Are They Watching?

Do you think our Tigers are watching the World Series? In past years, I've heard mixed results from players who didn't make the playoffs. I remember Magglio Ordóñez saying he couldn't watch the 2005 World Series, because he had just left the Chicago White Sox, and they won it all the next season. He said something like it was the worst year of his life. Not to mention that the Tigers were awful (71-91, good for 4th place in the AL Central), and he had a hernia that year to boot.

It would be interesting to poll the wearers of the Old English D and find out whether they've been viewing playoff baseball. If not, what activities are taking up their evening leisure hours--Texas Hold 'Em and Guitar Hero? If yes, is it tough viewing, or are they rooting for friends, having parties, eating Doritos and talking about A-Rod?

Did they let go quickly and move on, because it's their job and whatnot, or was it a lingering pain that festered like mine did? Inquiring minds want to know.

I'm available for a World Series party, Tigers. Just in case you wanted to know.

Looking in from the Outside

Today I had to drive in to Detroit to purchase some Lions and Red Wings tickets. Why didn't I just buy them on-line you say? Well, I saved myself over $50 in fees by driving into the city and going to the box office.

Since Ford Field is right next to Comerica Park, I got a chance to see the old girl. In fact, I lingered, and looked longingly in at the field with blue tarps over the mound and home plate, the turnstiles covered in plastic, the bronzes of Gehringer, Cobb, Kaline, Horton, and Newhauser, the lonely Big Boy statue. A somber scene to be sure. I felt it all the more since the off-season has really only just begun, and it will be a long time before I enter the gates of the park again.

Just wanted to let you know the old girl is all right, latently waiting for the boys of summer to return to Detroit.

A Girl Gets Desperate

I'm not all aflutter about the Yankees or the Phillies being in the World Series. There will be no rooting for either of these teams. In fact, my intense abhorrence of the Yankees always waxes, never wanes. However, I am feening for some baseball, and for that reason the World Series will have my full attention.

I'll be watching as an observer. One who loves baseball. One who will soon be without baseball for an extended time. This time will be dark. It may involve coping measures such as watching games from seasons past. I do solemnly swear not to break down and watch the 2006 ALCS Game 4, however. It wouldn't help to watch it now anyway. We didn't make the playoffs this year, and trying to revive some past glory would feel trite and hollow.

I do have in mind to track down a game or two of Mark Fidrych's and watch those. I was a little young when he pitched to really remember. I've mostly seen wacky clips of him smoothing the mound and talking to the ball, and I want to watch a some full-length games.

I'm surprised and disappointed that MLB Network isn't airing some Arizona Fall League games. I'd be all over that. Maybe it will (hope springs eternal) after the World Series is over.

Anyway, just pining away over here 'til Spring. Don't worry about me.

Just What You Wanted to Hear

More on the Carlos Guillen soap opera.  Well, I'm not going to rehash what's already been said well elsewhere.  You can check out the Detroit Tigers Weblog, Bless You Boys and Mack Avenue Tigers for that.

My theory is that aging players have difficulty coming to terms with an erosion of their defensive skill set.  They cannot see it clearly or objectively at all.  It's not surprising.  These are premier athletes who have "yes" men stationed around them at convenient intervals.  Remember Sheff claiming he was more than capable of playing the field, and we're all like, yeah, right, one false move and your 40-year old tendons will rupture like flimsy rubber bands.

I saw Patrick Ewing play a game at the Palace during his last year in the NBA.  He looked like a dinosaur, and his knees were so heavily braced had no lateral movement at all.  Please don't get me started on a certain player who now wears purple in the NFL.  We understand that it's hard to let go.

I like Carlos.  A lot.  He's been a great leader on and off the field (I especially liked his insight into the feeling many Latin players have that MLB could just ship them back home if they make waves, his work to get the Venezuelan WBC team shaped up, and the way he used to have a few calming words for rattled pitchers when he played short).  I'm not sure why he didn't settle this internally before coming to the media.  Maybe he tried and got the brush off, who knows.  He obviously had frustration building for some time, and that can lead to eruptions that are later regretted.  I'm not going to brand him a malcontent just yet, because he's earned my respect over the years as a gutty team player.

Hopefully, he can stay healthy and earn the role he wants on the team.  By the same token, he should be able to accept a gradual shift in that role and playing time as health and skills dictate.

Former Tigers Interview With Tribe

The Freep referenced an article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer that detailed the interview process for a new Indians manager. Included in the interviews were two former Tigers, Travis Fryman and Torey Lovullo. Fryman did not make it as a finalist in consideration for the job, but has been managing the Indians A club at Mahoning Valley. I did not know that Fryman was managing already!

