papalawrence

Chipper Jones recently said he would hit .200 in today's game. I'm sure he would have adjusted and performed better than that, but it emphasizes how much better pitching has become. When Chipper was drafted 1-1 the Tigers held the 2nd pick and took Tony Clark. They were so close to getting Chipper

Thinking about Matt Manning brought up a random memory of Pat Underwood's impressive start to his career in 1979. His first start was televised - went 8.1 innings, 0 runs, 3 hits, 1 bb. I remember it well, and being so excited thinking he could be the ace that takes over for Fidrych. Won his first 5 decisions. Ended 1979 6-4. Over the next 4 years he went 7-14 to finish his career 13-18 and was out of MLB at age 26. I believe he had arm injuries. Also brought up thoughts of Steve Searcy, Justin Thompson, Eric King, Jeff Robinson, Joel Zuzana........Amadeus, gumby and pokey, kc and the sunshine band.....had a client no-show and my mind drifts......

Mantle told a story about an all-star game and Ted Williams gave him a lot of specific advice on hitting. Mantle said he tried it and went 0-20, so he just went back to trying to barrel up every ball

I will always hate the Yankees. And the Red Sox. And now the Dodgers.

I had such hi hopes for him. Hope he finds a niche, likely in the bullpen. Had similar hopes for Steve Searcy many moons ago.

Is that a Charlie Lau quote?

Bummer

Tigers dodged a huge bullet! Then AA turned to Javy and payroll took one in the chest

Had a random memory this am. I remembered Steve Kemp being called up from aaa Evansville in 1976. I was 10 and already a stat geek. His stat line at Evansville was insane. I just looked and didn't realize he was drafted 1-1. In 52 games in aaa he hit .386 with an ops of 1.203. Had he not suffered the injuries later he would have put up some very good numbers. I wasn't thrilled when Detroit traded him for Lemon, but clearly that worked out hugely in Detroit's favor. https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=kemp--001ste Then later that year the Pistons got Marvin "bad news" Barnes (rip) from the ABA. I had even higher expectations, but that one didn't pan out.

What a great baseball day! Tigers win, and both the Dodgers and Yankees blow leads in the 9th and lose on walk-off home runs. Is this Christmas!?

Tigers are now 8-1 vs the Central

So far Tork has been their mvp of position players, and I'd say Carp, McKinstry and Dingler have been on the next tier. Of those I would only have predicted Carp to be this productive.

Greg Maddux at his peak

Small sample and it's A ball, but Serwa continues to look good. 3 games, 11 innings, 12 ks 3 hits, 1 bb, 0 runs, .036 whip. Let's see how he does in Erie https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1CguaxX4ZS/?mibextid=D5vuiz

I really need the Tigers to win it all soon, so I can get the thought of 2013/big papi out of my mind. It lingers still. The horror.......the horror!!

Maybe Chafin? I know he's lefty, but Maeda can't even be trusted in mop up

I won't be surprised at all if he gets released tonight

Very wild game at Wrigley. AZ scored 10 in the 8th. The Cubs scored 5 in the 7th and 6 in the 8th and won 13-11. Wonder how many teams have lost a game where they scored 10 runs in an inning? https://www.espn.com/mlb/game/_/gameId/401695202/diamondbacks-cubs

Michael Fulmer dfa'd by Boston. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/fulmemi01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&utm_source=www.mlbtraderumors.com&utm_campaign=2025-04-18_br

I've been following updates. We'll see how he does in the upper minors. So far he looks good at WM. I love stories like this. Guys like Neikro, Wakefield, RA Dickey, etc didn't have the right stuff without the knuckler, then bloomed late when they learned the knuckleball. Maybe Kenny will have a similar path. Doesn't hurt to try

I've never liked the zone box on tv.

Amen

Want a t206 Honus Wagner card? It'll cost ya. This one actually looks legit to me and will be authenticated with any sale. In 1974 one sold for $1500 and it made the cover of "the sports hobbyist." Bet that person wishes he'd hung on to it https://www.ebay.com/itm/226415458469?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=H_ctcXfiRAC&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=kqHvYtTeTyS&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

He is a solely a mop up guy for games like yesterday. I won't be surprised at all if he gets cut at some point during the season. He showed glimpses in spring training. Hard to keep Foley in Toledo if he can help the Tigers now

The older pitcher turned knuckleballer that the Tigers signed over the winter, Kenny Serwa is off to a nice start. Long odds, but who knows. He is 27 and with the Whitecaps. 2 games - 1 start, 6 inn, 1 hit, 1bb, 9k 0 runs https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=serwa-000ken