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Patriots Scam?

So if you haven't had enough SpyGate or CameraGate or whatever you want to call it, the SpotStarters are weighing in.

I had a hard time decided what I thought about this. There was no question they did it. The got an advantage via the technology they had to use against the Jets. Lots of people came out and said their legacy was completely tarnished. The punishment: about $750,000 and a first round draft pick. I have heard everything from too harsh to too easy and in between; I can conclude from this that it was a fair penalty.

Did the Patriots cheat? Yes.

Do I find this a huge deal? No.

Why?

I am one of those people that differentiates between types of cheating. In baseball, there is a difference between doing HGH and bringing a nail file to the mound with you. There is a difference between Bonds juicing and that foreign substance on Kenny Rogers' hand in the playoffs last year or Phile Niekro getting a little extra edge.

The Patriots admit to screwing up. They took their punishment like professionals. Then, they promptly went out and put up THE EXACT SAME STATISTICS against the Chargers! How exact?

Week 1:
Yard differential: +203
Offensive plays: 65
Opposing 3rd down conversions: 4-11
Final Score: 38-14

Week 2:
Yard differential: +206
Offensive plays: 65
Opposing 3rd down conversions: 4-11
Final Score: 38-14

The Chargers in week 2 are a FAR superior team to the Jets in week 1. The Patriots are a outstanding team with too much talent to get bogged down with this.

This is what I say. I think Blake can talk about pro football if it is on our blog. I'd like to hear what others think especially if they disagree. Bring it.

Jeter

After watching Derek Jeter's game winning home run tonight and getting a text from Rob that said "Jeter" I was reminded that I mentioned to Rob that if I were starting a team I could think of at least 6 shortstops I'd rather have on my team than Jeter. I'm gonna work on that and post it on Monday.

Jeter=Satan

Big Night - Running Diary

A la Bill Simmons I will be keeping a running diary tonight during this huge night of baseball. The Yankees and Red Sox are playing on ESPN, the Tigers and Twins are on FSN, and the Indians-Royals score is refreshing itself on my computer screen, should be a good night. The Sox are up 2-0, the Tigers are up 1-0, and the Royals lead the Indians 3-1. Great start to the night. Rob is sending me rude text messages.

8:37- With runners on first and third with one out, Sean Casey grounds into an inning-ending double play. I swear, this guy is killing us, I don't care how nice he is to have in the clubhouse.

8:42- Posada crushes a double to CF, I bet Coco Crisp would have gotten to that ball. Matsui just misses a HR, 2-1 Red Sox. I think I just jinxed the entire evening.

8:44- Robertson strikes out Michael Cuddyer on a 2-2 pitch with a man on 2nd. If Nate can just be clutch for the next 5 weeks, I'll be ecstatic. He then walks the wimpy Jason Kubel to face former Tiger Rondell White who is about 8 years past his prime. If the Twins score here, this diary is done. Robertson promptly walks Rondell White, White is hitting .152 this season. The dangerous Nick Punto (.198) looms with the bases loaded and two out. Punto flies out to the warning track, too close for comfort.

8:52- Melky Cabrera grounds into a double play to end the Yankee threat. He looked safe, but that's what you get for sliding feet first into first base, what a goon. Meanwhile, Daisuke cannot throw strikes but has allowed only one run in 4 innings. (It should be noted that I am enjoying these games with no volume.)

8:57- Just noticed that CC Sabathia has 12 k's through 6 innings for the Indians, but they still trail 4-1.

9:00- Pettitte strikes out Julio Lugo and makes it look like he could do that every time they faced one another. Not pretty. 1st and 3rd with one out for Pedroia, sounds like runs to me. Ellsbury steals second, Jeter objects so Joe Torre sprints out to argue. Wow, he stole that even though they tried to pick him off and he really was safe, that's impressive. Jason Giambi's arm must have lost some strength without the aide of steroids. Pedroia lines one to center and two runs score, 4-1 Red Sox.

9:07- Mike Lowell hits one up the middle and another run scores, 5-1 Red Sox. Pettitte has thrown 90 pitches and has gotten 10 outs.

9:13- Pettitte throws 2 consecutive 3 ball strikes that should have been called balls. Gotta love the Yankees. I bet Pettitte gets this out now, the Yankees Gods will make it so. He gets it. What a bunch of crap, that inning could have been much worse for the Yankees.

9:18- I was seriously just writing "Robertson is facing Morneau right now and I just bet he gives up a home run" what that exact thing happened. Nate Robertson is lousy. He nearly gives up a homer on the next pitch to the next batter. I have zero faith in him. He was pretty clutch in the playoffs last year but he hasn't brought much of that magic this season.

9:21- Jeter strikes out looking on a nasty pitch and does the classy thing by complaining the umpire. The pitch was right down the middle. Just looked and saw that the Indians have closed the gap and now only trail 4-3. Things are not going as well as they were 10 minutes ago.

9:25- Bobby Abreau takes a walk (he's the Yankee that scares me the most, seriously) and he's on for A-Rod. More on this later, but I'd love to see A-Rod in a Tigers uniform next season. We'd treat him with the respect he hasn't gotten from the Yankee faithful. I have no problem giving him an 8 year deal worth $200 million. So, Mike Ilitch, if you're reading this, you have my permission. A-Rod, strikes out looking, does the same thing Jeter did, I'm sensing a pattern.

9:30- Tigers go quickly in the 5th. Sometimes I get the feeling that they are just trying to get games done as soon as possible. Tonight feels like one of those nights, not good.

9:43- Granderson leads off the 6th with a single, hopefully this will lead to some runs. It would be a shame for the Tigers to not make the playoffs when you consider that Polanco, Maggs, and Granderson are all having career years. I don't think it's fair to expect any of them to play this well next year so they'll need some other guys to step up. I remember at the beginning of the year that Granderson was considered okay, a solid regular, but he's really made the leap this year. He's up there with Carl Crawford and Grady Sizemore in my book.

9:52- Tigers have the bases loaded with two out and Pudge is up. The Indians have no tied the score in the 8th. A Tigers win tonight, coupled with a Yankee loss would make my Saturday very enjoyable. I love September baseball. I bet Pudge strikes out. Right after I wrote that, he took ball 3, full count, bases loaded, two outs. Pudge has fouled off three straight pitches, my nails have all been bitten off. Pudge draws a walk and my mood improves my 83%. Good times!

9:58- Yankees now have the bases loaded for Johnny Damon (garbage player). They yanked Daisuke and brought in the rugged, Mike Timlin. Damon hits a bouncer up the middle and everyone is safe. 5-2 Red Sox. Meanwhile in Minnesota, my favorite Tiger, Timo Perez singles to right and scores two runs for the Tigers. Perez is a lifetime .267 hitter and is hitting .407 (24-59) for the Tigers since his call up from Toledo.

10:06- Jeter strikes out with the bases loaded to end the inning for the Yankees. My heart smiles.

10:14- Casey Blake homers to left and the Indians win 5-4 over the Royals.

10:21- Jason Giambi is really struggling at first base. You really gotta wonder what the Yankees will do with him if they make the playoffs. Can you really have him out there then when the stakes are that high?

I'm gonna call it a night here and just watch the rest of these games tonight. This is what is great about September baseball though. Both of these games matter so much. Tonight the Yankees lead over the Tigers is 3.5 games, after tonight it could be 2.5, 3.5, or 4.5. Every inning is huge, every pitching change is huge. Just good times all around. I remember when I was like 19 I thought, all I want is for the Tigers to be "in it" in September, that's all. Sure, I'd like it if they made the playoffs, but the possibility of making it is almost as enjoyable.

Baseball and Luck

Last year was a great year for Tiger fans, easily the best since 1984. I like to think back on last season, it makes me happy. Last fall was so great. Forward a year to the present and things aren't quite so cheery. The Tigers are trailing and not gaining any ground. With the exception of Monday nights win against the Mariners, they haven't been winning the games they need to win. The same can be said for a lot of other teams. If memory serves, here who was in the playoffs last season:

Tigers

Twins

A's

Yankees

Mets

Cardinals

Padres

Dodgers

Of that list the Yankees, Mets, and Padres would be in if the playoffs started today, that means that five teams certainly fell short of expectations this season. How does that happen? Some of it has to do with the teams in their league improving. Some of it has to do with teams getting worse. Those are all easy things to take a look at if you just want to look at roster changes, but that really doesn't tell the whole story. What about luck?

Let's start with the Tigers. Last year the Tigers went 95-67. They entered spring training this year with the same starting lineup except they added Gary Sheffield to that mix and they started with the same group of pitchers with the addition of Jose Mesa. It would stand to reason that with the same club that won 95 games the year before and the addition of Sheffield that this team would be a lock for 95 wins again this season. The only way the Tigers get there this year is if they win their last 16 games of the regular season.

