Sweaty Men Endeavors

No More Talkin' Tigers on the Radio

2009-01-23T07:30:00.000-05:00

I don't know how many of you had streamed or downloaded our appearances over the past two weeks on WTKQ's The Morning Ticket with Pat & Todd, but I'm not going to be talking on the radio again any time soon.

Unfortunately, the powers-that-be at FM Talk 100.5 decided to go in the proverbial different direction, and as of last Friday, pulled the plug on the show. Any disappointment I felt over that is a trifle compared to what two radio hosts who suddenly don't have a show must have experienced. Fans of WDFN in Detroit learned this week just how brutal the radio industry can be. (And though I'm late on it, that's something I'd like to write about in the next couple of days.)

I'm obviously biased, but Pat Johnston and Todd Guerne are two talented, nice guys who deserve better, and will hopefully get it. And if you follow the conversation over at Bless You Boys, you know Todd's suddenly become an active part of the BYB community, and it's great to have a new voice and more participation - especially at this time of year.

So I should probably leave it there, and thank Pat and Todd for a wholly unexpected opportunity, as short-lived as it turned out to be. It's incredibly flattering that they thought enough of what we do here to want to talk about the Tigers on the radio each week. And it was a lot of fun.

Some Water For Detroit's Football Desert?

2009-01-19T13:00:00.000-05:00

I'm late to the party on reading Michael Lombardi's wonderfully insightful writing and reporting at National Football Post - probably because it took me a while to work my sports appetite back up after baseball season (mercifully) ended - but his stuff is a must-read for me these days.

And maybe I just need any little kernel of hope to make me feel good about the Detroit Lions now (thanks to the Arizona Cardinals) being one of five teams (three of which are newer, expansion franchises) never to make it to the Super Bowl, but I was encouraged to read this from Lombardi about the Lions' new head coach, Jim Schwartz:

I know the Lions hired a great young coach in Jim Schwartz, who is someone I believe will do a wonderful job. We hired him in Cleveland in 1992 to work with me in the personnel department. He is extremely smart (third in his class at Georgetown in economics) and hard working. He knows how to build a program, and he understands the Bill Belichick approach as well as anyone. Given enough time, he will restore the roar to the Lions.

So hopefully, The Schwartz is strong with this team. And for a guy who said the Lions were dead to him, I'm suddenly quite a bit more interested than I was at this time a year ago.

Talkin' Tigers on the Radio: Any Closer to a Closer?

2009-01-16T12:00:00.001-05:00

Where will the Detroit Tigers turn to find a closer? The Quest For Relief (or lack thereof) was the main topic of discussion in my chat with WTKQ's The Morning Ticket with Pat & Todd.

Are we really looking at Fernando Rodney being the man in the ninth inning this summer? Is that a possibility that should terrify Tigers fans? Or is there still a chance a free agent reliever could come to the rescue? If so, are Jason Isringhausen or Brandon Lyon up to the task?

We also talk a little bit about signing Justin Verlander long-term to avoid arbitration, and whether or not trading Magglio Ordonez is really a good idea.

Thanks once again to Pat Johnston and Todd Guerne for having me on, especially before a big football weekend (and in lieu of the Detroit Lions hiring Jim Schwartz as their new head coach).

You can listen to an embedded audio clip below (I think I've installed a better audio player this time) or download the file from the accompanying link.

WTKQ_011609

May the Schwartz Be With Us!

2009-01-16T08:00:00.000-05:00

This is just too easy, but in honor of the Detroit Lions hiring Jim Schwartz as their new coach (a moment of silence for the poor guy), I have to post the first thing that came to mind when I heard the news.

I think the Lions got the right guy. Someone with Schwartz's pedigree - working under Jeff Fisher in Tennessee, and previous background with Bill Belichick in Cleveland - and unconventional, stats-oriented approach to the game is intriguing. (I can't wait to see how the media and fans react when he says something like "Well, fumbles are a random occurrence; good teams fumble just as often as bad teams" after the Lions have five turnovers in a game.)

It's also encouraging that other teams were interested in hiring him. I'm just not sure about the executives that made the hire. Like Michael Rosenberg in this morning's Freep, I hope the Lions let Schwartz coach his way and bring in his players. (Just remind them who has the bigger Schwartz, Coach.)

Here's a profile of Schwartz that the New York Times wrote in November.

The Tao of Rickey

2009-01-13T12:00:00.000-05:00

In honor of Rickey Henderson's election into the Baseball Hall of Fame yesterday, I'd like to rerun some clips from a post I wrote back in 2005 when Rickey signed with the San Diego Surf Dawgs. As we get closer to the HoF induction ceremony in July, I look forward to hearing more stories about Henderson's celebrated eccentricities. But I don't know if they'll be any better than these.

For a 12-year span through the 1980's and into the early 90's, Rickey owned the American League stolen base crown. The one year he didn't get it was 1987, when he played in only 95 games because of a hamstring injury. So Harold Reynolds was the final season leader with 60 steals. And after the season, H.R. got a phone call from someone (as told on MLB.com's "Fantasy 411"):

"Hello?"

"Reynolds! This is Rickey."

"Oh, hey Rick."

"60 steals, huh?"

"Yeah, I can't believe it. It was amazing."

"60?! Rickey had 60 at the All-Star Break!"

**CLICK**

Immediately after breaking Lou Brock's stolen base record, the Oakland Athletics held an on-field ceremony commemorating the occasion. Rickey ended a relatively gracious speech by saying, "Lou Brock was the symbol of great base stealing. But today, I'm the greatest of all time. Thank you."

Henderson often referred to himself in the third person. He once called the general manager of a baseball team, looking for a job, and said, "Rickey wants to play another year and he thinks he wants to play for you."

While playing for the San Diego Padres late in his career, Henderson got onto the team bus and was looking for a seat. A teammate, Steve Finley, said, "Sit anywhere you want, you got tenure."

Rickey's response? "Ten years? What are you talking about? Rickey got 16, 17 years."

This one apparently isn't true, but it's so funny that it should be: While playing for the Seattle Mariners, Rickey approached John Olerud, who wears a batting helmet on the field because of a brain aneurysm he suffered, and said "I used to play with a dude in New York who did the same thing."

Olerud's response? "That was me." Olerud and Rickey had previously played together with the New York Mets and Toronto Blue Jays.

Talkin' Tigers on the Radio

2009-01-09T14:00:00.002-05:00

I was invited onto The Morning Ticket with Pat & Todd on Saginaw's FM Talk 100.5 this morning to talk about the Detroit Tigers. We're hoping to make this a weekly thing during the baseball season.

After a tortured search during last night's Florida-Oklahoma national championship game, I found a program for Windows that would allow me to record streaming audio. And I got it synced up with my thingermajigger just in time to record my appearance.

