Major League Baseball

[VerbalPuke]

The Detroit Tigers anybody? Best record in baseball? I mean, let's be real, they are looking fucking great right now, winning 12 out of their last 13. Everybody figured they'd be another bottom feeder, or a run of the mill type of team at best. Instead they are looking dominant and vying for a playoff spot (albeit early in the season). The city of Detroit rejoices as the Tigers break the cycle of futility that has plagued our beloved Tigers for the last decade. I have great hope that this trend will continue and only wish that our Detroit Lions can take notes from this sudden turn around. This team has obviously found their relief pitching on top of solid starters, and excellent batting. I'd love to see this team emulate the success of the 1984 Tigers, it would be a dream come true.

[gunnar hendershow]

It's possible, but I think their arms will get tired (like the 2005 Orioles) in June or July.

[Green Demon]

I am not going to take anything away from the Tigers cause they are definatly playing good baseball right now and thier record shows that, if they are still contending after the all star break then I would say that they are contenders for the playoffs. It has helped them that Cleveland and Minnesota havent been playing that well this month either which the Tigers have taken advantage of. Now atleast it looks like the Indians have turned the corner and are back to the form they had in April and will hopefully play atleast half as well down the strech as the did when they went on a mean streak last year. Minnesota is more of a question mark, there pitching has really showed up much this year and that is what they were really counting on so we will see if they are able to turn it around or not. All I know for sure is that come September the AL Central will be very competive between whomever is near the top.

[Lowerdeck]

Eh, I didn't think Detroit would be bottom feeding this year. I would have predicted 3rd (or a close 4th) and around .500 or slightly above. However, their run is a surprise a little bit. They can def finish above .500 if they keep this going. Playoffs, too soon to tell. They do have damn good young arms though.

[gunnar hendershow]

They do have damn good young arms though.

This is pretty much why I don't expect them to last through summer. Their arms will get tired. That said, they won't have the clubhouse meltdown that the 2005 Orioles had... so they don't have to worry about a total collapse.

[VerbalPuke]

Eh, I didn't think Detroit would be bottom feeding this year. I would have predicted 3rd (or a close 4th) and around .500 or slightly above. However, their run is a surprise a little bit. They can def finish above .500 if they keep this going. Playoffs, too soon to tell. They do have damn good young arms though.

Same here, I thought they'd maybe start building something toward respectable, but I didn't expect this insane turn around. Apparently they are off to one of the best starts of this decade, matching the Red and White Sox's starts of 02 and 05. I would compare this resurgence to the NBA's Clippers this year, after a decade or so of futility, they came out strong, made the playoffs, and had a good showing for themselves. I could see that happening with the Tigers.

I'm not too worried about the arms getting tired either as Kenny Rogers is a vet, Maroth has been around for a few years, and Bonderman pitched well all of last year until his injury. Verlander might be the guy to watch, as he's relatively inexperienced compared to those three. I do like the relief pitching with Rodney and Zumaya, they look to be a pair of young studs. Todd Jones has been decent, but he has the penchant for letting guys on base when he could just as soon close the god damn game.

With that said, the only thing I'd like to see changed for the Tigers is to possibly release or trade Dmitri Young. The guy is like the Kevin Nash of baseball when it come's to injuries (not to take anything away from Ken Griffey Jr. ), and has really not been productive even when he is in the line up. Problem with him is that his contract would make him very hard to move.

I also love the fact that Jim Leyland smokes Marlboro Reds. That's a fucking man's man right there.

Edited May 26, 2006 by VerbalPuke

[Lowerdeck]

Jered Weaver to perhaps knock his brother Jeff out of the Angels starting rotation? We'll see... Sure did have a good outing yesterday anyway.

*3000*

[livid]

So Bonds is #2 eh? Oh well, as long as he doesn't break the record, I don't care.

[ACCBiggz]

So Bonds is #2 eh? Oh well, as long as he doesn't break the record, I don't care.

[GhostMachine]

So Bonds is #2 eh? Oh well, as long as he doesn't break the record, I don't care.

He will, all he has to do is hit 20 more this season and 20 next to reach 455, barring a major injury he will. I don't want him to because I am a Braves fan... Outside of that, I think Bonds is one of the two greatest players of all-time.

[ACCBiggz]

He should go in the Hall. I do not believe in asterisks, and the point remains that even if he did use them, they weren't illegal in baseball and depending on the type they weren't illegal in socitey. Not to mention they will not help you hit the ball, they will help you stay healthy and battle injuries and also get you stronger, bit also with growing muscle mass takes away from mobility to turn on the ball. The general public think steriods get you huge, and a lot of baseball players have used preformance enhancing drugs anyway, and pitchers probably moreso than anyone, and they recieve the most from using.

