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Hmmm, it hasn't started to
get very hot yet, but these
days of late spring are starting to resemble the
dog-acious scorchers of summer. The Tigers can't buy
a win and are just about 30 games under five hundred.
They squandered a 6-1 lead in San Francisco on Sunday,
which you will read about later. At least they are
putting some runs on the board. I feel like I am
starting to lose a little of my zeal for baseball in
general. Hopefully a trip to the ballpark on Friday
night will cure me of the doldrums. Do you think a
streaker will help the Tigers turn it around? I am
ready to try anything.
Good to have these folks back on the mailing list...
Tim "Raines" Daggett
Dan "Petry" Simpson
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Week of 6/4 - 6/10
Record: 1-5 WLLLL-L
After a so-so week and a chance to sweep San Diego,
the Tigers went into their patented free fall mode and
have kicked up the undy five hundy to 29. For one day
they were out of last place, but the Padres slavaged
the last game of the series to put Detroit back in the
cellar. Then D-Town went to the bay and lost three
pretty close games to the Giants.
Dunn vs. the Tigers...
Adam Dunn: 20 HR
Tigers: 16 Wins
Up Next for the Tigers...
June 11-12 Los Angeles
June 13-15 Colorado
June 16 no game scheduled...
June 17-19 Cleveland
AL Central Standings...
MIN 35 27 -
KCR 30 30 4
CWS 29 34 6.5
CLE 25 37 10
DET 16 45 18.5
Tigers Division... (as of 11:30PM Tuesday night)
SEA 42 19 -
ATL 42 19 -
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CLE 25 37 17.5
MIL 25 37 17.5
TBD 22 40 20.5
SDP 19 46 25
DET 16 45 26
Man those are some sad teams. At least we have
something to shoot for. It's too bad we have two
series against the Rockies and not another against SD.
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Tigers of the Week...
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Alex Sanchez and Dmitri Young both have been playing
good ball this week. Sanchez has recorded 7 stolen
bases this week, and Dmitri has added to the
production with three home runs. That's all I'm going
to say for this week, though, as the Tigers are not
deserving of accolades.
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The Lost Boys...
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Hey, I'm looking for some old boys (and girls) that
may like to receive the Weekly. If you have them,
please send me these people's addresses. Thanks.
Jamie Peters
Kathy Andrews
Todd DeVree
Scott Lockhart
Jeremy Goetz
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Mo Vaughn Weekly...
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I know that this is late, but I just can't pass up the
chance to blast "my boy" Mo. It appears that Mo's
career as a major league sideshow could be over. Mo
apparently has no cartiledge left in his knee.
Whether or not it's because he ate what was left of it
is still a mystery, but the doctors have been talking
knee replacement. What am I going to do if all of my
least favorite players are out of the game? Paul
O'Neil is gone, and now Mo. I'll have to start
looking for my next least favorite guy.
On a side note, I got an e-mail read on the Jim Rome
show regarding Mo Vaughn. It went something like
"Dear Jim, Mo's knee is fine. Signed, Jayson Blair
and the Iraqi Information Minister." Not very
original, but it did get read.
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Poll Question...
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Jose Canseco came out saying that the media is giving
Sosa extra crap because he is a Latin American player.
A couple of days later, Pedro Martinez accused the
media of the same bias, and directly accused Peter
Gammons of pushing for Barry Zito to win the Cy Young
last year because he is white.
Do you think these accusations have any merit, or are
these two players (who are in very different positions
right now, and judging by Canseco's wife-beater, also
have different tailors) just blowing smoke?
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Ode to the Cubs...
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Sent in by Chas Claus...
20 major events that have occurred since the Chicago
Cubs last laid claim to a World Series championship:
1. Radio was invented; Cubs fans got to hear their
team lose.
2. TV was invented; Cubs fans got to see their team
lose.
3. Baseball added 14 teams; Cubs fans get to see and
hear their team lose to more clubs.
4. George Burns celebrated his 10th, 20th, 30th,
40th, 50th, 60th, 70th, 80th, 90th and 100th
birthdays.
5. Haley's comet passed Earth twice.
6. Harry Caray was born....and died. Incredible, but
true.
7. The NBA, NHL and NFL were formed, and Chicago
teams won championships in each league.
