Posts Tagged ‘Miguel Cabrera’
 |
Disappointments AboundAugust 7th, 2008
|
Could it be new All-Star shortstop Edgar Renteria? What about legendary slugger Gary Sheffield or former 22-game winner Dontrelle Willis? Nate Robertson and Kenny Rogers posted impressive years in 2006, but bullpen stalwarts Todd Jones and Fernando Rodney are certainly strong candidates…
If you’re still oblivious to the topic du jour, or maybe more appropriately, de la saison, who most greatly deserves the designation “biggest disappointment” in Detroit this year? Here are your candidates: Read more
 |
Luck? No, It’s Physics.June 5th, 2008
|
I bet none of those guys - Newton, Einstein, etc - knew they were talkin’ ’bout baseball when they came up with all their theories. But oh! Look how nicely it all fits:
First Law of Motion: Once something is in motion, it usually stays that way until something really messes up its course.
Baseball is a game of patterns, and streaks. Seattle knows all about streaks, since it basically is the streakiest team in baseball. But it’s true, in essence, of every team. It’s also a game of contagion. Errors or mistakes (that may not be counted officially as errors, though you KNOW your players could’ve done better on that ground ball…) often come in pairs or series. The Angels are definitely a team of contagion, where most of their runs come in packages of two or three, and if one strikes out, the next two outs tend to follow shortly.
As far as streaks go, the Angels just finally ended a 13-game streak in which they only earned four or less runs per game. It took beating a division rival team stuck 13.5 games back to snap the streak. Luckily for the Angels, they were also 9-4 in that period, so it very little affected them, thanks to the great pitching as of late. They also had a streak of about a week where nearly every game ended in a walk-off. First, it was Anderson’s walk-off walk. Talk about the most exciting ending to a baseball game… zZzZz… and then it was Rivera’s walk-off single, Junior’s walk-off single, and my personal favorite, Kendrick’s getting beaned and Maicer’s subsequent walk-off single. Really, that’s all Kendrick is good for – getting beaned. Sure, it makes for very exciting baseball – to win by a run, or to win in the bottom of the ninth with two out and the bases loaded. But after a week of the same thing every game, it starts getting to my stress levels. STOP IT ALREADY!
|
From Disabled List to Third in the Order?April 27th, 2008
|
February 4, Curtis Granderson signs a five-year contract extension with Detroit.
March 22, Phillies pitcher Travis Blackley breaks a bone in Granderson’s hand.
April 23, Granderson bats 2-4, scoring 3 runs in his season debut.
After missing twenty-one games with a broken finger, Curtis Granderson has picked up right where he left off. Showing the extra base power he displayed in his breakout 2007 season, he has already racked up four extra base hits in as many games. A year removed from hitting 38 doubles, 23 triples, 23 home runs, and stealing 26 bases, Granderson is back on track hitting at a .353 clip. A stabilizing force, he is burning up the gaps at Comerica Park with his glove and bat.
With Granderson back setting the table, lead-off fill-in’s Clete Thomas and Ivan Rodriguez will return to their old roles. Thomas, not expected to see major league action this April, was shifted to Triple-A Toledo where he will pick up regular at-bats. Pudge will revert to the lower half of the order, bringing his .302 lifetime batting average with him. After a rough offensive start, the Tigers can finally trot out all their expected opening day lineup.
|
An Offense Enlightened, A Rotation in OrbitApril 25th, 2008
|
After hitting the snooze button the first two weeks of the season, Detroit bats have vaulted out of hibernation. The Tigers completed their second sweep of the year on Thursday, dismantling Texas 37-10 in a three-game series at Comerica Park. Whether by long ball or bases on balls, the Tigers scored their most runs in three consecutive games since putting up 47 against Baltimore in August 1993.