For those of who have followed the Detroit Tigers' offseason closely, you'll already be familiar with what Pat, Todd, and I discussed. And if not, I really sound like I know what I'm talking about.

(Except when I got two pitchers mixed up, which was a little bit embarrassing. Can I say, "Hey, it was early - and I was a bit nervous and hyper"? Well, I just did.)

Anyway, I think it went pretty well for our first time out. But I should let you judge for yourself. As Tony Kornheiser would say, I'll try to do better the next time. And hopefully, the Tigers give us a little more to talk about in the weeks to come. Thanks to Pat Johnston and Todd Guerne for having me on. That's a fun show they have going.

You can listen to an embedded audio clip below or download the file from the accompanying link. (At least, I hope so. This is the first time I've tried this.)

WTKQ_010909

For Those Who Had to Watch, We Salute You

2008-12-30T21:00:00.000-05:00

Before turning the page on 2008, I have to post one more thing about Motown's gridiron heroes, the Detroit Lions.

This isn't about the firing of coach Rod Marinelli. That was a no-brainer. The man was the worst ever at his job. No one else has ever gone winless in a 16-game season. How the hell do you bring that guy back? So no surprise there.

No, this post is to stand and give a slow clap to the poor guy who had to watch all of the crappy football southeastern Michigan's most prominent professional and college teams inflicted upon its fans this year and describe it those of us who followed the games on radio. Yes, he was paid for it, as a professional broadcaster. But he also surely paid a price, having to endure some soul-crushingly bad football.

We're talking about Jim Brandstatter, color analyst for both the Michigan football and Detroit Lions radio broadcasts. Out of the 28 games he called this season, Brandstatter provided commentary for only three victories. Michigan went 3-9. The pitiful Lions failed to win a single game. He witnessed the worst season Michigan football has had in 46 years. And as we've already covered, the Lions set NFL history for losing all 16 of their games.

Hey, at least we had the option of turning off the TV or radio. (And I did that more this year than I ever have.) Not Brandy. Hopefully, the strength and discipline instilled in him when he played for Bo Schembechler at Michigan helped him through this.

Salutes must also be given to my buddy Big Al, who live-blogged every single one of the Lions' incompetent performances, in addition to posting related news and commentary each day at The Wayne Fontes Experience. (I thought blogging about the Detroit Tigers was tough.) And to my fellow SB Nation blogger Sean Yuille, who authors blogs devoted to both University of Michigan sports and the Lions. Man, that's a tough year.

Can we please turn the calendar on 2008 in Detroit sports? (Except for the Red Wings. You guys are doing a hell of a job and shouldn't be overlooked. Even though I kind of just did that.) 2009 can't possibly be as bad. Can it?

Rooting For 0-16 Does Not Make Me Less of a Fan

2008-12-18T21:30:00.000-05:00

So I'm watching "SportsWorks" on Fox 2 Sunday night, as Dan Miller, Jamie Samuelsen, and Sean Baligian try to pick apart yet another loss (the 14th of the season) by the Detroit Lions. And there's really only so much to say when the losing continues week after week. Maybe the Lions are showing a little bit of fight at the end of the season, especially as it tries to avoid becoming the first team in NFL history to go winless over a 16-game season, but with only two games left on the schedule, they're running out of chances to avoid pro football infamy.

But while discussing that very possibility, Miller asks Samuelsen and Baligian if they're part of the "moron contingent" of Lions fans that is rooting for the team to go 0-16. And when I hear that, I sit up. Because I count myself among the segment of Detroit sports fans that want to see the Lions suck on a historical level. And maybe my perception is influenced by the echo chamber of my friends, but I don't believe I'm in the minority on this. I think many Lions fans believe that the only way the team has any chance of getting better is for the ownership to suffer the kind of humiliating indignity that they'll never want to experience again.

Apparently, that makes me a "moron." Or as MLive.com's Tom Kowalski put it, not a real Lions fan.

If you want these things to happen and you still want to call yourself a Lions fan, I have a huge problem with that. It might be a silly little pet peeve of mine, but I firmly believe that once you start rooting for your team to lose, you're no longer a fan.

My response to Miller and Kowalski on this consists of two words.

Fuck you.

(What, did you think they'd be "Merry Christmas"? I'm sorry, but no other words better capture how I feel about this.)

Let me get this straight: two members of the credentialed Detroit sports media - who are paid to attend games and watch them from what is essentially an office environment in the press box - are going to tell people whether or not they're fans? Miller, as the radio play-by-play man for the Lions, is literally a professional mouthpiece for the team. Kowalski is presumably impartial as a beat reporter, but when you spend that much time around a group of coaches, players, and executives, it's impossible to remain completely objective. And he doesn't.

Am I less of a Lions fan than I was three years ago? Absolutely! This team - and its entire organization - has given me nothing to root for. Their games are a frustrating, joyless ordeal. And I can't even watch another, better team that might play more enjoyable football. (Believe me; I've tried to find a new team. But what fun is it to root for Pittsburgh's team? Or New York's team?) The Lions have actually drained my love of the sport right out of me.

Would I be more of a fan to blindly surrender my loyalty to a team that has given its fans an utterly inferior - and progressively worse - product for eight years? Am I not a fan because I want the team that represents my community to get better and know, deep down, that it can only be rebuilt once it's completely destroyed?

Miller and Kowalski dispute that line of thinking, asserting that changes are going to be made, so there's ultimately no difference between a 1-15 and 0-16 season. No, there is every bit of difference. Other teams have gone 1-15 or 2-14 before. No team has gone winless. And if the Detroit Lions have to carry that weight around their collective necks, maybe they'll work that much harder to make us forget what a laughingstock they've been.

The fact that I'm hoping for that, that I care enough to have typed out 600 words about all this, makes me a fan. How dare someone in the media try to tell me otherwise.

It's Not Called the Stanley Bidet

2008-07-14T09:30:00.000-04:00

The Stanley Cup is the greatest trophy in sports. Even my father, who wasn't a hockey fan, was awed by this glorious chalice when he glimpsed it with his own eyes at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. So it's not really something you let your kid take a $#!+ in, Kris Draper. Yet that's exactly what happened last month while the Cup was in his possession.

Red Wings forward Kris Draper revealed during the weekend that his diaperless baby, Kamryn, did a number on the Cup last month. A number two, to be exact.

"A week after we won it, I had my newborn daughter in there, and she pooped in the Cup," Draper said. "That was something. We had a pretty good laugh.

"I still drank out of it that night, so no worries."

C'mon! No! No, no, no! He let his baby take a dump in the Stanley Cup? Where's your respect, Kris Draper? Hopefully, he took some rubbing alcohol, bleach, or Purell (or maybe just soap and water) to it afterwards.