Last year the Tigers had very little problem with injuries. Polanco missed 50 games last season and fifth starter Mike Maroth was hurt. That was about it. This year Kenny Rogers has made only 8 starts all year (he won 17 games last year). Joel Zumaya was obviously lights out all year last year, this year he has played in only 22 games and his performance has declined due to injuries. Jeremy Bonderman is 11-9 with a 5.00 ERA this year and is done due to injuries after going 14-8 with a 4.00 ERA last year. Last year Brandon Inge and Craig Monroe combined to hit 55 HR, this year they combined to hit 25 before Monroe was traded.

Let's take a look at the Twins. The Twins are tough every single year. This season they brought back most of the same players and had some really good young players to add to the mix. The Twins won 96 games last year and this year they are 71-73 with no chance of making the playoffs. What happened there? Last year Joe Mauer hit .347 with 13 HR and 84RBI, this year Mauer is hitting .292 with 5HR and 53RBI. He has also missed 50 games. Last season Michael Cuddyer hit 24 HR with 109 RBI compare that with this seasons 13 HR and 73 RBI. Last season the Twins got 68 wins from their starting pitching, this season, 53.

The fact is that baseball has a lot to do with luck, both good and bad. Last season the Tigers had some amazing luck and it all happened at once. Brandon Inge and Craig Monroe played way above their heads. Those guys had no business combining for all of those homeruns, but they put it together last year. Joe Mauer is not going to flirt with .350 every season, he got hot at the right time last year and the Twins dominated.

The injury bug can also be filed under luck most of the time. Injuries avoided the Tigers last year, this year, not so much. Ditto for the Twins and the A's. That's baseball. I can't complain about bad luck with injuries and down year when that door swings both ways and can really help you out at some times.

If one were to take a look at the statistical leaders at any given time during the season, even the most knowledgable baseball fan would find someone in each top 10 list who they never have thought would be there. Obviously the guys on these lists are talented, they play baseball for a living, but every season there are a handful of guys who play way over their heads for the season and their team rides that to the playoffs. Here's a quick look at some of those players and how it has made their team improve:

1. Jorge Posada (C) NY Yankees: Posada is hitting .338 this season, good for fourth in the American League. Posada is a good player, he's been catching for the Yankees the past ten years and is consistently good. However, he is a career .277 hitter. His career high was .287 before this season. There is no explaination for why a .277 hitter just hits .338 for an entire season. Like I said, Posada is good, but even the most hardcore Yankee fan (Rob?) has to admit this is surprising. In a lineup with very few holes, to get all these extra hits from a .277 hitter has to have created a lot more runs for the pinstripes this year.

2. Carlos Pena (1B) Tampa Bay D'Rays: Pena is second in the American League with 39 homeruns. Last year Tampa Bay was awful. This year? They are awful again. The reason why this one is so important is that in the past two years, this guy has been property of the Tigers, the Red Sox and the Yankees. Go ahead and try to tell me either of those teams wouldn't want a lefty first baseman with 39 homeruns.

3. Fausto Carmona (SP) Cleveland Indians: Carmona(right) is fourth in the AL with 16 wins. Last year Carmona had a record of 1-10 and blew saves at a comical rate. This year the Indians gave him a shot at the starting rotation and he has responded big time. He owns the Tigers like no one else and that sinker is said to be better than Chien-Ming Wang's. Not bad. Now the Indians are heading for the playoffs.

4.Dmitri Young (1B) Washington Nationals: When the season started writers around the baseball world had the Nationals pegged as one of the worst teams of all time. They were a team with very little young talent and the rest of the roster was filled with rejects from other teams (Dmitri Young and Ronni Belliard). Young, cut by the Tigers last fall is sixth in the NL in batting with a .327 average. Most know that Young can hit, but most figured he was washed up. The Nationals had nothing to lose and picked him up. Instead of losing 120 games the Nationals are 65-80.

5. Chris Young (OF) Arizona D'Backs and Ryan Braun (3B) Brewers: Both of these guys were big time prospects heading into the season. Very few expected them to be so good so soon. They are tied for fifth in the NL in HR with 30 each. It's no coincidence that they are both on 1st place teams.

This is what makes baseball so much fun. The season is so long, there can be so many ups and downs and much of it cannot be explained by anything other than luck.

The Desperation Bowl

I was at work today thinking about something everyone could weigh in on. In this would-be epic match up, everyone must have an opinion. If you are maize and blue, thru and thru, you are praying for the first win of the year. If you worship TD Jesus, you hope Chuck starts winning otherwise your school over paid for a clone of Ty. If you are an MSU/Wis/OSU/PSU fan, you are wallowing in the sorrow of your enemy...however, you need to be careful because if you get beat by the team that got beat by Appalachia St., what does that make you?

So here we go, a break down of the match of ND vs. UM. ESPN calls it the Pillow Fight of the Year. I call it the "Desperation Bowl". We'll break down QB's, WR's, Offense, Secondary, Front 7, Defense and Coaching.

QB: If you were naming the game after the QB's it would be the baby bowl. Neither has experience any kind of success yet. Ryan Mallet has a stronger arm than Clausen, but has been a dismal 6 of 17 with no TDs and an INT. Clausen has been no better, 21 for 38. Clausen was a more highly rated coming out of HS, but has the pressure. At this point, there is very little pressure on Mallet. However, I know for a fact that Clausen got a 67 on a Social Psyc. paper in the semester he was enrolled early at ND. He's an idiot. Advantage: Mallet and UM.

WR: There is no comparison here. Manningham and Arrington, plus Hart out of the backfield give Mallet a zillion targets. Compare this to ND's top three received this year: Robby Parris, David Grimes, and Armando Allen. Yes, Larry, Curly, and Moe. These guys are the best the Irish can offer...3 years of TOTAL experience prior to the beginning of the season. TO make matters worse, combine their career totals for receptions in their college football careers: 50. Advantage: Super Mario and Um...by a landslide.

Offense: Even without Henne, UM has a line and Mike Hart. Clausen has no protection, no running back, and no receivers. This is a confidence builder for the Wolverine D. Advantage: UM.

Secondary: Michigan's already exposed secondary was hurt by the departure of Leon Hall. Not to mention Senior Brandon Englemon is not playing like a senior and Morgan Trent is just not that skilled. If they read this, my apologies. ND returns boxer/playboy Tom Zbikowski anchors a decent secondary. Advantage: ND.

Front 7: The loss of 7 defenders to the NFL hurts any D. David Harris and Co gave Brady a fit last year. Shawn Crable and Terrance Taylor should have their way with those skinning Irish boys. Advantage: UM.

Defense: Michigan.

Coaching: A good solid argument either way on this could sell me. I think Carr can't adjust to anything. He wrote one game plan for his interview at UM and then never changed it for ANY TEAM. Off tackle left. Off Tackle right. Get a lead, sit on it. One the flip side Charlie Weis is about the most overrated, over hyped coach I have EVER heard of. Not to mention his record is almost identical to Willingham's at this point. However, he can adjust. Advantage: ND.

I will be watching the game of course. Hopefully, it sends Michigan into a series of victories.

Ugh, Steroids

There have been three more names mentioned in the list of guys who have taken performance enhancing drugs, Troy Glaus, Jay Gibbons, Rick Ankiel. This is bad news for baseball. These aren't just minor league guys they can slap a suspension on and no one cares, these are pretty high profile guys.

Jay Gibbons had a couple of big years for the Orioles a few years back and his power has clearly diminished. According to the report, Gibbons received shipments of Human Growth Hormone (HGH) among other things from 2003-2005. Gibbons had his best season in 2003 with 23 HR and 100RBI. Gibbons is the smallest fish in this pond.

Troy Glaus (right) was the MVP of the 2002 World Series and has been a serious power threat the past decade. Glaus, according to this same report had steroids shipped to him in the mail from 2003-2004. Glaus is currently being paid around $12 million a year by the Blue Jays, this investment is blowing up in their faces. All Glaus has had to say to defend himself so far is "No Comment". Not exactly the words of an innocent man.

Rick Ankiel was posted about a week or so ago on this very blog, a really great "feel good" story. Ankiel battled back from all kinds of problems to explode onto the scene this year with some great power numbers, now word is coming out that he took HGH. Ankiel has at least attempted to explain himself. He said, in so many words, that everything he took was prescribed by a doctor and that he did nothing that violated the rules of Major League Baseball. This can include HGH since it was not made illegal by MLB until 2005.

The really troubling part here is that the only way to find out if a player is injecting HGH is by testing their blood, something MLB does not do to its players EVER. You've got to think that at some point the Players Union is going to have to let MLB test their blood to help save the game. However, it isn't know that MLB has even asked to test players blood yet, if this is the case, MLB hasn't gotten the point yet. If baseball continues to ignore this problem and players continue to perform under this huge cloud of suspicion, it will sink the game eventually. Hopefully, as more names come to the forefront, MLB and the players union can take some strides in the right direction.

