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I’ll comment on this more tonight or tomorrow, but Carlos Pena was released today. I find it hard to believe that he’ll stay available for long as someone will take a flyer on him. I know the Reds had Scott Hatteberg, but Pena might not be a bad pickup for them. It wouldn’t surprise me to see the Yankees get in the mix either. Jason Giambi is penciled in as the starter at first base, but he’ll probably see just as much time at DH. It also wouldn’t surprise me if he ended up back with the team that traded him to Detroit, The Oakland A’s.

I know this is old news in the relative sense, but Justin Verlander was chosen as the Tigers fifth starter. I originally wanted to draw parallels between Verlander and Jeremy Bonderman in 2003, but the two don’t really match. Jeremy Bonderman had never played in college and the top level he had played was Single A. Verlander had a chunk of time at AA Erie and even two so-so starts at the big league level AND played college ball.

What I’m hoping doesn’t happen is something similar to 2005 and Wil Ledezma. Ledezma was hit hard and early and got sent down, where he continued to struggle (and developed, from what I understand, a little bit of an attitude). I’m not sure of Verlanders makeup, but in just looking at his numbers last year, he doesn’t have a ton to prove in the minors.

Joel Zumaya also appears to have made the cut and he’ll be coming out of the pen. Earl Weaver always liked to develop his pitchers by giving them a season out of the bullpen and he’s one of the masters so I like this decision. It gives Zumaya a chance to face some big league pitching and hopefully it will get him ready for a spot in the rotation in 2007. Regardless, a Zumaya, Franklyn German, Fernando Rodney, Jamie Walker, and Todd Jones bullpen doesn’t sound “that” bad to me.

Of course it’s only a little over a week until the season starts. You can wipe the slate clean beginning April 3.

My Tiger preview is posted at the Hardball Times. I’ll be throwing out my annual predictions here soon.

The Tigers sent a bunch of players down to the minors. None of them were too surprising except for one standout. Brent Clevlan really had a great spring. He was 10 for 31 with two doubles and three homeruns. While I didn’t expect him to play for the Tigers this year, I think we really have a solid prospect who I’m hoping to see as a regular some time in 2007. He makes Craig Monroe expendable for certain.

It’s just unfortunate that the Tigers have several “okay” corner outfielders that are in the way of Clevlan. Monroe’s decent but not great. Thames is just as good and it’ll be interesting to see if he gets a chance under new management. Speaking of Thames, he’s also had a great spring. 13 for 39 and he and Curtis Granderson lead the team with four homeruns. With Monroe on the shelf with a bad shoulder, my guess is the starting outfielders will be Thames, Granderson and Ordonez with Logan being the fourth. I’m not sure if they’ll keep a fifth because Dmitri Young is also supposed to get some time out in left field.

Also worth noting is Matt Mantei was released. Nothing earth shattering here as Mantei has never been able to stay healthy.

Carlos Pena’s fate hasn’t been decided yet either. He’s having a rough spring, although Shelton hasn’t really lit it up either. But Young’s only gotten seven at bats so far, so I have a feeling they’re waiting to see whether he’ll be ready for opening day or not.

And none of the Tigers starters have shined this spring. The fifth starter job is still up for grabs, but more troublesome is Jeremy Bonderman’s rough spring. I know spring doesn’t count, but you’d hope that he’d be doing okay especially with all of the split squad games and the dilution of talent because of the WBC. Kenny Rogers has been just as bad.

Justin Verlander gets the start this afternoon against the Dodgers so hopefully we’ll see him throw a decent game. We’re getting to the point where teams are narrowing things down so the Tigers will be facing teams that will more clearly reflect what they’ll go up against during the season. Also you should start to see the starters throw five innings. The seasons two weeks away, and now’s the time to get ready.

***UPDATE***

I might have been premature in my Marcus Thames/Craig Monroe arguement. Monroe played in his first game today as a DH and homered in his first at bat.

