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I am really over worrying about “timing”. This case needs to proceed. The day of reckoning should no longer be postponed because of “timing” or “looks”. Justice postponed IS Justice denied.

The tv broadcast very recently had the stats grouped by the type of pitching strategy and distinguished between traditional start, opener game, and bullpen game. I think these distinctions have been clear from the beginning once Mize and Reese and got hurt and Jack was traded. I have not paid any attention to what Hinch specifically calls it, as it is irrelevant, and I can’t imagine that anyone in the league cares either. I do think it’s been interesting to follow lately. I always found it kind of silly that a team was expected to be so forthcoming about their strategy in advance when it comes to pitching, but not necessarily with the lineup. For a long time it didn’t make much of a difference because the traditional rotation made such news obvious. But there is really no reason you should ever make your opener/bullpen use known in advance. Folks can find out when the lineup is posted. And yes, I know that cynically we need to acknowledge that MLB requires advance notice of the lineup for use with their gambling partners. I know that bothers a lot of folks. I recall that over a decade ago Lee (I think) suggested a pitching scheme without the use of a traditional rotation, and instead a group of bulk reliever types, and that it would obviously require some team to try it first before it were widely adopted. I think we have seen over the past five years or so that many teams are willing to use a version of this in their willing adoption of openers and bulk relievers. I don’t have a problem with it. I’m still waiting for it to become commonplace for a team to announce a traditional starter and then pull him after a batter or two and insert a different guy. A team did that against the dodgers in the playoffs a few years ago, but everyone saw through it, including Dave Roberts, because the starter was going on short rest. I want to say it was Miami during the Covid year.

For people in my age group, which is early 70s, I can’t over emphasize how important it was for us to link a part of our own self image as children - with all the feckless innocence of children - to this team and to experience the ultimate payoff in so dramatic and satisfying manner when we were, by then, in a relative state of now waning innocence as teens. This was especially true after that first World Series game humiliation of 17 strikeouts at the hands of Gibson and being down three games to one and then roaring back to win it all. On rare occasions, out here in the diaspora, when by chance I wander across an another fan from my generation, we share the glow of that rising sun that linked our childhood to our young adulthood, and though complete strangers in everything else, we share something valuable that leaves us near speechless.

.500 on August 26th for the first time since 2016.

straight to mute whenever I hear JK's voice. Whether it's an interminable family interview or a waste of time parley segment, hate'em all.

I did the opposite when in Montreal last week. Would check my app at 5pm expecting a 5th inning score and be puzzled why the game hadn't started yet.

From Will Carrol's newsletter... " Javier Baez has an SI joint issue and his season is likely over. The sacroiliac joint is one of those important and nearly immobile intersections where we don’t really think of them as joints. Yes, it’s two bones connecting via ligament, but the placement, movement, and function are so important to almost everything, it has to be taken extremely seriously. Baez isn’t going to die, but the pain can be such that it might make him want to. This is similar, but not identical, to the issue Baez had earlier this year, which was focused on the lumbar spine. There’s some question about physical changes in that area, which could need surgical fixes. None of them are great for an athletic career, especially someone who relies so much on lateral and linear quickness. Is Baez’s career threatened by this? Yes, especially with three years left on his big deal and declining performance since coming to Detroit. We’ll have to see what the doctors decide is best for Baez and how the Tigers will address this in the off-season. Trey Sweeney will fill in for now and could be the longer-term solution with most of the Tigers top prospects in the low minors."

Don was a great friend to those who enjoyed TTM autographs. He had a great signature also.

Why did I think we were going to the west coast?? Ah well—you can join the legion of posters here who disregard everything I say! 💀

Hinch addressed this on camera and it was shown during the Sunday game. One of his points was that he can pick (assuming a good opener) the leadoff hitter that the bulk reliever will face. So, kind of what you you are alluding to with the "top of", the pitching braintrust can pick where the bulk pitcher goes in based on matchup and/or avoid a 3rd plate appearance vs a certain string of opposing batters.

I think the director of the commercial made a brilliant choice by having the cop character speak very quietly and in a calm and measured way, versus having him bark and rage at the dad and daughter characters, which would have made him come off almost like a cartoon southern sheriff. The cold, calculated way he detailed the charges for which he was arresting them was very chilling, like it was matter-of-fact business, and that, to me, feels even scarier.

Madden's Mama made that much less painful to watch

No leave Shuster in!

But the reason that Romney doesn't feel the conflict is that it's not Trump as president that bothers him. the Blue side wonders why Mitt can't cross the line when it looks like he wants to, but that is a misreading. Mitts is disgusted by Trump the man, not Trump the President. Its personal, not policy. So he wants to disassociate himself from the man, but not necessarily from a GOP Presidency that conducts itself like Trumps. He's not really the friend to the pro-democracy, expansion of rights, good government types they think he is.

At least we got a run. A single spark can start a prairie fire.

I think you are correct. To me it's a moral cop out. He finds Trump's election repugnant enough he won't vote for him, but he won't do anything to help stop it either (like a D endorsement). To me you are saying you don't really care if a bad thing happens as long as your fingerprints aren't on it directly. I don't see how that washes ethically. YMMV. That's exactly what Walz highlighted in his speech - that in a community you have a positive obligation to help, whether you view that as a moral imperative or just as an obligation of citizenship.

Yeah 'Hospital' is a very uneven market segment. Doctors, equipment manufacturers and the drug industry seem to be able to extract a lot of income. The hospitals themselves and all the support staff (nurses etc) not so much.

a good time (and snacks) was had by all.

From my parking spot by bookies. I see people walking in because I guess the lure of standing around drinking $12 beers is too much. 71 degrees out too.

