tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34943416556775778942024-02-06T17:56:24.798-08:00Joshua LobdellAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01808015645111346563noreply@blogger.comBlogger175125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3494341655677577894.post-90743188152875433212015-05-05T10:56:00.000-07:002015-05-05T10:56:14.755-07:00A few ground rules This is how I view sports, and subsequently how I cover sports. These are lessons I have learned over a lifetime of being a sports fan and 10 years or so of being a sports writer/commentator. I have worked in all different sports at all different levels. I have worked in the front offices of small football teams, for two failed football leagues, I have interned for a NBA franchise, and I have covered the NFL, NFL draft, UFL, CFL, the Detroit Tigers and Lions for a collection of websites.<br />
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Again this is just how I view sports, and how those views go into how I cover sports. We begin with baseball.<br />
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Baseball<br />
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1. Standings do not matter till the ivy at Wrigley Field is green, or there are enough bathrooms for the fan there...whichever happens last<br />
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2. One cannot judge a baseball team till it's played 40 games in a season. We know this as the Sparky Anderson rule<br />
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3. Anything that happens in one baseball game is statistically insignificant<br />
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4. The no hitter is the most over hyped baseball accomplishment<br />
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5. I am not a big fan of advanced metrics...nor do I think there is one metric to adequately measure every player on the roster. Depending on where they hit, and where they play different metrics come into play. For guys that hit in the middle of the order RBI remains a valuable tool because they get paid to knock in runs.<br />
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6. Money matters...a big contracts raises expectations and when a player fails to meet those expectations he should be called out for it...we call this the Prince Fielder rule<br />
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7. No one really knows what a baseball team is worth. Because the books are closed. A team is worth whatever someone will pay for it. I don't really care what Forbes thinks...it is only a guess. Not even a great guess because there evaluations leaves out big pieces of expenses and potential revenue streams.<br />
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Football<br />
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1. the 40 yard dash is the most over hyped football metric<br />
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2. the NFL scouting combine is way more important to the NFL network than it is is assessing talent. The real important things at the combine take place behind the scenes where teams learn who these players are. The coaches, scouts, and GM's have all seen what these players can do on the field.<br />
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3. Tight ends should not be drafted in the first round....we call this the Martin Mayhew rule<br />
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4. Whatever Matt "the idiot" Millen says about football decisions one should do the opposite<br />
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5. NFL GM's should get too hire two head coaches and conduct four drafts before they wind up on the hot seat<br />
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6. Character matters otherwise known as the Titus Young rule<br />
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7. There is room for a spring football league that is not the Arena League and there is a market in America for the CFL<br />
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Basketball<br />
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1. I don't know they don't play basketball in Detroit. That South East Michigan team has been irrelevant for a long time now<br />
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Hockey<br />
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1. Gary Bettman sucks<br />
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2. Hockeytown is not in America it is in Canada specifically Montreal.<br />
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3. The NHL should have more Canadian teams not less<br />
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4. hockey is a nice sport like NASCAR<br />
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5. I do not think Las Vegas is capable of supporting a franchise in any sport full time<br />
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General Stuff<br />
<br />
1. The government at any level has no business building stadiums for sports teams. If someone or a group of someones can afford the team they can afford the stadium in which it plays. This is a shell game where the taxpayers always get the short end of the stick.<br />
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2. In the end let's not kid ourselves writing about sports isn't all that important, but it sure is fun<br />
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These are the things I have learned over a lifetime of being a sports fan and a half of a career working in and writing about sports.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01808015645111346563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3494341655677577894.post-42314359856496595542015-02-16T08:15:00.002-08:002015-02-16T08:15:39.184-08:00My 25 Favorite Detroit Tigers- Willie Hernandez <i style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">I have been a fan of the Detroit Tigers since the Summer of 1984. I am lucky enough to vividly remember my baseball team winning a World Series title. Since every year the team itself asks me who my Tiger is I decided to write about my favorite 25 Tigers since I became a fan...at eight years old...This has less to do with <nobr><a class="FAtxtL" href="http://joshualobdell.blogspot.com/2015/01/my-25-favorite-detroit-tigers-dan-petry.html#" id="FALINK_5_0_4" style="background-color: transparent !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(28, 125, 255) !important; border-bottom-style: solid !important; border-width: 0px 0px 1px !important; color: rgb(28, 125, 255) !important; display: inline !important; padding-bottom: 1px !important; text-decoration: none;">performance</a></nobr> as it does with whatever intangible qualities Tigers' players have...I mean this is the town that loved Brandon Inge and Don Kelly...and no neither one of those players will make my list...With all of that being said...</i><br />
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<b>#9 Relief Pitcher Willie Hernandez</b><br />
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He will always be Willie to me...mostly because he really made me upset when I was just a 12 year old Tigers fan. Back in the day at Old Tiger Stadium the players would have to come up on to the main concourse to get to the Players parking lot...I was at a game in the summer of 1988 and Willie had gotten roughed up a bit that afternoon by the Minnesota Twins...I waited for my chance to meet him and asked very nicely 'Mr. Hernandez, could you please sign my ball?' He looked at me grumbled something under his breath and walked on down the concourse. I get it, he had a bad day but dude if you don't have time for your fans go sell insurance or something and you won't have any.<br />
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End Rant<br />
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Willie Hernandez was the second of three Tigers hurlers to win both the Cy Young and the MVP in the same year (Denny McClain in 1968 and Justin Verlander in 2011 being the other two). He is also important because he came to the team very late in Spring Training of 1984. The Tigers completed fleeced the Philadelphia Phillies as they got not only Hernandez but Dave Bergman (RIP Dave, thank you for your years of service wearing the Old English D). The Tigers gave up Johnny Wockenfuss and Glenn Wilson...not to bad for two key components of the 1980's Tigers dynasty.<br />
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Let us also dispel one of the biggest myths of the 1984 team...<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/DET/1984-pitching.shtml" target="_blank">Willie Hernandez was not the closer</a>...and least not as we think of that role today. Sparky Anderson had bullpen arms and he used those arms in a lots of different ways. Willie was always a late inning guy but Sparky used him in many different situations and late in Willie's career he would come to rely on Mike Henneman in the ninth. By the end of the '84 season and in the playoffs it was clear Willie was Sparky's preference but to say he was the closer is something of a misnomer.<br />
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Another thing I want to point out here is Willie pitched <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/hernawi01.shtml" target="_blank">140 innings in 1984 as a reliever</a>. That is incredible and I do not know how many two inning saves he had but it was a lot and he pitched multiple innings in Game Five of the 1984 World Series clincher. He was a work horse and a fan favorite up until that season when he decided to change his name.<br />
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Maybe that is a little harsh, and had he played in today's MLB he would simply go by Guillermo...and we would all know how to pronounce it and spell it but after a career of playing as Willie his sudden name change was confusing and made him look like a clown.<br />
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Now I prefer to remember Willie in his prime the 1984-1986 Willie when the talented southpaw was the workhorse of the Tigers pen.<br />
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<a href="http://joshualobdell.blogspot.com/p/my-favorite-detroit-tigers.html" target="_blank">My 25 favorite Detroit Tiger players</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01808015645111346563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3494341655677577894.post-82503191006448722972015-02-09T09:27:00.000-08:002015-02-09T10:04:04.883-08:00My 25 Favorite Detroit Tigers- Cecil Fielder<i style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">I have been a fan of the Detroit Tigers since the Summer of 1984. I am lucky enough to vividly remember my baseball team winning a World Series title. Since every year the team itself asks me who my Tiger is I decided to write about my favorite 25 Tigers since I became a fan...at eight years old...This has less to do with <nobr><a class="FAtxtL" href="http://joshualobdell.blogspot.com/2015/01/my-25-favorite-detroit-tigers-dan-petry.html#" id="FALINK_5_0_4" style="background-color: transparent !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(28, 125, 255) !important; border-bottom-style: solid !important; border-width: 0px 0px 1px !important; color: rgb(28, 125, 255) !important; display: inline !important; padding-bottom: 1px !important; text-decoration: none;">performance</a></nobr> as it does with whatever intangible qualities Tigers' players have...I mean this is the town that loved Brandon Inge and Don Kelly...and no neither one of those players will make my list...With all of that being said...</i><br />
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<b>#10 First Baseman Cecil Fielder</b><br />
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By the time the clock ran out on the 1989 MLB season the Detroit Tigers needed to be rebuilt, maybe not totally but they had lost a good amount of their power over the final seasons of the 1980's and were coming off a very disappointing 59-103 campaign. Something needed to be done and more power had to be found. For what amounts to the first big foray into free agency GM Bill Lajoie went out into the market to find the pieces that could make his club competitive again. He landed Tony Phillips to play first and Lloyd Moseby to replace Chet Lemon in Center...and then found the power he needed in Cecil Fielder who had played 1989 in Japan.<span id="goog_1810287364"></span><br />
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Cecil would play in Detroit till the trading deadline of the 1996 season when Randy Smith started selling off the parts to lock the team into his his now infamous five year rebuilding plan. In that time he became a very popular player due to his ability to hit balls very very far. In his first season in Detroit he smacked 51 home runs...while 40 home runs as become something of a norm in recent years crossing the 50 tater plateau is still something very special. In fact only <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/DET/leaders_bat.shtml" target="_blank">two Tigers have ever hit 50 home runs in one season</a>...Of course with all that power and big swings come a lot of strike outs and in 1990 Cecil whiffed 182 the most of a Tigers hitter ever. He would win a silver slugger award and finish second in the MVP vote.<br />
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When he was signed it was not a very trumpeted move. The fans did not really know who he was...only true hardcore baseball fans knew Cecil was and that he has played a bench warmer with the Toronto Blue Jays before going to Japan to find a bigger role with a team over there. In two years time that would all change and not only would Cecil be a adopted Detroit son but his 12 year old boy Prince would become famous for hitting a home run at Old Tiger Stadium. The team would also have new ownership and the new owner would fall in love with his big power hitter so much so that he severely over paid for his son in reaction to a Victor Martinez injury, a trend that hopefully does not repeat itself in this off season.<br />
