Brett Favre beats NFL teams and the MLB

Quick, what is America’s past time?

Did you guess baseball? You are wrong my friend. Very, very wrong. It’s obviously football and if you don’t agree Roger Goodell might have you wiped off the face of the earth with the death ray beam housed inside the new Cowboys Stadium.

Why else could the NFL refuse to swap a regular season game in week three with a potential one-game playoff in baseball?

Storylines. Tried and true (read: boring) storylines. From Awful Announcing, via CBS Sports, the NFL has politely declined even thinking about accommodating its schedule for a possible one-game playoff.

If the Tigers and Twins finish the season tied, a one-game playoff is scheduled for Monday, October 5. If Minnesota wins just one more game against Detroit, then the playoff is supposed to take place at the Metrodome.

But the Vikings have a home Monday Night game scheduled against the Packers that evening and the NFL can’t resist having Brett Favre play against his old team on national television. Never mind that it would be so much cooler if the first meeting was in Green Bay rather than Minnesota. The NFL gets what the NFL wants.

Unfortunately most of America has forgotten about baseball and I’m pretty sure everyone forgot about the American League Central in July.

RIP Tiger Stadium: 1912-2009

Tiger Stadium, which stood watch at the corner of Michigan and Trumbull for nearly a century, will most likely be laid to rest today or tomorrow.

All that remains is a portion of the lower deck wall at the corner of Cochrane and Michigan.

The official age of death will be 97.

The corner of Michigan and Trumbull, known as Bennett Park, became the Tigers’ first home on April 28, 1896 — a 17-2 win over the Columbus Senators.

On September 24, 1896, Bennett Park became the site of Detroit’s first night baseball game when the team’s owner George Arthur Vanderbeck had workers string up lights above the stadium.

Bennett Park officially became a Major League park in 1901 and in 1907 and 1908 the field famously became the location where the Cubs clinched their last two World Series. The Tigers played their final season at Bennett Park in 1911.

Following that season the Tigers had acquired the rest of the block, demolished the “wildcat” bleachers beyond the left field fence, and reoriented the field by 90 degrees with the new home plate standing in the old left field corner.

On April 20, 1912, Navin Field was born and the orientation of the field and stadium would remain the same throughout the rest of the 20th century.

In 1935 the new owner, Walter Briggs, oversaw the expansion of Navin Field, increasing the seating capacity from 23,000 to 36,000. During that same year the Tigers won their first World Series, defeating the Chicago Cubs 4-2 and clinching the title in font of a capacity crowd at Navin Field.

Three years later, in 1938, the left field was double-decked to increase the capacity to 53,000 and the stadium was renamed Briggs Stadium. This was also the year the Detroit Lions began playing its games on the same grounds as the Tigers. Football was played at Michigan and Trumbull until 1974.

Briggs Stadium saw its second World Series championship in 1940 when the Tigers lost to the Cincinnati Reds in seven games and its first All Star Game in 1941. The series came back in 1945. The stadium hosted games 1-3 and Detroit went 1-2. But the Tigers became a part of Cubs lore once again when it went 3-1 the rest of the series and clinched the title in the last World Series game ever to be played in Wrigley Field.

The All Star Game came back to Detroit in 1951 and the National League won 8-3.

In 1961 the Tigers’ new owner John Fetzer renamed the stadium for the final time, giving it its most famous moniker, Tiger Stadium. That year was also one of the few times a team has won over 100 games without making the postseason. The Tigers, with 101 wins, finished eight games behind the Yankees.

The name Tiger Stadium wouldn’t see its first World Series until 1968 when Detroit battled the heavily favored St. Louis Cardinals. Detroit hosted games 3-5. For the first two games of the home stand Detroit’s fortunes were grim as the Tigers lost by a combined score of 17-4 and trailed 3-1 in the series.

But it was during that game five in Detroit that the momentum changed with the help of Willie Horton and Bill Freehan. The Cardinals had raced to a 3-0 lead and in the fifth inning Lou Brock doubled and St. Louis threatened to break the game open. But following a single to Horton in left, Brock tried to score from second and was thrown out at the plate — thanks to a great block by Freehan — ending the rally and possibly saving the series. Detroit eventually won the game and the series for its third world championship.

By the 1970s Tiger Stadium was showing its age and the team and city decided to give the park a face lift. But before the park was changed, Detroit hosted its final All Star Game at Tiger Stadium in 1971. It was during this game that Reggie Jackson famously hit a home run off the light towers, estimated to be 520 feet from home plate. It was also Roberto Clemente’s final appearance in an All Star Game.

The Tigers won the American League East pennant in 1972 but the quality of play declined after that. In 1977 the old green wooden chairs were replaced by plastic blue and orange ones and the stadium itself was repainted blue to match the seats.

