9/28/25 3:05 pm ET: Tigers @ Red Sox

[Shelton]

15 hours ago, lordstanley said:

Maybe I’m wrong. Are the MLB playoffs a bracket instead of based on seeding every round?

 

 

 

 

It is bracketed. They do not re-seed. 

Edited September 29 by Shelton

[Tiger337]

"American fans love brackets"

[Archie]

16 hours ago, lordstanley said:

It’s a hard pill for me to swallow when Tork talked yesterday about how many beers he was drinking last night yet. Dingler or Torres or Greene or Tork would have been so exhausted by an 8th or 9th inning at bat that tomorrow’s off day wouldn’t be enough to recover? I’m actually ticked off. 

With the collapse the TIgers had along with how bad they have been playing I don't see anything to celebrate.  Even though they made the playoffs I still see this season as a huge letdown.

[chasfh]

2 hours ago, antrat said:

I wonder which of these series will get the most attention from the media?

ha   ha

Not just the from media, but from Baseball itself.

Three of the series feature Big Six teams (Cubs, Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers). All three of those are accorded full three-hour slots during times of day people are most likely to watch. One series contain teams from flyover country. That series is accorded only a two-hour slot, which means they anticipate viewers flipping from that to watch the Cubs when that one starts.

Now try to tell me they don't play favorites.

[chasfh]

10 minutes ago, Archie said:

With the collapse the TIgers had along with how bad they have been playing I don't see anything to celebrate.  Even though they made the playoffs I still see this season as a huge letdown.

OK, see you next year then.

[Tiger337]

9 minutes ago, Archie said:

With the collapse the TIgers had along with how bad they have been playing I don't see anything to celebrate.  Even though they made the playoffs I still see this season as a huge letdown.

I see the season as a whole as pretty much what I expected.  The end was was very frustrating and disappointing and nothing to celebrate, but they played way over their heads in the first half.  If someone told me at the beginning of the season that they would win 87 games and get a wild card. I would have been satisfied.  

[lordstanley]

1 hour ago, Archie said:

With the collapse the TIgers had along with how bad they have been playing I don't see anything to celebrate.  Even though they made the playoffs I still see this season as a huge letdown.

Agreed, especially since they had already made the playoffs last year to snap a 10-year drought. This year’s Tigers wouldn’t have made the playoffs in any year prior to 2022’s addition of a 3rd wildcard. 

The 2024 Tigers had the best record in baseball the final 1/4 of the season. The 2025 had the best record in baseball the first 1/2 of this season. Their run differential was right up there too. They won 100 games over a 162 game stretch spanning two seasons. So apart from McKinstry and Baez, I don’t think it was that obvious at the All Star break that their success was unsustainable. Sure, maybe  winning 100 games this year was never realistic even at the All Star break, but best record in MLB, best record in AL, 95 wins, wildcard round bye, 90 wins, AL Central title, home field for wildcard round were all targets that came and went. The Jays jumped from 74 wins to 94 wins but Tigers fans should be satisfied with a 1-win improvement over last year? Nothing to celebrate yet, making the playoffs only gives them a chance to redeem themselves and give them teeny weeny consolation this offseason compared to if the collapse had led to missing the playoffs completely. 

 

Edited September 29 by lordstanley

[kdog]

Making the playoffs two years in a row is nice...even with the expanded format. With the offense, these guys could sustain it. It's a bunch of decent players but no stars who can carry you out of a slump.  I can't explain the risp numbers but everyone crashed at once.

 

[lordstanley]

4 hours ago, antrat said:

I wonder which of these series will get the most attention from the media?

ha   ha

Tigers play at 1:08pm and the Red Sox-Yankees play at 6:08pm. If Tigers-Guardians goes past 4pm, probably all markets except for Cleveland and Detroit will switch to airing a 2-hour Red Sox-Yankees pre-game show. 

[monkeytargets39]

Walk Jose Ramirez.  Every time. 

[Archie]

2 hours ago, chasfh said:

OK, see you next year then.

I've got waaaay too much time invested this season so I'll see it through to the end.  I'm not a fair weather fan but it doesn't mean I can't be disappointed in their play or choices made by management.  I'm still hopeful and it ain't over until it over!