No NFL

So the NFL season starts tonight and I will not be watching. It's funny how when you decide you are going to give something up and it makes you realize how much of your time or thought it took up. I never considered myself a big NFL fan, but, I really liked to sit around on rainy or snowy Sunday's watching it. What am I going to do? I guess my quick point here is that it's going to take a bit more work to ignore it than I thought I would.

I have decided I am going to read more, not just sports books either. I'm going to try and follow College Football a bit more this year as well since the NFL is off limits. However, I'm afraid that I missed the best College Football story of the season already since I was up north and away from a TV when U of M lost to Appalachian State. Good stuff though.

With the Tigers fading fast from playoff contention I plan on following the Pistons a bit more closely in hopes that I can rekindle my dwindling love affair with that team. I'm trying to not get too down over the Tigers stumbles of late because they are still only 3 games behind the Yankees. They need a sweep over the Mariners this weekend to make it a two team race for the Wild Card, here's hoping they pull it off.

Quick Pennant Chase Recap...

Rob is busy, I'm depressed about the Tigers so the posts may slow, but we will keep plugging along. There is less than a month left in the regular season in Major League Baseball. Some races are as good as over while some are just getting heated, a quick recap for those of you who don't pay attention to sports until the playoffs.

AL EAST: The Red Sox have led since April and show no real signs of slowing down. Their lead over the Yankees was once 14.5 games and is now only 7. However, a 7 game lead this late in the season will not be overcome. Count the Red Sox as good as in.

AL CENTRAL: The Indians have a six game lead on the Tigers. If seven is a going to be tough to overcome for the Yankees then six should be pretty darn tough for the Tigers. I'm gonna say right now that the Indians will win this division even though their hitting as been way below where it should be.

AL WEST: The Angels lead the Mariners by 6.5 games and the Mariners have won only one of their last 10 games, so they are headed in the wrong direction. Right now the Angels appear to have the best pitching in the AL. If their hitting stays hot they will be the team to beat in the AL.

AL Wild Card: The Yankees lead the struggling Tigers by 2.5 games and the struggling Mariners by one game. Although these margins are not tough to overcome, the two teams fighting back are really having a tough time beating anyone lately. Toronto is hanging in there, back 5.5 games, but they don't appear to be much of a threat. Of the Tigers, Mariners, and Yankees, the Tigers have the most games at home and the most games against teams with losing records, including a weekend series against Seattle. This is too close to call as all three teams have some big flaws. Gun to my head I have to pick the Yankees.

NL EAST: The NY Mets lead the Phillies by 5.5 games. This is a possible comeback situation. Loyal readers may recall me picking the Phillies to make it to the World Series. Hopefully they make me look good. The Mets pitching has been suspect all year. If it can hold up another 4 weeks they should make it in.

NL CENTRAL: The Cubs lead the once hot Brewers by 1.5 games, a good close race. Too bad the Cubs are only 4 games over .500. The Cardinals, once left for dead (sound familiar, see 2006) are only two game back and are playing some great baseball. The Cubs and Brewers have both been pretty average the past few weeks so I'll go out on a limb here and will say that the Cardinals should win the NL Central. Also, if you have some free time, check out the wikipedia entry on Rick Ankiel (right) a really cool story there.

NL WEST: Right now the Padres lead the Diamondbacks by only one game and these two teams actually play later tonight. I like the Padres to win this division because of their superior starting pitching. However, if the D'Backs hot young hitters can get hot the last couple of weeks it really could be either team. The D'Backs are really set up to be good for the next 10 years if they can avoid big injuries and bigger egos. Padres this year, D'Backs next year.

NL Wild Card: The D'Backs lead the Phillies and Dodgers by 3 games each. I'm betting on a D'Backs collapse and the Phillies to come through for me. Go Phillies!

Baseball Mecca

As dedicated readers may know, I recently went on my honeymoon which was a trip along the coast of Maine. It was terrific, a wonderful time was had. Our first stop was in New York and our first morning in New York was spent in Cooperstown, NY the home of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Most people were amazed that I could "convince" my wife to stop here, it really didn't take much talking into and I don't think she was even that bored. This post will include some links and some pictures for the real blog experience. Enjoy!

The first thing I noticed was the area surrounding the Baseball Hall of Fame, it's in the middle of nowhere in a very small town. I visited here when I was 10 but obviously do not recall that about the visit, Cooperstown is touristy and I'm guessing doesn't have much for permanent residents. The small town atmosphere really added to the experience for me, it made me feel like everyone there had to travel and go out of their way to get there, it was cool. Unfortunately, 40-50% of the visitors that day appeared to be Yankee fans, you just can't get away from them. They really are everywhere.

Our first stop was Doubleday Field (left). Doubleday Field was built in 1920 and is named after Abner Doubleday, the man who claims to have invented baseball. When we were there, there was an old man's league playing there, we hung out there for a minute while Katie finished her coffee. I have to admit, seeing field with now big lights, modest stands, and a backdrop of small townhouses was pretty cool.

Next we entered the Baseball Hall of Fame. Tickets were modestly priced, around $15 each. Our first stop was a video that we thought was going to be about the 1927 Yankees widely considered the greatest team in the history of sports. However, it was just a sappy video about how great baseball is, more geared towards kids. Down, but not out, I found out that there was a tour being led about the 1927 Yankees. I attempted to get in on that action, but a herd of Yankee fans were already following the guide, completely blocking the Babe Ruth section of the Hall. Sorry, Babe, I gotta move on. We stepped into the area dedicated to minorities who were not allowed to play in the Majors until the late 1940's. We are all given the Jackie Robinson story in elementary school, but there is obviously much more to that era than Jackie. The most impressive part of this section was the amounts of memorabilia that remain from this era. The Hall of Fame has done a great job of electing players who may have spent their entire careers in the Negro Leagues.

Next it was onto the baseball greats area. There were "lockers" set up that contained items from some of the greatest players ever complete with plaques stating their greatness. There was an area for the great Tigers of the 1940s, but what caught my interest was Lou Gehrig's locker. They had an actual jersey from the Iron Horse! I told Rob while we were in Detroit that Gehrig is my all time favorite Yankee, what's not to like? This is the man who slugged nearly 500 home runs in the 1920s and 1930s when no one was hitting them other than Babe Ruth. This is the man who averaged 149 RBI per season for his career, six players have had more than that in a single season since 1964 and most of them were probably on steroids. This is also a man who played baseball every day he could until he died. I've got nothing but respect for Lou Gehrig.

After wiping off my tears from the Gehrig locker I moved on to the Tiger stuff. They had Gabe Kapler's jersey from the final game at Tiger Stadium in 1999. Why does this matter? He wore a replica of Ty Cobb's jersey, thus, it had no number on it. They also had the second base from that final game that Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammell played together. Most impressive was the section dedicated to the 1984 Tigers who are holding up pretty well historically. The team is best known for their record setting 35-5 start, a start that no team has come close to matching since then. They also had Jack Morris' hat that he wore when he threw a no-hitter in April of 1984.

In addition to the noting of great team and individual accomplishments there was also a very impressive baseball card collection. People who knew me when I was ten know that this is a huge deal. They had baseball cards from all eras here, something for every person who ever collected baseball cards. Baseball cards were my gateway into baseball, I'm pretty sure I loved baseball cards before I loved baseball. I loved organizing them and looking up their prices, and making trades with my friends. In addition to piles and piles of cards they had a separate display about Honus Wagner's baseball card (right) which the Hall dubbed, "The Holy Grail". This card pops up in newspapers about once every couple years or so when one is sold or one is found. I've heard of the card selling for one million dollars. The Hall of course has their own copy of the card and it appears to be in excellent condition.

Our final stop was the the actual "Hall". The hall is where all of the plaques are up and you can stroll through and find all of your favorites. I opted to walk through chronologically. The plaques are not up in order of when guys played, but when the were inducted. When entering the hall they have a guide of everyone's name and when the were inducted. One special thing they did was put an extra small indicator by the plaques of players who served in one of our nations many wars. I didn't think much of this, but noticed one plaque with a unique indicator by it. The indicator by Morgan G. Bulkeley was different from the others, it indicated that he served in the Civil War. I knew baseball was old, but I didn't think it reached that far back. Mr. Bulkeley was the first Commissioner of the National League, the Governor of Connecticut, a Senator, and as a Private in the Union Army. Impressive. I also made special notice of all of the plaques with Tigers on them and of course, Lou Gehrig's. However, the two most impressive plaque's were of two members of the Hall of Fame's first class, Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb. As far as baseball history goes, these two are the biggest of the big. They both held records that were thought to be unbreakable, but have since been broken. However, how many people consider Barry Bonds bigger and better than "the Babe" or consider Pete Rose a better hitter than Ty Cobb? It was really impressive to see those plaques.

