Location: Detroit, Mich. | Ballpark: Comerica Park (41,000) | Spring Training: Lakeland, Fla.
Owner: Mike Ilitch | GM: Dave Dombrowski | Manager: Jim Leyland | World Championships: 4
What a bunch of quitters. The way the Tigers rushed through Monday's game against the White Sox, you have to wonder if they had a cab with a running meter waiting outside the park ... Let's not let everybody's super-pal Jim Leyland off the hook here. When the Tigers stumbled, he stopped pinch-hitting and started to leave his pitchers (especially Justin Verlander) in the game several batters too long ... This is an aging team with an inability to catch the ball, no inclination to spend on needed upgrades and few prospects in the wake of the Miguel Cabrera/Dontrelle Willis deal. Good luck righting this ship in a single offseason.
09/23/2008
22
19
Yes, pitchers commonly have down years, owing to everything from injuries to mechanical hiccups to non-baseball-related issues. That said, Dontrelle Willis looks broken. His Sunday line included six walks (41 balls in 74 pitches) and three wild pitches ... Most players, when they make silly threats in the heat of battle, can be counted on to cool down within a few hours. But crazy-eyed Gary Sheffield, who remains piqued with Fausto Carmona after Friday's brawl ("He'll get taken care of, trust me"), isn't most players. If I'm Carmona, I make a dash for Canada under cover of night.
09/16/2008
19
18
Congrats to Joel Zumaya on sustaining an injury (a stress fracture in his right shoulder) -- that didn't involve moving heavy objects at home or playing Guitar Hero. ... Ooh, a Dontrelle Willis sighting in the majors! That's like spotting an ivory-billed woodpecker in Antarctica. ... Kyle Farnsworth surrendered a lead-nuking grand slam on Sunday and a game-obliterating four runs (on four hits and three walks) on Monday. He'll get an invite to someone's spring training on reputation alone, but his days as anything other than low-grade bullpen filler are done.
09/09/2008
18
17
I'm the only person on the planet who cares about this, but the umps muffed another ball/strike count the other night, ringing up Sean Rodriguez on a 4-2 pitch from Aquilino Lopez. Bring on the robot terminator umpires, I say. ... Justin Verlander is right up there on the list of tough-love candidates with smile-through-the-sad pikers like Robby Cano, Jeff Francoeur and Alfonso Soriano.
09/02/2008
17
19
I don't profess to be a baseball forensic pathologist or anything, but those conducting the Justin Verlander postmortem might want to begin with the 74 walks he's allowed in 178 innings, compared with 67 in 202 innings last year ... The entirety of Jim Leyland's postgame press conference following Monday's Labor Day matinee, which doesn't deserve to be categorized as professional baseball: "I'll make this easy for you. We basically threw a lot of balls when we should have thrown strikes and we threw some strikes when we should have thrown balls. And that's the end of the conversation. I'll see you later." And then it was off to the tunnel for another stealth cigarette. Poor guy.
08/26/2008
19
18
How oh-my-lord impressive were those three dingers Miguel Cabrera hit in Kansas City this weekend? Impressive enough to force the national media to run highlights from the otherwise pointless and invisible Tigers/Royals series, that's how. ... The Tigers (Magglio Ordonez, Edgar Renteria, Gary Sheffield, Carlos Guillen, Brandon Inge) have passed the Yankees to claim the league lead in the all-important "number of players starting to look really, really old."
08/19/2008
18
18
The on-field play: blah. The off-field whining: bleh. They're baseball's prime go-in-the-tank candidate for the season's final five weeks.
08/12/2008
18
17
Welcome to the 2008 season, Miguel Cabrera. You can put your street clothes in the locker to your left. Please arrive promptly at 8 a.m. tomorrow for your physical and weigh-in. ... Uh-oh. Gary Sheffield has realized that he has subtly been demoted into a semi-platoon. Mobilize the National Guard and place no fewer than two security guards around Jim Leyland at all times, even in the shower.
08/05/2008
17
14
Yankees fans giggled when Kyle Farnsworth fetched something in barter other than a pail of fertile soil, knowing that he has a preternatural gift for surrendering home runs at the worst possible moment. Detroit fans figured this out somewhere around 4 p.m. ET on Sunday. ... Jim Leyland to the media after Sunday's late implosion against the Rays: "Write what you want." OK! Poop fart Fernando Rodney fart Edgar Renteria doodie. ... The schedule turns slightly kinder after the three-game series at Chicago, with a 10-game Oakland/Toronto/Baltimore homestand.
07/29/2008
14
13
Fernando Rodney has been the best arm in the Detroit 'pen of late, so now they're going to hold him back until the ninth inning and let some other poor sap get bombed in the seventh and eighth. Brilliant. ... Dontrelle Willis in the minors on Saturday: 73 pitches, 37 strikes. ... Taking care of business against the apathetic Indians this week might not be a bad idea, especially with a Tampa/ChiSox road trip on the immediate horizon.
Preseason Power Rankings
Date
Ranking
Previous
02/28/2008
3
-
They have to win now and the world should get to see what Miguel Cabrera can do with a great supporting cast. Dontrelle Willis should have a nice rebound, too. We might have picked them No. 1 overall, but: 1. We are not sure Jeremy Bonderman (elbow) is healthy; 2. Todd Jones is tough to rely on at closer; 3. Joel Zumaya (shoulder) is out until at least July.
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