Oct 1st 2008 12:52PM by Tom Fornelli (author feed)
The 2008 season is one that the Detroit Tigers would like to put behind them as soon as possible. A team that many picked to win the AL Central, and likely go to the World Series with their murderer’s row of a lineup, ended up finishing in last place instead. Behind the Kansas City Royals of all people.

Of course, just because his team bombed out this year, manager Jim Leyland wouldn’t have minded getting one of them there contract extensions. Now he says he’s disappointed, and though he’d like to stay in Detroit, he’s not going to stay anywhere he’s not wanted.”I have not been extended,” Leyland told Albom, “and I’m not gonna be extended. … There was some sense of an offer that I did not accept.

“I’m not afraid of anything. I want to manage the Tigers. I have every intention of managing the Tigers. I’m disappointed that I did not get an extension, but I understand. - well, maybe I don’t understand, but I can live with that.

“I’m certainly not somebody that’s going to sit around and worry about that. I made it perfectly clear that I wanted to manage the Tigers. I think we had a great year (in 2006). I think we had a good year (in 2007) and then we had one disastrous year (in 2008). Overall, we’ve actually done pretty well.”Continue Reading

Oct 1st 2008 3:15AM by Matt Watson (author feed)
It’s only been a couple of days since the smoke cleared and Detroit’s last-place finish was cemented in stone, but already the team is making moves to prepare for next year. Without making a single roster move they significantly upgraded their defense by announcing that Brandon Inge, a Gold Glove-caliber fielder, would return to third base, mercifully ending the Carlos Guillen experiment. Guillen, who’s been shifted from shortstop to first to third in the past year, is now expected to take over in left field.

Inge’s return to the hot corner won’t be the only change to the left side of the infield — Dave Dombrowski also announced Monday that Edgar Renteria’s 2009 option would not be picked up. Given Renteria’s struggles at the plate (84 OPS+) and the field, this was a no-brainer, especially when you consider the Red Sox are the ones on the hook for Renteria’s $3 million buyout. Continue Reading

Sep 29th 2008 1:50PM by Tom Fornelli (author feed)

Those poor Detroit Tigers. Look, things are bad enough when people are predicting your going to go 162-0 in a season, and you end up finishing in last place behind the Kansas City Royals. Let’s face it, the Tigers have been counting down the days until the season’s end for a few months now. That was supposed to be yesterday, but just when they thought they were out, MLB goes and pulls them back in again.

Today they take on the Chicago White Sox in a makeup game that will prove to be a pretty important game in the scheme of things. With a win today, the Tigers will pull into a fourth place tie with the Kansas City Royals in the AL Central. If they lose, they are the sole proprietors of last place.

An entire season comes down to one game in Chicago on a rainy afternoon, and it’s all after the jump.Continue Reading

Sep 23rd 2008 3:30PM by Matt Watson (author feed)

As the final week of the regular season unfolds, millions of baseball fans across the nation are being treated to several close races.

Except for me, of course. I live near Detroit, and the only race the Tigers are involved in is the race to avoid last place. And after losing 6-2 to the Royals last night, the chances the Tigers might take sole possession of the AL Central’s basement by Wednesday is a very real possibility.

This got me thinking: the Tigers have to be the most disappointing team in the majors, right? (It’s actually been a recurring thought all year, but now seems like an appropriate time to dwell on it …) They have the second-highest payroll in baseball and haven’t been relevant since opening the year with seven straight losses.

As I see it, no other team comes close.

The Yankees had a disappointing final season in their stadium, but at least they’re guaranteed a winning record (and haven’t been eliminated from the playoffs, though that should happen any day now). The Rockies hoped for a chance to defend their NL pennant, but last year’s finish was a little too incredible to be surprised by a let-down this season. I didn’t expect the Mariners to be the worst team in the majors, but I also never thought they’d contend. Plus, this year wasn’t a complete waste; at least they rid themselves of Bill Bavasi.

If the Tigers have been this year’s most disappointing team, who’s been the game’s most disappointing players? It’s a fuzzy question, so let’s try to establish some guidelines.Continue Reading

Sep 20th 2008 1:52PM by Tom Fornelli (author feed)
If you weren’t already aware, the Tigers and Indians had a little incident last night after Miguel Cabrera hit his 36th homer of the season, and Fausto Carmona followed it up by hitting Gary Sheffield with a pitch on the elbow. Now, as anybody who has paid attention to The Sheff throughout his career already knows, Mr. Sheffield is an angry man.

Of course, Gary controlled his temper for a little bit, choosing only to glare at Carmona as he walked to first base, but once Carmona tried to pick him off, Gary charged at him, the benches cleared, and all the pushing and shoving that accomplishes nothing followed. Still, even though the fight ended on the field, that doesn’t mean it’s over in Gary’s head. After the game Gary channeled his inner WWE wrestler, and sent a message to Carmona that soon the 24-inch pythons will run wild on them. Oh yeah!”If I hit two home runs, normally guys send a message to me,” Sheffield said. “I wasn’t the one hitting the home runs. Just because someone else hit a home run on you, don’t take it out on me.

