Back in Cleveland
Neither Brandon Inge nor Carlos Guillen are available today, but they’re expected back soon enough that the Tigers will go short-handed now. Omar Infante and Neifi Perez are starting, and Mike Rabelo and Sean Casey are on the bench. If an injury knocks out another infielder, Pudge will enter at second and Placido Polanco will move to the affected spot.
Here’s the lineup:
- Rodriguez, C
- Polanco, 2B
- Sheffield, DH
- Ordonez, RF
- Thames, 1B
- Monroe, LF
- Infante, 3B
- Perez, SS
- Granderson, CF
Somebody asked why I never cover the Tigers in Tampa Bay. The answer is that very few of the MLB.com beat folks make that trip. It works a little different for MLB.com than a newspaper because we’re not all based out of one city and we don’t have a bunch of staff who can fill in, so at least half of the time off we get comes on road trips. In fact, before last year or two years ago, a lot of visiting MLB.com writers wouldn’t make the Detroit trip, because it usually wasn’t a critical series.
Jason Beck
Jason- thanks for answering my question. I always wondered how they decided that. I can always tell when I start reading the Tigers notes that someone else is writing it because they just don’t seem to know some of the “inside” information that you write about. I enjoy reading your articles on the Tigers because you know the team well. Too bad you have to sit in Detroit while the Tigers are in Florida.
Now if we can just get this team healthy and keep them that way. This would be a tough series with everyone healthy and even tougher now.
Tigers with all of these injuries are in a world of hurt. This is real bad as far as I am concerned. We could leave this series 6 1/2 back. Not good.
GK–ya gotta believe! If we split with the Tribe (forgive the political incorrectness), it is a successful outcome. We can do that with some good outings from our righties.
I think one of the keys to this series will be none other than Jose Mesa. Believe it or not!
Anyone notice that Mike Hessman is leading the league in Homers and RBIs?
As I feared, another poor pitching display. Justin stunk and obviously Mesa stunk. And it doesn’t help when Sheffield gets himself ejected, bad timing. I would like to believe, but it is real hard right now. One of the two games that we had a real shot of winning was tonight. My head hurts, I am going to watch the Pistons now.
Don’t get too hopeful with the Pistons. Every time they need a smart play after a motivating turnaround, Billups or Wallace launch a 3 point brick with no one under the basket. They drive me nuts.
Mesa has got to–he has proven himself and though the Tigers were hoping for the best the truth is they would be better off with Percival….even if Percival doesn’t suit up! Mesa feels like he is working for the other team–kinda like the old slo-pitch days when you had your own teammate pitch to you.
We need a big game tomorrow as we are getting close to a real bad losing streak.
Okay guys, I don’t want everyone walking on eggshells over this ethnic team name thing. My main complaint is against the Redskins and I kind of went off there, to my regret. It just doesn’t seem appropriate especially in the nation’s capital, and I hear it plenty around here. Since the team doesn’t seem to think it offensive, I just assume they are meaning redskin potatos so I call them the Potatos. Sometimes I call them the Rumplestiltskins.
Marty, the name actually came with the team when they moved the franchise from Boston. Maybe they were trying to match names with the Boston Braves, who knows. It goes back a long way to when people didn’t know better. Okay, we should let this one drop.
This pitching has been really bad. Verlander did a pretty good imitation of his own performance at the Jake last summer, when he blew up in the fifth and tried to throw all fastballs. But okay, he’s young yet.
I don’t know what happened with Sheffield. It’s possible the umpire also said something, because Sheff became awfully angry, out of proportion angry.
Byrdak did another real good job. I ask again, and again rhetorically, when are the umpires going to give him the call? He had Hafner struck out sure as shootin’.
At this point, we just need to win a game.
Let me pick it back up a minute. I forgot to say that I have no problem with tribal names being used. I’m a proud Eastern Michigan University Huron, before they changed their name to the Eagles. Okay, dropped again.
Ouch, Cleveland is killing us! The Tigers and Pistons both.
I think I am the one who broached the ethnic name topic, and I would like to say that if there are a substantial number of people of an ethnic group opposing such a name, it should be changed. The name Indians may not be as offensive as Redskins, but the goofy Indian caracture sure is. Even if you get rid of it, the foul oder it leaves behind cannot be removed. I propose they change the name to the Cleveland Fat White Men, as that’s what most of their fans are. BTW I am a fat white man myself…
you know what would be great? if us as americans, would stop being so supersensitive about EVERYTHING. not everything needs or should be politically correct. “indians, redskins, braves” WHO CARES!
besides we paid good money, whiskey, and rifles for that cleveland area when we were settling it
haha……. but yeah seriously, who cares.
oh yeah, i think the ‘devil rays’ might be offensive to the devil, they should change their name too. or maybe hardcore commited christians are offended cuz the word ‘devil’ is in the name….
come on people… this is supposed to be about baseball. how bout not tippetoeing around baseball team names. political correctness, and the fear of ‘offending’ hypersensitive people is becoming the downfall of this great nation.
