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.