2 hours ago, Tiger337 said:

I see the season as a whole as pretty much what I expected.  The end was was very frustrating and disappointing and nothing to celebrate, but they played way over their heads in the first half.  If someone told me at the beginning of the season that they would win 87 games and get a wild card. I would have been satisfied.  

You are 100% correct.  Their record at the end of the season was right about where we put them at.  Maybe I expected too much after such a great first half.  The let down comes from sub .500 baseball they've been playing and not just the lack of quality players at the deadline but the less than quality players they did add to the team.  It was almost like they sunk the team on purpose.

[kdog]

The season was a stress test for Greene and Tork. We know what they are now. If you carry them forward, they need to be complemented with more talent. They can't carry a team.

[chasfh]

35 minutes ago, Archie said:

I've got waaaay too much time invested this season so I'll see it through to the end.  I'm not a fair weather fan but it doesn't mean I can't be disappointed in their play or choices made by management.  I'm still hopeful and it ain't over until it over!

You are 100% correct.  Their record at the end of the season was right about where we put them at.  Maybe I expected too much after such a great first half.  The let down comes from sub .500 baseball they've been playing and not just the lack of quality players at the deadline but the less than quality players they did add to the team.  It was almost like they sunk the team on purpose.

Solid save on the post. I was just a bit concerned we’d have to see you ****ting all over the team all playoffs long. That would have been a bummer. 

[Tiger337]

40 minutes ago, chasfh said:

Solid save on the post. I was just a bit concerned we’d have to see you ****ting all over the team all playoffs long. That would have been a bummer. 

There will be plenty of that from many people if they lose the wildcard series.  

Edited September 29 by Tiger337

[Tenacious D]

Of course I want them to win, but realistically don't think they have a chance.  The Indians are the more talented team this season and I suspect are in their heads.

At this point I have more confidence in Gavin Williams shutting us down than Skubal dominating the Indians.

Im looking ahead to next season.  I’ve been a bit of a Harris apologist, but that will end after this offseason if he doesn’t recognize that the Greene/Tork/Carp trifecta should be our 3rd-5th best hitters on the team.  Maybe McGonigle and Clark will eventually fill in as our two best hitters, but we need two consistently better offensive players next season, acquired from outside the org.

Also, let’s avoid the starting pitcher lottery picks and acquire an established #2, who can help us next season and serve as protection for a Skubal exodus.

[monkeytargets39]

20 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

There will be plenty of that from many people if lose the wildcard series.  

I don’t expect us to win- not because we suck but because our opponent is Cleveland….and they have tortured me as a fan for my entire life.  So I have grown to expect them to hurt me every year as much as possible.  I loathe them with every fiber of my being.  People who think our rival is Toronto or another AL Central team are out of their mind.  

[Tiger337]

7 minutes ago, monkeytargets39 said:

I don’t expect us to win- not because we suck but because our opponent is Cleveland….and they have tortured me as a fan for my entire life.  So I have grown to expect them to hurt me every year as much as possible.  I loathe them with every fiber of my being.  People who think our rival is Toronto or another AL Central team are out of their mind.  

It seems like for most of my life Detroit and Cleveland have not been good at the same time.  The central division team that has given me the most pain is Minnesota.  The Red Sox are the number one pain for me.  

[oblong]

28 minutes ago, Tenacious D said:

.

Im looking ahead to next season.  I’ve been a bit of a Harris apologist, but that will end after this offseason if he doesn’t recognize that the Greene/Tork/Carp trifecta should be our 3rd-5th best hitters on the team.  Maybe McGonigle and Clark will eventually fill in as our two best hitters, but we need two consistently better offensive players next season, acquired from outside the org.

Also, let’s avoid the starting pitcher lottery picks and acquire an established #2, who can help us next season and serve as protection for a Skubal exodus.

I'm not sure he thinks they are the guys to build around.  Not to relitigate the trade deadline stuff but I'm not surprised if he had a "Let's see what we can get from this group but I'm not making special plans for them" attitude.  

He go the job 3 years ago. They made the playoffs in 2 of the 3 full seasons he was GM.  

[Tigermojo]

22 minutes ago, monkeytargets39 said:

I don’t expect us to win- not because we suck but because our opponent is Cleveland….and they have tortured me as a fan for my entire life.  So I have grown to expect them to hurt me every year as much as possible.  I loathe them with every fiber of my being.  People who think our rival is Toronto or another AL Central team are out of their mind.  

