Sparky Anderson Passes Away at 76
Former Major League Baseball Manager Sparky Anderson died Thursday from complication from dimentia.
Anderson played as a 25 year-old for the 1959 Phillies as a second baseman. As a manager he compiled a lifetime 2194 – 1834 win/loss record including five pennants and three world series titles. He will perhaps best be recognized as the manager for the Cincinnati Big Red Machine clubs of the 1970′s. Sparky was the American League’s Manager
The Blame Game
Everyone except the fans and Paws the mascot has been blamed for the Tiger collapse.
At an October 8 (the Thursday after) news conference, GM Dave Dombrowski said: blame me.
Blame him for the late-season acquisitions of Jarrod Washburn and Aubrey Huff, that bombed. “If they had worked, we would have won,” Dombrowski said. “I accept the responsibility for that.”
The GM assembles the team. When his plans fail, he’s the guy on the spot. And DD did give boatloads of money to other players who gave him modest return on the investment (Carlos Guillen, Nate Robertson, Dontrelle Willis). He did trade Jair Jurrjens for Edgar Renteria.
But he couldn’t catch the ball for Ryan Raburn. He couldn’t run the bases. or swing at strikes, for Curtis Granderson. He couldn’t throw strikes for Andres Galarraga. For Miguel Cabrera, he couldn’t stay sober and ready to play important games.
He didn’t know that Washburn would win one game for the Tigers, post an ERA over seven, and end up on the DL when one win may have meant the difference between post-season and going home. (The Saturday game Alfredo Figaro started?)
Aubrey Huff appeared to be the perfect fit. He was a left-handed hitter with power who played four positions. Who knew that he would succumb to the same swingo-misso, poppo-uppo malady that affected other Tiger hitters?
Every GM has a few bad marks on his resume. Detroit, however, seems an especially bad place for would-be miracle workers.
The Collapse Of 2009 wasn’t entirely Dave Dombrowski’s responsibility. It was a team effort. They all put the yeast in. Save for the fans and Paws.
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Patch And Pray
Baseball is a game of stories, not stats.
Some recent numbers, however, tell the full story of the 2009 Tigers.
From the Yankees series: Justin Verlander, seven innings, seven hits, two runs, losing pitcher. Edwin Jackson: seven innings, five hits, two runs, losing pitcher. Luke French, five innings, five hits, one earned run in his fourth start, against the league’s best offense, no decision.
Tiger hitters over the three games: five runs, 1 for 26 with runners in scoring position. A well-timed hit or three could have turned a weekend of losses into wins.
Then comes the most heartbreaking of pitching lines, from the Mariners’ series: Armando Galarraga, seven and one-third innings, one run, one hit, no decision.
The Tiger story resembles that of the 60s Dodgers teams that won pennants on modest hitting and great pitching.
While Jackson and Verlander are good, they aren’t Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale. And even Sandy and Big D had trouble winning when their mates scored one run a game. They couldn’t pitch shutouts every time.
As the trading deadline approaches, The Miracle Worker’s plan is to bring Carlos Guillen off the DL and hope pitching and better defense can hold first place. That hold is vital for post-season, since it’s unlikely that the American League wild card team will come from the Central Division. That hold the Tigers have lost. Yesterday afternoon, they fell into a first place tie with the White Sox. The Pale Hose showed the world how they feel about winning the division title, with Mark Buehrle perfecto-ing the Rays.
Carlos Guillen is, indeed, back; having been activated in time for today’s day-night doubleheader with the White Sox at Comerica, with Josh Anderson designated for assignment.
Patch and pray, once again, since the Tigers have an abundance of unproductive players (Nate Robertson, Dontrelle Willis, Guillen, Magglio Ordonez, Joel Zumaya) whose big contracts make then untradeable.
More baffling that even Ordonez is Zumaya. Like Matt Anderson – another flame-thrower from whom great things were expected — he has consistently under-achieved. In the Yankees opener, he entered with a two run lead and gave up three runs on five hits. Before Anthony could react, the Tigers placed him on the DL. Similar to a minor-league demotion, but still better than the cornfield.
2008′s go-for-broke spending spree — and last place finish — made patch and pray the only option for 2009. P & P might work in the National League, where the pitcher hits, but not against the Yankees and Red Sox, with proven major league hitters hitters one through nine.
Tigers At The Break
By taking two of three from both the Royals and Indians, the Tigers won the required number of games to qualify as contenders in the American League Central.
At the break, they are 48-39, and lead by 3 1-2 games, over the White Sox, in a competitive division. “Competitive” meaning there are several okay teams, with no one team good enough to break away from the pack.
Even okay status, after 2008′s thudding last place finish, wouldn’t be possible without surprise contributions from a handful of Tigers:
Brandon Inge (.268, 21 homers, better glove, All Star write-in).
Edwin Jackson (7-4, 2.52 ERA, would have ten wins with more run support).
Ryan Raburn (.269 with several timely extra-base hits after returning from Toledo).
Rick Porcello (eight wins, wasn’t expected to make the team).
Luke French (a June add to the rotation, 1.98 ERA in 14 innings).
Fu-Te Ni (2.25 ERA, six hits in eight innings of effective middle relief).
With a winning record come fewer disappointments that surprises. A trio of Tigers have noticeably underperformed:
Magglio Ordonez (.260, four homers, now platooned in RF with Clete Thomas).
Armando Galarraga (5.09 ERA, 0-5 in June).
Dontrelle Willis (7.49, disabled since June 19).
The disappearance of Willis, who seemed to be back on track but hasn’t been heard from in almost a month, could mean he has thrown his last major league pitch.
To get to the World Series, all a team has to do is qualify for post-season. Then anything can happen. The Tigers proved that in ’06 by backing in and going to the big October dance as the American League bridesmaid.
The Tigers’ second half begins on Friday in the Bronx. They’ve done what they needed to do against a pair of tail-enders. Now come the Yankees. How well the Tigers play solid, mistake-free baseball will give their fans an indication of whether this series might preview a post-season matchup.