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When Cecil came to town the era of the 1980's great Tiger teams was at an end. Many of the stars of that team had moved on and the core of the team was aging. He wasn't a big name signing but given the fact he hit <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/fieldce01.shtml" target="_blank">100 home runs over the next three years</a> and batted in over 120 runs in those seasons he became a Detroit legend. However power alone cannot carry a team and the simple fact here is the Tigers of the 1990's failed to develop new arms or attract quality arms in free agency and the slow slide to irrelevancy had already begun. The Tigers competed for the divisional crown deep in the the 1993 season but that would be the lone bright spot for the entire 90's decade.<br />
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The simple fact here is we loved Cecil for his bat...his Tigers teams never won a division...never made the playoffs...they did however win 80 plus games twice...I have to wonder how much we would love this huge man had he helped bring our team back to the post season...However he was a legit superstar, after smacking three home runs in a spring training game, on a team in dire need of some power, star power, and personality. The 1980's Tigers were done and Cecil was the bridge to the next era for our baseball team.<br />
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<a href="http://joshualobdell.blogspot.com/p/my-favorite-detroit-tigers.html" target="_blank">My 25 Favorite Detroit Tigers</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01808015645111346563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3494341655677577894.post-81530494383204195592015-02-03T17:31:00.000-08:002015-02-04T08:39:27.839-08:00My 25 Favorite Detroit Tigers- Ivan Rodriguez<i style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">I have been a fan of the Detroit Tigers since the Summer of 1984. I am lucky enough to vividly remember my baseball team winning a World Series title. Since every year the team itself asks me who my Tiger is I decided to write about my favorite 25 Tigers since I became a fan...at eight years old...This has less to do with <nobr><a class="FAtxtL" href="http://joshualobdell.blogspot.com/2015/01/my-25-favorite-detroit-tigers-dan-petry.html#" id="FALINK_5_0_4" style="background-color: transparent !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(28, 125, 255) !important; border-bottom-style: solid !important; border-width: 0px 0px 1px !important; color: rgb(28, 125, 255) !important; display: inline !important; padding-bottom: 1px !important;">performance</a></nobr> as it does with whatever intangible qualities Tigers' players have...I mean this is the town that loved Brandon Inge and Don Kelly...and no neither one of those players will make my list...With all of that being said...</i><br />
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<b>#11 Catcher Ivan Rodriguez</b><br />
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Pudge should probably be higher on this list however I can never forgive him for running Manager Alan Trammell out of town. For me that is the fork in the road of current Tigers history. Had Trammell stayed and been allowed to cultivate the talent the Tigers already had...something he and his coaching staff have been thanked for by many of the young players of the time...the team might look very different today. However we cannot rewrite history...and the Tigers coming out of the 2003 season needed to make a big move...something to inspire the fans...a big swing was needed.<br />
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That move ended up being Ivan Rodriguez fresh off a World Series title run with Jim Leyland and the Florida Marlins. Dave Dombrowksi needed to prove that he could attract big name free agents to Detroit...he need to engage the Tigers fan base...and very likely felt the pressure to find some kind of success. 2003 was a disastrous season for the team and this was a roster nearly devoid of MLB ready talent.<br />
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We can argue that the Tigers overpaid for Pudge but it was a good overpay. Remember this was a team that had been rejected (thankfully) by Juan Gonzales, had just lost 119 games, and had big questions at almost every position. Signing Pudge gave them a veteran catcher who could help the relatively inexperienced pitching staff. He wasn't even the first free agency move of that off season but it did turn out to be one of the better ones.<br />
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Pudge's best year in Detroit was most likely his first where he hit .334 with 19 home runs and 84 RBI. He won a Gold Glove and a Silver Slugger that year. He was selected to the All Star game four of the five season he played in Detroit and without a doubt his biggest contribution to the team was showing that big time free agents would come to Detroit, and that would become very important given how Dave Dombrowksi likes to construct his rosters.<br />
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Even though we can argue that maybe he deserves to be higher the simple fact here is Pudge was a hired gun and those kind of guys never truly capture the hearts of the fans, certainly not this fan. Add to that the belief he was behind the ouster of Tiger legend Alan Trammell and I think we find that eleven is a pretty good spot for him.<br />
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<a href="http://joshualobdell.blogspot.com/p/my-favorite-detroit-tigers.html" target="_blank">My 25 favorite Detroit Tigers</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01808015645111346563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3494341655677577894.post-74426771659757811362015-01-27T17:00:00.000-08:002015-01-28T08:16:30.594-08:00My 25 Favorite Detroit Tigers- Magglio Ordonez<i style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">I have been a fan of the Detroit Tigers since the Summer of 1984. I am lucky enough to vividly remember my baseball team winning a World Series title. Since every year the team itself asks me who my Tiger is I decided to write about my favorite 25 Tigers since I became a fan...at eight years old...This has less to do with <nobr><a class="FAtxtL" href="http://joshualobdell.blogspot.com/2015/01/my-25-favorite-detroit-tigers-dan-petry.html#" id="FALINK_5_0_4" style="background-color: transparent !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(28, 125, 255) !important; border-bottom-style: solid !important; border-width: 0px 0px 1px !important; color: rgb(28, 125, 255) !important; display: inline !important; padding-bottom: 1px !important;">performance</a></nobr> as it does with whatever intangible qualities Tigers' players have...I mean this is the town that loved Brandon Inge and Don Kelly...and no neither one of those players will make my list...With all of that being said...</i><br />
<br />
<b>#12 Right Fielder Magglio Ordonez</b><br />
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Magglio is importnat to the Detroit Tigers history for two very distinct evetns. The first is he was among the first free agent outfielder Dave Dombrowski brought to town to add some pop to the lineup...it was also likely because of Ordonez that Dombrowski signs these veterans to shorter term contracts. Of course the big reason we remember Magglio with fondness is he hit the biggest home run of a generation for the Tigers...and with one swing of the bat made Comerica Park feel like the Tigers home.<br />
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Thanks to a feud with then Chicago White Sox Manager Ozzie Guillen Magglio was available on the free agent market prior to the 2005 season...Dombrowski swooped in with a five year 85 million dollar deal (then the second biggest deal ever offered to a Tigers player. He hurt himself early on in that season but was back to form by mid season after rehabbing some with the Toledo Mudhens.<br />
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Let's be clear here...Tiger fans of my generation loved Old Tiger Stadium...that is where we learned to love the game of baseball and that was were we liked to see our pro baseball played. Even more so for me because I was at the Tiger Stadium hug, and had written several letters and circulated several petitions to keep the Tigers playing at the corner. While we attended games at Comerica Park...we did not embrace it as our baseball home. It was so big..it changed so much early on (remember when the bullpens were in right field?) it seemed like the details of the construction had gotten away from Mike Illitch who frequently said he did not realize that place was going to be so big...and then the naming rights were sold off...had they named that place after Ernie Harwell or Sparky Anderson the fans would have embraced it from day one. That is not say Comerica is a bad place...cause its not. It is a great stadium but it became home one night in October of 2006.<br />
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22 years to the day of the last time the Tigers won the World Series and Kirk Gibson hit the biggest home run of that generation Magglio Ordonez came up to bat in the bottom of the ninth inning with two men on...He hit a 3 run homer to left field that put the Tigers back in the World Series. It was a great moment in this team's history and the video of that shot was on my Myspace (ya I know I'm old) page for at least a year.<br />
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Even with that we can effectively argue that <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/o/ordonma01.shtml" target="_blank">Maggs' best season in Detroit was 2007</a>. In fact till Miguel Cabrera won the Triple Crown in 2012 it was one of the best offensive season ever by a Tigers' batter ever. He hit .363 with 28 HR, and 139 RBI...he also had 54 doubles. That made him an All Star that year, a Silver Slugger winner, and he finished second in the AL MVP vote. Although he would hit over .300 two more times as a Tiger after that season a lot of his power evaporated. He did hit 21 dingers in 2008 but he became a guy that hit into far too many double plays as leg injuries robbed him of what he once was.<br />
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Magglio was sort of the middle of the big priced free agents Dave Dombrowksi brought to town...and his run with the team was more successful that some of those that followed. Tigers fans remember Maggs with a lot of admiration of the things he was able to do wearing the Old English D.<br />
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<a href="http://joshualobdell.blogspot.com/p/my-favorite-detroit-tigers.html" target="_blank">My 25 favorite Detroit Tigers</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01808015645111346563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3494341655677577894.post-5892192276423276952015-01-26T18:11:00.000-08:002015-01-27T15:54:51.428-08:00My 25 Favorite Detroit Tigers- Chet Lemon<i style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">I have been a fan of the Detroit Tigers since the Summer of 1984. I am lucky enough to vividly remember my baseball team winning a World Series title. Since every year the team itself asks me who my Tiger is I decided to write about my favorite 25 Tigers since I became a fan...at eight years old...This has less to do with <nobr><a class="FAtxtL" href="http://joshualobdell.blogspot.com/2015/01/my-25-favorite-detroit-tigers-dan-petry.html#" id="FALINK_5_0_4" style="background-color: transparent !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(28, 125, 255) !important; border-bottom-style: solid !important; border-width: 0px 0px 1px !important; color: rgb(28, 125, 255) !important; display: inline !important; padding-bottom: 1px !important;">performance</a></nobr> as it does with whatever intangible qualities Tigers' players have...I mean this is the town that loved Brandon Inge and Don Kelly...and no neither one of those players will make my list...With all of that being said...</i><br />
<br />
#13 Center Fielder Chet Lemon<br />
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There were some flashy guys on the 1980's Detroit Tigers teams. There were some brash guys. There were some guys sports reporters didn't like so much...there were even some guys the fans ended up not liking as much...and then there was Chet Lemon...who was a defensive wizard in Center, and let's be honest CF of Old Tiger Stadium not the easiest place to defend...who quietly went about his job and was the very definition of role player.<br />
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A lot of people forget about Lemon's contributions to the team...on any other team he likely would have hit first or second...on the stacked with talent teams of the Tigers he was a bottom of the order guy who still had some pop in his bat and enough speed to give Manager Sparky Anderson options in the bottom third of his lineup. He was set to hit 7th in the final game of the 1984 World Series when right before game time Sparky moved him up to sixth...he responded by helping the team break through in the first inning. That w what Chet did...came though when the team needed him too along with playing great defense in center.<br />
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Since I was a kid, and since ESPN was not in my home till much later in my childhood I always wonder what kind of guy he really was. Was he really the quite guy who just did his job or did he have some flash...either way growing up in the 1980's I never had to worry about defense in Center because Chet was out there day in and day out getting the job done.<br />
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<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/lemonch01.shtml" target="_blank">1984 was probably his best year in Detroit</a>. He hit .287 with 20 home runs, 76 RBI, and had 34 doubles. IT would be his third and last time he was an All Star. I find it very curious that he never won a Gold Glove...when I think of great defense he is the second or third name that pops into my head.<br />
