Month: September 2013

The Incredible Iggy

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OK, I know it is a small sample, but Jose Iglesias has become my favorite Tigers player.  In fact, he is officially my second favorite active player behind former Tiger Curtis Granderson.  (I can’t help it.  I’ll always like Curtis and I hope to see him back in a Tigers uniform next year.)

But I digress. Besides Iggy’s glove, he has hit a lot better than I was told to expect.  Also, he brings dimensions to the game the Tigers are lacking, spark and speed.  Both of these attributes were displayed in yesterday’s game, before the pitching staff started throwing batting practice,

In the top of the 3rd, with one out, and Tigers offense pretty much silent for the first few innings, Iggy laid down a bunt single.  Austin Jackson followed with a single and Iggy did what the Tigers as a team have a hard time doing, he went from first to third on a base hit and came around to score on Prince’s homer.

In the top of the 4th with the game tied at 3, the Tigers loaded the bases with one out.  Iggy hit a double play ball to third baseman Will Middlebrooks but was able to beat the relay.  Iggy’s hustle allowed Don Kelly to score the go ahead run.  These are two plays that the rest of team just doesn’t make.

So as a little tribute to Iggy, I found this highlight video from 2012.

“God I love baseball.” -Roy Hobbs | The Natural

John Lowe – Speed

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Hat Tip to Nebraska for pointing this article out.

It appears John Lowe of the Freep dot com has come to the same conclusion readers of this blog have come to.  Namely, the biggest problem the Tigers have is their inability to throw out runners.

On a night when the Tigers set a team record for home runs allowed in a game with eight, the significant question that emerged nonetheless dealt not with power, but with speed:

If there is a Tigers-Red Sox playoff series next month, could the Tigers lose because of their inability to prevent stolen bases?

Ominously, that inability is what allowed the East-leading Red Sox to score the run that put them ahead to stay in a 20-4 thumping of the Central-leading Tigers on Wednesday night at Fenway Park.

Keep reading here.

The part of the Tigers’ inability to throw runners out that baffles me is that they don’t have ANYBODY that can shut down the running game.  Can all the blame go to the pitching staff?  Are they that bad at holding runners close?  It seems to me that the catchers have to start sharing the blame. Avila, Holaday, Pena, none of them can throw anybody out.

Perhaps speed defense should have been addressed at the trade deadline.

“God I love baseball.” -Roy Hobbs | The Natural

THRASHED!

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The Red Sox put a beating on the Tigers tonight the likes of which I haven’t seen in a long time.

Rick Porcello was absolutely awful.  He gave up three home runs, walked four, allowed 9 runs, 8 earned in only 5 innings of work.

Not be outdone were the Amazing Al and Jeremy Bonderman.  These two looked like they were a) throwing batting practice b) auditioning to pitch in next year’s home run derby or c) auditioning for the independent league.  My guess is that it was a combination of the three.

It took the Amazing Al two pitches to wipe Ricky’s slate clean and start one of his own. After “relieving” Porcello in the 6th with the bases loaded, Will Middlebrooks took Amazing Al’s second pitch and hit a grand slam over the Green Monster.

Jeremy Bonderman “relieved” the Amazing Al and tried to make us forget how horrible Alburquerqe was.  It didn’t work.

I don’t have the words to describe this abomination.

I guess the only good thing to come out of this game is that Jim Leyland has a pretty good idea who won’t be coming out of the bullpen should the Tigers make the post season.

Did I mention, Iggy got hurt and left the game with bilateral shin splints?

Unfortunately, when Miggy grounded out to short last night with the bases loaded the opportunity for the Tigers to win their first series in Boston since August of 2006 went out the window.  The pitching absolutely imploded.

The only thing we can do is try to forget this one and look at trying to win a series this weekend in Kansas City.

It won’t be easy.

