Archive for May, 2007

In 1938, Pinky Higgins set the record for most consecutive hits with 12.  He broke Tris Speaker’s record of 11 that was back in 1920.  In 1952, a Tiger tied Pinky Higgins mark of 12 consecutive hits.

Here’s the question – Who is the Tiger who tied Pinky Higgins with twelve consecutive hits? 

It’s now 3 pm so you have until 4 pm on May 31, 2007 to send your answer, as well the name of your favorite Tiger site, to trivia@tigerblog.net. For more information on the rules and the trivia contest, please click here.

No intro tonight.

Here’s the Question - Who is the only Tiger to hit two homeruns in the same inning? 

It’s now 10 pm so you have until 11 pm on May 30, 2007 to send your answer, as well the name of your favorite Tiger site, to trivia@tigerblog.net. For more information on the rules and the trivia contest, please click here.

***UPDATE***

On April 17, 1955, in the fifth inning against the Kansas City Athletics, Al Kaline hit two homers to become the only Tiger to hit two homeruns in the same inning.

The Tigers four game losing streak came to an end last night as Gary Sheffield was the biggest of a large group of hitting stars in the teams 14-2 blowout win.  Sheffield belted two homers to bring his season total up to twelve and he drove in five runs.  His batting average has crept up to .262 but his OPS is up to .868, which is close to where he was at in 2005 before he had all the injuries.

In looking at his splits page, most of his production has come in the month of May where he’s hitting .314/.383/.647, which is what we’re paying him for.  He’s one of three Tigers who is averaging four or more pitches per plate appearance and he leads the team with 31 walks and he’s tied with Ordonez with 44 runs.  Not too shabby and it’s making for quite an impressive one/two punch with Sheffield and Ordonez in the middle of the lineup.

Jeremy Bonderman improved to 4-0 with another nice start.  He struck out eight and didn’t walk anyone.  Wil Ledezma also threw 2 2/2 impressive innings of mop up work to close out the game.

The rubber game is tonight.  Nate Robertson will take on an pretty impressive James Shields.  Scott Kazmir gets a lot of the attention in the Rays rotation but it’s been Shields who’s quietly put up some nice numbers.

Nine pitchers in the modern era (since 1901) have had perfect games broken up with two outs in the ninth.  The first was Hooks Wiltse in 1908 and the last was Mike Mussina in 2001.  Two of the nine pitchers were Tigers.

Here’s the question – Who are the two Tigers to have perfect games broken up with two outs in the ninth? 

It’s now 8 pm so you have until 9 pm on May 29, 2007 to send your answer, as well the name of your favorite Tiger site, to trivia@tigerblog.net. For more information on the rules and the trivia contest, please click here.

***UPDATE***

Tommy Bridges was one out away from pitching a perfect game on August 5, 1932 against the Senators but he gave up a single to Dave Harris that broke it up.  Then on April 15, 1983, Milt Wilcox gave up a single to Jerry Hairston, Sr. with two outs in the ninth to fall just short of pitching a perfect game.

Yeah, it’s been a few days.  I took the weekend off for a few reasons that range from a couple of deaths in the family to the Tigers just plain playing crappy against the Indians.  I went to one funeral home yesterday for the passing of a gentleman that I pretty much knew my entire life and there’s a funeral tomorrow for an uncle on my wife’s side.  Combine that with the sweep at the hand of the Indians and I didn’t have a lot of desire to post. 

Tigers are up 2-0 but the Rays have runners on second and third with one out.  I was at Tropicana Field last year and it was more of a transplant crowd.  There was maybe only 10,000 fans there for a Ray/Blue Jays game and most of the people I talked to were people in town for something else that had a free night and wanted to see some ball.  Then again, this is the team that played a series at a minor league park knowing it would really hurt their attendance too much.

Make that 2-1.

Jim Leyland defended his bullpen but basically got on his starters.  He basically blamed the poor pen work on the fact that the starters weren’t working deep enough and putting the relievers in a situtations that they shouldn’t be in.

Make that 2-2.

I have a confession to make.  Living in Detroit, I’ve been to probably somewhere between 150-200 Tiger games throughout my life.  Not a ton, but more then most.  The confession is, with the Tigers being so close, I’ve never set foot in a minor league stadium to see a minor league game.  I’m going to my first Friday night when the White Caps take on the Lugnuts in Lansing.  MSU is my old stomping ground and it’s always a bit nostalgic going over to Lansing, even though there are quite a few changes since I left there (almost 13 years ago).  I’ll probably do a special report of some kind either that night or the following morning over at Tigers Minors.

