Hideki Okajima now leads, according to the latest release. Bonderman is second, followed by Neshek, Escobar and Halladay. The Tigers are doing a get-out-the-vote campaign with posters and advertising.
That's a clever poster they have, the Bondo 07 thing. All this campaigning going on, Neshek making the rounds of the radio shows, promoting himself on his website and all, it seems kind of silly to this oldtimer.
Well, Cleveland has the mojo and the Tigers have the oh-no. Mojo, or luck, or magic, or whatever you want to call it, is a very real thing in sports. The Tigers had it last year right up to that game in August when Morneau hit the homer. Here you've got bases loaded, your most trusted hitter up there and he produces a popup. Granderson crushes one to right and the guy kind of runs into the ball with his glove. Sheffield was probably safe. They send up a pinch hitter, new guy, and Durbin grooves one for him.
In most cases, the mojo well runs dry before the season ends, so you hang on and see what you can do late in the year. If the mojo well doesn't run dry, then you start checking out who to beat for that wildcard spot.
Anyway, pretty entertaining game. I think the screenwriters need to find a better ending, though. It's become predictable.
All of us couch potatoes watching the game on tv tonight need to vote Bonderman the entire game! Here's a guy who had 5 no decisions in his first 5 games of the year. Clearly he deserved to win three of those games and could easily be 12-1 right now. His lone loss was to Texas giving up only two ER in seven innings. VOTE BONDO!!!
Last night was again a ridiculous loss. I agree with RLPRESSLEY completely, and we have been saying it all along, NO MAGIC, NO MOJO, NO LUCK. And I don't last night necessarily even blame the pitching completely, how many times in the last few months, have we had runners in scoring position and not been able to get them in, last night was a cardinal sin, and inexcusable. Another loss that should of been a win. I really don't think that Cleveland is that much better than us, they just have the magic working for them. I tell you they had really better shape up real soon or they aren't going anywhere.
I agree Rich and GK. It's a miracle the Tigers ARE where they are at this point, considering the MOJOLESS ball they've been playing all season. There have been precious few come from behinds or battling surprise wins this year. Just about every win has been due to a relentless hitting attack or a strong pithing performance. About a month ago I was thinking that this might develop into a more interesting season than last year because of all the adversities they were overcoming, but now...I'm not sure.
I wouldn't blame the pitching for last night's loss either GK. Very disappointing that Durbin gave up the PINCH HIT home run, that's maybe preventable. You can't fault Capellan's effort. He was mowing them down and could just as easily have gotten the win if Guillen or Rodriguez had come through one inning prior. (Anyone notice how many times Blake has killed the Tigers this year? It's getting old.)
Then the bottom of the 11th fizzle. Casey Ks(how about inserting Thames for the HR power here), Monroe has been lost for some time, and Inge was sure lost last night. I don't know...You get tired....I guess it's too bad they can't all be like Placido. He's a joy to watch. You just see his footwork and arm work at the plate as he moves to the ball or away from an inside pitch to get it centered, watching it all the way to the catcher. With their flat footed style, same swing, seemingly no adjustment pitch after pitch, the results are very predictable. If it aint in the "wheelhouse" it's a whiff. At least Inge has been more selective this year, Monroe is swinging at everything, when he needs to be thinking walk every at bat. Then maybe pitchers would start throwing him strikes.
Lastly, when is Nate going to master the efficiency curve? He's a battler out there but he's all too often pitching from behind in the count. Then he's thrown 100 pitches by the 5th. It's like watching a guy swim determinedly against the current, eventually he's going to run out of gas. The Tiger hitters don't help much either when they come up the next inning first pitch swinging, and go 1-2-3 on 5 pitches.(something like that) It's a puzzle. I'm not advocating giving up on Monroe yet, I still believe he can get on track but he needs to begin cultivating some mental discipline.
Anyway, my 2 cent installment. Hope you all have a nice 4th.
Good points here, Marty and GK.
Doesn't Casey Blake have like 20 career homers vs Detroit, or am I thinking of the wrong guy?
Nate Robertson went 0-2 on a ton of hitters last night, then he starts to nibble. No out pitch? It was interesting listening to Rod Allen's comments on how Nate finally got the Cleveland hitters to be pull happy, but if it takes 70 pitches to get yourself set up, you don't last long. I thought Nate could have gone one more.
The bullpen mostly did their job last night, and JL made good moves. Book moves yes, but he always had the right guy ready to go. That Capellan is a big boy, isn't he?
Re the hitting, they can't work Byrd like they do others because the guy almost literally never walks anybody. But what is causing all these losses to Cleveland is home runs. Many for them, few for us. We busted our tails to get four runs then they just pop a couple and game over.
Looks to me like Marcus Thames should replace Monroe. I like Craig's fielding, but he's as mixed up a hitter as I've seen in nearly 50 years. He doesn't seem to know what "his" pitch is. And on the final pitch of the game, Inge got a 2-0 fastball and put a good swing on it...and got just under it. Mojo.
Now, how many thought this game was about to be won when Guillen stepped up there with the bases loaded? Rod and Mario even said the Tigers would win this game, which wasn't very wise of them to do. Kind of surprising, in fact.
I don't know why that guy called out Sheffield at the plate. Why did he choose that moment to get all picky over a call? That's a safe call 99% of the time. Sheff scores and we probably win. Mojo.
Finally, did anyone think of pulling out a stopwatch and timing the other pitchers? I thought of it, but didn't do it.
Rich, While the pitching style of Betancourt is annoying, I think it was kind of silly for the umps to put a stop watch on him. Betancourt takes so long to come to his set, seems like the hitter could step out of the box multiple times to counter.
