Tiger Geist

A nice article about Rick Knapp this morning.  Knapp deserves it, and he should take the praise while he can — all Tiger fans could be calling for his head in two years.  So far, so good.

I didn’t realize Knapp pitched at Virginia Tech in 1982 and 1983; apparently he went to Towson State in 1981 (found in this article).  Quickly, I remembered another Detroit personality who played baseball for the Hokies — Drew Lane.

Over the years I’ve been a huge fan of the Drew and Mike show, and was sad to see it leave the air a few years ago.  When it was announced in late June that Drew was returning to the show, I had no less then 35 people email me the article; one person emailed it twice after ‘forgetting’ he sent it out.  So I know its a big deal in Detroit, and I’m happy for their return.

So, I’ve spent the last three hours researching the rosters of Virginia Tech baseball from the early 80’s to see if there was any possible overlap between the two players.  Know what?  The internet blows for college baseball players pre-1999.  Even sites that list players that were drafted seem to miss Knapp’s name half the time.

Once I uncovered that Knapp and Lane are about two years apart in age (Knapp listed as 47 in the freep article, Lane’s age mentioned in this WXYZ clip – he’s 49), I dug deep into google and Vtech’s digital library to see any matches between their names, any old rosters… nothing.  No pictures at the Vtech digital photo archive under either name, and apparently no team photos (though i could be blocked).  Nothing on Hokie Sports.  I’ve even enlisted a VTech alumni to help dig this up, but I have little faith.  While everyone talks about Drew’s time on the baseball team (and the WXYZ clip flashes pictures), I can’t find any record of it.  Not surprising, since its really hard to find any record of Knapp except that he was actually drafted.

So, there you go… a whole lot of nothing conclusive.  Drew’s been back on the air for about two weeks, and I’m not sure if he’s mentioned anything about knowing Knapp or about any overlap;  I’d love to hear comments if anyone has heard them.  Please fill me in!  Apologies if this has been covered in-depth by anyone else… the internet knows nothing.  Even if they haven’t played together, they must have missed each other by a year or two at most.  This should make for some good radio during the pennant race (even if its nearly impossible for me to listen to due to their early start times).

(More random note:  I live about three blocks from where Ray and Pete used to live, if you remember Drew and Mike’s fascination with their old recordings in the late 90’s.)

The bat’s haven’t exactly woken up yet, but Swingtown relates to the swing in excitement level for the team today vs the feeling after last thursday’s loss.  What a difference a few victories against a division rival (and a few losses by another rival), extending your first place lead, will make to the fanbase.  Detroit is a better team at home and they have a home-slanted schedule for the rest of the year.  This should be a good thing.

Let’s look at other areas that have ’swung’ in Detroit’s favor:

Ryan Perry:  Lights out since his return to Detroit.  His time in Toledo was hit or miss it appears, but two solid (and multiple inning) appearances should make fans breathe easier.  Going from Zumaya’s breakdown and injury to Perry is a surprise.

Fernando Rodney:  Has not completely sucked; been downright effective.  He didn’t screw up his non-save situation (even Jason Beck is twittering about his splits these days)

Starting pitching:  Verlander’s complete game helped, but they’re shortening the games for the bullpen.  Jackson’s Jackson:  Awesome.  Galarraga has been solid, Lucas French continues to surprise.  We’ll see today if Porcello’s issues in his last start were in fact due to rust.

And, of course, Carlos Guillen:  Can’t say enough about him;  having such a big impact in only three games is totally unexpected.  He could drop a goose-egg for the rest of the year, but here’s to being optimistic.

Other discussions:

Moves:  Something about Dave Dombrowski’s recent interview caught my eye;  he talks about how there are 10 relief pitching prospects ready for the majors in the next year or so in the organization (and Billfer tries to count them out).  I don’t know why DD had to mention it at all;  I wonder if any trade that Detroit might be made might involve a reliever?  Maybe he’s trying to ’sell’ the idea of moving a 25-man roster pitcher to the fans without making them think Detroit is in a selling mode?

Most likely to move would be Zach Miner (remember him?  He used to pitch once in a while).  For teams that need pitching and can’t take on payroll (Looking at you, Texas) he’s a cheap option.  There is no secret that Jim Leyland doesn’t seem to like Miner, and his comments about Eddie Bonine may indicate that Leyland thinks Bonine’s ready for a major league role (one that is currently filled by Miner).  I’ve always liked Miner a lot, but my fondness hasn’t seemed to help Zach out much.  I had thoughts that Brandon Lyon would be available, but the back end of the bullpen isn’t something you want to fill with rookies (Perry and now Casey Fien).  Even if Zumaya returns soon, the team needs to protect itself from any further injury.

Lynn Henning:  Two good articles this week that I (mostly) agree with.  First, the Tigers are getting great fan support and are putting on a great show.  He mentions possible more ’staycations’ as a reason for fan support; I think it could also be new fans (the 8-10 year old crowd) that weren’t old enough to enjoy the 2006 season.  Get ‘em while they’re young.  Also, Henning hints at Detroit not wanting to touch the Magglio contract situation during the season.  This is an excellent point:  Whether or not the option is triggered, there will probably be a grievance filed.  If Detroit keeps Magglio on the roster for the rest of the season, the legal action will happen in the off-season, not during the penant race.  Less discussions, less distractions.  Let the legal guys deal with the legal issues, let the ball players play ball.  And let the legal guys deal with it while the ball players are on vacation.

Magical number 15:  66 games remaining; Magglio needs to start in 52 of them to trigger the 2010 option.  This platoon thing might be Detrot’s best move of the year.

Backup Catcher:  J Ellet wrote about Laird’s struggles and the reluctance of Jim Leyland to use Dusty Ryan.  It got me thinking about backup catching as a whole — should rookies be your backup catcher on a playoff team?  Rod Allen mentioned during Friday’s broadcast about how hard it is for a rookie to hit when he only plays once or twice a week; and based on how much Ryan has been used lately (coupled with Laird’s poor batting average) you wonder who Leyland has confidence in.  Last night Leyland showed he has enough confidence in Ryan to pinch-hit Thames for Laird in the bottom of the ninth, allowing Ryan to catch the unpredictable Fernando Rodney in extra innings.  So maybe we have our answer on Leyland’s comfort level with Ryan.

Inge’s knees:  Sounds like he’ll limp through the rest of the season.  My only concern is him over-compensating for his knees and hurting his shoulder, etc.  I don’t know if its enough to reach out and grab a backup third baseman, but in the search for a bat, if Detroit can get a corner outfielder / third baseman, it wouldn’t hurt.  Raburn is a capable backup, but not insurance against a real injury.  Remember that whole “the home run derby doesn’t screw with your swing” argument?  Maybe, with the info on Inge’s knees, that was a bad idea in general?