit in the hand by a pitch. They took him out of the game, but luckily it’s just bruised, not broken, so he may miss one, maybe two games, but probably nothing longer than that (if that). And he says he’ll be in the lineup today, so it looks as though it’s nothing to worry about.

Today, the Tigers continue their series against the Braves on FOX Saturday Baseball (damn, I don’t particularly care for those commentators), and I can think of no one better to start for Detroit than Justin Verlander, and that’s exactly what’s gonna happen. Kyle Davies will make the start for the Braves, and he’s lost three straight starts (not that that means anything on any given day). I will probably not see this game, at least not live. I’m working 9-5, and then tonight I’m going to a Mud Hens game (I’d make something up for you about doing some scouting of the prospects, but you already know that’s not true). I know I’ve said before that I really don’t follow the Mud Hens, but I my family wanted to go, and I wasn’t about to turn down the invitation. At the very least, I’ll consider it a dress rehearsal for something later in the year. I will try to watch the tape of the game when I get home and post the Total Amateur Analysis tomorrow morning, but that’ll depend on just how late I get home, because I do have to get up at 8:00 tomorrow. If I don’t post in the morning, I will get it up after I get home from work.

One Year Ago: On June 23, 2006, the Tigers began an Interleague homestand by beating the Cardinals 10-6. Curtis Granderson hit a leadoff home run, and Brandon Inge also went deep. Justin Verlander allowed four runs in six innings. And the “unbelievable coincidence” for this game? It’s one of the Tigers having to leave the game after being hit by the ball. This time it was Pudge, who was hit in the wrist with a foul tip and had to leave in the fifth inning. So if you take the last game against the Nationals into account, this is sort of a double-coincidence.

2006 record: 49-25

2007 record: 43-29

I’m gonna take this opportunity of the “day-after-a-day-off” post to talk about something different, at least for a while (and it’s not that much of a stretch). A few days ago, they had one of those AFI lists like they do every year. This time, they had a revised list of the 100 greatest movies of all time (which was their original special ten years ago). In the interest of (if nothing else) creating extremely long posts, I’ve provided the entire list here. I’ve bolded the movies I’ve seen.

1. Citizen Kane
2. The Godfather
3. Casablanca
4. Raging Bull
5. Singin’ in the Rain
6. Gone With the Wind
7. Lawrence of Arabia
8. Schindler’s List
9. Vertigo
10. The Wizard of Oz
11. City Lights
12. The Searchers
13. Star Wars
14. Psycho
15. 2001: A Space Odyssey
16. Sunset Boulevard
17. The Graduate
18. The General
19. On the Waterfront
20. It’s a Wonderful Life
21. Chinatown
22. Some Like It Hot
23. The Grapes of Wrath
24. ET
25. To Kill a Mockingbird
26. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
27. High Noon
28. All About Eve
29. Double Indemnity
30. Apocalypse Now
31. The Maltese Falcon
32. The Godfather Part II
33. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
34. Snow White and the Seven Dwarves
35. Annie Hall
36. The Bridge on the River Kwai
37. The Best Years of Our Lives
38. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
39. Dr. Strangelove
40. The Sound of Music
41. King Kong
42. Bonnie and Clyde
43. Midnight Cowboy
44. The Philadelphia Story
45. Shane
46. It Happened One Night
47. A Streetcar Named Desire
48. Rear Window
49. Intolerance
50. Lord of the Rings
51. West Side Story
52. Taxi Driver
53. The Deer Hunter
54. M*A*S*H
55. North By Northwest
56. Jaws
57. Rocky
58. The Gold Rush
59. Nashville
60. Duck Soup
61. Sullivan’s Travels
62. American Graffiti
63. Cabaret
64. Network
65. The African Queen
66. Raiders of the Lost Ark
67. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
68. Unforgiven
69. Tootsie
70. A Clockwork Orange
71. Saving Private Ryan
72. The Shawshank Redemption
73. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
74. The Silence of the Lambs
75. In the Heat of the Night
76. Forrest Gump
77. All the President’s Men
78. Modern Times
79. The Wild Bunch
80. The Apartment
81. Spartacus
82. Sunrise
83. Titanic
84. Easy Rider
85. A Night at the Opera
86. Platoon
87. 12 Angry Men
88. Bringing Up Baby
89. The Sixth Sense
90. Swing Time
91. Sophie’s Choice
92. Goodfellas
93. The French Connection
94. Pulp Fiction
95. The Last Picture Show
96. Do the Right Thing
97. Blade Runner
98. Yankee Doodle Dandy
99. Toy Story
100. Ben-Hur