All in all it was a terrific time. I could have included much more, but this will do for now. I'll end on a humorous note. Most baseball fans know that the Houston Astros play their games in Minute Made Park (charming name). I don't know how many people remember the parks original name. This picture will provide the answer for those that do not remember:

Good times! I really would suggest this trip to anyone who is heading out east for any reason. If you even semi-enjoy baseball or did at one point, you will really get something out of this trip.

Right on the chin...

What a game.

Some of you may know, others may not, but Blake and I attended Tigers batting practice off Mike Mussina...I mean, the Tigers v. Yankees game last night in Detroit. It is well documented on this blog that i am the resident Yankees fan and it was very difficult for me to watch THE WORST ROAD LOSS IN YANKEE HISTORY. Of course, we will all hear that little stat a million times on SportsCenter.

Let me just say that I give it up to the Tigers, they took the game to the Yankees. To be honest, the game was over at 7-0 in the 4th inning. Mussina had 6 ER thru 3 and then Ramirez gave 1 up. When they brought in Sean Henn, the Yanks had no intention of any heroics. They have bigger fish to fry with the Red S0x coming to town.

All in all, the game was a great time. Blake and I both had some time off work. We made great time to and from the game. I threw a pitch 64 mphs which was a good feeling. It also made me feel like I could have got in there and thrown an inning or two for the good ol' pinstripes. We enjoyed Hockeytown for some refreshments as well as nachos at the park that were delicious. You can never be mad about going to a baseball game in which your favorite team is playing. You just can't.

So there it is. The Tigers take their first series win in 5 weeks. Good for them. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut sometimes. Please feel free to use this post as a place to heap it on!

Tigers Vs. Yankees Game One

If I had gone to the game last night when it was scheduled to start and left when it was over I would have been at Comerica Park for 8.5 hours and would have gotten back to Lansing around 5am. I didn't go, but I did watch the entire game, I stayed up until 3:30 just hoping they would win that game.

A loss under last nights circumstances would have been killer for the Tigers and their fans. They had a couple of leads that disappeared, then their bullpen actually held the Yankees scoreless for 6 innings, an extra inning loss at 3am would have been a true punch in the stomach. Apparently 20,000 fans stayed in the park to see the entire a game, truly impressive.

Carlos Guillen's homerun in the bottom of the 11th may have saved their season.

Why I root for The Pinstripes...

At this point in my life, I love virtually any sport that I can wrap my head around. Competition at the highest level is something that enjoy. It has not always been that way. I'd like to incorporate Blake into my journey in becoming a Yankees fan.

When we were young I remember Blake loving the Tigers. I can attest to the fact that he would look over the box scores while we were camping at Holland State Park like he talks about in those overly sappy stories. However, I did not. Why? I didn't understand. Here is what I knew about the Tigers: Travis Fryman had a sweet name, and Alan Trammell seemed like the most boring name in all of history. I didn't understand baseball, let alone root for any one team. So, I didn't. I never rooted for the Tigers growing up, so why would I now?

Blake touched on this, but I will open it up. I have never understood nor has someone ever been able to explain to me, why I have to like the team that is in your state or that you are near. You grew up in the state your parents choose to live. It is along the same lines of logic as voting the same as your parents just because that is what was choose for you. I'd imagine that the gentleman that posted previously is a republican because his parents are. I digress... But to get back on track, there seems to be this fantasy that I MUST like the Tigers because I live in Michigan. As I stated at the beginning, there is no reasoning behind this.

But that is about why I don't root for the Tigers. There are three reasons I root for the Yankees:

1. I choose the to root for the Yankees because I love the expectations. There is NO other team in the 4 major sports that have the expectations the Yankees do. Sure, there are teams that go into season wanting to win it all, others are even favored to go all the way. Without fail, the Yankees are expected to win the World Series. When they don't, it is a disappointment. The Tigers had an outstanding season last year and if the Yankees would have done the same thing, it would have been a disappointment. I enjoy that.

2. I am truly a Yankee fan. Rewind to the 2001 World Series, where I stood in a room of people rooting against the DBacks and then had my heart wrenched out after Luis Gonzales slapped a single for the game winning run. I went from bandwagon fan to the real deal when that happened. I knew then, that it was pinstripes...win, lose or draw. So for anyone that thinks I started rooting for the Yankees because they win can swallow that argument because it was there demise that turned me into a Bronx Bomber backer.

3. I am more New York than Detroit. I remember during the playoff series last year there were comparison drawn between the Tigers and the Yankees and I can't put it better than that. The Yankees were the consummate professionals and the Tigers had the blue collar work ethic. This is not a slam on the Tigers, nor does this make one better than the other but the Yankees image is something that enjoying watching more than the Tigers.

So there it is. Bring on your comments because I have been a Yankees fan for 6 years now and I have heard it all.

More Tigers...

I think it goes without saying, but this next week can make or break the Tigers season. With the next 7 games at home against the Indians and Yankees the Tigers need to bring it, for their own sake. I think they could go 2-5 in the next 7 and still make the playoffs, but they need the confidence that comes with big wins.

Their struggles of late have been well documented, since obtaining the best record in baseball they have gone 10-21, heading in the wrong direction. Over that time they have sustained injury after injury* and have seen many faces come and go. This is a team in the middle of big changes at a big point in the season. Luckily for the Tigers the Indians haven't been much better. The Indians are only up 1.5 games after the Tigers plummet from the top when they could easily be 7 or 8games up, not a confidence builder for them either. Did you know Travis Hafner is hitting only .253 this season? Unreal. The bottom line, as the Cardinals realized last year, is that all you need to do is get in. Tiger fans remember getting swept by the Royals to end the regular season last year when they need wins to avoid the Yanks in the playoffs. The playoffs are just as much about luck as skill. That's why baseball is great.

So here we go, this marathon week. To cap it all off, I'll be at the last game of the seven with Rob, we should have some good stuff in the upcoming week about that game and what it means to us and to the teams. Enjoy.



*The injury argument is bogus. Sure, it can make you feel better about why your team is playing poorly, but, EVERY team suffers injuries, every team in baseball, that's just the way it is. So I don't blame the Kenny Rogers injury or Zumaya's or Sheffield's injury situations for why they are struggling. That' why you make sure you have a deep roster with solid backups.*

Tigers Gut Check

Jim Leyland recently downplayed the next few games because of how much baseball is left to be played.

I disagree with this a great deal.

I don't remember who said, but it was during the NBA playoffs when a media reporter used the phrase "must-win game". The coach blew up on the reporter saying that there isn't a game that should be a game they can lose ever, let along one that will prolong or end their season depending on the outcome. Over the next 13 games (7 H, 5 R), Detroit has a chance to control their own destiny. These games come in the form of 5 against the Cleveland Indians, a team that they are now tied with for the AL Central. I posted at the half way point that Detroit needs to "clean up" their 4-6 record versus the Indians. This is still true and they have 5 games to do it.

The other 8 games are against the hottest team in the MLB right, the New York Yankees. This would be the team they would need to get past for the Wild Card. This also comes at a time when Detroit's pitching is reeling. Verlander has been sick. Rogers and Miller are both hurt. Bondermen is 1-4 in his last 5 decisions. Durbin is back in the starting rotation along with Jurrijens. This is a point of concern for Detroit.

2 games out of the wild card and tied for their division. Can the Tigers do it?

Gone Again...

Well the Tigers have hit a low point. Down 8-1 to the A's tonight they scored 8 runs in a row to go up 9-8 only to give it right back up and lose 16-10. They are awful all around right now. So, now is as good a time as any to head out on vacation. I will be gone until next Saturday in Maine. Along the way I am stopping at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY, I will give a full report.

Hopefully Rob has a post or two in him while I'm gone.

Empire On Track

So much to post about, so little time...

If you look back at my "Happy Halfway, AL..." post, it gave a run down of where everyone was in the standings and of course I had to make sure my Yankees got a little press in there. I noted that they need to go 20-8 over their first 28 games after the all star break to be in contention. At that point, it would give them the opportunity to compete for the Wild Card and possibly their division.

As of today, they have gone 20-8. They are 1/2 game back from the Tigers and M's, who are tied for the Wild Card spot as of right now. They are also 6 games back of Boston. That number is down from 14.5 at one point in the season. The Yankees have 8 games left against Detroit, 6 games left against Boston, and 3 games left with Seattle. While NYY lost last night, they are looking down the barrel of three with Cleveland (Yes, Detroit fans, you all need to be rooting for us this week) and at the heart of what will make or break them this year.

Speaking of NYY v. Det....

Some of you may be aware that Blake and I will be attending the final game of that 8 game series between the red-hot Yankees and the slumping Tigers. It is certainly shaping up to have implications on the playoff race and we are going to be in the heat of it. Of course, we won't be able to have a laptop to chronicle each pitch, we do need a idea on how to go about recording this great event. Blake, could we also consider a friendly wager (not money of course, that's illegal!). This could be something else for the people out there to give feedback on.

