2009 Detroit Tigers

[jefferson78]

If they would just get the big hits with runners on base this thing would be over.
Aubrey Huff needs to either crap or get off the pot. Becuase he's hitting like crap
and killing rallies like nobody's business.
If I see one more double play grounder with two on and no out I'm going to
pull out whatever hair I have left.
One thing this team does not lack is drama. If the Twinkies come back and win this thing
I'll feel worse than when the Wings lost it last year. The day-to-day emotional swings are
killing me. But it's still better than having your team out of the race.

[zitro]

If they would just get the big hits with runners on base this thing would be over.
Aubrey Huff needs to either crap or get off the pot. Becuase he's hitting like crap
and killing rallies like nobody's business.
If I see one more double play grounder with two on and no out I'm going to
pull out whatever hair I have left.
One thing this team does not lack is drama. If the Twinkies come back and win this thing
I'll feel worse than when the Wings lost it last year. The day-to-day emotional swings are
killing me. But it's still better than having your team out of the race.

If it's any consolation you aren't alone with your dread. I live out of state and I could feel the whole city exhale after that game last night. Enough with the drama, win the next 2 damn games and get it over with

[Detroitej72]

4 games to go, magic number is 2, one win tomorrow, and the Tigers win their first division title since 1987!

God, I hate the Twinkies!

[zitro]

4 games to go, magic number is 2, one win tomorrow, and the Tigers win their first division title since 1987!

God, I hate the Twinkies!

They're like the flies this time of year. They're always buzzing around you and are annoying as hell and won't go away.

I think we let the air out of their tires with the win yesterday and they boys will wrap it up this afternoon

[jefferson78]

You've got to think that with the inclement weather predicted for tomorrow that they would definitely want to wrap it up today. My only fear is that the same thing will happen that happened with the Wings.
Granted, this is a different team, different sport, but like I said, they have a flair for the dramatic and making things difficult for themselves. Every time it seems like the end is in sight they fall back and make it close again. It was not too long ago that we had a 7 game lead in Minn.
I predict they will ride the momentum from last night and you've got to believe that if we have the lead in the late innings the pressure will eventually get to the Twins and they will succomb to the overwhelming atmosphere at the park.
Let's stick it to Ozzie Guillen and show him that saving Peavy for us is futile.
Clinch it today......Please!

[zitro]

You've got to think that with the inclement weather predicted for tomorrow that they would definitely want to wrap it up today. My only fear is that the same thing will happen that happened with the Wings.
Granted, this is a different team, different sport, but like I said, they have a flair for the dramatic and making things difficult for themselves. Every time it seems like the end is in sight they fall back and make it close again. It was not too long ago that we had a 7 game lead in Minn.
I predict they will ride the momentum from last night and you've got to believe that if we have the lead in the late innings the pressure will eventually get to the Twins and they will succomb to the overwhelming atmosphere at the park.
Let's stick it to Ozzie Guillen and show him that saving Peavy for us is futile.
Clinch it today......Please!

Agreed, we've had enough drama for the regular season. Outiside of thwarting any plans Ozzie has to make life uncofortable for us, strategically,the importance of wrapping it up today so we can set up our rotation and give some of the regulars a spell is far more important. It would be icing on the cake if we can play our scrubs against the Sux and still beat them.

Let's do it today Nate!!!!!!!

[border5150]

I had a feeling this Twins series would end in a split, and its not necessarily a bad thing. There's 3 games left and the Tigers still have a two game lead. Also, Zach Grienke is scheduled to pitch agaist the Twinkies on Saturday. If he beats them and the Tigers win the division, I will personally hand-deliver him the Cy young award. I still like the Tigers' chances.

[zitro]

I had a feeling this Twins series would end in a split, and its not necessarily a bad thing. There's 3 games left and the Tigers still have a two game lead. Also, Zach Grienke is scheduled to pitch agaist the Twinkies on Saturday. If he beats them and the Tigers win the division, I will personally hand-deliver him the Cy young award. I still like the Tigers' chances.

No doubt. I have confidence they will win it. However, looking somewhat ahead it's imperative we get our rotation setup properly and a win yesterday woule have assured that. The biggest key now is to not let it get down to the last day and force JV to have to start. If he does, he won't be able to pitch again until the 3rd game of the playoffs and only once in that series.

