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Talk about a tough stretch. While I didn’t hear the interview, I guess Tram sounded pretty demoralized before the game. I could just imagine how he felt after the game.

In case you missed it, the Tigers were swept by the Royals. The Tigers won the season series 10-9, but that’s not a good enough record against the worst team in baseball (minus one of their better players, David DeJesus). Now the Tigers have to play .500 ball the rest of the way just to match last year’s total of 72 wins.

Assuming the Tigers lose four more games (which is likely with a series against the White Sox and just based on the way we’re playing) it will be their 500th loss in the past five years. There’s no doubt this decade has been the darkest ever in franchise history..

And while I’m going to stick with Tram to the end, it’s now likely he’ll be gone soon. Jim Leyland is going to be courted by both the Tigers and the Pirates, and it will be interesting to see how things develop. If Dave Dombrowski does decide to change managers, next year will be his litmus test. If he brings in a seasoned manager like Leyland and we still flounder around the 90 loss mark, I think his days will then be numbered.

In the meantime, I’m going to enjoy the final week and a half of baseball leading up to the post season. There’s some great races going on, and who would have thought at this time last month that the White Sox would be in trouble. The Tigers will have a chance to make a mark on that race early next week, and the final four game series between the White Sox and the Indians should make for some good baseball. Although it will have some solid competition as the Yankees and Red Sox square off. Only a 1/2 game seperate those two teams.

What’s sad is, that at this time next month the season will be winding down. Enjoy baseball while you can, because it’s almost over with.

UPDATE

I forgot to mention this the first time through, but Jeremy Bonderman has been shut down. His elbow has been bothering him, and it’s mostly due to learning a circle change this year (got this from Will Carroll’s UTK).

September 21, 1935 Tigers 6, Browns 2 (91-52)

The Tigers won the first game of their double header with the St. Louis Browns behind a strong performance by Tommy Bridges. He won his 21st game of the season and he held the Browns to two runs on seven hits.

The Browns actually jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning, but the Tigers answered with two runs in the bottom half of the inning. Hank Greenberg and Charlie Gehringer both tripled and scored two runs and Marv Owen and Goose Goslin had two hits.

September 21, 1935 Tigers 2, Browns 0 (92-52)

Elden Auker threw a gem as the Tigers clinched their second straight American League pennant. Auker threw a six hit shutout and he struck out four batters.

Charlie Gehringer had two hits and one of the Tigers two RBIs. Pete Fox scored both runs and Gee Walker was one for four with an RBI.

The Tigers were headed to their fifth World Series in franchise history and it still wasn’t certain who they’d be playing. The Chicago Cubs, who were on a tear in the month of September, led the St. Louis Cardinals by 3 1/2 games. The Cubs had won 17 in a row and were 19-1 in the month of September.

Alright, I’m in the home stretch of the 1935 Tigers diary, but I’ve run into a problem. If anyone knows the answer to this, I’d appreciate you passing it on.

According to my box scores, the Tigers clinched the penant on this day in 1935. But that didn’t match up with my running magic number (which was off by one). Anyway, I have them with a magic number of three after taking two games against the Browns in a doubleheader today.

Here’s where I’m running into a problem. If you look at the season ending standings, the Tigers were 93-58 with three games cancelled. The Yankees finished with an 89-60 mark with five games left. If the Tiger lose their three and the Yankees win their five, then the Yanks finish a game ahead of the Tigers.

The only thing I can think of was that those games were permanently cancelled, and in effect, shafting the Yankees. Is this the right answer? If anyone knows, either drop a comment or shoot me an email. I’d appreciate it. That way I can go back and fix my old entries and get everything up to date.

September 19, 1935 Red Sox 4, Tigers 1 (90-52)

Once again, the Tigers league leading offense didn’t show up as the Tigers lost their third straight game. General Crowder was solid, but a three run eighth inning gave the Red Sox all they’d need. On the other side, Lefty Grove held the Tigers, giving up only one run on eights hits.

The lone Tiger run came when Goose Goslin grounded out in the ninth, scoring Hank Greenberg. Greenberg has tripled earlier in the inning.

After taking the series opener against the Angels, the Tigers have now lost three straight. They’re 4-13 in September, but we’re not here to look at the bad. I’m putting on my rose colored glasses and looking for things to build on.