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He came to the Tigers in 1981 via a trade with the Chicago White Sox...The Tigers gave up Steve Kemp for him who had been an All Star Left Fielder but never amounted to much after the trade...he was out of baseball by 1986. Since Lemon would serve with the team through the 1990 season they got tremendous value out of that trade. That along with the solid drafting of talent in the 1970's and early 1980's is what made the teams of the 1980's so much fun to watch...even though they really should have one at least one more World Series title.<br />
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<a href="http://joshualobdell.blogspot.com/p/my-favorite-detroit-tigers.html" target="_blank">My 25 Favorite Detroit Tigers</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01808015645111346563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3494341655677577894.post-58622845115205860882015-01-23T16:54:00.000-08:002015-01-27T10:06:41.997-08:00My 25 Favorite Detroit Tigers- Mike Henneman<i style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">I have been a fan of the Detroit Tigers since the Summer of 1984. I am lucky enough to vividly remember my baseball team winning a World Series title. Since every year the team itself asks me who my Tiger is I decided to write about my favorite 25 Tigers since I became a fan...at eight years old...This has less to do with <nobr><a class="FAtxtL" href="http://joshualobdell.blogspot.com/2015/01/my-25-favorite-detroit-tigers-dan-petry.html#" id="FALINK_5_0_4" style="background-color: transparent !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(28, 125, 255) !important; border-bottom-style: solid !important; border-width: 0px 0px 1px !important; color: rgb(28, 125, 255) !important; display: inline !important; padding-bottom: 1px !important;">performance</a></nobr> as it does with whatever intangible qualities Tigers' players have...I mean this is the town that loved Brandon Inge and Don Kelly...and no neither one of those players will make my list...With all of that being said...</i><br />
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#14 Relief Pitcher Mike Henneman<br />
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This is another one of those stories that involves me...and how I became the sports nut that I am today. 1987 was a different year for the Detroit Tigers...they contended for the divisional title through all 162 games of the regular season. We got over the bitter loss of Lance Parrish to free agency and new blood was installed on our team in the form or the previous discusses Matt Nokes and Relief Pitcher Mike Henneman.<br />
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I met Henneman at an appearance in 1988...He was very nice and there were not a lot of people there because Alan Trammell was down the street at another appearance (and yes we wound up going to that event as well)...Mike asked me what sports I played and I replied honestly...I play basketball...and he said 'maybe you should try baseball.' I always thought that was a cool thing to say to a 12 year old and while I was already a fan of his...that cemented it...I rather less friendly meeting of Willie Hernandez later that summer on the concourse at old Tiger Stadium would help Henneman become my favorite relief pitcher for my favorite team.<br />
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Let's be very clear here...Henneman is one of the finest relievers to ever wear the Old English D. He still ranks second in <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/DET/leaders_pitch.shtml" target="_blank">career saves for the Tigers with 154</a> yet he never had more than 26 saves in any one season for Detroit. For me that means he was more consistent over a longer period of time. It also speaks to how Sparky Anderson managed his bullpens. Sparky didn't really have a true closer most years...he used guys when he thought they could be effective...remember the Tigers had both Henneman and Hernandez through the 1989 season and both earned near double digit saves in those seasons. Sparky had arms...and he would turn the game over to who he thought could get it done on any given day. Of course eventually we can say Henneman was the closer through the early 1990's.<br />
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<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/hennemi01.shtml" target="_blank">His best season in Detroit was arguably 1993</a> where he wound up with 24 saves and a 2.64 Era in just over 70 innings pitched. He had 58 strike outs to 32 walks with a WHIP of 1.409. He was a big reason the Tigers were in contention that season till late in the summer.<br />
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Two big negatives in his Detroit career will be his performance in the 1987 ALCS...where is ERA was over 10 in three appearances. On top of that the Tigers front office dealt him to the Texas Rangers in the 1995 season for a player to be named later...Phil Nevin ended up being that player and this ws a clear cost cutting move...the Tigers front office was full of turmoil and cost cutting moves were the name of the game Henneman made over 4 million dollars that season and it was clear that whoever wound up taking he reins was going to rebuild the team with young cheap talent...it is really too bad for a generation of Tigers' fans that Randy Smith was brought to town and he embarked on his now infamous five year rebuilding plan.<br />
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People tend to forget about Henneman because of the era of the Tigers in which he played...outside of 1987 and 1993 there were not a lot of highlights during this period of Tigers baseball and by 1995 the bottom had fallen out on the team. However, without a doubt he remains one of the finest relief pitchers to ever serve here in Detroit.<br />
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<a href="http://joshualobdell.blogspot.com/p/my-favorite-detroit-tigers.html" target="_blank">My 25 Favorite Detroit Tiger players of all time</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01808015645111346563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3494341655677577894.post-16279475808819432312015-01-21T15:19:00.000-08:002015-01-21T15:19:03.286-08:00My 25 Favorite Detroit Tigers- Lance Parrish<i style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">I have been a fan of the Detroit Tigers since the Summer of 1984. I am lucky enough to vividly remember my baseball team winning a World Series title. Since every year the team itself asks me who my Tiger is I decided to write about my favorite 25 Tigers since I became a fan...at eight years old...This has less to do with <nobr><a class="FAtxtL" href="http://joshualobdell.blogspot.com/2015/01/my-25-favorite-detroit-tigers-dan-petry.html#" id="FALINK_5_0_4" style="background-color: transparent !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(28, 125, 255) !important; border-bottom-style: solid !important; border-width: 0px 0px 1px !important; color: rgb(28, 125, 255) !important; display: inline !important; padding-bottom: 1px !important;">performance</a></nobr> as it does with whatever intangible qualities Tigers' players have...I mean this is the town that loved Brandon Inge and Don Kelly...and no neither one of those players will make my list...With all of that being said...</i><br />
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#15 Catcher Lance Parrish<br />
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Lance Parrish the big wheel. To be perfectly honest he should be higher up the list but the way he left the team as a player, the two times he was let go by the organization as a coach has left me a little bitter. Parish was the first defection of the 1984 team,...the first guy to leave as a free agent and when you are a kid you just don't know that baseball is a business for the owners and for the players...you just want your guys to play for your team forever. When Lance left I felt very betrayed...I wasn't use to my guys leaving...it was made worse because I spent my summers in Indiana, which is Chicago Cubs country, so I had to see Lance playing for the Philadelphia Phillies...and it made me mad.<br />
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The Detroit Tigers had Matt Nokes who was ready fro promotion to the big leagues, and they traded for Mike Heath in September of 1986 so there was no way Lance was coming back. Even though he deserved to get paid...we can effectively argue that Lance was one of the best catchers of the 1980's and for a year year run he just may have been the best catcher in all of baseball.<br />
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<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/parrila02.shtml" target="_blank">In 1983 and 1984</a> Lance was an All Star catcher and won Silver Slugger and Gold Glove awards at his position. In 1982 he was an all star and won a Silver Slugger. In 1986 we was an All Star for the fifth consecutive time and won a Golden Glove...after leaving the Tigers he would twice more be selected to the All Star Game. In all we are talking about someone who was an 8 time all star, won 3 golden gloves, and 6 Silver Slugger awards. This is where we start to see the discrimination in the Hall of Fame vote against the 1984 Tigers...Lance might not have been a totally legit Hall of Fame candidate but his 1.7% of the vote in 2001 was a disgrace.<br />
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It is a little hard to pinpoint his best season wearing the Old English D...from 1982 to 1985 he hit more than 25 home runs each season eclipsing 30 twice...in the same time span he drove in more than 85 runs every year eclipsing 100 once and having 98 twice. Of course with big power comes a lot of strike outs...and he had more than 100 whiffs many times through out his career. However given his skills behind the plate and at the plate he is truly one of the greatest Tigers of all time. It is a complete travesty that the team has not retired his #13...<br />
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They did bring him back into the fold as Lance was named Manager of the Double A Erie Sea Wolves last year and coached Tigers prospects in the Arizona fall league last fall.<br />
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<a href="http://joshualobdell.blogspot.com/p/my-favorite-detroit-tigers.html" target="_blank">My Favorite Detroit Tigers</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01808015645111346563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3494341655677577894.post-42080845755446593552015-01-18T13:10:00.000-08:002015-01-18T13:10:19.246-08:00My 25 Favorite Detroit Tigers- Darrell Evans<i style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">I have been a fan of the Detroit Tigers since the Summer of 1984. I am lucky enough to vividly remember my baseball team winning a World Series title. Since every year the team itself asks me who my Tiger is I decided to write about my favorite 25 Tigers since I became a fan...at eight years old...This has less to do with <nobr><a class="FAtxtL" href="http://joshualobdell.blogspot.com/2015/01/my-25-favorite-detroit-tigers-dan-petry.html#" id="FALINK_5_0_4" style="background-color: transparent !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(28, 125, 255) !important; border-bottom-style: solid !important; border-width: 0px 0px 1px !important; color: rgb(28, 125, 255) !important; display: inline !important; padding-bottom: 1px !important;">performance</a></nobr> as it does with whatever intangible qualities Tigers' players have...I mean this is the town that loved Brandon Inge and Don Kelly...and no neither one of those players will make my list...With all of that being said...</i><br />
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<b>#16 Darrell Evans</b><br />
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Darrell Evans is important to the 1980's Detroit Tigers for a couple of reasons. The front office at the time did not believe in the free agent market, and the 1980's teams were a core of guys drafted in the 1970's and developed by the organization. The only really big free agent acquisition on those teams was Darrell Evans who signed with the team following the 1983 season. His addition along with the Spring Training acquisition of Dave Bergman allowed the team the flexibility to trade 3B Howard Johnson to the New York Mets for Pitcher Walt Terrell. That was a big move to solidify the starting rotation, and the Tigers were fine at the infield corners with Evans, Bergman, and super utility guy Tom Brookens.<br />
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<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/e/evansda01.shtml" target="_blank">Evans best season in Detroit was arguably 1985 where he hit 40 home runs</a> and drove in 94 runs. During the run to the 1987 Divisional title he hit 34 home runs and drove in 99 runs. He was a big bat in the middle of the Detroit order and a mainstay of the 1980's teams that really should have won at least one more World Series title.<br />
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My fondest memory of Evans is him standing on the stairs of the Detroit dugout as Larry Herndon made the final out of the 1984 World Series. Evans was one of the first players out of the dugout to celebrate the Tigers' championship in 16 years. More than that he was the big guy the guy I trusted as a kid to play adequate defense and get a big hit now and again. He always seemed to be to be the big silent type...of course that was before the days of big time talk radio and the Internet.<br />
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With all of that being said Evans is clearly not one of the Tigers' 1980s players who has been shunned by the Baseball Hall of Fame. The real problem with this team, in terms of Hall enshrinement is they had a lot of very good pieces. Sure, we can argue they had a few legit superstars...but for the most part those teams were built with pieces like Darrell Evans.<br />