The World Series came back to Detroit during that season as the Tigers squared off against the Padres. Detroit clinched the series in Game 5, at Tiger Stadium. Kirk Gibson provided the series’ exclamation point with a three-run homerun in the eighth.

The Tigers came close to another World Series in 1987 but fell short in the American League Championship series against the Minnesota Twins. On October 12, 1987, Detroit lost to the Twins 9-5 in what was Tiger Stadium’s final postseason game.

In 1992 new owner, Mike Illitch made more improvements to the stadium by adding the Tiger Den — a section between first and third on the lower level with padded seats — and Tiger Plaza — an outdoor concession area built in the old players’ parking lot.

Unfortunately the improvements were only cosmetic as the team itself played poorly for the rest of Tiger Stadium’s lifetime.

The final game at Tiger Stadium was played September 27, 1999. The Tigers defeated the Royals 8-2 and Robert Fick notched Tiger Stadium’s final homerun, hit and RBI with his eighth-inning grand slam off the right field roof. The ball was retrieved by Tiger personnel but its whereabouts are unknown.

As are the whereabouts of Robert Fick.

In 2000, Tiger Stadium was the filming location for the HBO move *61 and played itself and Yankee Stadium for the movie. One year later, on July 24, 2001, the stadium hosted a Great Lakes Summer Collegiate Game between the Motor City Marauders and the Lake Erie Monarchs. It was the final time a baseball game of any kind was played at the corner.

The Tigers sponsored a fantasy camp in July 2002 in what was the final baseball-related public event held in the stadium.

On February 4 and 5, 2006, Tiger Stadium hosted Anheuser-Busch's Bud Bowl 2006 as a part of the festivities for Super Bowl XL. It was the final time a public event of any kind was held in the stadium.

Since then the stadium has been standing dormant at the corner of Michigan and Trumbull, slowly but surely rotting and crumbling.

Its final fate was decided long ago but today the remaining physical vestiges of the stadium will be torn down. Rather than a rotting ball park, the corner of Michigan and Trumbull will now just be a large empty lot.

Both scenarios are pretty depressing for Metro Detroiters.

Throughout the entire debate over whether or not to keep the stadium I always had a soft spot for Tiger Stadium and those who wanted to preserve it. I’m a traditionalist and love old historical buildings.

I’ve been to Wrigley Field and Fenway Park and fell in love with the history of both. My first Major League baseball game, the only time my dad caught a foul ball and the only time I’ve been on a jumbo screen are among the many memories I associate with Tiger Stadium. I would’ve loved to see it have the same fortune as Fenway or Wrigley but, unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.

As much as I wanted to see the park standing, I couldn’t defend allowing it to rot the way it.

So, for the final time, I want to say goodbye Tiger Stadium.

Goodbye.



This post also appears at The Sports Bank.

All is right with the world (for now) ... Tigers 6, Twins 2

The Tigers avoided an embarrassing sweep in Minnesota and who, of all people, helped save the bleeding?

Nate Robertson.

Yes, that Nate Robertson, the one who has been battling against injuries and being a good pitcher most of the year. He threw five strong innings, allowed just two runs and struck out six batters in the Tigers’ 6-2 win Sunday afternoon.

He also stranded six runners, so his performance wasn’t easy on the heart, but he gave Detroit a mini-jumpstart, something the team needed desperately.

If you read my last post I made things seem really dire and it felt like it. But the Twins gained just one game on Detroit over the weekend which doesn’t sound as bad as saying “they lost two out of three games.” A three-game lead still isn’t comfortable, but it sounds a lot better than two games.

The Tigers still have to start hitting the ball better as they stare down their final two road series of the season but at least they have a good taste in their mouth going into Cleveland. And it helps to have a day off today this late in the year.

Placido Polanco is doing his part, hitting .371 during in September and Miguel Cabrera has been a picture of consistency all year. It’s time other players start showing some life right about now.

All Detroit needs is for a different guy to step up on each night. The Tigers don’t need Curtis Granderson so go on a tear or Carlos Guillen and Brandon Inge to start hitting better. But if any three of them can step up and have a big night at least once or twice over the last two weeks of the season, the Tigers will seal the deal on this pennant.

This is it folks. This is the point of the year where we all take a deep breathe and plunge into the deep abyss that is the end of the regular season.

Thirteen games.

Thirteen games until triumphant victory or soul-crushing defeat.

This post can also be viewed at the blog The Sports Bank.

Tigers chipping away at hope one terrible loss at a time.

Words can’t describe how unbelievably perturbed I am with the Tigers’ latest “effort” during the first two games of a pivotal series against the Twins.

Where is the pride? Where is the heart? Where is the pitching?

No one would confuse the Tigers pitchers with other fine staffs in St Louis, New York or San Francisco. But at least the pitchers kept Detroit in the game on most nights. I’ve known all year the offense had lost a lot of its punch, so I clung to the hope that the pitchers could hold together — even if it had to be with duck tape and gum — long enough to get into the playoffs.