Indians General Manager Mark Shapiro was impressed with Fryman, and thinks he will get his shot at some point.

Torey Lovullo has been managing the AAA Columbus Clippers. He played for the Tigers from 1988 to 1989. Lovullo is a finalist for the job at this point. Also possibly in the running are Don Mattingly, Manny Acta and Bobby Valentine.

I kind of thought that Eric Wedge was scapegoated by the Indians. I mean, Mark Shapiro traded away Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez. I understand Lee, but why trade Martinez, who wanted to stay with your club, and who shed tears during his presser? Really, you get rid of a guy like that? OK. Whatever. There were some pretty significant injuries and under-performers as well. But, someone had to be the fall guy I guess.

Anyway, it'll be interesting to see who takes the helm for the Tribe.

I Have to What? To Whom?

Well, the time has come for me to evaluate Brandon Inge's season and determine whether an apology is indeed owed him by yours truly. I had scoffed this pre-season when the media and the Tigers were going all gaga over Inge's supposedly overhauled swing. I also said I would withhold judgment until after the season had ended and apologize to Inge if the stats so dictated.

And, the numbers do not lie........

AVG .230

OBP .314

SLG .406

OPS .720

HR 27

RBI 84

SO 170

Ahem. If Brandon had finished the season with a batting average of .250 or higher, I would have conceded that I owe him said apology, no question about it. That would have been a huge season for him. But .230? It is better than last year's abysmal .205, but we're not comparing Brandon Inge to himself here.

To be fair, I think that in light of Brandon's increased home run and RBI production (coupled with his stellar defense) I may owe him half an apology. Also, I saw something that showed him as being one of the top five in the AL in home runs in the 9th inning, or some such obscure stat that baseball is great at showcasing. Don't you love that about baseball? In the third inning when the sun is shining and a runner is on first base, Brandon Inge bats .342. We saw a lot of that spin on the scoreboard during the dark years of the late 90s and early 2000s. It was a kindness really. If all they had shown us was the hard stats, many fans would have impaled themselves on the nearest sharp object.

Also, Brandon showed us once again that his heart is tender toward little suffering children, visiting them in hospitals, hitting home runs for them and having them autograph his forearm. Many humanitarian, warm fuzzy points earned by Mr. Inge.

So, here you go Brandon...

I'm sor.......

Remember, half an apology, that's all you'll get from me.

Putting the Screws to Zach Miner

I have been questioning a perception I hold about Zach Miner. My thinking was that he doesn’t perform that well under pressure. I decided to be fair to him and take a look at the numbers. Baseball Reference has this cool stat known as aLI, Average Leverage Index. It measures the pressure a pitcher is under in a given outing. The stat uses 1.0 as average pressure. Anything below that is low pressure, anything above it is high pressure. I’m also going to look at inherited runners that came around to score when Miner entered a game (because inherited runners that score make me want to break things).

It's been well-publicized that Zach pitched 12 scoreless innings before the fateful October 6 outing in which he allowed 2 earned runs and also earned the ire of many fans. I'm not hanging the loss on him by any means. It just got me thinking when many questioned Leyland's choosing him to relieve Porcello. The twelve innings in which he put up zeros came over eight outings. Of those eight, four had an aLI of over 1.0. In that same span, he only had two inherited runners. They both came from the outing on September 29 vs. Minnesota, and neither of those runners scored.

Let's look at his season in total. Zack pitched 17 outings in which he inherited runners. Of 28 runners inherited, 10 eventually scored for a total of 36%. As far as knowing whether that's good or not, the only data I could find was this older chart from Baseball Reference in 2007. It showed the top 25 in inherited runners scoring percentage. The minimum was 80% relief appearances and 20 inherited runners (with a funny reference to Kyle Farnsworth, so click over). Tops was .05 , and the 25th ranking guy in the league was at .21.

With regard to pitching under pressure, Miner had 21 appearances in which the aLI was over 1.0. In the five most pressure packed outings, he fared pretty well. Here's a brief summary of those:

Game H R BB aLI

6/24 1 1 1 2.68

8/1 2 1 0 3.38

8/22 2 1 0 2.87

9/3 0 0 1 2.30

9/5 2 0 0 3.31

Overall, Miner performed better under the gun than I had anticipated. His strand rate is not the best, so lets just bring him in at the beginning of an inning from now on, shall we?