Earlier this week, I criticized Jeff Passan regarding his column on Roger Clemens. Since I highlighted that one, I should be fair and point out the fact that I really enjoyed his column on Jeff Bagwell. Good stuff.

I was a little sad when I read this story about the likely demolition of Tiger Stadium. While you hate to throw around the word “love” with an inanimate object, Tiger Stadium definitely holds some magic for me. While I vaguely remember my first game at the ballpark, I remember a little more vividly what I think was my second time there for a twilight doubleheader. We tried to leave early, but our car was blocked in so we went back to the park and watched the end of the game. I remember John Wockenfuss hitting a grand slam in that second game. I thought he had also hit one in the first game, but when I went to retrosheet, I couldn’t find a doubleheader where Wockenfuss hit a homerun in each game, but he may have hit two in that one game. The best I could tell, this is the boxscore of that game.

The oddest story has to do with the final time I was at the ballpark. It was the second to last Sunday game before the stadium closed and the Tigers were playing the Red Sox. My sister was nice enough to get four tickets from where she working, so I was set there. Then I ran into a problem. I made phone call after phone call and nobody could go. Even my dad had something going on that day. I was determined to go, and headed down to the ballpark, figuring I could give the tickets to a family of three.

So I got down there and hung out by the ticket box. I was kind of scoping out the crowd, trying to figure out who I wanted to sit next too. I probably took a little longer then I needed to, but this eventually turned into a blessing because out of the crowd walked my friend Dana. Now you’re probably wondering why I wouldn’t have called Dana to go since he was obviously interested in the game. Well….

Dana lives in Columbus, OH (or in the suburbs). On a whim that day, he brought his sister in law and her husband up to see the ballpark before it closed. They hadn’t bought tickets yet, so they obviously sat with me. But it was definitely one of the strangest moments I’ve had. Whenever Dana and I talk about it, the only word we use is “weird.”

The Tigers lost, but I didn’t really care. I was able to go down on the field to check it out. It was the first and last time I was out on Tiger Stadium’s infield. It’d be nice if they opened it up one last time for people to visit, but I don’t see that happening. But while they can take the ballpark away, they can’t take away the memories.

Growing up, a played quite a few role playing games, and Dungeons and Dragons was what we played most of.  I’ve kept up with the hobby, yet I haven’t played in quite some time.  This is a cool site I’ve been using to keep up with Dungeons and Dragons.

I had a chance to meet Sam Walker, the author of “Fantasyland”, this evening. Nice guy, and he gave a great presentation on his book at the Borders in Ann Arbor. If you haven’t picked up “Fantasyland” yet, I highly recommend you do so. Especially if you’re a fantasy baseball fan. You can read my review of the book at the Hardball Times.

The fifth starter spot for the Tigers is still wide open. Justin Verlander, who was probably the favorite heading into the spring, hasn’t exactly lit it up. And now after a solid outing by Jason Grilli, I see his name’s being mentioned as the potential fifth starter. Grilli threw four shutout innings on Monday and Jim Leyland has thrown his name into the hat. Grilli had limited time on the mound for the Tigers last year and made three appearances in September. In his best start, he went seven innings and gave up only one run on two hits. Grilli’s a Royal Oak native and he’ll be 30 in November.

Nate Robertson was having a very good spring. In his first two starts he gave up only one unearned run in five innings. Yesterday against the Twins, he gave up eight hits and seven runs (four earned) in only two innings of work. If the Tigers are going to have any chance of being good this year, they need solid pitching up and down their rotation for the entire year. Robertson’s done well the last two years in the first half but then has dropped off in the second. Hopefully he can get over that hump this year.

Brent Clevlen has had an exceptional spring. While I don’t have the box score for this afternoon’s game (the Tigers just lost 3-1 to the Jays), Clevlen’s eight for nineteen with two doubles and a team leading three homeruns. He also has five walks next to five strikeouts. Not that we need yet another outfielder, but in a lot of ways it makes the Magglio Ordonez signing that much more excessive. Brandon Inge (.400/.478/.650 in 20 at bats) and Marcus Thames (.304/.360/.652) have also hit the ball well. Inge’s stats don’t include his first homerun of the spring, which he hit off of James Baldwin today.

