Daily Update Archive- 2007September 30- at Chicago- Ended up with 88 wins, but in the race until the final week. MAGGS finished huge with 3 hits to bat .363 for the year... Polcano got his 200 hits... Guillen nailed his 100+ RBIs, so it was a good year for individual accomplishments.... BUT- we expect better next year. -------------------------------------------------------------- September 26- vs. Minnesota- Finally eliminated... we expected it, but it's still nice to know we went down to the final 4 games with some (small) chance... Still have a chance for 90 wins which would be nice. -------------------------------------------------------------- September 25- vs. Minnesota- Tigers stay alive with a win and a Yankee loss but it's still a very very tall order... Maggs continues with 2 hits including a home run... leads the batting chase by 8 points over Ichiro... Polanco looking for 200 hits... Lots to cheer for yet! -------------------------------------------------------------- September 24- vs. Minnesota- What looked like a huge series a couple of months ago has turned into two teams playing out the string... Nate Robertson again pitched well, but his teammates gave him nuttin' -------------------------------------------------------------- September 23- vs. Kansas City- Cleveland clinches the Central yesterday... good luck to them- Beat LA, or Boston, or (especially) New York. They played very well down the stretch and will be tough next year as well. I'm already looking forward to it! Wild card is almost gone as well. Magic number is 2... we need to win 5 of 6 in order to get 90 wins- that'd still be a decent season. Where to upgrade for next year??? Shortstop? More pitching??? It'll be interesting. -------------------------------------------------------------- September 19- at Cleveland- We went in hoping for a sweep, but the wrong team swept... looks like we're just playing out the string. It's sad when you look at some of the National League teams still in it... barely playing .500 ball in a weak league. We'd kill 'em! -------------------------------------------------------------- September 18- at Cleveland- Looks like it's about over... we're now trailing Cleveland by 6½ and New York by 4½ with only 10 to go. The '64 Phillies blew a 5 game lead with 10 to go, so it's not unheard of, but pretty much impossible at this point. I can't help but believe if we could subtract only one of those injuries to Rogers, Zumaya, Sheffield, or Rodney, we'd probably be in the playoffs. Oh well... I'm sure we've won in the past due to the injuries on some other team. September 17- at Cleveland- What a difference a day makes... holding a 5-1 lead in the 7th, we blow it while the Yankees also win. Hurts that this one was all but posted to the win column. September 16- at Minnesota- Now it begins! BIG BIG 3 game set in Cleveland- we're down 4½ and would like to leave with at least 2 out of 3 which would make the lead 3½ with time running out. Is a sweep too much to hope for??????? That would make it 1½, so 1 game is HUGE in this series. ... and we're creeeping up to the Yankees, but Boston did us no favors by blowing the friday night game and losing last night. They get the Orioles who have given them fits all year. Could '07 be as thrilling a finish as '67 or '87?? September 12- vs Texas- Another great performance by Verlander... home runs by Maggs and Sheffield lead the way to a quick 2:14 game. Cleveland loses and we pick up a game- remember we go there for 3 next week. There's still a chance... remember Toronto in '87? September 11- vs Texas- We came through the 3-games-in-24-hour stretch fairly well going 2-1, but STILL losing ground because the Yanks and Indians have been so hot. The team is playing better, but it might be too little, too late. Another good job by Jurrjens, but not by the pitching staff in the opener- good grief... 7 home runs????? September 10- vs Toronto- Where to start??? So many things happened tonight- All time Tiger attendance record was set and 3 million looks like a cinch... We FINALLY win a game we should have lost... 2 outs and no one on in the 9th and 5 STRAIGHT SINGLES, the last one by (who else) Magglio Ordonez overcomes a 4-1 deficit to win 5-4!!! Kenny Rogers pitched pretty well once again... Zumaya has to come out because of all things- a torn fingernail... Pudge Rodriguez leaves the game because of dizziness. The only good thing on the injury front is that Bonderman apparently won't need surgery, just rest. Big day-night doubleheader with Texas today... we need to sweep it and keep some pressure on Cleveland and NY. Looks like Bonderman may be through for the year... abysmal performance yesterday as he couldn't even get out of the 2nd inning... claims elbow pain, so it looks like he'll get shut down- probably a wise decision, but the timing couldn't be worse. Chance of winning division = 25% Chance of winning wild-card = 35% September 5- vs Chicago White Sox- Another big win... how do you come back against someone who has owned you