casimir

I kind of wonder if they make a play at Chapman. I don’t know that he fits perfectly. As you mentioned, he doesn’t control the strike zone. He also is a fly ball hitter and doesn’t have much speed. I’m not sure if his defense has started to slide or not, but it probably still would be an upgrade over what we’ve seen this season. Add into that the fact that the free agent pool seems shallow and he’ll be 31 early next season. Although, who knows, maybe the fact that he’s not a household name and his age works against him in the market? A ready right now everyday bat at 3B and a more developed bat from Torkelson would go a long way for this team. Everyday players at the infield corners, Greene, Carpenter, and Baez (even if it’s much more on the defense with a nominal rebound to the bat) would be a nice start. Then the mixing and matching of Vierling/Baddoo/MeadowsP in an OF slot and McKinstry/Maton/Short at 2B until Kieth is ready don’t stand out as much. And who knows, maybe Vierling shows effective enough at 3B through the rest of this season that the 3B is already in house. Ideally that would be grand. Then the capital that would have been used there (free agent salary, trade options) can get used to upgrade elsewhere. I think it’s worth it to evaluate that through the rest of the season.

I had forgotten about the PBP duties early on. Now that you bring that up, I think that’s why I wasn’t much of a fan early on. I guess it was just a tough spot that needed to be filled. Harwell probably couldn’t go all 9. So, yeah, by default whomever was paired with Harwell was going to do some middle inning PBP work. Luckily the Tigers eventually grabbed Dickerson to do that.

I’m available.

Whatever makes sense for the student athletes.

Nah, just do away with divisions. This guarantees the two top conference records make the championship game, that should be the goal of the championship game.

Same. He didn't appeal to me at first. But... There was always a respect and appreciation for this. So for whatever reason that I didn't find him favorable to me early on, his honesty grew on me. He could praise and be critical. You could tell he was a Tiger fan, but he also knew when/how to voice his disdain and heartbreak. I think he grew on some of us because he was able to share his feelings as one of us. If only we had a nickel for every time we heard him mutter "oh, geez, no excuse for that platy" and then he is quiet and you wonder if he actually had to take the headset off and get up and walk away from his seat for 30 seconds. But he'd always start the game with unbridled optimism that today was the Tigers' day, no matter the circumstances. Maybe yesterday stunk, but today is a new day, let's go get 'em today. This thread should be appreciation for Price. But given what recently happened in Baltimore, let's give the Ilitch family some credit for the radio side. Mike brought back Harwell. He knew what he meant to Detroit, to MIchigan, to Tiger fans. He and Chris have allowed the radio guys the rope to be critical at times. Sure, there's a line that they have to maintain. There's a modicum of professionalism that they need to adhere to. Nobody wants to listen to constant bashing and whining and complaining. But the radio crew has been able to be pretty fair over the seasons.

Detroit Tigers vs Boston Red Sox Watch: Red Sox - NESN, Tigers - Bally Sports Detroit Listen: Red Sox - WEEI 93.7, WAMG 890 AM (SP), WCCM 1490 AM (SP), Tigers - 97.1 The Ticket

Let’s just call them minor teams rather than colleges.

UCLA’s Chip Kelly points to Notre Dame football as an example for realignment That makes one of us. I kind of like this idea. I don't know if 64 is the right number. I honestly don't know what that number should be. And maybe that is left up to the individual schools. If Toledo wants to dance with the big group, so be it. If they want to remain with the latter half, fine. There will be pros and cons to either decision. Everyone becomes independent, and then conference championships go away. But, those can be replaced by playoff games. Now you can go a full field of 16, although I don't know how the TV scheduling for those games get handled. 2 Friday night games, 6 Saturday games? And the time slotting is similar to what the NCAA BB tourney does? So, say a 7pm and 9pm game on Friday? 11a, 1p, 3p, 5p, 7p, 9p on Saturday? Avoid Sunday and the NFL. As far as regular season scheduling goes, they could go with a mix of contractual team vs team agreements and random home & homes assigned by whatever governing body is berthed out of this to fill out 12 regular season games. If that means Alabama vs Toledo in a home & home, let's do it. Nick Saban can have a homecoming. And as far as qualifying for the playoffs, you go with a BcS type computer system rewarding teams on a spectrum for better wins and punishing them for horrid losses with marginal wins/losses in between. And, yes, add variable components for road wins and home losses.