8. Man landed on the moon, as have several home runs
given up by Cubs pitchers.
9. Sixteen U.S. presidents were elected
10. There were 11 amendments added to the
Constitution.
11. Prohibition was created and repealed.
12. The Titanic was built, set sail, sank, was
discovered and became the subject of major motion
pictures, the latter giving Cubs fans hope that
something that finishes on the bottom can come out on
top.
13. Wrigley Field was built and becomes the oldest
park in the National League.
14. Flag poles were erected on Wrigley Field roof to
hold all of the team's future World Series pennants.
Those flag poles have since rusted and been taken
down.
15. A combination of 40 Summer and Winter Olympics
have been held.
16. Thirteen baseball players have won the Triple
Crown; several thanked Cubs pitchers.
17. Bell-bottoms came in style, went out of style and
came back in.
18.The Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, Arizona
Diamondbacks and the Florida Marlins have all won the
World Series.
19. The Cubs played 14,153 regular-season games; they
lost the majority of them.
20. Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Oklahoma and New Mexico
were added to the Union.
Go Cubs!
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Game Linescores...
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June 4: Detroit 5 - San Diego 3
Starters: DET: Knotts 4IP - SDP: Tollberg 5IP
DET 000 012 110 5 10 0
SDP 200 010 000 3 9 2
W: Ledezma (1-2)
L: Hackman (1-1)
S: German (6)
June 5: Detroit 1 - San Diego 5
Starters: DET: Bernero 6IP - SDP: Eaton 7IP
DET 100 000 000 1 4 0
SDP 100 001 12X 5 9 0
W: Eaton (2-4)
L: Bernero (1-7)
June 6: Detroit 3 - San Francisco 5
Starters: DET: Bonderman 6IP - SFG: Rueter 6IP
DET 020 001 000 3 8 1
SFG 100 300 10X 5 8 0
W: Rueter (7-1)
L: Bonderman (2-8)
S: Worrell (15)
June 7: Detroit 5 - San Francisco 7
Starters: DET: Maroth 6IP - SFG: Schmidt 7IP
DET 000 000 104 5 11 1
SFG 110 000 23X 7 11 1
W: Schmidt (5-2)
L: Maroth (1-11)
June 8: Detroit 6 - San Francisco 7
Starters: DET: Cornejo 5.1IP - SFG: Moss 3IP
DET 231 000 000 6 9 2
SFG 110 002 03X 7 13 1
W: Nathan (6-2)
L: German (2-3)
S: Worrell (16)
June 9: no game scheduled
June 10: Los Angeles 3 - Detroit 1 F/12
Starters: LAD: Nomo 7IP - DET: Knotts 8IP
LAD 001 000 000 002 3 6 0
DET 001 000 000 000 1 5 1
W: Shuey (3-1)
L: Sparks (0-3)
S: Gagne (22)
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Readers Write In...
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Andrew "dirty rotten packer fan" Karnitz ***POTW***
sammy, you're breakin' my heart! ya shoulda made "no
comment" your alpha through omega! anyone who knows
our game knows- thanks to the splendid splinter- that
bat speed is the key to power. you know that, barry
knows it, mighty mac knows it, and the m&m boys knew
it, too.
sammy, you're makin' me doubt everyone, except for the
kid, williams himself! were all the home run hitters
of the past corkin', too? were they just lucky to not
get caught? i know joey bell got popped, but that was
in the first half or third of his career, and we
figured he had to play clean from then on. but you get
caught while over 500 dingers? how many times did the
bp stick mistakenly come to the plate? say it ain't
so, sammy so! say it ain't!
on to much less harrowing topics:
admit it, charlie hustle, ya gambled as much as new
england! well, all right, minus hartford, but you at
least equalled boston and providece.
did you admit it?
good, then you're in! you are the hit king, but more
importantly, you taught each and every kid who ever
saw you to play harder! you are the epitome of the
american ethic of working harder- and you injected
that in to our game. thank you. then welcome to the
hall of fame.
and now, you, crime dog. thanks a whole freakig lot!!
i waste time makin' an argument for that viagra
salesman(not mark martin, the other one), and you pop
your head up! no!
i can't argue for you, fred. 500 homers will not help
you. i don't even know you(okay, i know who you are,
where you played, and i saw that ad for (tom
emanski's?) baseball tape at least 111,354 times), but
you have no flair. you're not even a guy people point
to and go,"keep an eye on mcgriff. he's gettin' things
done, but silently." you are a cypher. and while
you're standin' there, just outside of cooperstown,
tell raffy p. to keep it up.
whaddya mean by,"he always is"?
and when i'm feelin' down, like i am now, i like to
think of 12 toed redheads, not too young and not real
old. the french have a phrase for women like you,
linda cohn.
femmes du certain age.
je t'aime, cohny. je t'aime.
