2025-2026 Tigers Off Season Thread

[chasfh]

11 hours ago, Sports_Freak said:

Last season, I guessed he would wait until the off-season to change his hitting approach. Making a big change isnt something that can be done quickly.

But, IDK, spring training articles are usually fluff, feel good stories. You can't really put much stock in them. I mean, we're still waiting for the Bonderman change-up. 😆

This is exactly right, and I think we talked about that very thing here toward the end of last season. Riley is saying the right things about it, for the most part. We’ll see whether it results in much improvement over the long haul. 

[chasfh]

10 hours ago, oblong said:

I was in a co ed league that had something similar. There was a point of no return line and like you said it was a force out situation. And there was one of those plastic home plates used for indoor practices we would place next to the real plate to widen it so there isn’t any tripping. 

I’m fine with safety first bases—prefer them, actually—but safety home plate in co-ed leagues is an even better idea, to reduce the possibility that a 24-year-old ex-college baseball player trying to score will end up even inadvertently plowing into a 41-year-old mother of two playing catcher.

[Sports_Freak]

15 minutes ago, chasfh said:

This is exactly right, and I think we talked about that very thing here toward the end of last season. Riley is saying the right things about it, for the most part. We’ll see whether it results in much improvement over the long haul. 

Eliminating 25% of his strikeouts would turn him into a major superstar. As long as it doesn't eliminate too much of his power. But I'm really skeptical of spring training media reports. Like you said, we'll see...

[Edman85]

25 minutes ago, chasfh said:

I’m fine with safety first bases—prefer them, actually—but safety home plate in co-ed leagues is an even better idea, to reduce the possibility that a 24-year-old ex-college baseball player trying to score will end up even inadvertently plowing into a 41-year-old mother of two playing catcher.

I had a situation in mine where we had something like 4 HS shortstops in their mid 20's. I was the captain and had to be extra vigilant about making sure we had a capable 1B after one of their throws busted the face of somebody we had stashed at 1B. That one got moved to the outfield.

[oblong]

42 minutes ago, chasfh said:

I’m fine with safety first bases—prefer them, actually—but safety home plate in co-ed leagues is an even better idea, to reduce the possibility that a 24-year-old ex-college baseball player trying to score will end up even inadvertently plowing into a 41-year-old mother of two playing catcher.

and our league that catcher was my 31 year old pregnant wife!  

We're just out on a Sunday afternoon having fun and moving around and waiting for the post game BBQ and beers.  

The league ended after a season where a team was put together run by someone affiliated with the local HS.  He recruited some of the graduated softball players.  So yeah.... the girls were better than most guys.  We had a rule in place that if you walked a man, he goes to 2B and the woman coming to bat (the batting lineups alternated) could go to 1B immediately.

My last year in softball overall ended because at that point in our lives it was hard to find players.  Not worth the hassle. The bar that sponsored us burned down in 2014 (Howell's, @Motor City Sonics probably remembers that fine place).

 

[chasfh]

29 minutes ago, Edman85 said:

I had a situation in mine where we had something like 4 HS shortstops in their mid 20's. I was the captain and had to be extra vigilant about making sure we had a capable 1B after one of their throws busted the face of somebody we had stashed at 1B. That one got moved to the outfield.

When I was in the Detroit ad league back when I worked in that industry, our shortstop had been in the rotation for the University of Hawaii in the early 80s, and I was the first baseman. Not only did he throw the ball blazingly fast, he was also a left-handed thrower, and had a natural tail to his throws I'd never seen before. I remember worrying somewhat that I miss slightly miss a throw and it ends up busting my nose and a few teeth.

[chasfh]

15 minutes ago, oblong said:

The league ended after a season where a team was put together run by someone affiliated with the local HS.  He recruited some of the graduated softball players.  So yeah.... the girls were better than most guys.  We had a rule in place that if you walked a man, he goes to 2B and the woman coming to bat (the batting lineups alternated) could go to 1B immediately.

League I'm in now has that same rule, and some of the women will refuse to take the automatic walk because they're there to hit. When I see that happen, I push back in left field to where I play guys.

[Edman85]

Mine had auto walk for women if the guy in front was walked. I would always ask to be put in front of the weakest woman in the roster and would be super patient, almost trying to walk.