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It taught me how sports teams should be built. A lesson further underscored by the 1980's Detroit Pistons and the 1990's Detroit Red Wings...those teams seemed more pure than the free agent laden rosters of the Dave Dombroski era...granted we are talking about two completely different era's of the sport we love but those 1980's squads were special.<br />
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<a href="http://joshualobdell.blogspot.com/p/my-favorite-detroit-tigers.html" target="_blank">My favorite Detroit Tigers</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01808015645111346563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3494341655677577894.post-35194242058281428912015-01-16T16:09:00.000-08:002015-01-16T16:09:42.682-08:00My 25 Favorite Detroit Tigers- Frank Tanana<i style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">I have been a fan of the Detroit Tigers since the Summer of 1984. I am lucky enough to vividly remember my baseball team winning a World Series title. Since every year the team itself asks me who my Tiger is I decided to write about my favorite 25 Tigers since I became a fan...at eight years old...This has less to do with <nobr><a class="FAtxtL" href="http://joshualobdell.blogspot.com/2015/01/my-25-favorite-detroit-tigers-dan-petry.html#" id="FALINK_5_0_4" style="background-color: transparent !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(28, 125, 255) !important; border-bottom-style: solid !important; border-width: 0px 0px 1px !important; color: rgb(28, 125, 255) !important; display: inline !important; padding-bottom: 1px !important;">performance</a></nobr> as it does with whatever intangible qualities Tigers' players have...I mean this is the town that loved Brandon Inge and Don Kelly...and no neither one of those players will make my list...With all of that being said...</i><br />
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#17 Pitcher Frank Tanana<br />
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The one draw back about being a sports writer is that I always have to write about sports without being part of the story. I have worked in sports along time now, for teams and organizations and always I have to write as a observer...stuck behind the fourth wall. As a sports fan I do not have that limitation. Even though Frank Tanana was a big part of my Detroit Tigers fandom when I was a kid, the reason he makes this list is for something that happened much later.<br />
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Growing up where I did and being involved with youth sports we always heard about the legendary things Tanana did as a kid playing on the same fields we happened to be playing on. Frank grew up around here, and being sports idiots we immortalized the things he had done, even though we now realize that many of those feats were likely embellished. Frank returned to the Detroit suburbs once his playing days were over and that is where out paths crossed.<br />
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I was working for a guy who owned a few chain restaurants. In hopes of getting a promotion I gave up one of my days off to cover a shift in another one of his franchises and I began chit chatting with one of the old timer customers there. We would go on and on about the current state of the Tigers and baseball as a whole and after the third or fourth time that happened by boss was like, 'you do know who that is right?' I had no damn idea who it was just an old timer who knew a lot about baseball and was fun to talk too...when he told me it was Frank Tanana I was floored. One because I didn't recognize him and two because this guy was so cool to me...just another sports fan talking crap like anybody else. It was cool and among all the other cool things I got to do while working there (mostly smoking cigars with Darren McCarty in the cigar store next door) it ranks among my favorite.<br />
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It is hard to believe that there was a time when the Detroit Tigers did not really play on the free agent market. The 1980's teams were built around a young group of talent drafted by the team and when other pieces were needed the team would trade for them. That is how Frank came to town at the <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/t/tananfr01.shtml" target="_blank">trade deadline during the 1985 season</a>. Frank was a workhorse of sorts a part of the starting rotation that also included Jack Morris, Dan Petry, and Walt Terrell.<br />
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My Uncles told me that at one point in his career Tanana had been a fireballer and that seems to be true as he led the AL in strike outs and in ERA in two different seasons in the 1970's. He was also selected to three straight all star games...by the time he came to the Tigers he seemed like more of a junk ball pitcher but he was effective. He was the Kenny Rogers of his day but on a staff that really didn't need a veteran presence.<br />
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He pitched in Detroit until 1992 and his greatest accomplishment has to be the complete game shutout of the Toronto Blue Jays in the final game of the 1987 regular season that captured the AL East crown for the team. However, he like most of the '87 pitching staff failed to perform in the 1987 post season.<br />
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<a href="http://joshualobdell.blogspot.com/p/my-favorite-detroit-tigers.html" target="_blank">My Favorite Detroit Tigers</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01808015645111346563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3494341655677577894.post-38256483363127001752015-01-15T13:56:00.000-08:002015-01-15T13:56:40.987-08:00My 25 Favorite Detroit Tigers- Larry Herndon<i style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">I have been a fan of the Detroit Tigers since the Summer of 1984. I am lucky enough to vividly remember my baseball team winning a World Series title. Since every year the team itself asks me who my Tiger is I decided to write about my favorite 25 Tigers since I became a fan...at eight years old...This has less to do with <nobr><a class="FAtxtL" href="http://joshualobdell.blogspot.com/2015/01/my-25-favorite-detroit-tigers-dan-petry.html#" id="FALINK_5_0_4" style="background-color: transparent !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(28, 125, 255) !important; border-bottom-style: solid !important; border-width: 0px 0px 1px !important; color: rgb(28, 125, 255) !important; display: inline !important; padding-bottom: 1px !important;">performance</a></nobr> as it does with whatever intangible qualities Tigers' players have...I mean this is the town that loved Brandon Inge and Don Kelly...and no neither one of those players will make my list...With all of that being said...</i><br />
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#18 Outfielder Larry Herndon<br />
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If I asked you to name the biggest home runs in the history of this team...and I mean of the current cross section of fans...most of you would say Magglio Ordonez's home run in the 2006 ALCS. People my age who have been fans of this team for a long time would likely say Kirk Gibson's shot in the 1984 World Series...however there is one that gets over looked. One that we always forget about...one home run by a guy who had his best year in 1987...<br />
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Larry Herndon's Home Run in game #162 of the 1987 regular season won the team its second division title. He sent a very talented roster back to the post season...and yet he rarely gets mentioned in the conversation of biggest home runs by players wearing the old English D. IN fact many of the great moments of my generation were accomplished by Larry Herndon.<br />
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It was Herndon who made the final out of the 1984 World Series catching a fly ball in left off the bat of Tony Gwynn. It was Herndon, who's home run in game one of that series sent the message that the Tigers were out to dominate the San Diego Padres. Herndon was a mainstay at the corner outfield spots for the 1980's and while he was never the best player on the team he was often the difference for a team that should have one at least one more World Series title.<br />
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He did not have a huge bat, but he was steady...he was reliable and we can see that by his post season batting average of .333. He was never selected to be an All Star, but he contribute and was the guy who got things done at their most critical moments. His legacy for the Detroit Tigers should be more celebrated. He was one of those guys that just did his job, and did it quite well. He was one of those guys who came up to bat in big situations and delivered. He was the guy who squeezed his glove around the last World Series title this team won.<br />
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<a href="http://joshualobdell.blogspot.com/p/my-favorite-detroit-tigers.html" target="_blank">My 25 Favorite Tigers </a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01808015645111346563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3494341655677577894.post-60858852330358002542015-01-14T16:50:00.000-08:002015-01-14T16:50:11.620-08:00My 25 Favorite Detroit Tigers- Doyle Alexander<i style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">I have been a fan of the Detroit Tigers since the Summer of 1984. I am lucky enough to vividly remember my baseball team winning a World Series title. Since every year the team itself asks me who my Tiger is I decided to write about my favorite 25 Tigers since I became a fan...at eight years old...This has less to do with <nobr><a class="FAtxtL" href="http://joshualobdell.blogspot.com/2015/01/my-25-favorite-detroit-tigers-dan-petry.html#" id="FALINK_5_0_4" style="background-color: transparent !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(28, 125, 255) !important; border-bottom-style: solid !important; border-width: 0px 0px 1px !important; color: rgb(28, 125, 255) !important; display: inline !important; padding-bottom: 1px !important;">performance</a></nobr> as it does with whatever intangible qualities Tigers' players have...I mean this is the town that loved Brandon Inge and Don Kelly...and no neither one of those players will make my list...With all of that being said...</i><br />
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#19 Pitcher Doyle Alexander<br />
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To be perfectly honest had the 1987 Detroit Tigers won the World Series Doyle might be way higher...now considering what the Tigers gave up to give him maybe he shouldn't be on the list at all. However, I know for a fact that without him the 1987 Tigers would not have made the playoffs...when we take the time to look up his post season numbers maybe they should have left him off the post season roster...however the failure of this team in the 1987 ALCS was a total collapse of the entire roster...Given how the season played out we should have saw it coming.<br />
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1987 was not like 1984 the Tigers battled the entire season to eventually win the AL East...on the last day of the season. At the trading deadline they dealt a unknown prospect named John Smoltz to Atlanta for Doyle Alexander. Doyle would go <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/a/alexado01.shtml" target="_blank">9-0 down the stretch and had a 1.53 ERA</a>. Everyone of us, old time sports fans, would trade our soul for a World Series title...the Tigers dealt a guy that would become one of the best pitchers of the next generation for a shot at a title...and came up way short.<br />
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Now its really to bad Doyle was never that good in a Tigers uniform again. He was decent through the first half of 1988...and was selected to his only All Star Game that year...but wound up with a 14-11 record and a ERA over 4...In 1989 his performace fell to 6-18.<br />
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Looking back on it, in the days before inter league play, I think we can write off part of his dominance due to the hitters in the AL not being that use to him...granted he had a long history of play in the AL before that so maybe he just got fire for those final few months of 1987...and could never find that groove again. Had Doyle helped this team to another post season I think more Tigers fans would remember him with more fondness.<br />
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We also need to remember that Smoltz was a unknown here in Detroit when he was traded...and had he never gone on to do anything no one would care. We talk about the John Smoltz curse in jest...because old time baseball guys know when a team is that close to the post season they do anything and everything to get themselves over the hump. It very nearly worked...and had the entire roster performed better in the '87 ALCS maybe they would have won the second World Series title we all thought those 1980's Tigers teams should have won.<br />
