Leaderboard

So this game begins at 4:40 PM my time in the mountain zone so I’m thinking that means the pregame show begins at 4:20 PM because after all as the saying goes, it’s always 420 somewhere.

It’s amazing he got the job without ever working for Fox News before.

Thanks to Trump’s tariffs we are now growing Popes in America.

He must be amazing at fast pitch softball.

Having been very badly bullied growing up in school, I do think Trump is a Nelson Muntz like character and a bully. A guy who gets off on deriding and degrading others, but also isn't terribly smart. That said, my experience isn't that bullies will backdown if you tell them no and/or fight back against them. Sure, some will do that. But in my experience, many bullies will just get twice as mad and become more lethal the next time you cross them. They'll torture you until you hit a breaking point and cannot function anymore. Trump isn't a smart person in-terms of book smarts or general intellect. He's a complete dolt in that regard. He does however have a certain people smarts and understands marketing and selling to some degree, though not in a way he could articulate coherently. Many of the people around Trump are not that smart either, but they understand bullying and submission strategy to a point. They are using him and manipulating him to do bad things and creating lasting damage to our country's democracy and democratic institutions. They are the bullies that come back twice as strong, twice as vengeful, and twice as determined to get revenge on you for standing up to them. It's partly why we see Trump himself and those around him acting so aggressive towards people they view as hostile to their agenda, i.e. the fake new media, academia, scientists, Democrats, etc. It's also why you see them throwing so many different things at the wall in hopes that something will stick and that you can't possibly stay caught up with all the chaos, craziness, and rapid fire changes they are enacting. They are torturing democracy, our institutions, and decent people until we hit our breaking point. Much like many bullies out there.

Toddlers know how to manipulate people too. That doesn't make them smart.

I know Revenge of the Nerds very well. Very well. The bleachers in Tiger Stadium was sealed off from the rest of the stadium. Underneath the bleachers in the lower deck was where they stored things so you couldn't go down there. In the rest of the stadium you had street level concourses/concessions as well as at the top of the lower deck. If you sat in the upper deck you used those. But if you tried to walk all the way aroudn the stadium they had chain link fences with an attendant near each side of the bleachers. It was like being in prison. It was the lower level concourses that had some hallways and doors that you could sneak through. It was cold and damp everywhere and had a smell mixed of onions/peppers/beer, and probably piss. Coleman Young famously shut down the bleachers because people were getting rowdy. We sat there for opening day in 1995, after the strike, and the season started later so it was nicer out. Things got crazy as fans were kind of rebelling. Women were flashing people. People ran on the field.

We would do that with Larry Herndon. We joined what was called the Pepsi/Tiger Fan Club. Have no idea what it cost, couldn't have been much, and you got a few Tiger tickets in LF and a gift. Larry would acknowledge us then we'd argue over who he was smiling to. Did a lot of exploring at Tiger Stadium as a youth. We found the clubhouse, then ran as fast as we could.

The difference between 2006 and 2025 is that in 2006 it always felt like they were lucky and would start to fade. This team feels like a really good team that came together faster than expected.

I wish I could’ve been a part of all this. Having lived in the West 2,000 miles from Detroit for the last 51 years, it wasn’t until 21 years ago with the help of the Internet that I stumbled across MTS and was able to reacquaint myself with the team of my youth. In the meantime this meant that by only reading box scores or seeing an occasional game on TV and never being within radio listening range I was essentially disconnected. But I enjoy hearing all of you relate your recollections from these times I missed and it makes me feel included. Although I have to admit that waking up every morning for the last 51 years with a range of mountains outside my window and an endless sky above has not been a bad trade-off. Now I have where I live and the Tigers too.

In their last 81 games, the Tigers are 56-25. A .691 pace. That's 112 wins in a 162 game season. Yeah, I think, maybe, the rebuild is over. 😆

Chet was always one of my favorite players, and we were spoiled watching him in Center for long. I met him once in spring training 1990, and he couldn't have been a nicer human being. I mean he went above and beyond for all the fans that day, took time to ask everyone he met and asked how they were doing, etc. Although he was clearly an established star in what turned out to be his last year, he made it feel like he was honored that you wanted an autograph and wanted to talk to him, not the other way around. That has always stayed with me, especially when I see someone in A ball snub a kid for an autograph. He was a class player, but also an exceptional human being. RIP Chet.

I don’t think this is satire.

Coincidentally, I’m graduating Saturday with my M.A. in Theological Studies from a Catholic college (Jesuit-oriented) at the University of British Columbia. My quick reaction. Most North American cradle Catholics will like this pick, many North American convert Catholics might not. Despite what you might see on social media, convert Catholics are a minority within the Church but are zealous and outspoken. Increasing in importance. Younger priests, like the pastor of my parish, also tend to be more conversativr, hence the re-introduction of things like a communion rail in some parishes. Going into the conclave, I saw him as one of the best candidates but thought his being American would rule him out. Fact he is so international though, even being a naturalized Peruvian after 20 years there, and is fluent in Italian and Spanish, made him acceptable. Choosing Leo as his name is the biggest indicator of his values, IMO. The most recent Pope Leo was in the late 1800s and was the father of modern Catholic Social Teaching. Overall, I like this pick.

