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I want Toronto to win for a reason I can't talk about here. 😏

Corbin Burnes netted a comp pick, a defense first shortstop and a reliever. I would just keep Skubal then get a comp pick for him.

That's 2 or 3 of your biggest boosters saying "do it or else....." What bothers me is the cost of buying him out and how it comes from the state (commonwealth) of Pennsylvania, does it not? To have this kind of money to throw around, but to still have so many people in need. We prioritize the wrong things. It's just a stupid game. Thought about this after the Tigers loss. It pissed me off for a day, but really does not effect my life in any way. As a Michigan fan, I wanted Franklin to stay. Franklin is like Jim Caldwell. Has good teams, but can never win the big game. He has them prepped, but makes bad in-game decisions. There is a likely opening in East Lansing coming, MSU could do a lot worse than James Franklin.

Case in point:

Interesting. A couple of things stuck out to me in that article... Bold mine. I don't live in Michigan, but **** that. Let them pay for their own profit motive, not my taxes. No ****, Sherlock. NO, tell us it ain't so! Houdini would be proud. What a cluster ****.

Hey, if you quote people, those of us who ignore their drivel see their posts in here. Just saying...

I don’t think the Tigers are punting on the 2026 season, and I doubt they would receive a return that would make them better in 2026. So I don’t expect a trade.

If I read the box score correct, the game went 4 hours and 58 minutes. I've been out of this for a while, but old. This was one of the most incredible and intense baseball games I have ever watched. It had a little bit of everything. Both sides. They both were incredible. The strike out of the big guy on pitch 99 at 101. Here it is big boy - hit it - he didn't. Might the next time. 🙂 I'm old school pitching wise (I watched Lolich back in the day several times) but I'm glad they pulled Skub. I think he was gassed. Then the Raleigh throw to second that some called the greatest throw ever (it was very good, no argument there) but Dingler said hold my beer later in the game. Both teams had chances over so many. It was like Houdini a few times. I don't know how they got out of some of those jams. 2 thru 5 went something like 0 for 23. Not good, no argument, but if I remember right, there were a few balls hit hard, but right at someone. That happens, that's baseball. In a game like that, especially being the road team, they needed a break. I'll call it luck. They didn't get one. Still and incredible game.

Do you still fry ants on the pavement with a magnifying glass on sunny days?

I’ll be reporting live from Section 106 Row 6.

I guess Dan won’t make it into heaven now with Karen but who would want to be there with her anyway?

Yes, going into the series we heard about the scary Mariners lineup. How unlike Harris they acquired big bats at the deadline like Naylor and Suarez. Fine, but through 14 innings last night, that scary lineup had produced 2 runs in their past 18 innings.

It's more like 26-29. Once they hit 30, hitters typically head down hill. Greene doesn't profile like a young player. He gets injured a lot and isn't very graceful for someone who is such a good athlete, so he doesn't appear to be the type of hitter who will age well. The excessive strikeouts are not a good sign either. It seems as if he may already peaked defensively. He should still be good the next few years, but doesn't seem like a good candidate for a deal with takes him into his mid to late 30s.

There is venting, and there is arguing with bad faith trolls. All that does is raise your stress levels, waste your time, and sometimes bring you to their level. Best to ignore it. The last few weeks of trying that has been pretty liberating.

View from the office tonight.

Soto was 2.5 years from free agency. Skubal just one.

Very True. Porcello was just a weird outlier though. He never duplicated that season before or after, but I remain convinced that Ilitch and the Tiger org bungled the handling of Scherzer even before his contract was up. Just a bit more plantation mentality than Max would stand for.

Good find. And Verlander pitched 122 in the 2012 complete game Game 5 I referenced and 111 in the 8 innings of 2013 Game 5. Scherzer was pulled after 7 innings and 108 pitches of Game 2 of the 2013 ALCS against Boston in which he had given up 2 hits and 2 walks with 1 run and 13 strikeouts.