First it’s Barry Bonds and now it’s Roger Clemens. I’m not sure who Jeff Passan is and I’m sure he’s a top notch journalist, but this column kind of irked me. Passan is basically telling us that the best pitcher of our generation, and possibly ever, should just “end the charade” and call it quits. I also thought that bringing Clemens wife into it wasn’t appropriate. And I don’t understand how it’s a charade. Maybe I’m missing the point so it could be me.

A lot of people tend to forget that the Astros started this by not offering Clemens arbitration. Had they done that, odds are things would have been resolved by now, but the Astros weren’t willing to play their hand. The way I look at it, if Clemens comes back, that’s great because I’ll get to see one of the greatest pitchers to ever lace them up pitch again, even if it is just on television. Although Houston comes to town in late June so maybe Clemens will make a curtain call. And I know he might not even travel with the team if he’s with the Astros, but whatever.

And if he decides to call it quits, that’s fine too. If he quits, then comes back, then that’s also fine, because who the heck am I to say what Roger Clemens should or shouldn’t do.

Today’s a fun day because the WBC is on all day (although I have to run out to get some errands done soon). In what could be a huge upset, Cuba is taking it to a stacked Venezuela team and is now on top 7-0 in the seventh. Omar Vizquel couldn’t convert a double play in the fifth that would have ended the inning with a 2-0 score. Then the next batter hit a three run shot and that was followed up with a solo shot. Costly error. I don’t know about everyone else, but I’m really enjoying the WBC. There’s been some great games and they have drama. It’s not what I’m used to in March.

Spoke too soon. Endy Chavez just hit a two run shot and it’s now 7-2. Of course if you can’t get to a TV, you can follow the action at Baseball Musings. David’s doing a great job of commenting on the games as they happen.

Baseball season is upon us and I am headed for Comerica Park with my Detroit Tigers game tickets in hand. I got some great seats this year and I can’t wait to see the Detroit Tigers play the rest of the Chicago White Sox games at home. I’m pretty excited about the Tigers versus the Minnesota Twins series too. We started the season with six wins in a row which makes me think I am going to need to get tickets for Tigers versus the Los Angeles Angels at home to see how they kick off the month of May.

True fans attend at least a few away games each season. Since I am in Detroit, I can jet down to Chicago to pick up some Cubs tickets for the Tigers Wrigley Field games. I could also take a trip to Milwaukee to see the Tigers versus the Brewersfor a three game series at Miller Park. I have a feeling that this is the year to see as many Detroit Tigers games as possible, but I don’t remember a time when I didn’t attend at least six or seven Tigers home games a season. That’s not to mention all the away games I manage to grace with my presence.

I can’t wait to see some Boston Red Sox games and some of the New York Yankees schedule so I can scope out the competition. I think we have an edge over a lot of other teams with Chris Shelton and Curtis Granderson at the plate. They both have proven themselves in the short time we have been playing this season and I can’t wait to see how they improve as the season goes on. I was lucky I didn’t get Tigers Opening Day tickets because the White Sox beat us. But I am not going to just lose faith over one or two losses. This is baseball after all so we will have plenty more opportunities to redeem ourselves.

So whether you are traveling to see the Tigers versus the Cleveland Indians or sitting in the cheap seats at a Detroit Tigers home game, you should remember that supporting your team is an admirable thing that shouldn’t be done from the comfort of your couch. Get out of the house, buy some Tigers tickets and bring the family out to the ballpark for some Tigers baseball games this 2006 MLB season.

