Tigers/Twins Game 163 Liveblog

I felt like crap and stayed home from work today. After sleeping until noon I haven't been able to sit still. I Can't imagine what it's been like for the Tigers, who are about to let a 7 game division lead slip away in the final month of the season. Add in the distraction of the Cabrera situation, I have no idea how anyone in that clubhouse could possible be loose for this game. On the other side of the field, the Twins, Morneau-less, have been playing loose for weeks. Here we go.

4:53 PM
The lineups are posted and Granderson is leading off. If he goes 0-4 with two strikeouts, the Tigers are done. Raburn is batting 6th and Santiago getting the start at SS. One observation I made at the beginning of the season about Leyland not ever starting the same lineup two days in a row has played out this season. I still maintain that this is one reason for the Tigers offensive inconsistencies.

5:13 PM
Tigers go down 1-2-3. Granderson does NOT strike out, but Polanco does. Maggs looks a half second slow on the fastball, which is all they threw him. Also, why is Craig Sager the third man in on the broadcast? If I have to put up with him for the duration of the playoffs I'm not going to be happy.

5:28 PM
Runners on 1st and 3rd with 1 out. I would have had Guillen bunt, but what do I know. Three sliders and Inge will be a strikeout victim. A low fastball gets two outs with one swing. Can you feel my optimism?

5:31 PM
Inge has a good swing and still comes up Millhouse. Laird hits a lazy fly and the leadoff double produces squat, the story of September for the Tigers. Money on the Twins scoring at least 2 in the bottom half...

5:47 PM
Maggs gets a hold of a fastball that tails in on him and takes it the other way sending Grandy in for the first run. I can hear my Mom "wooo-ing" all the way from Michigan! It would be real nice if Miggy could pound one and tag on a few more.

5:50 PM
He must have heard me. 3-0 Tigers, Bazinga! Keep pouring it on please.

6:05 PM
2 Hits, 2 flyouts and a wild pitch equal a run for the Twins. Mauer walked on four pitches and now Kubel is down 1-2, check that, Strikeout and the inning is over. A two run lead is a lot different than a 3 run lead and the Twins have 18 outs left. There is no way Porcello pitches, I mean Leyland allows Porcello to pitch, more than 6 innings. Conclusion: the Tigers need to score more runs, now, a lot more.

6:25 PM
Porcello is looking good. Set them down in order in the 4th, but like I said, he is going no further than the sixth. If the score is 3-1 at the end of 6, that would not be good.

6:50 PM
Mauer strikes out to make it two outs with no one on, then Kubel goes and hits an upper deck shot to make it 3-2. I feel ill.

7:20 PM (stretch time)
Polanco fisted one to short to end the inning and the Tigers threat. It's 3-2 and no Tigers fan can feel comfortable at this point with the way the bullpen has given away games the last two years. Who is even the setup man at this point? Perry? Lyon? I definitely would not give the ball to Lyon with this one run lead. And you know if it gets to Rodney the ninth will be interesting.

Detroit Tigers 2009 Season, Time of Death - 7:31 PM
Cabrera hits a two run homer, it's all over but the crying. There will be no need for any additional posts. I quit.

Miguel Cabrera "Wife Beater" Athletic Apparel

Bad form? Maybe, but it's the first thing that popped into my head. It's sad, but expect to see these at the game tomorrow, I'm sure I wasn't the only one to think of this:



Bad timing Miggy. I hope you are able to get your life/career together.

Stay tuned for a Sixty Feet Six Inches liveblog tomorrow, which apparently may be the only one of the postseason regular season.

P.S. Please excuse my horrible horrible photoshop skills.

I Won a Contest and You Can Too!

Just go to WaxPackRelapse and leave a comment for a chance to win some Bowman's Best cards!

Now if only the Tigers could win something tonight...

Detroit Tigers: 1985 World Series Champs!?

According to ESPN. WTF. Screenshot of tonight's game:

Tommy Hanson Signs; Mike Gonzalez Shaves (his arms).

