Justin Verlander

Jack Clark Projecting?

Crippy Baseball , , ,

Ex-MLB player, Jack Clark, turned radio host, has accused Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander and California Angels first baseman/DH Albert Pujols of using performance enhancing drugs to earn big contracts.  Clark’s theory seems to be that the players use PEDs to have outstanding seasons that reward them with huge contracts.  Once the player gets the big contract, they stop taking PEDs, their performance declines, but the player doesn’t care anymore because they already have the big money.

Neither Pujols or Verlander have ever tested positive for PEDs or have been investigated for such.  As far a the accusations directed toward Pujols go, they stem from a conversation Clark supposedly had with one of Pujols’ personal trainers, Chris Mihlfield.  Pujols has reject the accusations and volunteered to submit to a drug test at anytime.

Clarks’s accusations directed toward JV seem to be completely unfounded.  Here’s what he had to say about JV, from STLTODAY:

“Verlander was like Nolan Ryan, he threw 97, 98, 100 miles an hour from the first inning to the ninth inning,” Clark said on the air. “He got that big contract, now he can barely reach 92, 93. What happened to it? He has no arm problems, nothing’s wrong. It’s just the signs are there.

“The greed … they juice up, they grab the money and it’s just a free pass to steal is the way I look at it.”

I’m not an expert or an insider, but I don’t believe in accusing people of crimes with absolutely no supporting evidence.  Additionally, his statement regarding Verlander is false.  Verlander’s velocity really hasn’t been an issue this year, rather, it has been his command of the strike zone that has gotten him in trouble.  Further, although 2013 hasn’t been good compared to what Tigers fans have been accustomed to seeing from JV, he is hardly having a bad season by MLB standards.  In 24 games, Verlander is 12-8 with a 3.50 ERA.  He has struck out 145 and walked 56 which is a 2.58 K/BB ratio.

Jack Clark played in the Major Leagues from 1977 to 1993 and earned close to $16 million for his efforts.  That’s big money.  Perhaps Clark has squandered all of his earnings and is struggling to make ends meet and is trying to cope with his miserable post baseball life?  Perhaps Jack Clark is projecting?  In psychology, projection is defined as:

a defense mechanism that involves taking our own unacceptable qualities or feelings and ascribing them to other people. For example, if you have a strong dislike for someone, you might instead believe that he or she does not like you. Projection works by allowing the expression of the desire or impulse, but in a way that the ego cannot recognize, therefore reducing anxiety.

PEDs have been around for decades but were relatively unknown to the general public in the 70’s and early 80’s, despite the fact, that they were used by body builders, weight lifters and routinely given to soldiers in the military.  During Jack Clark’s career, MLB was not testing players for PEDs.  As a result, it is possible that Clark used PEDs to get, what was at the time, big money.   Hey $16 million is nothing to sneeze at.  Perhaps he’s broke and bitter and even a little bit remorseful.  To compensate he may be projecting his inadequacies on current, successful, highly paid players.

Whatever the case, I don’t care who used PEDs or not, but unless Clark has proof he should refrain from accusing people of wrongdoing.  By making these baseless accusations Clark revels himself to be a small, petty, pathetic, bitter, jealous, old cur, who has not adjusted well to life after baseball and is trying to turn himself into a sports shock jock.

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

10 IN A ROW!

Crippy Baseball, Dailies, Detroit Tigers , , , , , , ,

The Tigers opened up a 5 game lead on the Indians in the American League Central courtesy of their 5-1 victory over Cleveland tonight.

The Tigers needed a big game from Justin Verlander, and the former MVP and CY Young winner didn’t disappoint.  He pitched 8 complete innings, allowing 1 earned run on 4 hits.  He struck out 7 and walked none.  JV delivered!

It wasn’t looking good early, offensively, the Tigers let Justin Masterson off the hook in the second.  They loaded the bases with nobody out but Masterson struck out Alex Avila and Jose Iglesias and got Santiago to ground to second to end the inning without surrendering a run.

Entering the 5th inning, the Tigers trailed 1-0, but then the bats exploded.  Miguel Cabrera doubled in the go ahead run, his 100th RBI of the season.  Prince followed with a ground out moving Cabrera to third.  Masterson hit Victor to put runners at first and third with 2 out.  Then DK, Don Kelly, stepped to the plate and on the third pitch he saw delivered a three run homer giving the Tigers a 5-1 lead which was more than enough for JV.

