betterREDthandead

If Monroe is traded, I would almost guarantee Clevlen takes over in left. He can handle it. And if Bonderman is traded, the return will be enormous. A 23 year old pitcher, whose ERA has been dropping every year, and who features a sinking fastball, a slider as good as any in the majors, and a rapidly developing change? The only thing that would make him more valuable would be if he were a lefty.

As it should be. This could be the biggest regular season game since I don't know when. Maybe ever.

USC GOES DOWN. We all knew it would happen sooner or later. Oregon State 33, USC 31. So, barring a colossal upset in the next two weeks, the winner of Michigan-Ohio State gets a spot in the BCS title game, and after that....??? Anything can happen now. All those one-loss SEC teams are back in it, as is Texas, and a Big East team just might sneak through as well, if one stays undefeated. Hell, Rutgers (!!!!!) has a shot

Without a doubt. Those MSU fans that aren't hiding under the bed are digging the torches and the pitchforks out of the back shelf in the garage and preparing the stake upon which they will demand Smith's head. It's not "Will they fire him?", it's "When?" You don't lose to IU, and you definitely don't give up 46 points. Of course, IU could be a bowl team this year. The rest of their schedule is Minnesota, Michigan, Purdue, which looks like a 2-1 ride to me, for a finish of 7-5. Music City Bowl? Could be a dangerous game for Michigan. Go Blue! Ball State is 106th in the country for rushing yards per game, but 9th in passing yards per game. What do you figure the over/under is for how many times they run the ball against Michigan? Six?

His contract expires this year. I could have sworn I read somewhere that they extended him, but I couldn't find it. So, first order of business is to lock him down for another seven years. I think that if he were the type to want to prove himself and then look for another challenge, he'd want to win the Series. If Ilitch is smart, and I'm sure he is, he'll hand Dombrowski a blank check and a contract today. So, what about the offseason? Going around the starting lineup: At catcher, Pudge and Vance Wilson are signed through next year. I know our middle infielders are signed for a while, and I think Inge is locked down too. I see no reason to try and upgrade at third, Inge has a Gold Glove in his future. Center and right are set. Here's what I think the questions are: What do we do about first base? Do we go the way the White Sox did, to trade for a big bat? Re-sign Casey? Give Shelton the position back? What about left field? Monroe or Thames could be trade bait, and honestly, though I like them both, we need a more consistent bat out there, more contact and less striking out. What do we do with the guys in the minors that are starting to look major-league ready? Humberto Sanchez, Jordan Tata, Brent Clevlen, and maybe even Jair Jurrjens could start to try and force their way onto the major league roster. I definitely see a trade happening, and not much on the free agent market. How's this: Monroe, Shelton, Sanchez/Jurrjens to the Rangers for Mark Teixeira. Teixeira switch-hits and can absolutely slug.

At least we didn't lose to a team from New York. But I think I'll hate David Eckstein forever.

don't think I'm gonna be able to check ESPN or the local papers for a while...

Holy crap that was the most painful inning I've ever seen. That was only the first, I'm sure the other eight are gonna take a few years off my life. Looking on the bright side: Verlander's no hitter is still intact.

I should add that I no longer want to walk Eckstein. I want Verlander to crack his kneecap with a well-placed fastball. Either that or I want him to dislocate his shoulder when he goes through his uber-caffeinated motions at the plate. I like how all of a sudden there's revisionist history going on with Jim Northrup's Game 7 triple in 1968. Everyone's comparing it to the Granderson play, because Curt Flood "slipped" as he went back to catch it. Bull. Flood only slipped because he realized all too late he'd horribly miscalculated and tried to change direction. It was more like the Monroe play than the Granderson play. Both Monroe and Flood initially misjudged how hard the ball was hit and took a sideways path rather than running backwards as they should have. Speaking of 1968, Game 5 saw the Cardinals jump out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning off Mickey Lolich, and all seemed lost, but in the next 26 innings of play, the Cardinals would push just two more runs across. All is not lost. Of course, we don't have an ironman like Lolich who can pitch and win three complete games in seven.