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<a href="http://joshualobdell.blogspot.com/p/my-favorite-detroit-tigers.html" target="_blank">My 25 Favorite Detroit Tigers Players</a><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01808015645111346563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3494341655677577894.post-30984274092313064112015-01-12T13:35:00.001-08:002015-01-12T13:35:56.889-08:00My 25 Favorite Detroit Tigers- Dave Bergman<i style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">I have been a fan of the Detroit Tigers since the Summer of 1984. I am lucky enough to vividly remember my baseball team winning a World Series title. Since every year the team itself asks me who my Tiger is I decided to write about my favorite 25 Tigers since I became a fan...at eight years old...This has less to do with <nobr><a class="FAtxtL" href="http://joshualobdell.blogspot.com/2015/01/my-25-favorite-detroit-tigers-dan-petry.html#" id="FALINK_5_0_4" style="background-color: transparent !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(28, 125, 255) !important; border-bottom-style: solid !important; border-width: 0px 0px 1px !important; color: rgb(28, 125, 255) !important; display: inline !important; padding-bottom: 1px !important;">performance</a></nobr> as it does with whatever intangible qualities Tigers' players have...I mean this is the town that loved Brandon Inge and Don Kelly...and no neither one of those players will make my list...With all of that being said...</i><br />
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#20- 1B/OF/DH Dave Bergman<br />
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Dave Bergman was never the star. He was a piece...and he makes my list of 25 favorite Tigers for two very different reasons. The first is the absolute fleecing of the Philadelphia Phillies that occurred before the 1984 season. The Tigers sent Glenn Wilson and Johnny Wockenfuss to Philly for Willie Hernandez and Bergman. All Willie would do was win the American League MVP and Cy Young awards...and Bergman became a key piece on the bench and as a DH for the team.<br />
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Every one of my teams that has won a National Title has had a moment like this. The Bad Boy Detroit Pistons were home grown for the most part and then they traded for Mark Aguirre and that put them over the top. The 1997-98 Detroit Red Wins were largely home grown and then they traded for Brendan Shanahan and that put them over the top. This was the deal that made a very good Tigers club over the top...so far over the top they were the best team in baseball by a very wide margin.<br />
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This is how I see championship teams being built...and although we are in a different era of baseball now I still believe that a good percentage of your core team has to be home grown...then a wise General Manager has to make a deal or sign a key free agent to get that core over the top.<br />
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Bergman's role on the team was a utility guy. He was a part of one of the deepest benches in recent baseball history. He would spell Darrell Evans at first, and Kirk Gibson in right. He would also serve as the DH. He never put up huge stats but he performed when needed and would be with the Tigers through the end of his career in 1992.<br />
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The other reason I love this guy so much is one at bat...and I cannot even remember what season it was from...however when I talk about this one particular at bat old time Tigers fans know exactly what I am talking about. Bergman had worked a full count...and then fouled off something like 15 pitched before finally getting a big hit. He just battled the guy...till his will and skill at the plate got him his desired result. As a young sports fan it was a very important lesson to learn.<br />
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Dave was not the star, but he had a role and he did what was expected of him. That was a very important lesson I learned when I began to play sports and much later when I started coaching sports. Numbers aside Dave Bergman taught me those lessons and I remember his time here in Detroit with a great fondness.<br />
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<a href="http://joshualobdell.blogspot.com/p/my-favorite-detroit-tigers.html" target="_blank">My 25 Favorite Detroit Tigers</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01808015645111346563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3494341655677577894.post-80297608842634787792015-01-11T17:37:00.000-08:002015-01-12T09:30:43.603-08:00My 25 favorite Detroit Tigers- Mickey Tettleton<i style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">I have been a fan of the Detroit Tigers since the Summer of 1984. I am lucky enough to vividly remember my baseball team winning a World Series title. Since every year the team itself asks me who my Tiger is I decided to write about my favorite 25 Tigers since I became a fan...at eight years old...This has less to do with <nobr><a class="FAtxtL" href="http://joshualobdell.blogspot.com/2015/01/my-25-favorite-detroit-tigers-dan-petry.html#" id="FALINK_5_0_4" style="background-color: transparent !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(28, 125, 255) !important; border-bottom-style: solid !important; border-width: 0px 0px 1px !important; color: rgb(28, 125, 255) !important; display: inline !important; padding-bottom: 1px !important;">performance</a></nobr> as it does with whatever intangible qualities Tigers' players have...I mean this is the town that loved Brandon Inge and Don Kelly...and no neither one of those players will make my list...With all of that being said...</i><br />
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#21 C/1B/OF Mickey Tettleton<br />
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By the time the Detroit Tigers acquired Mickey Tettleton the bottom of the great 1980's teams had begun to fall out. The core of players was aging, the starting pitching had been ineffective and not much was done to fix that, and the front office was in turmoil. Still what remained of the 1984 championship team along with the additions of Cecil Fielder, Tettleton, and Tony Phillps, managed with skill by Sparky Anderson...were able to still contend. Maybe not contended for the post season even though they were in the hunt in 1993 till very late in the season.<br />
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I remember seeing Tettleton bat that spring training and I was like who is this dude with the funky batting stance...I had grown away from baseball by that point due in no small part to the emergence of Barry Sanders, the Detroit Lions, and football...It was Mickey who got me excited for baseball again. I liked the way this guy went about his job. Much like Tom Brookens before him Mickey would play wherever Sparky felt he needed him. He was a good catcher, a pretty good first baseman, and I saw him play in the outfield live on more than one occasion. I was still attending at least one game a season then, and liked what I saw from what I saw as the new core of the team. Granted this core was not home grown like the 1984 squad had been but even then I think I knew we were in a different era of baseball. I didn't know at the time the very sad state of the Tigers' minor league system.<br />
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That didn't matter to me then because I was just a fan, I had not become a sports writer and as long as the team could attract decent free agents...not named Rob Deer...It seemed like they could go on winning forever. Tettleton, Fielder, Phillips were the first wave of those free agents. Of those Tettleton was always my personal favorite.<br />
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He did hit more than 30 home runs in three straight seasons here. He won two Silver Slugger awards, and in his final season in Detroit he was an All Star. I think he main drawback was the amount of times he struck out. This was before everyone knew the name of the Hitting Coach...but had this been in the time of the Internet hotness I am more than sure all of us Tigers fans would have been calling for his head each and every day.<br />
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I suppose I had come to embrace the second incarnation of my baseball team. The team's of the 1980's had been so good, so fun to watch, so full of names I had come to know that it was hard to embrace the new guys. Fielder hit a ton of home runs and who doesn't love that but it was guys like Tettleton that seemed like the next great thing in Detroit baseball.<br />
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<a href="http://joshualobdell.blogspot.com/p/my-favorite-detroit-tigers.html" target="_blank">My 25 favorite Detroit Tigers</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01808015645111346563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3494341655677577894.post-30198840420525485512015-01-10T14:42:00.000-08:002015-01-11T09:54:33.929-08:00My 25 favorite Detroit Tigers- Tony Clark<i style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">I have been a fan of the Detroit Tigers since the Summer of 1984. I am lucky enough to vividly remember my baseball team winning a World Series title. Since every year the team itself asks me who my Tiger is I decided to write about my favorite 25 Tigers since I became a fan...at eight years old...This has less to do with <nobr><a class="FAtxtL" href="http://joshualobdell.blogspot.com/2015/01/my-25-favorite-detroit-tigers-dan-petry.html#" id="FALINK_5_0_4" style="background-color: transparent !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(28, 125, 255) !important; border-bottom-style: solid !important; border-width: 0px 0px 1px !important; color: rgb(28, 125, 255) !important; display: inline !important; padding-bottom: 1px !important;">performance</a></nobr> as it does with whatever intangible qualities Tigers' players have...I mean this is the town that loved Brandon Inge and Don Kelly...and no neither one of those players will make my list...With all of that being said...</i><br />
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#22- First Baseman Tony Clark<br />
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When we think about Tony Clark we think about a career upset by horrible timing. Clark was a home grown talent...the second overall pick of the 1990 draft. Five years later he had made his way to the big club, and the bottom finally fell out on a team that had failed to rebuild itself, mostly failed to develop young talent, and had a new owner and would have a new manager for the first time in a generation. The next year Randy Smith became the GM...and three seasons after that the team moved to the new and spacious Comerica Park. It is really too bad that those late 1990's Tigers teams were so bad. I think we can make the argument now that ownership was more focused on getting a new Stadium constructed over the product on the field.<br />
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It seemed that those teams had a little bit of talent. Tony Clark, Travis Fryman, Bobby Higginson...the '96 squad still had Cecil Fielder. However the achilles heel of those teams was starting pitching. The Tigers had no starting pitching and how many years did we wait for Justin Thompson to pan out? In the end the only real consistent performer of the late 1990's was Clark.<br />
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He hit 30 home runs in three straight seasons. Oddly enough his only All Star selection came in the second season in Comerica Park. He had a great stick for old Tiger Stadium and he was an above average defender at first. It is really too bad that the powers that be were never able to build a team around him. Given the times we can say that ownership was busy with other things...IE the Detroit Red Wings winning back to back Stanley Cups...and that is the biggest argument against having one owner own multiple franchises in one city.<br />
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I am not saying Clark was the be all end all...but for those late 90's teams he was one of the only reasons to buy a ticket. I know that cause on warm summer nights my friends and I would go to old Tiger Stadium just to see him (and yell at Bobby Higginson who had security throw us out of the bleachers twice).<br />
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<a href="http://joshualobdell.blogspot.com/p/my-favorite-detroit-tigers.html" target="_blank">My 25 Favorite Detroit Tigers</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01808015645111346563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3494341655677577894.post-5521922523582966632015-01-09T16:23:00.000-08:002015-01-09T16:26:31.690-08:00My 25 favorite Detroit Tigers- Placido Polanco<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>I have been a fan of the Detroit Tigers since the Summer of 1984. I am lucky enough to vividly remember my baseball team winning a World Series title. Since every year the team itself asks me who my Tiger is I decided to write about my favorite 25 Tigers since I became a fan...at eight years old...This has less to do with <nobr><a class="FAtxtL" href="http://joshualobdell.blogspot.com/2015/01/my-25-favorite-detroit-tigers-dan-petry.html#" id="FALINK_5_0_4" style="background-color: transparent !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(28, 125, 255) !important; border-bottom-style: solid !important; border-width: 0px 0px 1px !important; color: rgb(28, 125, 255) !important; display: inline !important; padding-bottom: 1px !important;">performance</a></nobr> as it does with whatever intangible qualities Tigers' players have...I mean this is the town that loved Brandon Inge and Don Kelly...and no neither one of those players will make my list...With all of that being said...</i></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 18px;"><b>#23 Second Baseman Placido Polanco </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 18px;">I am a little surprised that people don't talk about the fleecing of the Philadelphia Phillies that was accomplished when Dave Dombrowski traded for Placido Polanco. Sure he did not get one of the best players in baseball...but let us not forget that Dontrelle Willis came in that deal and he was a complete disaster in Detroit. For Polanco...Dave dealt away a backup middle infielder...and one of the last pieces of the 119 loss season of 2003...and a relief pitcher that would be in a foreign prison sooner rather than later. Polanco was a great fit for the Tiger...me manned second baseman and was way more than solid there...but he was also the #2 hitter here in Detroit that really set the table for the offense. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">In just over five seasons in the Old English D Polanco won two Silver Slugger awards, a Gold Glove, and was an All Star once. His impact on the team was hard to measure but he was a key part of the 2006 World Series team...and most of us remember him scampering home on the Magglio Ordonez home run that sent this team back to the world series for the first time in 22 years. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/polanpl01.shtml" target="_blank">His best year in Detroit was 2007</a>...the year before Miggy...where Placido hit .341 and had 200 hits. Granted the Tigers finished second in the division that year...but were a full 8 games back at the end of the season. Of course when we talk about Polanco we talk about how he left Detroit without so much as a qualifying offer...it is such a curious move. The front office decided to go with Scott Sizemore who would save the team some payroll dollars but was a move that never worked out. I remember asking Sizemore that off season if he thought he could live up to the love Detroit has had for it's second baseman over the years, and he said of course. He was confident he could get it done, but the loss of Polanco was a sore spot for Tigers fans all the way till they reacquired Omar Infante...</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Of course by 2009 Polanco was at the end of his hot streak. He had a decent 2010 season for the Phillies but not like he had been...of course much better than what the Tigers got out of Sizemore, Will Rhymes, and Ramon Santiago. However by 2012 the Tigers would have needed a better option at second even if they had kept Polanco...</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://joshualobdell.blogspot.com/p/my-favorite-detroit-tigers.html" target="_blank">My 25 Favorite Tigers</a> </span></span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01808015645111346563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3494341655677577894.post-63020601878576726592015-01-08T14:06:00.000-08:002015-01-08T14:11:28.671-08:00My 25 favorite Detroit Tigers- Dan Petry<i style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">I have been a fan of the Detroit Tigers since the Summer of 1984. I am lucky enough to vividly remember my baseball team winning a World Series title. Since every year the team itself asks me who my Tiger is I decided to write about my favorite 25 Tigers since I became a fan...at eight years old...This has less to do with performance as it does with whatever intangible qualities Tigers' players have...I mean this is the town that loved Brandon Inge and Don Kelly...and no neither one of those players will make my list...With all of that being said...</i><br />
<i style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></i>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b>#24 Pitcher Dan Petry</b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b><br /></b></span>
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<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">Around the 1986 season I
started hearing about and caring about where my Detroit Tigers players were
signing autographs. This was back in the day before guys charged to sign
stuff...and all you had to do to get something signed was find out where the
player would be...and wait in line...I was lucky enough to also get a few
signatures on the concourse of Old Tiger Stadium as the players were leaving
the clubhouse. One of the first guys I remember meeting from the 1984 team was
Dan Petry...at Westland Mall...</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">This was
before I was a stat nerd, and a sports writer, or knew how to evaluate a guy
based on his performance. What I knew about Dan then was he was the #2 guy for
the entire 1980's.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/DET/1987-pitching.shtml" target="_blank">His best year was 1984</a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>and his worst year was probably 1987
where had it not been for Walt Terrell and Frank Tanana Petry's performance
would have left the starting rotation very exposed. </span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br />
What I know now is despite pitching in three post seasons he does not have a
playoff win...and was blown up in the only loss to San Diego in the 1984 World
Series...it's funny but I can not remember much about those games played out
west that post season...granted I had just turned 8 but whatever. </span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br />
Petry was a home grown talent and he was always the next guy up after Jack
Morris. He was a work horse and probably suffered from pitching in Tiger
Stadium as much as he did. However much like the Bad Boy Detroit Pistons...the
organization wasn't fast enough in dealing away the core pieces of the '84
championship team...even though Petry was traded away for Gary Pettis, who
would show fans of my generation what it was like to have a legit base
stealer...</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;"><br />
When I look at Petry's numbers now I really think he got used up in those
seasons in the middle of the 80's. He pitched more than 230 innings for four
years in a row and when 1987 rolled around it seems like the tank was
empty. </span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Petry would come back to Detroit for the 1990 season, and was traded to the
Atlanta Braves during the 1991 season. A few days later he was traded to the
Boston Red Sox. </span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span> <span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://joshualobdell.blogspot.com/p/my-favorite-detroit-tigers.html" target="_blank">More of my Detroit Tigers All Time Favorite players list</a></span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01808015645111346563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3494341655677577894.post-22595943135155939472015-01-07T09:18:00.001-08:002015-01-07T09:18:54.380-08:00My 25 favorite Detroit Tigers- Matt Nokes<i>I have been a fan of the Detroit Tigers since the Summer of 1984. I am lucky enough to vividly remember my baseball team winning a World Series title. Since every year the team itself asks me who my Tiger is I decided to write about my favorite 25 Tigers since I became a fan...at eight years old...This has less to do with performance as it does with whatever intangible qualities Tigers' players have...I mean this is the town that loved Brandon Inge and Don Kelly...and no neither one of those players will make my list...With all of that being said...</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<b>#25 Catcher Matt Nokes</b><br />
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<br />
Matt did not have a bunch of great seasons...in fact he might not have had any truly great seasons but he was the future of this organization during that magical campaign of 1987. 1987 was the year I learned how to follow baseball in the newspapers...a totally foreign concept now days...but I can remember waking up every morning to grab the Detroit News and check the standings...and then read over the box score from the game the previous day. I went to four Tiger games that year...the most games I attended in a season every year till I started covering the team as a job.<br />
<br />
I had been a big Tigers fan for a few years at that point but 1987 was the year I became a stat nerd...My favorite Tigers players were still on this team although I do remember growing tired of Kirk Gibson during that season...When I would read over the box scores...when I attended games...it was Matt Nokes who started to grab my attention.<br />
<br />
He was the future and during that season it seemed like the future was bright. Even though he split time behind the plate with Mike Heath...even though Lance Parrish was gone...it was exciting to have this young kid tearing it up. Nokes was an All Star that year, won a Silver Slugger, and finished third in Rookie of the Year voting. In a <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=nokes-001mat" target="_blank">135 games that year mostly as the catcher of DH</a> Matt hit .289 with 133 hits, 32 home runs,87 RBI, and .345 OBP. By far his best season wearing the Old English D, and he would only come close to replicating those kind of numbers one more time in his career.<br />
<br />
Nokes seemed like the future...the young talent that would help a aging core of veterans remain competitive in the American League East...it didn't exactly work out that way but I will never forget him or the numbers he put up in 1987.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01808015645111346563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3494341655677577894.post-35608847380328246282015-01-05T08:48:00.000-08:002015-01-05T14:43:39.476-08:00Why I can no longer support the NFLI wish I could sit here and seriously right that I retired from being a NFL fan because of some moral outrage. Outrage over how the league botched the Ray Rice situation, outrage over the racist name of that franchise in our nation's capital the somehow plays its games in Maryland, outrage over the millions of dollars in corporate welfare given to team owners to build football palaces at the expense of taxpayers.<br />
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<br />
I wish that were true, but the straw that broke the camel's back for me is the two fold problem the NFL has, and continually fails to address, with its overly complicated rulebook and the terrible job its officials do on the field of play. I am one of those extremely selfish human animals...and yesterday it was those two problems that conspired to screw the team I have supported for my entire football life.<br />
<br />
I have never seen a call so egregious, so beyond what we expect from a game of football, and so unfair go unaddressed in my entire history of playing, watching, and working in football. I have never seen a call so wrong, so obviously in error that changed the entire momentum of a game. Let's be clear here the Detroit Lions did not play a complete game in Dallas yesterday...they did however play well enough to beat the Cowboys...and they likely would have...till the referees made an error so huge they themselves could not explain it.<br />
<br />
With that being said, I do not place the entirety of the blame on the on the field officials. It is very hard to get every call right or see everything that happens on the field...this is a NFL wide problem and the league itself puts these men in a ridiculously bad position. The rule book is overly complicated...and I could write 1,000 words on that alone...but the league takes guys who have worked with crews for the entire season...up to 20 games in some cases...and then breaks those crews up and mix matched crews for what are the most important games of the year.<br />
<br />
I would argue that the wild card round is the most important round since a lot of the teams playing in this round are not post season experienced....and like the Lions have not grown enough to be able to overcome a flawed call...a penalty picked up that would have extended a drive...the proof of that is the very next play in the Detroit Versus Dallas Game...where the Lions lost their poise.<br />
<br />
It is not the easiest thing in the world to be a fan of the Detroit Lions...and every season since I started rooting for this team in 1988 has ended the exact same way (in bitter disappointment)...I am pretty lucky I have seen every one of my hometown's teams win a championship save the Lions and I would trade all of them (beyond the 1984 Detroit Tigers World Series and the 1997 Detroit Red Wings Stanley Cup) for the chance to see my Lions play...not even win...in the Super Bowl.<br />
<br />
The Referees of the NFL making bone head calls and arbitrary rulings on the field is not a new problem...the failure of the league to use replay to fix those errors is not a new problem. It seems almost every week some official makes a call that helps determine a game on the field of play...that makes the NFL not a sport...but a lamer version of the WWE...And that is why I can no longer support, spend money on, or help promote the NFL.<br />
<br />
In a lot of ways I owe that credit for this decision to Roger Goodell...sure he makes a lot of money for his owners and that is his highest priority...but when you cannot take a stand on any one issue you wind up standing for nothing. In the words of Thorin Oakenshiled, "If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world." Goodell only cares about the hoarded gold...and that makes his NFL the Comcast of the sporting world and I already rid myself of that menace earlier this year and now I will rid myself of this one.<br />
<br />
Much like Comcast, Roger Goodell needs to learn that I as a sports fan (and even as a sports) writer have options. I can supports the Arena League, I can become a fan of the Canadian League (not to mention the three other pro sports leagues and NASCAR)...I can watch all of these both on TV and via my computer...I have an alternative...is it as good? No, not nearly...but it is football and it will satisfy my football addiction.<br />
<br />
Let me be clear here. I bleed Honolulu blue and silver. My home is full of Lions mementos collected over a lifetime of support of my team...if there was a way to continue my support of the team I love without a cut going to Goodell's evil empire I would take that option in a heartbeat...Since there is not I will step away from the NFL until at the very minimum it fixes the problems with its on the field officials and the overly complicated rule book.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01808015645111346563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3494341655677577894.post-45264100841336363682014-12-11T10:12:00.000-08:002014-12-11T10:12:48.671-08:00The Detroit Tigers trade Rick Porcello, add Alfredo Simon<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Dave Dombrowski has been very busy on the final day of the 2014
Winter Meetings. What we know is that Rick Porcello is now a Boston Red Sox.