This past weekend was a good one. I spent both Saturday and Sunday afternoon down at Nationals Park to see Chipper and the Braves. We got soaked Saturday sitting in the rain but it was worth it. Hanson pitched great and the Nats Presidential mascots were apparently unloading whatever they had in storage for random fan giveaways. I was able to score a John Halama game worn jersey from the 2005 season thanks to President Washington who apparently did not care that I was wearing a Braves jersey! Pretty cool pickup. Halama was part of the Randy Johnson to Houston trade as the player to be named later by Houston. Current Tiger Carlos Guillen and former Tiger Freddy Garcia also part of that trade. Braves won, I was happy, let's do it all again on Sunday.


Lowe pitched on Sunday and was not his best. It rained again and the Braves offense rained down as well, scoring a solid 10th inning win to get within 2.5 games of the wild card leading Rockies. Even better, though there was no batting practice (ironic since it was sunny and warm before Sunday's game) a number of players were out and signed for the Braves fans. Among them who I was able to get were Mike Gonzalez, Ken Kawakami and Mr. Hanson, who was kind enough to sign the sweet spot for anyone that asked. The ball looks fantastic right next to my Chipper sweet spot I picked up in Milwaukee a few years ago. Enjoy the pictures and hopefully the Braves continue (and the Tigers once again begin) their winning ways.





Also, Mike Gonzalez apparently shaves his arms and hands. Strange.

Pittsburgh Pirates Getting Attention at the G20 Summit!

Had to post this. A guy I went to high school with lives in Pittsburgh took this picture.

As a native Detroiter I know what it's like to suffer through years and years of losing seasons with the Wings and Tigers, but really Pittsburgh is out of excuses. They have in my opinion one of, if not the best ballparks in the league, ownership that can spend money (but doesn't) and a fan base that would support their team if they were even close to .500.

There's always next year!

Flash Forward, to a New Comerica Park?

Anyone else catch Flash Forward on ABC tonight (8pm)? Solid premiere for the show in my opinion, however, slightly confused about the Detroit aspect at the end of the show. I'll try not to ruin the ending of the first show, but they showed "video footage of a stadium in Detroit," a large stadium where baseball was being played, and at first glance it did look like Comerica until they showed left field. While yes, they did add some bleacher sections underneath the scoreboard this year, it did not at all look like what Comerica's left field. Maybe it was the 27" standard def TV in my hotel room, or the fact I haven't been in Detroit since opening day or that it was a short clip, but I'm pretty sure that it was in fact not Comerica Park. I'll post a screen shot from the show when they post the show online but until then, anyone else see this? Thoughts on the show, or the baseball clip?

Goodwin Champions, All For Trade.

10 hobby packs of the Champs and I am uninspired. The base cards are NICE, I think I may even like them more than Ginter or at least it's a close call. But as many have already written it's hard to pinpoint exactly what is missing here from this set. It's probably a combination of price point, number of cards per pack, the clouds (seriously, too many clouds), how hard it will be to complete this set with the short prints and super short prints, and insert sets that just don't do it for me. Further, the oddball autos in this set (as compared to Ginter) leave something to be desired.

Anyway here is what I got, all is up for trade (including the auto) except the Nolan:


20th Anniversary
2297, 2307, 2317, 2332, 2342

Citizens of the Century
CC-9

Autograph
A-MA (Mark Allen – Triathlete)


Citizens of the Day
CD-4

Black Border Mini
53 (Silva)

Mini Foil
111 (Kevin Garnett)


Regular Mini
10, 38, 82, 106, 132, 136, 139, 143, 225, 241

Base
2, 22, 24, 28, 30, 38, 43, 51, 52, 55, 56, 66, 67, 71, 82, 86, 98, 99, 101, 125, 133, 141, 167, 169, 173, 181, 185 106, 114

Why Sports Illustrated, WHY?! The Tigers Will Officially NOT make the Playoffs.

Had to post this. From the Detroit News Online site, Detroit, specifically Comerica Park will be featured on the cover of the Sports Illustrated hitting shelves tomorrow.

