gehringer_2

So the defense has rested after only two witnesses. Trump will not testify. the jury gets a week off to mull things over before summations. I think that's a horrible idea - but it is what it is.....

talking about 'staffs', James Rowson, now the hitting coach for the #1 offense Yankees was with the Tigers in an assistant's role when they hired him last off season. I'd love to know if the program he runs there is any resemblance to the one the Tigers use, or not.

A competitive game is not necessarily a non-boring one!

IIRC on top of that the opposition had mostly walked Torkelson in his last full season so there wasn't as much to see there either as might have been.

I've thought for a while now that 'control the zone' is actually a pretty useless focal point for hitters. It's an attempt to draw a parallel to what is successful in pitching but is basically inapplicable to hitting. Show me the hitter that swings at balls deliberately - I'm sure there are a few but not many. The real key to all hitting is pitch recognition and being quick enough to the ball to act on what you see in time. I can't really see any sense in which a hitter 'controls the zone'. You guess as well you can that it's a good pitch but there is no procedure or technique in the world you can do in the box to increase your certainty of it; you either pick up something in the pitchers release or the spin or you don't, and once you decide to swing, the zone goes out the window and you just have to get the bat on the ball wherever it ends up. And guys who do have recognition skill but will wait on only perfect pitches will never be competitive against good pitching.

there is actually a lot of it in the NT - they called it 'demons'. So maybe on second thought it's better if they don't recognize it - they'd be subjecting all those poor folks to exorcisms. That wouldn't be fun, especially now that there'd be no chance of at least meeting Max Von Sydow for your trouble.

He probably also couldn't cope with the fact that from Detroit MI, it's closer to drive to Montreal QC than to Ironwood MI.

I think Andy is spot on. Wentz' success does track his FB and he didn't have a good one tonight. His best FBs against Houston and Cleveland when he effective were 96+, his best in this game was 94 and as low as 92. On average his FB is better this season than last, but not tonight.

I don't know if I can take another year. This team is already boring me to tears.

OK 2 strikes now. just keep the line moving...no hero swings. EDIT: well he didn't pull it but it didn't work.

Keith is now hitting 429 in his last 7 games. Kid's gonna need a raise.

Royals can afford a run for an out.

I guess it not unusual for them but a pretty inept looking 1st period for Vancouver. But they didn't give anything up.

so maybe you want a more reliable hitter behind Keith. Haha - like the Tigers have one...

Well, if you are going to lose, you might as well lose big. Vancouver - Edmonton should be a good game.

Riley really off his feed - that's a catch he should make 9 of 10 and the last AB he seemed totally out of it.

They told Wentz to stay out there and burn some innings and Wentz said, "screw that, I'm giving it up until you take me out"

I never remember whether Sparky was more excited about Lovullo or Pittaro.

Tigers will be fine if the team that showed up against the DBacks shows up the rest of the way rather than that team that came out to play the Fish.

Manning's stuff can be pretty good, but he can't seem to pitch at his best level with any consistency. Some guys see their consistency improve with more innings and with all his injuries, the lost yr etc., Manning is still under 700 IP for his total pro career and he was not a college guy, so I wouldn't necessarily be in a hurry to sell low, but he's a good fit for doing what he's doing and building his innings for this season.

The plain truth is that the police cannot exist in a society prone to violence *and* and an armed population. It just can't work. The police cannot, will not, and can't reasonably be expected to give a presumption of their own safety in this society when facing an armed citizen - the infamous trope "shoot first and ask questions later" is always going to apply. That's the ultimate fly in the ointment. The Swiss may be armed, but the US isn't Switzerland, the cops there don't have reasonable fear of shots coming through the door when they knock that they do here. We can dream that every cop has the training of a ninja, the reflexes of a cat, and the sagacity of Buddha that enable him to assess every situation with perfect equanimity and skill, but a dream is all that will ever be. We just saw mashalls killed on their way to the door trying to serve a warrant the other day. Argue the fine points of law any way you want, that won't change that we have created a situation where tragedy is always the most likely outcome. And the only way out of it is fewer guns. A lot fewer guns. So many fewer guns that the police can stop seeing mortal threat level in every citizen.

Chopper flying in the fog in the mountains? Sounds like the Kobe Bryant crash part Duex, though In that part of the world you never know.

Have no idea what Hinch was talking about with Manning after the game. Sort of rambled around without ever getting to, 'his command wasn't great' which was what ruined his day.

the Halos have fans, questionable if they still have any happy ones after the last 6 months.

Tork won't be a great hitter until he stops having ABs like that. Put himself in the hole taking a FB for a strike when the Tigers needed a base runner more than a HR.