Quadruple header today leading off with Reds v Giants in deciding game 5
Who is your Tiger tonight?
Tonight is the night we find out if JV is worthy of being mentioned in the same breath with the incomparable Jack Morris.
Sabermetric over analysis warning: JV is 29 years old. Jack Morris was 29 in 1984.
I'm going with Justin Verlander as player of the game
Valverde
I'll double down on Valverde;
I'll double down on Valverde; but, only with the understanding that the Tigers have a 21 run lead going into the bottom of the ninth.
I just destroyed that toilet with a huge Rosenberg.
Jeez
no kidding, he was throwing meat balls last night.
Also, I want to see people get on base for Miggy, top order needs to spray the ball around tonight.
Go Blue!
He throws like that every
He throws like that every night. I'd say 95/100 pitches are just 93 mph fastballs somewhere near the strikezone. It's just a matter of whether the batter hits it at one of the defenders or not.
I was definitely thinking
I was definitely thinking THROW A DAMN CURVE last night. Good lord was he serving up some beachballs.
"We've beaten Michigan the last four years. So where's the threat?"
- Mark Dantonio
Blogging the Virginia Cavaliers at http://fromoldvirginia.blogspot.com/<
Actually, that would be
Actually, that would be worse, because much like our past closers (such as Rodney), he's much WORSE when he's not pitching in a save situation. I can't fault him for being so inconsisent, though, because almost every closer is. Even Mariano Rivera has blown some huge games.
Closer status...
Is Todd Jones available?
The king of getting three fly
The king of getting three fly ball outs, all on the warning track with each a few feet closer to stands.
"The unexamined life is not worth living." Socrates.
We already have our jackass
We already have our jackass manager giving away (or almost giving away) games when he starts Laird and Garcia, and now you want Todd Jones?
"Jones? JOOOOOOOOONES?!"
Who
Who?
You sound like you're from London
Instead of calling
him "Papa Grande", i motion that we start calling him "Caca Grande". aka spanish slang for Huge Shit or Huge Turd
Caca = Poop?
No way!
Gotta be JV
The only confidence I have in a win tonight would be with JV. The bats are cold right now and the pen is frightening to say the least.
It has to be Verlander.
It has to be Verlander. There's no other choice. If he doesn't shut the A's down, the Tigers chances drop significantly. The A's find a way to win better than any team I remember
Everyone is going with
Everyone is going with pitching, but I'd like to see the bats really come alive. We've had hits, but we need big runs. Outside of Comerica, this line-up should be hitting 5-6 homers a game.
The place where the A's play
The place where the A's play (I'm not going to try to remember what it's called anymore. Last I checked it was O.co Coliseum?) is as much of a pitchers park as Comerica is.
There isn't a huge difference.
I was surprised
I was surprised that O.co is more of a pitchers' park than Comerica:
http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/parkfactor
Comerica is pretty much middle of the pack.
It's actually much more of a
It's actually much more of a pitchers park, if for no other reason than it actually is a pitchers park.
Comerica does not benefit pitchers, it is a neutral park, and if anything, has a slight lean towards hitters.
Verlander should be
on about a 250 pitch count tonight
My Tiger is anyone who gets an actual clutch hit with men on base
Avisail
I seem to remember Avisail getting a pinch hit RBI single. If not or that, we would have had to suffer through one less batter of Valverde.
Flying the Maize and Blue in the heart of Dixie
Final Score
Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods
Greetings from Bolivia.
"It's special how the real true people hang together. And if you don't support the program you're not a true Michigan guy. It's that simple." - Gary Moeller
hmm, I like where your heads
hmm, I like where your heads at. Maybe if he bangs all of the A's players wives, they will be too distraught and forfeit the game.
“When your team is winning, be ready to be tough, because winning can make you soft. On the other hand, when your team is losing, stick by them. Keep believing” - Bo Schembechler
Going to go with offense
I feel that Prince will come through to knock in some extra bases for the runners, so I will go with the HOPEFUL MVP candidate Miguel Cabrera. I think if he goes 3-4 our offense will overcome any pitching problems.
I love Greg Mattison
Ajax and whoever we insert
Ajax and whoever we insert into the No. 2 spot need to get on base for Cabrera to do any damage. He isn't going to hit a homerun every at bat, or at all apparently in this series.
You know, Dude, I myself dabbled in pacifism once. Not in 'Nam of course.
Tigers up 6-1 in the 5th.
Win
Tigers up 6-1 in the 5th.
Win 6-4.
Class of '97: 4 Years -- 4 Four-loss seasons
Verlander has to get the CG
Verlander has to get the CG for the Tigers to win. I wouldn't trust the bullpen with anything tonight. Bats need to get more than 3 runs.