Jose Veras pitched a scoreless 9th and the Tigers recorded their 10th consecutive win.

DK, Don Kelly, had a day.  He was 3-4 with the three-run homer in the 5th and was also flashin leather.  He robbed Lonnie Chisenhall of extra bases with a fine running catch in the bottom of the 8th.  The time truly has come for DK.

With Fister and Scherzer pitching the final two games in Cleveland the Tigers might be able to sweep and leave Ohio with a 7 game lead.

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

Tiger Dust Nationals! Sweep Two Game Series 11-1!

Crippy Baseball, Dailies, Detroit Tigers , , , ,

The Tigers but a beating on Nationals, southpaw, Gio Gonzalez, this afternoon at Comerica Park.  They touched Gio, who may be joining Jhonny Peralta in the detention room,  up for 10 earned runs on 11 hits.

Justin Verlander got the win improving his record to 11-8 and lowering his era to 3.88.  JV pitched 6 innings, gave up 4 hits, and one earned run.  The lone Nationals run came in the 1st inning.  I wish I could say that after a rough first inning, JV was lights out the rest of the way, but I’d be lying.  Sometimes a pitcher’s final line looks worse than it actually was. Today, IMHO, JV’s line looks better than it was.  He seemed to be in trouble all game and had a hard time finding the strike zone as evidenced by his 5 walks to go along with his 5 strikeouts.  Velander’s velocity looks ok but he doesn’t seem to be able to command any pitch, including the fast ball.  He was behind the Nationals hitters all day and threw 103 pitches in his 6 innings of work.

I don’t pretend to know what happened to JV but I’m not optimistic about him getting right before the end of the season.  I think the best the Tigers can hope for is what we saw this afternoon, 6 decent innings, making him the 4th or 5th man in the rotation.  Hopefully, he can get fixed in the off-season and return to form next year. It is hard for me to believe that he’s on the downside of his career.  I really hope I’m correct.

Alex Avila, has raised his batting average to .200 courtesy of a 2 for 3 day.  He hit a 2 run homer in the 2nd off of Gonzalez, walked and struck out in the 4th, and singled in the 7th.  Slowly, but seemingly surely, Alex seems to be coming out of his 1.5 year slump.  Again, I hope I’m right, I’ve always liked A Squared Money and hate to see him struggle so terribly.

Torii Hunter has a great day and was a triple short of the cycle.

Prince Fielder and Austin Jackson need to pick things up. Both are hitting in the .260s.  Right now, it isn’t hurting too badly because everybody else is hitting, but the Tigers are going to need them if they hope to end this 29 year World Series drought.

Miguel Cabrera was not in the lineup and I’m worried he might be more hurt than the Tigers are letting on.

The White Sox are in town this weekend.

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

Tigers Lose 7-4. Dirks Embarrassing!

Crippy Baseball, Dailies, Detroit Tigers , , , , ,

JV wasn’t great but he deserved better than what happened to him this afternoon.

The story of this game was written in the 4th inning. The Tigers scored 2 in the top of the 4th to tie the game at 2, but the White Sox came back in the bottom with 4 runs, thanks largely to the efforts of Tiger left fielder Andy Dirks. Dirks’ play in left field, makes ex-Cleveland left fielder Albert Joey Belle, look like a gold glover.

With one out and two on, White Sox catcher Tyler Flowers hit a 92 mph JV change up hard to left field that Andy Dirks completely misplayed. In fact, it looked like the ball went off of his glove, but miraculously, the official scorer gave Flowers a double and an RBI.

If Dirks makes the catch off of the bat of Flowers, Verlander and the Tigers probably get out of the inning still tied at two.

The Andy Dirks love affair has to come to an end.  He’s in a platoon role right now and I think that is too much playing time for him.  He’s not hitting much to speak of, he was 0-4 today with 2 strike outs, and his fielding is atrocious. I won’t even mention his pathetic attempt at a catch in the bottom of the second off of the bat of Conor Gillaspie.  All I can say is WTF?

IMHO, give Tui the left field job and let him play until he plays himself out of it. If/when that happens, bring Avisail Garcia back up and repeat the process. Let him play until he proves he can’t. Last time I checked, Avi was hitting over .400 in Toledo.

Next, when Infante comes back, Santiago has to go. He is an automatic out and adds no value. Let Perez back up Infante. On top of not hitting, Santiago can’t even move runners over with a productive out. He is absolutely on my last nerve now.