-andy
one more thing: rome, i'm sorry. i can't make it. the
25th is my 20th h.s. class reunion, and, as if i won't
have a horrible hangover already, the 26th is my
birthday. it is also saint anne's feast day, so i'll
be with my mimere (grandmother), fidelis o'toole. we
will be praying the rosary all day. anyone out there
need a good word?
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Steve "Stone" Sprague
I gotta say that I believe Sosa. Partly because he is
my favorite player, but also because of the reaction
after the bat broke. If you watch the other clips,
guys like Belle, and Guerro, when their bat broke the
bat boy sprinted out to the field to grab it. Not the
case Tuesday night. Sosa didn't even seem to have a
clue what was going on when they looked at his bat.
The Indians on the other hand sent someone in to the
umpire's locker room to switch bats with Belle's.
Also, it shouldn't affect any debate about his ranking
as one of the all time great power hitters.
Scientific studies have shown that at best a corked
bat increases power by about 1%. Outfielders aren't
typically just inches away from stopping a Sosa homer.
Just about all of the time it's out by at least ten
rows. Most other players in the league seem to feel
the same way, judging by some of the post game
interviews with guys from several different teams.
Stephen C. Sprague
University of Michigan
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Dallas "NBA Three" Senters
last night was horrible...the yankees beat my reds,
and one of the sportcenter teasers was cc sabathia
falling off the mound.
on a brighter note, testing has shown that the bat
that sammy had with cork in it was the only one...
that makes his story much more believable, and i think
it protects his legacy as on of the greatest power
hitters of our time if not all time...now he just has
to sit and watch the cubs lose for a week and a half.
last week you mentioned chas's hatred, and your
general like for, linda cohn... i give her a huge
BOOO!! chas was correct and you were wrong. she
blows
like a noreaster. her shtick is to call every player
by their initials, like they were "MJ" or "LT" even
if they are nobody. dumb.
watching late night baseball games has become my
lullaby. i don't care enough about the televised
teams
to stay awake. i find myself, cold and sore with the
tv on at 3 in the morning. but, hey, baseball tonite,
is on...what's a half hour more!
later
dallas
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Matt "Big House" Houser
1. Linda Cohn is terrible. I was neutral on her
until she spent the '97 season thinking that "He's no
Beanie Baby" was a smart home run call. And then that
"Look how versatile I am" day, when she covered 4
sports in 1 day or something (before Kenny Mayne did
it recently) just proved that she can't do any of them
well. Jack-of-all-trades, halfway-decent at none.
She tries to make jokes that aren't funny, like my
little brother anxious to hang out with me and my
friends. Come on, guys, let me play...
2. It is a travesty to compare Darryl Strawberry and
Steve Howe et al. to Pete Rose. They may turn out to
be worse people in real life and end up in a lower
circle of hell, but their crimes do not compare in any
way to Rose's. Pete Rose bet on baseball. This is
the ultimate sin against baseball, because it affects
the very integrity of the game. Baseball, like any
competition, must be able to present to its consumers
a product without a pre-determined outcome. Fans must
believe that the game they are watching is "pure" in
the sense that everyone is trying hard to win. Even
the whiff of taint is abhorrent. Howe and the Straw
are idiots, but they did not fix any games.
3. It is ridiculous to say that gambling is the
number one reason why sports have fans. Absurd. If
that were true, the Tigers would have no fans. Most
people I know do not bet regularly on sports. I bet
(haha) that the number one reason why sports have fans
is some sort of innate desire to identify with
something larger than yourself, or simply envy.
4. But this is irrelevant. Pete Rose bet on games in
which he was participating. Baseball does not wish to
associate itself with gambling, it is true, but one
reason for it is that gambling also depends upon an
un-predetermined outcome. Gamblers also need to know
that no "fix" is in.
