2019 trade package #21: Scribbled Ink

A couple Saturdays ago I got to do another fun in-person trade with fellow Michigander Paul of Scribbled Ink while we attended that day's Tigers/Red Sox game.  He had an extra ticket available and I jumped at the chance to get to a game for free since I hadn't been yet this year, mostly owing to the team's awful roster and performance.

Despite some extremely persistent rain that caused a four-hour delay I had lots of fun even taking into account starter Jordan Zimmermann's trademark ineffectiveness.  Mookie Betts and birthday boy Andrew Benintendi put on a show for the visitors while the Tigers rallied to make it interesting.  Meanwhile, Paul was somehow able to sell both of our giveaway items--Miguel Cabrera bobblehead picture frames--and I used a gift card to buy both of us a 10-card set commemorating the '84 champs.  More on that in a future post.

Anyway, I'm always glad to trade with Paul, especially in-person so we save the shipping cost and risk of USPS destruction.  Also, he's always good for stuff I know I'll need since he's a TCDB wizard.  Here's what he brought me this time:

First up is a 2005 Bazooka 4-in-1 sticker starring PC guy Ken Griffey Jr. and a supporting cast of Bartolo Colon, Manny Ramirez, and Dontrelle Willis.  Who would have thought that 14 years later Colon would still be active?!  Also, I wonder if any of my readers are young enough that they don't remember how much of a sensation Willis was with the Marlins?

Junior's fellow HOF "G"-man Tony Gwynn is next, in the form of a sweet, uh, Sweet Spot base from '03, plus a rare baseball entry from Press Pass Fusion (2009).  The latter is a college-themed product that includes baseball, basketball, and football, plus less sporty things like poker and racing.

Paul may not be a college collector like I am but he definitely knows which one I collect, and that explains the next four cards of former Michigan diamond stars Drew Henson, Rich Hill, and Barry Larkin.  Henson obviously flamed out, but I'm glad that "Dick Mountain" is still going--at least somewhat, since he's still on the IL.  He's the other two-card guy today with Topps flagship base issues from 2017 and '19, giving me 298 unique Hill items.  Almost milestone time again!  Larkin, meanwhile, pops up on one of his Donruss Originals appearances from 2002, a fun reminder of a set I really enjoy.

One good Junior is worth another so why not have Cal tag along?  The throwback SS looks right at home on the vintage-y 2014 GQ N174 insert, which I'm assuming is a reference to one of the many old-old-old school sets cataloged by Jefferson Burdick.

And finally, Paul covered his bases (pun not intended) with a new Verlander insert for me.  I initially mistook this 2018 Topps Chrome parallel for an X-Fractor because that's where my aging collector's mind goes when it sees this pattern, but eventually I believe I correctly pinned it down as a Prism Refractor.  Refractors are awesome, JV is awesome, this card is awesome, end of story.

That marks the end of the card items but Paul had another surprise in store:

A super glossy paperback book made around the time Ripken broke Gehrig's Iron Man streak.  He said he found this at a garage sale, and hearing that makes me think I should make more of an effort to check them out once in a while.  There's a ton to enjoy here and I'll likely get down to reading it soon, but for now here's a look inside:

You can see the top cover is embossed or raised while the inside cover is glossy like the rest of the book.

There are sections on different topics by a number of authors, discussing his offense and defense, comparing him to Gehrig, highlighting his family, etc.  I grabbed a shot of this two-page spread because of the sweet six-panel action photo at the bottom.

Besides the articles there's a number of one- and two-page photos like this one of Cal waiting on-deck at Camden yards.  This is very much a visually appealing book!

Lastly I'm including a look at the book's final section (other than an appendix with an interview), a career timeline.  I like how each page covers a year while the timeline below goes into specific events and includes examples of his baseball cards and magazines, among others.

