The math doesn't quite add up.

Interesting stat of the day

Run differential for teams +0.500 so far this year: (as of 9-17-9)
Yankees +149
Red Sox +126
Rays +45
Blue Jays +13
Twins +17
Angels +102
Rangers +53

Phillies +107
Braves +79
Marlins +12
Cardinals +86
Cubs +29
Dodgers +156
Rockies +78
Giants +44

Only teams without more runs scored than opponent and a winning record
Mariners -54
Tigers +/- 0

This is a strange team I root for. We win 2-1 and lose 10-3.

Biggest Surprises of the 09' season

I have seen a ton of articles about baseball's biggest 2009 surprises. These articles are basically writers saying - man was I wrong about my predictions and the only plausible explanation is that whatever actually happened was a huge surprise.

Isn't it possible that the Mets, Cubs, and Indians weren't disappointing - its just that they are bad teams that everyone fell in love with in the preseason. Isn't it possible that the AL Central is a weak division and Detroit built a team based on starting pitching and defense and the core of their offense is still around from their 06 run? Detroit isn't a surprise anymore than the Indians are a surprise.

For the record I stand by my pre-season picks. I am not going to tell you Cleveland and Atlanta and Oakland were surprise teams. I will be man and just tell you - I had no idea. I guessed poorly. I am not a fortune teller. That is why baseball is so great, no one knows.

The kids are growing up right before our very eyes...

I am a perpetual optimist. When I was growing up I could always convince myself that this was the Tigers year.

I am choosing to look at the good again this summer. The Tigers have just lost 3/4 to the Red Sox, in Boston, and I couldn't be prouder of how the team played throughout the entire series.

Game 1: Edwin Jackson, who has always had issues in Fenway looked like he is on his way to a 2 inning 12 ER performance. And if he had that type of night you couldn't blame him. The guy has been spectacular the entire year. Instead he guts throug 4 innings giving up 4 earned and kept the Tigers in the game. Slowly but surly the Tigers climbed back into the game tying things at 5-5 in the top of the 7th. The Sox responded with a run in the bottom of the inning, and again the Tigers climbed back putting runners on 2nd and 3rd in the 8th with only 1 out. The didn't score the run, but it was a gritty game from a team that has been terrible on the road this year.

Game 2: Rick Porcello stands up for the Red Sox plunking Miggy two straight games. He drills Kevin Youkilis with retaliation. Now he could have chosen the 145 lb Dustin Pedroia or the 105 lb Nick Green or the chubby and old Jason Varitek, but no. He went after the Red Sox best hitter, who also received every vote for "Which Major League Player would you least like to run into in a dark alley". Youkilis, not enjoying being plunked charged the mound and threw his helmet at Porcello. Porcello stood his ground and calmly threw Youk to the ground. It wasn't a Nolan Ryan/Robin Ventura situation, but for a rookie he showed tremendous poise. Chris Lambert, who replaced Porcello did not have a great night and the Tigers fell 7-5. However, I will take a team bonding bench clearing brawl over a win on this particular night.

Game 3: Tigers have to face Josh Beckett and hours before the game Tiger's starter Armando Galaraga, who has been battling the flu, determines he cannot go. Zach Miner is called up and again keeps the Tigers in the game, until Boston blows it open late. I would have loved for Detroit to make a statement and come out and beat Beckett, the day after the brawl, but I am an optimist, not a miracle worker.

Game 4: Ok the Tigers have lost 3/4 and really just need to get out of Boston with a win. They give the ball to their ace, their opening day starer, Justin Verlander and he does not disappoint one bit. With a depleted bullpen Verlander went 8 innings of shut out dominance before handing the game over to Rodney to close out the win and head back to Detroit.

Was this the series I had hoped for? No way, but the Tigers showed a ton of heart and only lost 1/2 game in the standings over 4 days to the White Sox.

Your long lost blogger returns!

Greetings. I hope everyone has enjoyed their all-star break. I apologize for my extended absence, but trying to wrap up my graduate work by the end of the 2009 year has really eaten into my free time. I resolve to do my best to post as we head into the playoff push for the 09' season. I knew I had to get a post in today because the Tigers lead is down to one measly game in the AL central. This has been an interesting season for the Tigers, best exemplified by their recent stretch of losing 4 of 5 games. Three of those losses were by the score 2-1 and two of those three were games blown by the bullpen, not the starting pitching. The Tigers could really use a stick in the next few weeks. They don't need an Adam Dunn or someone to hit the ball to Windsor, they really need someone with a great OBP who will always be on base and score tons of runs. I am optimistic that Carlos Guillen will be that guy when he gets back from the DL sometime this month.