That's what I got for now. Thoughts?

Letter From the NFL

Why I am Boycotting the NFL

As most loyal readers know, I am boycotting the NFL this year. A quick run down of what the includes:

1. I will not watch a single minute of a NFL game this year, that includes the Super Bowl.
2. No reading about the NFL (websites, papers, magazines).
3. When a NFL story comes up on the television I will change the channel.
4. No fantasy football.
5. No playing Madden.

So those are the rules for now. Now for the story.

At the end of April this past spring the story broke that Vick could be involved in dog fighting. There was no concrete evidence at this point. It made me feel sick. I initially thought that he could just be one bad apple and I can't judge the NFL based on one bad apple (even though they have many). The following day, Vick started to take some heat so the media asked other players what they thought of his situation. A couple of players on the Washington Redskins stuck right up for Vick. Their argument was that the dogs were Vick's property and he could do what he pleased with his property. Property. Property. He could do what he wanted with his property. The word property there is what really set me off.

Not to go all animal rights on everyone here but have you ever had a pet? A dog, a cat? Would you consider that pet your property or would you consider it your friend, companion, or family member? Within a couple of hours of multiple players sticking up for Vick (fellow All Pro RB Clinton Portis was one that stuck up for Vick) the NFL had to make a statement saying it did not condone dog fighting or cruelty to animals. I don't think your league is quite up to snuff when you have to make a formal statement about not supporting cruelty to animals. In my estimation the NFL was in some pretty serious trouble.

It was around this time pictures started to surface of the home owned by Vick where the suspected dog fighting was taking place. Notice the black windowless buildings back behind the house surrounded by the black fence. In the evening, from the road, it was appear as though there was nothing on that land other than the huge white house. It was in these houses that authorities found dog fighting pits, blood, teeth, and other evidence suggesting dog fighting. Just look at the amount of work that went into putting this all together.

Once I saw this pictures and heard the support of fellow NFL players is when I made my decision to boycott the NFL. I wrote Commissioner Goodell letting him know that because of the way NFL players were sticking up for dog fighting that I would be boycotting his league for the entire 2007 NFL season. I couldn't figure out how to post the letter on here without messing up the rest of the post, so just see the post above this one for a copy of the letter I got from the NFL.

Now the Vick thing is blowing up and it's all over the news. The guy is in major trouble. I understand that not everyone is as outraged about this as I am, I'm comfortable with that. It's just when I read about this and what happened to some of those dogs it gets me right in the pit of my stomach and makes me feel just awful. I hope the NFL/World can grasp the seriousness of this issues and how cruel it really is.

So much happening!!!

I don't know if Blake is doing relief work in the South or scouting LSU for our upcoming College Football preview. Hopefully, he is doing both.

How does he leave during the first week in the summer that there is all kinds of action in the sports world?!?!

Garnett Trade....Texiera and Gagne on the move...Glavine at 299, Bonds at 754, Arod at 499...

Where to start?!

I will only hammer on the Garnett trade because that is huge right now. Also, my prediction that it would bring Bill Simmons out from behind his book writing was correct within hours of posting. He must be reading our blog.

Boston has shifted into the favorite to win the East. Argue with me. I dare you.

From a contending stand point, they have the next 4 years to put together Championship teams. It will probably take them a season to get used to each other, but they are still the favorite in the East. Cleveland doesn't have enough to stop them. Detroit is slowing down and they somehow think that by not making changes and signing ineffective postseason pointguards to max deals will help them...not sure what Joe D. is thinking on that front. Miami is good but every year Shaq slows down more and Dwayne's shoulder will not be able to carry the whole team. All these teams have 1 or 2 stars. Boston now has 3 major players that can take over a game at any point.

The other great part about this is that once these guys finish up their contracts, it will free up scads of salary cap room. Allen is at 14 million, Pierce is at 15 million, and Garnett is at 17 million. They will probably all wrap things up within a year or two after winning 3 or 4 conference titles and a pair of championships. Since they have no cap room they will sign guys that are going to playing for peanuts (in terms of NBA salaries) that are going to get a free ride. These free riders will realize that they will look so good if they just play hard and smart. Since they will all be guys trying to prove themselves (this is proven via the minuscule salary they command), it adds yet another incentive to play hard.

The one issue with all of this is that they will still have to win a 7 game series against a Western Conference team. It may take a warm up year but they will hammer out the kinks.

Should be fun to watch.

Blake, I am sorry.

When I came on board, I was excited. Blake and I exchanged emails about topics and we had some great ideas. There were, however, a few topics that we said we hated talking about. Blake is going to be putting together a piece on why he is boycotting the NFL (I had mentioned there was no way I was posting on that and giving Vick the satisfaction). I am looking forward to that piece.

Which brings me to my apology. I am sorry that I am about to post about Barry Bonds. I know the media has covered to the point of vomiting, but I want to hear what people around us say. Sure, we hear a lot reporters towing the company line. I want some opinions.

So, here's mine.

Where to begin? I was inspired by a CNN.com list of the "Greatest non-drug related Scandals ever". It covered Pete Rose (gambling), The Chicago Black Socks, current NBA situation, etc. It seems that people are not able to draw a line between different types of cheating. There was recently a "town hall" discussion hosted by ESPN in San Fran (of all the places!). There was this huge debate about types of cheating. Some of the guests were arguing that all cheating is the same! They were honestly putting scuffing a ball and using Vaseline on the same level as juicing.

Am I missing something here?

To me, it is different. When Kenny Rogers has a little somethin' on his hand...fine. If Niekro gets away with having that emery board, so be it. I am willing to draw the line and say, "If somebody does this and doesn't get caught, that's life." However, when one crosses the line of gambling and drugs, it has gone to far. It is self destructive behavior and is hurting the game.

The next attitude that I can't stand that stems from not being able to differentiate between levels of cheating is from Buster Olney, a columnist for ESPN.com. His point was that we are in the steroids era and Bonds has hit those home runs against guys who could very well be juicing. Since there is no way to tell who is and who isn't using the cream and the clear, he is either voting for nobody or everybody. He isn't going to deny someone his vote because of alleged steroid use.

This is pathetic. Grow a back bone and using your judgement skills. That is why you have a Hall of Fame vote. As a person that has a vote for the most prestigious club in sports, you need to be able to look at each case and identify if they should be allowed that honor. Buster, when you read this, take a look at the picture below. That is the guy that is going to have one of the greatest records in sports history. He thanks you for your vote.

More trading...

A few things on trades upcoming or not upcoming:

1. I can't believe there is not more action with relief pitching. It is amazing to me that there are teams like the Tigers, the Yankees, and every other team that honestly thinks they can sit back and be ok with what they have. There are so many holes in middle relief out there that it could turn the playoffs into a crap shot and have a team like St. Louis win again.

2. To add to Blake's post, Bondo wasn't looking exactly stellar the other night, allowing 12 ER in less than 3 innings of work. That is rough. The really rough part for Det is that they are behind Clevland in the season series (4-6). You guys are going to want to clean that up. They have 8 games left against the Indians and 8 games against the Yanks. All they need to do is to dominate the season series against one of those teams and that will solidfy their spot in their division or the Wild Card.

3. Celtics and TWolves are rehashing Garnett trades. Could be fun.

I Hate to Say it...

...but, Nate Robertson is the new Mike Maroth. Every time this guy throws I feel as though there's a good chance the other team will score 6 or more runs. Not a great feeling and he's pitching terribly in a pretty big game against the Angels right now. Tigers went up 2-0 in the first then Nate coughs up 7 in the next 1 2/3. Yuck.

MLB Deadline

As most of you know the MLB trading deadline is July 31st, just around the corner. This is a lot like all other trade deadlines, lots of build up and little follow through. For the next four days there will all kinds of talk about what big name is on the move and who may be interested in their services. Here's the quick run down of what's being talked about around baseball:

1. The biggest name out there is that of Mark Teixeira of the Texas Rangers. Teixeira is a big left handed power bat, what team wouldn't want that? He is only 27 years old and in 2005 he hit 43 HR and and had over 140 RBI, not a bad year at all. His power numbers have dropped since then but he's still a good bet for 30 HR and 100 RBI a year. He's a guy who has been on the block all year and has obviously gone nowhere so far. So you're probably thinking, 'if he's so good then why is he being shopped and why hasn't he been traded yet?' I won't lie, those are all good questions and here's why those things are happening. The main reason is, as always, money. After the 2008 season he will be a free agent and his agent is super jerk Scott Boras. Boras is known around the sports world for getting the most money for his players. So in order to get Teixeira in the first place a team would have to give up some really good young players and then run the risk of having him leave town for more money in the winter of 2008. That's a gamble. Word right now is that the Rangers are lowering their expectations for what they'll get in return. So Teixeira may actually be traded.