While paging through the book I also came across this fold-out poster advertising cards from the 2006 season.  Paul mentioned he had a bunch of these from a previous retail job and was thoughtful enough to include it.  Each team is represented (Pudge for the Tigers, in this case), with a card from Fleer, Upper Deck, or Topps.  Cool!

Paul, thanks again especially for inviting me to the game, and for all of this great stuff.  I know you don't have much time for blogging anymore thanks to TDCBing, but I'm looking forward to your next summary post!

6/2/18 card show AND Tigers game report: a great day? :Repeated nodding:

Last Saturday ended up being one of my best days of 2018 so far, starting with a show, ending with a Tigers game, and some extra fun in between!  To prove how great it was I'm going to recap both the show and game in one post.

First up was a trip to the usual monthly show in Taylor.  I had a friend with me coming to the game and didn't want to keep them waiting while diving through the boxes for too long (plus I eventually run out of patience anyway) so I wasn't at it as long as usual.  Still, I came out with almost 100 cards for a nice even $20--mostly quarter cards except for a few $1 additions.

A number of those are football inserts that I'm showing off on this evening's TMM post, so please sure to head that way when you're done here.  As always a large chunk will be going towards trade packages while I've got a few things for you to see right here:

We'll start with this 2008 Topps Moments and Milestones card of former blog namesake Curtis Granderson.  Curtis has a few cards in the product, which contains numbered versions highlighting particular stats, such as his 23 homers in 2007--the year he piled up that many triples, as well as 20+ doubles and steals to form a prolific foursome.  As you can see here this is card #8 from the home runs subset, but he's got plenty of others to chase.

As it turns out this ended up being interesting foreshadowing for later in the afternoon....

Hooray for 90s inserts!  This pair of Tony Gwynn parallels hails from Score's 1998 Rookie/Traded product, which continued the silver foil Showcase insert from the flagship version.  Score!

Speaking of pairs, here's some pocket aces, in a manner of speaking.  I ended up finding two Greg Maddux inserts from the early 2000s I liked:  2000 Pacific Invincible's Diamond Aces and 2003 Ultra's Photo Effex.  As always, "ace" is an understatement when describing Maddux.

You just never know who the big winner will be until you walk out of the show, and in this case it was #1 baseball PC guy Cal Ripken Jr. with eight (his uniform number, of course) new additions. 

We begin in the early 90s with a pair of '92 Topps Gold Winners.  I never get sick of that shot of Ripken next to the Gehrig memorial.  Sticking with the decade but jumping forward we have high end offerings in the form of 1999 Flair Showcase Row 3 and SPx.  Did Showcase ever feature a bad design?

Moving into the early 2000s I came up with another fantastic pair:  2001 Topps HD and 2003 Playoff Portraits.  HD was another one of those beautiful Topps products that fell by the wayside so we could instead suffer through the endless garbage they offer today, but at least its light burned bright for a couple years.  Portraits, meanwhile, was a very nicely done artistic effort, and I continue to chase my PC guys from that set.

We'll finish up the show recap with some more recent examples:  2016 Diamond Kings and 2017 Stadium Club.  Both are fairly recent revivals of classic brands and are each executed very well.  Stadium Club's continuing quality proves that all is not lost when it comes to Topps!

With the show out of the way we headed east for the baseball game and a fun giveaway.  Because we parked in the structure of one of the nearby casinos--free parking and a short walk to Comerica--we both played the slots for a bit.  I threw some cash and free play into one of my favorites of late, the Simpsons, and just a few spins later was rewarded with a win that took care of the day's expenses with a bit left over.  Sure is nice to get paid to have fun!

Shortly after we made for the ballpark in hopes of snagging the day's promotional item, one of the main reasons I picked this game.  Despite bad luck in the past, the day's good fortune continued and I was able to bring home my prize:

a Bill Freehan bobblehead!  The Tigers are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the '68 champs, and the former Wolverine/Tiger is the second of four players to receive this honor.  You can see the rest as I decided to scan the four sides of the box for completeness:

At this point my day was pretty much already made, and we settled into our seats in foul territory in right field, an area called

"Kaline's Corner" to honor the turf roamed by Mr. Tiger.  The weather was gorgeous and our view was great, and happily the game turned out to be a fun one.