Here's to hoping the White Sox fade, the Twins don't turn it around and the little team from Detroit is someone no one would want to see in the playoffs when they trot out Verlander and Jackson 1-2.

How do you put a red tag in Tom Glavine's locker?

Dear Frank Wren,


I know you are new at this job. This team is mostly the work of your predecessor and you cannot be entirely to blame for the Braves being 26-26 (I guess you really can't be given the credit either). Also, you were not the GM during the run of 14 straight division titles. You may not be entirely familiar with the team from that era. I can sum up the team for you in 6 names: Bobby Cox, Chipper Jones, Greg Maddux, John Smoltz, Tom Glavine, and Leo Mazzone. You may know Bobby and Chipper as they are still your manager and third baseman, respectively. There were others than were part of that run, integral members even, however to Braves fans everywhere - those 6 names are the Mount Rushmore of Atlanta baseball (perhaps with Hank Aaron thrown in as well). This spring you lost out on bidding for John Smoltz to the Boston Red Sox. Fans were a bit upset, but understanding that these are tough economic times, Smoltz certainly doesn't need the money, and after all you tried. You offered him a contract. Then you redeemed yourself and re-signed Tom Glavine for one more year. It was a smart deal, requiring Tom to make it to the majors before the incentives kicked in. Tom was looking at off season surgery and is 43 years old. If he wasn't going to make a full recovery from surgery you weren't on the hook for millions of dollars.
Let's fast forward to this spring when you were faced with Tim Hudson not coming back until mid-season and Glavine being delayed at least a month as he recovered from surgery. At this point Tommy Hanson, the greatest pitching prospect since Phil Hughes (ok bad example there) was throwing the cover off the ball in spring training. However, you decided to start him in AAA. You can claim you wanted Tommy to gain more experience all you want - but everyone who knows baseball knows that the Matt Wieters', David Price's, and Tommy Hanson's of the world are not brought up at the beginning of seasons to allow another year before they are arbitration eligible. Its a weird rule that I am sure saves the club money, but has absolutely nothing to do with baseball. This is the guy you wouldn't trade for Jake Peavy, he was in the minors with a sub 2.00 ERA and he was being left to dominate AAA hitters so the Braves could get another year of his services at a discount.

Ok Mr Wren - so far I am with you. These have all been shrewd moves to help a team with a smaller pay-role compete. Then you went and cut Tom Glavine and ruined everything. Yesterday, after throwing eleven scoreless innings in the minors Tom Glavine was cut by the Atlanta Braves. That's right Mr. Wren, you decided to chop off a face from Mount Rushmore. It would have cost the Braves 1 million dollars when he was called up and another 1.5 million if he stayed up in the majors for 30 days. Tom had done everything you had asked of him. He had signed the incentive laden contract. He was 43 and had surgery to repair his arm. He went to the minors and rehabbed exceedingly well. And then this guy, who has won 305 games, who is responsible his fair share of the 14 straight division titles, who has been a model citizen in Atlanta for nearly 20 years, was shown the door.

And naturally, that's when you decide to call up Tommy Hanson, the same day you cut Tommy Glavine. I know your staff is doing well, but you can't tell me there isn't room on that 25 man roster for a guy who has thrown 11 scoreless innings in the minors and is on Mount Rushmore of your team.

You simply don't cut this guy. Never. He leaves and retires when he is ready. Look at Boston - Big Papi isn't hitting his weight, hell he isn't hitting Dustin Pedroia's weight, but each day Terry Franconia puts him in the lineup. He has earned the right to decide when its time.

Congratulations Frank, you took what should be the most exciting start of the season for the Braves, Tommy Hanson's debut, and thrown it under the rubble by cutting a HOFer on the same day.

If you want I am sure many teams will take Chipper Jones off your hands for a player to be named later.

Best of luck down the stretch,
No Run Support

Thinking unconventionally late in games

I was at the Braves/Diamondbacks game last Friday. The Braves won 4-3 and scored the walk off run in the bottom of the 9th on a Yunel Escobar sac fly. Right before the winning run was scored, AJ Hinch had a chance to make an unconventional managerial move that I think should be standard practice.

The situation:

Tie game (3-3) bottom of the 9th inning.
Braves have the bases loaded and there are no outs.
On third is Jordan Schafer. If you know the Braves you know Schafer is the fastest guy on the team (also you are impressed he was actually on base).