2. A bunch of crap, that's what is left. All teams need relief pitching, too bad that adds up to no one giving up what they have. The only real exception there is in Houston where the Astros are playing awful ball but have some great relief pitchers. Lidge, Wheeler, and Qualls could all be traded in the next couple days should the Astros admit that their season is over (it is). Should that happen every contending team will be on the phone with the Astros. They could really restock their minor league system with a couple of nice trades.

3. White Sox players. Another rumor floating around is that the White Sox are pretty much shopping their whole roster as they have been a big disappointment this year. They have an old team of slow stars. Dye, Thome, and Konerko aren't getting any younger and the Sox aren't getting any closer to another World Series. They may decide it's time to start over. I'd be okay with that after they just took 3 of 5 from the Tigers.

4. The key thing to remember is that most of this and the rumors all over the news are speculation. Almost nothing will happen. However, it's possible that this could be the year we see a bunch of big names go. That's what keeps me paying attention.

Gambling and the NBA

As you've no doubt heard by now, the NBA is in "oh crap" mode after it came to light that one of their referee's gambled on games that he officiated. Not a good thing. Tim Donaghy is under an intense investigation for gambling on football and on NBA games that he officiated. This is obviously an absolute nightmare for the NBA.

I am just old enough to remember when Pete Rose was busted for gambling on baseball. It was huge. Pete Rose was on the lead story on the national news. Sure, Tim Donaghy is no Pete Rose but Pete Rose could only control what happened with his own team. Donaghy held the fate of every NBA team at one time or another. There is no telling how much damage he did to the NBA, not yet anyway. I am believer in the livelihood of sports. If a team is on a role in a game, say it's an NBA game, and the Hawks are leading the Spurs by 11. Suddenly the officials call 4 consecutive fouls on the Hawks that they believe are unfair. All of the sudden the tide has shifted and it has nothing to do with what the Hawks have done, it's all on the refs. Now the Hawks are down in the dumps and they are upset. They go on to lose the game by 11 points. Sure, those four fouls in no way make up a 22 point swing, but they sure helped set the whole thing in motion. There is no telling how often that scenario played out because of Tim Donaghy manipulating the game.

The next big moment will come when/if Donaghy names names. If he names no one the NBA will suffer for the next few years. If he names a couple of Refs and/or players the league may be through. I don't think that is an exaggeration either, I really think that if there is this huge ring of gambling within the NBA that the league will be done. Professional basketball will have to start from scratch.

One final troubling note is that there is word now the NBA knew that there was a chance Donaghy was gambling. They heard he was gambling on NFL games. If it comes out, that they FOR SURE knew he was gambling on the NFL and they knew in January/February and still let him officiate games after that, they are really in a whole. I imagine it could cost David Stern his job.

The fact for now is that we just don't know enough yet. This story should get juicier and juicier as the summer moves along.

Easy Boots

Here it is, the long awaited post about Carlos Guillen errors correlating with Tiger wins and losses. I looked around and couldn't find a website that included errors in game logs so I'm going to have to go look at every Tiger box score so far this season to find Guillen's 18 errors. Just to put this in perspective real quick, Guillen has 18 errors in 81 games this season and had 17 in 135 games in 2004, his range his getting worse not better. There has even been talk of him being the Tigers next first baseman. What is strange about Guillen and people who have watched at least 40 Tiger games this season will tell you the same thing, he makes the difficult plays and blows the easy ones. So here we go, off to the box scores...

#1: In an April 7th win over the Royals.
1-0 in error games.
#2: In an April 21st loss to the White Sox. Error leads to a 10th inning run.
1-1 in error games.
#3: In an April 22nd win over the White Sox.
2-1 in error games.
#4: In an April 23rd win over the Angels. Three games in a row with an error.
3-1 in error games.
#5 and 6: In an April 24th loss to the Angels. Two errors in one innings led to 3 runs.
3-2 in error games.
#7: In a May 9th loss to the Mariners.
3-3 in error games.
#8: In a May 17th loss to the Red Sox. Error was the difference in the game.
3-4 in error games.
#9: In a May 19th victory over the Cardinals.
4-4 in error games.
#10: In a May 20th win over the Cardinals.
5-4 in error games.
#11: In a June 10th win over the Mets.
6-4 in error games.
#12: In a June 18th win over the Nationals.
7-4 in error games.
#13: In a June 30th loss to the Twins.
7-5 in error games.
#14: In a July 5 win over the Indians.
8-5 in error games.
#15: In a July 7th win over the Red Sox.
9-5 in error games.
#16: In a July 8th victory over the Red Sox.
10-5 in error games.
#17: In a July 12th loss to the Mariners. The error was the difference in the game. Although, I watched this game and it was an awful call more than an error. Tough break, Carlos.
10-6 in error games.
#18: In a July 15th win over the Mariners.
11-6 in error games.

Okay, that was fun. A few conclusions can be drawn:

1. His errors aren't nearly as costly in real life as they are in my mind. Although, just looking at this now, his errors did have a pretty huge factor in at least five Tiger losses.

2. The Tigers/Guillen have been very lucky that the errors, for the most part, have come at opportune times.

3. The Tigers winning percentage this season is, .604, in Guillen error games it is, .647. So, a moron could argue that it is to the Tigers benefit to boot a few in the field every now and again.

Things to Come...

Hello all, I'm back and connected to the internet, it feels good. Anyway, this really isn't a formal post, just a preview of things to come:

1. Report of Carlos Guillen errors and what those errors mean to the Tigers.

2. NBA Free Agent movement (Rashard Lewis to Orlando, Darko to Memphis, etc.)

3. MLB trade deadline and what happens (or doesn't happen).

4. Why I am boycotting the NFL for a season.

There will be much much more and I will try to update this with much more regularity.

Happy Halfway, AL Style

Alright, so I haven't been posting. I haven't be active on the blog. I am in the doldrums of the sports season. The lack of exciting sports has lead me to start watching the "Who's Now" series on Sportscenter. Essentially, ESPN added Keyshawn Johnson and lost Dan Patrick. That is like the Bulls calling up the Blazers after the Bulls had double three-peated and said, "Hey we feel bad about that whole Sam Bowie thing, let's trade, take Jordan." I can't even handle Keyshawn. Combine that with the only major sports news being Mr. Steroids going for the all time home run record, which we will now be able to call the all time "who can take the most steroids" record until Arod breaks it.

What we can do, however, is review the first half of both the AL and the NL. Apparently, there has been too much talk about the Yanks on this blog. You know what I say? There has been too much Tiger talk.

In looking at the AL, there are 4 teams that have a pretty solid grasp on the playoffs. They make the first of three tiers of teams vying for the postseason. That is how we will break this thing down:

TIER ONE:
Red Sox, Tigers, Indians, and Angels.

BOSTON:
They are the team to beat. They have a good bullpen and good defense. There only problem seems to be a lead off guy with an OBP of .270. They could drop Juilo Lugo, call up there best prospect and probably upgrade big time. I know I have heard they are shopping around for Gagne (Along with the Twins and the Tigers) but I don't buy that. Papelbon, Okajima, and once Pineiro is healthy their rotation is fine. As long as Beckett and Schilling don't have to go up against the Yankees (who have owned them this year), they will be fine. Like I said, they are the team to beat.

Tigers: Blake, you can handle this one. I will say that they are close to the BoSox in record, but I give the Red Sox the clear edge over them. Refute this. It will be fun.

Indians: They have been duking it out with the Tigers through out the season for the first place in their division. If I am the Indians, I feel pretty good. They just signed Hafner to a 4 year deal for under 60 million, which seems dirt cheap for a guy that was sniffing at the AL MVP at one point. Sabaithia is lights out and Borowski (their closer) is only 2 off the lead league in saves. The one thing that sets them apart from the Tigers and Soxs is that they don't have as deep of a starting pitching rotation. Carmona is a great no. 2, but after that it gets weak. I'd say they need to make a move if they want to win the division. Otherwise, they are going to get bogged down in the Wild Card race which is going to heat up.

Angels: The Angles are one step ahead of the Indians with Lackey and Escobar in the starting pitch situation. But what happened to Ervin Santana? Are you kidding me? He has a Carl Pavano-espue 5.97 Era and a record of 5-10. If he comes around in the second half, they will pull away from Seattle, who might be the most intriguing team in the AL right now.



TIER TWO:
Twinkies and Mariners

SEATTLE: 2.5 games out of their division lead, 3 games off the wild card. They are 7-3 in their last 10 and will be the team that will be in the most contention for the Wild Card. They don't rely heavily on one single starter in their rotation. No one has more than 8 wins, but 8 pitchers with at least 30 strike outs. Ichiro is about as much a guarantee as death and taxes. If Weaver comes around and they get consistent in their pitching, the Angels could be in trouble.