Ironically, Glenn had to go to the Jets to become lionized.

Watching Skubal mow down the Mariners while his pitch count climbed really detracted from my enjoyment of the moment, to be honest. I knew he'd be out by the 5th or 6th inning and had little confidence the bullpen could record 9-12 outs without yielding a run or more. I'm not arguing that Hinch should have allowed Skubal to rack up 125 pitches, like the good ole days, but the sense of foreboding kind of stunk. Aces being pulled after 100 pitches really is one of the bummers of following the modern game.

Ravens tried 2 tush pushes at the goal line and failed, then tried Henry on 4th down and failed too. They failed the realize the play only works if you cheat. You have to jump early:

well i'll be damned. they fired franklin. im shocked.

If the new cba negotiations go well and they have a 2027 season. I'd prefer they sign Skubal as well. I understand the risk. It was frustrating to see Max, JV, Porcello go on and win WS elsewhere

The strike zone technology may be impressive. It's just the image that Fox provided was low tech. The bigger question of course is how accurate the zone is. No matter how good the technology is, they won't get it right every time. It should be more accurate and especially more unbiased than the human umpires. However, not all TV networks use the same box, so there is already potentially some bias involved as far as what is presented by TV. I would hope that there would be uniformity across games once they start using it to make calls.

All good. I'm trying to stay out of here anyways. Just really more giving more advice than anything else that feeding trolls only empowers them and drains you. Ignoring them drains them.

She’s not the president, they got their ceasefire, and yet they still follow and harass her.

The Godfather offers don’t seem to pan out for pitchers. Keep him, sign him or take the draft comp. Or, if we’re not in playoff contention, then consider moving him at the deadline. I would not trade him this offseason.

It's probably the most excited I've gotten watching a game since 2006 (beating the Yankees and then the Ordonez homer). The 2009 game 163 was pretty intense too, but that was not well played. Lots of people are talking about the lack of hitting on both sides last night, but there was some great pitching and defense, not a lot of mistakes. It was a fantastic game.

Brewers win. I’m supposing “the media“ will try to make this as a David versus Goliath story but the Brewers have been pretty good so I think they stand a good chance of felling Goliath.

Much better effort tonight...Bernard-Docker wasca huge improvement over Hamonic.

6-3, Wings win! We don’t have to give up on the season yet after all, lol.

The Palestinians are going to be so happy when Trump builds them a ballroom.

Great period has flipped the game! 3-2 Wings after 2. Almost added a 4th on a partial break in the dying seconds. It would be huge to get at least a point out of this game.

She was also his wife. One of the top 3 shots of the whole trilogy is the door being closed on her at the end.

If Skubal is dead-set on becoming an FA, the Tigers must trade him before opening day, IMO.

I like the Lions chances tomorrow. I don’t love them, but I like them. The weakness tomorrow will be in the secondary. But KC isn’t really a team loaded with weapons that are licking their chops to burn you over the top, especially without Rice. Xavier Worthy is the closest they’ve got, and he’s not had a great year. Averaging like two receptions per game and only 11 yards per reception. I’d expect him to get a few, but not dominate. Where KC can burn you is when you fail to get pressure of any kind and Mahomes can manufacture something. The defensive line and linebacking corps is virtually at full strength. They should be able to do their job. Meanwhile the KC defense has shown signs of taking a slight step back this year. We all saw the Chris Jones clip last week. I think we should have success in the short to intermediate pass game to Jamo, LaPorta, and ASB.

Dan’s off the cuff remark brings me joy. Everyone feels this way.

In the long run I’m hoping for a Pilots/Mariners series

Its Rush vs. Pearl Jam. Jack White and Bad Bunny got sent home.

but the leadership won't put a bill on the floor that could find consensus or negotiate to consensus. That's what legislating is supposed to about. They could easily put a bill on the floor that would attract enough Dems and hold enough Repubs to pass easily, but they won't, because they are all afraid of being primaried by the fringes, whose power is amplified in primaries because of big money and that nobody votes in them. We basically get what we deserve as voters.

