1776

Game 2 looks like a heavy lift for the Tigers regarding the pitching match up.

Angel is an international celebrity…for all the wrong reasons.

I believe Anderson and Leyland had a higher regard and respect for the game than Hinch ever will. Sparky refusing to manage replacement players says more about his respect for the integrity of the game than I could say for him. Anderson signed his resignation papers on the game he loved that spring without fully realizing it at the time. Leyland & Anderson are HOF members that were never good players. They’re in because they respected the game and brought integrity to the dugout. They were winners on and off the field. I don’t see Hinch ever being that guy.

It looks as though the Tigers will face Paul Skenes on Wednesday when the Pirates are in town. Flaherty scheduled for the Tigers.

Awesome! I bought tickets for this Tuesday when Erie is in Richmond. Attending that with my son. Had hoped to see Jobe in that series but doesn’t look like he’ll be back this week. Not Tigers related but my wife and I got tickets for the June 18th game at Rickwood Field in Birmingham. The opponent is Montgomery. I have wanted to attend a game at Rickwood for years. The following night the Barons and Biscuits play at Riverwalk Stadium in Montgomery. We’ll see that game as well. Looking forward to that excursion. Can’t beat MiLB road trips.

That is awesome!!!!!

Commanding the strike zone…

11-11. Back in it due to a gritty grind it out bat by the grinding Canha.

We went for a walk Tigers up 8-3. Look at the phone now and 11-9, the other way. I only wish I could say I’m surprised…but I can’t.

Mize was 53 for 86 in strikes thrown. I’m guessing the noon’ish start time was tough, heat wise.

I think Rogers settled on Faedo for the next podcast. I think that would be an interesting one to watch. Yeah, It was an almost awkward couple of seconds after Baez’ name dropped. Telling.

Mize has already thrown 68 pitches through three. Five innings may be a stretch.

The latest ‘Have a Seat’ podcast is a good one with Jake Rogers.

It is. It gives the fans in the park a literal visual of the previous pitch against the frame of the strike zone box. Seeing is believing. I believe continuing to provide visuals, as they do now in the challenged calls, will be a plus for everyone involved.

As I’ve mentioned here before, we’ve seen quite a few games using the two systems (ABS/Challenge). Manfred says the consensus is gravitating toward the Challenge system. That’s fine, my impression is that both systems are working well. Frankly, I’m surprised there is any real hesitation about moving forward on one of the systems. The further this debate goes on the more I begin to suspect that there is more to this than just getting the calls right. It’s really not complicated unless you want it to be.

I guess if you’re going to play like crap you should dress like crap. The Sh!tty Connect uniforms fit the bill.

Some good news! A new ‘Have a Seat’ podcast has been dropped. Jake Rogers is the guest this week.

So another summer without competitive baseball. I do believe this team is on the way down as far as wins vs losses. .500 ball may not be realistic. Year after year after year…

Bad results. Good process. That’s what AJ says anyway.

Wonder what Mark Gorosh is thinking…

The money for the new hire had to come from somewhere.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5516189/2024/05/23/automated-strike-zone-consequences-manfred/ NEW YORK — For at least a couple of years, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has made clear that if a form of the automated strike zone comes to the majors, he would prefer it to be a challenge system — used a handful of times a game — rather than a system that’s employed on every pitch. On Thursday, he said others seem to be coming around to that view, but a lot still remains up in the air regarding the actual implementation of the automatic ball-strike system, or ABS for short, in the majors. One issue is what shape of a strike zone the system would be programmed to recognize. Manfred has said in the past that the strike zone as called by umpires looks more round than one might expect. “The shape of the strike zone, we have not started those conversations (with players), because we haven’t settled on what we think about it,” Manfred said. “Hard to have those conversations before you know what you’re thinking.” Overall, Manfred said the league has gathered a lot of information from players, though. “The two biggest learnings: you know, originally, we thought everybody was going to be wholeheartedly in favor of the idea, ‘If you can get it right every single time, that’s a great idea,’” he said. “One thing we’ve learned in these meetings is that players feel there could be other effects on the game that would be negative if you used it full-blown. “The second one is those who have played with it do have a strong preference for the challenge system over ABS calling every pitch and that has certainly altered our thinking on where we might be headed.” Catchers might be the most affected. “It’s the unintended consequences of ABS,” Manfred said. “The one that is often pointed to, but not the only one, is the framing catcher. I think that the players feel that a catcher that frames is, if you’ll let me use the word, ‘art,’ of the game. “And that if, in fact, framing is no longer important, the kind of players that would occupy that position might be different than they are today. And you could hypothesize a world where instead of a framing catcher, who’s focused on defense, the catching position becomes a more offensive player. I mean, that alters peoples’ careers. Those are real, legitimate concerns that we need to think all the way through before we jump off that bridge.”

My humble opinion is that AJ is a better PR guy than a manager. He can talk a good game in front of the press that is as good, if not better, than anyone else out there in my opinion. I’ve heard he and Harris say on several occasions that they both challenge each other on ideas and such. I’d be very curious to know about what and to what degree. I don’t know that I buy that line. In fact, I’d be more concerned that the Hinch/Harris/Greenberg club is probably too cozy.

Are you kidding? Illitch thinks Harris & Hinch are baseball’s definition of genius!

Cody with a really good piece on the ‘84 Tigers posted today. A couple of highlighted/embedded stories within this piece deserve their due so read that as well. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5512564/2024/05/23/1984-tigers-legacy-anniversary/