Edited yesterday at 03:04 PM by Edman85

[CaliforniaDreaming]

My softball story....I was in a league where just over the left field fence (standard 5 foot chainlink fence) was a playground for little kids. Big guys would regularly hit homeruns right onto the playground where the kids were playing. I wrote to the city telling them about the danger but heard nothing back. After the next ball landed in the playground I wrote them again. I was seriously scared for the kids and must have written 5 or 6 times through out the summer. In my last message to them I noted that I was keeping a copies of all my messages to them and when a kid is ultimately hit and killed, I will give it to whatever lawyer is representing the kid's parents. The fence was extended 20 feet higher within the week.

[Shinzaki]

Scariest softball thing for me was when I played in a co-ed bar league in the 80's.  A really cute girl was pitching and I hit one right on the screws right back at her...thankfully it did that hook thing and literally went around her head.  The ball was passing second base when she got her glove up. 

Last thing I wanted to do was ugly up a pretty barmaid

[Motor City Sonics]

7 hours ago, oblong said:

and our league that catcher was my 31 year old pregnant wife!  

We're just out on a Sunday afternoon having fun and moving around and waiting for the post game BBQ and beers.  

The league ended after a season where a team was put together run by someone affiliated with the local HS.  He recruited some of the graduated softball players.  So yeah.... the girls were better than most guys.  We had a rule in place that if you walked a man, he goes to 2B and the woman coming to bat (the batting lineups alternated) could go to 1B immediately.

My last year in softball overall ended because at that point in our lives it was hard to find players.  Not worth the hassle. The bar that sponsored us burned down in 2014 (Howell's, @Motor City Sonics probably remembers that fine place).

 

Oh yeah, I remember Howell's.     What is there now, condos?     We need more condos in the world.  

[oblong]

53 minutes ago, Motor City Sonics said:

Oh yeah, I remember Howell's.     What is there now, condos?     We need more condos in the world.  

Yeah upper floor condos but a Turkish coffee shop, a dessert place, and halal pizza.  Not to be confused with the Yemeni coffee place 3 doors down or the other dessert place next door.  Around the front is one of 4 chicken joints within 1/4 mile 

[casimir]

I was one of those unfortunate pitchers with not quite fast enough reflexes.  Line drive off of the left side of my midsection.  It bounced off of me and rolled in the direction of the 1Bdude.  He went to the bag as I went for the ball.  I barehanded it and tried to underhand it to him in one motion.  I didn’t let go in time and it sailed over his head.  I’m pretty sure I could have gotten him out.  This was the first inning.

To finish off the second inning, another line drive come backer, this time to the right of me.  It wasn’t going to hit me, and I instinctively reached out with my bare right hand (dumb, dumb, dumb).  I knocked it down, and with more calm and patience than before, grabbed it and threw him out.

I went to LF for the rest of that game.

Next day I wake up, and I have a bruise on my left side.  A very nice outline of the softball complete with some stitch marks from the softball.

[Screwball]

I was right handed but switched because I couldn't hit the floor if I fell off a chair. Didn't see many lefties, but it was inevitable. 18 and over league, this guy was pretty good. I knew he was going to buzz the tower and then feed me his nasty ass curve. He got a bit wild - hit me in the head first pitch - two at bats in a row. Next time up I batted right handed, got a single no less. That was a blind squirrel thing.

That might explain a lot.

[IdahoBert]

I’ve never been good at athletics in general, and since baseball especially requires an athleticism I sorely lack, I am more or less like Chance the Gardener in Being There. “I like to watch…” which on occasion is something that has its benefits.

[Motor City Sonics]

4 hours ago, oblong said:

Yeah upper floor condos but a Turkish coffee shop, a dessert place, and halal pizza.  Not to be confused with the Yemeni coffee place 3 doors down or the other dessert place next door.  Around the front is one of 4 chicken joints within 1/4 mile 

Corn on The Corner   (which is actually pretty good). 

[Sports_Freak]

And the JV media frenzy begins. Today, the Free Press speculating on him pitching in a nationally televised game;

"Verlander is scheduled to throw a bullpen Wednesday. It will be his first public bullpen in camp, though he has been seen playing catch on the backfields several times. He won't start in the first week of spring training games, so don't expect him in games until the first week of March.

One potential date for his first spring game: March 2 against the Atlanta Braves at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland. The game is set for 1:05 p.m. - and it's nationally televised on ESPN."