I understand that everyone is trying their best and nobody wants to suck but Dirks and Santiago have become embarrassing. The least Leyland and the Tigers can do is show some consideration for the fans by not running these shit birds out there on a regular basis.

This afternoon’s game was a shitty way to end this Chicago series.

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

Tigers Lose Two In A Row. Verlander Terrible!

Crippy Baseball, Dailies, Detroit Tigers , , , , , , , ,

Well, my predictions from yesterday are already starting to fall apart.

I was expecting Verlander to be lights out in the second half but his first start after the break was nothing short of horrible.

The Tigers lost to the Royals, again, 6-5.

Verlander pitched 5 and 2/3 allowing 6 runs, 5 earned, he struck out 3 and walked 4, including Eric Hosmer in the bottom of the 4th with the bases loaded to force in a run.

With the Tigers down 5-3 going into the 5th, the offense scored two runs to tie the game on an Alex, A Squared Money, Avilla single but Verlander gave the lead up for good in the bottom of the 5th when he allowed a two out home run to Mike Moustakas.

I’m not sure what to say about JV.  His velocity seems ok but his command is terrible.  His curve-ball and slider weren’t coming close to the strike zone.  I guess the only thing to say is what I saw, he looked TERRIBLE.  If not for his track record, you’d think he was a back of the rotation guy auditioning for the bullpen.  If he doesn’t get straightened out, the Tigers are in trouble and my fifth prediction from yesterday is not going to happen.

On the bright side, Alex Avila had three hits and two RBIs.  Prince had two hits.  Victor had three hits.  Alburquerque and Smyly were good out of the bullpen allowing no runs, one hit and striking out three combined.  Also, the Twins beat the Indians again today so the Tigers still have their slim lead.

This is not what I was expecting coming out of the break.

Hopefully, Fister can salvage a game tomorrow.

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

Tigers, JV Head Into Break On High Note…

Crippy Baseball, Dailies, Detroit Tigers ,

with win this afternoon over Texas.

The Tigers took the rubber game of the series 5-0 today.  JV pitched 7 strong, allowing only 1 hit, and striking out 3.

Smyly and Benoit came in and recorded the last 6 outs.

Verlander actually had a no-hitter with two outs in the 6th before Mitch Moreland broke it up with a double in the gap between right and center.

For as much as I’ve complained this year, I’m actually pretty satisfied at the break.  The Tigers are 10 games over .500 and have a 3 game lead in the central.

Here’s what I’m hoping for in the second half:

  1. The offense gets more consistent, with better at-bats late in games.
  2. Victor continues his recent pace.
  3. JV looks like the JV of the last two years
  4. Someone else in the bullpen steps up to help Smyly and Benoit
  5. The Tigers end their 29 World Series drought

Is that too much to ask for?

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

Words of Wisdom from Jack Morris…

Crippy Baseball , , , ,

This piece is from the FREEP.

Thanks for the solid Nebraska!

Verlander, who turned 30 in February, said he recently discovered that his shoulder angle has been different this year compared to video from 2011.

“The reality is the older you get, the harder you have to work, and it’s hard to do it,” Morris said. “You’ve had success. It came relatively easy at times. I know it has for him, at times.

“Every day from here on out he’s going to have less and less stuff. That’s life. That’s called the circle of life. He’s not going to get stronger. He’s not going to throw 110 (miles per hour) next year. He’s going to have to get by and learn more and be smarter with less stuff than he did when he was younger. That’s the way life is.

Read the entire post here.

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

 

White Sox Thrash Tigers 11-4

Crippy Baseball, Dailies, Detroit Tigers, WTF , , ,

This was a very strange game.  The offense looked sluggish, which was not all that surprising, considering it was the first home game after a long road trip.

I thought JV looked good for 7 innings.  The odd thing about this start was that Verlander kept getting the first two outs in the inning but then surrendered hits to extend the innings.  I don’t think he had a 1-2-3 inning but through 7 had allowed only 1 run on 100 pitches with 3 strike outs.

With the score tied at 1, I was a little surprised to see JV come out for the 8th.  Especially, with Rios and Dunn coming up.  Dunn hadn’t done much but Rios had a single and a triple off of Verlander.  As the 8th started, Coke was warming up in the bullpen.  I figured Leyland would let JV pitch to Rios and then bring Coke in to face the leftie Dunn.  But that wasn’t the case.

Rios led off with a single.  I looked to the dugout, no Leyland.  Rios stole second.  No Leyland.  Dunn homered to right.  No Leyland.  JV was left in for two more hitters.  He left the game not having recorded an out in the 8th, having surrendered 3 runs, and responsible for the runners at first and third.