Here's my scorecard with a few notes:

1. Jeimer Candelario, the prize of last year's Alex Avila/Justin Wilson swap with the Cubs, led off the bottom of the first with a homer, and many of us thought the rout was on.  Not so much, though, thanks to Blue Jays starter J.A. Happ's excellent eight strikeout performance.
2. Also, Toronto took the lead in the third with a couple doubles and a single.
3. New RFer Nicholas Castellanos came up with a clutch two-out double to knot up the score in the bottom half, though!
4. Unfortunately, Tigers start Matt Boyd gave up a pair of solo homers in the fifth to put Detroit down again.  An impressively large Toronto contingent made a respectable amount of noise throughout the game, especially during this inning.
5. He got put in!  Curtis Granderson replaced starting Blue Jays LF Teoscar Hernandez after the latter fouled a ball off his foot.  The former Tiger favorite struck out twice and couldn't quite haul in what would've been a tough catch.  Needless to say I was thrilled to see him back in Motown, even for just a game.
6. Castellanos was at it again (as was the very productive-for-this-game bottom of the lineup) in helping to tie the game up in the bottom of the fifth.  His bat has certainly responded to the team moving his glove to the outfield.
7. Boyd overcame giving up four runs to put up a decent effort by making it through seven innings, better than it looked like he'd do after giving up those two fifth-inning homers.
8. The "rally goose" story was all over at least the local sports news a couple weeks ago, and it lead to a fun hype video up on the scoreboard during the Tigers' eighth-inning rally.  Of course everyone went nuts--it certainly didn't hurt that it worked!
9. Catcher John Hicks was the surprise hero with a huge single during that rally.  He'd struck out in each of his previous three ABs, but following a Miguel Cabrera single (after two strikeouts of his own), Victor Martinez ground-rule double (which temporarily prevented a run) and Niko Goodrum intentional walk, the backstop got one to drop into shallow center to plate the game-winner and first of two insurance runs.
10. As bad as the Tigers' bullpen can be, relievers Louis Coleman and Joe Jimenez had things on lockdown for that afternoon, throwing two perfect innings and sending everyone home happy.

That was it for my super Saturday, one I hope I can top later this year.  In the meantime I have a COMC package arriving possibly as soon as tomorrow, a Sportlots cart that's almost ready (I'll be testing their Box option and report back!), and plenty more.  Eat 'em up, Tigers!

The Royal "We"

When I went to a pair of Tigers games back in mid-September I thought I was done for the year, but then my work source came up with one last pair of tickets for a Friday night tilt against one of our biggest division rivals, the Royals.  With Detroit still in the thick of the Wild Card race at the time, plus wunderkind Michael Fulmer once again taking the hill, I was thrilled to be heading back to the park one more time this season.

Here's a look at my ticket, which is of the season variety and hence features Tigers players.  My two others this year were Jose Iglesias and Miguel Cabrera (both of which I kept), but needless to say I was thrilled to get Verlander on this one, which I took as a very good sign (even though he wouldn't pitch that day).

Here's a gander at my scorecard for what ended up being an 8-3 home team win:

A few notes:

• Fulmer once again lived up to his excellent reputation by retiring the first eight batters he saw, four of them by strikeout, including striking out the side in the second.  He'd finish the game with nine, and struck out eight of the Royals' starters in seven spectacular frames
• I get very angry when my favorite teams' pitchers walk guys.  Why?  Observe KC's Danny Duffy's first inning.  He walked three of the first four hitters, then allowed a run on a wild pitch/catcher's throwing error.  That might have been the worst of it but then Justin Upton actually came up big with a double to knock in another run.  The Tigers scored a pair on just one hit.  Throw strikes!
• Upton was surprisingly effective in this game, and for the first time that I got to see in-person.  His two-out double in the first inning was big, and then he absolutely smoked a no-doubter into the left field seats in his next at-bat
• Cameron Maybin and Victor Martinez joined in the homer fun as well, with the latter starting off the festivities with a solo shot in the third, and the former following up his teammates with a two-run shot the next inning
• Mark Lowe continued to show why he was such an awful free agent signing, coming into the ninth with an 8-1 lead and allowing a pair of runs on a single, walk, and two-out, two-run triple.  The walk was the only allowed by a Tigers pitcher this game, and (B)Lowe simply wasn't throwing strikes when he needed to.  Shane Greene came on to record the final out, and by strikeout no less
• This victory allowed me to end the year with a three-game winning streak I can take into next season!

A wild weekend of wins

Last weekend I was treated to free tickets to a pair of Tigers night games from two different work colleagues--Friday against the Orioles, then Monday vs. the Twins.  This year's team has been an inconsistent squad that doesn't look likely to make the playoffs, but it's still fun to get down to Comerica Park for a game or two, especially when it's free!

Friday night's affair had me in the seats behind the right field wall just a few rows back.  I'd sat there thanks to the same work friend back in July for a tilt with the Twins, which unfortunately didn't go Detroit's way.

It was a beautiful night for baseball, plus I was excited to see likely AL Rookie-of-the-Year Michael Fulmer on the hill for Detroit.  He definitely didn't disappoint.

Here's a look at my scorecard:

A few notes:

• Fulmer went a strong 7 IP while giving up just 2 ER, a.k.a. a quality start.  Naturally the bullpen, in this case Alex Wilson, hung him out to dry in terms of a decision, then vultured the win when Detroit came back.  Anyway, it was a treat seeing a guy who has future ace written all over him
• See that little "7!" for Hyun Soo Kim's at-bat in the 3rd?  I like to use a "!" when I see a big play I'd like to remember.  In this case, LF Justin "Mendoza" Upton made a nice grab to take away a homer from the Orioles LF, though he made it look effortless.  Not unlike Upton's plate appearances--three strikeouts as part of an 0-4 day
• Baltimore scored their three runs on just five hits, with Adam Jones leading the way with a pair of singles and a walk.  Surprisingly, Detroit held big star Manny Machado in check with an 0-4 day I didn't see coming
• Miguel Cabrera had a similarly rough day with three Ks; his rough day along with a typical Upton performance and not much (until late) from Victor Martinez stalled the offense
• Not J.D. "Every day I'm hustlin'" Martinez, though--he singled in three straight ABs and walked, scoring Detroit's first run
• V-Mart hit a dramatic eighth inning blast to break the tie, and that was more than enough for closer Francisco Rodriguez to send us home happy

With a new winning streak on the line I headed back after work Monday evening for another beautiful night, this time to watch a divisional matchup against Minnesota.  This time I was sitting behind home a bit towards the visitors' dugout, WAY the hell up, which was a lot of fun thanks to the view:

One of Fuji's favorite players, Kurt Suzuki, was in the lineup for the Twins, so I took a few shots.  Here he is before his second inning AB:

Stepping up to the plate:

And taking a hack:

He went on to strike out, but I can't imagine he felt that bad--Tigers starter Daniel Norris finished with a crazy 11 in 6+ IP.  Norris had himself a night, striking out every Minnesota starter at least once except SS/3B Eduardo Escobar.