At this point AJ Hinch visited the mound to talk to his pitcher. This was the perfect opportunity to bring in a 5th infielder to cut down the run at the plate. Hinch did nothing, and Yunel Escobar hit a routine fly to center that Schaffer tagged on and won the game.

The ending of the game proves my point for me, there is really very little chance of the batter hitting a fly ball shallow enough that the outfielder can throw him out, but deep enough that the infielder can't make the play. This is really the only reason you have outfielders at this point - for the very rare case of the in-between blooper. By bringing in another infielder you cut down on the number of ground balls that get through in the infield. You already have the infield drawn in, increases the chances a ball get through, to cut down the run at the plate, why not give yourself another glove? Would it have changed this game? No, not at all. But I would argue that it would save many more games than it would cost. You rarely see this from a seasoned manager, let alone a 37 year old under qualified guy who has only been on the job a few weeks, so I understand why Hinch went with convention. But the non-convention may have saved him the game.

If enough managers do this and it starts saving games it will become conventional wisdom. There is a similar evolution occurring in the NBA when teams are up by 3 with little time left on the clock, they foul the other team before they can get a shot off. Its a bit counter intuitive, but its the right move to make, and someday so will bringing in the 5th infielder.

Naming names...

Why do we accept some forms of cheating and not others in baseball?

Stealing signs, doctoring the baseball, selling a catch on a trapped ball in the outfield are all common tactics seen in baseball over the years.

The Giants won the 1951 pennant on the "Shot heard round the world" by Bobby Thompson. In reading several books and articles recently it seems that the Giants almost certainly cheated and stole signs during the season. This wasn't the typical staring at the third base coach and figuring out the indicator (which by the way was common practice on both my high school and college team). They had a telescope in center-field picking up the catcher's signs. The Giants actually had an employee relay the signs and tip off the hitters. Despite this known cheating, I challenge anyone to not get goose bumps when they hear the scratchy radio call of, "The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!"


Gaylord Perry, a 1991 Hall of Fame Inductee, wrote a book entitled "Me and the Spitter: an autobiographical confession." Throwing a spitball is illegal. It gives the pitcher an unfair advantage. Perry admitted to cheating and no one seems to have any issue. Could you imagine if Mark McGwire wrote a book entitled: "Me and the Roid's: How I juiced my way to 62 and beyond" (by the way, how great of a title is that?). Do you think it may hinder his HOF chances? Considering he only garnered 21.9% of the vote in 2009. This was a man who saved baseball in 1998. And has NEVER been convicted of anything. And has NEVER admitted anything. Do I think Big Mac took some illegal substances? Sure, I am not naive and I wasn't born yesterday. I am willing to be tthat Big Mac, Clemens, Bonds, Sosa, Tejada, Pudge, and the like all took some sort of PED. And I know Pettite, Giambi, Manny, and A-rod did.

You may be asking, Jacob what's your point?

Throwing a spitter is exactly like steroids, it gives on player an unfair advantage over another player. I would argue that throwing the spitter is actually a worse offense because you are physically altering a ball that is in the game. The problem is with the public perception. We understand the spitter, or at least the basic advantages a spitter gives you. It makes the ball move more than a normal ball, it breaks sharper and gives the pitcher an advantage. We have absolutely no idea what steroids do. Bonds, McGwire, Clemens - all of these guys were at the top of their game before steroids. And there are plenty of convicted steroid users that never even made the majors. Our problem is we have no way to quantify the contribution of steroids to a player's career. And baseball is a game obsessed with counting everything. There is also the problem of damage to one's body and providing a good role model for children etc, etc. But for the on field changes, we have no idea what steroids do to a person's baseball ability. And so we have decided to get upset, and black-list everyone who has ever been whispered to be associated with the roids. No HOF for them. This is beyond terrible. This is what McCarthy did to suspected Commies back in the day and we are doing it with ball players today. People are guilty until it can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt and that is no way for America's past time to do business.

Look I have no problem with people getting upset and shunning all cheaters in baseball. But, you have to ban all cheaters. Everyone who throws the spitter, steals a sign, lies about their age, tips pitches to the other team, uses and PED, uses any other illegal drugs, etc., etc. We cannot pick and choose which cheaters to ban and which to embrace. You have to get as upset about Kenny Rogers using some sort of illegal substance in the WS in 2006 as you do about Barry Bonds hitting 73 home runs under questionable circumstances.