Follow Me, I’m Moving

Friends, Romans, Countrymen – I have a new blog.

As mentioned recently the fine folks at fanball.com have brought me on board to cover the Detroit Tigers through their network of new blogs covering Major League Baseball. After some tinkering and futzing around the new site is up and ready. You can visit my new home for Tigers coverage at:

www.eyeofthetigers.com

I’ll be covering the Tigers exclusively there going forward, so you’ll want to add it to your favorites or grab the RSS Feed there to get my thoughts on the boys going forward. I’m very excited about this new venture, and look forward to hearing from all of you over at the new site.

Also worthy of announcement, going forward all of my fantasy baseball related content will appear at www.fantasybaseballsearch.com in the blog section, and at some combination of www.fightingchancefantasy.com and www.fantasybaseballtonight.com

I’ve decided to take this blog back to its’ roots, a place of literary exploration. I’ll be posting new works of fiction and non-fiction here in this humble forum, but all of my baseball related work will appear as stated above.

Thank you, sincerely, for taking the time to visit me here. I hope you’ll still stop by from time to time. Your comments, emails and sense of community here have been wonderful, I hope you’ll continue to contribute at the new sites and follow the Detroit Tigers with me. Again, the new blog url is www.eyeofthetigers.com

Be Well,

John

Hazaa

Coming Soon – My New Home For Detroit Tigers Coverage

Writing about the Detroit Tigers and the game I love is as satisfying as anything I can do with my pants on. I’ve enjoyed using this blog for that purpose (amongst others) this season and am beyond grateful to all of you who have taken the time to visit, read, comment and become a part of this collective experiment. Very soon I will be taking my thoughts and opinions on the Tigers to a new home.

The fine folks at fanball are launching a network of new blogs covering every team in Major League Baseball. I am humbled to announce that yours truly has been hired to run the new Detroit Tigers site. Fanball has been a premier fantasy sports site featuring fantastic games, analysis, contest and more for years now. This expansion will bring the resources of a tremendous sports network to blogs covering every team in MLB, including our beloved Detroit Tigers. I am proud to be a part of this new venture and will do my very best to serve you, the reader in all things Detroit Tigers.

The site is up, the groundwork has been laid, the bunting is being hung for Opening Day and soon – very soon – it will be ready to welcome you. I’m putting my personal touch on it this weekend and expect to launch by the middle of next week. As soon as everything is in order I’ll post the link so you can check it out – I think you’re going to love the name. I’ll give you a hint.

Those of you who subscribe to this blog via the RSS feed or email subscriptions for your Detroit Tigers fix will want to sign up at the new site, as I will be writing about the Tigers exclusively there. I will continue to use this site for other topics, including fantasy baseball, at least for now. I’ll make sure to provide the subscription links for the new site as soon as the icing is on the cake.

Enjoy your weekend, a happy Father’s Day to all who apply, and if you happen to find yourself at Comerica Park on Saturday for the debut of Alfredo “The Marriage of” Figaro – give a wave towards suite 110 above first base. I’ll be enjoying the Saturday festivities with family and friends in style thanks to my sister-in-law and her houghty toughty corporate connections. Thanks Annie.

Be Well everyone, and go Tigers!

Hazaa

Have a question or comment? Leave your thoughts below or feel free to drop me a line at jelletlambie@gmail.com

Tigers and Twins on a Common Road to a Collision

When the Tigers take the field for the start of a three game home set with the Milwaukee Brewers tonight the Minnesota Twins will be taking the field for a three game home set of their own, against the Houston Astros. The Twins will look upon the Tigers performance this weekend, be it brilliant, abyssmal or in between as a litmus test – for they will take on the Brewers themselves next week, in Milwaukee.

As interleague play rolls through the Tigers and Twins have common opponents in the NL Central division. Minnesota traveled to Chicago last weekend, taking two out of three from the Cubs before coming home to handle the Pirates in the same fashion. The Tigers meanwhile lost two of three against Pittsburgh and will face the Cubbies at home next week. Detroit barely escaped St. Louis with a win last night, leaving their interleague record to date at 3-6. Minnesota meanwhile has feasted on their NL brethren to the tune of 7-2.

nine match ups vs. the NL Central remain for each squad before the Twins take on the Royals for a three game set and the Tigers head to Oakland to battle the A’s.