like Bobby Jenks? Polanco once again shows why he's one of the very best players in baseball with his great clutch hitting to win this one. Seatttle is on tap- let's get them out of the way and focus on the Yanks and the Indians. September 4- vs Chicago White Sox- An encouraging victory because of the excellent performance of Kenny Rogers. Even though we really didn't gain any ground on Cleveland or New York, it sure was good to see the team come through with a big win- heck, they're all big now! September 3- vs Chicago White Sox- Another loss where nothing really jived... when we hit, we don't pitch and vice-versa... down to the Tribe by 7- that looks like it's over... down in the wild card by 3½, but it might as well be 10 considering the way we're playing. Time is running out... September 2- at Oakland- Another chance to win a series- another rubber match GIVEN away. How can you blow a 7-0 lead, especially with a bullpen that has been lights-out lately? We're now 6 behind the Tribe and a couple behind the wild card, but I somehow don't think we're toast yet. Rogers is back tomorrow and he needs to lead this team back. I'm betting we still make a good run at it! August 30- at Kansas City- We take a lousy 1 out of 3 from the Royals???? A nice win yesterday, but Cleveland also wins- still 4½ back, but with a full month to play. Another swing out west- I think the schedule maker is cheesed at us for giving out the big bucks to the draftees- word is that MLB is unhappy with the Tigers. August 29- at Kansas City- Aren't these the teams we're supposed to beat up on? Take 3 of 4 from New York and then lose the first 2 to KC? Something's wrong with the psyche of this team... August 28- at Kansas City- 16 hits, 2 runs. We deserve to lose August 27- vs New York Yankees- A lot of straaannnge things- Sean Casey triples! Tigers score 16 runs... Tigers take a series over a wild card competitor... a great game for Detroit. Maybe we're getting on a roll! On to Kansas City- let's not see a letdown as it looks like Cleveland is also playing better. Down 2½ with a month to go... August 26- vs New York Yankees- We've taken 2 of 3 from the Yanks- Sunday was a great game with big contributions from many guys, but the bummer was the injury to Juurgens... We need to win tonight and win series for a change- it's been a while! August 23- vs Cleveland- ... and just the opposite- Nate Robertson pitches a gem, but we can't score even 1 run in 9 innings and lose in 10... Sheffield is hurt- again- and things don't look great right now with the Yankees paying a visit. August 22- vs Cleveland- This team drives me nuts- it's almost impossible for them to build on momentum and string two or more good games together... after Tuesday's electric performance, they lay an egg and Verlander can't even get through 5 innings. August 21- vs Cleveland- Just like last year... Rookie Jair Juurjens goes into the 7th and allows the only hit of the night- a homer- the bullpen is perfect and our only two hits of the night, back-to-back homers by Maggs and Guillen ice a 2-1 victory. This game took less than 2 hours and jumped our boys back to within ½ game of the top! A perfect way to start a big series against the Tribe. It was just electric- the ovation for Juurjens combined with the excitement of the return of Zumaya, taking over in the 7th... the place was up for grabs and Joel did not disappoint them. August 19- at New York Yankees- A tough series- we couldn't build on the opening victory and ended up losing 3 of 4. Is Cameron Maybin ready for the big leagues? His bat showed some real promise with a big home run on saturday, but he's looking a little shakey in the field! The announcers had mentioned how Leyland would like to see him hit a triple... I saw it twice last year at West Michigan- pretty impressive how he cranks it around those bases. He's the real thing! August 16- at New York Yankees- A big win with the deck seemingly stacked against us... guys sick with the flu all week, going into a very hostile setting against a hot team (except for their Baltimore series). A big 1st inning featuring Carlos Guillen's grannie got us off on the right foot! Let's keep it going all weekend!! August 15- vs. Cleveland- Once again, we can't win a series... rookie Jair Jurrjens actually pitched quite well- into the 7th inning, but Indian hurler Fausto Carmona was too tough for our boys. We lose 5-2 and go back into a flatfooted tie with the Tribe. August 14- vs. Cleveland- Just an amazing game!!! The biggest play of the year in the biggest game of the year was made by Curtis Granderson on a great diving/sliding/running/falling/shoestring catch of a two out liner which would have put the Tribe ahead. That set up the heroics of Maggs, again- his 3 run homer (after Sheff's RBI single gave the Tigers a comfortable 6-2 lead. Almost lost in all the dramatics was a very good outing by Bonderman. After his normal 1st inning troubles (2 runs), he blanked the Indians the rest of the way. Back alone in 1st place for first time