Here is the article:

Here is some info about the SI cover jinx: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/features/cover/2002/jinx/main/

And I guess not surprisingly, there is a wikipedia article on this as well: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sports_Illustrated_Cover_Jinx

Surely they will lose 8 of their final 13 games and STILL only miss the division title by 1 game to the Twins (at least they are now beating the Indians 1-0 off a Raburn homer despite Jackson's awful start, again). I know this not only because of the SI jinx, but also because I already bought Tigers playoff tickets (but no flight to Detroit yet so there's the measure of confidence). I guess I can still hope for the Braves to go on another big win streak and steal the wild card, with 9 games left against the Nats and Mets anything can happen.

Goodwin Champioins, LIVE?!

So I thought this went live on the 15th, but as is always the case, cards are already on the bay in advance of that. So far I don't see a reason to buy a box of this. The case hits are interesting, see here (there's your bug BEARDY), but even that is anticlimactic as it's a redemption card. So far my favorites are this Justin Verlander jersey and this Nolan Ryan mini.

Don't get me wrong, the cards are nice looking, but collecting the Ginter set was taxing enough. I am however I am away for work for a few weeks so I'm sure I'll at least pick up a few packs to keep me occupied until I get back home. Looking forward to some blogo-pics of sweet pulls tomorrow, maybe even something that will convince me I need to buy a hobby box instead of waiting for blasters!

Achiever Card Blog Delivers the Goods!

So I came back from a relaxing weekend at the beach to find this in my mailbox from the Achiever Card Blog:

Boo end of Summer, hooray wax packs!

I sent over a Denard Spann framed auto and a few Indian randoms in exchange for the Brock Auto. I pulled the Brock Relic in my second and almost traded it to Beardy. It was my first non-sport relic of any time and so my sentimentality kicked in and decided to keep it and work on the set of Brock's for my Ginter binder.

Thanks to Achiever for the trade and the excellent bonus packs! Below are a few of the sweet cards from the random packs:

Mail from Nachos GRANDE.

Heading to the beach for the long weekend but wanted to display the latest goodness before I head out, plus the Braves just gave up six runs in the bottom of the 6th so I'm having a hard time watching that game anymore.

Many thanks to Chris from Nachos Grande for the trade. He really helped cross off a good amount of what's left for 2009 Ginter and hopefully I did the same for his Ginter minis. In addition to the Ginter cards, he sent over these gems along with a nice lot of Tigers and Braves cards:

Tiger pitching greats past and present.

Chipper and Andruw back together again!

Have a great weekend everyone. College football is back, but don't forget about pennant races, BBQ's and not going to work on Monday!

Trade With BEARDY!

Finally got to checking the mail after a late hockey practice. Traded a couple Ginter creatures to BEARDY and was only expecting a Ginter sketch, one base card I needed and some assorted Tigers cards in return. What he through in as extra is below. Amazing. Thanks!! Only my second trade since starting up the blog and I'm loving it. Makes me feel like a kid again and the generosity of the online card community is crazy. Every day there is a new post from someone about extras sent to them that were unexpected. Thanks again Beardy. I'll be stashing some Markakis/Jones/O's cards for you for a surprise package someday!

MIGUEL!

Maggs is shiny; miss the hair.

West Coast Swing and Mom/Tiger Things.

The Tigers are in Anaheim tonight and I guess I'm just glad to be out of Oakland. That was a horrible series for the offense. Too many strikeouts. No clutch hitting or execution and a few bad baserunning mistakes, not to mention some shaky defense.

So far so good tonight though. Cabrera doubles to bring home Polanco for the 1-0 lead (although again we can't get the runner on third with less than two outs home) and Verlander makes it out of the first without giving up a run.

Enjoy a few pictures from my parents trip to Boston last week!

Coolio Cards Contest = Aliteration.

http://cooliocards.blogspot.com/2009/08/you-know-what-i-think-im-going-to-give.html

Go there. Pick a number. Email the number. Win. It's just that easy.

Sunday Card Show!