Alburquerque steps to the hill to relieve JV and continued his Toledo Mud Hens audition, that began in earnest a few days ago in Cleveland, and promptly served up a three run homer to Dayan Viciedo.

By the time the top of the 8th was over, the Sox had scored 7 runs, blowing the game wide open.

JV’s final line looks horrible.  He pitched 7 plus and gave up 5 earned raising his era to 3.71.

I just don’t get it.  I’m usually the first one to scream about letting pitchers go out for another inning, but his was insane.  Perhaps the bullpen was depleted and JV was just a sacrificial lamb?  I think this was a horrible thing to do, not only to JV, but to any pitcher.  I feel like Leyland hung JV out to dry.  Perhaps the Tigers still would have lost but JV deserved a better fate.

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

Granderson Robs Sizemore!

Crippy Baseball , , ,

I just had to post this video.  As most of you know, Curtis Granderson is my favorite player.  And while I think the trade that sent him to the Yankees has worked out well for the Tigers, he’s still my man.  It is sort of the same thing as growing up a Tiger fan but have Reggie Jackson as my favorite player.

The video below is of Curtis Granderson robbing Grady Sizemore of a home run in Cleveland with Justin Verlander on the mound.  I’m pretty sure this was in 2009 but I could be mistaken.

Curtis is still recovering from surgery on his pinky.  Hopefully, for the Yankees, he’ll return after the All Star break.

Just a little note.  The first time I remember watching baseball was during the 1977 World Series.  My Mom was a baseball fanatic.  My Dad was working nights and my brothers and sister were already in bed.  My Mom let me stay up with her and watch.  It was game six, October 18th, 1977.  I watched Reggie hit three home runs on three consecutive pitches from three different pitchers.  After that, I was hooked and Reggie was my man.

Anyway, I can’t sleep and I have a cold so felt like sharing this.

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

The Curse of the Crooked Hat

Crippy Baseball, Dailies, Detroit Tigers , , , , ,

Former Tiger, Fernando “The Crooked Hat” Rodney, pitched two scoreless innings and got the win, as the Rays beat the Tigers in 10 innings 4-3.

Justin Verlander pitched pretty well, he went 8 innings and gave up 3 runs, only 2 earned.  The unearned run was the result of an error by Prince Fielder.

I don’t think we saw the “old familiar” JV but he was much better than his last two starts.

Smyly pitched a scoreless 9th but the Rays got to Bruce Rondon in the 10th to score the winning run.

The story of this game, and much of this season, is the ineptitude of the offense in the late innings.  The Tigers scored 3 runs in the 3rd but didn’t really threaten to score from the 4th through the 10th.  The FOX commentators said that the only team that has scored fewer runs in innings 7 through 9 is the Seattle Mariners.  For the amount of supposed firepower this offense has, it sure doesn’t do much late in games.

A feud seemed to be brewing between Miguel Cabrera and the The Crooked Hat after Miggy’s 10th inning at bat.  With a 1-2 count, The Crooked Hat threw a 98 MPH fastball up and in to even the count at 2 and 2.  The next pitch, TCH got Cabrera to swing and miss on an 86 mph changeup low and in.  Miggy was yelling at TCH on his way back to the dugout and while he was in the dugout.  He seemed to be taking exception to the 1-2 pitch.

Personally, I didn’t see anything wrong with what the TCH did, in fact, I wish Tiger pitchers would take note.  Yes, the 1-2 pitch was up and in but it really didn’t come close to hitting Miggy.  It was a purpose/setup pitch.  TCH thought Miggy was a little to comfortable at the plate and decided to remove some of that comfort, and he did.  It worked.  He got Miggy to strike out on a ball low and in.

I’ll take TCH approach every time compared to the way Tiger pitchers allow hitters to lean out over the plate and foul off pitch after pitch, extend at bats, and shorten outings.

If the Tigers can take anything positive out of this loss it should be to employ The Crooked Hat Make Hitters Uncomfortable Tactic.  That’s it.  I just invented and named the pitching philosophy I’ve been begging the Tigers to employ.  I’m calling it the The Crooked Hat Make Hitters Uncomfortable Tactic or TCHMHUT for short.

Another positive out of today’s game was that Victor Martinez went 3 for 5.  None of the hits were clutch.  None of the hits drove in any runs but he got 3 hits and raised his batting average to .231.

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