Wezzul.com - It's the Dinglez

I have seen a recent influx of people coming to my site after querying Girlfriend. Amazing. I get a lot of hits for Dmitri Young and Joel Zumaya. Perhaps it is sparked because of the recent revelation that Zumaya hurt himself becoming a guitar hero .

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Since nothing has been going on in Detroit sports other than the continue success of the Detroit Tigers, I will keep this post strictly to what has been happening in their season.

The Tigers had continued success this weekend, defeating the Chicago Cubs in three straight games to take their current win streak to four, and put them up 1.5 games in the AL Central, and also giving them the best record in the MLB again. Not only that, the Tigers led for every inning of all three games, scoring a minimum of two runs in the first inning of each game, and topping out with a six run, three homerun first inning on Sunday, facing Mark Prior in his first start of the year. Six players hit homeruns, with a total of eight round-trippers in nine innings (Chris Shelton and Brandon Inge each hit two; Marcus Thames, Curtis Granderson, Vance Wilson, and Carlos Guillen each had one). Not only that, but Sunday's game marked the 200th victory of Kenny Rogers' storied career. When Rogers was signed this season, I was skeptical that he would be another high-priced free agent signing by the Tigers that didn't pan out (see: Troy Percival). However, he has proven he is still a more than capabale starter, becoming only the second pitcher this year to win ten games (Tom Glavine of the New York Mets being the other). As it stands right now, he is a shoe-in for a spot on the American League All-Star team, and his contributions to the team, both with his pitching, and his ability to teach young players, is worth every penny the Tigers have paid for him.

Unfortunately, the same can not be said of Dmitri Young. As of last week, Young had a warrant out for his arrest after missing a court date in the alleged choking of his ex-girlfriend. With Dmitri standing to make $8M this year with the Tigers, he could not be considered more of a waste of money. He has been out for two months, and when he was playing, he was batting near .160. For a guy that can really only conceivably play DH, this is unacceptable. Luckily for the Tigers, Marcus Thames has been a more than ample replacement. Not only is he hitting over .300, but he has 14 home runs in very limited starting time this year. Dmitri Young is not only a detriment to the Tigers on the playing field, but also in the locker room, and in the pocket book. Here's to hoping he stays away from the team for good.

There is no doubt in my mind that Curtis Granderson had the best weekend of any Tiger in Chicago, hitting two triples, a double, and two homeruns in the series with the Cubs. He continues to be a great asset to the team, both as a constantly improving center fielder, but also as a good bat at the top of the order. His accomplishments this year will often be overlooked because of the success of his rookie peers, Joel Zumaya and Justin Verlander, but his importance to the team is no less.

Briefs:

*Joel Zumaya pitched three solid innings on 6/11 to record his first major league save. As Zumaya continues to develop his curveball and change-up, he will become a more attractive option to close games for the Tigers. Anyone that can throw triple-digit fastballs for three straight innings is definitely an important part of any bullpen.

*Todd Jones continues to struggle, blowing three of his last six save attempts, including a four run, no out rally by the Toronto Blue Jays. As stated above, Zumaya is the perfect type of pitcher for the closing role, and while Jim Leyland certainly seems to have confidence in Jones right now, don't be surprised if you see Zumaya or Fernando Rodney getting a shot at closing some games down the road.

On a personal note, I attended the Friday and Saturday games for the Cubs series, and it was some of the best baseball I've ever had the chance to see live. Wrigley Field, in the bleachers, is like a party, and there was no shortage of Tigers fans out there, with "Let's Go Tigers" chants breaking out more than a few times during Saturday's game. It's a wonder the Cubs keep selling games out when they play the way they do, but if fans continue to buy tickets, their is no incentive to spend any money to try and improve the team. I also met Jim Leyland after the Saturday game, but do not have a photo due to some camera issues. On Sunday, I caught a BP ball that flew over the wall in center. It was a great time in Chicago, and the Tigers got three more good wins. The next series starts tonight at the Milwaukee Brewers.

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This season for the Tigers is getting pretty amazing. They won again, last night, agains the Kansas City Royals. What made the game special was that after the sixth inning, the Tigers only had four hits. By the end of the game, they had seventeen. At the end of the sixth, the Tigers were down, 4-2. By the end of the game, it was 8-5, Tigers. This the sort of thing that NEVER happened for the Tigers last year, winning games in the late innings. Last year, if the opposing team went up four runs in the first or second inning, you knew the game was over, they'd never come back from this.

Since Saturday, this is the second time the Tigers have come back to win in the late innings. On Saturday night, versus the Cincinnati Reds, the Tigers had a 5-2 lead when Ken Griffey Jr. hit a grand slam off of Joel Zumaya to put the Reds ahead 6-5. The Tigers responded in the ninth inning, when Curtis Granderson hit a solo homerun with two outs to take it to the tenth inning. Then, on a pinch hit RBI single in the tenth by Placido Polanco, the Tigers took the lead, and Todd Jones closed out the game, which coincidentally set the Detroit Tigers record for career saves. This is a perfect example of what Jim Leyland has brought to the table this year. With a roster that, for all intents and purposes, is the same as last year (add Jones and Kenny Rogers from free agency, and rookies Justin Verlander and Zumaya), he has managed to turn an also-ran in the MLB to a early contender for the AL Central division lead. The Tigers now stand at 31-14, and have a one game lead over the Chicago White Sox. They are the best team in the MLB right now. This is fun.