“God I love baseball.” -Roy Hobbs | The Natural

Pirates 81

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Congratulations to the Pirates! Raise the Jolly Roger!

rlaytonsports's avatarRob Layton Sports

Travis Snider pinch hit home run helped the Pirates defeat the Milwaukee Brewers 4 to 3. That win extended their lead in the National League Central over the St. Louis Cardinals to two games. The win was their 81st, and it ended the streak of twenty consecutive losing seasons. This achievement is not the biggest thing for the Pirates, but going far in the playoffs is. With the recent trade acquisitions of Marlon Byrd and John Buck from the New York Mets, and Justin Moreau from the Minnesota Twins, the Pirates are sending a message that they want to go far in the playoffs and maybe the World Series.

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Tigers Lose 2-1. It’s up to Ricky Tomorrow.

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Tonight’s game was a battle of aces that lived up to its billing.  Lester and Scherzer both pitched well with Lester and the Red Sox evening the series courtesy of their 2-1 victory.

Mike Napoli didn’t start tonight but he did pinch hit in the 8th inning against Luke Putkonen.  I would have loved for Luke to have drilled that shit bird but it wasn’t the time.  The score was 2-1 with runners on first and second and only 1 out.  It was more important to prevent the Sox from extending their lead than evening the score with Crapoli.

Speaking of Putkonen, he has been very impressive and may be pitching himself onto the post season roster.  He came in last Thursday and stopped the bleeding against Oakland which eventually allowed the Tigers to rally late and save the last game of the series.

Putkonen came in again today in a pressure situation.  Scherzer came out to pitch the 8th but didn’t retire either batter he faced.  He left the game with runners at first and second and nobody out.  Coke came in and got David Ortiz to fly out.  Putkonen then relieved Coke.  With runners at first and second and one out he gave up a single to Crapoli to load the bases.  He then got Jonny Gomes to pop out and Stephen Drew to ground out, both to Iggy, to end the inning.

What does all of this mean?

First, Putkonen and Coke are making cases for spots on the post season roster.

Second, the burden falls on Ricky tomorrow to win the rubber game and hold Crapoli accountable for his Dave Rozema karate kick on Iggy during Monday’s game.  It seems like these things fall on Porcello a lot.  As has been documented here at Flashin Leather, Ricky hit Youkilis in August of 2009, then beat him into a conniption when he rushed the mound.  Then earlier this year in Tampa Bay, after The Crooked Hat threw at Miggy’s head the night before, Ricky lit Zobrists’ rib cage up to defend the MVP the following game.

Third, and this is the most important take away from tonight’s game, Tommy “The Windmill” Brookens is the worst third base coach in baseball history.  He always manages to get the call exactly wrong.  Today, The Windmill got Brayan Pena thrown out at the plate in the second inning. With Pena on first and Infante on third, Iggy doubled, scoring Infante easily. Brookens, then, mistook the 5’9″ 230 lbs Pena for Rickey Henderson and sent him home.  Although the play was considerably closer than most of The Windmill’s sends, Pena was still out by 30 feet.

I love Tommy but not as the third base coach.  The Tigers need Geno back at 3rd.  Let Tommy move to first or to the bench.

It would be nice to come out of Boston with Napoli’s ribs bruised and a series win.

“God I love baseball.” -Roy Hobbs | The Natural

Remember when Ricky beat Youk into a conniption?

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On August 8th, 2009, a 19 year old Frederick Alfred Porcello was sticking up for his teammates.  He drilled Boston’s Kevin Youkilis in the ribs.  When Youk charged the mound, the young Porcello promptly threw Youkilis to the ground with a nice judo hip throw.  If it wasn’t for outside intereference, young Ricky was in a perfect position to pound Youk into a conniption.

The video below shows the thrashing frame by frame.

Keep this in mind because Mike Crapoli is on the Tigers hit list.  His karate kick on Tigers’ shortstop, Jose Iglesias, was unacceptable and Crapoli must be held to account.

“God I love baseball.” -Roy Hobbs | The Natural