Yanks win Igawa rights with $26M bid

"The Yankees are a team with a lot of tradition," Igawa said at a news conference in Osaka. "They get a lot of media attention, like the Tigers do."

Huh? Can the Tigers accurately boast that they are "huge in Japan"?

It Wasn't Really Close, Was It?

By Mike McClary, The Daily Fungo

Watching the on-field celebration at Busch Stadium and it definitely stings.

A magical season — one we didn't see coming — ends in a fashion we didn't see coming. Was it too much to ask to go from not-quite-worst to World Series? Maybe. But the Detroit Tigers owned the Central Division for most of the summer, they stunned the New York Yankees in the ALDS and then won the American League pennant.

Would we have taken that on Opening Day? You bet.

Still, when you reach the World Series you want to win. When your team is the overwhelming favorite to win that World Series, you expect to win.

Someday soon we'll think back to this season and this World Series and see it as the foundation for a terrific future. I'd like to think that this is the first of many postseason appearances and, eventually, World Series championships.

As much as we still think fondly of the 1984 team, they gave us just one (thrilling) championship and we clung to it.

Until this year.

I believe this team will produce more than a few championships. The future isn't merely bright — it's blindingly so.

Sure, it will be a while before we can even start to think about 2007. But when we do, at long last, we can realistically look forward to next year.

The Dream Season from out of nowhere was one for the ages. They just came up short.

Yep, it definitely stings.

Having Faith!!

I know things don't look really great right now and maybe they won't make it, but whatever happens they have given fans one great ride this year. Now instead of 4.5 months without baseball, we'll have 3.5. There will be an American League pennant flying over the ballpark next spring and the very young team will be one year smarter.

Me? Well, I plan to watch three more games and see the Tigers go all the way this year. I'm going to be happy that we've have one hell of a team that is a team - not a bunch of individuals that earn unsightly large salaries. And I have nothing but good words for Jim Leyland and his staff.

GO TIGERS!!!!

Stunning… But True! Little Known Facts About Last Night's Rainout

Last night's rainout of Game 4 of the World Series of Baseball (aka "The Fall Classic") has provided us with more astonishing and timeless lore to add to the seemingly already saturated annals of this fine pastime of ours. For instance:

Did you know?
- That the last manager of an MLB club to have smoked and entire carton of cigarettes during a World Series game in a National League park was way back in 1935, when Creighton "Uncle Grampy" Stubbs (NYG) smoked a full carton of cigarettes and ATE another during his teams victory over Pittsburgh to square the series at two. (Last time in an AL park - Clancy Schmancy, 1917, 1.22 cartons smoked, 0 eaten.)
- That I spent less money at the bar last night than I would have were the game to have been played?

Thanks to the Elias Sports Bureau for fact checkin' the smoking for me.

Bonderman. I've enjoyed watching him pitch in these playoffs more than anyone on the Tig.'s staff. Championships were what was in mind when he was swapped for Weaver, and now he is here and we are here, what, five years later?

There's Still A Game to Be Played, Right?

Despite the fact that it's all but forgotten that the World Series does resume tonight, a fact obscured by the strained attention on Rogers' hand, the ball, LaRussa's perceived observance of the Code of Baseball Insiders, etc., it is true that there will be a game between the Detroit Tigers and St. Louis Cardinals around 8:30 p.m. EST tonight. Don't believe the hype. We're still trying to win this thing.

Interesting Question Which, For More Than One Reason, As Far As I Can Think, We'd Rather Not Posed: In the event that the Tigers face elimination on Thursday night, does Leyland send Rogers to the hill, in St. Louis, amidst all of this crap? Just a question. It'd be, of course, Verlander's slot. Hmmmm… I think the answer has to be "Yes." Won't be an issue, though.

Enjoy the game tomorrow, Barry - this would've been my best shot at attendance too, and, well, crazier things have happened.

Prom Week For Tigers, And Pimples Are Breaking Out

This is prom week, and the Tigers look in the mirror and what to they see?

Ack! A pimple -- Curtis Granderson and his rusty gate of a swing. Gasp! More acne -- Pudge Rodriguez and his 0 for 19 slump. Yikes! Is that another blemish? Yes -- in the form of suspect hitting with RISP.

The Tigers have acne, and this is a bad week for it.

The fact that the team is tied with the Cardinals, 1-1, in the World Series, is encouraging, but the Tigers have exactly 24 hours to find their offense.

You're not going to win too many games leaving as many runners on base as the Tigers did in Game 2. Walks will haunt you defensively; leaving RISP will do the same offensively.

Unless you have Kenny Rogers pitching for you, that is.