GO AMERICA &
GO TIGERS
I must admit I turned off the basketball game at the end of the second OT. I actually got bored watching LeBron score. The NBA is just another thing that ain’t what it used to be. At least, to me.
So….what do we have here, Shelton II? Just as Casey begins hitting, he’s benched in favor of Thames. I’m not against the move, but find the timing strangely similar to Shelton’s demotion last summer. What is it with Leyland and firstbasemen?
Actually, I despise looking at the Indians mascot. The grinning Indian. I’m a bonified “get rid of the native american logos” in sports. It’s a no-brainer.
Rich, That’s an intriguing thought about Shelton II. JL maybe wants the HR potential with Thames, rather than the single/stranded routine we’re seeing a lot of lately. I don’t know. You have to admit Thames is hitting pretty good. Well I’m glad you all chimed in a little bit on the ethnic name theme. We all seem to be “roughly” on the same page. I was ready to apologize for any perceived offenses, and for just getting so far off the baseball subject. (Right now that ain’t such a bad idea).It’s easy to misrepresent what you mean, or I should say it’s easy to be misunderstood, and once you hit that old “send” button, it’s out there. Gone. Ain’t coming back. Rich, we agree that “Redskins” is stupid if not offensive, and the Cleveland logo offensive if not stupid. I still like the Braves, not the team but the name. As far as the Pistons go, I’m not much of an NBA fan although I watch the playoffs a little. If 5 Pistons including Billups can’t figure out how to stop one L. James, they don’t deserve to move on. The Tigers need to come out angry. Maybe Sheffield will lead the way.
I think JL must have been working on a hunch. He seems to appreciate Casey and I expect he will playing everyday again agains RHP.
The Tigers are mising something much like the Pistons…a superstar. Yes, you need a team concept but a superstar on your team can win you games that you should have lost. They can also inspire great performances from those around them.
I hope JL and DD cut Mesa loose now. I was thinking that this will be the series for him to either turn it around or prove that he can’t. I don’t think we need to see him in any of the 3 games left to know what the answer is.
The club needs a big lift. Ordonez has started to cool down and Sheffield could step up but I think the guy the Tigers really need to emerge is Granderson. He is in the verge of being, well a superstar. He may be a couple of months or a year away from this so I really think we are going to see a trade that will be made to ignite the team and provide more balance.
Someone mentioned how the stats are misleading– that the Tigs can go crazy in 1 or 2 games then lose games with no hitting. It’s true but another thing that worries me is how they can come out strong early and then the bats go into hibernation after an impressive start. That’s downright weird.
It will be interesting to see how Maroth performs tonight.
I hope JL does not (and I don’t think he will) rush Guillen back—he is one of the mvp on the team and we don’t want to see him restricted by a debilitating injury like a groin. To replace him would be a most difficult task for management. There is no easy answer either here or in Toledo. If Inge were to go down you could swap in Hessman
or go it with Infante.
Any bets we see Mesa either get sent down, outrighted or come up with a mysterious injury? They’re probably thinking about how close Colon is right now.
Wonder if we’re be in any of these games long enough to see how Jones is gonna rebound?
I hope that we don’t see any more psychotic outbursts from Sheffield this year. That could have ended up real ugly. He could have taken Gibson down with a “Flagrant 2″, and we really would have hurt!
Man–what happened to Piston coaching. I don’t see where the “new guy” has control of the troops.
Of course the danger in coming out angry and then stinking up the joint is that things can get ugly. So just a pinch of anger and a some focused resolve will do.
Oh—if Carmona starts getting everybody out with ground balls in the dirt then start laying a few down and make him get off the mound to chase them down.
Holy Cow! What a catch yesterday by Sizemore–robbed Granderson of another triple and what was noteworthy about the hit was that it came of a lefty, and a very good one at that. If Granderson can start hitting these lefties like he di in th spring—look out.
With Carmona, if the ball starts out low, lay off it and take a ball. I know, easier said than done.
Granderson pounded that lefty last night. I think they should get off that strict platoon, while still giving Omar some starts in center. Like I said yesterday, Grandy brings more than just a bat to the game. Nice bunt, hey?
I like Thames in the lineup because he can hit 30 homers. He kills lefties, while Monroe struggles with them, strangely enough.
Roman Colon to replace Mesa, yeah, I can see that happening.
The Tigers won’t just continue to play bad baseball, you know that. It’s just a question of when they get back on track, not if.