More scorecard goodness:

• Suzuki managed just one hit but it was a big one:  a solo homer, one of two allowed by Norris.  2015 All-Star 2B Brian Dozier hit his 40th in this game as well
• Detroit's own 2B, Ian Kinsler, started things off with a solo homer, and unlike the previously-mentioned Twins game from July, I didn't miss it!  The Tigers came close to scoring another run on a J.D. Martinez grounder, but after the umpires originally ruled him safe, the Twins challenged and the call was correctly overturned
• Norris was cruising for a while, but as with two of the three pitchers out of the bullpen that night he gave up a pair of walks, which made things more difficult than necessary
• Still, the pen locked things down for 2 2/3 innings and this time Shane Green swiped himself a win
• Tyler Collins took over for Upton in left after the latter injured his leg, possibly on an attempt to snag Dozier's eventual homer.  Collins performed exactly as Upton would have at the dish (for a fraction of the cost) by going 0-3 with a strikeout
• Fill-in 3B Andrew Romine surprised me by having a pretty nice game, going 1-1 with a double, HBP, and walk, the latter of which tied the game back up in the bottom of the 7th
• That was a fun rally, as SS Jose Iglesias followed with a double that scored Romine.  The Twins challenged the very close play at the plate and lost.  The very next play was an Ian Kinsler sac fly that featured another bang-bang play at the dish, and this one went the Tigers' way as well
• Cabrera was having another off night when he decided to give the Tigers a bit of insurance with a moon shot to right-center to make it 4-2
• Rodriguez made things much more interesting in the bottom of the 9th this time after getting two outs.  He walked Byron Buxton and Dozier, then got OF Robbie Grossman to ground out to short

I'm going to guess these are the last games I'll end up attending this year, but at least I finished on a high note with a pair of wins, one of which was secured by a late homer!

On a closing note, if you're still reading this, Fuji, I kept a small souvenir for you that I'll send at some point in the future.

2015 Tigers game report: 9/21 vs. Chicago White Sox

A couple Mondays ago (Sept. 21) I went to my first (and only) MLB game of 2015.  This was the first part of a day/night doubleheader against the White Sox as a make-up game from a couple months ago.  While it was cold and rainy for the originally-scheduled day, the weather was absolutely gorgeous on Monday.  Not a single cloud in the sky and the temperature was perfect--basically an ideal day for a game.

I was taking a work friend as a retirement gift and thanks to Stubhub was able to land us seats in the front row between the two bullpens in left field:

There's Detroit's starter for the day, Kyle Ryan, warming up.  I knew not to expect much out of him but was pleasantly surprised by his effort.

And here's the be-mulleted Jeff Samardzdzdidzjiddza.  Detroit may finish behind the Sox this year but at least we didn't trade for this jackass.  That's what you get for overpaying for a Notre Dame alum!  Jeff Samartass ended up getting the last laugh, though, as you'll see later.

One last shot of the view from my seats as the Tigers took the field.

And here's a look at my scorecard:

So I came to this game expecting fireworks--Detroit's Kyle Ryan was more of a spot-starter and Jeff S. had been absolutely brutal for much of the year.  Instead, Ryan went a quality 7 IP while allowing a pair of runs.  The first was on an Adam Eaton double that required a replay to overturn what looked like a beautiful throwout by RF Steven Moya while the second was a HR by #9 hitter Carlos Sanchez, a shot that bounced off the bullpen about five feet to my left and then a few rows up.

The story of the game turned out to be Chicago's starter, who needed all of 88 pitches (and just a bit more than two hours) to dispatch a Tigers squad resting some of its best players for the evening game (notably Miguel Cabrera and Rajai Davis).  The one hit he allowed was a cheapie blooper by Victor Martinez.

Despite all that, it was a fun day to be at the park for beautiful weather and another Tigers game.  Hopefully next year I'll be able to start a new in-person winning streak!

2014 Tigers game report #2: vs. Minnesota 9/28

Well the Tigers may have been swept out of the 2014 playoffs by a very good Baltimore club, but a week ago today I went to my second in-person game of the year (my first was against Oakland back in June) as Detroit hosted the Twins for game #162.  The Tigers' magic number to win the division was 1, and the White Sox had already proven they were of no help to Detroit as they gave in to the Royals, who went on to take the wild card, so it was a must-win for the home team.