Chicago produced a Pope before a 4000 yard passer

I talked about him in the game thread, but this makes me sad. The 80s Tigers will always be my team and he was one my favorites.

One of the last home games of 1991 was heavily-attended as Cecil Fielder was on Home Run 49 and nobody had seen 50 in years. Ron Cameron asked me and my friends "Are you here just to see Cecil hit No. 50?" and I said "No, I'm here to see Chet hit No. 5". And Chet did just that. Loved him. Always seem to play with a big smile on his face. Didn't seem the least bit jaded. I know his last years were a terrible struggle and I am glad he's not struggling anymore. One of the most underrated Center Fielder's in MLB history, but not in these parts.

I thought Kane came across pretty shaky his first season here, not to mention the fact he was having to fill the shoes of the great Shannon Hogan but after a bit of time and getting used to him I grown to really like him. I found him to be a bright spot during those dark Shep, Morris and terrible Tigers teams days.

Trent Crim from the Independent?

He said four perfect innings

We should thank the ump for pissing off Skubal. That's gonna work in our favor.

Carpenter or Malloy leading off means Hinch uses leadoff hitters different too. I guess we can't argue with the results.

Dirks on the radio tonight with Dan. I‘m a fan.

Skub is dealin’ 9 up 9 down

The Trump haters are turning against each other. That's what he wants!😀

I'd take them over Trump though.

Look up, look waaaaaay up.

This will be a tough series. Going to be a beautiful weekend though. Little chilly tonight but it's date night for the wife and I. Tomorrow I get to see Sturgill Simpson.

It was one of my first failures as a father. When we moved to Chicago in the early 90s my wife's office had an outing to Old Comiskey Park. To my chagrin he became a Sox fan. Early in our relationship I told my wife, who had the more promising career opportunities, I'd follow her anywhere. As long as it was a National League city. (My Western Pennsylvania roots, plus nearby Salem Va hosted the Pirates Carolina League team at the time) When she called me one day to ask about possibly moving to Chicago my first thoughts were "UGH, Not the Cubs!"

Toledo L 12-0 Lee 1/3 BB 2K Kriedler 0/1 3BB Owens .2IP 3ER 3H BB Erie W 4-3 Anderson 1/3 RBI Campos 0/3 BB 2K Sanchez 1IP H BB K WM L 4-2 Briceno 0/4 2K Castillo 4.2IP 7H 3ER BB 4K Lakeland W 5-1 Rainer 1/4 2K Fana 0/4 BB 2K Rucker 0/3 2BB K Gipson-Long 1.1IP 3H 2K FCL L 9-7 10 Inn. Jimenez 2/5 3RBI HR K R. Ramirez 2/5 Diaz 3.2IP 3H 2ER 3BB 6K Rogers 2.1IP 3H 2BB 3K

My HS friends and I would sit in the CF bleachers ($4) and just yell “Chester” until he acknowledged us, which he did on occasion. Impossible not to like. RIP, Chester

The 2025 Tigers and 2006 Tigers were both 25-13 after 38 games. The 1968 Tigers were 24-14. The 1984 Tigers were 33-5. The 2003 Tigers were 9-29.

The boys in the booth with this tidbit today: 38 games into the season, a Tiger starting pitcher has failed to go 4 innings exactly once - Jobe yesterday.

I hope I don’t get used to all of the dopamine and endorphins this winning is releasing in me.

Tied for wins in MLB 2nd in MLB in runs scored 1st in +DIFF

don't give him any ideas or you'll see this in an all caps tweet before the end of the week.

25-10 since the Dodgers series.

They did!

7-3 road trip

That's a Big League walk right there.

Biden's gonna pay a big price for Trump's insensitivity towards Joe Sixpack

He truly is as dumb as a brick.

Grok is actually surprisingly good. It has less of the "AI" feel to its language, chatgpt is decent enough, but its language is kind of grating. Claude is the best for coding hands down.

Think there's a good chance Rainer ends up at 3B long term.

Here is the start of his critique on the Lions: Detroit Lions “It’s fair to question whether I should doubt the Lions’ draft strategy after the run they’ve been on the past few years, but out of their seven picks, four were considered reaches by our consensus board, including all three in the top 70.” He fails to mention that his system said the same thing about Gibbs. It said the same about Jamo and Jack Campbell. The authors stupid system is weighted on positional value. Brad’s system completely ignores it and takes the best player for his team at that moment. The results are overwhelmingly on Brad’s side. His picks dominate Austin Mock’s nearly worthless clickbait model. He just came up with it to try and be different from the now 100 other draft experts that have conned us into believing they are smarter than everyone else.

We just caught up on Mobland. What a good show.