This blog is closing, and I blame the Russians. The comment moderation queue was so filled with ads for certain enhancement pills that it was a strain on the server. Even clever filtering wasn’t enough. I could just turn comments off (oh yeah, I’ve done that as well), but I think nuking this blog is the only option. Any surviving writers will be found making a living over at Damox Sports Blog.
After falling 3 outs short of a division title this season, the Tigers have already decided to throw in the towel for 2010. General Manager Dave Dombrowski was quoted as saying “I think we’re open-minded, based on the fact that we didn’t win a championship” when asked why his team was looking at trade offers on so many Tigers players. They’ve already traded away their all stars in Curtis Granderson and Edwin Jackson, and they’re still in the market to dump any other potential high salary players on their team (not just those who currently make big bucks, but those that COULD demand a lot of money in the future!).
Losing Granderson is going to hurt the most. He was one of the most popular athletes in Detroit, and he was very involved with the community. The Tigers are not going to be able to replace a man like him. At a time when Detroit is facing all sorts of economic problems and needs community involvement from its few remaining millionaires, ditching Granderson is a lose-lose for the Tigers and the Motor City.
Curtis Granderson has been traded to the New York Yankees for a handful of magic beans, according to River Ave Blues, a Yankees blog. The Tiger also sent Edwin Jackson to the Diamondbacks as part of the trade. In return, the Tigers are getting LHP Phil Coke, CF Austin Jackson, RHP Max Scherzer, and LHP Dan Schlereth. Phil Coke is an absolute roller coaster ride, with some days being fine while other days he might as well be a 10-year-old fan lobbing meatballs in the direction of home plate. This was a salary dump by the Tigers, pure and simple. I challenge the Tigers brass to frame this any other way.
Here’s a great daytime aerial shot of Tiger Stadium. The leaves on the trees indicate this was taken during the summer, and the rough shape of the field probably means it was taken sometime after the Tigers left for Comerica a decade ago.
I came across this beautiful picture of a night game at Tiger Stadium today, and I nearly cried. Why was it so important for the Tigers to move out of this gem of a stadium? Tiger Stadium was a classic like Fenway Park and Wrigley Field, except it was built with its own style. The second deck built right on top of the lower seats made all the fans feel like they were right on top of the field. You don’t get that with the giant bowl stadiums of today, no matter how “retro” they make them look. If you’re sitting in the upper deck, you might as well be watching the game from an airplane at 40,000 feet over the stadium. Not so with Tiger Stadium. You could have cheap seats in the upper deck and you could still shout insults at Bob Gibson on the mound, and if it was a quiet moment in the game he’d actually hear you!
Carlos Guillen will probably need season-ending shoulder surgery if he does not show signs of improvement soon, the Detroit Free Press is reporting. The Tigers will probably wait until the All Star break to make a decision. They’ll want to move quickly after that, because they’ll probably have to make a trade to replace Guillen in the lineup. The Tigers are in a position where they can add to their payroll if that’s what’s needed to keep them in contention.
The Tigers used the 9th overall pick in the 2009 MLB Amateur Draft to select Jacob Turner, a right handed pitcher from Westminster Christian Academy in Missouri. Turner throws hard and has a huge upside, but unfortunately he might end up being difficult to sign. He might still decide to play college ball at North Carolina, where many are expecting him to develop into a top 5 prospect. On the other hand, Turner was also projected to be a 15-20 pick, so being selected at #9 might indicate to him that there is more risk in trying to improve his draft status at college and he should take what’s being offered to him right now. Even with a lowball bonus offer, Turner will still be one of the richest people in Detroit. I wonder if he’s interested in buying General Motors.
The city of Detroit has run out of money and simply can’t pay to do anything with the remaining Tiger Stadium structure other than tear it down and recycle it. That was the decision made by the city council last night. Expect to see demolition crews taking down those final pieces of history in the near future. This is a sad day for Tigers baseball and baseball history in general. So many great memories from that stadium that will soon just be memories. I can understand why they’re doing it though, as keeping the old structure there would have been very costly to the city and a museum or high school/college ballfield wouldn’t have come close to generating the revenue needed for upkeep. The stadium is victim of Detroit’s current (and likely future) economic woes. Things probably aren’t going to be getting better either. I encourage anyone reading this to take a road trip this year to see the Tigers play in their wonderful new ballpark. The team and the city would greatly appreciate it.
Jeremy Bonderman threw 8 innings of shutout ball on Sunday in a rehab start in the minors. He gave up just 6 hits and struck out five. 66 of his 98 pitches were strikes. Bonderman has looked good in the minors and we shouldn’t be surprised to see him back in the majors within the next week. As The Detroit Tiger Weblog mentioned, the Tigers have a day-night doubleheader scheduled for next Monday against the White Sox. The second game would be a likely opportunity to test out Bonderman’s arm.
Home plate umpire Paul Schrieber apologized for making contact with Magglio Ordonez after making a terrible third strike call on the Tigers slugger. See for yourself in the video below:
- March 2013 (1)
- December 2009 (2)
- November 2009 (2)
- June 2009 (4)
- May 2009 (2)
- April 2009 (6)
