OT: Good night Detroit, and Good Grief
I don't know what to say. I'm drained and felt the excitment over the last two months slowly burn away. All those threads started with the hope that the Tigers would bring home the Central was just...
I keep seeing Polanco missing the what would have been game winning double play... I close my eyes and see the ball hitting Inge's jersey... I don't know anymore. It's so damn draining and so damn frustrating. Everyone deserves blame, but none more than the players themselves. They let us down. Going to bed...
October 7th, 2009 at 8:04 AM ^
if rayburn doesn't hit a walk off against the cubs, we aren't in the tiebreaker.
if thomas doesn't lead a rally back in august when every tigers fan board was exploding with "WHY IS THOMAS STILL IN THE GAME YOU STUPID SHIT LEYLAND" then the tigers aren't in a tiebreaker.
if they don't come back to win the only save rodney actually blew they aren't in a tiebreaker.
if rodney blows one save and we actually lose they aren't in a tiebreaker.
i could go on like this.
October 6th, 2009 at 11:13 PM ^
and I don't wish to revisit that. But for Leyland to leave him up there in the 12th inning with the bases loaded and two out, with Alex Avila on the bench, was a complete dereliction of his duties.
http://detroit.tigers.mlb.com/stats/sortable_player_stats.jsp?teamPosCo…
I apologize for the sloppy link, but above are the year end totals for the Tigers, currently sorted by SLG. Whether you sort it by SLG, OBP, or even AVG, Laird is consistently near the bottom of the list.
If I've got him coming to the plate in that situation, with the season literally hanging on this at bat, I'm scrounging around the dugout to find anyone to pinch hit. His numbers are downright horrid, and to let him bat not once, but TWICE in key situations late in the game with 2 out, meaning that there's no room for error (speaking again about the 8th and 12th innings), is inexcusable and indefensible.
Take another look at the year end totals. Don Kelly batting tonight, but Alex Avila did not. What's wrong with this picture?
October 7th, 2009 at 12:23 AM ^
You're talking about the same Alex Avila who had 8 hits in his final 22 games this year, right? That Alex Avila? The one that hit .170 in the final month and a half?
October 7th, 2009 at 12:38 AM ^
I absolutely love the kids potential. I think he's going to be real good. But he's not ready. If anything, pinch hit Thames (where was he the last few weeks) and then put Avila in after that.
P.S. I heard today that one prospect site rated Avila the #20 overall batting prospect (Top 60 overall). That is very good. Casey Crosby is also top 60.
October 7th, 2009 at 12:42 AM ^
Oh - I'm not trying to claim that Avila won't be a good player. I'm trying to say that Leyland opting not to bat a guy mired in a month-long slump is not gross mis-management.
October 7th, 2009 at 12:44 AM ^
I know you weren't trying to rip on him. I just thought your post was a good place to post stuff about Avila.
October 7th, 2009 at 12:59 AM ^
Laird OPS Sept and Oct: .615
Avila OPS Sept and Oct: .745
Laird OBP Sept and Oct: .325
Avila OBP Sept and Oct: .310
Actually, I'm talking about the Alex Avila that out OPS'ed Laird by 130 points over the last month, and would have been facing a righty pitcher.
Laird SEASON OPS against righties: .601
Avila SEASON OPS against righties: .910
Kind of bullshit how you went for BA instead of OBP when you know better.
October 7th, 2009 at 12:56 PM ^
And if Avila doesn't get a hit? Then you risk the Twins running around the bases without regard to the catcher.
It's a debatable issue, but it's not a clear cut decision. Leyland had plenty of viable reasons to leave Laird in there. There's reasons to pinch hit. To say that it is gross mismanagement to pick one option over the other (not sure who exactly said it was) is simply wrong.
October 6th, 2009 at 11:19 PM ^
I think it's perfectly acceptable to take issue with their play. They had a lot of chances to win this game and they didn't take them. My nightmares tonight are gonna be filled with Laird swinging and missing, Raburn sliding, and double play balls that should have happened.
That being said, I'm not gonna say they didn't try, I'm not gonna say they suck, and I'm not gonna advocate the removal of anyone cus how I feel after they fail is my issue since I've chosen to root for these guys.
Lets all move on and get our hopes destroyed by the Wings and Pistons now.
October 6th, 2009 at 11:37 PM ^
What an incredibly depressing week this has been. Bring on spring, please.
October 6th, 2009 at 11:50 PM ^
But there is no football in spring. Surely you are excited to watch eight more Michigan football games, yes?
October 6th, 2009 at 11:57 PM ^
never been to the Spring Game.
October 7th, 2009 at 12:56 AM ^
At the end of the day, I challenge anyone to look at this roster of players and say that this team didn't extract every ounce of potential that they had. Their second best pitcher is 19 or something, and their 2nd best hitter down the stretch was a 28 year old castoff outfielder.
October 7th, 2009 at 1:01 AM ^
I don't understand how agreeing to extracting every ounce of potential is mutually exclusive with "Leyland made some fucking horrible decisions tonight".
October 7th, 2009 at 1:57 AM ^
I feel betrayed by Cabrera in light of the news story on his weekend binge. This tells me that he doesn't bleed Tigers and that his potential was not, in fact, being fully realized. Who knows how many nights he does this that don't make headlines. Would you go out and get shitfaced the night before you biggest work presentation in three years?
Mostly I'm just mad that we lost, but I really think that this is unacceptable behavior from our highest paid player.
October 7th, 2009 at 1:58 AM ^
I feel betrayed by Cabrera in light of the news story on his weekend binge. This tells me that he doesn't bleed Tigers and that his potential was not, in fact, being fully realized. Who knows how many nights he does this that don't make headlines. Would you go out and get shitfaced the night before you biggest work presentation in three years?
Mostly I'm just mad that we lost, but I really think that this is unacceptable behavior from our highest paid player.
October 7th, 2009 at 2:11 AM ^
no matter who you were rooting for.
The Twins comeback from 7 down and going 18-4 down the stretch was Epic. (How many teams went 18-4 during any 22 game stretch during the season?)
The rest of the central divisions failure to provide the Tigers with any help was Epic.....1-17 down the stretch.
When the season started the Tigers were picked 3rd by most in a division of also rans. They found a rookie stud in Porcello who kept them from having 2 starters and no one else, without him they probably finish 3rd.
Here's how the experts saw it........ http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/baseball/mlb/04/01/experts.picks…
October 7th, 2009 at 9:01 AM ^
Minnesota always plays great at home in big games, and has pretty much had Detroit's number for as long as I can remember. I really couldn't see this team getting to the Series anyway.
Hopefully, this gets them back in the mode where they are tweaking, improving, and on the way up.
October 7th, 2009 at 9:32 AM ^
That was a hearbreaking game...we had so many opportunities to score and put the game away, but we couldn't get it done.
October 7th, 2009 at 9:59 AM ^
When the Tigers, fresh from a SWEEP of Tampa Bay and a 7 game lead go to Kansas City and drop all three, losing to such hall of fame pitchers as Robinson Tejeda and Lenny DiNardo. The air went out of the balloon and the rest just followed.
October 7th, 2009 at 12:29 PM ^
Couldn't they just push across a few runs with RISP...