Bleacher Report - Articles by John Parent

Detroit Tigers by the Numbers: Ron LeFlore

John Parent — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 11:18:25 -0400

Since the 1931 season, the Detroit Tigers uniforms have featured numbers assigned to each player. Our “By The Numbers” series takes a look at the best, or sometimes just the most interesting, player to wear each number. We have reached number 8 in our series, if you would like to catch up on the first seven, click here to find the earlier installments.

As always, when I begin one of these profiles, I go back through the years using Baseball-Almanac and find the players to consider. Off the top of my head, I usually have a good idea about who I will choose, but when it came to no. 8 I had no clue.

Upon scouring the names, I narrowed the list to a few; Ray Boone (3B, 1953-58) was a two time all-star in Detroit and was the first of three generations of Boones to play in the big leagues. Gerald Laird (C, 2009) lead the league in catching base stealers and brought stability to the pitching staff. Deivi Cruz (SS, 1997-2001) actually garnered MVP consideration in 1997 when he finished fourth in the Rookie of the Year balloting.

Ultimately, the choice was easy. Ron LeFlore has had a life so interesting there has been a movie made about it. I suppose it’s best to start from the beginning.

No. 8 Ron LeFlore was born in 1948 in Detroit, Michigan, though he first told the Tigers he was born in 1952. His parents held steady jobs, and provided a good home for LeFlore and his three siblings. While his parents were able to provide for their family, LeFlore veered away from the straight and narrow.

As a boy, not yet a teenager, LeFlore was running with an older crowd and he wanted the flashy clothes andwomen that came with the criminal lifestyle. “My first street experience came at the local A&P food store,” LeFlore told Ebony Magazine in 1975. ”I got away with $1500.”

According to a 1974 People Magazine feature on LeFlore, by age 15, he was heavily involved in prostitution and shoplifting. “My parents would always tell me that the crowd I was with wasn’t good for me,” LeFlore recalled. “But I was hardheaded like any other kid—I didn’t pay attention. And they weren’t in a position to give me the things I wanted.”

LeFlore was selling drugs and using them himself by 1970 when one day, he and some friends were getting high and decided to hold up a check cashing service. Armed with a .22 caliber rifle, LeFlore and his two buddies took nearly $35,000 in that hold-up.

They were arrested almost immediately.

In the spring of 1970, LeFlore was convicted of the armed robbery and was sentenced to five to 15 years in Jackson State Prison.

After a rough start to his prison term that saw him serve two stints in solitary confinement, LeFlore began playing baseball on the prison grounds. A fellow inmate, Jim Karella, took notice of the speedy LeFlore and told a friend on the outside. That friend also happened to be close friendswith then-Tigers manager Billy Martin.

Martin made a trip to the prison to see LeFlore play in May of 1973. Two months late, LeFlore was granted his parole after serving three years. The Tigers signed him that very same day.

Upon his release, LeFlore vowed to his fellow inmates that he was going to make it. And make it he did. 13 months after being released from prison, the convicted felon was stealing again.

This time, however, he was stealing bases for the Detroit Tigers, and putting his past behind him. “I guess I’m putting my energies in the right place for a change,” he told People. “I used to think that flashy people and big parties and dope were exciting—but not now. I don’t want to rip and roar around on the streets anymore.”

When Tigers center fielder Mickey Stanley broke his hand in 1974, LeFlore got the call to come up to the big leagues. He impressed quickly and played well in 59 games for the Tigers as a 26 year old rookie (though at the time, the Tigers thought he was 22), stealing 23 bases.

By 1975, he had taken over as the everyday center fielder. He swiped 28 bags for the Tigers that season, in fact, LeFlore stole at least 20 bases every season of his nine year career.

The magic summer of 1976 saw Mark Fidrych take over the baseball world, but LeFlore was right there with him. After two seasons hitting near .260, LeFlore found his stroke. He was selected to start the All-Star game that summer, his only such honor, and hit .316 for the season, coupled with an impressive .376 OBP.

In 1977, LeFlore added some thump to his game, pounding out 16 home runs while stealing 39 bases. He hit a career best .325 and became the first Tiger in 22 years to top the 200 hit plateau. LeFlore scored 100 runs for the first of three straight years that season.

LeFlore was set to enter free agency following the 1980 season, and had asked for the hefty sum of $4 million over the course of seven years form the Tigers. Although he had lead the AL in runs and stolen bases in 1978, and had similar success in 1979, the Tigers did not want to pay their star center fielder.

Rather than seeing him walk away and get nothing in return, Detroit traded LeFlore to the Montreal Expos for left handed pitcher Dan Schatzeder.

LeFlore played one season for Montreal andlead the NL with 97 stolen bases in 1980, becoming the first player ever to win the stolen base crown in both leagues. Following that season, LeFlore signed a deal with the Chicago White Sox, but was relegated to a part-time role. Just before the 1983 season, he was released by the White Sox and retired from baseball.

Although he had many shortcomings, LeFlore proved to be an exciting player during his time in the big leagues. He struck out a lot by the standards then, although no more than most players do today. He had trouble judging flyballs and was never a good outfielder, though he did get better as his career progressed.

Remember, until serving prison time, LeFlore had almost zero experience playing any kind of organized baseball. He played a half a season in the minor leagues, and was still just learning the game when he became a regular player in Detroit.

He was always a prolific base stealer, but never managed an extremely high success rate. His 455 steals rank 42nd all-time, but his 142 times caught ranks as the 28th most.

Although he had so little experience, LeFlore turned himself into one of the better hitters in baseball for a few years in a row. Four times he had hitting streaks besting 15 games, he had two streaks of better than 30 games.

The Tigers signed a convicted felon and admitted drug pusher on the day of his parole. Can you even imagine the negative press that would surround such a signing today? It would never happen.

Consider also that one of his teammates in Detroit was Gates Brown who himself had served time for burglary prior to his career in baseball. The Cincinnati Bengals had nothing on those ‘74 Tigers.

Tigers by the Numbers: Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez

John Parent — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 15:37:38 -0400

(This is the seventh episode of Tigers by the Numbers, where we take a look at a current or former player that wore each uniform number. If you want to find the list so far, click here to find the others.)

With the Tigers clinging to a three-game cushion in the AL Central race on the season’s final off-day, I decided that I needed a break from the pennant race and have turned my attention to a player who perhaps more than anyone else was responsible for bringing winning baseball back to Detroit.

There were others who wore No. 7 for the Tigers before him, and there will certainly be others to wear it in the future, but perhaps no one will bring as much to Detroit as Pudge Rodriguez did.

So, with apologies to Billy Rogell (SS, 1930-39), Harvey Kuenn (SS/OF, 1952-59), Rocky Colavito (OF, 1960-63), Rick Leach (1B/DH, 1981-83), and Dean Palmer (3B/DH, 1999-2003), all of whom were at least briefly considered for this spot, we now present No. 7: Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez.

Ivan Rodriguez first appeared in a major league game at the tender age of 19 as a catcher with the Texas Rangers in 1991. He made his debut on June 20 of that season, batting ninth in a game in Chicago against the White Sox. Rodriguez went 1-for-4 and caught both runners that attempted to steal against him.

In the ninth inning, Rodriguez lined a sharp single to right field against Melido Perez, scoring two runners to give the Rangers a 7-3 lead. It was the first hit and pair of RBI of what would surely become a Hall of Fame career.

As the seasons rolled along, Pudge became a household name. He caught Nolan Ryan at the end of his career, he caught Kenny Rogers’ perfect game in 1994. He made 10 consecutive All-Star Games and won 10 straight gold gloves. In 1999, Rodriguez won the AL MVP award, hitting .332 while pounding out 35 home runs and knocking in 113.

When Pudge became a free agent following the 2002 season, he was looking for a big deal, but he had back problems and had already caught more than 1,400 big league games. Conventional wisdom was that it was unwise to commit to a catcher on the wrong side of 30. Pudge had to instead settle for a one-year deal from the Florida Marlins.

The Marlins may have kept Rodriguez fore only one season, but what a season he turned in. Fueled by a desire to prove his doubters wrong, Pudge caught 144 games for the Fish that season and helped to turn around a franchise that had been, ahem, floundering, for the previous several seasons. The young Marlins caught fire in June of that season, following a managerial change that brought in veteran skipper Jack McKeon.

Pudge did his part as well, batting .297 and knocking in 85 runs for the eventual World Series champions. Unlike prior years, Rodriguez excelled in the playoffs in 2003, taking home MVP honors as the Marlins bested the Cubs in the NLCS.

Again a free agent, Rodriguez shocked the baseball world by agreeing to sign a four-year, $40 million deal with the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers were coming off the worst season in American League history, having lost 119 games in 2003. The Tigers were an absolute laughing stock and had just one winning season since 1989.

At the press conference announcing the deal, then-manager Alan Trammell took pause to reflect on the situation, having endured what he had the season prior. “This is how it starts,” he said. “This is how we get better.” Perhaps truer words were never spoken by the manager.

Shortly after the Rodriguez deal, the Tigers were able to lure Fernando Vina, Rondell White, and Jason Johnson on free agent contracts. Suddenly, players who would never consider choosing to play for the Tigers were at least taking time to consider the possibility. Things would get better from there.

The 2004 Tigers were drastically improved from the '03 version. While still a below-average club, the Tigers added 29 wins to their total from 2003 and climbed out of the cellar to finish third in the division.

Along with new shortstop Carlos Guillen, Pudge helped to immediately stabilize the defense and provided veteran leadership to a young team. It didn’t hurt that he hit .334 and made his 11th All-Star team while winning his 11th gold glove.

Spurred by their increased success, the Tigers were able to again make a splash during the offseason prior to 2005, signing another superstar with injury concerns, Magglio Ordonez. While Ordonez missed much of the '05 campaign, and Rodriguez’s numbers slipped a bit, a midseason deal to acquire second baseman Placido Polanco from Philadelphia set the stage for improvement in 2006.

But no one saw this coming.

The 2006 Tigers were the surprise team of baseball. The raced out to wins in each of their first five games under new manager Jim Leyland. They spent 147 days in first place and at one time held a 10-game lead on the division.

Again, it was Rodriguez driving the bus.

At age 34, Pudge recorded his 10th season batting .300 or better, and he lead the pitching staff to the league’s best ERA. The Tigers limped into the playoffs as the wild card team, but Pudge and the pitchers stymied the Yankees in the ALDS before sweeping the A’s for the AL pennant, the first in 22 years for the Tigers.

The Tigers fell back to earth in 2008, struggling from the outset. A team that many had pegged as a probable playoff team would languish in mediocrity the whole year. Knowing his club was in trouble, and amidst rumors that his star catcher was unhappy, general manager Dave Dombrowski traded Rodriguez at the deadline to the New York Yankees, getting journeyman reliever Kyle Farnsworth in exchange.

In 2009, Rodriguez signed a free agent deal with the Houston Astros and was later traded back to the Rangers. Reports are that Texas would like to re-sign him for next season.

Dombrowski is a very smart baseball man, and one of the most well-respected GMs in the game. While you could easily point to bad decisions made and money lost by throwing it at aging or under performing players, the fact is that there were times, many in fact, that the Tigers had to overpay to acquire talent.

Pudge Rodriguez did not sign a market-value deal in 2004, reports were that no team was willing to commit more than two years to him. The Tigers committed four years, plus an option year that they exercised. If they had not offered what they did, Pudge likely never would have signed.

Without Pudge to bring some sort of credibility to the franchise, the Tigers likely would not have been able to sign Ugueth Urbina, whom they traded for Polanco, or Ordonez, or convinced Gary Sheffield to waive his no-trade clause to come to Detroit.

