betterREDthandead

The Pistons don't have that kind of money. According to the article all they have left under the cap is the mid-level exception. I guess all that cap room they opened up by getting Cato and other moves is only for re-signing their own players. Maybe they can swing a trade for Garnett, though we saw how effective the collective wishing and hoping of LGWers was in trying to get all those NHL FAs. Wells is out of the question. He never did like the way he was treated in Detroit.

What a horrible day for Detroit. Stevie and Ben. Now I'm pissed at both sides of this deal. Was a cheesy million per year enough to bolt the team that gave you the chance to have that opportunity in the first place? And on the flip side, was a cheesy million per year really so hard to come up with from the Pistons' end? Thanks for the ring, Ben. May you learn the hard way the grass isn't greener. Talk to Grant Hill to find out how that went.

All-Star lineups announced: Pudge is a starter! Way to go, Tigers fans (and lovers of good common sense) there's no way Jason Varitek should have even been in the game, let alone starting. Kenny Rogers has also been named to the team. Finally, vote for Justin Verlander as the fans' choice among the last 5! He has tough competition with there being a rallying cry for Francisco Liriano.

Halfway point of the season and the Tigers are 55-26. The pace is for 110-52. Don't think they will finish quite that high, but 45-36 will get them to 100 wins, and a losing record of 39-42 in the second half will take them to the 94 wins threshold, which is the number at which no team in the wild-card era has failed to make the playoffs.

Semis are set: Germany vs. Italy and Portugal vs. France. Portugal is the one I'd like to see win it all, since it'd be their first. Wouldn't mind getting to watch Zidane go for as long as possible though.

Leyland has talked about using a six-man rotation in the second half of the season to protect the arms of the younger pitchers (in other words, he doesn't want Verlander throwing too many innings). That would leave spots for both Miner and Maroth.

Currently five pitchers with 10+ wins: Verlander and Rogers are two of them.

Robertson outduels the Rocket, the Astros don't cross the plate, and the Tigers win their fifth straight. is this what 1984 was like?

I couldn't believe Dave Borkowski. I had totally forgotten about him. Munson I knew was playing some catcher for Houston, but Borkowski, wow. Who's next, Andy Van Hekken, or maybe Eric Eckenstahler? Or yet another C.J. Nitkowski sighting?

I remember thinking, holy crap, he's 41 and not only did we give him Pudge money, they gave him two years. Faaaaaaaaanntastic. Little did we realize that money was buying a second pitching coach. The legacy he's alraedy left on this pitching staff is unbelievable. Between Leyland's frequent visits to the mound without going to the pen and Rogers' tutoring, Chuck Hernandez must feel like the biggest fifth wheel.

A while back there was a post about Bonderman, and how he may never be the ace he was projected to be because he didn't have the chance to develop a changeup in the minors, and won't have the chance to experiment in the majors. Here's the rebuttal, finally: http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article.../606260395/1050 Rosenberg of the Freep details how Bonderman learned a new grip for the change from Kenny Rogers and has been unhittable since. If that's the case, then will it be ridiculous or what, to watch Bonderman and Verlander grow from here on out? Rogers deserves an extra million from Ilitch for that. So far he has: -Taught all the pitchers how to field their position. -Brought Mike Maroth to the next level, teaching him (a fellow soft-tossing lefty) how to really mix, match, and control his pitches. -Shown Jeremy Bonderman a new changeup. -Exerted a calming influence on rookies, like Miner, Verlander, and Zumaya, thrown into key positions. -Won 10 games and pitched his way to an All-Star berth, possibly as the starter. This guy needs to be a pitching coach. I demand the Tigers hire him as such, or at least as bullpen coach or something, when he retires. Has he been worth every frickin' penny of that $16M or what?

MLB Extra Innings: even more indispensible than Center Ice. I've probably seen 80% of the action this year.

10-2 against the NL Central, only single losses to Cincy and Milwaukee blemish that. Been absolutely chewing up the National League. Of course, the Pale Hose are 10-1 as of right now, with a game against the 'Stros tonight. Frickin' White Sox. Oh well. National League right now can't hold a candle to the American League. The AL this year has won something like 61% of the interleague games. Hopefully Houston can at least take one tonight, it's really obnoxious that here we've won 9 of our last 10 and the Sox will be 10 of 10 if they win tonight.

50th win!

That was a hell of a goal by Maxi Rodriguez for Argentina. Might have been the best of the tournament so far. Glad to see Argentina advance - the only problem now is that one of the best matchups going has to come as early as the quarterfinals. Germany-Argentina should be fun.