As for the other Detroit team currently still playing at this time of year, the Pistons lost their first round game against the Miami Heat last night after a very poor showing. At times, the Pistons contended for the lead, or even had the lead, but it looked bad pretty much the entire night. The Pistons shot a poor 37.8% from the field, lead by Chauncey Billups and Richard Hamiltons combined 15/41 shooting effort. The one thing about this Pistons team that everyone likes is that every night during the regular season, someone would step up, be it Rasheed Wallace, Chancey, Rip, Tayshaun Prince, or Antonio McDyess (you can't really put Ben Wallace here, as he's not really a huge scoring threat). In the playoffs, they haven't had a lot of that, where one guy picks up the slack for the other guys that aren't playing as well in that game. For the Pistons to win this series, they're going to need to get some better performances from their starting five. They have been a team that relied on their starting five, and should continue to do so if they want to reach the NBA Finals. Game 2 of the series is Thursday night, and it is a must win for the Pistons. If they go back to Miami down 0-2, it's going to be a hard climb back to evening the series.


Briefs:

*The Detroit Red Wings have re-signed 44-year old Chris Chelios to a one year deal. I couldn't be happier about this. During the albeit short playoffs for the Wings, Chelios was a great stay at home defenseman, which the Wings need with the loss of Jiri Fischer. I remeber a particular penalty kill where Chelios cleared the puck from deep in the Detroit zone three times, essentially killing the penalty all by himself. I don't care how old the man is, he's still tough, he can still play defense. I'm happy he's going to be back. Now, on to Shanahan and Yzerman.

*Dmitri Young continues to suck. This is not news, but it's an indication that the Tigers are going to be looking for someone else to DH for them, perhaps Marcus Thames, who has made the most of his limited time at the plate. He's on the DL now as well. John Hannahan, 3B, was called up from Toledo

*Dmitri Young also has been charged with domestic abuse, after allegedly strangling his 21-year old ex-girlfriend at a Birmingham, MI hotel. Not only is this guy high paid, and not performing, but he's also a woman beater. Detroit has the best .169 avg DH in the league, that's for sure.

*Detroit Lions let Dan Wilkinson go. He had a good run with the team, helping Shawn Rogers become the two-time pro bowl player that he is today. Shawn Cody is expected to start at Nose Tackle in the coming season.

*Still no Steve Yzerman news. My feeling is the longer it takes, the more likely he is coming back.

Articles:

Wade's Hot Hand Helps Heat Steal Home-Court Advantage - NBA.com

Heat's Energy Rolls Pistons - ESPN.com

Oh So Cold! - freep.com

Wings re-sign Chelios - freep.com

Leyland's Message Hitting Home - detnews.com

Current Music: Alkaline Trio - Clavicle

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Last night, I attended the Detroit Tigers game with the Minnesota Twins, and it became even more apparent why the Tigers have the best record in the major leagues right now -- pitching. I watched 21 year old Justin Verlander pitch eight scoreless innings against the Twins. He pitched amazingly well, and was calm, and confident even during the few jams he got himself in. A few times during the game, the batter worked the count full, and with men on base, Verlander would force the easy pop up or ground out. I don't think he struck anyone out the entire game, but it doesn't matter if you're still getting the outs. I think he probably could have stayed in the game, and finished it, getting the shutout, but there is no reason to chance it when you only have a slim (two run) lead.

It's hard to think that Kenny Rogers wasn't worth the price paid. Not only does he lead the Tigers in wins (6), but he is also tied for inning pitched with Jeremy Bonderman. Sure, he's 41, and sure the Tigers had to pay too much to get him here (as they usually do with quality free agents), but his impact, not only on the Tigers win/loss record, but on the young staff is immeasureable. You think a guy like Mike Maroth would be pitching as well as he is this season without the veteran pointers that a guy like Rogers can dole out? They have a similar style as far as what kind of pitches they throw, and it's clear Maroth is learning from Rogers by example. He's 5-2 with a 2.18 ERA. Compare that to years past, and tell me Rogers isn't worth every single penny the Tigers have got built into his contract.

I think the big thing this year for the Tigers is getting young players from their farm system to step up and win games for them. The aformentioned Verlander, along with Joel Zumaya (RP) and Curtis Granderson (CF) are really playing good baseball this year. You can see in Zumaya (who, along with Verlander, has had pitches clock at 101mph) a future closer for the Tigers that could easily be in the tops of the league. It's amazing that, at the start of the season, it was said he could be a starter. If he can keep up pitching the way he does for 6 innings, I'd love to see it. And it's a real testament to the Tigers staff when a guy with that much obvious talent can't make the rotation. Granderson isn't playing GREAT baseball, but he's a real asset to have at the lead off spot, since he combines speed and a reasonable amount of power. He does lead the team in strikeouts, but he also leads them in walks. As he gets older, and refines his eye at the plate, we will see him become a more important part of the Tigers squad. The one thing you can say about him is he is defensively sound. He has a 1.000 fielding average at this point in the season, and while he may have trouble running balls down at times, this is another thing that will come with experience.

The Pistons are looking very frustrating lately. Last night, they lost their third game in a row (first time this year that has happened), and first playoff game at home. Chauncey Billups fouled out with about five minutes left in the fourth quarter, which hurt them, and Rasheed Wallace was also in foul trouble (and probably still injured) for most of the fourth. After watching the end of the game, it's easy to see that the Pistons are not playing like they want to win. Now, they are left with the task of beating the Cleveland Cavaliers at home and then bringing it back to the Palace for game seven. While it is clear that the Pistons can pull this off, it has yet to be seen whether they have the will to. It will be an interesting couple of games. Lets hope they can step it up on Friday and bring the series back home.

I won't even mention the Lions or Red Wings here. No reason to sour up the post.

Current Music: Sigur Ros - Track 1 from ()

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