Just in case you haven’t heard, there’s a new book out about Barry Bonds and his alleged steroid use. I’m not sure if I’ll pick it up and read it or not, because it sounds more soap opera esque then anything. But of course I don’t want to pass judgement because I haven’t actually read the thing. I do have a few thoughts.

The whole steroids thing just feels like old news to me. If Barry Bonds began using steroids in 1998, that’s almost eight years old. This is hardly cutting edge journalism. Where was everyone five or ten years ago when steroid use was supposedly at it’s peak?

I also don’t like the self righteousness of some in the media. Dan Wetzel’s on our local radio station and he sounds like he really knows his stuff. Then he writes something like this. It just has the feel of kicking someone when they’re down. I know I’ve made mistakes and errors in judgement in the past, so I’m glad someone wasn’t there to write about it so everyone could read about my mistakes. I know that’s the job of the media, but again, where were these people back when this stuff was really going down. And not to pick on Mr. Wetzel, because there’s several people in the media who have been doing this.

I was listening to Pat Caputo yesterday on the radio, and I think he’s the most honest person I’ve heard speak out on this stuff. He’s said publicly that he suspected that something odd was going on, but everyone’s turned a blind eye. When it comes to pointing fingers, it’s easy to say Barry Bonds was a cheater. But if you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem. And everyone from the media, to the owners, to the coaches and down to the players who were aware of all this should share the blame.

As far as Barry Bonds goes, he’s made his bed and now he has to sleep in it. He also doesn’t owe us anything, whether it’s an apology or an explanation. At least he doesn’t owe me anything. He has to live with his mistakes, not me.

Justin Verlander had a decent start yesterday after getting shelled in a relief appearance earlier in the spring season. He threw 2 2/3 and gave up a run on four hits. His primary competition for the fifth spot in the rotation, Roman Colon, hasn’t fared much better so things are still wide open.

Sam Walker, the author of “Fantasyland” will be at the Borders on Main Street in Ann Arbor this Tuesday. Fantasyland is a fantastic book, and I’ll be going out to meet Mr. Walker.

The Tigers split their two spring games this weekend. They lost to the Indians 11-8 on Saturday but they bounced back and beat the Pirates 4-1 today. The win today put the Tigers at 3-1 in the early, and less important, part of the spring season.

More important was the fact that both games were on the radio. Dan Dickerson and Jim Price shared the booth with Ernie Harwell, then got the job after Harwell retired. They’re beginning their fourth season in the booth together.

No offense to either man, but nobody in my eyes (or ears) can replace Ernie Harwell. Ernie Harwell’s voice is imprinted in my brain because throughout the summer, I fell asleep listening to his broadcasts with Paul Carey, another great broadcaster.

But I got to thinking the other day. My son, who will be two in a few months, will never get to hear Ernie Harwell. He will grow up with someone though, and I’d be happy if he grew up with Dickerson and Price. They call a great game and the banter between the two is enjoyable. I think Price adds a lot as a color man because he played the game and Dickerson really knows his stuff.

To learn more about Dan Dickerson, I highly recommend that you check out the interview he did for the Detroit Tigers Weblog. Great stuff.

The Tigers are losing ten players to the World Baseball Classic. Pool A was decided today with Korea upsetting the favorite, Japan. The two teams had locked up a spot in the next round but they were playing to see who would get the better seed and Korea edged Japan 3-2. The other three pools, in which all ten Tigers are playing, start on Tuesday.

Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett suffered a stroke today and the latest news was that he was having surgery. There’s no indication as to the extent of the damage, but I’m sure we’ll hear more on this tomorrow. I wish him the best of luck and speedy recovery. I know Puckett’s image was tarnished a bit when some domestic disputes came to light, but Puckett came up when I was in my early teens and I distinctly remember him taking the Tigers deep on more then one occassion. He was a solid fielder and a great hitter in his day.

Man, is it nice that baseball’s back. I got to listen to the Red Sox/Twins game last night on the computer, and it’s close to 7 am now, and I’m watching Japan roll over China in the WBC.

