betterREDthandead

If I were Millen, I'd be tempted to threaten sit on Harrington past the June 15 bonus deadline. It's not my $4 million to spend, but if Miami's gonna play hardball, let 'em go into training camp without all their quarterbacks for all I care.

Thames has batted cleanup for a couple games too Jim Leyland has some weird ideas about the middle of the order. Inge, I don't mind in that 5th spot, but I still think Guillen needs to be there. Inge is great as a 9th hitter to set the table for the top of the lineup. Thames, Gomez, and yes, Monroe have 7th and 8th written all over them. Infante, too.

That's a toughy. Nobody in the lineup really makes me expect a hit. Then again, nobody makes me expect a weak grounder to second, either, which is a vast improvement over teams of the past. I'll have to go with Polanco. He's the one guy I don't really worry about him striking out. Polanco's the guy I want up there with a runner on third, because he'll get that run across, whether by slapping a base hit through the infield or hitting a sac fly. He'll make contact.

If Pudge can go 1 for 13 and the Tigers take two out of three from Oakland, that just shows how far the Tigers have come. I was just thinking as I watched the game yesterday, the Tigers have a better lineup, top to bottom, than the A's do, and that means they've come a long way. Even if they went with their strongest lineup with Kielty in LF and Swisher instead of Johnson at 1B, the Tigers are better up and down the batting order. Might even be better 1 through 5 in the rotation too. Who would you rather have, Nate Robertson (who I consider #5) or Joe Blanton? The A's are a perennial playoff team, so this is encouraging.

I used to have zero faith in Rodney as well....and I can't believe how long he's been around. Since 2002. I always think of him as this up-and-coming prospect sort, but he's 29. I don't think he'll ever lose his wildness, but hopefully that will work a little bit to his advantage. He can accidentally brush someone back with a 96 fastball and then freeze 'em with that real nice change. Would never work for a starter, but once through the lineup it's nearly unhittable.

Todd Jones is back and the Tigers sent Spurling to Toledo. That sorta surprises me. I really do think Tata ought to be in Toledo starting every fifth day. But Spurling hasn't been all there so far, and Tata's better than held his own, despite never playing higher than, what, Lakeland? Guess that puts Rodney back in the setup role. Getting Jones back is a big boost to the 'pen. We've got a bullpen that can really slam the door on people.

That at-bat really showed a lot about Inge. What a professional hitter. Knows he doesn't have to get the BIG HIT to be the hero and drive in runs. He just fouled off the crap he didn't like instead of swinging at just any offering and striking out or grounding into a double play. One of those situations where a walk is as good as a hit, and it loaded the bases to set up the winning run. GREAT at-bat. (he got bailed out a little by the first base ump though. but still.)

Funny that all the nicknames for Shelton (the non-Big Red ones) are drinks. Nice to see the Tigs get a comeback win today. Even though Rodney sure made it interesting. Ken Macha is going to be second-guessed for a week on his decision to try and close it out with Duchscherer instead of Street. Made them pay for that one

Bonderman throws (almost) nothing but fastballs to Oakland hitters and they tag him for three runs in the first. Stops throwing so many fastballs and he starts mowing them down. Imagine that. Now they just need to be PATIENT DAMMIT. Zito's throwing pretty wildly today. Lay off the junk already and wait for one.

For once the Tigers put runs on the board without Chris Shelton's help! Excellent. Big Red is too boring a nickname for Shelton. It's been done. He needs to be called Red Pop. So very Detroit. Much better than Big Red, which sounds like it should always be said with a strong Texas drawl.

Simple question. The arguments have all been pretty well played out over which goalie is better, but they're all based on which is more likely to win the Cup for the Wings (or not lose it). Think of this as more of a popularity contest. If you could somehow know in advance that the Wings would definitely win the Cup, which goalie - Legace or Osgood - would you rather see in net for the entire playoff run? I think that's the fairest way to ask which do you like better without any preference toward actual netminding ability coming into play.

This just in: Joel Zumaya still has the meanest stuff this side of a 26-year-old Roger Clemens. It's not fair for hitters to watch Mike Maroth soft-toss his way through seven innings and then have to try and catch up to Zumaya's gas. And Maroth, by the way, pitched a masterful game today. He's a candidate to pull a Kenny Rogers or a Jamie Moyer and pitch til he's fossilized. It's not like he's gonna lose anything off his blazing 85 fastball, and he has tremendous command when he's on. Conventional wisdom says the Tigers are likely to deal a starter at the deadline. My wisdom hopes it's Robertson and not Maroth.