When Ivan Rodriguez enters the Hall of Fame, he won’t do it wearing a Tigers’ cap, but if not for his time in Detroit, the Tigers would never have been where they were in 2006, or where they might be in 2009 and beyond.

Carlos Guillen is Key for Tigers' Pennant Chances

John Parent — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 16:09:25 -0400

As the July trade deadline neared, there was much rumbling about the Tigers lack of offensive prowess.

General consensus was that Detroit had to make a move to bring in a big bat. He should be left handed and be able to hit for some power.

Instead, Dave Dombowski pulled the trigger on a deal for LHP Jarrod Washburn.

Then in mid-August, the Tigers added that hitter, acquiring Aubrey Huff from Baltimore.

So far, neither Washburn nor Huff have been the key to maintaining the Tigers’ divisional lead.

The difference maker has been a healthy Carlos Guillen.

Since returning from injury on July 24, Guillen has provided very solid production, coupled with a resurgence from Magglio Ordonez and Placido Polanco, Guillen has taken his rightful place in the middle of the Tigers order and this has led to a much stronger team offensively.

When the 2009 season began, Guillen was slated to play left field for Detroit. The former All-Star short stop had moved to first base and then third base in 2008, trying to cope with a body that was failing him.

In order to shore up in infield defense, Guillen was shuttled out to left, allowing Brandon Inge to take over as the everyday third baseman.

Guillen wasn’t ready.

He broke camp with a bad Achilles and was trying to play through a throbbing right shoulder.

The results were not good.

Before the injuries finally pushed Guillen to the disabled list, he had limped through 24 games, mostly limited to DH duties.

During that time, he had a paltry line of .200/.267/.244/.512 in 90 at bats.

As his time on the DL grew, the reports were not encouraging. As late as early July, there were rumors of a possible surgery to be performed on Guillen’s shoulder, a move that would cost him the rest of the year. But Guillen pressed forward with his rehab, and eventually saw some improvements.

Guillen began feeling good enough to begin a rehab assignment with AAA Toledo in mid-July. With the Tigers facing the rival White Sox for a five game series, Detroit made the move to recall Guillen, though he was not yet completely healthy.

In fact, he’s still not.

Though listed as a switch hitter, Guillen’s shoulder has not yet healed enough to allow him to hit right handed. He only recently began playing defense again, seeing time at first base and left field. But what he has done, at half strength, has been a huge shot in the arm for a sagging Tigers offense.

In 33 games since his return, Guillen has belted eight home runs, and has driven in 23 runs.

Prior to his disabled list stint, he had zero homers and just six RBI. While his season totals don’t look all that impressive, he has carried a .287/.354/.523/.877 line since his return.

Since being acquired prior to the 2004 season, Guillen has been a fixture in the heart of the Tigers order. Guillen’s return to form, along with solid contributions from Ordonez and MVP candidate Miguel Cabrera, has kept the Tigers in first place through August.

The Tigers will play rivals Minnesota and Chicago 13 more times before the season’s end. If Detroit plans to hold off both of those clubs, it will take a strong effort from the entire team. But specifically, it will take a healthy dose of Carlos Guillen.

Twins-White Sox: Big Series Looms in AL Central Race

John Parent — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 08:03:44 -0400

A short while ago, Blake VandeBunte called the AL Central a two-team race. The next three days will go a long way toward determining if he was right.

But he might have gotten the second team wrong.

When The Spot Starters made their bold declaration back on Aug. 6, Minnesota sat a distant third in the standings, some 6.5 games behind Detroit.

Thanks to a very good home stand, the Twins have crawled to within 4.5 games of Detroit and have leapfrogged the White Sox for second place, as Chicago dropped six of the first seven games on its 11-game road trip.

Chicago heads into the Metrodome for a three-game set against the Twins starting today.

By the time play ends on Wednesday, we could yet be looking at a two-team race for the divisional crown.

As the July 31 trade deadline arrived, the White Sox made a big splash, adding pitcher Jake Peavy from San Diego. Peavy is still attempting to come back from an injury and has yet to make his first start for the White Sox.

Just after the deadline, Chicago added outfielder Alex Rios from Toronto.

These two big names were supposed to catapult the Sox past the Tigers.

The White Sox have only moved backward.

The Twins, on the other hand, have made steady progress.

They added RHP Carl Pavano from Cleveland and recently brought in LHP Ron Mahay and RHP Jon Rauch to shore up the bullpen.

There is also the strong possibility that they will add RHP Rich Harden in a deal later today, filling the Twins' need for another playoff starter, as it has been reported that LHPs Glen Perkins and Francisco Liriano will work out of the bullpen once they return from injury.

While the Twins and Sox are doing battle in Minnesota, Detroit will finish up a four-game series with Tampa, ahead of three games with Cleveland starting tomorrow. The Tigers are 42-21 at home this season and have won two of three versus the Rays so far. Jarrod Washburn and James Shields will match up in this afternoon’s finale.

If the White Sox have any shot at the postseason, their series against Minnesota will be where they begin their push.

The White Sox cannot afford to fall any further behind and will give the ball to Gavin Floyd today in an attempt to halt the free fall.

Nick Blackburn goes for Minnesota, with the Twins winning five of six home contests against Chicago this season.

Minnesota Twins Building Momentum and a Bullpen

John Parent — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 17:05:35 -0400

The Minnesota Twins are closing in fast, and they’ve added re-enforcements. MLB Trade Rumors has links to two deals the Twins pulled off today in an effort to bolster their bullpen, and gain ground of the front-running Detroit Tigers.

In separate deals, Minnesota added lefty Ron Mahay from Kansas City and right handed setup man Jon Rauch from Arizona.

The Twins have won five of their last six and have closed to within one-half game of second place Chicago, but still sit four-and-a-half games behind Detroit. The Twins host the White Sox for three games starting Monday.

Minnesota has struggled to find consistent pitching this season, a stark contrast from years past. The Twins’ offense has carried the club this season. Minnesota added RHP Carl Pavano in a deal earlier this season to bolster a slumping rotation.

The additions of Mahay and Rauch should help boost the bullpen in front of closer Joe Nathan. Minnesota has struggled to get the ball to Nathan at times this season.

The 38-year-old Mahay is a lefty specialist that has struggled this season for Kansas City. Over his career, he has held left handed hitters to a .234 average, but this season lefties have hit him at a .278 clip. If he can find any of his old form, he could help.

Rauch is an imposing 6'11" right-hander and former closer. But the former strike out artist has seen his K:BB ratio slip to a career low 2.08 this season, fanning just 5.68 batters per nine innings, also a career low.

Both of these players are low risk acquisitions that could potentially help, but only if either or both of them revert to earlier form. At this stage of the season, both players figure to be an upgrade over the front end of the bullpen the Twins had been using.

If they pan out, adding Mahay and Rauch to Matt Guerrier and Jose Mijares could give the Twins one of the better bullpens in the league. If not, the middle innings will continue to be struggle.

Detroit Tigers by the Numbers: Al Kaline

John Parent — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 10:54:39 -0400

(Note: This is the sixth installment of "By the Numbers." If you missed any of the first five, click here to find the earlier pieces.)

No. 6: Al Kaline

Since the day he signed his first contract in 1953, no man has been more identified with the Detroit Tigers than Al Kaline. As a young man growing up, I knew Kaline from the Sunday afternoon telecasts that were carried on the Fox affiliate in Toledo, Ohio.

Kaline and his partner George Kell called the games in those days. In the years since, I have known Kaline as an ambassador for baseball, and more specifically, the Tigers.

Even today, if you make a trip to spring training, or frequent Comerica Park enough, you’re bound to see him there. He is by far the most accessible ballplayer I have ever seen, always willing to stop and chat with fans, to sign autographs, and to work with and offer advice to the current players.

“Mr. Tiger” has earned his nickname and he continues to do so.

Kaline signed as an amateur free agent out of Baltimore when he was just fresh out of high school, and he never played a day in the minor leagues.

Kaline made his way into 30 games as an 18-year-old outfielder that same season. As a 19-year-old rookie in 1954, Kaline showed why he was rushed to the big leagues.

Finishing third in the Rookie of the Year vote, Kaline became the everyday right fielder for the Tigers and posted a .276 average.

Even at that young age, Kaline was also beginning to earn the respect of the opposition, both at the plate and with his strong right arm. Kaline gunned down 16 runners from right field that season.

At age 20, Kaline became a legend. After hitting just four home runs in 1954, Kaline belted 27 the next year. His RBI total jumped from 43 to 102. Kaline led the league with 200 hits and 321 total bases.

He finished second in the MVP race and led the league with a .340 batting average. He became the youngest player ever to win a batting title, besting Ty Cobb’s previous record by one day.

If you look at Kaline’s body of work, his numbers stack up nicely against the game’s all-time greats. For 21 seasons, he wore the Old English D and did the game proud.

Kaline never won another batting title after 1955, but he did finish in the top three five more times. He never again amassed 200 hits in a season, but he did have better than 3,000 for his career.

Kaline never hit 30 home runs in a season, but he ended his career with 399, thanks to nine years of better than 20.

Kaline had over 1,500 career RBI, but only had three seasons of better than 100.

On defense, Kaline never had the lead in any defensive category, but he won 10 Gold Glove awards.

He just once led the league in doubles, yet he hit almost 500 of them for his career.

He never won an MVP, but finished in the top 10 in voting nine times. Kaline was an All-Star 15 times, but he was never the game's brightest star.

Such was his career that spanned more than two decades. Al Kaline was consistently one of the better players in the American League, but he was probably never the best player in any given season.

He was always mentioned with the best in baseball, but always mentioned after the names of Aaron, Mays, and Mantle.

Kaline was a very good player for a very long time. There is no shame in that.

Before I saw his numbers, I had assumed that they were better, frankly speaking. I assumed I would find a player that had a few peak seasons that carried his overall numbers, like you may find with any number of Hall of Famers.

What I found was that Kaline really never had those peak years. Instead, he remained remarkably consistent throughout his career.

In the years since he left the playing field, Kaline has stayed in the public eye. Perhaps it is his constant presence that has led many to feel like he was a better player than he was. At the risk of offending some readers, it feels like Kaline was never the immortal one I had thought he was.

What he was is not unlike what Craig Biggio was to the Astros: a very good player for a very long time. And at the end of the day, you look up, and he has Hall of Fame numbers.

Maybe I am selling him short. Maybe the era he played in was so saturated with great players having great seasons that Kaline’s get overshadowed. Maybe the whole story of his career cannot be told by the numbers alone.

But maybe Kaline was what his numbers say he was: a very good player for a very long time.

Either way, Mr. Tiger earned his nickname every day that he played, and he has earned it every day since. If his reputation as a player is enhanced by the kind of man he is, then so be it.

Kaline has been the epitome of the kind of person we all hope every ball player becomes. He had great ability, he played a long, long time, and he is devoted to giving back to the game and its fans.

Curtis Granderson Not Pulling His Weight

John Parent — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 11:05:44 -0400

Curtis Granderson is struggling. In fact, he really has been all season. But during a stretch when Magglio Ordonez has started to break out of his season-long funk, and Placido Polanco has again become a viable member of the offense, it has been the catalyst, Granderson, that has regressed.

For the season, Granderson is sporting a .254 average, which we all know is not the true measure of a hitter, but for reference, his career average is some 21 points higher at .275. He is carrying a .334 OBP, which is his lowest since his first full season in 2006. It’s true that he has already homered 23 times, matching his career best, but he continues to struggle to lead this offense.

Granderson is currently wallowing in an 0 for 13 slump, and Jim Leyland said after last night’s game that he may give Granderson a couple of days off to right the ship. The Tigers will face two left-handers in the next two games.