It doesn’t matter to me that the potential opponent is the Yankees. Anything is possible in the postseason. But nothing is possible when you can’t even freaking get into the postseason.

Saturday’s game really put me over the edge. Justin Verlander keeps his team in the game all afternoon and then loses his focus for one inning and it all unravels. Maybe Jim Leyland didn’t have confidence in his bull pen and Verlander got tired. Maybe Verlander really did feel good and the Twins are just that superior.

I don’t care. The Tigers had their best pitcher on the mound, and a slim three-game lead against their opponent, and they still couldn’t win. Hey, it’s not like the pennant is on the line or anything.

Now Detroit leads the division by just two games and I wouldn’t be surprised if the lead falls to one game when the sun sets on the weekend.

Am I giving up? Of course not. But even with a two-game lead it feels like the Tigers are fighting a losing battle like General Custar. My dreams are haunted by a whole bunch of Minnesota Twins raining down on my team with their fundamentally sound baseball, clutch hitting and late-season comeback experience.

I hate you Minnesota. I hope I never have to hear your name again once the postseason begins.

For now I’m going to get some rest, take a breather and refill my optimism cup for Sunday’s game. The Tigers have a division to win. … I hope.

This post can also be viewed at The Sports Bank.

Lord help us ... Royals 9, Tigers 2

The last time I posted I posed the question: Is it time to panic?

In short: Yes.

The pitching hasn’t improved much in the last six days and the hitting has been as mediocre now as it has been all season.

In their last ten games, against teams that have nothing to play for in terms of a pennant race, the Tigers are 3-7. That doesn’t cut it when you’re in a pennant race, albeit a weak one in the American League Central.

This shouldn’t come as a huge surprise. In 2006 Detroit finished the second-half of the year with a losing record and backed its way into the playoffs through the wild card. And it was the Royals that ultimately screwed Detroit over.

Three years later the Tigers don’t have the luxury of the wild card yet they’re still playing like crap at the end of the year.

I like to be an optimist but with just a four game lead over Minnesota and seven more games against the Twins, Detroit has plenty of chances to screw this up in the last few weeks of the season.

It makes it worse that the Tigers still have to play Cleveland and Chicago, two teams that also have nothing to play for. As evidenced by the 1-5 performance against the Royals, Detroit is in deep trouble.

Put him in coach!

Since TV stations made the dubious decision to not film piss drunk fans interrupting sporting events, the act of running onto a field has become the highest level of jackassery.

Unless you’re six.

Yes, last night, during the Tigers-Blue Jays game, a six-year old child (not pictured above) decided he’d have enough of the Tigers crappy pitching. So he ran out to the mound and took the rock himself.

I’m guessing if Jim Leyland had left him up there the kid wouldn’t have done half as bad as Nate Robertson.

Actually, according to a cameraman sitting near the Blue Jays dugout, the kid’s uncle said the youngster “had misunderstood his suggestion to go down to the railing and try to get a ball from the Toronto players.”

That child better work on his communication skills now. I could see him thirteen years from now thinking that grabbing a woman's breast is the appropriate response to his uncle's question, “Whose playing second base?”

Is it time to panic? Blue Jays 6, Tigers 4

OK, OK. It’s not time to panic, right?

Four losses in a row in the last month of the season isn’t that bad, right?

Well, fortunately for the Tigers they’re in the worst division in baseball: the only place where your magic number decreases after four straight losses.

The pitching let down the team again in a 6-4 loss to the Blue Jays and you have to wonder why Detroit is playing so poorly against a couple of teams who haven’t been in contention for much of anything since the first two months of the season.

If the last four games (really ten games since we saw six straight wins followed by four straight losses) have taught us anything it’s just how delicate Detroit’s chances of a deep postseason run are.

The hitting just isn’t that good and that’s something we’ve known all year. It’s the pitching that fans should be worried about. The current American League average team ERA is 4.46. From April to July the Tigers’ pitching staff compiled a respectable 4.02.

But during the last two months of the season the ERA has ballooned to 4.72. The bullpen’s recent struggles have contributed to that and it doesn’t surprise me much since it’s a pen that’s held together with duck tape and bubblegum. What is concerning is Edwin Jackson’s last two months.

In Jackson’s last seven starts his ERA is 4.57. He’s pitched more than six innings in just four of those games and opponents are hitting .292 against him. He’s still 5-2 over that time, and I can’t ignore that. But the stats show that he’s not as sharp as he was throughout most of the year.

August and September are supposed to belong to the pitchers. It’s the end of the year, arms are aching more and bats are feeling just a little bit heavier. Pitchers also have hundreds of at bats from the year to scout before every game.

The Tigers certainly aren’t the only team whose pitchers have done worse over the last two months of the season but during this pennant race and (one hopes) subsequent post season, Detroit can afford to have its pitching staff fail to show up.