Checked out the monthly card show at the Tysons Corner Crowne Plaza Hotel today. It's a pretty small gathering, only two tables sell boxes and only one sells loose packs (at VERY inflated prices). The people are nice though and always some interesting conversation to be had. I was able to knock out almost all of my need list for Ginter short prints for a few dollars and picked up one (lame) pack of Bowman Jumbo.



Drop me a line if you have any of the following Ginter cards:

National Pride:
31, 33, 63, 64, 65

Baseball Highlights:
1-7, 10, 11, 16, 23, 24, 25

Base Set (16 Needed!)
16, 20, 39, 51, 58, 62, 101, 116, 137, 152, 160, 201, 217, 238, 253, 291,

SP Base (2 Needed!):
332, 344

Back At It with Allen and Ginter

First, thanks to Topher over at Crackin' Wax for completing my first online blogger trade! I miss the days of swapping cards on the front porch over peanut butter sandwiches and kool-aid, but I suppose this will do.

I still need 32 cards to complete the base set and assorted National Pride and Baseball Highlights cards to complete the set I want. Everything else I'm willing to trade. Just leave a comment or send me an email and keep the trades coming!!

Allen & Ginter 2009

NEED:

National Pride:

25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 53, 58, 59, 61, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70

Baseball Highlights:

1-11, 16, 23, 24, 25

Base Set (32 Needed!)

16, 20, 39, 40, 47, 51, 58, 62, 101, 116, 137, 152, 160, 201, 217, 238, 253, 263, 291, 309, 310, 317, 320, 321, 322, 326, 329, 331, 332, 337, 341, 344

Cards Up For Trade

DOUBLES:

National Pride:

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 19, 23, 44, 49, 52, 56

Baseball Highlights:

19

Base Set:

2, 4, 5, 8, 10, 18, 23, 24, 24, 30, 31, 33, 34, 36, 43, 43, 43, 44, 46, 50, 53, 53, 54, 55, 55, 64, 70, 73, 74, 76, 78, 82, 84, 88, 90, 95, 99, 100, 104, 111, 111, 112, 113, 115, 117, 120, 121, 122, 127, 138, 144, 145, 146, 150, 150, 154, 156, 157, 158, 168, 170, 172, 174, 175, 177, 179, 185, 188, 190, 193, 194, 197, 199, 200, 202, 205, 207, 208, 211, 212, 215, 218, 219, 221, 225, 226, 233, 235, 237, 239, 240, 244, 246, 247, 250, 251, 252, 255, 257, 264, 265, 267, 270, 271, 272, 276, 277, 283, 284, 288, 289, 294, 297, 299, 299, 306, 311, 313, 324, 336, 342

MINIS (*denotes A & G back)

2*, 20*, 26*, 33, 36*, 40, 44, 49, 51*, 52*, 75, 77*, 81, 88, 88*, 96, 104*, 107*, 108, 108, 117, 119, 126, 128, 128, 133, 135*, 137, 149, 155, 156, 173, 174*, 178, 185*, 186, 188*, 197, 224, 244, 250*, 252, 266, 271*, 283, 291, 294, 310, 311, 313*, 326, 336, 338, 342

Black Border:

Ryan Theriot 9, Manny Ramirez 17, Derrek Lee 45, Alex Rios 55, David Wright 75, Art Pennington 97, Brett Myers 187, Grady Sizemore 250, Nick Swisher 333

Bamboozles:

The Turk, San Seriffe, George Parker, The Runaway Bride, Wisconsin State Capital Collapses, Cold Fusion

Creatures:

Werewolf, Minotaur

National Heroes:

8, 14, 15, 16, 30, 34, 35

ALSO UP FOR TRADE

Framed Autos:

Denard Span

Cameron Maybin

Framed Relics:

Kosuke Fukudome – white with blue stripe

Brock Yates – red relic

Ryan Doumit – solid white

Carlos Quentin – white with black stripe

Vernon Wells – Solid Black

Jered Weaver – Solid Grey

Other:

-N43 Box Toppers: Ryan Howard, Tim Lincecum, Roy Halladay

-Elvis Andrus Bazooka back 06/25

-Brandon Phillips No Number 25/50

-Corey Hart No Number 35/50

Opening Day Highlights and Predictions

So it's only 7:45 PM on Opening Day 2009 and already a number of things have happened that are worthy of mention, in no particular order:

-The Braves stomped the Phils last night. I like what I saw of Derek Lowe. Ryan Howard looked like he did not eat during the offseason.