I have a picture somewhere of my dad kissing the Cup. What's funny is that he thought he was getting away with it, behind the security guard's back. I was later told that you could kiss it, but couldn't hug it or try to pick it up. I'm just glad he planted his lips on the Cup before Draper's kid sat in it without a diaper. What do you think about this, Hayden Panettiere?

Bruce Pearl: A Leader of Men

2008-02-24T12:30:00.000-05:00

University of Tennessee men's basketball head coach Bruce Pearl was already The Official Favorite Coach of Casselbloggy, Inc. for showing you can have a lot of fun while being also being successful. And you can't blame the man for being excited at halftime of last night's college basketball Thunderdome vs. Memphis, as his team was only down by one point despite his best player having a terrible shooting night. Fueled by adrenaline, Pearl did what just about every man in America would like to do: Hug Erin Andrews.

Well played, Coach. You continue to be a heroic figure in my world. Oh, by the way, the Volunteers went on to win the game, beating the #1 Tigers, 66-62.

(via The Big Lead)

Why Tom Izzo is Cooler Than John Beilein

2008-02-18T12:30:00.002-05:00

Nothing against John Beilein (nice win over Ohio State yesterday, Coach), but here's an example of why Michigan State will dominate the state's hoops scene as long as Tom Izzo is their head coach:

I'm glad a journalist finally asked Coach Izzo what he thought of Jay-Z's "H to the Izzo." I've been wondering about that for years. How come Jay Bilas never tackled that subject?

Can you see Beilein being that kind of a sport? (No way Tommy Amaker would've been.)

Rich Rodriguez, on the other hand, would probably be game for a sit-down with Ron Burgundy (though an interview with Lloyd Carr would've been a hell of a lot funnier).

(via Awful Announcing)

A Glimpse Into Michigan's Football Future

2008-01-12T10:00:00.000-05:00

The NFL playoffs should provide some good football this weekend, but if you're going through a bit of withdrawal now that the college football season is over, maybe a brief coaching tutorial can give you a fix. And if you're a Michigan football fan, some Rich Rodriguez coach-em-up should get you excited about the future.

(If you're a West Virginia football fan, like Wabi-Sabi, this might make you want to smash something. Sorry, Jim - I had to post something this week.)

Here's another one if you like enjoy some dry-erase board football.

Oh, Saturdays are going to be interesting in Ann Arbor this fall.

(via MGoBlog)

Enjoy That Ride Into the Sunset, Coach

2008-01-01T22:21:00.001-05:00

I'm hoping to write more about Lloyd Carr and his retirement later this week. But for now, that was one hell of an effort his Michigan Wolverines displayed earlier today in Orlando, winning a game that looked like an inevitable beating.

Michigan 41, Florida 35. I've never been more happy to be wrong about football. The offense was creative and the defense was aggressive, both of which Michigan football fans have been yearning for. It was obvious how much the team wanted to win for Coach Carr today. And I'm happy that a good man was able to go out on a high note.

If you watched that video, ask yourself how many successful big-time college football coaches are asking their players to "vow right now" that they'll finish their degrees. Perhaps I'm being unfair to most coaches, but that seems like the end of an era to me. And maybe that's all that needs to be said about Lloyd Carr's tenure at Michigan.

Congratulations, Coach. I wish my father had been sitting next to me when your players carried you off the field. What a touching moment. Thanks for giving us one last memory to relish before Michigan football heads into the future.

Fear and Loathing in Detroit: Sports Reporters vs. Sports Bloggers

2007-11-04T13:30:00.000-05:00

And here I thought I was having plenty of fun yesterday, watching college football while zonked out on muscle relaxers for my frighteningly aching back. While spending the day away from the computer, lying flat in the blissful state of a relatively flexible and painless lower back, it appears that a column written by the Detroit News' Chris McCosky had much the same effect on the Detroit sports blogosphere as tossing a molotov cocktail through the window of an unsuspecting home during family dinnertime.

This was brought to my attention by The Detroit Tigers Weblog's Billfer, so I'll begin by linking to his retort to McCosky's column. I don't know if I'm quite as outraged as Bill, but it's definitely amusing that a prominent member of the local sports media apparently feels so threatened by bloggers that he deems it necessary to explain why his work should be considered more credible, going so far as to remind his readers that he actually went to school to learn his trade.

Journalism employs trained professionals. We actually have to go to school for this stuff. We take our jobs seriously. There are rules and standards that we are beholden to. There are ethics involved. We actually talk to, in person, the people we write about. If we rip somebody in an article, you best be sure most of us will confront that person the next day and take whatever medicine we need to take.

Just so you know where I'm coming from on this, I went to school to study journalism too, and have some experience working as a credentialed member of the media. Some of that work included exchanging e-mails with Mr. McCosky for a Detroit Pistons season preview that I wrote for a magazine last year. (And even back then, he railed against the sports talk radio/message board culture that was apparently making him chase stories he felt he shouldn't have to.)

Maybe that's made me more reverential toward the media than I should be. I know beat writers, especially, put in long hours at the arena or ballpark pursuing the latest newsworthy information. They also have to cull that material - most of which isn't usually very revelatory or compelling - into something readable while working on a tight deadline, which can be pretty stressful work.

However, a lot of "reporting" is also watching a game and recounting what happened for the next morning's paper. They saw it, you saw it, and I saw it. Would our accounts of the same event that we all just witness really differ that greatly? Of course not. The only difference is that the media can go down to the locker room directly after the game and ask Jim Leyland why he didn't take Jason Grilli out after he loaded the bases or ask Grilli why he threw four straight balls when there wasn't an open base.

But really, how often is the answer to that question really informative? And how often is the person asking that question really going to challenge his or her subject when he knows he's getting a flat, meaningless response? If Leyland dismisses a question with "It was the right call, and I'd make it every time," how often is a simple "Why?" the follow-up query? How often does the mainstream media really take advantage of the access and opportunity that McCosky touts as the shiniest badge of honor for his profession?

I'm not saying it's easy. To ask a sharp, probing question face to face, and risk an angry response that could affect everyone else trying to do his or her job in that clubhouse, can be a difficult situation to deal with. I've had Dmitri Young, post-rehab, tell me to my face that he wasn't talking. And I didn't push the issue because it wouldn't have mattered. He didn't play in that particular game, and I was just looking for an easy interview to post on my magazine's website. Maybe I should've pushed it, but I didn't want the fledgling magazine I was working for to lose its credential because of my grandstanding.

I don't think a beat writer for one of the city's two major metropolitan newspapers is going to have the same problem. Would the Pistons really ban the Detroit News from the locker room or press row because one of the players got angry at its reporter? I seriously doubt it. Yet many writers act as if such a penalty could be incurred.

