Off Day Blues
The bad part of an off day is there is no internal hope that the team might improve their record. The good part, for the 2008 Detroit Tigers, is they can’t get any worse when they don’t play. Maybe its a good time for a day of reflection.
Here are some questions I have (outside of “why do we suck so bad”)
- The players have nothing to play for. Outside of things like “personal pride”.
- Personal performance has no correlation to playing time.
If someone isn’t playing well (say like a Gary Sheffield, who currently has the worst batting average for a position player), they still play. If someone is playing well (say Armando Galarraga, our best pitcher this year) they are in trouble to LOSE THEIR JOB. Let’s rethink these last two sentences: Play poorly, and you keep playing. Play well and you get sent to the bullpen or the minors.
How can we expect the team to care if this is how management is treating playing time? My hope is that this off-day gives management some time to reflect on how they are treating the season. Maybe Mr. Ilitch is too wrapped up in the Red Wings’ recent struggles to realize how the Tigers are being run this year.