Its baffling. This isnt the first time he's resting numerous starters at the same time. Are these guys sitting out that damn fragile that they cant play a day game after a night? I can understand Pudge, but damn... hes got Maggs AND Polanco out too. And the way the lineup is put together is pathetic! Inge hitting 5th? Thames hitting cleanup??? Jesus at least put Shelton and Monroe at 4 and 5! I know Leyland said he doesnt wanna move Shelton up but come on...Inge and Thames?!!! Is it just me or does Inge only hit well when he's at the bottom of the order? Seems like everytime he's moved up to 2 or 3 he just strikes out and doesnt do ANYTHING.. Well, Thames did almost hit a home run just now, but Hollandsworth decided he didn't like that idea. Bastard. Ordinarily I'd be thinking the Tigers could pull back into this, even down 7, but for some reason, Alexis Gomez doesn't inspire my confidence.

Why is Leyland completely emptying the bench? The only bench guy not out there is Santiago. Why would you put Wilson, Infante, Gomez up from Toledo, and Thames all out there in the same game? There's a reason they're not the starters. Bonderman didn't help matters, either. Pleh.

Guillen definitely belongs in that 5th slot. As you said, Dmitri makes no sense in front of Shelton - he'll either strike out, or clear the bases himself. And anybody but Dmitri would have scored on Shelton's double yesterday (the one where Dmitri got hurt). I like Dmitri a lot. He came to the Tigers after a crummy 66-96 season having signed a long-term contract and declared he was "in heaven" (music to my ears at a time when so many free agents were treating phone calls from the Tigers like 1 AM calls from a telemarketer). He stuck by the Tigers during those god-awful '02 and '03 seasons and hit like a monster despite being surrounded in the lineup by the likes of Warren Morris and Andres Torres. Dmitri's been one of the most flat-out loyal guys to the team and the city, and for that, I'll stick by him. That said, the lineup after Maggs at cleanup should always have been: Guillen, Shelton, Monroe, Dmitri, Inge. Let Shelton double in the runs in front of him and then get some power from the 8th spot, with Inge to set it up going back around. We'll just have to agree to disagree on Harrelson and Darrin Jackson (I think that's who replaced Paciorek). I wouldn't mind their tongue-drooping homerism if they could call a game, but they have absolutely nothing to add to the broadcast. They may as well head down for a mid-inning beer run and potty break for all I would have noticed. That's probably on the color commentator, Jackson.

Has anyone else heard the White Sox announcers? And if you have, do you agree with me that they're about the worst announcers in history? Biggest homers you've ever heard - you expect a little home-team perspective no matter what, but with these guys it's worse than anything you'll hear out of a Divealanche homer. They never call their players by their names, always nicknames that nobody else has for them. And they have no clue how to call a game - they'll sit there in total stone silence while three pitches go by, then one will go out on a limb with "Y'know, a home run would be really nice right about here." "Sure would." Then three more pitches of silence. Worst part is I know I've heard them before - about ten years ago. Or at least, I know that ten years ago, I heard the White Sox TV announcers continally refer to the Sox as the good guys and say things like "and we go to the top of the 7th, score is 5-2, bad guys." So either these clowns have been allowed to stay on the air for an obscenely long time, or the White Sox have a policy mandated complete on-air idiocy. In complete contrast, the Indians announcers were professionals on the air and while they were still clearly on Cleveland's side, they called the game square and kept a smooth broadcast going. Still makes me miss when George Kell and Al Kaline were calling TV games, though. There never was a better pair in the booth. Nothing against Paul Carey, he and Ernie were fantastic on the air, but Bucko the Circus Clown could have paired with Ernie Harwell and sounded good. Kell and Kaline had terrific chemistry. OK, rant over. Fortunately, we don't see the Chisox again til June, and hopefully the FSD broadcast will be on Extra Innings then.

Disney World beats the everloving pants off of Disneyland. It's no contest.

Haven't woken up when it's light out in a loooong time.

I'm hoping for anything that keeps him from hitting #756.

Nike already screwed up Michigan's jersey. The white road jersey has that stupid-ass bib-piping similar to what Miami wears, only it's in maize and it's a very thin line as opposed to a big thick stripe, so it doesn't show up well against the white. But yeah, just wait til Nike decides to outfit Michigan in VT-style crap with one maize sleeve on the blue jersey. Barf. F##k Nike and their uniform designs.

popcorn is generally considered incapable of serving in the traditional function of "dinner". unless beer is also involved

Sure is. To me one of the best features of these new parks is a view of the city out past centerfield. The new Busch Stadium has a fantastic view. Pittsburgh is another place where they have that as well....and of course, our own Comerica too

yeah....trying to identify a military vehicle by its color is like figuring out a breed of dog by how many legs it has.

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