-The Yankees are about to lose unless they score five in the 9th. This is always noteworthy and coincidentally puts a smile on my face. CC had no strikeouts, but I bet he crushed the postgame buffet.

-The Tigers are already losing 4-0 and Verlander looks HORRIBLE. Oh, yes, and even though Josh Anderson is in Left Field, Granderson is batting lead-off. This makes no sense. Leyland wants Anderson in the lineup for speed, but if he is on base and Granderson strikes out, what is the point of sending Anderson. Why not let Anderson lead off steal a base and let Polanco, a contact hitter move him to third. This also lets Granderson drive some runs in and strikeout in the middle of the lineuup instead of leading off the game. They will be lucky to finish .500 this season for three reasons: Brandon Inge, Jim Leyland's mismanagement of the lineup and their inability to win one run games (read crappy bullpen).

And now on to the predictions:

American League
AL East: Red Sox - have to respect the pitching. Smoltz FTW.

AL Central: Indians - Kerry Wood leads AL in saves, Cliff Lee is human but still good, Hafner rakes.

AL West: Angels - this is a no brainer, Mike Scioscia is the best manager in the game.

Wild Card: Rays - pitching and defense again and Carl Crawford has a monster year.

ROY: Travis Snider
Cy Young: Roy Halladay
MVP: Vladimir Guerrero (and definitely NOT Mark Texeira)

National League
NL East: Mets - this is the year, until they lose in the first round again when Putz and KRod implode

NL Central: Cardinals - though I'm tempted to pick Milwaukee I think Ankiel may be NL MVP

NL West: Dodgers - but man would I like someone, ANYONE else to win it

Wild Card: Braves - a versatile, non-power lineup and a much improved pitching staff

ROY: Cameron Maybin (unless the Brewers ditch JJ Hardy and play Alcides Escobar)
Cy Young: Johan Santana
MVP: Chipper Jones

I Like It.

Don't get me wrong, I like Gary Sheffield. The fact is though, the Tigers had too many guys swinging for the fences in their lineup last season. Of course that was just one of many problems last year, but I think this is a step in the right direction. Now, if only Jim Leyland will manage more like Mike Scioscia and less like Billy Beane (that's right, I said it, he is calling the shots from his perch), and perhaps even a little like Ozzie Guillen of 2005. The Tigers lineup is VERY reminiscent of the World Series champ White Sox team. Anderson (Podsednik) gets on, steals second, Polanco (Iguchi) moves him over and then there is Cabrera, Maggs and Thames (Dye, Konerko, Everett) and a very defensively solid bottom of the order with the bonus of a Granderson and a Guillen to spray line drives to all fields. Another gripe I've had with the Tigers since the arrival of Leyland has been the 162 different lineups he has used. Pick one, stick with it, let the players get comfortable and win some ballgames. Heres what it could look like:

1. LF Anderson
2. 2B Polanco
3. 1B Cabrera
4. RF Ordonez
5. DH Guillen
6. CF Granderson
7/8/9 C Laird / SS Everett / 3B Inge



Honestly, I do not care how the bottom of the lineup looks, but I'm all for getting Inge the very LEAST amount of at bats possible. The bottom line is they can put a TRUE base stealer at the top of the order and and still get Granderson 15-25 steals in the middle of the lineup and give the guys at the bottom a chance to drive in some runs. Further, Anderson allows Guillen to be a super-sub in Left Field, Third Base or First Base and Thames can slide in to the DH slot to give the regulars a day off.

Of course this is what I WANT. What will probably happen is Leyland will put Thames as the DH and use Anderson sparingly. That would be a mistake, but I will save the predictions for later.