MINNESOTA: The have Johann Santana, every game he pitches is a chance to win. I don't really want to talk about them any more because they are going to get knock around by Detroit and Cleveland.

TIER THREE:
A's, Jays, Yankees

The Yankees: Seattle and Minn have a chance at the WC. All three of these teams are 8 or more games out of the WC. Thus, I will only speak on the Yanks because for all intensive purposes, these teams are in PANICMODE. However, of these three teams, the Yankees have the best chance to run the tables (every time someone uses that phrase, I sense hope is lost). When they are healthy, their rotation is unreal, Clemens, Pettitte, Mussina, Wang, Hughes. Hughes will be back in a could of weeks. Clemens has been the picture of stamina, 4 QS in 6 starts, which is good for 4th best on the team right now. The second part is sad, but let's move on. Karstens will be back and be good in relief. With ath start rotation working, 8.5 games doesn't really seem like that much. ESPECIALLY because they start the second half with Tampa, Tor, Tampa, KC, and Balt, CWS, KC again, and Tor again...a nice little 28 game stretch(14 hm, 14 aw) against teams that are ALL .500 or worse. If they don't rip off some major win streaks during that time, they are out. I'd say they need to be 20-8 after those games to keep themselves in it. I will check in on this Aug. 8th, when it is over.

That's what I got for now.

Break

I am on a brief break from this blog because I don't have internet at my new place yet. I will have it up and going by Tuesday. As for Rob, I'm not even sure he's still alive.

What to do?

It seems like it wasn't that long ago on here I was talking about the Tigers bullpen problems and what they should do and shouldn't do. Since then they've made a bunch of trades. Mike Maroth is gone, Wil Ledezma is gone, Chad Durbin is in the pen, so is Macay McBride, and so is Jose Capellan. Quite a shake up over the past month.

Sadly, all these changes have added up to more of the same. I'm guessing the Tigers will continue to keep an eye on Zumaya. If it looks like he's gonna be back for most of August-October, I bet they stand pat with what they have now. If not, they'll continue to be active in the trade market. I don't see them picking up scraps, they won't pick up guys who have been waived, no point in doing that. As of right now the Texas Rangers have been asking for Cameron Maybin in every trade offer with the Tigers, that's not going to happen (I hope).

Keep an eye on the Tigers over the next two weeks, the success or lack there of in their bullpen over that time period will say a lot about what direction they will head in. Right now the bullpen is killing them. Jason Grilli (left) has looked awful and so have many others, I won't go into all of that, it's too depressing. Relief pitching is really all the team is lacking.

NBA Draft: 2007

I will be posting here all night as I follow the NBA Draft as closely as one can from East Lansing, MI. I will be sizing up each pick and each trade as the night moves along. I will refresh the post every three picks so this post will grow in size as the night gets later, enjoy.

1st: Portland Trailblazers: Greg Oden (C) Ohio State: Can't fault them for this pick, not one bit. I think they maybe thought about grabbing Durant instead, but why? Oden is a franchise quality center, guys like that really only come along every 8-10 years, so they couldn't pass him up. I think this is like when Houston took Hakeen Olajuwon over Michael Jordan. We all know that Michael Jordan is the best player ever but you have never heard anyone rip the Rockets for taking Hakeem, same sort of situation. Sure, Durant could be a McGrady/Garnett hybrid, but Oden is a defensive force and a true post scorer, can't pass that up if you're Portland. Now Portland has Oden, LaMarcus Aldridge, Zach Randolph (for now), and Brandon Roy. A very good young nucleus.

2nd: Seattle Supersonics: Kevin Durant (GF) Texas: Another no brainer here. Durant will sell seats in Seattle (for at least one season if the team is moved) which is no easy task. The thing that scares me about Durant is that he is just so frail looking. Sure there are plenty frail guys in the NBA, but then there are great players like McGrady that have been very skilled in the NBA but just cannot stay healthy. I can see that happening with Durant. I won't put any money on it, it just scares me. That's really the only downside to this pick. Plus, this is a zero pressure pick. Portland could be ridiculed for years to come for passing on Durant, the Sonics don't have a choice, nothing wrong with being in that position. Seattle is a team poised to make lots of deals so I don't feel like I can really speculate on what that team will look like for next year. However, I can see them building around Durant. They have some really good players that are aging that they could trade off for other good young players to play along with Durant. The future is bring for the Sonics, no matter where they play.

**All I can think when they call players names is how they're mom's are all getting paid. I'd love to see someones mom say, "Sure, I'm very happy for my son, but I'm getting paid!"**

3rd: Atlanta Hawks: Al Horford (F) Florida: I like this pick even though the Hawks have now taken forwards like 19 out of the last 20 years. I think this pick triggers some trades for the Hawks and that's good. Horford has been called "the most NBA ready" of all players in this draft. I always liked him when he was at Florida because he was one of those guys when watching him that made me think "this guys could score 30 a game if he wanted to". He never did because he was such a good teammate. He's also good for Atlanta because he's always been a winner, you can't discount that in college players. Good pick for the Hawks. Lots of really good young talent and the Hawks have the 11th pick as well, we'll know more about where they are headed after that pick.

4th: Memphis Grizzlies: Mike Conley (PG) Ohio State: The comparisons to Tony Parker have been non stop since he said he was going pro and I think it's fair. I also don't know if it's totally accurate. He can't shoot like Parker and as we all know, Parker is great because he can get to the rim whenever he wants to, I don't know that Conley can do that in the NBA. Look at the best young PGs in the NBA. Paul, Williams, Parker, etc, they can all shoot the ball from the outside. That really worries me about Conley. He seems a lot like a 12ppg /7apg guy to me, which isn't awful, but is he worth the number four pick for the worst team in the NBA? Hmm. Conley has also had Oden as a teammate since 9th grade, I don't see anyone like that on the Grizzly roster, how will Conley adjust to not having a dominate teammate.

**TRADE** Looks like Boston will pick here, Boston picks up Ray Allen from Seattle. Looks like Boston will try to compete for the next couple years with Ray Allen and Paul Pierce, that sounds a lot like 45 wins to me. Boston will now pick for Seattle. **

5th: Boston Celtics: Jeff Green (F) Georgetown: So Jeff Green and Kevin Durant are going to be teammates, two quality wing guys. Green was one of those guys I really loved two years ago. This year as Georgetown started play great basketball I think he got a big overrated. Jay Bilas just said he could put up "big numbers" I don't see that. I think his ceiling is Josh Howard/Tayshaun Prince. Now that I think about it, pairing a guy like that with Kevin Durant is a pretty good move. So Seattle is starting to take shape, they now have lost their top two players (Rashard Lewis and Ray Allen) and replaced those positions with two really athletic young players. It looks like Seattle is moving in the right direction. Now they just need a healthy Robert Swift to score in the post (sort of kidding, sort of not). Go ahead and do a google image search of Robert Swift, you won't be disappointed.

**Side note, I read that the Chinese government really want Yi to go to a big market team. Milwaukee is picking next. Could get interesting.**

6th: Milwaukee Bucks: Yi Jianlian (FC) China: Uh oh. Milwaukee is about to go to war with China. I've obviously never seen the guy play. I'll just recycle what I've heard. He's a big guy who can shoot from outside and can score off the dribble. He's basically what people said about Darko when he was picked. So he sounds really good but who really knows. He is a seven footer but he's very skinny. However, I really like the Bucks, they now have him, Michael Redd, Maurice Williams, Bogut, and Villanueva. That's a lot of young talent. Now they just need to sign him. However, I wouldn't be surprised if he refused to sign so they had to trade him.

7th: Minnesota Timberwolves: Corey Brewer (GF) Florida: Kind of surprised here. I thought maybe they'd pick a big man so they would never have to play Mark Blount again, but I am wrong. I like Brewer. He can play D. That'll be his biggest asset. He's big for a guard but he'll draw the biggest matchup in almost every game. He'll be guarding Kobe, LeBron, Wade et al for the next 12 years. However, he's not much of a scorer. That being said, I'd take him over Jeff Green. Obviously he's still very young and has time to work on his offense, so that should improve. This could signal the end of the Ricky Davis era in Minnesota. However, with Garnett's future in the air, it's hard to say how this pick will effect Minnesota in the long run. I fully expected McHale to take Spencer Hawes here, good thing he didn't.

**I don't trust Michael Jordan as an executive. I bet he screws this next pick up. Probably Noah.**

8th: Charlotte Bobcats: Brandan Wright (F) North Carolina: Big surprise, another UNC guy. I like this pick a lot. All season long people had Wright going third or fourth in the draft. He dropped over the past two months because he's so skinny and doesn't have a great shot. However, he's gonna be a power forward, he jumps like crazy and if he bulks up a bit more, who cares that he can't shoot from outside. Another thing that has been said about him is that he doesn't play his hardest at all times. Isn't that what everyone said about Kwame Brown? So the Bobcats will need to stay on top of him and make sure he plays hard all of the time. I'm betting he hits a major wall around March 1st and the Bobcats will still be really bad. You heard it here first, folks.