Expected to light up the scoreboard this season, Jim Leyland’s crew tormented Texas pitching in front of the home fans. Despite injuries to designated hitter Gary Sheffield and second baseman Placido Polanco, the Tigers pounded out 35 hits and took 20 walks in the series. Centerfielder Curtis Granderson finally re-joined the starting lineup after missing the first twenty-one games. Detroit’s spark plug batted lead-off, provided a home run, three runs batted in, and three walks. Read more
|
Flip-Flop Go the Angels, and No, I Don’t Mean the Monkey on the Screen.April 14th, 2008
|
I think I’ve made mention before that the beginning of this season has already thrown me for a loop, and I find it quite strange. Every year, at least for the last several years, the Angels have been known for their quality pitching. This extends from the starting rotation, to the bullpen, to their talent-laden prospects in their minor league farm system. I would have never thought that the Angels would ever need to trade for pitching, but that trade was made this winter.
When the trade for Jon Garland at the expense of Orlando Cabrera had first been announced, I was beside myself. Cabrera was one of my favorite starting position players; I admired not only his talent on the field (I knew he’d be the Gold Glove long beforehand – and I don’t care what the East Coast biased media, or anyone over there for that matter, says, he’s WAY better than Jeter defensively), but his team leadership, his spokesman’s ability, and his ability to get everyone on the team mentally prepared for the game. He had the most hits of anyone on the team in 2007 and did a great job hitting second in the order. To come off a career year and be traded for a pitcher, was to me, very disheartening. And to have looked at Garland’s numbers prior to the move – not appealing – made the move seem even worse. I am not the only fan, or even the only analyst, to have said so on numerous occasions. I just gripe about it the most.
|
Detroit’s Attendance Not SufferingApril 13th, 2008
|
Fan support in Detroit has not dwindled despite the Tigers’ rocky beginning. Expected to sellout a majority of the 81-game home schedule, Detroit drew a Comerica Park record 44,934 fans on Opening Day. The new mark was made possible with the addition of 778 seats over the winter, including a new section of bleachers atop the Pepsi Porch in right field.
Perhaps more impressive than Opening Day, 37,032 fans showed up for the second game of the season, the highest attendance ever for a second game in Detroit. Excitement for the team peaked in the off-season after the acquisitions of Miguel Cabrera, Dontrelle Willis, and Edgar Renteria. Increased media exposure and ticket demands provoked a surge in sales—at least 26,000 tickets have already been sold for each contest. More than half of the 41,782-seat stadium will be accounted for all season long.
With so many tickets secured, it will take much more than a bad couple weeks to scare people away from the park. Neither a series sweep at the hands of the long-suffering Kansas City franchise, nor temperatures in the forties and fifties turned Tiger fans away last week. Detroit hosted the Chicago White Sox in their second series and welcomed over 34,000 people to each game. The middle match hosted 42,381 fans, the second largest crowd of 2008.
A total of 222,197 have already walked through the gates of Comerica Park, compared to 180,903 at the same point last year. Experts believe, as long as the Tigers stay competitive, they will beat last year’s season attendance record of 3,047,124.
So far, Detroit fans have proven that no matter how ugly the reality, they will continue to show up. At 2-9, Comerica Park is sure to be packed when the Tigers return home April 14 against the Twins. April tickets are the hardest sell of any month, but Detroit has drawn at least 32,000 for each game to date.
Perhaps backup turnstiles should be ordered for the summer.
|
Stop! Don’t Panic YetApril 10th, 2008
|
The Detroit Tigers upped their payroll from $95 million in 2007 to $138 million this season, making theirs the second highest in baseball. This splurging has so far proven ineffective.
After adding coveted veterans Miguel Cabrera, Dontrelle Willis, and Edgar Renteria to the books, owner Mike Ilitch has been blessed with just one victory in Detroit’s first eight games.
Is it time to panic? Conventional wisdom says no.