Go ahead and boast that you have to face a player or coach the day after bashing him in print. But that same boast is also frequently used as a shield to justify not asking tougher questions in the first place. ("Hey, I have to work with these people every day. I'm not pissing them off to make my job miserable.")

I've probably spent far too long on that particular point, so let's move on.

With blogging and Web sites, it seems the hard work, standards, accountability, courage all of that is bypassed. Who needs to study this stuff, or attend games, or conduct interviews when you can just sit in your basement and clack out whatever comes through your head, right? If I rip somebody, or if I get something wrong, who cares? Nobody will see me.

This is ridiculously reductive. To McCosky, it "seems" the hard work is bypassed because he apparently didn't look at much to back up his unsubstantiated assertion. Study what "stuff" exactly? If Billfer devotes a post to hitters' spray charts or Lee Panas writes about runs created by position, did no amount of work go into that? Did they just conjure that information out of thin air? No, they looked far deeper into the game than any member of the mainstream baseball media. And they did so because the information provided by those who are ostensibly the be-all, end-all authority on sports reporting doesn't tell enough of the story.

That brings up the ugly truth about the sports blogosphere that the mainstream media doesn't want to acknowledge. They created us.

Fans are increasingly not getting what they want and need from the conventional outlets of newspaper, TV, or radio. So we, as readers and fans, are either going to seek out the kind of information that's more in line with our thinking, that gives us another way of looking at the game, or just create that material ourselves. Along the way, we might even find something that we hadn't previously considered, and that feeling of discovery is a refreshing bit of flavor among all the gruel we're consistently served these days. And if many other fans weren't beginning to feel that way, McCosky wouldn't have felt it necessary to explain that his job is more important than our hobby.

Furthermore, if we "get something wrong," we're most certainly held accountable. Not only by our readers, but by other bloggers. It's why there's a comment section at the end of every post, so that readers can offer up an immediate response to something they agree or disagree with, a luxury conventional media hasn't offered them until relatively recently - likely in an attempt to keep pace with new media. Maybe that's another reason McCosky's so miffed at bloggers. Maybe his editors are suddenly asking him to keep up with an outlet that's providing a much quicker fix than the next morning's newspaper.

I want my writing to be taken seriously, so if I write that I believe Brad Wilkerson should be the Detroit Tigers' left fielder next season, I'm going to do everything I can to support that belief. Otherwise, why should anyone bother to read any of my material? Nothing's more humbling (and embarrassing) than being called out by a reader who can collapse your argument with a simple breath. No one understands how precious one's time is than those who invested their own into something almost purely out of love and interest. Those who don't take their work that seriously won't be getting much more of anyone's time. We don't receive the benefit of the doubt that many attribute to anything that's in print.

But while we're talking about what's in print, let's address another McCosky assertion:

Bloggers are having a field day speculating on how Joel Zumaya really injured his shoulder. Nobody believes a heavy box fell on him. So the Internet is rife with stories about how he fell off his dirt bike.

There is not a single Detroit Tigers blog that posted this rumor about Joel Zumaya injuring his shoulder while dirt-biking. And if I'm wrong about that, McCosky didn't bother to point me to where I'd find this theory. As far as I can tell, the closest anyone came to that was me addressing that conspiracy theories were being floated out there and linking to a couple of places where such rumors could be found. I also said that such conjecture was irrelevant. And do you know what opened the door to such a subject being approached in the first place? An article by McCosky's colleague at the Detroit News, Lynn Henning:

The details of Zumaya's mishap, and the long lapse between the incident and Thursday's disclosure, raised at least as many questions as were answered.

That was in print. In a newspaper. Speculation. By a professional journalist. And message boards and commenters ran off from there. No blogger created that. Yet apparently, we're all swimming in the same cesspool that McCosky used to soak the brush he's painting the Detroit sports blogosphere with. This is exactly the type of irresponsible conduct he's charging sports bloggers with carrying out. And it didn't even happen. How's that for accountability?

Finally, McCosky proves just how original his thinking really is with the same old, tired shot that all those who find themselves threatened by new media love to take:

But you do have to know most reporters at legitimate news sources work hard to deliver fair, accurate and pertinent information.

And what they do is vastly different than what the clever dude in his pajamas is doing on his computer, down in his basement.

This is right up there with saying that Detroit sports fans still light cars on fire when they're celebrating a championship, the old stand-by writers from other cities pull out whenever their teams are playing one of ours. It's a throwaway comment that's actually easy, thoughtless hackery. Should I now make a crack about freeloading sportswriters gorging on complimentary food in the media lounge? (And the food provided on McCosky's beat at the Palace of Auburn Hills is pretty good.)

I'm also offended because I'm typing this in my home office (which happens to be on an upper level of my house) while wearing a sweatshirt and jeans. That's pretty much the same thing your sportswriting colleagues wear, based on my personal experience. The pajamas went in the hamper before I took a shower this morning. Get your facts straight like they taught you in school, McCosky. Well... at least he called us "clever." Maybe that's what McCosky was trying to be here, and this was just some poorly executed attempt at satire.

It's baffling to me how writers like Chris McCosky get so defensive about this stuff. Ask most sports fans where they get their news, or how they caught up on last night's game. A majority of them will still probably say the newspaper. And if they do read sports blogs, they still know who was on the scene to report on events as they occurred. They hear who's called an "insider" on the radio each week. They see who ESPN puts on the air as "experts."

So why feel so threatened? Why act like old man Tom Smykowski in Office Space, having to explain his job to that consultant, Bob Slydell, so he doesn't get laid off? ("Can't you understand that? What the hell is wrong with you people?") Is it because he sees his job changing, and doesn't like it? Is he having to chase rumors or write website material that you previously didn't have to? Are bloggers suddenly getting more credit than he thinks they should? (And if that's the case, let me know where that credit's being handed out, because I think a lot of us would love some of that.)

Maybe that's something he can address in print, after talking to some of the bloggers he criticized. You know, in person. Or even via e-mail. As an accountable professional journalist is supposed to, upholding the standards and ethics he or she was taught in school. Or is it just easier to attack and move on?

If This is the New World Order, I Want the Old World Back

2007-09-01T23:00:00.000-04:00

Is there any chance the entire Michigan football season can be moved over to Big Ten Network? Because I'm not sure I want to watch this anymore.

With Comcast not carrying BTN (Dear Comcast, I no longer want it), I tuned in and out of the game on the radio. Why wasn't I planted in a chair, as I would've been had the game been on TV? Well, I don't think my brain would've been able to handle the lack of visual stimulation. Why didn't I try to watch at a local sports bar? 1) I thought I'd have to shoehorn myself in, and 2) Um... I really didn't think it'd be a big deal if I missed this game. (I don't think I was the only one.)