9th: Chicago Bulls: Joakim Noah (F) Florida: Just what they needed, another big man who cannot score. I hate this pick for Chicago. The main knock on the Bulls last year was that their offense got stagnant and they didn't have a big man to score down low. Noah only averaged 12ppg last year and I'm guessing 90% of those were on free throws, dunks, and layups. Yikes. The one thing about him is that he's a real winner, and he tries hard all of the time. He's like that jerk Verajao. Verajao is very valuable to Cleveland but is he what Chicago needs? I really don't think so. Maybe he'll prove me wrong. The main feeling here is that when I add him to Chicago's roster he doesn't make them any more scary.

10th: Sacramento Kings: Spencer Hawes (C) Washington: I like this pick. Hawes is really young and needs a lot of work, but what do the Kings care, they're going nowhere. I had never heard of Hawes until the middle of the season last year. He's killer in the paint, there are very few guys who can do that. An easy comparison is Brad Miller and they will be teammates for the Kings. I'm always scared of big guys who don't dunk or rebound. They all remind me of Stacy King, Brad Miller, and Chris Mihm. Just learned he has a bumper sticker that says "God Bless George W. Bush". Interesting. Anyway, I do like this pick, it's a bit of a gamble but if the Kings just nabbed a productive 7 foot scorer they will come off as big winners in this draft.

**I think we could see the Hawks trade this pick for a PG, if not, they could take Acie Law. If they somehow pass on a PG, I will be amazed.**

11th: Atlanta Hawks: Acie Law (PG) Texas A&M: Good pick here. Law is one of those guys who dropped a bit a few weeks back, but he's gutsy, you can't pick that up. I watched a few A&M games last year and he played huge in each game. He's tough and he's not afraid of anything, he'll always take the big shot. I like the Hawks taking him here instead of taking Conley with the third pick. I do think Conley is better, but not that much better. Another nice thing about him is that he's a senior, so you know he's ready to go right away, something the Hawks need since they haven't had a decent point guard in a decade.

12th: Philadelphia 76ers: Thaddeus Young (F) Georgia Tech: Rated as one of the better scorers in the draft. He's a bit of a tweener at 6'7''. Not sure where he plays though. They already have Korver at SF. However, the Sixers do have three picks in the first round so they could have a lot of movement before the summer is over. Young did put up around 15ppg as a freshman in the ACC, no easy task. I think the Sixers would have preferred a PF to replace Joe Smith but all the options were gone by the time they had to pick.

13th: New Orleans Hornets: Julian Wright (F) Kansas: Good pick for the Hornets. He can play the 3 or the 4 which is good since Peja Stojakovic is worthless. Wright is still very young, he left after his sophomore year. Wright is a lot like Young in that he is young and raw but he did put up big numbers in a strong conference. Should the Hornets try to up the tempo in their game, which they should with Chris Paul, Wright could be very good his rookie season. Not a bold pick here, but he should contribute a bit this season. He did score over 20 pts only four times last year and averaged only 12 for the season.

14th: Los Angeles Clippers: Al Thornton (F) Florida State: One of those guys who everyone was talking about leading up to the draft. When I look at the Clippers team I see a bunch of slow and old guys, not good. They were wise to pick up Thornton here who many say is the next best scorer next to Durant in the draft. I saw a few FSU games last year and he was amazing. He carried his team, that says something about the guy. He can also rebound like crazy for a guy who is 6'7''. When you look at his numbers and hear what people say about him, you wonder why he dropped this far. The only real downside is that he is sort of old. If he scores 13 a game next year no one will care how old he is.

**I heard that there is no way the Pistons won't take Rodney Stuckey right here, I'm going to start my write up on him right now during the commercials.**

15th: Detroit Pistons: Rodney Stuckey (G) Easter Washington: Stuckey is a combo guard who can play PG, SG, and SF. He averages about 25ppg last year for a small school, many view him as one of the best guards in the draft. The Pistons needs more scoring from their backup guards. Stuckey will be viewed as a huge upgrade over Hunter, Flip, and Delfino. So essentially the Pistons picked up Stuckey for Darko. We'll see if that pans out for them. Being 6'5'' Stuckey can guard a number of different positions. Obviously there are concerns about him being from a small schools. He didn't go to a small school for skill reasons but for grade reasons, so it's not so much of a red flag. The Pistons don't need him to score on from the outside, they just need a guy who can get points in the lane, something Stuckey can do.

16th: Washington Wizards: Nick Young (G) USC: Young is another guy who shot up the draft boards after the season ended. The Wizards did need some help scoring from their guards, he's clearly an upgrade over Deshawn Stevenson. Plus, the Wizards play up and down basketball so Young should score plenty his rookie year.

**TRADE: Knicks just picked up Zach Randolph, gut reaction is that I like this deal for both teams. They needed to get Randolph away from those young players. Makes me wonder what they will do with Steve Francis.**

17th: New Jersey Nets: Sean Williams (FC) Boston College: Kicked off of Boston College for drugs. He had all kinds of trouble over there. However, he was averaging about 6 blocks a game before he was kicked off of the team. I'd be a bit worried if my team picked him though. However, the gamble could pay off because he's quick and will be a wonderful defender as long as he can stay out of trouble.

18th: Golden State Warriors: Marco Belinelli (G) Italy: Obviously people compare him to Delfino and Ginobili. Word is he's feisty and plays hard all of the time. He scores a lot and can shoot from the outside, very streaky. Sounds like someone who is perfect for the Warriors. He went a bit earlier than most people projected but you can't question the Warriors any more after what they did in the playoffs. Maybe he'll replace the mentally unstable Stephen Jackson.

19th: Los Angeles Lakers: Javaris Crittenton (G) Georgia Tech: Very good young player, very young however, young point guards don't always pan out right away. Many people say Crittenton is actually better than Acie Law. The main difference is age and experience. Crittenton is 6'5'' so he's a big point guard which is all the rage in the NBA these days. The Lakers now have both he and Jordan Farmar at PG, not a bad young duo to build with.

20th: Miami Heat: Jason Smith (FC) Colorado State: Chris Mihm Jr. Averaged 17/10 last year at Colorado state and can shoot from the outside a little bit. Jay Bilas loves him, but he loves everyone. The fact that he was on a bad team hurts him a bit and I know very little about him but when your two centers are Shaq and Mourning you need to take some young big guys, probably a pretty good pick.

21st: Philadelphia 76ers: Daequan Cook (G) Ohio State: Traded to Miami and Smith will head to the 76ers. I don't really understand that, why not just draft who you want? Whatever. Cook is a 6'6'' guard, lots of upside for him but his attitude is a question. Some have said that he was really overlooked at OSU because of Oden and Conley and they say he could be very very good. The Heat do need some better back up guards for WHEN Wade gets hurt every season. Good trade here for the Heat. The Sixers did need a big guy so I guess it works for them too.

22nd: Charlotte Bobcats: Jared Dudley (F) Boston College: Michael Jordan surprised me last time with a decent pick in Brandan Wright. There was talk of Dudley going to the Warriors, Dudley is like a Jason Maxiell or Ronny Turiaf. He's a weird size with no real position but he's very solid. He's a great team player and he has no questions about his attitude. Where does he play now that he's in the NBA? What does this pick and the Wright pick do to Adam Morrison? I'm always a big fan of taking those good college players that people pass over for some reason or the other. Tayshaun was one of those guys.

23rd: New York Knicks: Wilson Chandler (F) DePaul: I don't know much about this guy, but Isiah has a great track record for draft day choices so I assume this is a strong selection. Should the Randolph trade go through the make up of the Knicks changes. With NBA being slanted towards the athletic runners like Chandler this should hold up as a decent pick.

**Phoenix sold this next pick to the Blazers. I don't get that. The Suns have trouble with money so why do they keep throwing away draft picks where they are guaranteed cheap players?**


24th: Phoenix Suns: Rudy Fernandez (G) Spain: There has been talk of this guy the past few years, he's a terrific young point guard, something the Blazers need. He's a bigger guy for a guard which is obviously a plus. The Blazers seem to be doing this a lot more lately, picking up foreign guys late in the first round. They must be doing their research.

25th: Utah Jazz: Morris Almond (G) Rice: Poor guy has to go and play in Utah, tough break Morris. Seems like the Jazz have been looking for scoring guards since Jeff Malone left. Almond is a terrific scorer and stayed in college for all four years so he's ready to go.

I'm done now, I was thinking about doing the entire draft but this is probably getting close to unreadable because of its length. I'll do this again next year.