I do not believe in asterisks because there is always a way around the rules, and growing technology. Not to mention the majority of this is because of smaller ballparks to generate more home runs.

What I do believe in is different eras in baseball. Dead Ball and so on. No one is competing with Cy Young's record because they don't pitch that way anymore, and there are a ton of other factors. Just like Ruth's inflated stats, he played in an all-white era of baseball not playing the best that the players do today. Home Runs are an inflated stat that generates interest from the general public that doesn't define a great player, even though Bonds is one. The game has evolved in to a world league with the best from everywhere playing here, which is why this is a new era in baseball.

Baseball is one of the few sports you can define the eras. This is just another, and there will be more that follow. I personally do not believe the PED's would help Bonds reach 715 as much as people think they would. The hand eye coord. is much more important and the bat speed generated as you turn your hips, something that Bonds has always been able to do. He also has a very good work ethic, but if he has been assisted by the PED's I think it is more to keep him healthy and off the DL and not to hit more HR. There are too many forms of PED's and will always be. Just like Andro and people taking new stuff they won't know the effects of the drug until years down the road and then they'll realize what it does and ban it. The off-season training has evolved so much that makes the older players obsolete.

And just as Joe Morgan has stated, everyone is putting the whole thing on Bonds when it just isn't him.. It is the MLB as a whole. Making one person the posterboy to make themselves feel good as if they have done something when they solve nothing. The media, the general public, they have tunnelvision to this fact and like nothing more than a witchhunt. It is the old addage of building up a hero, then loving to find all his flaws and tear him down. Bud Selig is the worst commisioner in the history of baseball, and a large portion of this is on his shoulders for doing nothing and letting it happen. Making Jose Canseco the real hero by his book, and still not doing anything until Congress gets involved, when they have more important things to do. This whole thing is a sham that the media and unknowing public try to dump on one person as a posterboy and Bonds is the easy target as he neared the record and was not liked by the media to begin with.

Many want Rose in, but unless there is a commish with balls it won't happen until he dies. That was the golden rule, the #1 thing listed in MLB Rules, and he broke it... that is where this all gets tricky, but he should be in as a player but remain banned from profitting from anything MLB. I've rambled on long enough, and I'll probably be in the minority, I just feel that everyone is placing the blame due to a witchhunt on an easy target when this is the era of baseball that we as a public have created with our love for the longball as they do anything to ensure that we have home runs hit more often. Smaller parks, tigher wound balls, among some of things MLB has done. This is the era we have created, and MLB has done nothing to stop.

I take comfort in the fact that there's no way he will break the world record (868 by Sadaharu Oh of Japan)

[Lowerdeck]

I take comfort in the fact that there's no way he will break the world record (868 by Sadaharu Oh of Japan)

No one cares about Japan's baseball league.

Go say that in Japan, I'm sure they'll appreciate that.

[ACCBiggz]

I take comfort in the fact that there's no way he will break the world record (868 by Sadaharu Oh of Japan)

No one cares about Japan's baseball league.

[livid]

I take comfort in the fact that there's no way he will break the world record (868 by Sadaharu Oh of Japan)

No one cares about Japan's baseball league.

Go say that in Japan, I'm sure they'll appreciate that.

[ACCBiggz]

I take comfort in the fact that there's no way he will break the world record (868 by Sadaharu Oh of Japan)

No one cares about Japan's baseball league.

Go say that in Japan, I'm sure they'll appreciate that.

[livid]

I take comfort in the fact that there's no way he will break the world record (868 by Sadaharu Oh of Japan)

No one cares about Japan's baseball league.

Go say that in Japan, I'm sure they'll appreciate that.

Well, I'm sorry that it is the truth.

[reyrey619]

actually, the talent in Japan doesn't compare to the talent in the MLB. Players that come to the MLB from Japan usually are worse in MLB. Is that a coincidence? No, the pitching talent in Japan pales in comparision to the pitching in MLB.

[ACCBiggz]

I take comfort in the fact that there's no way he will break the world record (868 by Sadaharu Oh of Japan)

No one cares about Japan's baseball league.

Go say that in Japan, I'm sure they'll appreciate that.

Well, I'm sorry that it is the truth.

[livid]

I take comfort in the fact that there's no way he will break the world record (868 by Sadaharu Oh of Japan)

No one cares about Japan's baseball league.

Go say that in Japan, I'm sure they'll appreciate that.

Well, I'm sorry that it is the truth.

It's not the truth. It's the fact that you don't care, doesn't mean others don't. Japanese baseball is just as big as American baseball, but a lot of Americans are egotists in that only American baseball matters, when it doesn't.

[ACCBiggz]

It's a record for Japan baseball, that isn't reconigzed elsewhere. Good accomplishment, but doesn't mean much if it isn't done where the best play.