Baseball has created the monster of steroids. Free agency and high salaries empower the evil of fierce competition. Players are forced to use whatever means possible to stay above the competition, thus being awarded with a high salary. Players who are too old and can no longer trust their returns and resort to artificial energy sources. But baseball fails to see the error…The problem of steroids has been created by fans craving for the roundtripper, owners by greed, winning it all, players by egotism and a narcisstic desire to be the best and command high salaries. But every action causes an equal and opposite reaction. Records become meaningless.( the very fabric of baseball.)

The Tigers won today and sweep the series from Cleveland Central Division rivals . The Tiger’s pitching was supreme..Cleveland could only amount 3 runs in three games. Although it was a nail biter in the ninth inning when Rodney came in today’s game.

Porcello was masterful but in my opinion he needs more seasoning. He is raw talent. The hitting was light but timely, small ball type.I cannot understand why Leyland continues his passover of Brent Cleven. brent is a  solid right handed hitter and strong defensively. He would be a better call up than Ryan Rayburn.

The more changes that are made to baseball the less the game will remain  a true sport. It will eventually disappear and become a distant memory. This is very evident in the game of today. Baseball has lost its luster. Steroids tarnish records, the DH rule is a disaster, Free agency is destroying baseball, Pitch counts are garbage,( Closers should only be used when the starting pitcher gets into trouble.) The CG has gone by the wayside as Documented by Tiger Pitching stars  of the past:Frank Lary, Jim Bunning, Denny Mclain, Mickey Lolich, Jack Morris and last but not least, Mark Fidrych…Players are swinging from their heels going for the fences…Fielding is a lost art..As a traditionalist,  Baseball has to stop making changes or cease to exist. The Tigers won two out of three from Seattle. Yesterday, Jackson was impressive. Leyland pulled Jackson too early he had a CG in the bag. Today a promising young pitcher beat Seattle and pulled after 7 innings. I agree with Leyland. You should protect young arms. Josh Anderson stole another base and had two hits. He is batting over .300…Santiago is a super sub..He had another stellar game…He had 5 RBI in the win today and he is batting above .320.

The skys were sunny and blue over Joker Marchant….It was a winner of a day.  the Tigers did not return the favor, they went down in a hapless defeat to the Bronx Bombers,12-3. I realize half the team was away playing in the World Baseball Classic but that does not excuse such a devastating defeat…

The tigers have major problems…Guillen should be DH( for the record, I hate the DH rule) and bat third, forget left field. Sheffield should retire. Gomez should play Left field…He is the only pure left handed hitter aside from Timo Perez…We deperately need pure left handed bats in the lineup. Granderson and clete Thomas bat lefty but are right handed..not pure leftys.The only bright spot is a rookie by the name of Kelly, a player who deserves a watchful eye.

The pitching staff is another matter, we need a leader! Verlander needs to regain his form..He needs to throw hard! Bonderman would be my number two but he is a question mark…Jackson might replace Bonderman if Bonderman has shoulder problems. Willis is the biggest question???? He has lost his composure..He needs to throw strikes and throw hard I believe he can be the left handed Bob Gibson. Bob Gibson was all over the place with his windup, but he was always was around the plate. Robertson is in consistent, but we need two leftys…My starting rotation : Verlander, Bloom, Jackson, Robertson,Bonderman…Galaragga & Willis in pen.

Our bullpen can be overpowering if Zumaya can come back. Rodney is strong set up man but Who would be our closer? I like zumaya. Galarraga would be best in the pen he could be a closer too. This new guy, Lyon needs to prove himself…I hear he pitches like roller- coaster Jones. I have not seen Lyon pitch, therfore I will reserve judgement.

  Overall, I predict the Tigers will be a 500 club in 2009…Jim Leyland will be gone after the frst two weeks!

As a new kid on the blog, I offer my  experience as an avid Tiger fan….Although I was born in the Bronx….I have been a Tiger fan since 1961! The tigers won 101 games that year and finished second to the yankees. Norn Cash batted .361, Al Kaline and Rocky Colavito also pounded the raw-hide…Frank Lary, “the Yankee Killer” and Jim Bunning (who is now a senator from Kentucky) tore up the mound in  Old Tiger stadium.

 But now a new year is upon us! Spring training is in full swing! It was a great day for baseball in Lakeland, a few white  puffy clouds in a Steel blue sky, temps in 70’s, green grass, freshly cut, and the Tigers beat  the Braves, the highpoint of the day….Adam Everett And Gerald Laird  hits were a bright spots for the  Tigers..Hello, my name is Joe and I will be Blogging with you this year!

Holy cow! The Detroit Tigers beat the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday afternoon as the two teams opened up a four game series. Aleast the Tigers don’t have to worry about getting swept this series!