Anyway, when I got back in the car after lunch and drove to my next stop on the errand run, I thought I heard Frank Beckmann say the score was "Appalachian State 28, Michigan 14." And if you were behind a green Honda Civic going north on Carpenter Rd. around 1:30 p.m., I apologize if I nearly caused you to get into an accident.

I stuck pretty close to the radio after that. And Michigan began chipping away at that lead, apparently remembering that football also requires you to play defense, while asserting some authority with the running game. Eventually, this rift in the space-time continuum would correct itself and order would be restored. Right?

When Mike Hart ran down, then across the field for a 54-yard touchdown (reminiscent of his famous high school run), I - and I'm sure most other Michigan football fans - figured the nightmare was over, and the Wolverines would pull out the win we all expected. Sure, we'd vent our outrage on sports talk radio, the blogosphere, and anyone within the sound of our voices for the next couple of days, while catching $#!+ from fans around the country, but we'd take it like men and shake it off. But then Michigan failed to convert a two-point conversion, which was a reminder that nothing was going right today. (Penalties, fumbles, interceptions, not enough men on the field, etc. And can we now agree that you should never go for two until you absolutely have to?)

Still, Michigan had the lead - albeit one as thin as rice paper - and I stretched out on the sofa, intending to take a nap. I had to save my strength for all the post-game agonizing on WTKA later on. Just as I began to fall into that sweet slumber, my cell phone jolted me awake. It was my buddy, Eric.

"Your dad is turning over in his grave right now, wouldn't he?"

Say what? I actually slept through the Mountaineers regaining the lead at 34-32 with a field goal. Just as I shook the cobwebs out and began to think clearly again, I heard Beckmann's call of Jason Gingell's field goal attempt being blocked, followed by his declaration that ~~Armageddon~~Appalachian State had just pulled off the biggest upset in the history of Michigan football.

I have to be honest. I really wasn't sure if I was awake or not when I heard that final score. I've had these sorts of nightmares while falling asleep during an early season snoozer against a non-conference opponent. I can only imagine what a slurring mess I sounded like on the phone.

(And while I'm being honest, I had to look up the name of Michigan's place-kicker before typing it out in the previous paragraph, because I had no idea who their kicker was until his field goal was blocked. Sorry - Being nose-deep in baseball blogging for the past five months has me behind on my football stuff.)

Right now, I'm kind of wishing I'd stayed asleep. Because every highlight and mention of this humiliation feels like a body blow. Of course, it should be mentioned over and over, because this sort of thing isn't supposed to happen. And if it happened to any other college football program in this country, I'd be delighting in the fall of a titan and figuratively hoisting Appalachian State on my shoulders. And I wasn't even pronouncing "Appalachian" correctly until my sister - who will soon move to nearby Asheville, NC - straightened me out this morning.

Obviously, applause is due to the Mountaineers. Throughout the winter, spring, and summer, this game was derisively mocked by Michigan fans as an embarrassment of scheduling. And a Big Ten team really shouldn't be playing a Division I-AA school. But as the defending two-time I-AA national champions, Appalachian St. shouldn't have been considered a pushover. Before the game was even played, they were probably a better opponent than, say, Eastern Michigan.

But this is what it is. For years, even when Michigan posted 8-4 seasons, there was consolation in the Wolverines never suffering a humbling fall from grace that other acclaimed programs such as Oklahoma, Notre Dame, USC, Penn State, and Miami (FL) had. But that vicious cycle appears to have finally turned on Michigan.

It's easy to say now, in lieu of a mortifying upset loss, and after I hadn't posted anything on this 2007 team leading up to this season opener, but I felt like Michigan was being overrated in pre-season polls. When talking college football with my sister's future father-in-law - a Tennessee Volunteers fan - a couple of weeks ago, I told him that I couldn't believe the Wolverines were being ranked #5. What were they seeing that I wasn't? Granted, I hadn't been paying close attention, but didn't this team lose a bunch of defense to graduation? And that was woefully apparent today.

This is the kind of loss that has to make Michigan re-evaluate the way its football program is run. I've always been a defender of Lloyd Carr, but the Rose Bowl debacle against USC planted a seed of doubt for the first time. That, of course, followed a hugely disappointing loss to Ohio State. And now this. Three straight losses isn't just a slump. There's no such thing in college football. Not for an elite program. This is a trend, a pattern of being horribly unprepared for games, with an increasingly obvious refusal to adjust offensive and defensive philosophies toward what the opponent requires.

Something has to change. And not just for this season. Just one game in, there's plenty of time to straighten things out for this particular team. But the long-term interests of the Michigan football program might require a fundamental overhaul.

Who is the Face of the Detroit Tigers?

2007-08-22T15:00:00.000-04:00

A little while ago, the folks at ESPN.com SportsNation asked me if I would be interested in participating in a series called "Face of the Franchise," in which four panelists selected their choice for the best current representative of a Major League Baseball team. The panel would consist of a writer from ESPN.com, a beat writer or columnist from that team's city, an analyst from "Baseball Tonight," and a team-specific blogger.

After briefly wondering if someone was pulling a joke on me (and doing the requisite Google search), I said "Hell yeah, I'd be interested" and started thinking hard about my choice. And when I say "thinking hard," I mean agonizing over it, like Rob in High Fidelity when the reporter asked him what his top five favorite songs were. This was going down for posterity. My name would be on this. My Tigers fan (and blogger) credibility would be at stake.

The only rule I had to follow was that my choice had to be currently associated with the team. I couldn't pick an old-timer like Ty Cobb or Al Kaline, or any of the players I grew up watching, like Alan Trammell or Kirk Gibson. A few choices came to mind right away, and I began to consider whether or not I could write an interesting paragraph on this person, and the likelihood that he could be chosen by the other panelists.

I also asked a handful of friends who they would pick as the face of the Detroit Tigers, but no clear choice stood out. Actually, that was kind of reassuring. I wasn't just being anal-retentive or indecisive.

Then I imposed a couple of my own rules. 1) My pick had to be a player. An manager, owner, or broadcaster could certainly be the face of a team. But in my mind, fans don't go to the ballpark or switch the game on because of a manager or owner. Players get us excited; they're the ones we watch. 2) Casual fans, or even people who don't follow sports had to be aware of who the player is. I probably didn't follow this rule very closely because it somewhat conflicted with the first rule. For instance, if I ask my mother about the Tigers, she'd probably mention their manager, Jim Leyland. And if I consulted a non-fan like Mis Hooz, she likely wouldn't name anyone. But if I talked to baseball fans in other cities, who might they name?