I would LOVE to knock out Cleveland. No ragrets after that. Not even a vowel.

[Screwball]

23 minutes ago, monkeytargets39 said:

I don’t expect us to win- not because we suck but because our opponent is Cleveland….and they have tortured me as a fan for my entire life.  So I have grown to expect them to hurt me every year as much as possible.  I loathe them with every fiber of my being.  People who think our rival is Toronto or another AL Central team are out of their mind.  

Be glad you don't live in the middle of Indian country. Their fans are insufferable. 

[monkeytargets39]

5 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

It seems like for most of my life Detroit and Cleveland have not been good at the same time.  The central division team that has given me the most pain is Minnesota.  The Red Sox are the number one pain for me.  

Cleveland hasn’t been ever truly bad since the 80s.  They’ve been consistently competitive save for a random year or two since the mid 90s.  They haven’t seemingly ever had to go through a difficult rebuild.  

They almost always have a player that destroys us regardless of how good or bad they are.  They ALWAYS end up with good pitching staffs despite very few of their prospects being top of the prospect lists.  They very rarely blatantly end up losing trades.

Combine that with stuff like constantly contending for the division without ever spending money on free agents.  Being able to replace the major leaguers they trade with scrap parts and having it work.  I just wish this franchise would have a nice 10-12 run at the bottom of the division like the other 4 teams have had to endure.

All the times Jose Ramirez magically is at bat in big situations.  Stuff like Steven Kwan being perfectly positioned every single time.  They’re bottom of the order coming up clutch all the time despite collectively hitting .150 against the rest of the league.  The blown call on the Galarraga perfect game.  
 

I can’t stand them.

 

[IdahoBert]

4 hours ago, Archie said:

With the collapse the TIgers had along with how bad they have been playing I don't see anything to celebrate.  Even though they made the playoffs I still see this season as a huge letdown.

Whatever they were doing that gave them an inexplicable momentum has been erased. 

[SeattleMike]

17 minutes ago, monkeytargets39 said:

Cleveland hasn’t been ever truly bad since the 80s.  They’ve been consistently competitive save for a random year or two since the mid 90s.  They haven’t seemingly ever had to go through a difficult rebuild.  

They almost always have a player that destroys us regardless of how good or bad they are.  They ALWAYS end up with good pitching staffs despite very few of their prospects being top of the prospect lists.  They very rarely blatantly end up losing trades.

Combine that with stuff like constantly contending for the division without ever spending money on free agents.  Being able to replace the major leaguers they trade with scrap parts and having it work.  I just wish this franchise would have a nice 10-12 run at the bottom of the division like the other 4 teams have had to endure.

All the times Jose Ramirez magically is at bat in big situations.  Stuff like Steven Kwan being perfectly positioned every single time.  They’re bottom of the order coming up clutch all the time despite collectively hitting .150 against the rest of the league.  The blown call on the Galarraga perfect game.  
 

I can’t stand them.

 

1955-1993 the Indians were epically bad. Remember Major League, the move? The Indians were the team they chose to represent as the ultimate MLB underdog. My Dad grew up an Indians fan and always complained that the Tigers owned the Indians. Would be nice to flip back to that script. 

[IdahoBert]

22 minutes ago, SeattleMike said:

1955-1993 the Indians were epically bad. Remember Major League, the move? The Indians were the team they chose to represent as the ultimate MLB underdog. My Dad grew up an Indians fan and always complained that the Tigers owned the Indians. Would be nice to flip back to that script. 

I lived in Tucson from 1974 to 1987 and the Indians had spring training there at the time for something like 50 years in a row and I went to a lot of spring training games and I don’t remember ever meeting a single person in the entire city who would self identify as a Cleveland fan.

They were basically a profoundly frustrating team that made virtually no impression on the local population, which I don’t think is the case for Lakeland which is, however, a much smaller place. 

[Tenacious D]

1 hour ago, monkeytargets39 said:

I don’t expect us to win- not because we suck but because our opponent is Cleveland….and they have tortured me as a fan for my entire life.  So I have grown to expect them to hurt me every year as much as possible.  I loathe them with every fiber of my being.  People who think our rival is Toronto or another AL Central team are out of their mind.  

100% agreement with all of this