A co-worker of mine had offered me a ticket just a couple days earlier, and we ended up in the right field balcony, a view I enjoyed while planting my butt in some of the most comfortable stadium seats I've ever seen.  I snapped a few pics, but first we'll take a quick run through my scorecard:

1.  David Price was Detroit's starter for this all important game, and he proved to be the right guy, going seven-plus innings while allowing just four hits. He also struck out eight, which allowed him to finish with the league lead in that category with two more than Cleveland's Corey Kluber. Dude was ON! I was also happy to see my fifth different Tigers pitcher going back to last year (Verlander, Scherzer, Fister, Sanchez).
2.  Ian Kinsler was the other star of this show. From my vantage point in right field I watched as the 2B hit a beautiful arc of a homer to left in the third. He singled in the sixth, then doubled home a run in the 8th, amassing 75% of the team's hits and 67% of its RBIs.
3.  With one out and Kinsler on first in the sixth inning, Miggy came up to face Twins starter Kyle Gibson for the third time.  The righty hard mostly held the Tigers in check to that point, but Cabrera had already seen him twice, and sure enough the slugger absolutely tattooed a ball to center that kept going, and going, and going...into CF Aaron Hicks' glove at the warning track.  A bit to the left or right and that goes out for a big hit!
4.  Extremely light-hitting SS Andrew Romine keyed the eighth inning rally with a one-out walk and a steal.  Young OF Ezequiel Carrera also chipped in a walk, and both of those guys came around to score a pair of key insurance runs.
5.  I loved that Price lasted as long as he did, getting the first out of the eighth, but based on his pitch count it made sense to go to the (awful tire fire of a) bullpen.  I really don't care for any of our relievers, but Joba may be my least favorite.  Still, he managed to induce two quick grounders for a hold.  Joe Nathan then got three popups, the final caught by catcher Alex Avila, to end it.  To say this was the pen's last hurrah would be putting it lightly.
6.  We stayed for a while to enjoy as the fans and players celebrated, the latter of whom came back out of the clubhouse to douse a good portion of the third-base line with champagne.  The scoreboard made sure to note that this was Detroit's fourth straight division title.  I'm old enough to know I shouldn't take that kind of success for granted--after 1987 we didn't sniff the playoffs until 2006, so that was definitely worth remembering!

Now here's a few shots I took from my seats:

My view from right field.  The seats were a swivel, meshy kind of thing, and came with a table in front and full service.  Not bad for $34!

Torii mans RF.  The fans in this corner of the park simply love him, and it's fun to see him return that love with a wave.

I snapped a quick pic of Romine and Carrera on the bases in the 8th with Kinsler up, and not long after we were up two runs.

Detroit may be done for 2014 but I had a blast at this game, which put me at a 2-0 record for the season.  The Tigers face some big decisions in the offseason as they seek to shore up a complete disaster of a bullpen, but the second half proved that the David Price acquisition was an excellent move.  I look forward to next year, and now I'll turn my playoff rooting interests primarily towards the Cardinals, though I'm really not rooting against anybody this year.  Good luck to your team if it's still in it!

2014 Tigers game report #1: vs. Oakland 6/30

Last night I headed to my first Tigers game of the year, the first of a three-game home stand against Oakland.  I specifically picked this game as the Tigers were celebrating the 30th anniversary of winning the 1984 World Series, plus they were giving away these cool throwback jerseys, which I didn't get since apparently people were lining up like two hours before game time.