Yoenis Cespedes is the Tigers new starting left fielder, and Eugenio Suarez has
been moved to the Cincinnati Reds for RHP Alfredo Simon. It would also seem
that the Tigers have made the choice to not resign Max Scherzer as their rotation
has now been remade without him in mind. Not to say they are out on Max, but it
looks less and less likely he will resign in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Detroit</st1:place></st1:city>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">With these moves we now see a clearer
picture of what the 2015 Tigers will look like. The starting five will be Justin
Verlander, David Price, Anibal Sanchez, Alfredo Simon, and Shane Greene. That
is still very strong and if JV can have a bounce back year, Sanchez stay
healthier, and Price be who we think he is the starting rotation could be just
slightly less dominant as it has been. Granted at this point Simon is something
of a question mark. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">The Tigers have also saved a bit of money
here. Porcello was set for yet another big raise in his final year of arbitration
and due a huge raise following the 2015 season. He has the look of a 100
million dollar deal and the Tigers simply cannot afford to have another
contract of that size. Simon is due to make less than half of what Porcello
would command for next season which leaves payroll dollars to address the one
issue that the Tigers brain trust as once again failed to improve...the
bullpen. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">The outfield for 2015 looks like Cespedes
in left. A Rajai Davis and Anthony Gose platoon in center and JD Martinez in
right. That is stronger defensively that it has been and if JD can continue to
show some power gives the middle of the Tigers lineup some teeth. More on that
later. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">The infield will be Miguel Cabrera at
first, Ian Kinsler at second, Joe Iglesias at short and Nick Castellanos at
third. The fifth infielder will likely be Andrew Romine so that Hernan Perez
can play everyday at <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Toledo</st1:place></st1:city>
and continue to develop. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">The lineup looks to be something like
this:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">1. Gose/Davis<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">2. Kinsler<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">3. Cabrera<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">4. Victor Martinez<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">5. Cespedes<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">6. JD Martinez<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">7. Castellanos<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">8. Alex Avila <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">9. Iglesias <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">That has a lot of potential, and on paper
the middle of that lineup looks mean. However I wonder how Cespedes fits into <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Comerica</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Park</st1:placetype></st1:place> and I am more than worried about
his OBP and the frequency with which he strikes out. However the hope has to be
having him and JD gives a little protection to both and helps both be more productive
at the plate. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Dombrowski has made another set of bold
moves, and some of this is continual fall out from the disastrous Doug Fister
trade of a year ago. With that being said I am mostly positive about the moves
made today both in terms of production and in terms of savings to the payroll moving
forward. While Dombrowski has a lot of money tied up in his stars the remainder
of his roster remains flexible enough to make moves. We can complain about the
state of the minor league system another time...given that with Jonathan
Crawford going to the Reds means four of the top prospects of this team have
now been dealt away this off season. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01808015645111346563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3494341655677577894.post-14536212028086602172014-12-06T14:01:00.000-08:002014-12-06T14:12:28.935-08:00My Baseball Hall of Fame BallotBefore we get into all of that let us start with the basic assumption that this group of Hall of Fame voters has decided amongst itself not to elect any player tainted by the steroids era. I am not so sure that I agree with that action or not but I think it is safe to say that this electorate is not going to enshrine any of these controversial figures.<br />
<br />
Now lets talk about how I go about my votes each and every year...no I do not have a hall vote yet...but one day maybe so. The first eye test fro every name on the ballot is what I refer to as the Rob Parker test. Yes I know Parker is a large type A hole but he gave the best answer to how he goes about his vote each year that I have ever heard. His eye test is to just say the player's name and determine if Hall of Fame should follow it. Since we are now dealing with players who I watched as an adult (for the most part) I feel qualified to administer that first step.<br />
<br />
The second step for me is to see if the player has any of the magic numbers for enshrinement. Any good baseball guy knows those for pitchers and hitters, and even though we will need to adjust those moving forward some of them will remain true.<br />
<br />
After that we move into the grey area. Where we look at post season awards, All Star Game appearances and production in the post season and impact made on the teams they played for. I am not a big fan of comparing numbers to those already in the hall because by and large those numbers were produced in different eras of he game. I think at minimum a player should have one MVP/Cy Young award on his resume to be considered for the Hall, but as well look over the ten players I would vote for in 2015 we will see whee my own personal gray area comes into play.<br />
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With all that said here are the 10 players I would vote for from the <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/hof_2015.shtml" target="_blank">BBWAA official ballot</a>:<br />
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1. <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/t/trammal01.shtml" target="_blank">Alan Trammell</a> SS- This is my one homer vote. I am from Detroit, and Tram was my favorite player of my youth. If he had played in any other era he would be a hands down pick for the hall. He played in the same era of Ozzie Smith and Cal Ripken Jr. I of course remain convinced he was jobbed out of the 1987 MVP award. He was a .285 career hitter, a six time all star, winner of four gold gloves and three silver sluggers. He was also the MVP of the 1984 World Series. He was an important cog of the Tigers for nearly 20 years and is absolutely Hall worthy. Not a single player of the '84 champion team has been enshrined or had their number retired by the Tigers. He also hit .333 in the post season.<br />
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2. <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/j/johnsra05.shtml" target="_blank">Randy Johnson</a> P- this one is easy. Randy has 303 wins putting him over the magic number of 300 wins by a starting pitcher to guarantee enshrinement.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieUrs0xXstXcGO_Q38qwrkFsI6Kt34cJZsHRYWiK0FGycTW6jjDilNy6bDaleREJ0L5KHI3vZNnno3cbfWN5B2COKpW0T6mHFHrqDYS7g4BGB-xlq6ABsvaRi1haSPFUlXAjQaloUALpw/s1600/piazza.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieUrs0xXstXcGO_Q38qwrkFsI6Kt34cJZsHRYWiK0FGycTW6jjDilNy6bDaleREJ0L5KHI3vZNnno3cbfWN5B2COKpW0T6mHFHrqDYS7g4BGB-xlq6ABsvaRi1haSPFUlXAjQaloUALpw/s1600/piazza.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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3. <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/piazzmi01.shtml" target="_blank">Mike Piazza</a> C- The 1993 Rookie of the Year was a 12 time all star, won 11 silver slugger awards, and was MVP of the 1996 All Star Game. He was one of the best catchers of his generation and his career .308 batting average and 429 home runs makes him Hall worthy.<br />
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4. <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/martipe02.shtml" target="_blank">Pedro Martinez</a> P- His 3,154 career strike outs puts him over the 3,000 magic number mark for enshrinement. He also won three Cy Young Awards (one in each league). On the surface his 219-100 career record seems a little short of being acceptable for the Hall but his 2.93 career ERA and his 8 All Star game appearances make up for that shortcoming.<br />
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5. <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/martied01.shtml" target="_blank">Edgar Martinez</a> DH- I know I know but guys who were predominately DH's in their career are going to get elected to the hall one day and I could go on and on with stats...but let us just say they named a post season award after this cat and he and David Ortiz are probably the two best DH's ever.<br />
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6. <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/smoltjo01.shtml" target="_blank">Jon Smoltz</a> P- Smolts has over 3k strike outs which is the magic number for enshrinement. His 213-155 record is somewhat sub par but when we add in his 154 career saves we see he was one of the best pitchers in his era. His post season record is also stellar at 15-4 with a 2.67 ERA and 4 playoff saves.<br />
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7. <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/bagweje01.shtml" target="_blank">Jeff Bagwell</a> 1B- a member of the Killer B's. The 1991 Rookie of the year and the 1994 MVP his 449 career home runs get him close to enshrinement and his 4 all star appearances and 3 silver sluggers and a gold glove put him over the top. He is also a career .297 hitter.<br />
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8. <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/mussimi01.shtml" target="_blank">Mike Mussina</a> P- We are now done to marginal players for the Hall. They passed the first eye test, and now we try to justify the vote with stats. He was 270-153 overall. He has a 3.68 career ERA. He had 2818 strike outs. Those are all close to magic numbers but when we factor in the fact he was a five time all star and won 7 gold gloves puts him over the top.<br />
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9. <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/biggicr01.shtml" target="_blank">Craig Biggio</a> 2B- Another member of the killer B's and with 3,060 hits in his career has the magic number for enshrinement. We can add 9 time all star, 3 gold gloves, and 5 silver slugger awards to sweeten his pot a bit.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMiAAbsboQmSNuatacWsbexcdcoYzaF6mzxycLfnDUbTP-g3OFUuEOodokDRCw54t3PEyuQF3gmWWevTSrFMsm_-QM9sV21s-4LCM2nS3HX8fJst-qLUnOpCsTopFoaj_anHopouxEDqQ/s1600/schilling.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMiAAbsboQmSNuatacWsbexcdcoYzaF6mzxycLfnDUbTP-g3OFUuEOodokDRCw54t3PEyuQF3gmWWevTSrFMsm_-QM9sV21s-4LCM2nS3HX8fJst-qLUnOpCsTopFoaj_anHopouxEDqQ/s1600/schilling.jpg" height="251" width="320" /></a></div>
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10. <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/schilcu01.shtml" target="_blank">Curt Shilling</a> P- Sure he has 3,116 strike outs which puts him in line for strong consideration. However this is the one guy whose post season performances really make his case for him. 11-2 wit ha 2,23 ERA with 120 strike outs. He pitched in 4 world Series going 4-1 with a 2.06 ERA on the biggest stage baseball has. A lot of people don't like this guy but he has the resume to be a member of the hall.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01808015645111346563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3494341655677577894.post-83353969449435783832014-12-04T12:16:00.002-08:002014-12-04T12:16:58.920-08:00Why I dislike Tara KnowlesI always end up on th wrong side of this arguemnbt. The fangirls in my life never understand why I don't like her. Why I have such disdain for her, and they seem to think that my dislike of hr character is somehow an endorsement of her brutal murder.<br />
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I have just started a <a href="http://joshualobdell.blogspot.com/p/30-day-sons-of-anarchy-blogging.html" target="_blank">30 day SOA blogging challenge</a> and the subject of favorite female character got me on the wrong side of this argument again.<br />
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So before we go any farther let us set two things in stone. Even though Tara did some pretty heinous, outrageous things I do not think she did one thing in six seasons of Sons of Anarchy that warranted her being murdered with a carving fork. Also I do not dislike her because she was goin to take Jax's children away from his crazy ass life. Even though we could argue she had very questionable legal right to do so since one of said children isn't hers. For me escaping Charming was the exactly right motherly extinct for her to have at the moment.<br />
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However, for me Tara for the most part is a very weak willed woman. There is nothing I hate more than weak women. It bugs me on a very personal level, and I have spent half a career in sports finding and working with strong woman. Woman who don't need anyone but themselves, who are secure in who they are, and I think it is that personal prejudice that makes me dislike this character so much.<br />
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Think about it. What we know about Tara is this...She originally left Charming because she was uncomfortable with where the love of her life's life was headed. She felt the need to escape, so much so that she went out and got a medical degree and becomes a very skilled surgeon. Only to run back to Charming when a guy starts stalking her...<br />