A couple of days off would seem to suit the Tigers’ needs anyway. This season, Granderson has suffered at the hands of southpaws. Versus righties, Grandy carries a .283/.368/.536/.904 line. He hasn’t done much against lefties, however, at just .178/.257/.256/.513.

Granderson has just six extra-base hits in 147 plate appearances against left handers. There is no doubt that Leyland is well aware of these numbers.

Granderson’s splits are nothing new. For much of the first few years of his career, Granderson rarely played against lefties, and when he did, he would hit at the bottom of the order. In 2008, he seemed to figure out the lefties, however, as he hit them at a .259/.310/.429/.739 clip.

While those aren’t impressive numbers, for a guy that had historically struggled it was an impressive improvement. Obviously, this year he has taken a step back.

So what’s the answer? How can the Tigers improve the offense? It starts with Granderson. Unfortunately, the Tigers have a great black hole on the depth chart behind Granderson in center field. They also have very few viable options to lead off in the order.

The Tigers have just two players that could get by playing center field for a couple of games, in Clete Thomas and Ryan Raburn. Thomas is the better outfielder by far. Interestingly, Thomas is also the better hitter against left-handers, though Raburn is the right handed hitter.

Over his career, Thomas hits lefties much better than he hit righties, albeit in very limited at bats. Raburn has been just the opposite, hitting right-handers better than lefties, a split that is much more significant this season.

Just looking at the players currently on the active roster, it is apparent that Granderson should be moved down in the order against left-handers, if not sitting on the bench. While the prospect of Raburn playing in center does not appeal to me, I wouldn’t mind seeing Thomas out there once in a while.

While we’re on the subject, if the Tigers could find someone, anyone really, to lead off other than Granderson, that would seem to help as well. Granderson has been bad when leading off the game, carrying a .323 OBP and a .721 OPS. By contrast, when he hits anywhere but lead off, he has a .391 OBP and a whopping .957 OPS. He has just 64 at bats hitting lower in the order this season.

The fact is that Granderson hits lead off because someone has to. The same reason that Thomas has hit third for so much of the year. These just are not good reasons.

My suggestion to the Tigers is simple, really. Against left-handers, why not use Thomas in the lead off spot in center field while Granderson sits? Or if you like Grandy’s defense, use Thomas in left and Granderson in center while hitting ninth, while Thomas at the top.

I realize that Thomas has limited at-bats against lefties, and his splits are likely skewed because of that, but we have seen that Granderson is not doing the job, and it is time to try something else. Against right-handers, continue the order as has been, while I still don’t like Granderson in the lead off role, there frankly aren’t better options in a lineup that would include Carlos Guillen and Aubrey Huff hitting in the middle.

If not, we’ll all be hoping that Granderson wakes up one day and remembers what he did last year. But time is running out, and the White Sox aren’t going away.

Busy Off-Day for Detroit Tigers

John Parent — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 08:19:07 -0400

The Chicago White Sox found a way to win at home against Kansas City last night. In the process, they picked up a half game on the idle division leaders from Detroit.

With no scheduled games yesterday, the Tigers watched their lead shrink to two games over Chicago. In the meantime, the Tigers improved the club for years to come.

The news started fairly early in the afternoon, just about the time I had decided to step away from the computer for a few hours. By the time I had checked in, I found that I had missed some pretty big news.

The Tigers finally added the left-handed bat they had been seeking for most of 2009 when they completed a trade with the Baltimore Orioles.

Detroit sent minor league right-hander Brett Jacobson to Baltimore in exchange for two months of Aubrey Huff.

Huff has played first base this year, also seeing time at designated hitter. In years past, however, he spent time at third base and both corner outfield spots.

Though he has not played in the outfield since 2006, Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski referred to Huff as an infielder/outfielder during his conference call to announce the move. Huff projects as a Type-A free agent after the season, but I doubt the Tigers would offer him arbitration, a necessary step to receive compensatory draft picks, should Huff sign elsewhere.

For now, no announcement has been made as to the corresponding roster move to clear a spot for Huff.

Dombrowski did state that this move will not involve Magglio Ordonez or Brandon Inge. Ordonez appears headed toward locking in his $18 million option for next season, and the Tigers don’t appear worried about limiting his at bats to avoid such a scenario.

Inge has been battling a sore knee for the past month, but apparently, no trip to the disabled list is on the horizon.

Assuming the Tigers don’t make another trade involving a major league player, there are two obvious candidates to leave the roster.

Clete Thomas has been back and forth from Toledo a couple times already this year and could be moved out again. Thomas does give the Tigers excellent outfield defense, something that would be sorely missed in the late innings.

Even if Huff takes away some at-bats from Thomas, I’d hate to see Huff and Ordonez flanking Curtis Granderson with a one run lead.

Ryan Raburn is probably the most likely player to be demoted.

The versatile Raburn has struggled both with the bat and the glove at several points this season. He has played mostly left field for Detroit, but also has filled in for Inge at third, and Miguel Cabrera at first. The way it sounds, the Tigers look at Huff as being able to provide depth at all of those positions.

My guess is that Raburn will take I-75 south to Toledo until Sept. 1, when the rosters expand.

The big news of the day was supposed to be the deadline for signing draft picks.

Entering the day, the Tigers still had failed to sign either of their top two picks, along with shortstop Daniel Fields, a sixth round pick with first round talent. As the clock crept closer to midnight, there was still no news of any of these players.

Then a flurry of stories began coming out.

First MLB.com’s Jason Beck reported that Fields had signed a “seven figure” deal to lure him away from the University of Michigan. Fields’ father, Bruce, a former Tigers coach and manager of the Toledo Mudhens, had said he wanted Daniel to go to school if he could not secure a large contract and be assured he would stay a shortstop.

Evidently, those requests have been met.

Shortly thereafter, second round pick Andrew Oliver was signed to a near $2 million bonus.

Oliver is a hard throwing left-handed pitcher, but lacks good command and needs to improve his secondary pitches. Most have him rated as a potential number three starter.

The biggest name left to sign was that of first round pick Jacob Turner.

Turner is a high school right-hander that projects as a future number one starter in the big leagues. He had been seeking “Rick Porcello money”, and he got it. Turner signed a major league contract with a total salary of $7.5 million.

All in all, it was successful day for Dave Dombrowski. The addition of Huff makes the Tigers a better team for this season. The addition of those three draft picks in particular make the club more formidable in the future.

I especially like the signing of Fields, as the dearth of position players in the Tigers’ system has been evident. Fields instantly improves that situation, and could push prospect Cale Iorg to either improve or risk being overtaken as the shortstop of the future in Detroit.

Tigers by the Numbers: Hank Greenberg

John Parent — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 12:00:37 -0400

(This is the fifth installment of Tigers by the Numbers. If you missed the earlier pieces, click here to find the others.)

5. Hank Greenberg

Hank Greenberg will be forever remembered in Tigers history. His number is emblazoned on the brick wall beyond the fence at Comerica Park, alongside the names and numbers of many other Tiger greats. Greenberg was easily one of the greatest right-handed power hitters of all time, and could have been better.

From the time he broke in to the big leagues, Greenberg was a force in the middle of the Tigers' batting order. At age 22, he took over as the starting first baseman and knocked in 87 runs in just 117 games played. The next season, 1934, Greenberg belted 63 doubles, a league high, along with 26 home runs and 139 RBI. He finished sixth in the MVP voting and led the Tigers to an American League pennant.

The 1935 season saw the Tigers again claim the AL crown, and Greenberg was the driving force. His added maturity saw many of those doubles become home runs. He led the league with 36 round-trippers to go along with an amazing 170 RBI. The Tigers bested the Cubs in six games to win the World Series, but Greenberg broke his hand in Game Two.

The 1936 season was a lost one for Greenberg; just 12 games into the year, he broke his wrist and missed the remainder of the season. He had already knocked in 16 runs in those 12 games. It was the first time Greenberg would miss significant time in his career, but it wouldn’t be the last.

The next four seasons showed the kind of player Greenberg was. From 1937 through 1940, He averaged 43 home runs and 147 RBI. He led the league in runs scored in 1938 with 144, the same year he belted 58 home runs—just two shy of Babe Ruth’s major league record.

He drove in 183 runs in 1937 to lead the league. During that stretch, he never slugged below .600 and never hit below .312. After Rudy York took over at first base in 1940, Greenberg moved to left field and responded by winning his second MVP award, becoming the first player to win the award at two different positions.

Like many ballplayers during World War II, Greenberg was drafted into service. He missed the vast majority of the 1941 season upon being drafted, but was discharged on Dec. 5, 1941 following a law that called for the release of men over the age of 28.

Upon the attacks on Pearl Harbor, Greenberg immediately re-enlisted and served through most of the 1945 season. He was discharged as a Captain with the 20th Bomber Command and earned four battle stars and Presidential Unit Citation. During his service time, Greenberg missed almost four full seasons.

Upon being discharged from the service in 1945, Greenberg rejoined the Tigers in the middle of the season. Four years away from the game didn’t seem to matter much to Hammerin’ Hank, as despite playing in only 78 games, he still hit better than .300 and finished 13th in MVP voting. Rejuvenated by Greenberg’s return, the Tigers went on to capture the AL crown and took care of the Cubs again in the World Series.

Greenberg played his final year in Detroit in 1946. For the first time in his career, except the 1941 season when he played only 19 games, Greenberg hit below .300, finishing at .277.

Despite the lower average, he still led the league in home runs and RBI, totalling 44 and 127, respectively. Following the season, Greenberg was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates for $75,000 cash.

Greenberg played just one year for the Pirates, belting 25 home runs in 125 games. He became the first player to ever hit at least 25 homers in a season in each league.

Greenberg played 12 seasons in the major leagues, but only seven times did he amass at least 500 at-bats. While his career numbers don’t scream out at you, when you consider that he missed so much time, his 313 home runs and almost 1,300 RBI look much better.

In his seven full campaigns, he averaged 40 home runs per season and 147 RBI. He was a five time All-Star, he won two MVP awards, finishing third on two other occasions. He led the Tigers to four AL pennants and two World Series wins.

Greenberg will perhaps always be remembered as the greatest Jewish ballplayer of all time. He was inducted in the Hall of Fame in 1956.

Justin-Freaking-Credible! Verlander Dominates the Red Sox

John Parent — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 16:43:24 -0400

Detroit 2, Boston 0 (box)

I said in the recap of Wednesday’s game that Josh Beckett was the front runner for the Cy Young award. Apparently, that made Justin Verlander a tad upset. With the Tigers staring at a four game sweep in Boston, Verlander took the hill and frankly speaking, flat-out owned the Red Sox. As good as Beckett was yesterday, today Verlander was better.

Verlander (13-6) lasted eight innings, limiting the Red Sox to just four hits. He walked one while fanning eight. He also twice hit Chris Woodward with pitches, but even after the fracas on Tuesday, no violence ensued.

The Tigers’ offense did just enough to get Verlander his 13th win of the season, as Ryan Raburn knocked in both runs with a single in the fourth and a home run in the seventh, both against Boston starter Clay Buchholz. Buchholz (1-3) probably deserved a better fate, as he lasted seven innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on five hits and three walks.

Cheers for

Verlander—He did what aces are supposed to do. He was able to shut down the Sox in dominating fashion. This win ends a string of two un-Verlander like starts and sends the Tigers home on a winning note.
Raburn—Starting in place of Brandon Inge, Raburn made a sparkling defensive play at third base. He accounted for both Tigers runs with his bat. Very good day for a guy that has struggled mightily since the All-Star break.
Fernando Rodney—With Verlander out of the game after his 120-pitch performance, Rodney worked the ninth to earn his 24th save in 25 tries. On the way, he sat down the Sox in order and kept the joy going for this win.