since August 1!!! August 13- vs. Oakland- The homestand wasn't exactly a smashing success with a record of 4-7... another loss last night due mainly to starting pitching. The good news? Placido Polanco set the record for consecutive errorless games at 2nd base- and he didn't get a ton of help from a homer official scorer the way a certain ex-cub did! August 12- vs. Oakland- This weekend started out horribly... coming back big on friday night to take the lead and then playing the worst baseball of the season. It seemed like doomsday... BUT- a nice recovery- a good win on Saturday night and Maggs two homers in one inning- only the 2nd time a Tiger has ever done this- the only other one? .... Al Kaline! August 10- vs. Tampa Bay- We will focus only on the positive today, class: Attendance exceeded two million yesterday with a crowd of 38,789 pushing the season's total to 2,011,574. That's the 10th time Detroit has done it and the first time we've ever done it 3 years in a row. Doin' the math... to hit the truly magical 3 million goal, we must average 38,016 for the next 26 games. Could be tough with school starting and the team playing miserably... they need to keep a buzz going by playing well. August 9- vs. Tampa Bay- Placido Polanco strikes out twice??? That about sez it all as we lose 7-1 to the lowly Rays... but- can take 3 of 4 with a victory this afternoon. Trivia question answer- Who caught Hammerin' Hank Aaron's 715th home run? Tom House in the Atlanta bullpen. I asked him about it a few years ago. He told me that as a rookie, he was last in the bullpen pecking order about where he could stand... the vets went more down the line, figuring he'd pull it, so he ended up in more left-center. Pure luck!! August 8- vs. Tampa Bay- This game looked easy until Grilli decided to almost hand it back to the Rays... a nice 3 run rally which answered Tampa Bay's grannie gave Detroit the win, but Nate Robertson got nothing for a very good outing. We have to keep beating these bad teams! I see Barry Bonds broke the record last night- hard to get excited about that. I remember when Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth's mark. We looked at that differently- The Hammer was someone who we all admired and respected, not only for his ability, but for the way he conducted himself... always with class. Barry could take a few lessons. Trivia question- Who caught Hammerin' Hank Aaron's 715th home run? August 7- vs. Tampa Bay- Looked like another sleepwalk until the 7th inning... trailing to a bad team, no timely hits, but Sean Casey's homer jump-started the offense and Carlos Guillen's single/double/triple proved to be just what we needed as the Cats scored 4 runs and rode good performances from the bullpen (Rodney!) to a much-needed win! August 6- vs. Chicago- Just a lethargic dispirited series... the injuries are piling up- Sheffield, Rogers, Miller- and it seems to have taken the life out of the team. Strugglin' Chicago came in, primed for the taking and instead swept us. Someone's got to get hot and turn this around- someone like Bonderman, Verlander and the rest of the pitching staff. August 1- at Oakland- The final game of the road trip is almost predictable... another sub-par offensive game, scoring only 2 runs. On the bright side, Nate Robertson pitched well for the first time in memory, suffering through only 1 bad inning. Finally a day off, and then back home for the White Sox and Devil Rays... a good time to make up some ground against two strugglin' teams. July 31- at Oakland- I hate these West Coast games- they start so late I can't stay up for them. Reminds me of an exchange with my late wise-guy dad in the 1980s: Dad: "Hey, I figured out why the Mariners don't draw." Me: "Well the Dodgers start late and they draw really well." July 30- at Oakland- Sometimes you get just what you need from the most unexpected people... rookie Jordan Tata, starting in place of Kenny Rogers pitched 7 strong innings to lead the Tigers to a big win over Oakland... Polanco kept his lifetime average against the Athletics at an even .500 with a couple of hits... maybe we can turn this thing around and get well at home this weekend! July 29- at Los Angeles- Just a total bummer this weekend in LA... the pitching completely fell apart, Rogers goes back on the DL, Robertson was totally ineffective, again and even Bonderman had a terrible outing. The bullpen stunk in the one game we were even competitive in. We gotta fix this pitching. What was the strong point of this team is beginning to look like its' Achillies Heel. July 26- at Chicago- Just a stupid loss- once again the bullpen fails us and in an ugly way. Leyland was most angry about the inability of a couple of guys to throw strikes, setting up the tying run... not to mention the pitcher error on the bunt which scored the winning run. Sound familiar? July 25- at Chicago- An ugly win, but a much-needed one. What's with this Rayburn? 