“Anytime you do that, we’re going to have problems. I don’t care who you are, how big you are. Anytime I get hit because you’re upset about something else, we’re going to deal with it during the game, after the game, or whenever you want to deal with it.”Continue Reading

Sep 20th 2008 11:16PM by B (author feed)

Consult the film Major League or just ask … sometimes it rules being a fan of the Cleveland Indians. Last night’s game and bare knuckles brawl with the Tigers was a great example of that. If you didn’t see what went down, please visit our good friends at WaitingForNextYear for a video recap.

The minute it happened I signed onto AIM and told fellow Dugoutist Jon Bois about what was going down. His comments sum it up as well as I could hope to: “Gary Sheffield is like Barry Bonds Jr., and if I can’t see somebody beating up Barry Bonds at least I can see this.”

Tonight’s Dugout is after the jump. /pumps fist
Continue Reading

Sep 15th 2008 11:23AM by Tom Fornelli (author feed)
Dear Ozzie,

Let me start this letter off by saying that I’m a fan. I don’t always agree with the moves you make, or the things you say and do, but for the most part I think you’re very good at doing your job. Still, that doesn’t mean there isn’t one thing you do constantly that could end up costing your team a division title this season.

It nearly did last night.

In the second game of your doubleheader against the Tigers last night, your boys had jumped out to a 7-0 lead so you decided to pull starter John Danks early and go to the bullpen. I have no problem with this, and thought it was a smart move, but shortly afterward you nearly killed your team. After the Tigers had made it 7-3 in the eighth inning, you brought in Octavio Dotel with a four run lead.

I knew right then that you guys were going to blow the lead. How did I know this? Well, Ozzie, that’s because every time you bring in Dotel with a comfortable lead, he blows it. Maybe you haven’t noticed the 500 previous times it’s happened this season, but it has. Sure enough, a few pitches later, Marcus Thames was launching a grand slam into the left field bleachers and the game was tied at seven.Continue Reading

Sep 16th 2008 2:00AM by Matt Watson (author feed)
The Tigers officially shut down Kenny Rogers for the rest of the season, much to the dismay of opposing batters. In 10 starts since the All-Star game, Rogers posted a 7.45 ERA while allowing a .336 batting average. Jim Leyland didn’t give any reasons for the decision, but do you really need one? He’s made every batter over the last two months look like a batting champ — that should be reason enough.

At 44, Rogers has most likely thrown his last pitch after 20 seasons in the majors. Sure, he may have stayed one season too long, but he’s still enjoyed a heck of a career. Hall of Fame worthy? Not a chance, but if they ever build that Hall of Very Good that everyone talks about, he’s a candidate.

He was an above average pitcher for the vast majority of his career, finishing with a 4.27 ERA (108 ERA+). Those numbers may not jump out at you at first, but he did it over two full decades, and until this year did it without suffering any sharp decline — his worst season actually came seven years ago, and he’s just two years removed from finishing fifth in the AL Cy Young race.

Sep 13th 2008 10:00AM by Mullet (author feed)

Six games were postponed last night due to weather. The Cubs and the Astros, as you know, are postponed today and tomorrow due to Hurricane Ike. Another storm system, which stretched all the way from the east coast to Mid-America, caused the postponement of no less than five games. This sets up a scenario in which there are six doubleheaders that will be played today, and 20 games in total. Sunday doubleheaders used to be more commonplace in an era without win shares, maple bats, or Matt Stairs. But six in one day at this moment is enough to induce baseball coma. It’s like fastballs with trails of tryptophan, baby! So enjoy, and feel free to unbutton that top button.

Continue Reading

Sep 13th 2008 10:35PM by B (author feed)

With Hurricane Gustav hitting the coast recently and Hurricane Ike using Great Aether on a bunch of Texas, we were bound to get horrible weather throughout the United States. Thankfully rain delays are only slightly more boring than the actual game of baseball, so when there’s no real news to be had one can make fun out of what they have. I was lucky enough to have the White Sox and the Tigers in the same place when the doubleheaders started getting scheduled.

Additional Dugout Universe notes:

- If you haven’t already, don’t forget to read Mike’s article about his trip to Tropicana Field over at Progressive Boink.
- Dugout T-shirts are still on sale, and can be worn over the head like a thin hat to guard you from rain
- In lieu of a better archiving system, you can now click most players’ photo for an easy link to their Fanhouse tag, where you can read all of the other Dugouts featuring that player.
- Tonight’s murky Dugout is after the jump.Continue Reading