After considering all these factors, I'm not sure that my choice ended up being any different from who I was leaning toward in the first place. If you've been reading BYB regularly, you can probably guess who I picked as the face of the Tigers. But you can read the official pick here, along with those of Rob Neyer, Jon Paul Morosi, and Eric Young (whose pick will go up tomorrow).

So who would you guys vote for? Who do you think is the current face of the Detroit Tigers? It'll be much more fun to see who the fans choose, and if we'd reach any kind of consensus.

Do Not Push Scott Olsen's Buttons

2007-07-17T17:00:00.000-04:00

Whenever I see that a player was suspended for "insubordination," I'm intrigued. Usually, we find out the "insubordination" was something like arriving to the ballpark late or cutting in line for the post-game food spread. But once in a while, something good pops up.

It seems the Marlins' Scott Olsen isn't the easiest gent to get along with. During his three-year major league career, Olsen has gotten punched in the face by one teammate, poked in the head by another, and been grabbed by the front of his jersey by his manager.

So what was the latest incident that forced the Marlins to suspend Olsen for two games? Well, he got into a spat with Sergio Mitre in the dugout. But hey, that happens. Boys will be boys. Sometimes, guys are so competitive that they can't keep that energy restricted to the field. That's probably what this was all about, right?

Eyewitnesses, who asked not to be identified, said Mitre was trying to calm Olsen, who was upset over a broken button on his uniform top.

Um... wow. Was his belly button showing or something like that?

I guess if you're Olsen's dry cleaner, you should watch out.

You're Still the Man, Rickey!

2007-07-12T02:30:00.000-04:00

Just when I thought I'd be starved of non-Tigers material to post here until football season began, Rickey Henderson comes to the rescue. With the news that Rickey has been hired as the new hitting coach for the New York Mets, I thought I'd blow the dust off something I wrote more than two years ago after Rickey signed with the San Diego Surf Dawgs.

Most of this post will be relatively common knowledge to baseball fans, but this was for my personal blog, and people didn't seem too interested when I wrote about sports over there. Look where that got me.

But I love hearing Rickey Henderson stories, even if they're not true, and wanted to post something about them. One story that wasn't included is something I heard from Harold Reynolds about a month ago on MLB.com's Fantasy 411 show. A lot of you have probably heard this one, but it was new to me.

For a 12-year span through the 1980's and into the early 90's, Rickey owned the American League stolen base crown. The one year he didn't get it was 1987, when he played in only 95 games because of a hamstring injury. So Harold Reynolds was the final season leader with 60 steals. And after the season, he got a phone call from someone:

"Hello?"
"Reynolds! This is Rickey."
"Oh, hey Rick."
"60 steals, huh?"
"Yeah, I can't believe it. It was amazing."
"60?! Rickey had 60 at the All-Star Break!"
**CLICK**

Awesome. Okay, let's take the Wayback Machine to 2005 for more of Rickey being Rickey.

# # # # #
Yesterday, 46-year-old Rickey Henderson signed with a minor-league baseball team, the San Diego Surf Dawgs, in yet another attempt to prolong his athletic career. And what a career it's been. I'd argue Henderson is one of the best baseball players I've ever seen. He could seemingly do everything on the field. He's Major League Baseball's all-time leader in career stolen bases and runs scored, holds the record for most stolen bases in a season, and had the most career walks until Barry Bonds passed him in 2001.

He's the greatest. Just ask him.
But Henderson is probably best known for his eccentric personality and an ego that a ballpark could barely contain. There have been some great stories attached to Henderson over the years, many of which were retold in response to yesterday's news.

Immediately after breaking Lou Brock's stolen base record, the Oakland Athletics held an on-field ceremony commemorating the occasion. Rickey ended a relatively gracious speech by saying, "Lou Brock was the symbol of great base stealing. But today, I'm the greatest of all time. Thank you."

Henderson often referred to himself in the third person. He once called the general manager of a baseball team, looking for a job, and said, "Rickey wants to play another year and he thinks he wants to play for you."

While playing for the San Diego Padres late in his career, Henderson got onto the team bus and was looking for a seat. A teammate, Steve Finley, said, "Sit anywhere you want, you got tenure."

Rickey's response? "Ten years? What are you talking about? Rickey got 16, 17 years."

This one apparently isn't true, but it's so funny that it should be: While playing for the Seattle Mariners, Rickey approached John Olerud, who wears a batting helmet on the field because of a brain aneurysm he suffered, and said "I used to play with a dude in New York who did the same thing."

Olerud's response? "That was me." Olerud and Rickey had previously played together with the New York Mets and Toronto Blue Jays.

Gorging Ourselves on Wieners is America's Birthright!

2007-07-05T22:00:00.000-04:00

At the risk of sounding unpatriotic, I didn't think it was too big a deal that a Japanese dude held the world record (53 3/4) for eating hot dogs. I guess I was just awed by Takeru Kobayashi's magnificent gift for scarfing down sausages. If somebody wanted to do that to himself... hey, we all have our different callings in this life, right?

But it didn't quite seem right that an American couldn't eat more hot dogs than anyone else. I mean, if there's one thing we should be good at, it's shoveling down tubes of unhealthy meat parts. How many of us did that yesterday? I'm not raising my hand, only because I sadly had no cookouts to attend, and even more sadly, I am currently without grill.

Thanks to Joey Chestnut, who the hilariously/disgustingly hyperbolic ESPN announcers called a "hero," the days of finishing second in hot dog annihilation are over. The 23-year-old Californian inhaled 66 hot dogs in 12 minutes (that's one every 11 seconds) to dethrone Kobayashi and reclaim the title of "Guy Who Can Eat a Lot of [insert item here]" and the Mustard Yellow Belt for the nation celebrating its independence yesterday. What were you doing when you were 23, bucko?

66 hot dogs, man. Eating 66 of anything seems kind of revolting, though I'm sure I've unwittingly done it a few times in my life. This morning, I ate 26 almonds, which I read is the ideal amount to eat in a day, and I don't really feel like eating any more almonds today.

In fairness to Kobayashi, however, the dude might have been playing hurt. There was some doubt as to whether he'd participate in this year's Nathan's Famous hot dog eating contest because of a sore (arthritic?) jaw (Occupational hazard, I imagine) and recent wisdom tooth extraction. After help from a chiropractor(?) and acupuncturist, however, Kobayashi manned up to try and defend his title against his newest challenger.

Was the jaw the difference in the three additional hot dogs Chestnut was able to consume? Maybe, although Kobayashi apparently had some difficulty keeping that last one in, but the rules say as long as it doesn't hit the floor, it's all good.

"Kobayashi appeared to spew hot dog out of his mouth at the end, but caught it in the air and clamped his hands to his mouth, which kept the hot dogs in play, so to speak..."