Unfortunately, I have to look really, really hard.

Let’s start with Friday. The Tigers came back from a 4-2 deficit to take the lead. Yes, they eventually allowed the Angels to tie the game back up and summarily win it in extra frames, but the team didn’t lie down. In that game, Fernando Rodney threw 1 1/3 shutout innings. Which leads us too…….

Positive number two. Fernando Rodney’s very solid season has been lost in the Tigers recent rut. Yeah, he blew a save the next day, but he’s thrown 38 innings and he has 39 strikeouts agaisnt only 11 walks. He has a .227 batting average against and while the five blown saves look bad, he’s better then anyone else we have and would make a nice cheap alternative as the closer for the entire season next year. I’m hoping Dombrowski doesn’t go shopping. I’d just as soon pick up a couple of good quality long guys then spend a large chunk of money on next year’s Troy Percival.

Curtis Granderson went five for five today and he’s now hitting .318 through 107 at bats. Positive number three is we now have our starting center fielder for 2006 and hopefully beyond. He also has three fielding runs above average in the short amount of time he’s played, so the fielding ability is definitely there as well.

I’ll throw in one more. Magglio Ordonez has quietly put together a nice second half (the only half for him) of the season. While the power isn’t there, we all expected his homer total to go down. But he has a rock solid .379 OBP and has 29 walks vs. 31 strikeouts. Expect him to improve on his numbers next year.

It’s tough being an optimist and a Tiger fan. But the good points are definitely there if you dig deep enough.

September 18, 1935 Red Sox 4, Tigers 3 (90-51)

The Tiger outhit the Red Sox 13-8, but they came up a run short on the score board as they were edged by the Red Sox. Schoolboy Rowe’s solid start went to waste and the game winning run scored in the bottom of the ninth on a bases loaded single by Wes Ferrell.

Pete Fox and Rowe were the hitting stars as they both had two hits. And while the Yankees picked up a half game in the standings because of they split their doubleheader, the loss meant the Tigers were a little bit closer to locking up the pennant.

September 17, 1935 Red Sox 5, Tigers 4 (90-50)

The Tigers failed to get any closer to their second straight pennant as they dropped a close game to the Red Sox. The Tigers took a 4-3 lead into the seventh inning only to have Elden Auker give up two runs in the bottom half of the inning.

Hank Greenberg hit his 38th homerun of the season. Charlie Gehringer scored on the two run shot and Greenberg ended the day one for five, but he scored twice.

Auker took the loss as he gave up 14 hits through seven innings of work. The Yankees beat the Browns, so the Tigers still led the Yankees by 9 1/2 games.

September 16, 1935 Tigers 5, Red Sox 3

Tommy Bridges had a nice start as he held the Red Sox to three runs on ten hits as he won his 20th game of the season. He got all of his help in the fourth inning when the Tigers scored five runs.

Gee Walker and Billy Rogell both drove in two runs, had two two hits and scored a run. Charlie Gehringer was two for four with a run.

With the win, the Tigers extended their lead to 9 1/2 games. It was only a matter of time now before the Tigers clinched the pennant.

Congratulations to the Toledo Mudhens, who won their first Governors Cup since 1967. They swept the Indianapolis Indians in three games, so we should be seeing guys like Ryan Rayburn and Marcus Thames up with the big league club shortly (most likely Saturday I’d guess).

I’ve gotten enough email about this and heard enough about it on talk radio to figure out Ivan Rodriguez’s complaints about the team have taken center stage. In addition, Alan Trammell has come under fire for the cliff this team has fallen off of. The two go hand in hand, so they’re worth disecting together.

What Ivan Rodriguez is doing is wrong. Plain and simple. It’s one thing to try to call your team out and inspire them, but what Pudge is trying to do is bring the team down. I know he’s had a rough season, both on and off the field, but what he’s done since the Farnsworth trade (openly criticize teammates and his coaches) is inexcusable. More so because he can’t even back up what he’s talking about. Maybe when he says the team sucks, he should be looking in the mirror when he says it, because his season hasn’t gone as well as season’s past.