Jeers to

Jason Bay—The Red Sox left fielder had three home runs over the first three games of this series, but he couldn’t solve Verlander today. Bay gets the “Silver Sombrero” with his three strikeout performance, as Verlander routinely blew fastballs past him all afternoon.
The bats (minus Raburn)—All Tigers not named Ryan Raburn collected a total of three hits in this game. Not a good effort at all, but a win is a win.

What’s on tap

The Tigers head home to take on the Royals tomorrow night. The series will complete a string on 17 games in 17 days for the Tigers, a span that has seen them go 7-7 through the first 14 games. Detroit will send Jarrod Washburn (8-7, 3.12 ERA) to the hill to battle Kansas City’s Zack Greinke (11-7, 2.43 ERA). How cool is it to get to see Beckett pitch one day, Verlander the next, and Greinke the day after? Here you go fans—you'll be able to judge the Cy Young race for yourselves.

Tigers Need Magglio Now, 2010 Worries Can Wait

John Parent — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 12:32:57 -0400

There have been great cries throughout the Tiger-sphere for much of the past two months. There have been those, myself included, that take a peek at next year’s payroll obligations and cringe at the thought of paying another $15 million to an under-performing, aging right fielder who can no longer hit or defend as he once did.

Those were cries that called out for the release of Magglio Ordonez, if just for the good of the franchise going forward. The Tigers could not afford to allow Ordonez to reach the magic numbers that would trigger a 2010 option that would pay him $18 million. They had to release him and pay only the $3 million buyout.

Two things are true as of today; the Tigers are sitting atop the AL Central, in the thick of a pennant race, and Magglio Ordonez is rounding into form.

In August of 1987, the Tigers were in another race. Then members of the AL East, Detroit battled the Toronto Blue Jays for the divisional crown. They made a trade for an aging veteran pitcher named Doyle Alexander and dealt away some guy named John Smoltz. The Tigers won the division, thanks in great part to Alexander and his perfect 9-0 record for the Tigers. Smoltz, meanwhile brought 20 years of service to the Atlanta Braves on his way to the Hall of Fame. Bad trade? Not at all.

I am of the opinion that you never know when you will get back to another pennant race, and such moves that are designed to win now are the right ones to make. Such is now the case with Magglio Ordonez.

It’s true the Tigers are already on the hook for more than $84 million in player salary for 2010. That figure does not include significant raises to be given through arbitration to guys like Justin Verlander, Edwin Jackson, and Joel Zumaya. That figure does not account for finding replacements for the expiring contracts of Placido Polanco, Brandon Lyon, Adam Everett, and Fernando Rodney.

The 2010 Tigers will pay Dontrelle Willis and Jeremy Bonderman $12 million each, they will pay Nate Robertson another $10 million. In a struggling Detroit economy, it’s difficult to imagine that next year’s Tigers will compare favorably to the 2009 edition, just in terms of talent. Having an extra $15 million would go a long way toward keep the Tigers in contention for next season.

But next season is the unknown. Injuries can happen at any time to any player, regardless of stature. The Tigers could well revert to 2008 form and no amount of money would be able to stop that. But 2009 is the here and now, and these Tigers have played well enough to stay in first place for 110 days in a row. Simply put, this team has no choice but make its push now, and hope for the best next year. That means, not only keeping Ordonez, but playing him.

Prior to the All-Star break, Magglio hit just .260. His strikeout rates were up, his walks down, his extra base power had completely vanished. His OPS was a measly .673. In the 18 games he has played since then, Magglio is hitting a robust .323 while carrying an OPS of .901. The same man who had just 10 first-half doubles and only four home runs has posted nine extra-base hits since the break.

Pitching has carried the Tigers into the pennant chase, but as many noted at the trade deadline, the team needs more production from the lineup to stay there. Placido Ploanco has picked up some slack. In just two games, it appears as if Alex Avila will help both with his bat, and in leading to a fresher, hopefully more productive Gerald Laird. But this team will only go as far as Carlos Guillen and Magglio Ordonez can take them. Vesting option be damned, Magglio is earning his playing time of late. If the Tigers plan to make it to October, Magglio will have to lead the way.

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Detroit Tigers Look To Bury Minnesota Twins In Central Race

John Parent — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 15:24:19 -0400

The American League Central race will likely go down to the wire. Detroit leads a three team pack headed into play this weekend, two games up on the White Sox, and 4.5 games ahead of the Twins.

Minnesota, coming off a rough series in Cleveland where they lost two of three (sound familiar?), travel to Detroit in what could be a pivotal series in the divisional standings. A series sweep and they would trail the Tigers by just 1.5 games, while getting swept would leave Minnesota 7.5 games back, and likely playing for next year.

A sweep for the Tigers is unlikely, however. Minnesota has taken six of the eight meetings between the two clubs this year, though only two of those games have come in Detroit. These games coming at the CoPa will give Detroit an edge. Detroit has won 19 of their past 25 home games, while the Twins have struggled mightily away from the Metrodome.

A drastic change from the success of previous years, the Twins feature five players who have clubbed at least 14 home runs this season. The middle of their lineup is every bit as good as any in the league.

Joe Mauer is threatening to win his third batting title, and has added a power stroke this year, already surpassing his previous career high in home runs. Justin Morneau continues to be the best hitter that no one mentions, he enters play tonight with 28 bombs and a league leading 89 RBI.

But if you think the rest of the order can’t beat you, you are in for a rude surprise. Jason Kubel has had a breakout year, providing a third left-handed power threat, while Micheal Cuddyer has rebounded from an injury filled 2008. Throw in Joe Crede, who simply owns the Tigers, and you can expect a difficult task facing the Tigers’ staff.

The Tigers will send Armando Galarraga to the mound tonight. The right-hander surrendered a career high eight earned runs in an 11-1 loss in Cleveland on Sunday. Bouncing back against the Twins would be a bit of a shock, as Galarraga has never beaten Minnesota, going 0-5 in six career starts, with a 5.68 ERA.

He may be catching the Twins at the right time, however, as Minnesota has dropped five of the last six, scoring just 15 runs in the five losses. During the same span, the Twins have allowed 45 runs.

Minnesota will attempt to curb that trend with rookie right-hander Anthony Swarzak. Swarzak has never faced the Tigers and managed just three innings in his last start, a loss to the Angels.

Glen Perkins and Scott Baker would round out the weekend rotation, unless the Twins decide to throw newly acquired Carl Pavano in at some point. It would behoove them to do so, as Pavano has stymied the Tigers three times already this season, all while pitching for the Indians.

The Tigers will send Justin Verlander to the mound for Saturday’s contest, and Jarrod Washburn will make his second start for the Tigers on Sunday. Verlander fanned 13 Twins in his only start against them this season, while Washburn is 1-0 in two starts against Minnesota. He has allowed just one run over 14 innings while striking out 10.

The Tigers appear to have the edge from a pitching standpoint, but the Twins lineup is dangerous, and they always play well against Detroit. If the starting pitching holds up, left-handers Bobby Seay and Fu-Te Ni will be relied upon to neutralize the left-handed thunder from Kubel, Mauer, and Morneau. Those matchups could be the key to a series win for either team.

Detroit Tigers' Roster Shakeup Continues

John Parent — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 08:36:07 -0400

After last night’s debacle against the Baltimore Orioles, the Detroit Tigers announced that catcher Dusty Ryan and outfielder Wilkin Ramirez were optioned to Toledo. To replace them, the Tigers promoted RHP Chris Lambert and catcher Alex Avila to the big leagues.

My gut reaction to these moves is that I don’t like them, not one bit.

I’m okay with the Lambert recall, he has pitched well enough in Toledo, and after Casey Fien was sent down, the team was going to add another arm soon, so Lambert is a solid choice. I’d rather see him than Freddy Dolsi or Eddie Bonine again, anyway.

Calling up Avila, however, just doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. Clearly, Jim Leyland has been unwilling to give Ryan much of a chance to play, and Gerald Laird simply cannot continue to catch every day. But unless Leyland is planning to play Avila a lot more than he played Ryan, all this does is retard the growth of Avila’s career.

I would much rather see a veteran backup catcher brought in (Johnny Estrada and Paul LoDuca are both free agents) to sit on the bench than to see the organization’s top catching prospect rotting away when he could be getting regular playing time in the minors.

If the plan is for Avila to start the majority of the games at catcher going forward, I like the move a lot less. Avila is simply not ready to handle the regular catching duties in the MLB.

Even if his offense is an upgrade to Laird, the biggest reason the Tigers are in first place is the pitching staff, and a huge chunk of that success has to be credited to the game calling of Laird.

If you cut into his role, you had better have someone else who can step in and do the same type of job with the pitchers. I doubt Avila, just two seasons into his career, with no experience above Double-A ball, is ready to do that.

Then there is Ramirez, the Tigers top hitting prospect. He has been red-hot in Triple-A recently, and has now been recalled twice by the Tigers, only to be sent back down after one game (both times).

Ramirez provides really the only chance the Tigers have to possibly improve the poor corner outfield offense and stay within the system. I had hoped this was the time they were going to give him a real chance to show what he can do at the major league level. Wrong again.

I don’t know if Ramirez is ready to help the big league club, no one knows that until he gets a real chance to show us. I do know that the division is winnable, but the Tigers are going to have to score more runs than they have been in order to win the division.

Waiting for the veteran hitters to start hitting has proven unsuccessful, but it looks like the strategy is to keep running Magglio Ordonez out there and hope he gets five years younger, all the while, watching his plate appearances creep toward the magic number.

Leyland has said that the Tigers won’t win if Ordonez and Carlos Guillen don’t produce like they have in the past, and he is bound and determined to prove that.

Big Moves in the AL Central Race

John Parent — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 10:02:03 -0400

The Detroit Tigers began the month of July with a four game lead in the division. They end the month having seen that lead dwindle to just one-and-a-half games. The Tigers suffered their first losing month of the season, going just 10-14. The Tigers managed to top the American League in team ERA during July, so the hitting has been the main culprit.

So what did the Tigers do at the deadline? Why, they added a pitcher of course. Don’t get me wrong; actually I’m a fan of the move.

Even by Jim Leyland’s view point, the league was going to figure out Luke French before long. Leyland has mentioned on numerous occasions that he felt French was getting by simply because opponents hadn’t seen him before.

In addition, French was half of the rookie tandem, with Rick Porcello, that was hamstrung by pitch counts, forcing Leyland to use his bullpen more frequently that when the other three starters pitched.

Jarrod Washburn will bring no such restrictions. The former Mariner comes to Detroit with a 106-106 career record, but has been outstanding this season. His 2.64 ERA ranks second in the league, just ahead of new teammate Edwin Jackson.

He has the lowest WHIP in the league and has allowed the fewest hits per nine innings of any AL starter. There are those that will point to his benefiting from a fine Seattle defense, but the defense behind him in Detroit will be very good as well.

Washburn’s contract expires at the end of the season, but the move to deal French, along with minor league prospect Mauricio Robles, in exchange for even two months of Washburn’s services is a very solid, “win-now” trade. Currently Washburn projects as a Type-B free agent after the season, so if the Tigers elect to offer arbitration and Washburn signs elsewhere, the Tigers will pick up a compensation draft choice.

The Tigers were able to add a very good veteran pitcher without touching any of the clubs top-tier prospects. All the names that were tossed around in the days leading up to the deadline are still in the system. No, Washburn is not Roy Halladay, and he’s not Cliff Lee, but French and Robles are not Porcello, Casey Crosby, Scott Sizemore, Wilkin Ramirez, or Ryan Perry, either.