Rogers' scoreless streak in the postseason now stands at 23 innings, and had he not been on the mound last night, a tied Series would not be a given this morning. At one point, the linescore read: Detroit, 3 runs, 10 hits; St. Louis, 0 runs, 1 hit. Yet the Cardinals were not going away, mainly because the Tigers didn't shoo them away. You see it all the time, in every team sport: Team A dominates for most of the game statistically, yet can't deliver the knockout punch. Team B gladly accepts the new life and steals the game at the end. Just ask the Arizona Cardinals after their Monday Night Meltdown against the Bears.

Granderson, who's done a marvelous job of cutting down his strikeout frequency in the postseason, has been a non-factor in Games 1 and 2. Same with Pudge, who is all messed up right now. But both are due, and if the law of averages is just that -- a law -- then let's hope it's still on the books, for the Tigers will not win three more games with Grandy and Pudgey gathering more collars than a lucky policeman.

The World Series is tied, but it feels like the Tigers are slightly behind. I still believe they'll win two of three in St. Louis, and finish it off at home in Game 6. But I'd sure feel better about that prediction if some folks would get off the schneide.

Huh!?

The cloud I floated to work on after a GAME 2 win was quickly grounded when I walked in the door. A coworker called The Gambler a cheater. I wanted to punch him in the neck. Since I went right to bed after the game, I missed the next 6 hours of ESPN "smudgegate" coverage. Are you f*!#ing kidding me? ESPN kills me with this crap. Now I'm seeing stills from other playoff games and every little shadow on his palm might as well be dripping with pine tar. America has voiced their opinion and tagged Rogers as a cheater EVEN THOUGH...after he washed off the "dirt" he still looked like Christy Mathewson!

That said, isn't it good to have Casey back!

An Inning To Remember

Well, my first World Series experience was fantastic. At first. I'll deal with the negatives off the top and shove those aside. Saturday was a bad game for our guys, and we all know it. I have my own doubts and feelings about what happened, but I've decided not to share those. This time of year is no time for negative mindset or doubts. The good guys just have to calm down a bit, and make Jeff Weaver work tonight - something they didn't do against Reyes - and I think they'll be fine. Reyes pitched a hell of a game, but his job was made much easier by some Detroit impatience at the plate. Kenny should give them a good chance to win, and if they do that, this series is back on track.

My experience on Saturday was incredible. I drove four hours to Windsor from Toronto, listening to as much Tiger talk as I could find. As soon as I got downtown, I could tell that Tiger Fever had spread across the border. "Welcome to Detroit" Tiger banners were on every streetlight, and storefronts were fairly obvious with their support. Tunnel buses were lined up, waiting to bring people to Comerica Park, and I was on one of them.

Had my second experience with a snarky border guard in two months. This guy saw fit to tell me I "got took" on the price of my ticket, for some reason. First of all, I don't think anyone has ever been "took," although some people may certainly have been "taken." Second, you're just pissy because you have to work through the game and you guys don't even have a TV. Jerk.

The Park is gorgeous. I know some people aren't crazy about it, but I think it looks great. The sunken design was a great idea. The walls don't tower above you, but rather invite you to come closer to have a look at where baseball lives. The former SkyDome (now Rogers Centre) in Toronto is a hideous warehouse by comparison. Being around thousands of excited Tiger fans was an experience I will not forget. I've never seen them play when it has really meant something, so it was quite a thrill to know that all of us were there for a reason.

The view from my seat was perfect - I'd rather be second row in the upper deck than 30 rows back at field level - and I was introduced to the people next to me within minutes of sitting down. When the pregame production began, the crowd was electric. There was even an ovation when the grounds crew revealed the World Series logos on the field. The last time I'd been part of a loud Tiger crowd was the last game at Tiger Stadium, so I was eager to scream my face off and swing my rally towel around. After the first inning, it looked like everything was going to work out well, and then we know what happened. What really surprised me was how quiet the crowd became after the Pujols homerun. We were only down by three, but people were dead in their seats. They seemed to recover a little in the 7th, but were shut down again when Pudge flew out to the warning track. We all kind of knew they were done at that point.

I was incredibly happy for a little while before the game, and a short ways into it, but it's hard to shake off the disappointment when you see something like that live. I feel good about the series after coming home, and reading Gum Time. As long as I know the guys are relaxed, I feel good about their chances. Hopefully they - and all of us - can remember who they are and how they got there. I think we may be too quick to get down on the Tigers - likely because we're used to having our hopes crushed - and we need to recall the ALDS and get our heads up again. Our guys don't suck anymore. And they're not just going to start again.

I'll update this post with a few pics after game 2. Go get 'em, Gambler!

Mike