If the 2007 season showed us anything, it is that slow starts do not set the tone of a season. Just ask the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, and Colorado Rockies. They all rose from the ashes to reach the playoffs last year. The less-than-impressive Phillies began 3-10 and stormed past the free-falling Mets in September. The flailing Cubs once dropped six in a row, falling to 22-31 but pulled themselves up by season’s end to capture the NL Central. And the Rockies completed one of the most impressive runs of our generation, streaking all the way to a World Series after compiling an 18-27 record. Read more
 |
Red Sox, Daisuke Tame Tigers in Home OpenerApril 10th, 2008
|
Amazing what an off day and the Fenway crowd can do. Not to mention some new jewelry.
After a lost weekend in Toronto that saw the Red Sox drop three straight to the Blue Jays in rather lethargic fashion (outscored 23-9 while committing six errors), the hometown nine from Boston, at long last, returned to the Fens for yet another opener—only this time, their own.
Yes, it took a while; 19-days and some 16,000 air miles spread across the Far East, West Coast, and the provinces of Central Canada to be exact. But with the tiring three-nation tour now behind them, the Red Sox undoubtedly enjoyed the ceremonious Back Bay homecoming.
Packed with stars and filled with pre-game festivities, the dual-purpose opener officially rang in the new baseball season for the Red Sox while also capping off the World Series run from a year ago with the raising of another championship flag and the handing out of diamond- and ruby-studded rings.
Yet it was another prized jewel on display April 8 that ended up stealing the show as Daisuke Matsuzaka delivered a shutout performance against the still winless Detroit Tigers in his 2008 Fenway debut, earning his second victory on the young season.
|
The Problem with PredictionsApril 7th, 2008
|
Every year, sports broadcasters - regardless of the sport - begin that particular sports’ season with a series of predictions. These predictions range from individual player predictions and team predictions, to division predictions and even championship predictions… you name it, they’re already thinking about it before the professionals step on the court/field/rink/whatever. Broadcasters will proceed to tell you, with their own mystic authority, exactly who will be good, who will be a waste of paycheck, who will be undervalued, who will be the best and worst teams, and which two teams will make the championships. Many will even go as far as to claim, with conviction and fervor, that they “know” who is going to win it this year (despite the team’s hundred year dry spell, and all those curses that have been plaguing that team for decades). Read more
|
Unprecedented Off-Season Leads to Increased Optimism in DetroitApril 3rd, 2008
|
Baseball season is back in Detroit, and accompanying the new Tiger players are higher expectations. Long before barbecue grills flare up around Comerica Park and streets swell with excited fans, two major trades over the off-season sent shock waves across baseball, adding three former All-Stars to Detroit’s roster.
On October 29, 2007, the Tigers acquired Edgar Renteria for prospects Jair Jurrjens and Gorkys Hernandez. This move stunned most fans, as many held Jurrjens in high regard. Unfortunately, Guillen’s poor defense at shortstop, his weakening knees, and the wealth of talented pitchers in the farm system made Jurrjens expendable. With the expected shift of Guillen over to first base to replace Sean Casey, the Tigers pursued and came away with a former Gold Glove winner in Renteria. He has quite an impressive resume over his 12-year career, including two Gold Gloves, five All-Star selections, and a walk-off single in game seven of the 1997 World Series. Reunited with Jim Leyland, the manager of the 1997 Florida Marlins, he adds another bat to the Tigers highly potent line-up. Tiger fans commended GM Dave Dombrowski for his quickness to address the glaring need at shortstop; his acquisition solidified the left side of the Tigers infield.
Thirty-six days after adding Renteria, the most significant move of the off-season stunned baseball fans nationwide, catapulting the Tigers into national spotlight. On December 4, Dombrowski sent six minor leaguers to the Florida Marlins in exchange for superstar Miguel Cabrera and former All-Star Dontrelle Willis. Detroit became an instant force to be reckoned with. Though this deal shipped several highly-touted prospects out of town, most notably Andrew Miller and Cameron Maybin, it lowered the average age of Detroit starters. Cabrera and Willis, both under the age of 27, are perceived as players who will be productive for many years to come.