Jim Cowan

Someone in the last game of the prior World Series?

Ron Blomberg by the way was just a young kid and just happened to be the first DH. He had played parts of 2 seasons before that and was a guy that almost no one outside of New York had ever heard of.

The AL had suffered a serious talent deficiency since the late 60's and there were some big name NL players, like Orlando Cepeda and Rico Carty, who were not able to play in the field anymore, who were suited to the new rule. The new rule also suited the Tigers who, as one writer put it, had "an entire roster of DH's".

Tanking means losing games deliberately in order to earn a reward, and the reward is improved draft choices. Tanking does not mean having a low payroll, simply for the sake of a low payroll which is its own reward. No one tanks for draft picks in baseball, because the picks are so worthless compared to the other sports.

The United States is not going to enter an armed conflict just because a friend or ally has been invaded. There is no historical precedent for it.

I watched the Olympic hockey game last night and the panel berween periods was all female. Good looking, yes of course, but experienced broadcasters and former hockey players. It was very good, better than it would have been with men.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford, with the attention span of a fruit fly, has now actually adopted the dumbass "done with Covid" whining. He used those exact words, in his weekly flip flop. There is an election coming up in a couple of months and he wants everything reopened by then, even if it isn't safe, because his lunatic base demands it.

You are so right about aging out, that "hot girl on the sidelines" routine is so transparent on every network that broadcasts NFL games. We are supposed to believe that that means that there is "a woman on the broadcast team".

This reminds me of that time that Poland invaded Germany and took over a radio station, and killed some Nazi soldiers. There was photographic evidence of it.

I used to coach football, there were three leagues: under 8 to 10, 11 to 12, and 13 to 14. I would send a letter home with each kid at the start of the season, telling parents that they had to behave themselves at the games and not to respond to idiot parents on other teams. Also, I told them in that letter that if they were interested in coaching, come on out. So that they wouldn't be complaining about the coaches without getting called out on it. A friend of mine had a kid on the team one year and was sitting beside another dad at a game, and the other guy was complaining about play calling or something, and my friend turned to him and said "didn't you get the letter?" lol

That's so outrageously funny. Admit it, you wanted to hear Ram Ranch! And now you don't have to Google it.

I was trying to read this out loud to one of my kids who was in the next room, and I couldn't because I was laughing too hard.

Here's how that 33% breaks out: 15% strongly support. That's about right I think, sadly. I might have said 12%. Next question: do you "somewhat support the protests": 17%. Because lots of people would support some relaxation of mandates - going to their health club, or ending restrictions at the cafe they own - but are appalled at the behaviour of the protesters. So to add those two together and say "33% support" is grossly misleading by "Polling Canada", whoever the F they are.

They probably haven't been paid for a while.

It's Zelensky doing a false flag.

I heard Frank Beckman doing Tigers games a few times in the mid-90's and really liked him. He was paired with Lary Sorensen whom I didn't really care for.

"Thayne Whipple" lol please don't squeeze the Charmin.

The '68 Tigers had a big competitive advantage in Gates Brown, who provided so many exciting moments. In today's game he doesn't exist. Without the DH, the 4th outfielder gets to come off the bench just about every game, and teams discover value in guys like Rob Fick and Eric Munson who aren't good enough to start. And it means that you have to gamble and put a big ox like Greg Luzinski in left field just to get his bat in the lineup. Baseball is played by baseball players, all of whom hit and all of whom play a defensive position.

I don't like the DH, never did right from the start. I don't like the lottery, because baseball picks are of such little value compared to other sports that no one actually tanks to get one. Expanding the playoff teams weakens the regular season even more than it already is. So, all this stuff is just dumb.

Isaac Paredes is listed as one of the finalists for the Man of the Year award, sponsored by the American Grocers Association.

I liked him at third. If you hit the ball right to him he never missed, and he had a cannon arm. That was good enough for me considering the ridiculous advantage you gained by having that bat at third base.

What is your explanation for that? Do you really think they did it for better draft picks? Chris Ilitch cares about draft picks? He cares about profit. He makes more money if they win more games. He tried to do it with a more stable approach to long term cost. It didn't work out well to begin with. But to suggest that he lost on purpose is nonsense.

I still think that "tanking" means "pursuing a better position for draft picks". It does not mean "having a low payroll and, consequently, a lousy team". Those are two entirely separate things. And feel free to tell me why Ausmus was fired if the organization was losing on purpose.

I think that he played center until Chester Lemon arrived.

Yes and to me the most important point here is that Chris Ilitch, who took over the business in early 2017, runs a very large business and most of us don't, and so you have to ask yourself how in the world he would think that having 5 losing seasons - it isnt 5 by the way, it's 4 - would improve profitability. Clearly he would not think that. He did it for the draft picks? That's preposterous. There was never a Bryce Harper available during that 4 year period. Having 4 losing seasons makes him less profitable. Lower gate revenue, lower merch sales and, most importantly, less leverage in negotiating broadcasting rights. That's what he cares about, money, nothing else. And I don't judge him at all for that, I am just stating an obvious fact. He isn't the frustrated minor leaguer that his dad was. He wanted a more sensible approach to payroll, no more Zimmerman or Upton contracts. No more using free agency as the path to success. Put the organization on a more stable long term footing. The results weren't good. The results were bad. That was an unintended outcome of a smaller payroll. Predictable perhaps, but unintended. To suggest that Chris Ilitch wanted to deliberately lose games though is to not understand the motivation of a business owner. And finally, if Chris Ilitch wanted to lose deliberately during the 2017 season, why did he fire Brad Ausmus at the end of it. So no, the Tigers did not tank "for 5 years" for draft picks.