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Carlos Guillen was showing sypmtoms of a concussion yesterday, so hopefully he’s okay. Yesterday’s events were unfortunate. Farsnworth will probably be suspended in the midst of a dominant run as closer. Lost in all of this was one of the Tigers most pathetic offensive performances of the season.

With Troy Percival on the DL again, it opens things up for Fernando Rodney and Franklyn German. Rodney threw a very nice game on Friday when he struck out seven batters in three innings of work. Kyle Farnsworth saved back to back games this weekend in his first stint as closer.

The White Sox are on deck and we haven’t done to well against them this year. I guess nobody really has. If the Tigers can win this series on the road, it would go a long way towards putting this split with the Royals behind us.

I’ve got the 1935 diary a little more caught up (at least I’m in July). The Tigers are in the midst of their longest winning streak of the season heading into the 1935 All Star Break. Now if they can just catch those pesky Yankees. I know it’s not the same when I’m a couple of weeks behind, but for the next set I’ll have game recaps so it should make for better reading. All I can do now is rattle off boxscore stats.

July 16, 1935 Athletics 8, Tigers 2 (49-33)

For the first time in almost a month, the Tigers lost two games in a row as they dropped their four game series with the Athletics. General Crowder pitched only six innings and he took the loss.

The Tigers did hit the ball well as they racked up fifteen hits but they left thirteen men on base. Mickey Cochrane and Goose Goslin both had three hits, and Pete Fox hit his seventeenth homer of the season.

I missed the Ernie Harwell/Fox TV boondoggle. I’m not sure if they aired it when I was listening in on the radio or if I just missed it while watching and typing. Actually, I’m glad I missed it, because it was pretty rude. Had they put Ernie Harwell in the booth and kicked Buck (who I’m not really keen on) and Tim McCarver (who I know a lot of people hate but I actually don’t mind as much), I’m sure more people would have tuned in.

And if you didn’t get enough Ernie and you missed Billfer’s interview with him, you can check out Part one and two by heading on over to his site.

One thing I haven’t touched on too much is the ascent of Chris Shelton. After tearing up and winning the MVP of the Arizona Fall League, and then summarily hitting AAA pitching pretty hard, he finally got the call up when Carlos Pena was sent down after some pretty poor hitting. This has to be the single biggest upgrade the Tigers have made in the second quarter of the season because Shelton has been hitting at a .345/.391/.580 clip in 119 at bats (not including his 1 for 2 night he’s having right now). The .970 OPS is probably the most impressive part of it and the sample size is getting larger so it’s making it more legit.

UPDATE – Make that 2 for 3. He just hit a solo shot.

A couple of reasons why can be deduced by looking at some of the Hardball Times advanced statistics. He’s been extremely patient at the plate (4.2 pitches per plate appearance is the best on the team) and he’s made great contact (26.1% line drive percentage trails only Polanco’s 26.3%). Making good contact has resulted in an impressive .386 batting average on balls in play. And in half of the at bats, he’s matched Omar Infante’s 28 Runs Created (although with the homer tonight, he’s probably passed him).

Buddy Bell is in town. Bell has the distinction of being the manager of the second worst Tigers team ever. After replacing Sparky Anderson in 1996, the Tigers lost 109 games and they set the single season record for homeruns allowed by a pitching staff (241). The pitching staff was even worse then the 2003 version as they sported an ERA of 6.38, which was the second worst of all time. Only the 1930 Phillies had a worse ERA (6.71), although they were a tick worse then the 1899 Cleveland Spiders (6.37).

July 14, 1935 Athletics 4, Tigers 3 (49-32)

The Tigers 50th win eluded them as the A’s tagged Schoolboy Rowe in the bottom of the tenth to put the game away. The Tigers didn’t give him much run support as they managed only five hits in the game.

Hank Greenberg had three of those five hits and drove in all three runs. Mickey Cochrane scored twice.

July 13, 1935 Athletics 18, Tigers 5 (48-31)

This wasn’t a good way to start a double header. Fortunately the Tiger’s pitching staff was somewhat rested from the All Star Break as the A’s jumped all over Elden Auker, who couldn’t even last two innings. By the end of the fourth inning the score was 13-2.

Hank Greenberg was two for four and Pete Fox scored twice. Other then that, there was little good to say about this game. It would be the worst defeat of the season for the Tigers.