As I kind of alluded to in the title, I’ve seen twenty-eight of these movies (an even thirty if you count that someone else was watching Vertigo and Pulp Fiction while I was in the room). Gone with the Wind could probably be debated as well because I don’t think I’ve ever seen the whole thing in one sitting (Gimme a break; it’s, like, four hours long, and it’s not really my kind of movie to begin with; plus Scarlett O’Hara gets on my nerves REALLY quickly), but I’m pretty sure I have seen all of it at one point or another, so I’m including it. I’m not really gonna weigh in on whether I think they made the right choices or not, cuz it’s hard to tell. I understand the technical merits of Citizen Kane, but as far as the story itself goes…I’m not sure. I’ve only seen the movie twice, though, and the last time was a few years ago. I was surprised at the fact that there were a whole slew of westerns, war movies, and silent films, which are all genres that I don’t really go for (there are at least three silent films on that list which I have seen, but they come courtesy of my old History of Cinema class). It’s also kind of strange that there are not one, but two Marx Brothers movies on the list. I’m also very surprised that Titanic made the list. Don’t get me wrong. I really like Titanic (though I haven’t watched it in several years because, well, it’s three hours long and that takes a commitment; I still have yet to watch the extended edition of Return of the King, for godsakes). I was just under the impression that the “cool” thing in the cinema purist world was to hate it nowadays. In most cases, I’ve liked the movies on the list that I’ve seen. At the worst, I’m indifferent (and yes, even the “classics” like Gone with the Wind can fall into the “indifferent” category). Double Indemnity will always be a strange one for me, cuz when I look at Fred MacMurray in that movie, I think, “Wait, he’s the dad on My Three Sons. He’s not supposed to be going around killing people.” By the way, I have not seen all of 2001, but I did see the last twenty minutes or so, and I’m just gonna say that it’s one of the few sequences that really make me feel like I’m on drugs (an anime series called Excel Saga and “Spaceboy,” that old Sci-Fi Marathon staple, are other prime examples). The book made a whole lot more sense (though for excitement value, I actually recommend 2010; the book, not the movie).

I have a couple other random observations:

• I really don’t rank my favorite movies, but I would definitely count Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, The Shawshank Redemption, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jaws, The Silence of the Lambs, and maybe Titanic in my top 20, so it’s cool that all those made the list. 
• I haven’t seen Snow White and the Seven Dwarves in English since I was twelve years old. I saw it in French a couple times when I was in high school.
• I’ve never seen the original Rear Window, but I saw a made-for-TV remake with Christopher Reeve a few years back.
• Twenty-seven Best Picture winners are on the list (that’s if you include the fact that they seemed to group all three Lord of the Rings movies as a single unit).
• The only movie on this list that I’ve never heard of is Sullivan’s Travels.

Well, this post is plenty long enough, and I’ve gotta go pick my car up from the shop and make some phone calls before tonight’s game, so I think that’ll be it for today (unless there’s some urgent breaking news from the Tigers front or something, and there just might be, what with the roster changes that have to take place today).  

UPDATE: The Detroit News is reporting that Mike Maroth has been traded to the Cardinals. Also, in their preview of tonight's game, they're saying that Pudge is "questionable" as far as playing tonight. So, who are you gonna believe, Pudge or the Detroit News? In the interests of not getting my hopes up, I'll err on the side of caution and say the Detroit News for now, but I'd still like for Pudge to prove them wrong. I'll probably have more details on the Maroth trade tomorrow.