I may be wrong, but I think I've heard that Baddoo has another minor league option after this season. I can see an Opening Day roster spot battle between he and MeadowsP. But Baddoo hasn't done enough to consider himself anything more than an incumbent in name only. Ibanez and Haase are easy write offs. I see Ibanez and Short as repetitive, with Short having better plate discipline and better defensive versatility. Kreidler probably factors in this discussion to some degree. I think there might be some substance to Maton suffering from bad luck on batted balls in the first half. I think there's a batter chance of him returning than some people want. And that goes up if he does indeed have a minor league option left. But I cannot see him as an option for 3B, not regularly anyway. He just doesn't seem to have the reaction time. Up the middle infield, sure. And maybe he is simply a bridge guy until Keith is ready. Its still kind of tough to envision what the roster could look like next season. I'm not sure Harris' hot stove is indicative of what we will see going forward. Cabrera comes off of the books. Rodriguez probably walks. Gotta think Baez is sticking around. Those are probably the big known items going into the offseason. Obviously there are serious offensive needs to tend to. So, there may be in house options to fill some roster slots, but those options probably aren't going to move this team in a significant way towards .500.

Detroit Tigers vs Boston Red Sox Watch: Red Sox - NESN, Tigers - Bally Sports Detroit Listen: Red Sox - WEEI 93.7, WAMG 890 AM (SP), WCCM 1490 AM (SP), Tigers - WWJ 950

Dude, you got'a apostrophize that.

Yes. https://atl-01.statsplus.net/ttwb/

Pfffft.... Candelario is dropping a .485/.541/.727 line as a Cub. Not sure what the Castro boys are doing. Edit: But seriously, congrats to Lorenzen. He's had a very good season. By all accounts he has put in the work that was asked of him and was quite complimentary of how the Tigers worked with him this season and gracious for his trade to a contender. It's a good story from all sides involved.

Minnesota Twins vs Detroit Tigers Watch: Tigers - Bally Sports Detroit, Twins - Bally Sports North Listen: Tigers - 97.1 The Ticket, Twins - TIBN, WCCO 830, The Wolf 102.9 FM, Audacy

I heard this elsewhere. Ultimately college football will have two mega conferences. One will be called ESPN and the other will be called FOX.

YES! I remember those monsters! As a kid, I thought those were impressive big time deals.

I don't recall ever going from one machine where I voted to a collection machine. I've been in different machines, but as far as I can remember, and this goes back to when my parents would take us as kids, I've only ever seen solo machines. Personally I don't care if anyone sees my vote, but I understand others may be apprehensive given how nutty the climate has gotten lately.

I will say in addition to the out of the ordinary August date and limited voting initiatives, there was another wrinkle yesterday. In previous elections, the ballot was tabulated at the voting machine where you choose your options. Yesterday, the voting was handled at the normal voting machine and then you took your printed ballot to a scanner for official collection and tabulation. That seemed odd to me. And I could see how some folks would be wary of their printed ballots being visible in the walk from one machine to the other.

Dirks mentioned the running gag that the dozen duo had over the jersey numerals on the broadcast last night. Paraphrasing a bit but: Price: "That number still has some hits left in it. I saved some for you". Dirks: "I can't believe they're letting me wear it. It should've been retired by now." Price: "You know, that's a pretty good point. I gotta talk to somebody about that."

This is cool. Philpott shared the same story in our cyber baseball league.

Tonight we saw the art of pitching. Dan Dickerson gave "yellowhammer" one final go. The catcher hit a home run and caught a shutout. The weather was beautiful. A former #12 was the radio analyst. Squat in peace.

Minnesota Twins vs Detroit Tigers Watch: Tigers - Bally Sports Detroit, Twins - Bally Sports North Listen: Tigers - 97.1 The Ticket, Twins - TIBN, WCCO 830, The Wolf 102.9 FM, Audacy

“Hey God, has anyone told you that you sound a lot like Paul Carey?”