While the team failed to address the glaring offensive holes prior to the non-waiver deadline, there is still time for moves to be made. Most baseball people expect a very busy month of August, as players pass through trade waivers and deals can be completed. As more teams drop from contention, more hitters will become available, and demand for those hitter will drop.

So if you had your heart set on Adam Dunn, relax, Dunn was dealt in August last year, and his price went down as of 4:01 pm Jul 31.

The wild card in the Tigers push for the playoffs will undoubtedly be Carlos Guillen. The former All-Star shortstop is still only able to DH and only able to hit from the left side thanks to a bad right shoulder. If he can get back to playing the outfield soon, the Tigers can expand their search for a bat to include DH type hitters, not just corner outfielders.

The better Guillen feels, the more likely a deal for a player like Dunn becomes. If Dunn has to play in the outfield, his value is diminished by his poor defensive skills. If Guillen cannot return to the field, the team is left to look at hitters that can also play quality defense, which will be a much shorter list.

The Twins sit just two games behind the Tigers and they added shortstop Orlando Cabrera to solidify their team. Cabrera had a great July, hitting .377 during the month.

The Twins, like the Tigers, seemed to have addressed the wrong problem, however. The Minnesota pitching staff has been no where near as good as was expected, and they lost Kevin Slowey for the rest of the year. Cabrera makes them better, but he won’t solve the pitching issues.

What he does do, perhaps more importantly, is quiet the complaints form Twins’ stars Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau. Both players had been openly lobbying the front office to make a move this year, with Mauer even hinting that the lack of action would make it less likely he would want to stay in Minnesota once his contract runs out.

The White Sox also made a big splash at the deadline. Just one-and-a-half games back of Detroit, the Sox traded almost every good young arm they had to San Diego in exchange for Jake Peavy. The move sounds fantastic, until you consider two things; Peavy is owed $56 million through 2012, the White Sox are paying all of that, and he’s still hurt.

Last word on Peavy’s torn ankle tendon was that it was no better than 50/50 he would pitch at any point this year. In the meantime, the Sox lose Clayton Richard, who had been slotted in as the fifth starter and had performed very well in that role as of late.

While adding Peavy may prove to be shrewd move in future years, today the White Sox don’t look like a better team. Add in his salary, and the Sox will have to be creative in order to keep the aging core of that club together beyond this year.

Breaking News: Tigers Acquire Jarrod Washburn

John Parent — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 12:07:24 -0400

For all the fretting and hand-wringing Tigers’ fans have been doing over the past several days, waiting, hoping, in fact begging GM Dave Dombrowski to make a move to improve this club, he has responded.

According to MLB Trade Rumors, the Tigers struck a deal today to bring in left hander Jarrod Washburn from Seattle. The Mariners will receive rookie left hander Luke French and minor leaguer Mauricio Robles.

Washburn, who is 8-6 with a 2.64 ERA, will be a free agent following the season. He is represented by Scott Boras, so any thought of him signing an extension is probably just wishful thinking. He does profile as a Type-B free agent, so the Tigers would get a draft pick in compensation if they offer him arbitration and he signs elsewhere.

Considering the Yankees were rumored to be in hot pursuit of Washburn, this serves as a major coup for Dombrowski as the Tigers look to pad their roster while trying to build on a two-game divisional lead.

As far as the major league roster is concerned, it’s a simple swap of left handed starters, but in terms of expected production, Washburn can be expected to be a guy that the Tigers can trust to eat innings. This in turn will help the bullpen, preventing overuse.

French goes to Seattle just months after he made his major league debut against the Mariners. He brings in a 1-2 record, but a very respectable 3.38 ERA.

Lloyd McClendon Not the Problem with Tigers' Offense

John Parent — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 11:26:17 -0400

In case you missed it, Kurt Menshing over at Mack Avenue Tigers examined the thought that many (myself included) have had that Tigers hitting coach Lloyd McClendon should be fired.

When you take a peek at the poor offensive statistics that the Tigers have posted as a team this year, it would easy to have the knee-jerk reaction to want to see Legendary Lloyd given his walking papers.

Maybe a new voice is needed to wake these guys up.

But when Kurt looked deeper at the numbers of a couple of players, what he found was that McClendon's role in the steady decline of the Tigers’ offense was minimal at best.

McClendon took over as the hitting coach in 2007, after serving as bench coach the year prior. 2007 saw career years from Magglio Ordonez, Curtis Granderson, and Placido Polanco and the Tigers finished second in the AL in runs scored at 5.87 per game.

Even a quick glace at the three players listed above this season will show a significant drop in production. Remember though, Ordonez and Polanco are both on the wrong side of their primes, as they were back in ‘07, so a decreased level of performance should certainly have been expected.

As for Granderson, what we may be seeing is his evolution as a hitter.

Two seasons ago, Granderson was still a gap hitter focused on line drives and using his speed to gain extra bases. This season, Granderson has hit home runs (and fly balls) at a significantly higher rate, thus leading to a lower batting average and OBP.

Kurt also points out that his BABIP is down from years past, which will happen as fly ball rates increase, but also illustrates that bad luck is playing a role.

Granderson was certainly never a prototypical lead-off hitter, and he appears more suited now to hit in the middle of the order. But again, that is something that had always been projected to happen as he matured.

If the Tigers have been guilty of anything as it pertains to offense this season, it was that they came into this season relying too much on older hitters to stay healthy and maintain production levels they had in the past. In the post-steroid era, it is much more likely that older players will see drops in production earlier and more severely than they had over the past 12 to 15 years.

The days of outfielders staying healthy and continuing to mash into their late 30s are behind us.

As was the case with the overwhelming majority of players prior to the steroid explosion of the '90s, hitters today will see sharp declines at an earlier age. Ordonez, now 35, has been victimized by declining bat speed that really began last season, but has taken a sharp down-turn this year.

There is very little chance he will be able to regain that bat speed at any point as he gets older.

Similarly, Polanco and Carlos Guillen have a lot of games on their bodies, and while much of Polanco’s struggles can be attributed to bad luck, Guillen’s injuries are something that are likely to continue.

Again, when you enter the season relying on 30-somethings to carry the load, you run the very real risk of having to then rely on Triple-A players to pick up slack that they, frankly, are not yet capable of doing.

As far as McClendon is concerned, he has done a phenomenal job getting Brandon Inge to finally take instruction, and the results have been there. Inge has been one of the very few bright spots on this team, and without his production, the Tigers would very likely be looking up from third place.

Through his tutelage, McClendon has also succeeded in getting solid production from hitters like Clete Thomas and Ryan Raburn, and Adam Everett, while still not a major threat with the bat, is having his best offensive season is recent memory.

The problem with this team’s offense is absolutely not the hitting coach, it is in fact two-fold.

The lack of quality players still in their prime is the biggest issue. Granderson is evolving into the hitter he likely will be throughout the next decade, and Miguel Cabrera continues to assault opposing pitchers, but nearly everyone else is either on the down side of their careers or not yet to their prime.

Coupled with that, the Tigers rank near the bottom in the AL with a .327 OBP and also have grounded into more double plays than any other AL club. So when they do get runners on base, frequently those runners are eliminated via the double play.

The Tigers have actually stranded fewer runners than any AL team. So part of the issues lie simply in hitters being too aggressive and not waiting for a quality pitch to hit.

It is difficult to teach pitch recognition, and that has been an organization's problem for decades.

Tigers By The Numbers: Rudy York

John Parent — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 12:13:59 -0400

This is the fourth installment of Tigers By The Numbers. If you missed any of the first three, follow these links to profiles of Lou Whitaker, Charlie Gehringer, and Alan Trammell.

This profile has been by far my most difficult to choose. There have been many Tigers to don the No. 4, and frankly speaking, I was doing my best to avoid spotlighting one particular player, though he was, at one time, one of my favorites.

Alas, the names of Adam Everett, Dale Alexander, Charlie Maxwell, Mike Laga, and Tony Phillips just didn’t excite the imagination.

Goose Goslin would have maybe been the choice, but he played a relatively short time in Detroit. Aurelio Rodriguez also gets a mention for his fine defensive skills at third base.

Then of course there was Bobby Higginson. He was the player I was trying to avoid, maybe just because I couldn’t bring myself to re-live the final few, painfully brutal, years of his career, or maybe just his era of Tigers teams as a whole.

Instead of all those, our No.4 is Rudy York.

York was a 20-year-old catcher when he made his big league debut in 1934 with the Tigers. He played in only three games that season, getting one hit in six at bats. Blocked at catcher by Hall of Famer Mickey Cochrane, he wouldn’t make another appearance in the major leagues until 1937.

While he was waiting for his next chance with the Tigers, he won back-to-back MVP awards in the minor leagues, winning the Texas League honor in 1935, and again the next year in the American Association.

Upon his return arrival in Detroit in 1937, York announced his presence with authority. In only 375 at bats that season, he belted an amazing 35 home runs with 103 RBI, and posted an astounding OPS of 1.026.

Included in that total was an 18 home run month of August. A feat that stood as the record for any single month until June of 2000, when Sammy Sosa hit 20 bombs. York also knocked in 49 runs in that amazing month.

York made his first all-star team in 1938, following up his remarkable rookie campaign with an equally impressive sophomore season. He finished that year with 33 HR 127 RBI and a .995 OPS. He was primarily a catcher, but was never regarded for his defense. He also played third base and first base during his first three seasons.

York’s poor defense coupled with his fantastic bat prompted the team to shift him to first base full-time starting in 1940, moving Hall of Famer Hank Greenberg to the outfield to make room.

Over the next six seasons, York provided the foundation for a group of very good Tigers teams, capped off with a World Championship in 1945.

York played nine full seasons with the Tigers before being traded to the Boston Red Sox in 1946 in exchange for shortstop Eddie Lake. During his time in Detroit, York amassed 239 home runs and 936 RBI.

He was the only major leaguer to hit at least 15 home runs in each of the 1945 and 1946 seasons, when he hit 18 and 17 respectively. This was partially due to the poor materials used to make the baseballs, and the loss of several top hitters to war efforts during that time.

York was a seven-time All-Star, five of those coming with the Tigers. He lead the American League in homers and RBI in 1943, when he finished third in the MVP voting.

His 239 home runs are the seventh highest total in team history, he ranks 11th in RBI, and his slugging average of .503 places him fourth, behind only Greenberg, Harry Heilmann, and Ty Cobb.

York’s career ended after the 1948 season. He later became a coach with the Red Sox and managed several seasons in the minor leagues.

For more information on York’s astounding August of 1937, see an article found here. It is written by Lee Panas of Tiger Tales and gives an in-depth look at one of the more remarkable feats in major league history.

Would a Trade Spell The End For Magglio Ordonez?

John Parent — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 14:42:40 -0400

As we continue to barrel towards the non-waiver trade deadline, many, many fine folks have offered their opinions on what players might fill the Tigers’ most pressing needs.

There have been those that have trumpeted the names of Adam Dunn, Luke Scott, Aubrey Huff, Chad Tracy and Josh Willingham. Countless words have been used to express the desire for Roy Halladay, Marco Scutaro and Heath Bell.

Recently, J. Ellet Lambie of Eye of the Tigers broke down some trade possibilities, as well as some minor leaguers you could expect to find leaving the Tigers’ organization if any such deal were completed.

What I haven’t seen anywhere to this point is who exactly would be rumored to be leaving the major league roster if such a trade were to happen.

As far as I can tell, there isn’t a whole lot on the big league club that is both expendable to the Tigers and valued by other clubs. There are also precious few names that have minor league options left, at least as far as the position players are concerned.

If the Tigers are to compete for a division title this season, the fact is the offense must improve. As we stand now almost 100 games into this marathon, you have to expect that what you have is what you are going to have from this current group.