That's a clever poster they have, the Bondo 07 thing. All this campaigning going on, Neshek making the rounds of the radio shows, promoting himself on his website and all, it seems kind of silly to this oldtimer.
Well, Cleveland has the mojo and the Tigers have the oh-no. Mojo, or luck, or magic, or whatever you want to call it, is a very real thing in sports. The Tigers had it last year right up to that game in August when Morneau hit the homer. Here you've got bases loaded, your most trusted hitter up there and he produces a popup. Granderson crushes one to right and the guy kind of runs into the ball with his glove. Sheffield was probably safe. They send up a pinch hitter, new guy, and Durbin grooves one for him.
In most cases, the mojo well runs dry before the season ends, so you hang on and see what you can do late in the year. If the mojo well doesn't run dry, then you start checking out who to beat for that wildcard spot.
Anyway, pretty entertaining game. I think the screenwriters need to find a better ending, though. It's become predictable.
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All of us couch potatoes watching the game on tv tonight need to vote Bonderman the entire game! Here's a guy who had 5 no decisions in his first 5 games of the year. Clearly he deserved to win three of those games and could easily be 12-1 right now. His lone loss was to Texas giving up only two ER in seven innings. VOTE BONDO!!!
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Last night was again a ridiculous loss. I agree with RLPRESSLEY completely, and we have been saying it all along, NO MAGIC, NO MOJO, NO LUCK. And I don't last night necessarily even blame the pitching completely, how many times in the last few months, have we had runners in scoring position and not been able to get them in, last night was a cardinal sin, and inexcusable. Another loss that should of been a win. I really don't think that Cleveland is that much better than us, they just have the magic working for them. I tell you they had really better shape up real soon or they aren't going anywhere.
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I agree Rich and GK. It's a miracle the Tigers ARE where they are at this point, considering the MOJOLESS ball they've been playing all season. There have been precious few come from behinds or battling surprise wins this year. Just about every win has been due to a relentless hitting attack or a strong pithing performance. About a month ago I was thinking that this might develop into a more interesting season than last year because of all the adversities they were overcoming, but now...I'm not sure.
I wouldn't blame the pitching for last night's loss either GK. Very disappointing that Durbin gave up the PINCH HIT home run, that's maybe preventable. You can't fault Capellan's effort. He was mowing them down and could just as easily have gotten the win if Guillen or Rodriguez had come through one inning prior. (Anyone notice how many times Blake has killed the Tigers this year? It's getting old.)
Then the bottom of the 11th fizzle. Casey Ks(how about inserting Thames for the HR power here), Monroe has been lost for some time, and Inge was sure lost last night. I don't know...You get tired....I guess it's too bad they can't all be like Placido. He's a joy to watch. You just see his footwork and arm work at the plate as he moves to the ball or away from an inside pitch to get it centered, watching it all the way to the catcher. With their flat footed style, same swing, seemingly no adjustment pitch after pitch, the results are very predictable. If it aint in the "wheelhouse" it's a whiff. At least Inge has been more selective this year, Monroe is swinging at everything, when he needs to be thinking walk every at bat. Then maybe pitchers would start throwing him strikes.
Lastly, when is Nate going to master the efficiency curve? He's a battler out there but he's all too often pitching from behind in the count. Then he's thrown 100 pitches by the 5th. It's like watching a guy swim determinedly against the current, eventually he's going to run out of gas. The Tiger hitters don't help much either when they come up the next inning first pitch swinging, and go 1-2-3 on 5 pitches.(something like that) It's a puzzle. I'm not advocating giving up on Monroe yet, I still believe he can get on track but he needs to begin cultivating some mental discipline.
Anyway, my 2 cent installment. Hope you all have a nice 4th.
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Good points here, Marty and GK.
Doesn't Casey Blake have like 20 career homers vs Detroit, or am I thinking of the wrong guy?
Nate Robertson went 0-2 on a ton of hitters last night, then he starts to nibble. No out pitch? It was interesting listening to Rod Allen's comments on how Nate finally got the Cleveland hitters to be pull happy, but if it takes 70 pitches to get yourself set up, you don't last long. I thought Nate could have gone one more.
The bullpen mostly did their job last night, and JL made good moves. Book moves yes, but he always had the right guy ready to go. That Capellan is a big boy, isn't he?
Re the hitting, they can't work Byrd like they do others because the guy almost literally never walks anybody. But what is causing all these losses to Cleveland is home runs. Many for them, few for us. We busted our tails to get four runs then they just pop a couple and game over.
Looks to me like Marcus Thames should replace Monroe. I like Craig's fielding, but he's as mixed up a hitter as I've seen in nearly 50 years. He doesn't seem to know what "his" pitch is. And on the final pitch of the game, Inge got a 2-0 fastball and put a good swing on it...and got just under it. Mojo.
Now, how many thought this game was about to be won when Guillen stepped up there with the bases loaded? Rod and Mario even said the Tigers would win this game, which wasn't very wise of them to do. Kind of surprising, in fact.
I don't know why that guy called out Sheffield at the plate. Why did he choose that moment to get all picky over a call? That's a safe call 99% of the time. Sheff scores and we probably win. Mojo.
Finally, did anyone think of pulling out a stopwatch and timing the other pitchers? I thought of it, but didn't do it.
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Rich, While the pitching style of Betancourt is annoying, I think it was kind of silly for the umps to put a stop watch on him. Betancourt takes so long to come to his set, seems like the hitter could step out of the box multiple times to counter.
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