[JLeurck]

Man, I think I'm going to be sick....this whole second half of the season Jimmy has been doing some things with the lineup card that I just do not understand. Tonight was no different. For instance, Guillen is not a good defensive left fielder [[as evidenced by last night's error that cost us a run). Huff has been absolutely lousy for us since he came over. You could keep Carlos' bat in the lineup by DH'ing him and let Raburn play LF. Granted, Raburn is only a mild upgrade from Carlos in left, but at least he's swinging the bat. This is a team that has trouble scoring runs, but you insist on putting Huff in the lineup? And a game of this importance - I'm probably running Porcello out there on short rest. He also burned up Rodney for tomorrow - guess he's just going to leave Justin in there for 150 pitches? The Twins are rolling right now and we have no margin of error. We should have had this thing put away, dammmit!

[Ravine]

JL, your inability to understand Leyland's decisions is evidence that you are not cognitively deficient. I am not quick to pass judgment on his moves, but I have had enough of them. The stuff he does is stupid. He has reasons, but they are stupid reasons. I have always liked the guy, but it is time for him to get lost. Your citation of his using Rodney, tonight, is all the proof necessary. His decision to give Polanco "a blow" [[a term with which I never shall become comfortable) in Thursday's game is another. He explained it, and his explanation was stupid.

I want JV to win his 19th, tomorrow, but other than that, I don't have any more Caring left for this team. They are a bunch of weak-willed losers who were only in 1st Place because nobody else was eager to take it. Once the Twins got interested, we were doomed. The 2009 Tigers do not deserve to participate in the post-season.

I haven't dropped in much [[if at all) on this thread, this season, but I dare say that nobody loves the Tigers more than do I, and this past week has been truly sickening.

[royce]

2006 all over again. Should we really be shocked if the Tigers lose their third straight game, and like 2006, lose first place to the Minnesota Twins? Are the Twins a much more deserving team to represent the Central division? After today's loss, should Leland be fired?

Here's the bottom line: the Tigers are an awful team. Look at the pitching. Look at the hitting. In any other division, they would be in third or fourth place. I would like to see them win the Central, more so because they have been in first place since May 15 and I'd hate for them to have to be known as "chokers" every year they are trying to finish the season in first place, but I have no inclination to believe that they could ever, with the roster they have now, win this year's World Series. To believe this is just wishful thinking. The Tigers beating the Yankees in 2006 was an aberration of nature, never to repeat itself again.

After today's loss, Mike Ilitch ought to fire Leland. He lacks fire. I know that he doesn't manage a high school or college team that might need a good pep talk, but the guy is just too laid back for me. I will never forgive him for not starting Kenny Rogers in the "must win" game in the 2006 World Series. When you need a win and you sit out your hottest pitcher, that tells me that you're just too laid back to understand that in sports you go with who's hot and not what the stats or tarot cards tell you. To me Leland lacks that gut instinct that says, "The hell with statistics and percentages, Joe Blow is who I'm going to play because he's been hot, period.
What will the post-game analysis be on Monday during all the sports radio shows?
I'm sure that many will be sounding a lot like me.

[401don]

Count me in as another who hasn't participated in this thread much. It would be embarrassing to win a division with this lineup but it looks like that's not going to be an issue.
What makes me depressed is that we signed all these injured veterans, have no everyday prospects coming along and are going to lose Polanco and Rodney so that we can pay Magglio 18m to hit opposite field singles. The team is going to look exactly the same next yr, only worse. We'll probably hover near .500as long as Verlander and Porcello are starting, but it's not exactly a team you can have any emotion for.

[Bobl]

This is not really even a choke.
In other divisions, they would be a third or fourth place team. They had a good year, though, and were entertaining. If they sneak through, it is unlikely they will go farther.
The sad truth is, this will go down in Detroit Tigers lore as the year we lost the wonderful and great Mr. Ernie Harwell. Too sad for words.

[Lowell]

What a great season! It seems like every game we lose, we lose big and every game we win, we just barely win. Nothing was easy. I think this year's team will be assessed as basically a team of over-achievers who knew how to play the game to the best of their limited talents - smart plays, good leather, good managing, all the little things that have kept them competitive. The poster child will Ryan Rayburn.

If you would have asked me in February if I thought the Tigers would be in first place on the last day of the season, let alone continuously since the end of April, I would have laughed.

No matter what happens today, this has been fun -- if constantly aggravating!

[401don]

Overachievers? Rodney is the only Tiger I can think of that overachieved this season. But the list of underachievers-Ordonez, Granderson, Willis, Robertson, Laird, Guillen, goes on and on. Overachievers are usually guys who have big seasons that are not expected to because they haven't in the past. A team with a $120 million payroll that wins 86 games in a weak division is not overachieving in my opinion. It may seem like they overachieved only because they were so horrible last season.