This was the first year Skip has ever made the initial 53-man.

Mystery Men, the only Ben Stiller movie I've ever liked or even just not hated.

@IdahoBert has cracked the 70 reactions mark for the past week and is basically lapping the field!

I so, so, so wanted Cornejo to work out. I was rooting for him big time. I had been a Tigers fan a bit in the 80s, but sort of stopped following them in the 90s. I really got back into it around 2000. It took my young son to see the Tigers Caravan one summer and he had a little interaction with Cornejo so I instantly became a fan. I remember him being talked up so much as the next great pitcher for the Tigers.

Another theory too is that, because of COVID and because so many people were impacted / stuck inside during that period, raised the salience of politics a lot more in people's lives and drove insane turnout that is likely not to be replicated on either side in 2024. I would be shocked if either side turns out as much as they did in 2020, so setting aside persuasion (it does matter to a degree) and registering new voters, the ballgame comes down turning out / motivating as many 2020 voters as possible to get back out again in 2024. On that front, there's more work to be done, but I think that Harris is on the right track from what I can see

Speaking of enthusiasm and momentum . . .

I'm guessing Toney isn't a target lol

If they didn’t win those games at the end, they would have been higher in the order.

Lots of interesting names but we know the Lions value the fit into their culture even more than talent. It’s hard to predict who they may have their eye on without knowing anything about that side of the player.

There are lots of options now. At #29 in the waiver wire pecking order, they may need to swing a last minute trade though if they want their pick of the litter.

Could be Raymond's agent putting it out there, but that was tweeted by David Pagnotta who is notoriously unreliable especially when it comes to the Wings. He tweeted the same thing about Larkin during their negotiations. Could be something there but I figured I would add that caveat. I am anxious for Seider and Ray to get signed.

Good one, Ron! Now do J.D. Vance.

I seem to remember Tony LaRussa and Dave Duncan experimenting with such a setup. I found a story.. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-07-25-sp-16700-story.html Everything old...

I say we stop paying him to not play for us

Can we play the White Sox some more?

Wert's single drove in Kaline for the win that is considered the Tigers' pennant clincher in 1968 (in reality, the Tigers had officially clinched an hour earlier when Baltimore lost)

Seeing these early batting averages on his baseball card, I went to look up Don’s Reference page, which I never had before. I did not realize he was a 10-win player for his first five years with an OPS+ near 100, and that he was also capable of 12 to 14 bombs a year. I remember him only from the tail-end of his career and when it came to hitting, I always thought of his hitting as being indistinguishable from that of Ray Oyler.

.500 this late in August, I love it. And Madden's mom is hot? That's important.

in that era 3B was more a glove 1st position so Wert's occasional power was his plus attribute.

First step is beat the teams you should.

Wind had nothing for that moonshot

Meadows goes yard against a LHP. Beautiful.

Some of those Johnny Kane interviews in the stands are painful to watch.

Honestly, they’re one of the only City Connects that looks good….

hell, I start getting itchy for the games to start around 3:00 (now-ish my time), and I'm an hour west of you. I've really gotten to like having it wrapped up by around 6-6:30 PM so I can focus on other ways to waste time all evening.

When the Tigers are in San Diego on their off day and they’re walking past a strip club, I wonder if they’ll all stop and in synchronized unison do a wave and slap their asses like they’re all on second base. It would make a great TikTok video.

DPJ did not find himself in a crowded reveiver room, he was practically given the job when they (correctly) let reynolds walk. and he played half-hearted football. he deserved to be cut. he was probably the best pure athlete michigan has had at receiver in quite some time and he has been nothing but a disappointment in college and the pros. sayonara. someone might give him another chance because he is such a good athlete, but he's running out of time. hope he saved his money.

And Thursday off days. I don't like it, take Mondays off instead. 🤔

Tyler Holton needs to be a starting pitcher next year. It's not unheard of to transition a reliever to a starter (Michael Lorenzen did it at age 30, Holton will be 29 next year). Holton has started 5 games this year, but all of them have been "bullpen" days and he hasn't gone past the 3rd inning in any of them. No, he needs to be a full fledged starting pitcher that goes at least 5 innings. And he definitely has the numbers to do it. Last year, Holton pitched 85 1/3 innings. This is a lot for a primary reliver (only Jake Bird, 89 IP, and Jakub Junis, 86 IP had more innings pitched while starting less than 5 games). This year, he had 70 2/3 IP, again one of the highest innings total for a primary reliever. Let's look at the stats. Over the last 2 years in 156 innings, Holton has a 2.31 ERA, 3.42 FIP, 0.85 WHIP. 7.4 K/9, 1.8 BB/9 and 0.8 HR/9. As a southpaw, he is obviously better against lefties (.144/.189/.196 career batting against) but he can get righties out too (.215/.267/.360 career batting against). Finally, just look at his numbers on Baseball Savant: https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/tyler-holton-663947?stats=statcast-r-pitching-mlb Pitching Run Value: 93 percentile. Fastball Run Value: 97 percentile. xERA: 86 percentile. Average Exit Velocity: 93 percentile. Chase%: 98 percentile. He was great last year and is even better this year. Something I find interesting is that he exclusively throws cutters and changeups to RHB and sinkers and sliders to LHB. He seems like a smart pitcher in this way, and I'm attributing most of that to Chris Fetter. No, Tyler Holton is not going to turn into a Cy Young pitcher as a starter, but he is being wasted in the bullpen. There is no doubt in my mind that he can be an effective starting pitcher at the ML level and now is a great time to start stretching him out, since he is already "starting" with all the injuries and the Flaherty trade.