2025-2026 Tigers Off Season Thread

[gehringer_2]

45 minutes ago, oblong said:

Yes.  I forgot specifically which book it was in but the anecdote was shared when discussing his move to Boston. He said MN was very specific in how they wanted his approach to be which wasn’t effective but Bill James saw something there. 

Of course MN also wanted him to field a position so bad match all around. 🙄

I tend to take what guys say when they change teams with a grain of salt though - they always want to make the team that wanted them look better than the team that didn't. If you look at the numbers, Ortiz was pretty much the same hitter in 2003 as in 2002. The big difference was the number of HR he hit at home going from the Metrodome (5) to Fenway (17), while his  road HR were almost unchanged - down one (15->14). So whether or not he liked the coaching at MN, he definitely didn't like the ballpark!

Edited Thursday at 04:07 PM by gehringer_2

[Tigermojo]

They had 10 position players with more than 1 WAR. Then there is Rogers, Vierling and Meadows who contributed the previous season. If they add a free agent/trade/prospect, they potentially lose production from a contributor. The addition better be worth it.

[chasfh]

6 hours ago, gehringer_2 said:

Of course MN also wanted him to field a position so bad match all around. 🙄

I tend to take what guys say when they change teams with a grain of salt though - they always want to make the team that wanted them look better than the team that didn't. If you look at the numbers, Ortiz was pretty much the same hitter in 2003 as in 2002. The big difference was the number of HR he hit at home going from the Metrodome (5) to Fenway (17), while his  road HR were almost unchanged - down one (15->14). So whether or not he liked the coaching at MN, he definitely didn't like the ballpark!

Not for nothing, players were also a lot freer with their words to the media a quarter century ago. Given the strong contingents that surround players now, including agents, publicity people, and personal managers, they get a lot more advice to shut the hell up when a microphone gets shoved in their face.

Plus, players today grew up being on video all the time throughout their lives, so they are more used to managing their behavior and understanding the negatives of being too free with what they say. Papi's generation did not.

[holygoat]

11 hours ago, oblong said:

Yes.  I forgot specifically which book it was in but the anecdote was shared when discussing his move to Boston. He said MN was very specific in how they wanted his approach to be which wasn’t effective but Bill James saw something there. 

That's interesting. I recall hearing a story that in an early season 2003 game, after sacrificing a guy from 2nd to 3rd, Ortiz high-fived the entire dugout, apparently feeling pretty good about himself. Grady Little pulled him aside and told him, "next time, just drive him in," which was supposedly the moment Ortiz understood his new role.

[Tiger337]

Tigers with most WAR through age 24: Cobb 47 Kaline 34 Bush 19 Greenberg 16 Trammell 16 Fryman 16 Whitaker 14 Thompson 12 McCosky 11 Heilmann 11 Greene 11 Manush 11 Jackson 10 Freehan 10

 

 

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[Tenacious D]

8 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

Tigers with most WAR through age 24: Cobb 47 Kaline 34 Bush 19 Greenberg 16 Trammell 16 Fryman 16 Whitaker 14 Thompson 12 McCosky 11 Heilmann 11 Greene 11 Manush 11 Jackson 10 Freehan 10

 

 

sports-reference.com

Player Batting Season & Career Stats Finder - Baseball | Stathead

Find single seasons, combined seasons data for players with most home runs in single season, combined seasons, career and more. Get all of this data on Stathead and creat

 

Is that our old friend, McCosky?

[papalawrence]

6 hours ago, Tiger337 said:

Tigers with most WAR through age 24: Cobb 47 Kaline 34 Bush 19 Greenberg 16 Trammell 16 Fryman 16 Whitaker 14 Thompson 12 McCosky 11 Heilmann 11 Greene 11 Manush 11 Jackson 10 Freehan 10

 

 

sports-reference.com

Player Batting Season & Career Stats Finder - Baseball | Stathead

Find single seasons, combined seasons data for players with most home runs in single season, combined seasons, career and more. Get all of this data on Stathead and creat

If you include pitchers, Fidrych was at 12.0 at age 22. Newhouser would also make the list

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/fidryma01.shtml

Edited Saturday at 11:06 AM by papalawrence

[Edman85]

6 hours ago, Tenacious D said:

 

Is that our old friend, McCosky?

Chris is Barney's grand nephew. There is a relation.

Edited Saturday at 11:08 AM by Edman85

[Shinzaki]

You don't see kids named Barney these days...is it that much worse than Tyler?

[chasfh]

52 minutes ago, Shinzaki said:

You don't see kids named Barney these days...is it that much worse than Tyler?

Ask a Gen Z parent. 

[Arlington]

The purple dinosaur killed the name Barney for a few generations of human parents.  