More details on some of that in a bit, but first, a quick trip through my score card:

• A.  Oakland starter Scott Kazmir pitched 5.1 innings.  Well, a bit more than that--after allowing Cabrera's sixth inning HR, a J.D. Martinez Walk, and getting Torii Hunter to fly out to center (for the third straight at bat), he had a 1-1 count on Nick Castellanos...and then he was pulled, apparently not for injury reasons.  Weird.
• B. and C.  Detroit picked up three steals in this game, and strangely enough, two of them (Castellanos in the second, Davis in the fifth) were when a player got caught on a pick-off throw and the 1B Vogt, in apparently his first start at the position, couldn't handle the play either time.
• D.  Detroit's tire-fire bullpen rears its ugly head again.  Starter Anibal Sanchez made it through seven innings having allowed just a run on around 100 pitches, and I agreed with the thought of bringing him out for the 8th.  A Eugenio Suarez error (AND he went 0-4 and struck out three times!) in the form of an awful throw on an easy grounder, followed by a double, and he was headed to the showers.  In came Joba Chamberlain to make things much worse, failing to get an out, allowing a run of his own, plus two charged to Sanchez.
• E.  I'm no fan of Phil Coke, hence his nickname in the box score there, but he deserves props for coming in and shutting down Oakland for the rest of the 8th.
• F.  Covelli (much cooler than "Coco") Crisp started out as a pest on the basepaths before striking out twice later.  Oakland star Yoenis Cespedes was an easy out early but finished strong, sparking the Oakland 8th inning rally on the previously-mentioned Suarez error.  He left with a hammy problem and was replaced by Craig Gentry.
• G.  My memory's not great, but I believe this is the first time I've seen a Cabrera HR live.  Nah, I'm not gonna look it up.  Anyway, it was awesome, and tied us up at 1 at the time.
• H.  Avila takes a lot of heat for being very all-or-nothing at the plate, but his single in the bottom of the ninth after Castellanos led off with his own was absolutely instrumental in what happened later...
• I.  Namely Rajai Davis' walk-off grand slam, which is quite possibly a double first for me.  Not sure about the slam part, but I definitely don't remember catching a walk-off.  I was way up in the corner past the left field foul pole, and although the crowd reaction after he hit the ball gave me some indication, I still couldn't tell it had cleared the fence into Detroit's bullpen until the whole crowd went nuts!  More on that shortly.
• J.  I apparently don't pay enough attention to all players anymore (maybe because I haven't played fantasy in a few years), but I didn't realize just how insanely effective A's closer Sean Doolittle was until I heard how rare it was for players to even get on base against him this year!
• K.  I made a notation up top about "Ghostbusters" singer-songwriter Ray Parker, Jr., who sang an excellent National Anthem (smooth and quick!) being there.  Also, his big hit was the 7th inning singalong after "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," which was awesome.
• L.  I mentioned the '84 team reunion, right?  Greatest of all time double-play combo Alan Trammell and Lou Whitaker were among those on-hand, with the latter scheduled to throw out the first pitch to the former.  The pair delighted the crowd with the best "first pitch" ever, running out to their familiar positions on the diamond, with Sweet Lou flipping to Tram at short, and Tram firing over to first to complete the play.  There will never be another pair like these two should-be Hall-of-Famers.

And now, a bit more in pictures:

Here's a shot of the assembled Tigers during the pregame ceremony.  Visitors included Dave Bergman, Tom Brookens, Darrell Evans, Dave Rozema, and more.

Here's a (faraway) shot of the Whitaker-to-Trammell "first pitch" flip.

Here's Cabrera coming to the plate for his first inning at-bat, which ended up being a double, one of his two hits on the day.

While he was still in the game, I grabbed a quick shot of Cespedes since he's such a great player.

Rajai Davis batting with ducks on the pond and one out in the bottom of the 9th against ace closer Sean Doolittle.

Davis rounds third and prepares to be mobbed by his awaiting teammates as Doolittle walks off the field. 

And finally, a blurry shot of the crazy celebration on the field as the fans in the stands (the few who stayed after Oakland took a late 4-1 lead) go nuts.

That was easily one of the most exciting games I've ever been to, and staying to see Davis wrest a victory from defeat with a grand slam is a memory I'll always enjoy.

Until the next time I make it down to Comerica Park, GO TIGERS!