5. I don't want to hear crap like he bet only on his
team, never against, so what's the big deal? When you
have money riding on a game, you are more likely to
act in your own best interests, not the team's. Now
the manager is influenced by other incentives instead
of the ones that should be guiding his decisions. So
then he is more likely to rush a guy back from injury,
have his kid pitch 150 pitches, etc., when it becomes
more important to the manager to win 1 game than to
win as many as he can over the course of the season or
several seasons. The other big factor is that
gamblers also tend to be losers. What if a guy runs
up a huge debt, and Biff comes to him and says,
"Tonight you will lose either the game or your
kneecaps"? We don't want people, especially the
person with the greatest effect on the outcome of the
game, to be put in positions like that. Too
dangerous.
6. The only thing that could sway me is if there were
no evidence that Pete bet on baseball. I understand
that the evidence is there, though not entirely
convincing.
7. It is not like Pete didn't know the rules or the
potential consequences of his actions. Baseball has
never treated gambling (on baseball) by its players
and coaches as deserving anything other than the
harshest penalty available. I generally think it is a
good thing when rules clearly known and understood by
everyone are enforced.
8. I think Sosa is a liar. It's this guy's job to
swing bats. I heard one guy on Baseball Tonight say
that when major leaguers get a shipment of bats in,
they go through them and almost immediately determine
which are going to be game bats and which are for BP
only, primarily by feel. He's got to know immediately
when he picks up a bat that is "different" than his
standard game bats.
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Anthony "Niekro" Williams
Regarding Sammy Sosa, in the abscence of evidence to
the contrary, I am inclined to give him the benefit of
the doubt. It is suspicious that he didn't
notice---surely a corked bat feels different that a
regular
bat---and I find it strange that he would practice
with a corked bat anyway. But, last I heard, none of
his other game bats tested positive for corking. It
looks to me like what he said it was: a mistake. As
to his reputation, it depends on how he handles it.
If he accepts his suspension, serves it quietly, and
returns without fanfare and---most
importantly---doesn't get caught again, then it'll
probably just be an asterisk in his biography.
I no longer have cable TV, so I don't watch ANY games
anymore. Which is probably just as well. No teams
ever seemed to notice that I was watching them anyway.
To Krugh, regarding my comment a couple of weeks ago
about the hung-over Sig Chis, my apologies. I forgot
that the the inestimable Krugh is a Sig Chi.
Anyhow, I think it was the second game that the
Highlands was supposed to play that was cancelled, or
moved, or something because too many Sig Chis
had hangovers---as they told us. The championship
game was a good one though. In any case, the
Highlands team has now been the champions for THREE
years running. Beat that, Houser!
Anthony
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Matt "Y" Weiland
You know my coach always used to say "Your reputation
takes a lifetime to build, but can be destroyed in a
moment." I don't have any sympathy for Sammy, I still
think he is one of the best. The man can flat out hit
a baseball, cork or no cork. I think he knew what he
was doing, but it wouldn't stop me from rooting him
on. "You knew what you were doing when you woke up
this morning?"
Sloan Peterson from Ferris Bueller's Day Off talking
to Sammy
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Nic "Wednesday Journey to the river Styx in an REO
Speedwagon" Gilbert
The Tigers have 31 errors in the last 24 gmaes.
Unbelievable! The question now remains, will Adam
Dunn hit more homeruns than the Tigers have wins? I
think he just may. Ummm the tigers suck.
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Toolie's Trashtalk...
I must say that I lost a lot of respect for the Tigers
on Sunday. Yes they are a young team. Yes they are
burdened by the genius signings of Randy Smith. Yes
it will be a tough year. But Sunday was about the
worst thing I've seen in three areas. Fielding: The
Tigers would have been better off in the 8th inning
had I been at second base, rather than Ramon Santiago.
Ramon drops a sky high pop up to let the leadoff
batter on base. Then Dmitri Young drops the ball
while trying to go around the horn on the next batter.
So Chris Spurling faces two batters and instead of
two outs he's got two on. The Giants sac bunt, and
then Spurling gets a popout. Not bad. Next deal...
Coaching: Trammell takes out Spurling, who has
"retired" four straight batters. Who does he bring in
this tough spot? The wildest ride since "The
Rollercoaster" Todd Jones, Franklyn German. Ugh.