Then the real fun starts.

Detroit Tigers Offensive Statistics To Drive You Insane

*Note*

*Very soon I’ll be covering the Detroit Tigers exclusively through a new blog! I’m honored to say that a big name in Fantasy Sports is launching a network of team sites and has asked me to run their brand new Tigers blog. I’ll have all the details as soon as everything is up and running, so keep your eyes peeled.*

I posted some of these last night in the game thread over at Bless You Boys, but for those who weren’t a part of that lovely endeavor here’s the rundown. All stats are from Baseball Reference, the place where stat geeks go to get aroused.

The Tigers swing at the first pitch 28% of the time. Only the Texas Rangers do so more often among American League teams.

The Tigers have seen the 2nd fewest strikes (5,581) of any team in the AL, trailing only Kansas City.

The Tigers have the highest percentage of any team in MLB of fly balls hit that ended in the infield (16%), I.E. pop ups or line drives caught in the infield.

Through Tuesdays game the Tigers had compiled the following offensive numbers in the month of June:

Batting Average: .222, On-Base %: .304, Slugging %: .351, OPS: .655

Fantasy Baseball – The Hump Day Look See 6/17/09

It’s time again for the hump day look see, a random collection of stats and thoughts to help get you through your fantasy week. the look see will appear every Wednesday for the remainder of the season. You can make sure you catch each installment by grabbing a free email subscription through feedburner or picking up the RSS feeds on the main page.

You can also read this feature and more fantasy baseball news and notes at Fighting Chance Fantasy and Fantasy Baseball Search.

Those of you who find yourselves in need of a fantasy pick-me-up in your outfield should wander over to your league page, go to the add player link and search for Juan Rivera. Do it. Do it right now, I’ll wait.

All set? Good. Why am I so hastily pushing you in his direction? In his last 10 games Rivera is 16-40 (.400) with four home runs, 11 RBI’s, six runs scored and has struck out once, that’s right, once. Over the last month he’s hitting .354 with an OPS of 1.070 and has driven in 22 runs. I’m guessing those numbers are better than at least one of your OF options over that span. The best part? If you act quickly he’ll be available – he’s owned in only 16% of Yahoo leagues and 14% of ESPN leagues as of this morning.

Ian Stewart is still on a roll in Colorado, if you need some middle infield assistance you could do worse. In his last 15 games he’s 16-50 (.320) with five home runs, 14 RBI’s and 13 runs scored. Like Rivera he’s widely available. He’s owned in only 32% of ESPN leagues and 44% of Yahoo leagues. His dual eligibility at 2b/3b makes him a quality backup option at minimum.

Why The Trade Deadline May Be Disappointing For Tigers Fans

*Note*

*Very soon I’ll be covering the Detroit Tigers exclusively through a new blog! I’m honored to say that a big name in Fantasy Sports is launching a network of team sites and has asked me to run their brand new Tigers blog. I’ll have all the details as soon as everything is up and running, so keep your eyes peeled.*

With just about six weeks remaining until the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline the Detroit Tigers find themselves in first place in the AL Central, albeit with some gaping holes in their roster. Through ineffectiveness or injury the Tigers are struggling to fill the bottom two spots in the starting rotation, are platooning various youngsters in the outfield with mixed results and have little flexibility in the bullpen. 

Quality left-handed pitching seems to be lacking, to put it gently, and quality left-handed hitting is a problem as well. The lineup protection for Miguel Cabrera is drying up, which could lead teams to pitch around him more and more.

If this team intends on staying in first place these shortcomings need to be addressed, and quickly.

It should be a buyers market this year. The state of our economy has impacted everyone, including major league franchises. A number of teams are beyond out of the running for a playoff berth and are likely weeks or even days away from a rebuilding purge of veteran talent. This trade deadline bonanza should be as rich and fruitful as any in the last decade.

It’s too bad that the Tigers won’t be able to capitalize on it.