You simply cannot hold your breath waiting for Magglio Ordonez to find his 2007 form, or for Placido Polanco or Curtis Granderson to start hitting .300. If there will be significant improvement, it will be from someone not currently on the roster.

So let’s say that the Tigers are able to swing a deal for a hitter. Most of the names that have been discussed would be dealt for prospects. In other words, it would be unlikely that Josh Willingham would come to Detroit in exchange for Marcus Thames. Likely, a deal would be for two or three prospects, maybe a pitcher that’s currently on the roster, but not likely a position player.

That leads to my question.

If this club could get a Willingham from Washington for (example just for sake of discussion) say, Zach Miner, Cale Iorg, and some guy pitching at West Michigan, the 25-man roster would not technically have to be adjusted per se. Miner out, Willingham in and you still have 25 guys. But the composition of that roster would change, as you would have one less pitcher and one extra hitter.

It is unlikely that the Tigers would want to proceed in this fashion, so a hitter would have to be moved off the roster to make room for another arm.

So who goes?

Unless the team includes Ryan Raburn or Clete Thomas in a deal for a hitter, those two are really the only options not named Magglio Ordonez to head out. Frankly speaking, both Thomas and Raburn have done more for this year’s club than Magglio has.

What it comes to is this: If the Tigers do pull the trigger on a deal for a bat, would that spell the final doom for Magglio’s Tigers career?

My head says that Raburn or Thomas would be optioned out instead, but I wouldn’t be at all shocked if Magglio were cut loose in such a scenario. For the sake of winning this year, as well as keeping an eye on next season, it would be my hope that Ordonez would draw the short straw instead.

10 Most Pivotal Deadline Deals in Tigers History

John Parent — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 13:21:59 -0400

So you want to make a deadline trade? Ready to empty the farm system for a veteran slugger? You need an all-star right hander? They are all for sale for the right price. Whether your club is a buyer or a seller this year, the deals you make (or don't make) will impact the team for years to come. The Tigers have many many mid-season moves over the years from both sides. Sometimes the players you give up turn out to be Hall of Famers, sometimes they never make it to the Majors. But If you want to win now, the cost could be the future of your franchise. Lets take a look at some of the most pivotal deadline deals in Tigers history. (Note: I have included some deals that occured after the non-waiver deadline, but before the August 31st deadline as well. Prior to 1986, the non-waiver deadline was June 15.) Some of those that missed the cut: 1988- The Tigers traded minor league catcher Chris Hoiles to Baltimore for a year and a hald of an aging Fred Lynn, who hit .237 while with the Tigers. Hoiles played 10 seasons with the Orioles and was a consistent power threat. 1999- Detroit sent journeyman pitcher Bryce Florie to Boston for minor league lefty Mike Maroth. Florie is most famous for getting hit in the face with a line drive while pitching for the Red Sox. Maroth lost 21 games in 2003, but was an effective pitcher until arm problems developed three seasons later. 1998- The Tigers acquired Geronimo Berroa from the Indians for pitcher Tim Worrell and minor league outfielder Dave Roberts. Berroa hit all of one home run in Detroit, while Roberts went on to a lengthy career as a very good lead off hitter and centerfielder, something the Tigers took nearly another decade to find.

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Cabrera, Ordonez Lead Tigers to Win

John Parent — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 08:31:49 -0400

It certainly had the feeling of one of those games. Too many times to count over the past several seasons the Detroit Tigers had raced out to six or seven run leads in the first couple of innings, only to sit idly by while the opponent began to chip away and eventually overtake the Tigers and win the game.

Last night had all the makings of a similar ending.

The recipe for disaster began with the rough performance from Tigers starter Rick Porcello (9-4). The rookie, making his first start since July 5, was certainly anything but sharp in his five innings versus Seattle last night. By the time he had recorded nine outs, the M’s already had posted seven hits.

A solo home run from former Tiger Jack Hannahan in the fourth, followed by a Ryan Langerhans two-run shot in the fifth, took a comfortable Tigers lead and whittled it down to just three. A second Hannahan blast in the sixth, off Tigers lefty Fu Te Ni, and a lead that once stood at 8-1, was now 8-6.

Miguel Cabrera sent a line drive over the fence in left to push the lead back to three in the bottom of the sixth, an insurance run that would come up big because in the next half-inning, Wladimir Balentien hammered a Bobby Seay offering for a solo shot of his own to bring the game back to 9-7.

It was up to Fernando Rodney to protect the lead in the ninth. Rodney had not pitched in more than a week and had not blown a save all year. He hit Russell Branyan to lead off the inning, then allowed an infield single to Jose Lopez.

An Ichiro Suzuki ground out moved both runners into scoring position with only one out, but Rodney finally put out the Mariners’ fire by striking out Balentien and getting Langerhans to fly out to right to end the game.

Of course, the only good thing about almost losing a big lead is that the Tigers had a big lead. Before Garrett Olson (3-4) had retired a single hitter, he trailed 5-1. Hits from Curtis Granderson and Placido Polanco started the game, followed by back-to-back walks to Caberera and Marcus Thames to load the bases.

That’s when Olson threw a 2-2 curveball to Magglio Ordonez, who found the seats for his first grand slam in seven years.

Could this be the start of something big? Cabrera reached base five times and ran his hitting streak to 16 games, with a home run, a double, and a single. Polanco added a homer and a double, and Thames just missed homering twice, and also took two walks. If those three can get locked in the offense could take off.

Of course, facing Felix Hernandez and Jarrod Washburn the next two games could put them right back into a funk just as easily.

Other Notes

The Tigers’ lead is back up to two games over the White Sox thanks to Chicago’s loss to Tampa Bay last night...No announcement has been made as to whom the Tigers will start in the second game of Friday’s double header with Chicago, Justin Verlander will start game one.

It was mentioned that that starter will come from the minor leagues...DH Carlos Guillen will begin the second leg of his rehab assignment in Toledo today and could be back in the Tigers’ lineup by early next week...Is it just me, or does Langerhans look an awful lot like former Tiger Karim Garcia? If you put a goatee on Langerhans, they could be brothers.

Game 91 Preview: Porcello Returns to Mound

John Parent — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 09:38:33 -0400

Rookie right hander Rick Porcello will take to the mound for the first time since July 5 tonight as the Tigers head home to Comerica Park to host the Mariners. Porcello (8-4) will be opposed by lefty Garrett Olson (3-3).

Porcello earned his first major league victory against Seattle back on April 19, allowing just one run on five hits over seven innings at Safeco Field.

It will be the third career start against the Tigers for Olson. He is 0-1 with an ERA of 11.74 over 7.2 innings in his first two outings, both coming with the Orioles.

After dropping all three games in New York over the weekend, while holding the Yanks to just nine runs, the Tigers' lead in the Central is down to just one game over the hated White Sox. With Chicago coming to town this weekend, the series against Seattle takes on huge implications.

The Tigers simply must find a way to win two of the next three games, to do that they will need strong efforts from the back of the rotation. More than that, they will need some hitting.

The Mariners will start Felix Hernandez and Jarrod Washburn in the final two games of the series, opposing Armando Galarraga and Luke French. So winning tonight’s opener could be paramount if the Tigers plan to win the series.

Detroit hitters went cold in New York, especially with men on base. 1-26 with RISP just isn’t going to win you many games. Of the five runs they scored over the past three games, three came on solo home runs.

Perhaps the return home will help the Tigers bats. As a unit, the Tigers hit over 30 points higher at home and carry an .809 OPS at the CoPa. They also score better than 5.6 runs per game at home, versus less than four runs per game on the road.

The Tigers have the second best home record in all of baseball at 27-13, and they will need that trend to continue to hold off rivals Chicago and Minnesota in an ever-tightening divisional race. The White Sox will continue their series with Tampa Bay while the Twins are at Oakland.

Midsummer Classic is Just That

John Parent — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 09:12:00 -0400

The All-Star game has always been one of my favorite parts of the season. Actually, the pre-game festivities really more than anything else. I never, ever miss the pregame introductions. Seeing all the great players together on one field is really what makes this game matter, not the home-field advantage that is attached to the outcome.

Don't misunderstand, when the 2002 game was called a tie, I felt robbed. I had invested something like five hours into watching that game, just to have all the drama of an extra-inning affair with no available reserves jerked out from under me.

So anything that prevents another travesty like that one from recurring is surely welcomed. That being said, the game itself has always kind of been secondary.

The 1999 game in Boston still holds the highest place in my heart. Several sites since have tried to create the magic that happened before the that game, but have fallen well short. I don't know the back-story, nor do I need to know it.

All I know is that watching all those incredible players huddling around Ted Williams, just trying to get a chance to talk to him or shake his hand was amazing.

That scene allowed us, the fans, to see the other side of our favorite players. It was so cool to see guys like Mark McGwire, Ken Griffey, Jr., and Jeff Bagwell showing so much respect and adoration for a player of Williams' stature.

I have written that the fans should not be allowed to vote, that the players and coaches should be selecting the All-Star teams, perhaps I was wrong. This game is about the fans.

It's about the players past and present being fans themselves. It's about feel-good stories like Brandon Inge and Josh Hamilton. It's about recognizing the greatness of Derek Jeter and Roy Halladay. And it's also about shining a light on unfamiliar names like Nelson Cruz and Aaron Hill.

Watching the interview with Hamilton last night, who had been my poster boy for taking the fan vote away, clued me in maybe more than anything else. Hamilton's numbers this year certainly don't make any kind of a case fore his inclusion on this year's team.

He has missed significant time, and not played all that well when he was on the field, but after listening to Hamilton I realized that I wanted to see him play. I recall his performance last year, I know his story. If this guy isn't an All-Star, I don't know who is.

The All-Star game is about seeing all the great players at once, on the same field. Their greatness can be defined in many different ways. You can have players having breakout years whose numbers put them in the game more than their name.

You can have players whose name puts them in the game, because even if they are having down years, they are the stars that drive the sport.

You can even have players who are past their prime, who are included simply to recognize the great careers they have amassed. All of that is okay. In fact that is exactly why the game is important, much more so than deciding home-field for the World Series.

For a few nights in the middle of the season, you can put away the standings, you can stop fretting over your under-performing right fielder, you can stop worrying about which name might next be revealed as a steroid user.

For a few nights you can enjoy the greatness of the players on those rosters and remember that this is a game, in its purest form, with its greatest players all on one field.

Brandon Inge Wins Final Vote, Earns First All-Star Appearance

John Parent — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 10:52:59 -0400

Major League Baseball announced yesterday that Brandon Inge of the Tigers and Shane Victorino of the Phillies were the winners of the All-Star game final vote and will be added to the rosters.

Inge will join Curtis Granderson, Justin Verlander, and Edwin Jackson in representing Detroit in this year's game. It will be the first selection for Inge, Granderson, and Jackson while Verlander is making his second appearance.

The final vote began Sunday afternoon and ended Thursday at 4pm. During that span, Inge amassed over 11 million votes, edging out the Rangers' Ian Kinsler.

Inge's total set a new record for most votes received by an AL player. Victorino also set an overall record with over 15 million votes.

The outpouring of public support for Inge was amazing. I have to wonder if any other Tiger would have received the same type of support. I'd like to say yes, but would everyone have pushed as hard as they did if it were say, Gerald Laird or Placido Polanco that were on the final ballot? Or even Miguel Cabrera for that matter?

Inge's place in the hearts of Tiger fans is one that no other player has.

No current Tiger has been here longer. He was there in 2003, as a light hitting catcher on the worst team in AL history. He lost his job when Pudge Rodriguez came aboard and learned to play all over the field in order to stay in the big leagues.