The Tigers won their first spring game as they rolled over the Reds.
Ivan Rodriguez got off to a nice start as he went three for three with a homerun and four RBIs. The Tigers were up 5-1 and the Reds came back to tie it, but the home team scored three in the seventh to put the game away.

Nate Robertson threw two scoreless innings and he struck out two. You can read MLB.com’s review here. And the Tigers square off against the Reds again today.

David Pinto, who’s Baseball Musings is one of the top blogs around, is having his second annual pledge drive. While I haven’t quite gotten the hang of the day by database (I know, I’m behind the curve when it comes to this computer stuff), Baseball Musings is probably the best one stop source for keeping up with the happenings in baseball. If you can afford it, please stop by and make a donation.

Technically, spring is nearly three weeks away. For baseball fans, spring starts today as most of the teams, including the Tigers, begin their respective spring seasons. At 1 pm, the Tigers will square off against the Reds. I signed up for MLB.com’s Gameday Audio but unfortunately, they don’t let us listen or watch streaming audio/video so I’ll be shutout from listening the game (assuming it’s even on, AM1270 isn’t carrying it). Nate Robertson is expected to start and he’ll most likely throw three innings. Roman Colon, Jason Grilli, Chad Durbin, Fernando Rodney and Chris Spurling are all expected to get some time out on the mound.

Of course nothing matters less (to a team) then early spring training games. If the Tigers lose their first seven spring games, it’ll get some press, but it won’t mean too much. Same goes with if they win their first seven. Teams rarely play their starters the entire game and pitchers usually throw no more then three innings. So if Robertson gets shelled, I wouldn’t look too much into just as much as you shouldn’t look too much into the fact that some career minor leaguer goes yard twice.

With that though, spring is important for rounding out a teams roster and then there’s always the hope you find that one gem. Position battles will be decided over the next month as well. The Tigers need to decide on a fifth starter and they also have to decide what they’ll do in centerfield (although to me, Curtis Granderson is a no brainer). Most other spots are set, but Jim Leyland needs (or wants) to find a spot for Dmitri Young so we’ll probably see him at third base and in the outfield just to see what he can do. The rumor is, he came into camp in better shape, which is definitely a good thing.

The first game that will be on local radio will be this Saturday.

Korea and Chinese Taipei kick off the World Baseball Classic tonight. Set your VCRs (I know, I’m behind the time and haven’t gotten Tivo yet) because the game’s going to be shown at 1:30 am on ESPN2. The first live game is Friday morning at 4:30 am between Japan and China.

You wonder what all the other GM’s knew that Dave Dombrowski didn’t. The main reason Troy Percival came to Detroit was because we were the only team willing to give him a second year. I was cautiously optimistic when the Tigers signed him although I had come to hope he and Ugueth Urbina would make a solid one-two punch out of the pen.

Now Troy Percival’s left camp. After a rough simulated game, it appears that Percival hasn’t fully recovered from the muscle tear near his elbow and retirement appears likely. It wasn’t that long ago that Troy Percival was one of the most dominant closers in the league and he was celebrating a World Series win with the Angels. And while I’m sure Percival didn’t want to go out like this, he has nothing to be ashamed of after a stellar career.

Another thing I wanted to point out was how tough it is to make preseason predictions. I’ll have my Tiger preview at the Hardball Times here in the next couple of weeks, but at this point last year, we were talking about how bad Alex Sanchez was and how we were stacked with relief pitching. Before spring training broke, Sanchez was gone and by the time the trade deadline passed, all three of our best relievers were either injured or elsewhere.

Magglio Ordonez is going to sit out the World Baseball Classic and said he wanted to focus on getting ready for the 2006 season. I think this is a smart move, although I wouldn’t really blame him for wanting to play for his hometown team, Venezuela. Ordonez’s .436 slugging percentage was his worst season total since 1998, which was the year before he broke out. Hopefully the extra time in spring training will help him find his homerun swing.