North Campus' resident Sport Management major
Michigan Concrete Canoe Team - http://umich.edu/~concanoe
I agree, JV probably need to
I agree, JV probably need to go at least into the 8th inning. I really hope the bats wake up and we can finally get some runs going, we need to string together hits which we started to last night but still left a ton of runners on base
Dirks
He's been quietly solid in this series. He'll get on base a lot and hopefully he's hitting 2nd with the big fella and the bigger fella drive him in. JV has got to be on tonight. Valverde will most likely pitch the 9th so god help us at that point.
“When your team is winning, be ready to be tough, because winning can make you soft. On the other hand, when your team is losing, stick by them. Keep believing” ― Bo Schembechler
^
Dirks, Andy. He's the Tigers version of Zack Novak. Gritty player who fights during every at bat. Even if Verlander pitches a gem, the Tigers still have to score a run.
Obviously Leyland
isn't gonna let the ball touch any of his relievers hands. Verlander goes the distance in 120 pitches. Gives up 2 runs, final score 5-2 Tigers
Let's go Oakland
Tigers going down tonight. Free Pie and Gatorade for everyone.
Here we go!
Here we go!
Gatorade bath after a game 4
Gatorade bath after a game 4 win is a chumpdick move. Like getting thrown out at third after a double, actually.
Missing Ann Arbor
If you'd get your head out of
If you'd get your head out of your SF ass you might know that the A's have been doing this all season after every walkoff victory.
Yeah, I give a fuck what the
Yeah, I give a fuck what the A's do after they win. To hell with the As, and the bail jumpers who follow them.
Go Tigers. Go Giants.
Missing Ann Arbor
Eat
a dick soup. Go A's. Oh, and try not to get your ass kicked tonight, get it all out here on the blog.
Based on your intel
Based on your intel, one might surmise that the A's have been acting like chumpdicks all season then. Just saying.
+1
Touche
That's why they're amatuers...
...because they celebrate every win like it's the fucking game 7 of the World Series.
They were amateurs last year,
They were amateurs last year, can't blame 'em.
Well...
...there you have it.
The comparison available for
The comparison available for Verlander is not Jack Morris, who is merely a great one-time Tiger pitcher; the space Verlander can ascend to with a win tonight and a further deep run is that of Michigan legend. Yzerman, Kaline territory.
If he pitches 9 innings and wins it will be the greatest thing I've seen in Detroit sports since Yzerman carried the Wings halfway to a Cup on one leg.
Servant. Pastor. Husband. Michigan fan in Duluth.
Maybe as a (state of) Michigan athlete...but
if you count his work in the last few years of his career, Morris's WS for the Tigers and later with the Twins puts him rarified air. JV is teh greater talent, but he needs to come up big tonight then do it a few more times to solidly overtake Morris. (I suspect he will)
We're gonna play with toughness, we're gonna be responsible and we're gonna play with toughness. This is Michigan.
Morris also was on 2 Blue Jay
Morris also was on 2 Blue Jay World Championship teams, though he didn't fare as well in the post season
Look for Valverde to get called back
and redeem himself tonight. Love that guy.
For the rest of my days if
For the rest of my days if you don't do your job I will refer to you as a Valverde (n) or if you didn't do your job; pulling a Valverde (v).
I seriously hate Valverde. Did anyone notice him on the mound last night? He threw in a little extra hip thrust in his horrible routine before his pitches. I hate him so much. It's like he tries to piss everyone off. He is the Jonny Gomes of baseball. Biggest fucking worthless piece of shit ever. Douche bag.
or uh, Duder, or El Duderino if you're not into the whole brevity thing.
over react much?
he isnt having the lights out season he had last year but he still put together a solid year and is a good closer. yeah he blew the game and that sucks and we should have won the series last night but he was fine the rest of the series. sometimes you just have a bad game.
I consider that to be pretty
I consider that to be pretty tame coming from me. I'm lucky I'm not drinking right now.
?
or uh, Duder, or El Duderino if you're not into the whole brevity thing.
Valverde sucks.
And guess
Valverde sucks.
And guess what? He sucked last year too.
There is hardly any statistical measure by which he is in even the top 2/3 of AL relievers.
Valverde had the 46th worst ERA and 47th worst K rate among the 54 AL relievers with more than 50IP this year.
So while he sucked last year, he's even worse this year.
He's bad, he's a very bad pitcher, and to simply rely on him because "he's the closer" is foolish.
The whole system that MLB managers have set up to run their bullpen is asinine.
Valverde