[Ray1936]

"Rodney is the only Tiger I can think of that overachieved this season."

I gotta give ya that one, but he still gives me heart failure every 9th inning. I can't recall one game where he went three up three down. But he does get the job done. Eventually.

That said, I look to Minnesota to clobber the Tigers Tuesday. They want it, and they want it bad. The Tigers, I think, are just looking forward to their winter vacation. Maybe just as good, because the Yankees would chew 'em up and spit 'em out in three games. The Twins stand a chance.
[[Oh, yeah, go get 'em, Twins! You deserve it!)

[smogboy]

I'm not about to toss our lackluster Tigers under the bus just yet. Leave it up to one game and one never knows how it's gonna shake down. Am I sorely disappointed that our team just couldn't clinch it and be done with? Damn skippy I wish it was to be the case but I also know there are a dozen other teams in the league that wishes they could even come close to sniffing a pennant. I still have to cheer OUR team on.

For all of you other fans that want to skip off the bandwagon- I can understand the disappointment and the realization that our team isn't dominant by any stretch, but it isn't over yet. Did anyone say this about the St. Louis Cardinals when they beat us in 2006? Let's just cheer this team on as far as they can take it and see what happens.

[Detroitej72]

Go Indians!

How are they doing for you?

[Detroitej72]

Okay, go ahead and hold off then. I decided not to. If Lyon ends the year with an ERA of under 3.5, I'll send a personal apology to him, how's that?

Is that card in the mail yet?

[Maof]

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big...urn=mlb,193955

seems like he had more important things to do than his game playing

[jefferson78]

Oh my God, Is this going to be the "Goose Loonies" incident for the Tigers?
Aside from the spat with his wife, which is a personal matter and I am sure
there are a lot of major league baseball players that have had "incidents" with their spouses, he had the gall to be out partying with White Sox players
Heavy drinking and staying out until 6am? On a weekend where you are playing the biggest games of the season? What the hell was he thinking?
This is not an incident that can be easily swept under the rug and if we lose the tiebreaker tomorrow then this issue will grow to monstrous proportions.
It might not be a big deal if this happened to a bench player but Miguel is our best offensive player, on an offensively challenged team.
This division should have been wrapped up last week. The Twins want it more and are playing like it. The Tigers are choking and limping to the finish line. Leylands roster decisions are not helping. You don't rest your best players when you are playing must-win games. As a Red Wing player once said "you have all offseason to heal and rest".
If they lose this then it will go down as one of the most monumental collapses in sports history. It does not help that we have to play it in the WORST stadium ever.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed but I am very fearful this may end up bad.
What a shame.

[401don]

Cabrera is hardly a rookie. He should be a team leader. Instead he has demonstrated he has no respect for the fans, his teammates or those he works for.
In future I'll be glad for the team when he hits a home run but I'll be damned if I'll ever applaud him again.
I guess when Leyland made his "this is not the year not to run out a ground ball" speech in spring training, he should have added "it's also not the year to stay out all night, get drunk, get in a bar fight, go home and scare your wife into calling 911 the night before the biggest game of the year either"

[Bobl]

35000 fans cared enough about the outcome of the very important game Saturday to pay for tickets [[and $8.00 beers, etc,). Many more watched on TV.
Too bad the very well paid 1st Baseman cared so little about the outcome that he stayed out until 5:00 AM, getting drunk.
What a jerk!

[zitro]

I personally have driven thousands of miles this season to watch these guys play. Living in Iowa, I've driven to Detroit, KC and the Twin Cites twice. I've barely missed an inning between tv, XM or the internet and to have him do this at such a critcal juncture of the season is beyond disappointing. I expect this to be addressed publicly by himself and management sooner rather than later.

Despite the Detroit Metro region being in the grips of one it's worse economic periods, the Tigers managed to have the 4th largest attendance in the league this year. At the very least, not only is his wife owed an apology but so are the fans.

It almost feels like there is so much going against us in tomorrows game that it will play in our favor somehow. There's no reason to hold this against the rest of the team. Go Get Em' Tigers!!!

[yupislyr]

This was the statement released today:

"There was an incident that took place on Saturday and it is a personal matter. I am sorry this has become a distraction, and I apologize to the Tigers, my teammates, and all of the fans. I would appreciate it if you would respect my family's privacy as I prepare for our next game."