Tiger Geist

Detroit seems to be scoring a few more runs then fans have come to expect lately, and they’ve even shown some heart coming from behind.  Tonight’s loss was hard to watch, but I guess i didn’t have a ton of expectations going into Fenway.  Most of the thoughts on the team going into the series will be covered in a This Week In Detroit Tigers Baseball podcast that Joe Dexter, J Ellet & I did during the middle of the game; it should be up soon.

Quick game thoughts:

• Magglio is hitting very well.  I assume its a combination of getting his timing down, adjusting his stance, not worrying about his wife… etc etc.  I will have to say that he’s been pressing all year, and you would assume he’d try too hard (and have it further affect his offense) trying to get his option to vest.  Instead, he’s been tearing it up (over .300 since the all-star break).
• I guess these are the trade offs you make with playing Marcus Thames in the outfield; he misses the first hit of the game (that later comes around to score on a home run) but gives you two runs batted in.
• You sometimes wonder if Jim Leyland sometimes shrugs his shoulders, looks at his bench and says “oh fuck it, warm Miner up”.
• Gerald Laird is hitting .291 in August.  Yes its still early in August… but here’s to hoping for more offense from the catchers as the workload distribution is changed.

The game was on ESPN, which quickly touted their movie “The Lost Son of Havana” to be shown after the game (at least on the west coast).  It caught my eye and I decided to watch the first few minutes of it, and I ended up watching the entire two hours.  It was a wonderfully done documentary on Luis Tiant’s return to Cuba 46 years after he was pseudo-exiled in 1961.  Totally recommended, and a great compliment to The Duke of Havana (both about Cuban baseball, but at different eras).  I loved the part where Luis walked into this city square where all the locals were talking (or arguing) baseball.  One of the camera crew members said “who is the greatest Cuban pitcher to ever play in the major leagues?”.  Near-violent arguments started… “Jose Contreras!”…. “El Duque!”.. “Livan Hernandez”.  Finally, one man said “Luis Tiant was the best”.  Of course, no one recognized Luis standing 10 feet away, and he was quickly introduced to the crowd.  I’m sure ESPN will re-run it soon; an amazing story and an amazing career for Tiant, who I was frankly unfamiliar with.

Odd weekend series with minnesota, with victories Friday & Sunday (10-8, 8-7) and a loss Saturday (11-0).  Detroit seems to be either hitting really well or can’t buy a run.  Hopefully they can take their second straight series victory momentum into Boston, where the Red Sox will limp home after a 4 game sweep by the Yankees.  There is a lot of talk about Boston being a ’sleeping giant’, as they may unify over the Ortiz media circus.

Thoughts from the weekend:

• Guillen is hitting so well, I don’t know why they’re going to worry about him playing in the field.  Sounds like his shoulder is still a problem throwing, and he can’t bat right handed.  Leyland also stated that he is hoping he can use Guillen as a backup third baseman.  I know Scott Sizemore appears to be the heir apparent at second for Detroit  in 2010, but I’m not ruling out an audition at second base for Guillen in the spring.  Hopefully he just needs the offseason to rest his always-ailing body, but I don’t get a warm and fuzzy feeling with Guillen in the outfield yet.
• Jarrod Washburn is doing a very good anti-Doyle Alexander impression.
• Armando Galarraga is the new whipping boy.  Not much to say about it.  I’d be surprised if Zach Miner makes a surprise start, mainly since I don’t see Galarraga being very effective out of the bullpen.  I believe he does have a minor league option remaining.
• It doesn’t appear that the 2009 Chris Lambert era is as sexy as the 2009 Alex Avila era.
• Is there a chance that Jim Leyland flops Fernando Rodney and Brandon Lyon in September?  I think Lyon’s quietly pitching himself into a multi-year deal with some team this winter.
• Do you think that Tom Gage and Lynn Henning drink a few miller high life’s at night, and talk about what they’re going to write about?  “Hey, i’m going to say this”, followed by the other saying “yeah, yeah, thats great, I’ll, uh, just write exactly the opposite!”  Go team.
• Henning: “I’d be surprised if Jim Leyland starts Armando Galarraga in Wednesday’s game at Fenway Park.”
• Gage: “… Galarraga’s next start doesn’t appear to be in doubt.”
• Moving on from the Detroit News bland point/counterpoint, the Detroit bloggers have been producing some damn fine audio lately.  Really impressed with The Knee Jerks last week (love Big Al’s writing, and i’ve been doing some Tiger podcasting with Greg Eno over the last few months, and am always impressed with his work), and also This Week In Detroit Tigers Baseball.  Joe Dexter has a nice interview with Mike Maroth (Joe told me that Mike couldn’t have been nicer in helping set it all up), and the content is getting better and better every episode.  I hope to record a future TWIDTB episode early this week, and hopefully I don’t derail the improving quality.
• Wanted to pass along an interesting idea from Bruce Jenkins of the San Francisco Chronicle.  He talks about how fans are against dealing prospects, when in reality most Tiger fans couldn’t pick Mauricio Robles out of a two person lineup.  Jenkins’ idea:  Play a three game (or even six game with double headers) series between your prospects and another team’s, a “get to know your team’s prospects in action”.  Do it during the all-star break.  I would definitely be in favor — Detroit vs Cleveland seems like a pretty easy matchup.