caulfield12

Dennis Rodman's father, with something like 22 different kids from 18 mothers. Albeit, he was never in the NBA...still hilarious.

Chen is decent. Hochevar is, at best, erratic. Mendoza, not so good. They would be better off with Crow back in the rotation, IMO. They do have a ton of talent in the bullpen with Holland, Herrera, Collins, Crow, etc.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- In a game in Cleveland in 1969, the Angels produced one hit. But they somehow scored three runs and won. Angels reliever Eddie Fisher offered this analysis: "We bunched our hit." The Tigers suffered the reverse fate on Thursday night. They had 12 hits but couldn't bunch enough of them into a decisive rally. They lost to the Royals, 2-1, to remain three games behind the White Sox going into this weekend's series between the teams. According to Baseball-Reference.com, the Tigers haven't had a loss like this since 1958: a one-run defeat in which they had at least 12 hits but didn't score more than one run. In this low-scoring loss and in Wednesday night's 1-0 defeat, the Tigers -- instead of hitting the ball in the gap -- hit it where the Royals centerfielder could make a diving catch in the ninth. After Alex Avila drew a leadoff walk in the ninth Thursday, Austin Jackson smoked a liner to center. Lorenzo Cain dove for it. If it had gone by him, it probably would have gone to the wall. "It would have been an inside-the-park homer," Avila said. A go-ahead inside-the-park homer. But Cain made a sliding, diving catch, just as Jarrod Dyson did in center in the ninth the night before on Miguel Cabrera. Rookie right-hander Kelvin Herrera (pitching the ninth as closer Greg Holland got a night of rest) then allowed a single to Andy Dirks that sent Avila to second. Cabrera ended the game by hitting into a first-pitch double play even though pivot man Alcides Escobar had to leap over the sliding Dirks before he threw to first to nip Cabrera. (Recall that Cabrera has been slowed lately by a sore right ankle.) "I knew if I threw the ball when I jumped, I might make a bad throw," Escobar told the Kansas City Star. "I knew Miguel Cabrera was running, so I wanted to make sure to make a good throw. But that was no easy play." He amazed his teammates. Third baseman Mike Moustakas said when he saw Escobar leap, he figured the Royals would have to get out Prince Fielder, the on-deck hitter. And first baseman Eric Hosmer said, "There's a name for that play, but I don't know what to call it."

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- In mid-April in Chicago, Tigers manager Jim Leyland assailed the forecasters who said the White Sox would finish near the bottom of the American League Central. "People who made those picks, they know nothing about baseball," Leyland said. "Trust me. If they think the Chicago White Sox are not going to be in the thick of this, they're crazy. They don't know anything about baseball, people who make picks like that ... they know nothing about baseball. Nothing!" Even if Leyland ultimately takes nothing else satisfying out of this often-confounding Tigers season, at least he can know that he was right about the White Sox. For most of the summer, they have led the American League Central. With the Tigers' loss Thursday against the Royals, Chicago brings a three-game lead on the second-place Tigers into Comerica Park tonight for the opening game of a three-game series. The Tigers will have to sweep this weekend to prevent Chicago from leaving town in sole possession of first place. While some forecasters downplayed the White Sox, almost everyone picked the Tigers to win the division. They won it last year and finished 28 games above .500. This year, the Tigers' ceiling has been about 10 games above .500. But Leyland refuses to characterize his team as one that hasn't lived up to expectations of dominance. "The one thing I tell them in spring training -- and so far they've done that -- is, 'Let's get to September and be playing for something,' " Leyland said this week. "It looks like we are." As September arrives Saturday, the Tigers will be playing for the AL Central title, and, as a backup, one of the two wild-card spots. Under the playoff expansion instituted this season, the two wild-card winners will face each other in a play-in game to launch the postseason. The last time the Tigers and White Sox met, the Tigers swept a three-game series in mid-July at Comerica Park to take over first place from Chicago. A look at those three games illuminates a few of the reasons the Tigers haven't been able to catch the White Sox in recent weeks: • In the first game, Justin Verlander received run support and pitched dominantly. That combination has seldom surfaced since for Verlander. • In the second game, Brennan Boesch hit a three-run homer off left-hander Chris Sale. Boesch no longer plays against left-handers and only sometimes against right-handers. • In the finale, Boesch hit another homer. Entering Thursday, that was his most recent homer. He had gone 80 at-bats without one, and he had become a part-time starter against right-handed pitching. Jacob Turner was the winning pitcher in the finale of that sweep of the Sox -- his first win. The next day, the Tigers traded him and two minor leaguers to Miami for second baseman Omar Infante and pitcher Anibal Sanchez. While Infante and Sanchez have done respectably since they joined the Tigers, they weren't the final pieces of a steamroller. The Tigers, it turned out, didn't just need a few better players. They need to play better. Three nights after the Infante-Sanchez trade, Verlander let a late-inning lead disappear in Cleveland, and the White Sox regained first place. They have been there since. "Since 2006 when I got here, this has been one of the best teams in the league every year," Leyland said in April about the White Sox. "And they will be right there." freep.com/sports

Disappeared? Hate to make the PEDs accusation with Infante, though, anything is possible. Nagging injuries? Peaked and never continued his upward progression.