With the trivia challenge winding down, I’d rate it a moderate success.  I had a couple of complaints, some of which were valid but some of which were also people just not reading the rules.  I plan on doing something a bit bigger during the offseason, so if there’s something you liked or disliked, let me know.  I know the floating time of the question bothered people but this was done for a couple of different reasons ranging from a traffic grab to getting more people into it.  So let me know what you liked and what you didn’t because something bigger is coming.

Durbin got through the fourth and now the Tigers are batting in the fifth.  2-2 score.  Oops, Gary Sheffield just went yard.  3-2.

***UPDATE***

Bleh, the Rays scored two in the bottom of the ninth off of Todd Jones to win it.  The Indians are losing to Boston so hopefully we’ll stay just 2 1/2 back at the end of the night.

In 1941, Ted Williams broke Babe Ruth’s major league record of 17 consecutive games with a walk by drawing a walk in 19 consecutive games.  That record was subsequently broken by a Tiger. 

Here’s the question – Which Tigers holds the major league record for most consecutive games with a walk?

It’s now 8 pm so you have until 9 pm on May 28, 2007 to send your answer, as well the name of your favorite Tiger site, to trivia@tigerblog.net. For more information on the rules and the trivia contest, please click here.

***UPDATE***

Ron Cullenbine drew a walk in 22 consecutive games to set the major league record.  Barry Bonds came close to breaking it in 2002/2003 but he fell two games short and he holds the National League record with 20.

Jayson Stark recently put together a top ten underrated player list and the top of the list included guys like Roy Oswalt Trevor Hoffman and Jake Peavy.  I was a little surprised by Hanley Ramirez because he only has one previous full season under his belt but he did put up good numbers last year.

Anyway, Placido Polanco made the list at number seven.  He was sandwiched between Carl Crawford (and the Ty Cobb comparisons) and Kevin Youkillis.

And Stark has a new book.  Looks like a solid read.

Jason Beck reports that Fernando Rodney will be out for another game.  With both he and Joel Zumaya on the shelf, the pen is pretty thin.  Maybe we can get eight innings out of Robertson like we did from Bonderman yesterday and make the whole pen thing moot.

The Tigers made their best showing of the season on the Prospectus Hit List after winning five of their last six games.  The Indians sit just in front of them with the Mets and Red Sox rounding out the top four.  No other AL Central teams even made it into the top half. 

It looks like another quality blogger has called it quits.  Batgirl was one of the funniest blogs out there and you couldn’t help but chuckle whenever you stopped by to read something.  The stuff with the Legos were pricesless as well.  Whenever I watch the White Sox, I’ll always think of them as the bitch sox and think of her site.

On April 25, 1901, the Detroit Tigers played their first game in the franchises history.  They beat the Milwaukee Brewers 14=13 in a huge come from behind win.  Tigers first baseman Pop Dillon hit a walk off RBI double to win the game for the Tigers but they needed a ton of runs in the ninth to complete the comeback.

Here’s the question – How many runs did the Tigers score in the ninth inning to come from behind to beat the Brewers in the Tigers’ first game on April 25, 1901? 

It’s now 3 pm so you have until 4 pm on May 25, 2007 to send your answer, as well the name of your favorite Tiger site, to trivia@tigerblog.net. For more information on the rules and the trivia contest, please click here.

***UPDATE***

You didn’t have to go too far to find the answer to this one.  The Tigers scored ten runs in the bottom of the ninth to win it.

The leader is stuck at three.  We have quite a few people at two and one, so while everyone is running out of time, I think it’s still open for several people.

Cameron Maybin had a rough first couple of weeks at Lakeland, but since then he’s been pretty hot.  For the season, he’s hitting .321/.437/.481 and while the homeruns aren’t there, he’s been scoring runs like a mad man and he has 35 in just 44 games.  He’s 15 for 19 in stolen base attempts, and 14 of his hits have been for extra bases. 

The problem is, the Tigers now have some depth in centerfield.  While not the same caliber as Maybin, Gorkys Hernandez has put up very good numbers at West Michigan.  He’s five months younger then Maybin and he’s tearing up the Midwest league to the tune of .315/.379/.406 and like Maybin, the power isn’t there but a 26/13 strikeout to walk ratio isn’t that bad for a guy playing his first full season in the minors. 

You also have Maybin’s teammate, Ovandy Suero.  He leads the minor leagues with 35 stolen bases and while the kid has no pop (his ISO is .009), he’s a switch hitter who can fly.  Other then the complete lack of power, the knock on Suero is, while he’s hitting .291, he’s doing it as someone who will be turning 25 next month and is still playing High A ball.

And then there’s Brent Clevlen, although he’s once again strugging in at Toledo (.207/.296/.296).  Although he’s shown flashes, he’s probably pretty far down on the centerfield depth chart list.   Clevlen reminds me of Eric Munson.  He’ll give you flashes to let you know there’s something there, but you usually won’t be able to give the guy a chance because just as often, he’s not producing.