After becoming a mainstay at third base for a couple years, his poor hitting combined with the trade for Cabrera cost him yet another everyday job. Once again, he found himself back behind the plate when last season ended.

The offensive prowess he has shown this year has been the biggest surprise of this season for Detroit, and maybe in all of baseball. His flashy defense keeps him on the national highlight reels nearly every night, and has helped vault these Tigers to first place.

It's just kind of funny, with all the effort that seemingly everyone put into getting Inge to the All-Star game; I guess it sort of feels like we're all going. That "we" were the ones who won this thing. I've never seen anything like this before.

All the bloggers pushed every reader to vote while the Tigers threw in a contest for voters offering an on-field experience. They even struck a deal with the Phillies to market Inge and Victorino together. There were tales of people voting 500-600 times each, which helped in effectively crashing MLB.com.

It really is overwhelming.

It was a total group effort from the team to the fans to put Inge on that plane to St. Louis. The Little Inge that Could, did. Our Special Little Guy is an All-Star. We did that for him.

After all he has given to us over the course of his career, it was the least we could do.

I've never been more proud to be a Tigers fan.

Tigers by the Numbers: Alan Trammell

John Parent — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 09:59:00 -0400

Tigers by the Numbers is my weekly(ish) feature where I will profile a current or former Tiger who wore each uniform number. This project was inspired by my quest to find jerseys for each of my sons corresponding to their age. This being the third installment, today we present No. 3.

To recap, in case you have missed the first two, Lou Whitaker opened my list, followed by Charlie Gehringer. Though I did consider throwing you all a curve and using Gary Sutherland (2B 1974-1976) here, I will instead offer perhaps the most predictable entry to this list, Alan Trammell.

No. 3 Alan Trammell played shortstop for 20 seasons for the Detroit Tigers. He teamed with second baseman Lou Whitaker to form the longest running double-play combination in major league history.

Drafted in the second round of the 1976 amateur draft, Trammell made a quick rise through the minors, playing only 196 games prior to his debut. He was named the MVP of the Southern League in 1977.

On Sept. 9, 1977 Detroit fans got their first glimpse of what they would watch for the next 19 seasons. In the second game of a doubleheader against Boston, Trammell played shortstop, alongside Whitaker, who also made his debut in that game. Trammell batted ninth and went 2-for-3 while scoring a run.

In 1978, Trammell took over as the everyday shortstop for the Tigers and finished fourth in Rookie of the Year voting, ironically, behind Whitaker, who won the award. Two seasons later, Trammell was selected to his first All-Star game; he hit .300 for the first time and won his first gold glove.

As the young Tigers continued to improve in the early 80s, so did Trammell. Following a disappointing 1982 season, he was named the Comeback Player of the Year in 1983, when he hit .319 with an .856 OPS.

The 1984 season came in with a bang as the Tigers raced out to a 35-5 record to start the year. By the time the dust had settled in October, the Tigers had won the World Series over the San Diego Padres. Although most will recall Kirk Gibson's home runs, it was Trammell who took home the series MVP, as he posted a .450 average with two home runs and six RBI.

The next time Trammell played in the postseason would be his last. In 1987, the Tigers battled the Toronto Blue Jays to the final day of the season before earning the divisional crown. Trammell had his best season that year, finishing second to Toronto's George Bell for the league MVP, he batted .343 with a career high 28 home runs and 105 RBI on the season.

Unfortunately, Trammell's successes did not carry over to the playoffs, as he had just a .488 OPS as the Tigers were bounced by the Minnesota Twins in the ALCS.

Injuries began to take their toll on Trammell in the early 1990s, costing him much of the 1991 and almost all of the 1992 seasons. During that time, a young infielder named Travis Fryman took over at short. When Trammell finally returned to full-time duty, his job was in jeopardy.

Beginning with the 1993 season, Trammell never again played more than 63 games in one season at shortstop. Over his final four years, he saw action at third base, all three outfield spots, and even played 11 games at second following the retirement of Whitaker.

By the time Trammell hung up the spikes in 1996, only Ty Cobb and Al Kaline had played more seasons in the Olde English D. But, perhaps no one was more beloved.

Seven years after his playing days ended, Trammell returned to Detroit as the team's manager. The organization was in the midst of an overhaul, and bringing back Trammell, along with adding Kirk Gibson and Lance Parrish to the coaching staff, was in part designed to bring fans to the games.

In his first year, the Tigers were historically bad, finishing with a 43-119 record, the worst season in American League history. Although the team improved dramatically over the next season and a half, a poor finish to the 2005 season lead to speculation that Trammell had lost his team. He was fired one day after the final game of that year.

Trammell has yet to receive much in the way of support for his Hall of Fame candidacy, with his highest totals coming this year, at just 18 percent of the vote. By all rights, however, he had a Hall of Fame career.

His 2,365 career hits places him seventh on the all-time Tiger hit list; it would be the ninth highest total for a shortstop in the Hall of Fame. His 185 home runs would place him fourth among Hall of Famers, and his 1003 RBI would be ninth.

Trammell was a six time All-Star. He won three Gold Gloves and four Silver Slugger awards. He hit better than .300 seven times and finished in the MVP voting seven times, three times in the top 10.

Luke French, Detroit Tigers Outduel Greinke and the Royals, 3-1

John Parent — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 07:29:00 -0400

And so, with the mighty Tigers staring squarely at losing a home series to the lowly Royals and facing perhaps the greatest hurler in the game, Zack Greinke, Detroit brought forth their secret weapon: The Tickler.

The Tickler—or Luke French for those who are unfamiliar—left-handedness reigned down over the Royals bats, rendering them useless against his merciless arsenal of pitches, and the Tigers staved off the Royals in a 3-1 victory.

Or something like that, anyway.

After handing over the first game of the series, Detroit battled to even after an 8-5 win in Game Two. There was little hope entering last night's affair, however, as the Royals were trotting out Cy Young—I mean—Zack Greinke, to battle Detroit. In two games versus Detroit this year, Greinke had offered two complete games while allowing a total of just two runs, with just one earned.

Tigers manager Jim Leyland put together a solid game plan against the Kansas City ace. An early hit-and-run paid dividends in the first, which was followed by a Clete Thomas two-out RBI single to plate the Tigers second run of the opening frame. One inning later, another lefty role player, Josh Anderson, doubled and later scored on a shallow sacrifice fly by Ramon Santiago.

That was all the offense the Tigers would get, and all that Luke French would need. The left-hander—making just his second career start—didn't allow a run until an Alberto Callaspo home run in the seventh, and the bullpen shut down the Royals thereafter.

French did allow three doubles in the game, all to Billy Butler, who apparently is unfazed and unimpressed by the daunting power of the Tickler. The evening concluded with a perfect ninth inning from Fernando Rodney, who earned his 19th save of the season, preserving the first major league win for French.

A couple of things here.

First, Luke French has been quite impressive so far. His stuff isn't overpowering, but he has good command and keeps the ball off the sweet part of the bat quite well.

He just looks like he belongs here, on a big league mound. I don't expect he'll carry a sub-three ERA all season, but I could see him as a better than .500 pitcher with an ERA around 4.00, which would be very serviceable, and exactly what the Tigers need.

Secondly, if there is one player I covet more than any other that would realistically be available, it's Alberto Callaspo. He's young, he's a switch hitter, he's fast, plays solid defense, and he can rake. From what I've seen around the league, I think he's in the upper group of second basemen in all of baseball right now, and he's going to get better.

If there was a move to be made this offseason, I would hope the Tigers would at least try to get Callaspo from the Royals before handing the second base job to someone else, including Polanco.

Tigers-Royals: Tigers' Bullpen Implodes, Royals Win 4-3

John Parent — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 13:27:00 -0400

Armando Galarraga announced his presence with authority last night. Unfortunately, so did Joel Zumaya.

With Detroit clinging to a 2-1 lead entering the eighth inning, Joel Zumaya was summoned to protect the game. After getting ahead of Miguel Olivo with two breaking balls, catcher Gerald Laird called back-to-back fastballs, the second of which was lined into the outfield for a single.

Two batters later, following a walk to David DeJesus, Willie Bloomquist hammered a ball to deep right center, plating both base runners and giving the Royals the lead.

Zumaya's refusal to feature his very good breaking ball continues to baffle me. I know he throws 100 mph, but his curveball is tremendous.

I understand that he may be a bit gun shy after the home run he gave up to Micah Hoffpauir on a change-up, but this is just silly. He needs to learn how and when to use his off-speed pitches if he's going to ever become a reliable reliever.

After the Tigers tied the game in the bottom of the eighth, Fernando Rodney came on to do what he does in non-save situations, and promptly served up the game on a hanging change-up to Mike Jacobs.

Of course, the offense scored just three runs in this game, again. With a bit more help, this is a game they could have won, and should have. While Gil Meche was struggling, walking five and allowing 10 baserunners in his 5.1 innings, Detroit consistently left men on base. The missed opportunities would come back to bite them, as is so often the case.

Galarraga threw the ball better than he has perhaps all season. He baffled the Royals hitters time and time again with excellent command of his fastball and his slider. Over his seven frames, he allowed only five hits and one walk, while fanning seven. The lone run he allowed was a solo homer by Bloomquist.

Galarraga has faced much scrutiny over the past two months. After beginning the season 3-0 with a minuscule 1.85 ERA over his first four starts, he fell flat on his face over the next two months, dropping seven straight decisions. During that span, he frequently yielded runs early in games, and was prone to the long ball.

Slowly the worm began to turn three starts ago against the Cubs. In that June 25 contest, Galarraga earned his first win since April by limiting the Cubs to four runs over six innings, not brilliant, but a good effort given his previous struggles.

Five days later, he won again. At Oakland, he yielded only two hits, but walked six, in his 6.1 innings. He allowed only one run to the A's.

Last night however, was the culmination of the work Galarraga and pitching coach Rick Knapp have put in. Last night he looked like one of the top pitchers in the league, just the same way he looked in April. If he can continue to pitch the way he did last night, Detroit will have one fewer hole to fill.

Conversely, if Zumaya continues his recent struggles, the Tigers will have to fill a hole they weren't planning to.

For Tigers, It's Time To Move On Without Magglio

John Parent — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 12:51:42 -0400

Magglio Ordonez provided easily the best baseball experience in the past 24 years for Detroit Tigers' fans. The walk-off home run he hit to win the 2006 ALCS and propel the Tigers into the World Series set off a love fest in Comerica Park. It brought tears to the eyes of any fan that saw it.

In 2005, he signed a mega-deal to play for the Tigers, when no one wanted to play here, and when no one wanted to pay him.

Ordonez was coming off an experimental knee surgery. One that he had to have performed in Germany, because no American doctor would do it, while the Tigers were just one season removed from the worst record in American League history.

Sadly, the whirlwind romance between Maggs and the Tigers appears to be nearing its end.

Just two years removed from his batting title in 2007, Ordonez has fallen flat. In 2007, he hit .363 with a league leading 54 doubles and an OPS of 1.029. But the numbers declined last season and then the bottom fell out this year.

Entering play today, Magglio is hitting a mere .260, the lowest of his career. He is carrying an OPS of only .663, again the lowest of his career. Ordonez has managed only three home runs and nine doubles in 246 at bats.

The former extra-base hit machine is now only able to loop soft singles to right, no longer driving the ball to the gaps as he did so often before.

There are other alarming numbers as well. Ordonez has grounded into 13 double plays already this year. His defense in right field has been well below league average, and his strikeouts are up, fanning in 16 percent of his at bats, easily the highest rate of his career.

Perhaps the most alarming number, however, is 18. As in the $18 million Magglio is set to earn next season if he reaches a certain games played milestones this year.