The Tigers offense was able to score four runs on six hits off of Rays starting pitcher Scott Kazmir. They also scored three more runs off of the Rays bullpen. The Tigers used the long ball to win the game as they hit five home runs including two from Ramon Santiago. Mike Hessman, Curtis Granderson, and Dusty Ryan also hit home runs in the game. Miguel Cabrera also added a rbi with a sac fly in the game.

Armando Galarraga ended up with the victory even though he allowed three home runs in 7 2/3 innings. Galarraga gave up six hit and five runs but improved his record to 13-6 for the year. He had a pretty good year and probably should have had more victories and the offense been there to back him up in a couple of games.

Francisco Rodney recorded the final four outs of the game to pick up his 11th save of the season. Great job by Rodney in the game.

Tigers Blog

The Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Royals finished up a three game series and the Tigers were beaten in all three games. Things are very bad with the Tigers right now and then management came back to say that Jim Leyland would be back next year as manager. Hmm hopefully the players respond better next year I guess.

Nate Robertson was terrible as he was charged with seven hits and eight runs in just 4 2/3 innings. Robertson took the loss and is now 7-11 on the year. Chris Lambert was charged with the two other runs that the Royals scored in the game.

I think the offense has pretty much given up. They just want this season to get over with. They can’t even hardly score against the Royals pitchers and that is bad. The only runs the Tigers scored came via the home run ball on Wednesday night. Mike Hessman hit a solo home run while Placido Polanco hit a three-run jack in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Things sure don’t get easier for the Tigers in their final series of the year. They will be taking on the Tampa Bay Rays in a four game series. I think we could be looking at another sweep.

Tigers Blog

It was a terrible night on Monday night for the Detroit Tigers as they lost to the Kansas City Royals by the score of 6-2. Yeah the Tigers lost to the Royals at home. You are probably like me at this point and you are just asking yourself is this season over yet?

Zach Miner took the loss after giving up six hits and four runs in six innings of action. Miner is now 8-5 on the season. Relief pitcher Bobby Seay gave up three more hits and two runs. Seay had another bad outing, what else would you expect at this point in this season?

Magglio Ordonez and Jeff Larish had the two rbi’s for the Tigers. Ordonez a rbi sac fly and Larish a rbi single.

The Tigers will try to even up the series on Tuesday. – Tigers Blog

It was an offensive pounding by the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday night as they beat up on the Texas Rangers by the score of 17-4. Seven different Tigers players had rbi’s in the game and Freddy Garcia picked up his first victory since last year in the major leagues.

Magglio Ordonez led the team with four rbi while Miguel Cabrera and Edgar Renteria were right behind him with three rbi each. Ryan Raburn, Brandon Inge, and Dusty Ryan all helped out with two rbi each as well. Not to be left out, Marcus Thames added a rbi of his own. Great showing by the offense as they hammered the Rangers pitching staff.

Garcia tossed five innings to pick up his first win of the season and improve to 1-0. In his five innings, he allowed two hits and only one run. Great start for Freddy! Nate Robertson had some problems in his 2 2/3 innings as he allowed four his and three runs. Four walks by Robertson really hurt him in the game.

The Tigers are off on Thursday and then will begin a series with the Cleveland Indians on Friday.

Tigers Blog

The Detroit Tigers had a one run lead heading into the bottom of the eighth inning but that was soon gone as the Texas Rangers came from behind with four runs in the eighth to beat the Tigers 11-8. Tough loss that falls on hands of the Tigers bullpen without a doubt.

Dontrelle Willis made his return to the mound and tossed five innings as he allowed two hits and three runs. The three runs that the D-Train gave up all came on a three-run home run in the in the fourth inning. Gary Glover had a terrible time when he came in for Willis in the sixth inning as he allowed three hits and four runs.

Relief pitcher Kyle Farnsworth took the loss for the Tigers as he was charged with four hits and four runs while only recording two outs. Terrible outing for the farns.

At the plate for the Tigers, Gary Sheffield led the team with a three-run home run and three rbi on the night. Sheffield was followed by Jeff Larish who had two rbi. Placido Polanco, Magglio Ordonez, and Miguel Cabrera all finished up with one rbi each. It just wasn’t enough as Farnsworth blew the game.

Tigers Blog

The Detroit Tigers lost another series as they fell to the Oakland Athletics 5-2 on Wednesday afternoon. The Tigers lost two out of three against the A’s as it ended up being a very dissapointing series for the Tigers.

Armando Galarraga was terrible as he gave up eight hits and five runs in only four innings. He gave up two first inning solo home runs to Jack Cust and Ryan Sweeney and was bad the rest of the his four innings. Galarraga is now 12-6 on the year after taking the loss.

The tigers bullpen threw the ball pretty well as they tossed five scoreless innings. It’s too bad the offense couldn’t come out of the hole and score five or six runs however.

Both of the teams runs came in the sixth inning when second basemen Ryan Raburn singled to score Miguel Cabrera and Matt Joyce. That was all the offense for the tigers as they only had five hits the entire game.

Tigers Baseball Blog