[gehringer_2]

6 minutes ago, Arlington said:

The purple dinosaur killed the name Barney for a few generations of human parents.  

also Barney Rubble and Barney Fife for the gens before that.

[chasfh]

27 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

also Barney Rubble and Barney Fife for the gens before that.

I don't know, Barney Rubble must have been considered a snack to be able to keep that stone hottie Betty in the fold.

[Motor City Sonics]

5 hours ago, gehringer_2 said:

also Barney Rubble and Barney Fife for the gens before that.

That Barney Rubble, what an actor !

 

(bonus points if you can pull that reference)

[Stormin]

14 hours ago, papalawrence said:

If you include pitchers, Fidrych was at 12.0 at age 22. Newhouser would also make the list

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/fidryma01.shtml

Norm Cash had a cumulative WAR of 0 at age 24 and ended up with a career fWAR of ~55.  Does that count for anything?

[Tiger337]

2 minutes ago, Stormin said:

Norm Cash had a cumulative WAR of 0 at age 24 and ended up with a career fWAR of ~55.  Does that count for anything?

It counts for a lot!  My motivation for the list was to compare Greene's early career to past Tigers.  

[Tiger337]

7 hours ago, chasfh said:

I don't know, Barney Rubble must have been considered a snack to be able to keep that stone hottie Betty in the fold.

She was very sweet too, whereas Wilma was kind of a b****

[gehringer_2]

17 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

She was very sweet too, whereas Wilma was kind of a b****

Wilma was supposed to have edge. The Flinstones was more or less (mostly more) an animated remake of the Honeymooners. so Wilma was modeled on Audrey Meadows' Alice, who was a tough cookie.

[1984Echoes]

2 hours ago, Motor City Sonics said:

That Barney Rubble, what an actor !

(bonus points if you can pull that reference)

I started to look this up not even pertaining to your reference...

But multiple ideas started popping up in my head...

Mel Blanc? The voice actor for Barney in the Flintstones? ... Nah!

Rick Moranis from the Flintstone movies...? Nah!!! (Rick Moranis... what an actor!!!)

HOLY CRAP!!!

I LOVED Night Shift when I was a kid and barely even remember that movie.

Michael Keaton TORTURED Henry Winkler in that! Great fun! Hilarious! I'm going to have to watch that again...

And it HAD to be Keaton that uttered that line...!

[Tiger337]

54 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

Wilma was supposed to have edge. The Flinstones was more or less (mostly more) an animated remake of the Honeymooners. so Wilma was modeled on Audrey Meadows' Alice, who was a tough cookie.

Yes, I know.  They were just cartoon characters.  It was a good show.  

[Motor City Sonics]

9 hours ago, 1984Echoes said:

I started to look this up not even pertaining to your reference...

But multiple ideas started popping up in my head...

Mel Blanc? The voice actor for Barney in the Flintstones? ... Nah!

Rick Moranis from the Flintstone movies...? Nah!!! (Rick Moranis... what an actor!!!)

HOLY CRAP!!!

I LOVED Night Shift when I was a kid and barely even remember that movie.

Michael Keaton TORTURED Henry Winkler in that! Great fun! Hilarious! I'm going to have to watch that again...

And it HAD to be Keaton that uttered that line...!

I heard an interview that Jim Harbaugh did on 97.1 and as the interview was ending Harbaugh threw out there "that Barney Rubble, what an actor" and nobody got the reference.      He probably had Connor Stallions tape the movie while a neighbor was watching it. 

"Name of the deceased,  Something Polish?" comes just after this clip ends.        Due to changing morals - some people might find a movie about prostitutes played for comedy in poor taste, but it's actually a pretty PG movie.    Ron Howard's second film as a director (the first was Grand Theft Auto, if you can believe it).      This was great for Henry Winkler too - because he couldn't get parts because people would only see him as the Fonz and he needed a friend to pull him out of that.   So glad he got an Emmy for Barry, he was great in that. 

 

 

Edited 16 hours ago by Motor City Sonics

[Motor City Sonics]

9 hours ago, gehringer_2 said:

Wilma was supposed to have edge. The Flinstones was more or less (mostly more) an animated remake of the Honeymooners. so Wilma was modeled on Audrey Meadows' Alice, who was a tough cookie.

Wilma suffered from the whole thing that made people hate Skyler White.   She tried to provide common sense and put a stop to Fred's stupidity.   The Wet Blanket.  But in the end, she was usually right.   

 

[papalawrence]

You all passing over grown up Pebbles?

[casimir]

This place needs a baseball game.  Are there any Australian Baseball League games today?

[chasfh]

3 hours ago, papalawrence said:

You all passing over grown up Pebbles?

Was she grown up? I thought she was in high school?