***UPDATE***

Thanks to Ryan for the comment (and I later read this on Detroit Tigers Weblog). It looks like Ordonez will be playing in the WBC. He took some heat from Carlos Guillen, so he’s in.

This Thursday, the Tigers spring season starts with an afternoon game against the Reds. I’ll have to check WXYT’s radio schedule to see if this game’s on the radio, but man is it nice that baseball’s back. Then on Thursday (our time), the World Baseball Classic starts. I remember two years ago when the Yankees played the Devil Rays in Japan, it was cool watching baseball when I got up in the morning. This time it looks like they’ll be doing a lot of tape delays and that first game between Korea and Chinese Taipei will be aired at 1:30 am on ESPN 2. The first live game will be at 4:30 on March 3. I’ll have to think about getting up early to check out that game.

You can see the entire WBC television schedule here.

The Don Lund SABR chapter had their meeting this Saturday and I gave a brief presentation on the Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2006. David Fleitz followed me with a presentation on his book “Cap Anson: The Grand Old Man of Baseball.” Unfortunately he left before I was able to pick up one of his books from him. And then Steve Weingarden gave a very interesting presentation on the effect that the succession of general mangers have on a team. You can check out his entire dissertation at the Business of Baseball website.

I made it out to the Macomb County Library to meet Tom Stanton yesterday. Tom’s a great and was very personable and his wife, Beth, was charming as well. Tom gave a great presentation on his latest work, The Detroit Tigers Reader (which I highly recommend), and he was also nice enough to sign a copy for me. He also gave everyone the news on his next project which also sounds like a great read. The book will be about Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth’s initial animosity and then eventual friendship later in life.

I got my shipment of 2006 Topps Series 1 cards today and I’m going through packs and sorting the cards. I made sure I didn’t make the same mistake I made last time around. I should have plenty of extras but the goal is still get a set together for my son.

This year there’s a tribute to Mickey Mantle and I got a couple of the cards, including on which appears to be part of the regular set. They also have an insert set showing the individuals who signed the Declaration of Independence, which I thought was odd for a baseball set.

I probably don’t do a good enough job promoting my work over at the Hardball Times, but this week’s edition, which will be up tomorrow, has a book review that I highly recommend you check out. Sam Walker grew up in the Detroit area and he now writes for the Wall Street Journal. He recently published a book called Fantasyland, which details his season in an expert fantasy league. He had no prior experience with fantasy baseball, and he pulls out every stop he can to try to win the thing. It’s a really fun read, and I highly recommend it.

Kenny Rogers was chosen as the opening day starter by Jim Leyland today. Not sure if I agree with this. I think it should have gone to Bonderman or even Maroth. Someone who’s been with the team a little longer.

Tiger’s beat writer Jason Beck recently started his own blog. Be sure to stop by and say hello.

It’s hard to believe that this’ll be the fourth Tigers season I’ll be blogging. Spring training started for the Tigers last week and there’s not a ton of news to report although this is a good story on Magglio Ordonez from MLB.com’s Jason Beck. Ordonez reported to camp on Sunday and spent the day hitting. This is easy enough to say, but if the Tigers are going to improve on their 71 wins from last year, having a healthy Magglio Ordonez will go along way. I’m not looking for him to replicate what he did when he was in his prime for the White Sox, but even 25/90 would be a step up from what we’ve been getting out of right field anytime this decade.

PECOTA doesn’t project much out of Ordonez this season. His weighted mean has him at 377 at bats, 10 homeruns and a .288/.350/.440 line. His breakout rate is only 4% while his collapse rating is 38%. None of that is good if it comes true.

Tom Stanton is going to be at the Macomb County Library this Tuesday. I’m hoping to get out there to meet him. He’ll be talking about his latest, the Detroit Tiger Reader, which is a great read.

It’s been three and a half long dreary months, but things are looking up. Tigers’ pitchers and catchers report Wednesday, February 15. Good times are on the way.

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