July 13, 1935 Tigers 6, Athletics 3 (49-31)

Tommy Bridges bounced back after a couple of poor starts as he gave the Tigers a much needed jolt after the drubbing they took earlier in the day. He’d give up 10 hits, but only three A’s crossed the plate.

Mickey Cochrane went two for four with two runs scored and Hank Greenberg went two for four with a homer, two runs and two RBIs.

The split put the Tigers a game back of the first place Yankees, who lost their game to the White Sox.

The 2005 All Star Game has come and gone. As I look back on it, I thought it was an okay game. No real drama, but it was nice being able to see the guys play. It’s funny how with the advent of cable television and the internet, it’s much easier to follow ALL of the teams. It wasn’t that long ago that the All Star Game was a huge deal just because it was one of the few times you got to see some of the National League players play. And the only time you saw the AL play the NL other then in the All Star Game was in the World Series. So while I like having a couple of choices every night as far as games to watch, I do miss the nostalgia.

It was nice listening in on Ernie Harwell in the fourth inning. While I thought they should have let him do more play by play (he only called one batter, Jason Varitek’s walk in the bottom of the fourth), hearing him in the booth is always a good thing.

Now it’s back to reality. Tigers start off with a four game series against the Royals tomorrow. Hopefully they can keep up their recent hot streak. Fighting for a Wild Card spot might be too tough a road to travel, but I’m definitely looking forward to the rest of the season. Seeing Jeremy Bonderman blossom into a star has been the best thing about 2005. 20 wins isn’t out of reach, and that in and of itself will make the season a good one for me.

Ernie Harwell is supposed to do the radio play by play in the fourth inning. I’ll definitely be listening to this.

July 12, 1935 Tigers 2, Senators 1 (48-30)

General Crowder threw a gem in this pitching duel as the Tigers won their series against the Senators. Crowder gave up only one run on five hits.

The Tiger’s bats didn’t far much better then the Senators did as they were held to seven hits. Marv Owen and Hank Greenberg drove in the two Tiger runs and they both singled twice.

July 11, 1935 Tigers 7, Senators 6 (47-30)

A six run fourth inning by the Senators appear to put this one out of reach, but two runs in the eighth put the game into extra frames. The Tigers didn’t waste much time in extra innings as Billy Rogell reached base on an error and scored the winning run on relief pitcher Chief Hogsett’s single.

The Tigers had only seven hits, but both Charlie Gehringer and Goose Goslin homered. Schoolboy Rowe pitched 7 1/3 innings with the big fourth inning his only real flaw. He struck out four.

July 11, 1935 Tigers 7, Senators 6 (47-30)

A six run fourth inning by the Senators appeared to put this one out of reach, but two runs in the eighth put the game into extra frames. The Tigers didn’t waste much time in extra innings as Billy Rogell reached base on an error and scored the winning run on relief pitcher Chief Hogsett’s single.

The Tigers had only seven hits, but both Charlie Gehringer and Goose Goslin homered. Schoolboy Rowe pitched 7 1/3 innings with the big fourth inning his only real flaw. He struck out four.

It’s always nice to see the Tigers being mentioned by the national media (unless of course it was 2003). Peter Gammons mentioned somewhere (I heard this on the radio but I couldn’t find the story to confirm) that he thinks the Tigers are the team to watch out for in the second half. He also posted the results of a poll of 50 GMs, executives, scouts and managers. Brandon Inge’s name came up a couple of times. He trailed only Brian Roberts as the most improved player and he finished tied for fifth for best fielding infielder. Not too shabby for a guy who just over a year ago didn’t have a job.

With the All Star game in a couple of days, I thought back on what I thought was the biggest surprise of the first half of the 2005 season. For the Tigers, I think it’s the fact that they’re pitching has been carrying them. Prior to the start of the season, I figured if anything, the hitting would be the strength while the pitching staff would be mediocre. But this is turning out to be one of the best pitching seasons for the Tigers in quite some time. At this point in time, the Tigers have a 3.88 ERA. The last time they had an ERA that good for an entire season was 1988 when they posted a 3.72 ERA. I know there’s a long way to go, but even if the pitching staff tanks and that number goes up to 4.25, you’re still looking at 1988 as the last time it’s been that low.

As far as the entire league, I think the Yankees topsy turvy season has to be at the top, with the White Sox run a close second. I picked the Yankees to win the AL penant, and I’m still standing by it. I also think you’re going to see the White Sox taper off, but at this point, they’d have to play pretty bad to give up their lead.