You're not eating as you read this, are you? I think I'm about to experience some "reversal of fortune" myself. I think I'll be eating fruit for dinner. Maybe blueberries and raspberries, in honor of our new American hero.

UPDATE: Deadspin was live on the scene (as I hope to be one day), and posted a "plausibly live" blog, complete with photos.

And The Fanhouse has footage of Kobayashi's "reversal of fortune," which reportedly won't be seen in ESPN's re-broadcast of the contest tomorrow night.

Okay, So Detroit Didn't Get Acie Law...

2007-06-29T12:00:00.000-04:00

Thinkin' and linkin' about the NBA Draft...

▪▪ I can't act like I know much about Rodney Stuckey (so I'll refer you to Need4Sheed and Full Court Press), but I love the idea of Detroit having a bigger, stronger, athletic scorer on the perimeter who can not only shoot, but take the ball to the basket (something you absolutely have to do in today's NBA). And if he can develop into an occasional back-up for Chauncey Billups at point guard, I like this pick even more.

▪▪ At the time, I preferred Glen "Big Baby" Davis to Aaron Afflalo for the Pistons' second first-round pick. But maybe the Pistons are concerned that Davis could be the next Mel Turpin or John "Hot Plate" Williams (curiously, another LSU product). Plus, Joe Dumars already played with Oliver Miller and knows how that can go. Besides, Detroit already has another "Big Baby" to deal with.

▪▪ Based on Afflalo's record of playing defense, however, he could be a pretty good pick for the Pistons and should fit right in. Having another outside shooter doesn't hurt, either. (MLive.com's A. Sherrod Blakely doesn't dig the selection, though. And many people seem to be knocking Afflalo's athleticism.)

▪▪ Of course, now the Pistons have a bunch of guards. Like, a lot of 'em. Eight, if you count Alex Acker, who's currently in Greece. That could thin out pretty fast if Lindsey Hunter retires, Will Blalock is let go, and Acker stays overseas. But a trade has to be in the works, right? A. Sherrod thinks Flip Murray is gone. I wonder if Rip Hamilton should be nervous, too.

▪▪ As it turns out, the Pistons had no shot at drafting Acie Law with Atlanta picking him at #11. The Pistons fan in me was disappointed, but as a basketball fan, I thought that was a damn good pick by the Hawks. How many good point guards was Billy Knight going to pass up? He's got all this frontcourt talent (potentially), yet had no one to get them the ball and provide some on-court leadership.

But did the Hawks really pass on a chance to get Amare Stoudamire? C'mon...

▪▪ And what the hell are the Celtics doing? Ray Allen? I wonder if people forget just how good he's been, since he was practically in the witness protection program with the Sonics. He's still a very good player, of course, and an amazing shooter, but does he really help the Celtics? If Danny Ainge was going to trade the #5 pick (Jeff Green), how does he not get a big man in return? What about a point guard?

I grew up hating the Celtics, but I'm beginning to think their fanbase is the only other community that might possibly understand what it's like to be a Detroit Lions fan. Except Lions fans don't have to deal with the added hell of being screwed over in the draft lottery.

I Want Acie Law!

2007-06-28T14:00:00.000-04:00

That is all.

Actually, I have a little more to say on this. I know it's not that easy. From all accounts, the Texas A&M point guard won't be on the board by the time the Detroit Pistons' selection comes up at #15. ESPN.com's Chad Ford has Law going to Atlanta at #11 now.

Up until this week, however, it appeared that the Pistons might have a chance. Virtually every mock draft you looked at speculated that Law would be available around the 15th pick, yet likely wouldn't make it past the L.A. Clippers' selection at #14. (Detroit Bad Boys says that's virtually a certainty, and it's the reason Law cancelled his workout for the Pistons.)

I'd love to see Joe Dumars do everything in his power to move up the draft order and ensure the Pistons are set at point guard for the next 8-12 seasons between Chauncey Billups and Law. The idea of Billups playing out the rest of his prime in Detroit, while Law is groomed to be his successor is a vision that's given me pleasant dreams since January.

Law would give the Pistons a consistent ballhandler and perimeter scorer off the bench, something they've needed since... well, the Bad Boys years. A legitimate point guard would also allow the Pistons to play more "small ball," with Billups possibly moving over to shooting guard, Rip Hamilton to the wing, and Tayshaun Prince playing more of a Shawn Marion type of power forward.

Alas, it's very likely not going to happen. If Detroit is planning to give Billups a maximum value free agent contract, which assures he'll be the Pistons' starter for at least another five seasons, and/or they're still high on Alex Acker's potential at point guard, then it's probably in the team's best interests to seek help for a position of more immediate need. And given the depth that this draft reportedly provides, it looks like that's exactly what Joe Dumars and crew have in mind.

Every one of the names currently associated with the Pistons' pick - whether it's Rodney Stuckey, Nick Young, Al Thornton, or Thaddeus Young - are of the shooting guard/small forward variety. I'll have to plead ignorance on these guys, as I haven't seen any of them play (which is admittedly a reason I probably favor Law), but they certainly seem to fit that LeBron James/Dwyane Wade profile of a big, athletic perimeter scorer who can shoot, dribble drive, and defend. And that sort of athleticism is something the Pistons need to infuse their team with.

At the risk of ending with some hyperbole, does anyone else feel like this is Joe D's most important draft since he had the #2 pick in 2003? The Pistons need this guy to be a player.

Detroit is Representin' For the All-Star Game

2007-06-27T19:00:00.000-04:00

As I type this, there are roughly 30 hours before balloting closes for the 2007 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. And though it looks like the Detroit Tigers will be represented well in the starting lineup (and Jim Leyland - who happens to be managing the American League squad - will likely add a few more of his guys to the reserve roster), one last push certainly wouldn't hurt.

Surging support for Magglio Ordonez has rocketed him to second place among AL outfielders, and if the current vote totals hold steady, he'll join teammates Ivan Rodriguez and Placido Polanco in the starting lineup. Ichiro has a lot of fans, however, and could still move him back ahead of Maggs. He could even fall back to fourth, if Manny fans are Manny fans and vote for their guy.

What's most impressive to me, however, is the support that all of the Detroit Tigers have generated in the All-Star voting. Carlos Guillen is in second place for shortstop, and Gary Sheffield is 6th among outfielders. And both of them would be worthy selections.

But at other positions, voting totals for the Tigers have gotten a little bit embarrassing. Sean Casey is in third place for first base? He has one home run, and just hit that last week. Craig Monroe is 15th among outfielders. C-Mo is starting to look as if he's lucky to be holding a major league job. (And as Big Al points out, he's blown any trade value the Tigers could've hoped for. Keep swingin' and missin', C-Money! You're on notice, dude.)