Dadgummit.

101 MPH on the gun.

One out, Avila on 1st.

And the DREADED lead-off walk. Can just imagine Harrelson announcing this one now.

What happened? Wild pitch? Why was Butler trying to score there? How can you have 1st and 3rd, no outs, and not score the 3rd run there?

Somehow this week is more fun rooting against the Tigers than rooting FOR the White Sox. Maybe because Monday sucked, and the White Sox didn't show up to play Tuesday and seemed like they were more concerned with getting to the airport on time to get out of town than winning the game Thursday... To think we went 1-3 this week and are going to gain 1/2 game on the Tigers...can't believe it. And obviously this game is FAR from over.

Tigers were set up to tie the game and have blown two chances....the dreaded Peralta now up to bat. Leadoff double goes for naught. Nine more outs for the Royals to get.

Now, 9 times out of 10 when you have bases loaded, no outs and either score 0 or 1 runs, you will go on and lose that game... We'll see if that occurs here. Tigers escaped a major bullet there.

Thanks for that Mr. Cain. I would love to pull out the July pitching market discussion thread for a slew of derogatory/dismissive comments directed at Guthrie. He's actually been much better than Zack Greinke, for example.

Bases loaded, no outs. Need AT LEAST two runs here. TB losing 2-0 to the Blue Jays as well. Every little bit helps.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 30, 2012 -> 03:48 PM) sweep = miracle two = it's all good one = could be much worse swept = partial meltdown Partial only because of the fact we were already swept there once, so it wouldn't be AS shocking, although we do have our 3 best pitchers slated to go. And we have the four game home series still on the calendar. We lose those first two though, ESPN Sunday Night, all the pressure on Sale going against Verlander...you'll already have that partial meltdown, especially if the Tigers would be going back into first place again by one game. Then you have the recent play of Balt, Oakland and the Rays, and the Angels are going to make one more run at it.

Usually...at least in the past, I thought every team in MLB was allotted 6 spots?

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Aug 30, 2012 -> 03:22 PM) Its been noted that the one non-pitching position where the Sox seem to have some decent talent depth, is in the outfield. So, thread idea... list your, say, top 10 outfielders in the Sox system. We can do this for pitchers too, or other positions, later (though at some positions there aren't even 10 guys, more like 5, worth mentioning). With his time in service, let's say Jordan Danks is ineligible. Same with Dan Johnson. So to start, here are my top 10 outfielders, just for fun... 1. Courtney Hawkins 2. Trayce Thompson 3. Jared Mitchell 4. Keenyn Walker 5. Brady Shoemaker 6. Brandon Short 7. Mark Haddow 8. Michael Earley 9. Jose Martinez 10. Kale Kiser How about yours? No KWJR?

The biggest flaw in AJ's game this year has been blocking pitches, IMO, and his pitch calling in recent months to the relievers. He doesn't move his body and tends to stab at the ball instead of blocking it. We've had numerous wild pitches that shouldn't have been...advancing runners into scoring position. And our success throwing out opposing baserunners (both Flowers and AJ) has gone down from the first half of the season. Part of it's being tired and worn down, the other part of it is bad habits which have formed in his defensive approach.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 30, 2012 -> 01:10 PM) You have to wonder if his slump at the plate is causing him to lose his focus behind the plate. He's playing just awful baseball of late. Hope it doesn't come out later that he was concerned about his future and next contract negotiation looming in the offseason...as the reason why he's struggling now so much late in the season. Would rather believe it's because Ventura pushed him too hard in the first 3-4 months and didn't give him enough time off.

Ramirez just passed Konerko in RBI's. Weird.

Well, this one is definitely not looking positive...Axelrod, of all our pitchers, really bailed us out yesterday.

What's the latest YOUK update? The ubiquitous "day to day"? Aren't we all, as Farmio always says.

Feels almost exactly like a repeat of the Sale start. Two guys pitching on fumes that have never been extended so long in their careers. They won't make excuses, but it has to be at least SOMETHING of a factor.

Quintana's having way too many games now where he gives up crooked numbers early. Usually, he's been able to recover and gut it out for 3-4 more innings, but we can't afford to be down so much early every time he goes out there...especially against the really good teams in baseball. 8-2 OAK over the Indians. Oakland is actually getting within shouting distance of the Rangers for 1st place in the AL West.