Pitching: So German gets his batter to 0-2 before
giving up a double down the line. Another double to
Alfonzo and the Tigers' hopes of a victory turn to
sweep city. It was absolutely the worst inning of
baseball this year by any team... easily.
Warren Morris, the latest call up for the Tigers, is
not new to the limelight. I checked up on the guy's
profile and it turns out that he won an ESPY in 1997
as the Showstopper of the Year. Morris, then a member
of NCAA powerhouse LSU, hit a 9th inning game winning
walk off 2 run 2 out HR in the CWS to beat Miami 9-8
for the title. Morris was the #9 hitter and it was
his first home run of the season. Well, it should be
a while before we need those type of heroics, but it's
nice to have someone that's used to winning on the
team.
This just in; Ruffles have ridges, now in Sour Cream
and Onion. Man, is that commercial annoying! It's on
about 4 times an hour on ESPN.
It looks like Linda Cohn isn't getting any loving from
the gallery. It turns out there is some promotion I
see on the ESPN website now: "Win dinner with Linda
Cohn." Oh boy, dinner with Linda Cohn. What's so
great about that? What's next, Bingo with Peter
Gammons? I'm sure that would be more interesting, as
the 20 dollar bill guy would provide some great
analysis of the "play 5 cards at once" method.
I'm about ready for all of this Sosa garbage to be
over, but my last thoughts on it (besides, of course,
the poll question) are that Sammy looks the most
guilty when he is sitting there trying to defend
himself. No matter what, this will stick with him for
the rest of his career. Heck, a fan in Baltimore ran
on the field tonight and threw cork at the guy!
Classic. At least Sosa didn't pick it up and stick it
in his shoe...or his bat. In his first at bat, Sosa
lined one off the wall, just missing a dinger. Too
bad he didn't have some super balls in his stick or
maybe he would have had a round tripper!
Looks like I'll be at the game on Friday night as the
boys take on the Rockies. I hope they can break out
of the five game skid they're in right now before I
put my 1-1 season record on the line. Check off one
more team from my MLB list. Good thing I've already
seen Montreal play in case of any sudden contractions.
I wonder when the Marlins may be in town.
Anthony, Krugh doesn't deserve your respect. The
Sigma Chis should change their name to The Softball
Chumps, because that's all they were to the
Highlanders (i.e. the Yankees of Hillsdale).
Houser, I get your argument on Rose, but what about
this? I think that only holds if you view baseball as
a game which does not affect anyone or anything
outside of itself. Baseball, however, was a large
part of America in the 20th century. People are
affected by what happens to the players, inside and
outside of the game. Each player, as a professional
athlete and a potential role model, should be held to
a higher standard. My point is that good ball players
who are scum should not be allowed into the hall of
fame just because they were great players. There
needs to be some sort of honor element considered.
Why should we be expected to honor those who have none
(notice the correct spelling, all you cronies of Dr.
Stewart)? Also, Houser, you forgot
9. LWA is deathly afraid of the thought of ever having
to play the Highlands.
Nice to hear from everyone this week. Andy, Palmeiro
indeed is always up. That is what put you over the
edge. You almost lost the Post of the Week honor with
your little qoute in French (which I don't
understand). I didn't think the French could get any
lower, and then they acted like class-less jerks to
Serena Williams in the semis of the French Open. I
don't know if there was ever a time I've been on
Serena's side (as far as rooting and all goes) until
then. During the match, the French were loud and
obnoxious, and then after the match, they cheered that
Serena lost. Idiots. France, the next time the Axis
powers of Monaco, Lichtenstein, and Luxembourg invade,
maybe the U.S.A. won't be there to bail you out.
That's about all from me. Stay strong on those
e-mails. They are one of the few things that keep
this Tiger fan at the keyboard and glued to the radio.
Oh yeah, on a happy note, Fox Sports Detroit has
magically returned for my viewing pleasure. Now, if I
can just get Okemos to spring for Local Weather on the
8's, my life will be sailing.
I'm on first...I get my lead...take the secondary...
Line drive to third
The guys snags it
I'm halfway to 2nd with my heart in my jock strap
He throws to first
I'M OUT!
Toolie
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Tigers Weekly is in no way affiliated with the Detroit
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