So you have two top prospects in Hernandez and Maybin and two fringe ones in Suero and Clevlen.  And we haven’t even gotten to the current Tiger centerfielder, Curtis Granderson, who has 30 extra base hits already this year and while Granderson is striking out like he did last year, you can live with those if he can keep up the .583 slugging percentage.  And Granderson is only 26 so he could be around for quite some time.

Bottom line, with all of the centerfielders, would you consider trading Cameron Maybin?  Just to speculate, the Reds are in last place so I have a feeling that Adam Dunn might be on the block.  If we could package Maybin and maybe Mike Maroth for Dunn, it would go a long way towards boosting the offense with Andrew Miller in the wings waiting for a spot on the rotation.  I’d like to see what Maybin can do in Double A though.  If he gets promoted this year and lights up Double A as a twenty year old, he’s probably a keeper.  But then there’s always the chance that Maybin’s trade value is as high as it’s ever been.

Jeremy Bonderman threw eight shutout innings and it was about as good of a start as you’d want from someone coming off of the disabled list.  He did walk a season high five and he gave up four hits with six strikeouts.  He was also very effecient and he needed only 95 pitches to get through those eight innings.

Of course all the run support was probably nice for him as well.  Carlos Guillen homered and drove in five runs while Magglio Ordonez continued to rake and he was four for four with three runs and three RBIs.  Gary Sheffield got in on the action and he hit homerun number nine on the season.

The Indians are up 5-0 early so if that lead holds, the Tigers will have a half game cushion going into their three game series with the Tribe.  Nate Robertson gets the start in the opener tomorrow night and he’ll go up against Paul Byrd, who’s been a surprise this year at 4-1 and he’s walked just three hitters in 45 2/3 innings.  It was nice listening to Ernie Harwell on the television and he’ll also be doing the game tomorrow.

 Two players spent 23 seasons with the same franchise.  Brooks Robinson spent 23 years with the Baltimore Orioles while Carl Yastrzemski spent 23 years with the Boston Red Sox.  The former mark was 22 years, which is currently held by five different players, two of which are Tigers.

Here’s the Question – Who are the two Tigers who spent 22 years with their team?

It’s now 1 pm so you have until 2 pm on May 24, 2007 to send your answer, as well the name of your favorite Tiger site, to trivia@tigerblog.net. For more information on the rules and the trivia contest, please click here.

***UPDATE***

Ty Cobb and Al Kaline were the two Tigers who played 22 years for the team.  The only other Tiger who played at least 20 was Alan Trammell (20).

We have a lone leader as one person now has three correct answers.  There’s a ton of people at one and two so it’s still pretty open at this point even if you haven’t gotten one correct yet.

The Tigers held off the Angels just long enough tonight to walk away with the win.  They were up 7-3 before Jose Mesa gave up a three run shot to make it a one run game.  Curtis Granderson hit a homerun to right field to give the Tigers a two run lead and they ended up needing that run because Todd Jones gave up a run in the ninth.

Chad Durbin picked up the win with five solid innings.  He gave up three runs on eight hits and one walk with three strikeouts.  Two of the eight hits he gave up went over the fence.

Magglio Ordonez hit two solo homeruns and he now has 42 RBIs on the season.  Granderson drove in three and scored two runs while Placido Polanco finished with two hits and two RBIs.

Jeremy Bonderman makes his return from the disabled list tomorrow and he’ll square up against Ervin Santana in an afternoon game.  The Indians are down by five runs so the Tigers will most likely move back into first place by a half game.

 In 1922, Rabbit Maranville racked up 672 at bats for the Boston Braves without hitting a single homerun.  That record still stands and the closest anyone has gotten was Doc Cramer who had 658 at bats for the Boston Red Sox in 1938.  The most recent player to have 600 or more at bats and not hit a homerun was Jason Kendall in 2005, who had 601 at bats.

Here’s the question – Who holds the Tigers’ record for most at bats in a season with hitting a single homerun?

It’s now 1 pm so you have until 2 pm on May 23, 2007 to send your answer, as well the name of your favorite Tiger site, to trivia@tigerblog.net. For more information on the rules and the trivia contest, please click here.

***UPDATE***

In 1926, Doc Cramer fell just short of breaking the Red Sox record for most at bats without a homerun.  His 643 fell just short of the mark set by Tom Oliver in 1930 (646)  Then two years later, Cramer set the American League record and blasted the Red Sox record by racking up 658 at bats without a homerun, falling just short of the mark set by Rabbit Maranville.