The Tigers finished off the Devil Rays and won three of four. They were a couple of outs away from a sweep, but Troy Percival once again had problems in the ninth Saturday night. With three blown saves and two other losses, I really don’t think we’re getting our money’s worth considering he’s only saved eight games. But the Tigers head into the All Star break winning five of their last six, which is definitely a good thing.

My All Star Game plans are the same as last year. I’ll watch the first couple of innings with my son before he goes to bed and I’ll probably finish my column for the Hardball Times with the game on in the background after that. Hopefully the next time the All Star game comes into town, I’ll be able to go to the game with him.

July 10, 1935 Senators 12, Tigers 11 (46-30)

The Tigers lost their first game in almost two weeks, but they didn’t go down without a fight. The Senators put seven runs on the board in the first inning and were up 12-5 before they made an attempt at a comeback. They scored a single run in the eighth, then in the ninth Charlie Gehringer led off the inning with a solo homer. Four runs later, the Tigers were down by a single run and Charlie Gehringer was back up with the tying and winning runs on base. Unfortunately, he couldn’t repeat his heroics of earlier in the inning, and he flew out to end the game.

Six different Tigers had multihit games and Joe Sullivan came in to relieve Tommy Bridges of the shelling he took in the first inning. In all, Bridges was only able to get a single batter out before giving up four hits.

July 7, 1935 Tigers 12, Browns 5 (46-29)

For the fourth time in five games, the Tigers scored double digit runs against the bottom dwellar of the American League. The win was their tenth straight, and they headed into the All Star Break a single game back of the first place Yankees.

The Tigers put up eleven of their twelve runs in the first three innings as they gave Elden Auker plenty of run support. Charlie Gehringer went three for three with four runs and Hank Greenberg went two for five with a double, a triple and three RBIs.

Auker was hit hard, but he only yielded five runs, all of which were driven in by Moose Solters with three homers. Schoolboy Rowe threw two shutout innings to end the game and the Tigers went into the break on a winning note.

July 6, 1935 Tigers 7, Browns 6 (45-29)

The Tigers won their ninth straight game as they came from behind against the Browns. Tommy Bridges only lasted two innings as the Browns took a 5-2 lead, but a run in the bottom of the second shaved the lead to two runs. The Tigers added a run in the fourth and then took the lead for good in the sixth with two more.

The top three batters (Fox, Cochrane and Gehringer) scored all seven Tiger runs . Charlie Gehringer went two for two with two runs and two RBIs while leadoff hitter Pete Fox scored three runs.

Schoolboy Rowe held the Browns in check for the final seven innings as he gave up only a single run on five hits to earn the relief win.

Box scores cannot tell the entire story of a baseball game. At times, when I don’t get to catch the game on television, I rely on them for my columns. And when I checked out the boxscore for Justin Verlander’s debut, it obviously told me a different story from what really happened. If you want a different (and better) take on what happened, check out the comment Todd left on my column last night. Todd also has his own blog, Be the Power. Be sure to check it out.

Quite a bit happened both when I was getting ready to leave for my weekend trip and while I was gone. Magglio Ordonez made his real debut for the Tigers and hit a homerun in his first game back off the DL to help the Tigers top the Yankees. He doubled on Saturday but was held hitless the rest of the weekend. Fortunately he bounced back today and hit a two run shot tonight and the Tigers are up 3-1. He also has his first multihit game in a Tiger’s uniform.

Also of note was the shifting of Bruce Fields and Kirk Gibson. A lot of what I’ve read I agree with. Fields is a former minor league manager and is probably a better sounding board as far as strategy goes because he’s been there before. But I just don’t picture Gibby as a hitting instructor. In a radio interview Tram simply stated things weren’t working and things needed to change. Apparantly Gibby isn’t too happy about it, so it’ll interesting to see what happens once the season ends.

Finally, Ivan Rodriguez got the nod as the lone Tiger All Star. I thought consideration could have been given for both Jeremy Bonderman (ace of the staff with 10 wins) and Brandon Inge (third in the AL in VORP among thirdbasemen). Grady Little said Matt Clement, who was also snubbed, would have gotten the start ahead of Bonderman anyway so it looks like Jeremy will have to wait until next year.

I also want to thank everyone for the birthday wishes. Some of you even wanted to send me money or presents. It’s not that I disapprove of people who do, but I don’t solicit donations. The advertising pays for any site maintenance, but I guess there’s also the time I put into the site. If you’re seriously interested in making a donation, send me an email off line or check out my Amazon.com wishlist.