So maybe I don't need to shill for my hometown baseball team, because Tigers fans are clearly already sending in bushels of votes for their guys. Nonetheless, that's what this post was supposed to be about, so it'll be nice if the final voting totals reflect the baseball resurgence that's taken place in Detroit over the past year-and-a-half. Vote with your heart. Vote for a Detroit Tiger.

Giving a Michigan Man Some Appreciation

2007-06-25T09:00:00.001-04:00

After getting excited over Michigan baseball's post-season run and finally bringing that joy to this blog, I scurried away and hid once the Wolverines lost to Oregon State in the NCAA Super Regionals. (For those of you who have been checking back here regularly, I seem to have gone into hibernation for the summer. That Tigers baseball, she's a demanding mistress.)

But those same Beavers went on to repeat as national champions, after beating North Carolina for the second straight year last night, which I thought was worth noting as a consolation. It doesn't always take the sting away, but losing to the team that eventually won the championship often seems to redeem the loss. (I don't imagine many Red Wings fans were celebrating that Anaheim Ducks Stanley Cup, however.)

Michigan baseball had already moved on, but perhaps somewhat unwillingly, after news broke last week that Coach Rich Maloney was not only being pursued by Tennessee, but had already gone down to Knoxville for an interview. I got the news from Mr. Big Ten Hardball, who called to see if I'd heard anything more. Shortly thereafter, I made a call to my future brother-in-law Vols fan, checking if he'd heard anything, and warning him to back off Maloney. (He never did return that call, which probably means I'll soon be getting a lecture from my sister about leaving threatening messages on her fiancee's voice mail.)

Of course, the baseball team won't ever be as high on the radar around here as the football, basketball, and hockey programs, but the recent post-season run made it pretty clear that something good has been going on at Fisher Stadium over the past couple of years. That success would likely be short-lived, however, if the man in charge suddenly decided to seek the surer thing of a school in warmer climates, in a part of the country where college baseball is a larger part of the sports culture. And did I mention he'd be paid a lot more?

It got pretty scary there for a couple of days, because I think the general consensus was, "Who could blame Maloney for leaving?" BTH expected him to take the Tennessee job. So did the Michigan Daily. And if that had happened, all of the excitement and progress that had been generated over the baseball program would've felt pretty empty. I don't know the situation well enough to say it would've been devastating. But I don't think that's an overreaction, either.

Beating Vanderbilt and advancing in the tournament got people (and media) to take notice (locally and nationally). Virtually the same roster was eligible to return next season. Fisher Stadium is undergoing a huge renovation to make the facility competitive with the rest of the Big Ten and suitable to host tournament regionals. Michigan is poised to become a player in college baseball, which is really saying something for a northern school. Maloney leaving for Tennessee probably would've cut that off right at the knees.

That's the sort of thing we expect to see happen to mid-major basketball programs who expect to eventually lose their coach to a bigger program in a more prominent conference. And maybe that provided the proverbial wake-up call (or dose of humility) to the Michigan athletic department and fanbase at-large. This isn't football or basketball (or hockey). Achieving annual prominence in this part of the country isn't a given for baseball. You have to work at it. And no one's worked harder at it than Maloney.

Fortunately, Michigan recognized that and did what was necessary to retain Maloney, signing him to a five-year contract extension. That should effectively stamp down any future rumors of defection (which seem to have been swirling around ever since the Big Ten Tournament, depending on who you talk to). No more year-to-year agreements. No more underappreciation. No more whispers of seduction from southern schools (although I suppose there's nothing to stop those schools from continuing to inquire).

It's not often you get to follow a program on the rise around here, to see something built from the ground up. It's worth some appreciation. This is a commitment. This is establishing something. And hopefully, it's the start (or continuation) of some really good baseball in Ann Arbor.

Warning To the Seagulls

2007-06-12T13:00:00.000-04:00

If any of those seagulls are still flying around Comerica Park, munching on moths in the outfield grass, consider this a warning:

We know the animals are planning a revolt to take back the planet. (We noticed more of your seagull brethren terrorizing the Mariners-Indians game in Cleveland yesterday.) But we are not afraid of you. We have baseballs and can throw them very hard. Back off. Let us play baseball.

Go to the Polls for Placido!

2007-06-12T06:30:00.000-04:00

This weekend, Quo Vadimus' Scott Warheit (also familiar to Tigers fans as The Cutoff Man for MLive.com) decided to focus his outrage over the Yankees' Robinson Cano leading Placido Polanco in All-Star balloting for the American League's starting spot at second base into an organized campaign.

Despite being one of Major League Baseball's biggest disappointments so far this season, the New York Yankees continue to do well in fan voting for the 2007 Major League Baseball Star Game, with three players (Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, and Robinson Cano) leading the voting at their positions. Detroit Tigers fans and fans of baseball need to do something about that, because while Jeter and A-Rod may deserve a trip to San Francisco to start for the American League, certainly, Robinson Cano does not. And Placido Polanco of the Detroit Tigers certainly does. Polanco, as of last count was some 8,000 votes behind Cano (381,051 to Cano's 389,265 votes) which is why we need to start the "Go to the Polls for Placido!" All Star Voting Campaign [...]

I don't need much convincing to get behind that. Polanco starting at second base for the AL All-Star team might not be the definitive home run call that it may have been early in the season. I think you could make cases for Brian Roberts, Aaron Hill, or Ian Kinsler. But Polanco has been Steady Eddie (or should that be Eddie Constante) throughout the entire season, even back in April when seemingly no one on the Tigers was hitting.

The same was true last season. You can argue that the Tigers showed little statistical evidence of suffering greatly when Polanco was lost to a shoulder injury. But I think there are some things in baseball that just transcend statistics, and Polanco's steadying influence on the Detroit Tigers is one of them.

It's a surprise when Polanco has a hitless night. That's only occurred 15 times this season. Out of 57 games played. That's 26%, people. And I think it's a fair bet to say that even when he didn't register a base hit, Polanco did what he could to move runners and set up scoring opportunities. Or if someone is in a position to score, Polanco might just drive that runner in himself. He's batting .424 with runners in scoring position. If he's facing two outs in that situation, Polanco's still hitting .310. Whatever needs to be done to win a particular game, Placido Polanco is more (much more) often than not doing what's necessary.

This is speaking your piece for a guy that deserves the recognition. This is standing up for your team that warrants representation in the sport's showcase exhibition. (And it's also keeping a New York Yankee down, a fringe benefit that really shouldn't be overlooked.) Rise up and let your voices be heard, Tigers fans. Spread the word through Digg! Vote so much it can't be ignored. Polanco in 2007!

[image courtesy of Quo Vadimus and the 2007 "Go to the Polls for Placido!" campaign]