Lucic should never have been sent off. That second yellow was a foul, clearly he grabbed ahold of the German player, but way short of a yellow. About half the time that sort of thing never gets called anyway. Sweden only played well in one quarter of the field: their attacking end just inside midfield. That's where Germany will need to tighten up. Lehmann wasn't tested, and the Swedes were just atrocious in their defensive end. If not for Isaakson that game could have been 7-0. Looking forward to this next match, Argentina vs. Mexico. Brazil and Mexico are the only teams I'm openly rooting against. Brazil has enough World Cups, thank you, they're like the New York Yankees of world soccer. And I still haven't forgiven the Mexicans for their "Osama" chant a while back.

Absolutely. I think the current rule in place (as I understand it, if you're carted off on the stretcher you have to wait for the ref to wave you back in) is far too lenient. I think they should take it out of the refs' hands. If the trainer has to come out and see you, you're out for 15 minutes, because obviously you need a rest if you're hurt so badly. And the stretcher means you're out for the game - if you can't even walk off the field, clearly it's for your own health that you be kept out of the game.

Verlander did indeed shut it down and not pitch for the system after the college season was over because of the contract talks. I read somewhere that the Tigers prefer it that way anyway, that even had Verlander signed, he would have done strength and conditioning work only and then pitched in the Arizona Fall League. Miller would be the same way. Ease their arms into the grind of big-league work is the idea. Remember that it's quite common in college to have a full week in between games for starting pitchers. As for tonight's game, love the bat work by the Tigers. It's much more fun to play merry-go-round on the basepaths than just hit a couple home runs. Better all around: demoralizes the opposition and makes the pitcher throw more pitches. Scott Speizio gets the Golden Sombrero tonight

Oh no. Oregon wore those ones on the left as experiments last year. Thank God I'm not an Oregon fan.

I think you're getting overexcited with Miller. Verlander only pitched a couple games last year and didn't do very well, and Miller supposedly doesn't have the stuff that Verlander does. I'd bet on Miller spending 2007 in the minors.

Not to mention he just ripped a double over Jenkins' head to lead off the third, and scored on Granderson's double. Nice, you gotta love it when the pitcher helps himself out. First major-league at-bat, too. Did I mention the DH sucks? Also have I ever mentioned that this season is basically a dream come true? 12 years in a row, 15 out of 17, my favorite team of all has lost more than they won. First season I ever really paid close attention to the Tigers, I was 7 years old, it was 1989, and I was reading in the papers how Sparky Anderson was home in California with a nervous breakdown because of all the losing.

It's not the diving - you see that all the time in hockey, and in basketball too as players will flop to take a charge. It's the faking of injury that I hate from soccer players. Diving is annoying, but sometimes you'll see fouls not called (basketball, football, hockey, wherever) because the fouled player kept his balance, so sometimes "going down easy" gives the refs a little visual aid. Faking injury though....if a hockey player or a football player pretended to be hurt for whatever reason, maybe stall the game or try and add penalty time, I wouldn't be surprised if someone on the other team made sure he wasn't faking next time.

Never happen. Dombrowski isn't about to trade the fans' favorite. For many people (including me) Zumaya is the answer to that question they've been asking: Who's your Tiger? The atmosphere is really something when Zumaya comes in the game, it's electric. Here's Rob Neyer on the subject:

DH must die. Interleague play, I guess I can live with it. Didn't like it, but as it is now, it's a real hit with a lot of people. As long as it remains a novelty, I can live with it. I like it that games like Tigers-Cubs are special because they don't come around every year. Yeah, it's been traditional that the AL and NL don't play, and yeah, no one gives a flying rip about Rockies vs. Devil Rays or whatever, but certain games like Tigers-Cubs, Red Sox-Braves, Dodgers-Angels, etc. have a real flair to them that it's kind of fun to see every so often, and yeah, would be a shame to deprive fans of if they never meet in the Series.

You said it. Man I cannot stand it when some of these pansy whiny soccer players go down like they got machine-gunned in the shins, all whining and screaming like they'll never walk again and they're perfectly fine, they just want to get that yellow card. Forgive the American snobbiness here, but you won't see the US team jaking it like that. It wouldn't fly in any league here. Definitely not hockey - you'd get run by someone big. Baseball has an unwritten code: "don't rub it", after you're hit by a pitch, that is. Jake it and you'll probably see a fastball in your eye. Football, don't even think about it. Fans hate it, players hate it.