7 RBI and 2 homers... I think he deserves the lineup card for the game! They tell me the last Tiger to get 7 in a game was Tony Pena... now that's a name from the dark ages, but we're glad to see he's doing well these days with Tampa Bay. July 24- at Chicago- Another listless effort in game 1 brought another listless loss... geez, these guys look tired all of a sudden. Well that was the good part- Squandering a 7-1 lead, the Tigers blew the 2nd game 8-7, but were able to keep a 1½ game lead as Cleveland lost to the Bosox. Two more games in Chicago... the Sox looked dead much of the season. Why do they pick now to come to life? And another question... Does anyone else think Zach Miner looks like Woodie Fryman? July 23- at Chicago- A sloppy 9-6 win over an unraveling White Sox team... Granderson almost hits for the cycle. Today is a Day-Night doubleheader on the South Side... those originated in Boston in the late 60s when they were selling out their little park almost every game... they knew they could maximize their gate with 2 admissions. Now, it's almost necessary- with many teams packing the ballpark every night, there really isn't availability for people wanting to redeem their rain checks. July 22- vs. Kansas City- Geez... Follow up a sweep of the Twins with a lackluster weekend against the sub-par Royals. Sounded pretty lifeless out there today, letting KC add a run here and there and the game just kind of trickled away. Worse yet, the Tribe wins so the lead is down to 1. Most good teams have their bad spells- in '84 we struggled in early August... in '68 we struggled during the Dick McAuliffe suspension in New York. We'll be back. July 19- at Minnesota- SWEEP SWEEP SWEEP!! It ain't very often that anyone goes into the Metrodome and comes out unbeaten, but we did it for the first time in 8 years! Bonderman keeps us in the game and Todd Jones picks up his 3rd save in the 3 games there! Attendance record will be broken... they've already sold 2,712,393 tickets, so if another ducat is not sold, they've beaten the 1984 mark of 2,704,794. Lets get to 3 MILLIION!! See our TICKETS page to do your part! July 18- at Minnesota- Big pitching performance by Andrew Miller, great defense on Marcus Thames's tying-run saving catch and clutch hitting by Maggs brought home a 3-2 victory against one of baseball's toughest pitchers in one of baseball's toughest places to win! July 17- at Minnesota- A big-time pitching performance by Nate Robertson... he goes 7 innings, giving up only 3 hits and no runs. Bullpen is perfect in the last 2 and we eke out a 1-0 win at the Metrodome! Tigers now have the BEST RECORD IN BASEBALL, a few pct points above the Bosox. After 91 games we're 55-36. In '06 and '84 we were 62-29 and in '68 we were 58-33 July 16- at Seattle- Sheffield steals home, but CASEY steals 2nd... reminds me of when Rusty Staub would get one of his very very very rare swipes. Verlander doesn't have his best stuff, but bats come alive to get the split in a strange series in the Great Northwest. July 14- at Seattle- I'm up at Mt. Pleasant for my son's travel team tournament, but saw Sheffield's granny at BW3! Tigers note: We played a team today coached by Al Kaline's son. Six's grandson is their 2nd baseman... I understand he was drafted by Detroit this year. July 13- at Seattle- This was a tough tough 3-2 loss and it was largely because of bad calls by the umpiring crew. Interference on Pudge's throw to second led to his ejection, but the capper was the missed call on the Guillen tag which should have prevented a run from scoring. I can't remember a worse call than that- all of Seattle, Bellingham and Vancouver could see it... why couldn't the ump? July 12- All Star Break- This schedule is ridiculous... 2 west coast swings in 2 weeks. Starting at Seattle today, then back to Minnesota, then back home for a whopping 3 game homestand (THANKS MLB). Right back on the road to Chicago and the west coast again. No matter how well we're playing now, it'll be a tough month. Has any team ever made 2 coast jaunts like this? I can't remember it. July 11- All Star Break- American League wins the midsummer classic... again!... I remember growing up in the '60s and '70s when the NL dominated each year. It seemed like Pete Rose almost willed their victories in some of those games... how I hated it!!! Good to see the AL pulling even as the all-time series now stands at 40-36 in favor of the Nationals... and another potential World Series home field advantage for the Bengals. A ton of Tigers in this game... sure beats the days of only one rep like Damion Easley or Dmitri Young. July 10- All Star Break- We've won 5 in a row and have the second best record in the majors (52-34)... a mere ½ game behind the Red Sox who we just swept! Last year we were at 58-28, but I'm sure we'll finish stronger this time... in dismal '03, we were a robust 21-65 - 31 games behind this year's pace... and on ESPN, "The Bronx is Burning" - imagine that... "The WorldWide Leader" devoting an entire program to an east coast baseball team. Return to HOME!
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