Probably the best birthday present was hitting a milestone today. Sometime tonight I’ll have my 50,000th visitor. I know that’s a weeks worth of traffic for some of the larger sites, but it’s something that I’m proud of.

July 5, 1935 Tigers 16, Browns 1 (44-29)

After putting 29 runs on the board in a doubleheader against the last place Browns a little over a week ago, the Tigers continued to beat up on St. Louis’ pitching in a new series at Navin Field. Hank Greenberg had one of his best games of the season as he was perfect a four for four. He drove in four, scored four and two of his four hits were homeruns.

Pete Fox and Goose Goslin also had big games. Fox went three for five with two doubles and three runs scored. Goslin went three for four with a triple, three RBIs and he scored four times.

Vic Sorrell kept the Browns in check for the entire game. The Browns scored a single run in the third, but that was the only run they’d get. Sorrell allowed only seven hits and he struck out three.

The win was the Tigers eighth in a row.

Justin Verlander made his MLB debut last night in the second half of the Tiger’s doubleheader with the Indians. One start isn’t a good sample size, but he took the loss. He didn’t get shelled, but I’d hardly say he pitched well. I’m still not sure what Dombrowski and Tram were trying to accomplish with this, but I’m hoping Verlander quietly gets sent back to Erie and continues where he continues his great season, along with a more normal MLB progression.

Today is my 34th birthday. I’m not sure if that’s old by blogging standards anymore because there’s hundreds of baseball blogs out there now. Unfortunately my birthday won’t be nearly as fun as the long weekend since I have to work. So, it will come and go with little fanfare.

July 4, 1935 Tigers 6, Indians 5 (42-29)

Doubleheaders are rough on a team. Doubleheaders where the first game goes into extra frames is even tougher, and that’s exactly what happened to the Tigers on Independence Day. After trailing 5-4, the Tigers scored a run in the top of the ninth to tie it, and they scored a run in the eleventh to win their sixth straight.

Mickey Cochrane went four for five with a homer and three runs scored while Goose Goslin went two for six with a couple of RBIs. Billy Rogell also had two hits.

General Crowder started the game and went 5 1/3 as he gave up the five runs. Elden Auker, Chief Hogsett and Tommy Bridges then combined to hold the Indians scoreless over the final five innings of the game. Hogsett walked away with the win while Tommy Bridges earned his first and only save of the season.

July 4, 1935 Tigers 10, Indians 4 (43-30)

Not even a doubleheader could slow down the Tigers bats as they won their seventh straight game. The Tigers ran up the score with ten runs on sixteen hits.

Goose Goslin was the MVP of the doubleheader as he had another great game. He went three for five with three RBis. Charlie Gehringer homered and relief pitcher Hogsett even contributed with a two run homer.

Schoolboy Rowe walked away with another win although the boxscore I have shows him only throwing 3 1/3 innings.

The long weekend trip was a nice one although travelling with a one year old always makes things interesting. We got down to the Great American Ballpark in time to see the ninth inning of the first game (Reds lost), then stuck around for most of the second game (Reds won). The ballpark is a really nice one. We were sitting on the first base line about half way up the outfield. I got to see Adam Dunn and Ken Griffey both hit homers, and my son was having a blast.

Yesterday we went to King’s Island and once again, Devin did really well. He even stopped trying to pull his ear plugs out of his ears and was able to have some fun in the water park. Probably the funniest thing he did was when we put him into a kids ride (cars that go around in circles). He was having such a blast he was screaming and waving to everyone as he went around.

The drive home was uneventful, which was definitely a good thing. Now it’s back to reality. With quarter end at work, another Business of Baseball Report due for Wednesday over at the Hardball Times, and the fact that once again I’m behind on both the 1935 Tiger Diary and 1975 Reds Diary, I have to put my nose to the grindstone and get some work done this week.

July 3, 1935 Tigers 11, Indians 7 (41-29)

The Tigers continued to roll as they won their fifth straight game (and eight of their last nine). Vic Sorrell couldn’t even get through the second inning as the Tribe jumped out in front 3-0. The Tigers stormed back as rookie lefthander Joe Sullivan righted the ship.

Backup catcher Ray Hayworth had a big game as he went four for five with five RBIs. Billy Rogell went two for four, but he scored four runs while Hank Greenberg went two for five with an RBI.

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