I see Mursak is leading his team in points. Nice. Still, I tend to temper my excitement about junior stats. Nice to see him tearing it up - always better than stinking it up - but offensive numbers tend to be pretty inflated in those leagues.

Can you translate that article out of Swedish?

But they shouldn't be flinging the ball into the seats! I can understand jitters that cause wildness on the mound, but there's just no excuse for the errors.

And we know from being Tigers fans that we're sick and damn tired of losing Oh well, fine. All I can say is REMEMBER '68. You know what the worst part is? I was thinking while Eckstein was batting that I wanted to walk him. Eckstein had been hitting all day. Taguchi may as well be the Japanese word for "good field no hit". Lays down good bunts and plays the field well but there were two out and you can't drive in runs with your glove.

Damn. Damn Damn Damn. Dammit, I hate Eckstein. I hate everything about him.

f*** ECKSTEIN. f*** HIM.

Either you're being sarcastic or you're being ridiculous.

Yeah, I've heard those tip goals are only counting for half a goal this year. Good thing tipped goals were still worth a full goal in 2002, otherwise we'd have lost Game 3 of the SCF, who knows where it would have gone from there, and all summer we'd have been hearing "Igor is lazy and he sucks!" Also, praising the contributions of Lang clearly means ignoring everyone else's. If I say, "Lang played a really good game," what I really mean is, "Schneider sucked."

The stadium radar gun and the Fox radar gun were substantially different during Game 3 - but only when Zumaya was pitching. For all the other pitchers, the two guns were giving similar if not identical readings. But for Zumaya, Fox showed the usual 99-102 range, while the stadium gun showed 95-96. Verlander was actually afraid Zumaya was pitching hurt until he went back to the clubhouse to double-check with the TV, and Todd Jones says he wishes he had a fastball that you could artifically subtract 8 MPH from it and still come up with 95.

Mangino is bigger and rounder, and probably heavier than Friedgen in the end, not to mention he's definitely rockin' the moobs. But Friedgen is jowlier, and for pure gut action spilling over the belt, nobody tops the Fridge. Plus Mark is not a fat man's name. With a name like Ralph, you're destined for hugeness.

Zumayagate! I dunno though....it lacks a little something when compared to, say, the fans in the Metrodome....and I don't mean the people in the seats.

Um, who is Charlie Weis to rag on people for, quote, "eating cheeseburgers"? Actually I think that probably let on quite a bit about what he does in his own spare time. It's lucky for him Ralph Friedgen, ol' Waggle Jowls, still roams the sideline at Maryland because while Weis may have a bit of a largeness problem, astronomers are still trying to decide whether or not to classify Friedgen as a planetoid.

I agree, the offense has picked a bad time to go cold. I think the lineup needs tweaking: Polanco Maggs Guillen Monroe Casey Pudge Inge Granderson Pitcher That's what I'd try for this game. Granderson has been swinging the bat horrible this series, especially with runners on.

I acquired it through what I will call "previously acceptable techniques", but it has now inspired me to actually go out and buy the album. I discovered it while contemplating the purchase of Stadium Arcadium, and I noticed the song listed among the tracks, and decided to use previously acceptable techniques to get the song and decide. Because I like everything I've heard off of Stadium Arcadium so far, but if a song called "Especially in Michigan" had been poor, it would have turned me right off to the whole thing.

The most frustrating kind of game is when the opposing pitcher doesn't look all that dominating, but we can't hit him anyway. We've lost two games like that now.

Ever go through a phase with a song where you just can't get enough of hearing it and you have it on the computer or the iPod and you play it like five times in a row? I'm there now with "Especially In Michigan". I really dig the idea that Michigan has it's own rock song now, like Ohio and Alabama do (even if most of the song is basically an excuse to find words that rhyme with "Michigan".)