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I've posted a lot about Whitaker over the years, he is my favorite all time player. I've shared this story on the old board, but I will here again. When Lou was a rookie, hitting coach Gates Brown was giving him some "advice" in the batting cage. Whitaker said something to the effect, "I know how to hit." I don't know if Joe Falls was standing right there, or if he heard the story second hand, but he printed it, and in a such a way it made Lou look cocky and uncoachable. In reality, he was just being his very confident self, and was not showing up Brown. But after that, he was quiet to the media. I've never seen a time when he went after the media, he would just not say more than he wanted to, which wasn't very much. He just let his play to the talking for him. Which, as we've discussed many times, is HOF worthy. He may get the **** Allen treatment and be elected after he dies, and then labeled "misunderstood." But, in my opinion, he never tried to be more than he was to please anyone. He was just a quiet, deeply religious person who was a great baseball player.

Here to say if PASS was nationally syndicated instead of WGN, Lou Whitaker would be in the Hall of Fame instead of Ryne Sandberg.

Rest in Peace Ryne Sandberg, one of my favorite non-Tigers during my favorite period as a fan. I remember him having the original "career year" in 1984. It was the first time I heard that term. The next few years, Peter Gammons would refer to a great year as a "Ryne Sandberg career year".

those guys better not go for a rental. I value Liranzo more than Briceno based on being a catcher.

Yeah, no thanks. This would be a massive overpay, not to mention it's been reported the Tigers have zero interest in Hayes. BA just said Rainer, if he didn't get hurt, had a realistic chance to be rated higher than Konnor Griffin who is their #1 ranked prospect currently - in other words he isn't getting moved to Pittsburgh unless Skenes is coming back: The Skinny: One of two high profile prep shortstops in the 2024 draft, Rainer hasn’t had the rise of Konnor Griffin in 2025, but if not for a season-ending shoulder injury he might have ranked even higher. Rainer is an advanced hitting shortstop with a plus power-hitting peak. Bednar is the only one of the bunch I'd really want and I think he's more likely to cost something like Jung and Anderson/Hamm than he is one of our top 6. They aren't also aren't trading Vierling.

The MLB trade is an exciting time in the baseball world. Some teams will be buyers. Some teams will be sellers. Other teams may stand pat and bet on the guys they have! We are going to have to wait and find out who was right and who was wrong, and that’s what makes baseball great.

Giants just signed Diego Cartaya to a minor league deal. This guy was a the #14 overall prospect in 2023. The Dodgers, a really well run franchise full of smart people, resisted all requests to include him in trades for years. Then he collapsed and now is available for nothing as a minor league free agent. The opportunity cost of not trading Cartaya is hard to measure, but real and probably significant.

I can't read Ryan Sandberg without hearing Harry Caray say it in my head.

I'm not an expert but I won't be upset if the team doesn't get Suarez.

Sarcasimir strikes again.

Melton pitched like we was afraid the Tigers wouldn’t be able to get to Dairy Queen before they close tonight.

kcp turned out to be a much better pick than burke.

Yeah, who said Harris wouldn’t be aggressive!

I think you are overrating him. He offers power and little else, and I’m not sure how that will play in Comerica. He’s an aging, strikeout prone, maddeningly inconsistent rental.

It's for the trade deadline.

Look at pitcher strike out rates for before, say, the 80s. Guys would have long, successful careers with K rates of 4.5/9. That would not be the case today. Nothing explains the difference between today's game and previous decades more than this.

MLB clubs used to draft in twice as many rounds as they do now too. So they had a larger pool of guys to grind into dust.

Garfield is a pussy

Baseball is funny, the way things can turn rather quickly. We've seen that the Tigers in July. I believe the Jays' win on Saturday pushed their record to 16-4 for their past 20 games and they soared to the top of the MLB standings. But since then they have lost 10-4 to the Tigers on Sunday, 11-4 to the Orioles last night and have lost 16-4 to Baltimore in the 1st game of a doubleheader today. So 0-3 and outscored 37-12.

I hate shoulder injuries...they seem to end a lot more careers than elbows...probably because there's no magic fix like the TJ surgery

I think Olson’s issue is blood flow related. There isn’t enough blood in the human body to keep his cheeks that red AND supply oxygen to the shoulder.

That came down to the very last minute—they had to pull Austin out of CF in the middle of the inning to consummate in time.

Suarez not in the lineup? Nice work, Vest.

During the strike in '94 and '95 he got a lot of national heat for showing up to the meetings in a limo. But that was his only car. He and his wife owned a recording studio and they used that for clients. That was literally their car.

I’d move Briceno, Hamm and Jung for Bednar and Keller. Hard pass on Hayes.

I wouldn’t do the trade with just Briceno. No rentals!

Kind of like politicians!

At this point price is always speculated higher than it actually is. Remember last year one top 100 guy got moved.

It wouldn't have hurt him, but Whitaker and Sandberg had very different careers. Sandberg was a high peak performer whereas Whitaker never had an MVP type year. Whitaker had a longer career and had more good years than pretty much any middle infielder ever, but never had a great year. The voters appear to favor peak years (and it doesn't have to be a lot of them) over career. On the other hand, Whitaker was a private person who didn't get a lot of publicity, so he might have benefitted from more national exposure, but I think his unusual career arc hurt him him more than anything. Calendar years are arbitrary cutoffs, but it's what people look at.

I'm not really thinking about Suarez much, because I think it's unlikely. I won't be disappointed if they don't get him because the price seems like it would be steep for a two-month rental. I am not opposed to them trading top propects, but only if it's for someone who will be with the Tigers beyond this year. I am hoping for a couple of high leverage relievers with good track records.

RIP Ryne Sandberg. My Sandberg story goes like this; My new daughter-in-law (she was my sons g- friend at the time) got a job with the Cubs Charity. Her first day, she got on the elevator and there was a "guy" already on it. She went to push the button for the floor and saw it was already lit. She said something like "oh, you work for the Cubs Charity?" The guy said "Yes, I'm Ryne Sandberg" She introduced herself and asked him how long he's worker for the Cubs. He explained he's been with the Cubs for years, played for them and was in the Hall of Fame. Now, my DIL knew absolutely nothing about baseball at this he time so she replied "that's nice." When she got home and told my son about meeting an ex-player, he freaked out in amazement. Pulled up the Sandberg page on the internet and quickly educated her on how great of a player he was. I bet Chicago is in mourning. He was very much loved.

Tonight they can stick gum in his hair.

Nothing says "we want you" more than plunking him and almost breaking his fingers.

I did not see that the Royals lot Kris Bubic to season-ending shoulder issue within the past couple days. Being a SP is like being a junior officer in the trenches in WW1.

so no trade for Suarez?

Riley Greene with the mustache only looks like Ron Glass from the Barney Miller show.

has Torres been in any kind of a slump this season? seems like he's been pretty damn consistent with getting on base.

This is the second delay so that might have been the issue the first time.

Clearly they are showcasing Kreidler to Arizona for Suarez.

Left $140 on the table 😅

will it clear up with an ointment or topical cream?

Teenage boys feverishly googling how to become a cameraman.

I think this is the star Detroit should be attempting to land. He is exactly who you trade Ivey + Holland + 2-3 first round picks for.

Purple shirt guy didn’t like the fact that a black guy, with dreads no less, had control of the situation. A white man needed to be in charge.