The Sports Pages – 6/12/09

“I always turn to the sports pages first, which records man’s accomplishments. The front page has nothing but man’s failures.”

- Earl Warren

I’m heading “up north” this weekend, as we metro Detroiters say, with the soon to be Mrs. J Ellet Lambie. A little rest and time away from the city is needed. I’ll be away from this humble forum until Monday morning or so, but before I go I wanted to share a few links, and an email I received.

 Yesterday I wrote a piece about the collision between bloggers and traditional media folks based on the story of Jerod Morris and his post about Raul Ibanez. Thanks to those of you who have emailed me already with your thoughts on the subject, including Jerod Morris himself. As I linked to his original post he found the article and contacted me yesterday afternoon.

While I disagree to an extent with what he wrote and criticized him for it in my article, I believe he acted without malice and is hardly the bottom feeder others have called him. Jerod had this to say to me, in part:

“I just stumbled upon your post while scanning through the multitudes of comments on the Raul Ibanez posts on MSF and I wanted to commend you for writing a truly fair and balanced account of what happened.  I am well aware that opinions regarding my article on Raul fall strongly on both sides, and I think you did a fantastic job of presenting those opinions within the broader context of the media at large.”

 

It’s Irresponsible. It’s Unfair. It Needs to Stop.

Yesterday morning I visited ESPN.com, as I often do, for sports news and notes. It is one of many websites I visit regularly for such purposes. There on the front page, amidst the tales of Yankees and Red Sox, the NHL and NBA Finals and other high profile nuggets was a peculiar headline:

Phillies Ibanez rips blogger for PED theory

So I clicked, I read, I followed the links where they led, and read some more.

The ESPN.com headline stems from John Gonzalez of the Philadelphia Inquirer and his column in which he referenced the blog of Jerod Morris. On Monday Morris, who runs a small sports blog called Midwest Sports Fans as a sideline, posted a story entitled The Curious Case of Raul Ibanez: Steroid Speculation Perhaps Unfair, but Great Start in 2009 Raising Eyebrows.  

I know, lousy title. The premise, as reported by ESPN in all of its’ entities, was that Morris proclaimed Ibanez a possible steroid user. I’ll let you read the story for yourself and make up your own mind. I have formed my opinion, which I’ll get to later.

Fantasy Baseball – Hump Day Look See 6/10/09

It’s time again for the hump day look see, a random collection of stats and thoughts to help get you through your fantasy week. the look see will appear every Wednesday evening for the remainder of the season. You can make sure you catch each installment by grabbing a free email subscription through feedburner or picking up the RSS feeds on the main page.

If your roster has been ravaged by injuries lately (like many of mine) there may be some good news coming soon. Pat Burrell and Jason Bartlett of the Rays are both expected to return within a week, giving some punch to the Rays and fantasy lineups everywhere. While Burrell is middle of the road fantasy outfielder Bartlett has been among the best shortstop options in the game so far this season.

Chris Iannetta has returned to the Colorado Rockies, now if only his batting average would do the same. In all seriousness, he has eight home runs so far in 108 at-bats. If he can even get the average back to the .264 level of last season and stay close to this power pace he could be a solid reserve backstop option going forward.

The State of the Detroit Tigers: 1/3 Through the Season

Over the weekend the Detroit Tigers played their 54th and 55th game of the season, effectively the 1/3 marker of the 2009 campaign. So once again today we’ll take a look at the highlights and lowlights so far, the teams ranks and grades and a few projections and predictions going forward. This feature will appear every 27 games, you can jump in the way back machine and read the 1/6 state of the Tigers here.

Overall Record — 30-25, 1st place in the AL Central

Team Batting Average — .264, tied for 9th in the AL, tied for 14th in MLB

Team ERA — 4.13, 2nd in the AL, 8th in MLB

All three of these indicators are more positive than at the 27 game mark. The team is five games above .500 with an ERA and batting average in the upper half of major league baseball. The Tigers 4.13 ERA is down from 4.16 at the 1/6 point, the .264 team batting average is up three points. Most importantly the Tigers have moved from 2nd place in the AL Central to having a 3.5 game lead.