I think baseball barnstorming in general is interesting. Here's a story about the Tigers' 18-game tour of Japan after the 1962 season. https://sabr.org/journal/article/no-alibis-the-detroit-tigers-1962-tour-of-japan/ On the eve of the slate’s first game, the Tigers made their first public appearance, taking in a night of entertainment at the Nichigeki Theater in downtown Tokyo. The players and their wives enjoyed a two-hour show by the Nichigeki’s dancers before the boys donned happi coats and took the stage. Scheffing introduced his players to the crowd, and each was presented with a bouquet of flowers. The appearance concluded with the athletes tossing rubber balls into the crowd; those who caught select balls adorned with a Tigers logo would be admitted to the next day’s game free of charge.11 The next afternoon Jim Bunning took the Tokyo Stadium mound for the Tigers in front of 27,000 spectators, including Crown Prince Akihito and Princess Michiko. After the ceremonial first pitch was handled by Japanese Foreign Minister Ohira to US Ambassador Edwin O. Reischauer,12 the Tigers wasted no time providing their starter some run support. Detroit’s hitters roughed up Daimai Orions starter Tomoo Wako, who did not make it out of the first. The Tigers put up eight runs in the opening frame, including a three-run homer by Jake Wood, to cruise to a 12-1 victory. Bunning contributed 5⅓ perfect innings before giving up four hits and giving way to reliever Terry Fox.13 Neither the Tigers nor the Orions came away unscathed, however. In the sixth inning, Detroit first baseman Norm Cash was struck behind the ear by Daimai lefty Shoichi Ono’s errant pitch, necessitating a hospital visit for X-rays, which showed no lasting damage. “I hope to play tomorrow,” said Cash. And Kaline reaggravated his foot injury in the first inning, toughing it out until the sixth when he was replaced by Bobo Osborne ------ The Tigers players also kept busy during the rainy days, as pitcher Phil Regan gave a Bible reading at Kawasaki Baptist Church,20 while Bunning, Cash, Scheffing, Kaline, and **** McAuliffe, along with Hanshin Tigers pitcher (and Central League MVP) Minoru Murayama, appeared on the NHK-TV program My Secret ------ For the purposes of the record books, however, the tour was officially over two days earlier, after the tie game, meaning that Detroit’s 11 wins, four losses, and two ties earned them “the worst record ever for a major league club coming to Japan.”46 The Tigers – “the big flops this year in the American League”47 – couldn’t even catch a break at the turnstiles; Detroit’s “total attendance of 383,370 for 17 games in Japan didn’t measure up to the 16-game attendance of the San Francisco Giants’ [441,000] and St. Louis Cardinals’ [430,000] tours in 1960 and 1958 respectively,”48 though in all fairness it should be noted that the Tigers battled soggy weather just about every step of the way. -------------

It's only preseason, of course. But Cade has posted TS% of 81.2% against Memphis and 74.2% against Milwaukee. He only has 14 regular season games with a TS% >70%. His career TS% is 53.9% which is awful. Last year it was 56.5%. You would like to see it at or above 60%. So he has some work to do.

I’m a fan of Ausar handling the ball at times, so this isn’t a complaint. However, giving him more on-ball reps could slow his progress as a shooter. Players who operate on the ball rarely get corner 3PT looks—the shortest shots on the floor. Their attempts mostly come from above the break, where the distance is greatest. You also lose those wide-open catch-and-shoot chances when you’re creating the play, and that’s the bread and butter for boosting a 3PT percentage. As I said, I still like the idea, but it works against efforts to improve his shooting. On the flip side, Cade shot 35.9% while almost always running the offense last year. If he spends more time off the ball this season, his 3PT% could rise by a point or two and make things open up even more for him.