Prior to the 1940 offseason, Cramer was traded to the Senators for former Tiger Gee Walker.  He scored 93 runs for the Senators and hit .273, but they traded him along with Jimmy Bloodworth to the Tigers for Frank Croucher and Bruce Campbell prior to the 1941 season.  Then in Cramer’s first season with the Detroit, he picked up 630 at bats without hitting a single homerun to set the Tigers all time mark.

I got a lot of answers for Donnie Bush but he’s actually third.  In 1904, Jimmy Barrett had 624 at bats without hitting a homerun. 

This was a tough one and it showed in the results as not a lot of people got it.  And nobody who answered the first two got this one right so the top score is still two with a lot of people having one correct answer.  That gives those of you haven’t gotten into a chance to still make an impact with seven questions remaining.

The Tigers three game winning streak came to an end in a 6-3 loss to the Angels. John Lackey threw a ton of pitches but he kept the Tigers in check and it wasn’t until he was gone that the Tigers started scoring runs.

In the meantime, Mike Maroth dropped his first start of the season. He gave up six runs on seven hits and two walks with four strikeouts and two of the seven hits went over the fence. Jason Grilli and Jose Mesa each pitched a scoreless inning to finish the game up.

Magglio Ordonez put the Tigers on the board with a solo homerun in the fourth and he also drove in a run in the ninth when he drew a bases loaded walk. Brandon Inge and Placido Polanco each had two hits and Sean Casey walked twice and he scored a run.

The Indians are tied with the Royal right now and the outcome of the that game will determine whether the Tigers start the day tomorrow down by a half game or a game and a half. Chad Durbin gets the start tomorrow and the Tigers will have to face a 5-0 Bartolo Colon. Colon hasn’t been great, but he’s been consistent and in only one of his six starts has he given up more then three runs.

Five different Tigers have hit forty or more homeruns nine different times.  The first Tiger to do it was Hank Greenberg back in 1937.

In 1957, Duke Snider belted 40 homeruns and drove in 92 RBIs to become the first player to hit at least 40 homeruns and drive in less then 100.  Two players did it last year (Alfonso Soriano and Adam Dunn) and Mickey Mantle and Hank Aaron had two different seasons each where they had at least 40 homeruns and drove in less then 100 runs.

Here’s the Questions – Who is the only Tiger to hit at least 40 homeruns and drive in less then 100 runs in the same season? 

It’s now 9 pm so you have until 10 pm (Extended to 10:30 pm – see below) on May 22, 2007 to send your answer, as well the name of your favorite Tiger site, to trivia@tigerblog.net. For more information on the rules and the trivia contest, please click here.

***UPDATE***

Alright, I’m still having problems with my host and the site went down for a while at a bad time.  So I’m going to extend today’s question deadline to 10:30 to make up for the site outage.

***UPDATE***

In 1985, Darrell Evans hit 40 homeruns and he drove in just 94 RBIs to become the only Tiger with at least 40 homeruns and less then 100 RBIs in the same season.  If you take out Ken Griffey, Jr.’s strike shortened 1994 season in which he hit 40 homeruns and drove in 90, Darrell Evans was the last American League player to do it.

It was another good showing but with a different cast.  I’m not sure if it was because of the big change in time, but at this point, only two people have answered both questions right and there’s a huge log jam for second place with one question right.  So if you’re getting into the game late, there’s still some hope.

Denny McLain made some very well thought out and interesting comments on his blog about alcohol in the clubhouse and Josh Hancock’s premature passing. 

Wahoo Sam Crawford is the all time major league leader in triples with 309.  While he played most of his career with the Tigers, he did play four seasons with the Cincinnati Reds (and there’s an interesting story behind how we got him) so his career triples total with the Tigers puts him at second with 249.  Ty Cobb is second all time with 295 triples but only 11 of those came with a team other then the Tigers (Philadelphia Athletics) so he’s the all time Tiger leader with 284 triples.

Here’s the question.  Who’s third on the all time Tigers’ triples list behind Sam Crawford and Ty Cobb?

It’s now noon so you have until 1 pm on May 21, 2007 to send your answer, as well the name of your favorite Tiger site, to trivia@tigerblog.net.  For more information on the rules and the trivia contest, please click here.

***UPDATE***

Alright, I was a little worried at first because I didn’t get a single answer in the first 20 minutes but there was a late flurry and I had quite a few correct answers.  Not enough to where if you you missed this first one that you’re out of the running though.  There was also a pretty wide range of favorite blogs that were sponsored so it’s anyone’s ball game.  I will try a different time tomorrow and hopefully more people will be able to play.

The answer to the question is Charlie Gehringer, who hit 146 triples as a Tiger.  He was just ahead of Harry Heilmann, who had 145.

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