He does lead the team in hitting, but he has a grand total of 49 RBIs. And this is for a guy who’s hacking at anything. Eight more strikeouts and he has a career best, and his .759 OPS is his worst in over a decade. The only thing that’s improved of late is his defense. To date, he has 12 Fielding Runs Above Average, which is his best since 2001. Three more and he’ll have his best fielding season since 1999.

Not to mention how guys like Brandon Inge and Craig Monroe, who have been with the team all season (really the only regular starters besides Pudge who hasn’t missed some kind of substantial time or gotten benched), must feel when they’re told by a future Hall of Famer that they suck. I doubt if they appreciate being told they don’t play the right way.

So, either Pudge is trying to get Tram out (and he’s going about it in a poor way) or he’s trying to get out of Detroit. I think it’s the later, but he has to remember that two years ago, nobody wanted him. We were his only suitors. And now he’s biting the hand that’s fed him.

Which brings me to Tram. I still feel, because of some misguided loyalty to what he did for the team in the 1980s, that he should be given one more year. He’ll have to contend with Pudge because I doubt if we’ll be able to unload him. I think that will be as big of a test as any. I think managment has to address the team’s needs (starting pitching and a quality left handed bat) and give Tram the tools to win. Let him fail without excuses.

Toledo is playing game three of their playoff series with the Indianoplis Indians. They’re up 2-0 and a win tonight will give them the Governor’s Cup. Unfortunately there’s a rain delay, so we might have to wait another night.

September 15, 1935 Yankees 8, Tigers 7 (89-49)

It may have been too little, too late for the Yankees as they edged the Tigers in the fifth and final game of their series. Joe Sullivan got the start and had a five run lead in the through three innings before getting hit hard. He was pulled in the fifth and reliever Chief Hogsett didn’t fair much better as he gave up the lead and took the loss.

Billy Rogell homered and drove in four runs while Goose Goslin had two doubles and two runs. The loss shaved the Tigers lead over the Yankees to 8 1/2 games, but the Yankees would pretty much need a miracle to catch the Yankees at this stage of the season.

September 14, 1935 Yankees 2, Tigers 1 (88-48)

The Tigers were held to three hits and single run as they lost the first game of the twin billing with the Yankees. A two run, six hit performance by General Crowder went to waste, and the only run of the game came on a solo homerun by Goose Goslin.

September 14, 1935 Tigers 5, Yankees 1 (89-48)

The Yankees struck first in this game with a single run in the opening inning off of starter Roxie Lawson. The Tigers didn’t wait too long to take the lead though, as they rattled off four runs in the second and never looked back.

Jo Jo White went two for four with a triple and two RBIs and Charlie Gehringer had two hits and a run. Roxie Lawson went the distance and gave up only the one run on nine hits, while striking out three.

With fourteen games remaining the Tigers had a 9 1/2 game lead. Their second straight American League pennant appeared pretty much locked up.

September 13, 1935 Tigers 13, Yankees 5 (88-47)

The Tigers hadn’t quite clinched their second straight pennant, but by dismantling the Yankees, they pretty much took any chance of the Yankees making a September run to catch Detroit. With the game tied after four innings, the Tigers scored four runs in the fifth and then five in the seventh to bust the game open.

Hank Greenberg had a three run homer and ended the day with four RBIs. Five different Tigers had two runs as they pummelled Hall of Famer Lefty Gomez.

Schoolboy Rowe went the distance, and besides giving up two homeruns to Lou Gehrig, was in command of the game. The win put the Tigers up 9 1/2 games with only 16 games to play.

September 12, 1935 Tigers 8, Yankees 5 (87-47)

It was do or die time for the Yankees as they faced off with the Tigers in game one of their final series of the season. With a Saturday (9/14) doubleheader, it was a five game series and the Tigers really only needed to win the series to put the pennant out of reach. The Yankees needed at least four wins to make any kind of dent in the Tigers’ lead.

The Tigers were down 4-1 but Elden Auker settled down and the Tiger’s bats came alive. They scored three runs in the eighth to take the lead only to see the Yankees tie it in the bottom half of the inning. Fortunately, they hammered out three more runs in the ninth to put the game away.

Elden Auker went the distance and gave up five runs on nine hits. Goose Goslin and Jo Jo White both homered and drove in two runs while Charlie Gehringer had two hits and two runs.

