Detroit Tigers

The Detroit Tigers, as nearly everyone knows by now, were on the wrong end of one of the most exciting baseball games in years. But losing to the Minnesota Twins in a playoff play-in game was just the culmination of what had been a horrific September/October collapse.

The wait is over! The gates of Joker Marchant Stadium unlocked, and spring training is now officially underway.

The annual exhibition against Florida Southern is always a fun game. The rain held off, and despite hurricane-like winds, a good time was had by all.

Rather than spoon-feed the box scores to you, I thought I would share some useless random observations of mine from today's game.

Random Info

* Third baseman Colin Kaline (grandson of Al Kaline) went 2-for-3 with a walk for the Mocs.

Like so many others across the country and around the world, for the Detroit Tigers’ superstar Miguel Cabrera, the first step was admitting he had a problem.

After a couple of embarrassing incidents involving alcohol at the end of last season, Cabrera underwent counseling this winter and is doing something that is really hard for someone in their mid-20s to do—quit drinking alcohol.

On Aug. 31, 1961, the Detroit Tigers trailed the first-place New York Yankees by a mere one and one-half games, but by just a single game in the all-important loss column.

With the passage of time, it is often forgotten that the great 1961 Yankees were in a torrid pennant race with the Tigers most of the season.

Rookie Scott Sizemore clearly has the inside track on the starting 2B job vacated by Placido Poloanco’s return to Philadelphia.  Sizmore has never had an at-bat in the big leagues but has been a very good hitter in the minor leagues.  We have a fair amount of statistics on him from his days in the minors, but rookies are just so hard to predict.

The DNR 25 is a list of my personal favorite Detroit Tigers players of the past 25 years. If you’ve missed any so far and care to catch up, here’s the previous five.

No. 15: Lance Parrish
No. 14: Frank Tanana
No. 13: Placido Polanco

Full Name
Keith Anthony Phillips

DOB
April 25, 1959

College
None (Roswell High School, Roswell, GA)

Drafted
1978, First Round, 10th pick, Montreal Expos

MLB Seasons
1982-1999

Tiger Seasons
1990-1994

Career Stats
.266 Avg, 160 HR, 819 RBI, .374 OBP, .763 OPS, 1319 BB, 109 OPS+

Career Leader Board
All-Time: 35th in Walks (1319)

After a few months of speculation the Detroit Tigers and Johnny Damon finally reached an agreement that brings the outfielder to Detroit.  Damon and the Tigers agreed to a one-year deal worth $8M.

So, where exactly does Damon fit in?  He’s clearly taking at-bats from someone, right?  Who’s out of the picture now?

He's baaaaack.

Johnny Damon (.282, 24 HR, 82 RBI), who spent the 1995-2000 season with the Kansas City Royals, is returning to the AL Central after signing a one-year deal with the Detroit Tigers.

Damon, who turned 36 last November, was also rumored to be negotiating with the Atlanta Braves, but ultimately decided to sign with the Tigers, who offered him more money.

Imagine you're Jim Leyland and you have the task of putting together a batting order for the 2010 Detroit Tigers.  Now I know Spring Training has just started and positional players aren't even in camp yet, but nonetheless it's fun to speculate.  Here's my go at it:

1.  Johnny Damon (DH / LF) / Clete Thomas (OF)

2.  Austin Jackson (CF) / Ryan Raburn (OF)

3.  Magglio Ordonez (RF)

4.  Miguel Cabrera (1B)