The Tigers simply cannot afford to allow his option to vest.

When the contract with Ordonez was signed prior to the 2005 season, Detroit knew they would have to overpay to acquire the superstar outfielder, and overpay they did.

To this point, Ordonez has been worth every penny he has received. But the "outs" that were written into the deal regarding the vesting options for 2010 and 2011 were put there to protect the team from having to overpay for an aging veteran, whose health or production might not warrant that kind of money.

When Ordonez was removed from the lineup for six games last month, his agent, Scott Boras, publicly basted the Tigers for the move. It was Boras' contention that Ordonez performance did not warrant the perceived benching.

He stated that the replacements Detroit had used were not an upgrade to Ordonez. He later also said that his comments had nothing to do with next season's option on Ordonez's contract. I suspect that Boras was wrong on all accounts.

Lets' start with the contract. The Tigers have already committed to over $84 million in player salaries for next season, not including the $18 million that Ordonez could earn.

Of that total, $47.5 million is committed to DH Carlos Guillen, and pitchers Nate Robertson, Dontrelle Willis, and Jeremy Bonderman. Considering what the four players listed above have contributed to this year's team (not much), there is little reason to suspect the Tigers will get favorable returns on any of those deals.

You also have to account for significant raises to be given to players in arbitration years. Justin Verlander, Edwin Jackson, Bobby Seay, and Joel Zumaya all figure to earn much more next year than they have this season. Add in the fact that closer Fernando Rodney will be a free agent, along with second baseman Placido Polanco and shortstop Adam Everett, and you have to expect that money will be spent to fill those holes as well.

But if Ordonez is better than the other options to play right field, I suspect the money wouldn't matter as much. Let's see if Mr. Boras was right about Magglio being the Tigers' best option.

We will look at this season's numbers, because now three months into the season, you have to expect that this is the player you have, and can no longer hope a player will revert to his track record.

Ordonez's line is ghastly. .260/.330/.333/.663 is not even good for a catcher. It's down right bad for a corner outfielder. Factor in his defense and lack of speed and you have a liability in the lineup.

Detroit has used two players frequently in the outfield that would be suitable replacements for Ordonez; Clete Thomas, and Ryan Raburn.

Thomas, currently in AAA Toledo, saw a great deal of playing time when he was up earlier this year. His major league numbers show an overall upgrade to Ordonez.

Thomas had 114 AB's and posted a .237/.315/.412/.727 line this year. While those numbers do not necessarily suggest a huge improvement over Ordonez by themselves, they are better numbers.

Thomas has also hit four home runs and driven in 17 runs this season. He has above average speed, and plays much better defense than Ordonez as well. By contrast, Magglio has just three home runs and 24 RBI in his 248 at bats.

Raburn has seen the bulk of his playing time lately, and has taken advantage of his chance. In 98 at bats this year, Raburn has a line of .265/.351/.480/.831. He has played spotty defense in the outfield, but no worse than that of Ordonez. Raburn has five home runs and 19 RBI thus far, and like Thomas, provides more speed than Ordonez.

It is Raburn's offensive numbers that suggest the biggest reason to remove Ordonez from the lineup, and the biggest reason to exclude that part of Boras' argument.

As the calendar has turned to July, the Tigers remain in first place. That lead seems tenuous at best with the offense struggling to consistently put up runs. Detroit has scored three runs or fewer in more than 45 percent of its games. (hat tip: Eye of the Tigers)

The Tigers will explore the trade market to try to augment the lack of overall production. The possible return of Carlos Guillen later this month could help, but only if he can regain some of his old form and drive the ball with consistency.

The biggest move the team can make to improve however, is to release Magglio Ordonez. His lack of production this season is a burden that some teams could bear, but not this team, and not with his contract.

If this were a younger Ordonez, with a smaller contract, perhaps the team could wait him out, and hope he returns to form. But he's not younger, and he's not less expensive.

The looming payday that Ordonez will receive if he is allowed to continue to play for Detroit could cripple the franchise financially next season more so than the other bad deals detailed above. More so because it can be avoided.

If Ordonez was performing at his usual levels, his contract would be worth the price and his contributions would help the team in their push for the playoffs. But we are nearly half way through the season, and he is not performing.

His performance has been a hindrance more than a help. In fact, it's not unfair to say that the Tigers have been a first-place team this year in spite of playing Ordonez as much as they have.

Although Ordonez has offered tremendous moments in years gone by, baseball is about winning. Releasing Ordonez now can only help this team win, both this year and beyond.

This article is also featured on Always A Tiger

Tigers Still Need Bat, Hinske Dealt to Yankees

John Parent — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:34:48 -0400

As the All-Star break draws near, many teams around the league are looking for upgrades. Your Motor City Kitties are no exception. The Tigers' need for a another bat has been well chronicled, and many names have been tossed around the blogosphere.

Unfortunately, the Tigers failed to pounce on the one name that I would have liked it to target: Eric Hinske.

Today, the Pirates made its annual trade with the Yankees, sending Hinske to New York along with cash for two minor leaguers. You may recall that over the past several seasons, the Pirates have made several deals with the Yankees, sending the team Craig Wilson, Damaso Marte, Shawn Chacon and Xavier Nady. The Pirates always seem to get the short end of such trades.

The Yankees use these players to solidify their push to the playoffs, while the Pirates continue to flounder until the next season, when they repeat the process. It has been said that the definition of insanity is to repeat your actions and expect different results. I believe the Pirates' executives to be insane.

So what's left for Detroit? Guys like Aubrey Huff and Luke Scott are likely still available, as are Adam Dunn and Nick Johnson, but all will have a bigger price tag than Hinske.

Perhaps, the Tigers' answer will come from within, as Carlos Guillen is progressing nicely from his shoulder injury that has cost him most of the season. If he can regain any of the form at the plate he has displayed over the past several seasons, he would be a welcome addition to the Tigers' inconsistent attack.

The simple facts are that if the Tigers plan to make it to October, the offense needs a boost. If players like Guillen and Magglio Ordonez can find the fountain of youth, they should have enough to get there. If not—and I would not put a ton of faith in that happening—the team must look outside the organization for help.

A versatile left handed hitter that's capable of hitting the long ball would be ideal. With Hinske's name scratched from the shopping list, I will throw my support behind Chad Tracy of the Diamondbacks.

Tracy has spent the last month on the disabled list, but when healthy, has shown good pop throughout his career, twice hitting at least 20 home runs in a season. He can play first base and third base. He played in the outfield regularly prior to 2006, so he could probably get by there again.

Tracy could be activated by this weekend and while it's true that he has been injury-prone over the past three seasons, the Tigers wouldn't need him to play every day. He could be used in a platoon situation to help offset the losses of production the team was counting on from Ordonez and Guillen.

Given his injury history and the D-Backs' roster full of young talent, Arizona shouldn't ask for a ton in return. Tracy has a $7 million option for next season with a buyout of $1 million, so he should fit into the Tigers' plans financially as well.

Tigers by the Numbers: Charlie Gehringer

John Parent — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 19:02:00 -0400

Today will be the second installment of Tigers by the Numbers, where I will profile a current or former player that wore each uniform number. If you missed the first edition, my profile on uniform No. 1, Lou Whitaker, can be found here.

Today we will look at No. 2. Charlie Gehringer shared many similarities with Whitaker: they both played second base, they both hit left handed, and they both earned their way onto this list. Without further ado....

No.2 Charlie Gehringer played second base for the Detroit Tigers from 1924 through 1942.

Born in Fowlerville, Michigan, Gehringer had been playing on his town's team that played at the local fairgrounds when a hunting buddy of former Tigers' outfielder Bobby Veach spotted him. The friend encouraged Veach to talk to his former club about signing the youngster.

Although he played in just 13 games combined in 1924 and 1925, By 1926, Gehringer was a fixture at second base for manager Ty Cobb's Tigers.

Starting with the 1927 season, Gehringer would post batting averages of better than .330 13 times over the next 14 years. The lone exception came in 1932, when Gehringer, by his own admission, began swinging for the fences too often. He finished that season with an average of .298, but he did hit 19 home runs, one off his career best.

Gehringer was known for his quiet, often reserved demeanor. Mickey Cochrane, who managed Gehringer's Tigers to the 1935 World Championship said of him: "He says 'Hello' on opening day and 'Goodbye' on closing day. In between he hits .350."

A member of the American League squad for baseball's first ever All-Star Game, Gehringer went 0-for-3 in that 1933 game, but he would be an All-Star for each of the first six games in total and finish his All-Star career at .500 (10-20).

Gehringer had seven seasons where he drove in better than 100 runs. He lead the league in stolen bases and triples in 1929. He also bested the AL in doubles twice, 1929 and 1936, and runs scored twice, 1929 and 1934.

Gehringer posted seasons of more than 200 hits seven times. Another former manager, Del Baker once said of him, "I honestly believe Charlie could spot a pitcher two strikes all season, and still hit within 15 points of his regular average."

Finishing in the top-ten in MVP voting eight times, Gehringer won the award in 1937. That same year he took home his first and only batting title, hitting a career best .371.

Over his 19-year career, Gehringer finished with 2839 hits, 1774 runs, 146 triples, and 1427 RBI. His career line of .320/.404/.480 shows the dual threat at the plate he was. In addition to his extra-base prowess, Gehringer added 1186 walks over his career versus just 372 strikeouts.

On the all-time Tigers list, Gehringer ranks third in hits, second in doubles, third in triples, and third in walks. He also ranks third in total bases and fourth in RBI.

Charlie Gehringer was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1949, his No. 2 was officially retired by the Tigers on June 12, 1983.

Brandon Inge: All-Star On and Off the Field

John Parent — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 10:46:00 -0400

If you happened to be watching the telecast of the Tigers/Cubs game Tuesday night, either on WGN or FSN Detroit, you probably saw that Brandon Inge was sporting a new tattoo on his right forearm.

That was no tattoo.

It was an autograph signed by Tommy Schomaker, an eight-year-old boy, who is recovering from heart-transplant surgery at Mott Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Inge, who regularly visits and donates to the hospital, had made a trip there a few weeks ago, and Tommy was excited about the possibility of meeting him. Tommy has battled heart conditions since birth, but doctors were able to find a new heart for him.

He was rushed into surgery just about the time Inge was making his visit. Tommy was unable to meet with Inge at that time.

Upon hearing of Tommy's disappointment, Inge made a return trip to the hospital, just to meet Tommy. He spent time in Tommy's room, signing several autographs and talking with the young boy.

Then Inge asked if he could have an autograph of his own. He had Tommy sign his name on Inge's arm, in a spot that he wore no arm bands, so it could be seen on television.

In the game that night, Inge hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the seventh inning. Although he didn't promise a home run to Tommy, the air-time that autograph got brought joy to Tommy and his family.

In July of last year, my wife and I were told that our son, Leyton, would be born with gastroschisis, a condition that affects the closing of the abdominal wall. He would face surgery shortly after he was born. Leyton was born on October 9, and was taken by ambulance to Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.

Leyton had surgery one week later, and spent a total of 24 days in the hospital. I know first-hand how much the people at Children's Hospitals all over mean to the patients and the families they care for.

Leyton is now eight months old and his condition has been corrected. He should face no more difficulties than any other child going forward. The wonderful staff at Children's made that possible.

Many athletes, like Inge, donate their time and money to good causes. Like Inge, most do so behind the scenes. In a time when we spend so much energy discussion the evils of professional athletes, it's good to recognize those who give back.

Tommy Schomaker is progressing well in his recovery. His surgery was made possible in part due to monetary donations from large companies and extraordinary people like Inge.

He will continue his progress with a big smile on his face, and that is largely because Brandon Inge donated his time.