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And here is where I think the disconnect with Tara for me comes from. I'm a guy and I don't live in fear of anything. I do not know what it is like to be with and/or around someone that scares me that badly. I am not sure the male brain can comprehend that. I know some of the females in my life say I can be scary, especially when I am mad. I have a deep voice, I am loud and I am a big guy and I understand that in logic but not in a physical sense.<br />
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What I am left with, when it comes to Tara, is a chick who is really just picking what she thinks is the lesser of two evils. She knows already what and who Jax is before she decides to return. She knows it is not something she can live with because she already left once. That is before she does the things that she does that make me hate her even more (no spoilers). However, over the course of seasons 2-5 we see her become Gemma little by little, and nobody likes Gemma. But more and more Tara transforms into a eviler version of the Biker Queen because she is smart and sophisticated in ways Gemma certainly is not.<br />
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Maybe I am just spoiled by Game of Thrones. In that world anyone who makes a bad or questionable decision they are rewarded with a just fate. It is something I have come to expect, something that I understand...but in the SOA world we have Tara who makes a choice I don't exactly understand (returning to the place she fought to escape from), a questionable decision is getting back with her high school sweetheart, a highly questionable decision of having a child with a pretty bad dude, and a ridiculous decisions to stay in a life she could never ever accept. All of that before she starts acting the Gemma and manipulating people.<br />
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I am perfectly willing to admit that I may be on the wrong side of this, but it is my collection of personal preferences and prejudices that lead me to not like her a whole heck of a lot.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01808015645111346563noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3494341655677577894.post-15271939335785012092014-11-13T09:23:00.000-08:002014-11-13T09:23:09.471-08:00Detroit Tigers begin building the 2015 roster<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Detroit Tigers General Manager Dave Dombrowski has begun to build out his roster for the 2015 season. Attending the annual GM meetings Dombrowski has acted quickly once again this off season. His first move was to <a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/tigers-remain-in--win-now--mode-after-big-commitment-to-victor-martinez-001208130.html" target="_blank">resign Victor Martinez</a> to a four year 68 million dollar deal. He then traded the top prospect in the Tigers' farm system, <a href="http://www.blessyouboys.com/2014/11/12/7213015/anthony-gose-devon-travis-trade-blue-jays-tigers" target="_blank">Devon Travis, to the Toronto Blue Jays for OF Anthony Gose</a>. There are no rumors that <a href="http://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2014/11/13/detroit-tigers-trade-alex-avila/18960851/" target="_blank">the team is shopping C Alex Avila</a>.<br />
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With these moves we start to see what the 2015 Tigers will look like. Once again the Tigers are in win now mode. They are hoping they can win a World Series title before their championship window slams shut. They are closer to that, and to being the Philadelphia Phillies (minus a ring of course) then they are as legit contenders for said title.<br />
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This is a roster that is still too top heavy, and that might be good for ticket sales, and that might be just good enough to win the division, However after four straight divisional titles, and four post seasons that do not end with a win how much longer will Tigers fans be content with simply winning the division. The simple truth here is the two things that help a team win in he playoffs are the two things were this roster continues to be deficient. Those two things are of course team defense and a strong reliable bullpen.<br />
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I am more than sick of hearing how this team is built for the post season. If that is true why do the Tigers lose in the playoffs so GD always!! Every other team minus the Cleveland Indians have won a World Series title since the Tigers last one won. The Kansas City Royals just won the AL pennant, the way the Tigers have been going about this clearly doesn't work.<br />
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The simple fact here is the roster is too top heavy. This was certainly true last year when they dealt away Prince Fielder. It remains true after trade deadline deals and the beginning of the hot stove season has seen the team deal away a number of its top prospects. Granted prospects in baseball are hardly known commodities but as good as the stars on this team is exactly how bad the bottom of the roster is and they need more balance to truly be considered legit contenders for a World Series ring.<br />
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<a href="http://www.blessyouboys.com/2014/11/13/7213057/who-is-anthony-gose" target="_blank">Gose is fast</a>, and he looks to be a legit Center fielder. The plan looks like he will platoon with Rajai Davis out there. However he has no bat, and he <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/gosean01.shtml?redir" target="_blank">strikes out far to often</a> to be considered a legit leadoff guy. So in effect the Tigers have added another bottom of the order guy, and it seems like he main plus to this situation is he will make the minimum salary over the next two seasons.<br />
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I am not as concerned about losing Travis as others. Since Ian Kinsler is likely going to be here for the foreseeable future and the club also has <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=perez-001her" target="_blank">Hernan Perez</a>. I would like to see Perez play 2015 in Toledo continue to develop while Jose Iglesisas and Andrew Romine man the middle infield in Detroit. I am ok with that situation.<br />
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It is far to early to start predicting the job Dombrwoski is doing to build out the roster for 2015. A big chunk of that will be what winds up happening with Avila. It would be nice to add another bat to the middle of this lineup.<br />
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<a href="http://joshualobdell.blogspot.com/p/detroit-tigers-news-and-notes.html" target="_blank">Detroit Tigers news and notes</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01808015645111346563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3494341655677577894.post-77291072141312921472014-10-31T08:40:00.001-07:002014-10-31T08:49:42.268-07:00Should the Detroit Tigers pick Max Scherzer over David Price<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Let us start with a few basic assumptions. The first and most important being is the Detroit Tigers have a budget...be that the Luxury Tax that can and will be imposed by Major League Baseball, the amount of money a medium market baseball team can reasonably spend, or the amount of money the Illitch family is willing to commit to the payroll in any one season. We do not know what that number is, but it is there.<br />
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Once we accept that as fact we have to come to the realization that while keeping both <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/scherma01.shtml" target="_blank">Max Scherzer</a> and <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/priceda01.shtml" target="_blank">David Price</a> in the starting rotation would be the best possible income. However when we accept fact we come to the realization that it is highly unlikely that the team can afford to resign both hurlers, and make the necessary upgrades else where on the roster to keep this team as a playoff contender.<br />
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That of course means one of them has to go. Now neither of these two men have contracts for 2015 as of right now. It s going to take a substantial investment to get these players signed long term. Sure David Price is under team control for next year but he is still going to take a substantial offer to get him on the field for next year.<br />
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A lot of people assumed when the Tigers made the trade for Price that Mad Max was a certain goner. Given the ugliness of the contract negotiations last off season that seemed like the most likely outcome. However, it seems to me that is not what General Manager Dave Dombrowski should do.<br />
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Price is a better overall pitcher only because he is left handed. He may be the best left handed pitcher in the game today. Past that these are two front of the rotation guys who had very similar stat lines in 2014. Both can eat up innings, both can get more than their fair share of strike outs and both can be #1 guys on any team in both leagues.<br />
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The only things that separates these two guys in my mind is the level of comfort they two have being in Detroit and in this locker room and what they can bring back via trade. Scherzer is a free agent. He has six year of service and is free to sign with any team. The Tigers have zero leverage left to bring him back or get anything in return if another team breaks the bank for him. Price on the other hand could bring back a nice return and help restock this team after the disastrous Doug Fister deal and the price he cost this organization himself.<br />
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What exactly could the Tigers get in return for Price is completely unknown but I bet he could bring back a starting center fielder or a front line relief pitcher both of which are two of the bigger needs on this team heading toward this off season. I think it highly likely that Price would bring back one of those two things and a prospect or two. When he was dealt at the deadline he netted the team that dealt him a back of the rotation starter, a highly touted prospect, and a middle infielder.<br />
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Think about it like this...Given the Tigers depth at the middle infielder spot if they made that trade...Price to whomever and got back a front line reliever, they could then theoretically deal Ian Kinsler and his hefty contract to help pay for Scherzer and hopefully get another one of the pieces they need. I know Kinsler was one of the better performing Tigers in 2104 but to make the kind of improvements this team sacrifices must be made and finding a cheaper middle infield to keep Scherzer and dramatically improve the bullpen may be one the those trade offs that finally gets this team to a World Series title.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01808015645111346563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3494341655677577894.post-78671799415609428682014-10-27T10:59:00.001-07:002014-10-27T13:24:12.892-07:00Deep Thoughts with Joshua...thinking about soul matesI have a hard time believing in this concept. Let us be frank and say we live in the age of the no fault divorce where family units are ripped apart for legit and not so legit reasoning. I am a child of divorce...I have seen many a marriage, many a broken marriage, and I have even been a willing and then very unwilling participant in a failed marriage that was in almost every way doomed from the beginning. For me marriage is very much an antiquated concept...but as a writer I want to believe in the idea of a soul mate. That there is one soul out there that will meld with mine and make me happy and calm in perpetuity.<br />
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I guess the first hurdle to overcome here is when we think of soul mates we think of a romantic partner. For me I am not so sure that is what a soul mate should be. I think saying your soul mate is the person you are dating or sleeping with cheapens the meaning of the phrase. For me a soul mate is something way more special that all of that. It is a once in a lifetime experience and they should come into your life exactly when you need them the most...but hey I am a writer and I like grandiose gestures like that and I so believe in fairy tale ideals....I want to live a love story...I want it to inspire me...and I want to share that feeling with the whole world.<br />
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Since it is hard for me to be objective about this topic at the moment I found a very nice article that is a <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-carmen-harra/elements-of-a-soulmate_b_3595992.html" target="_blank">10 point checklist of the elements that define a soul mate</a>. I agree with 9 of their 10 and my list would include one different item...<br />
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With that here they are:<br />
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1. This person makes you feel a way no one else does and that feeling is hard to put into words<br />
2. You just get each other<br />
3. You fall in love with each others flaws<br />
4. It's intense<br />
5. It feels like the two of you versus the whole world<br />
6. You're mentally inseparable<br />
7. You feel secure and protected<br />
8. You cannot imagine your life without them<br />
9. You look each other in the eye<br />
10. It doesn't matter what you do its enjoyable because you do it together<br />
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So there ya go...if you think you have a soul mate they should meet a majority of the above conditions. Granted the dream is to find that one perfectly flawed soul that is these 10 things and so much more...but hey I am a writer and I want to believe in the fairy tale...Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01808015645111346563noreply@blogger.com0