My wife and I took our son, Devin, to his first Tiger game. While he’s not a stranger to major league baseball (he’s been to both the Rogers Centre and the Great American Ball Park), this was his first trip to Comerica Park. As usual, he was a trooper. It was pretty hot and we were right in the sun. To top it off, my wife was sick most of the weekend. In short, while it was a beautiful day for a baseball game, it wasn’t the best of conditions for a 15 month old and a sick wife.

The coolest part was being able to run the bases. Devin started out okay, then was annoyed that I was holding his hand so his usual reaction is to go in the other direction. I picked him up and rounded second (you start at first base), blowing by Paws, went to third, then gave him another shot. He did well, but again, seemed more interested in getting away from me, so he started to creep further and further on the grass. We both made it though.

The Tigers won (their second in a row), so that was also a bonus. We’ll try it again next year and I’m sure Devin will be more into it.

The Toledo Mud Hens advanced to the International League World Series by beating the Norfolk Tides today. They’ll square off against the Indianapolis Indians, the Pirates AAA franchise, most likely Tuesday (I haven’t seen a schedule). So it will be at least about a week before we see guys like Joel Zumaya and Marcus Thames playing as September callups. Lakeland looks like they’re going to lose their three game playoff series to the Palm Beach Cardinals. They’re down 4-1 in the bottom of the ninth. West Michigan also made the playoffs (Midwest League) so the Tigers are pretty well represented in the minor league playoffs.

The Indians are crushing the Twins tonight. Looks like the White Sox won’t be walking away with the division after all.

September 11, 1935 Senators 4, Tigers 3 (86-47)

The Tigers didn’t fare too well in their four game series against the Senators, who were battling two other teams for last place in the American League. The Tigers gave Tommy Bridges a quick 2-0 lead in the first inning, but the Senators bounced back with two of their own in the third. The Senators took the lead in the seventh, but the Tigers answered in the top half of the eighth to send the game into extra frames.

Tommy Bridges threw all twelve innings and ended up costing himself the chance at a win. With runners on first and second, Senators shortstop Red Kress laid down a bunt. Bridges fielded it and threw it away trying to get the lead runner at third base which allowed the winning run to score.

The Tigers ended the game with sixteen hits but only three Tigers crossed the plate. Hank Greenberg had a big game with the bat as he went four for five with four singles and a run.

September 10, 1935 Senators 6, Tigers 0 (86-46)

Not a whole lot of good came out of this game. The Tigers were held to only six hits and Schoolboy Rowe and the pen were touched for six runs on fifteen hits and the Senators had four runs through three innings.

Pete Fox had two hits as nobody was stellar on offense. All six of the Tiger’s hits were singles.

September 9, 1935 Tigers 5, Senators 4 (86-45)

The Tigers came back from a 4-2 deficit to top the Senators. Detroit scored two in the sixth to tie and one in the seventh to take the lead before the game was delayed and eventually called due to rain and darkness.

General Crowder was touched for four runs in the first three innings and left after five innings of work. Chief Hogsett relieved him and was perfect through the final two innings as he ended up getting the win.

Jo Jo White had two hits and two RBIs and Hank Greenberg was three for four with an RBI. Backup shortstop Flea Clifton had two hits and two runs.

September 8, 1935 Senators 4, Tigers 3 (85-45)

The Tigers jumped out to a 3-0 lead with single runs in the first, third and fifth innings. Roxie Lawson, the recent pickup by the Tigers who had thrown two shutouts in his first two starts, started the game on fire. Through six, he had another shutout in the works but the Senators finally got to him with two runs in the seventh. In the bottom of the ninth, he fell apart and gave up the winning run on a bases loaded walk.

Charlie Gehringer was was three for four with a run and Hank Greenberg was two for four with an RBI.

Nate Silver at Baseball Prospectus wrote an excellent follow up column today on the effect of the Tiger’s free agent pickups last year and this year and trying narrate the overall effects on the Tigers revenue. This then turned into a larger argument on a team’s decision to add free agents and evaluating where they’re at as far as expected records.

It’s a premium article so I don’t want to give too much away. If you don’t subscribe to BPs premium service, they really do great work on a daily basis. I for one have gotten my money’s worth out of the subscription.

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