2013 ALCS game 5, Jim Leyland, and World Series rooting interest

ALC-YES:

Went to my first ever playoff baseball game last Wednesday, and boy was it a great time.  I got my rally towel (which I waved til my arms hurt) and enjoyed my view from the left field upper-deck near the fair pole:

(Yes, my pictures suck this time since I used my phone)

The crowd's energy and noise and the overall atmosphere was incredible, exactly what I was hoping for based on games I'd seen on TV.

The Tigers strung some walks and big hits into a nice inning against Jake Peavy leading to very little late drama.  After the disappointment from most of the previous games in the series, this was a refreshing change of pace.  Starter Doug Fister (my third different Tiger starter this year) was very good for the few innings he pitched and a resurgent Austin Jackson was the star of the evening.

As it turned out, this was the last game in the series the Tigers won.  Oh well, maybe next year?  Anyway, I had a blast and can't wait to make it to another playoff game in-person.

FIRE LEYL--oh, cool, he stepped down:

I'm not particularly sad to see Jim Leyland no longer managing the Tigers.  Too often I took issue with his strategies (or lack thereof) and refusal to see when changes needed to be made (i.e. moving Prince Fielder's fat ass down in the order).  I do give him credit for a great record, multiple playoff appearances and two Pennants over his eight seasons in Motown, and he comes off as a good guy who was obviously proud to be part of the Detroit tradition.  He just always struck me as a guy whose teams just couldn't get over the hump and often disappointed, falling below expectations at times.  With a team this talented I just can't believe he couldn't win a ring with the Tigers.

The story of Detroit's season in one animated GIF

Still, I know I should be careful what I wish for.  I definitely don't want an awful situation such as the Mattingly-Dodgers feud, an embarrassment like Bobby Valentine, or a hateful idiot like Ozzie Guillen.  Time will tell who the Tigers hire as their next manager, and I'm holding out hope for new blood instead of some retread--it's worked out well for a number of teams recently.  Good luck to Leyland on his future with the Tigers and outside of baseball, and best wishes to the team as they try to find a leader to get the team its first ring since 1984!

BEAT THE BEARDS!:

When Detroit threatened to bow out of the playoffs (and then did that), leaving Boston as the AL's representative, I pinned my remaining hopes on St. Louis defeating LA because I couldn't stand the idea of a completely unwatchable World Series featuring two villains.  I mean Boston has pretty much become the Yankees' barely-less annoying younger brother since winning titles in '04 and '07.  Plus they've got those stupid beards and look like idiots.  For me they have no redeeming qualities and I will happily root against them, not out of a sense of revenge for beating the Tigers (hell, I could have pulled for Tampa or Oakland in the Series) but because I just can't stand them and what they've become since finally winning in 2004.

This right here?  This looks stupid.  You look stupid doing this.

I have less of an annoyed attitude towards the Dodgers, really, but the dysfunctional way their front office and manager interacted, plus the attempt to throw a ridiculous pile of money at a title (which the Tigers are guilty of, just not all at once), were really huge turn-offs.  I haven't rooted for the Dodgers since Kirk Gibson's limited time with the team, and I really haven't had any reason to pull for them in a long, long time.  That's not to say that I don't hope some of their guys win it all at some point in their careers, especially Clayton Kershaw and Matt Kemp.

This look familiar, Dodgers fans?

The Cardinals, meanwhile, are a natural fit for my World Series rooting interest.  I can't think of anything I hate about them.  St. Louis is a venerated baseball town with great fans and an excellent history.  It's become a model for draft strategy and success (see:  Wacha, Michael, plus the 2009 haul), and the way they've performed since refusing Albert Pujols' king's ransom is amazing.  This is a Midwestern NL team playing NL ball the way it's meant to be played.  And of course I'm plenty biased since their second-year manager is a Michigan grad, so I'm wishing Matheny and his team the best of luck.  Hopefully this won't be a boring repeat of the very blah 2004 Series; I'd bet against it as this year's games have generally been entertaining.  With sincere apologies to all my Dodger-blogging buddies, I've got St. Louis in six.

GO CARDS!