By The Heckler
BaseballBigMouth.com baseball news  

Well, well. Looks as though that World Series parade can wait, eh? The Detroit Tigers — the same Detroit Tigers who had plenty of positive ink spilled in their direction in lieu of off-season acquisitions Miguel Cabrera, Dontrelle Willis and Edgar Renteria — sit tonight at a very unremarkable 0-5 on the year. They remain the only MLB team without a win thus far, and frankly, they’ve accumulated every loss thus far the old fashioned way — they’ve eeeeeeeeeeeearned it.

Whether it be through lack of hitting (manager Jim Leyland has called out the team for “lazy at-bats”) a bullpen already showing its many cracks (please, for the love of Ty Cobb, no more Jason Grilli on this home stand at least, okay God?) or some overall lackadaisical play (Renteria getting doubled-off first on a fly ball to LEFT field) the Tigers have apparently been reading too many of their own headlines. Little do they understand that baseball has filled with teams that were “supposed-to” or were labelled “can’t miss” that didn’t go on to amount to anything more than a lot of talk and badge. Without more consistent effort, not to mention some warmer weather for their Latino-heavy lineup, these Motowners will continue to drop down the charts of early season favorites.

In other news, full marks to the newest Japanese sensation to hit MLB, the Chicago Cubs Kosuke Fukudome. Nothing better than hitting a clutch three-run bomb on opening day to get the Wrigley faithful on one’s side, not to mention equally clutch hitting and overall play since then. Yet another nice story emerging in baseball from the land of rising sun.

Finally, in another quick hit, what’s up with Oakland A’s stopper Huston Street? Yikes. A 12.27 ERA to start the year complete with three taters given up in only 3.1 innings is no way to keep a job, especially with further rumblings that the A’s are looking to unload Rich Harden and begin their rebuilding in full. Can Street be far behind, that is, if anyone will take him?

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The Heckler had to laugh at Andy Pettitte’s assertion that he didn’t take HGH to gain any advantage, but merely wished to come back to “do his job” by healing his injuries. Is this not the definition of gaining an advantage? How dumb are these guys, really? How many hundreds of player (if not thousands) throughout the years could have extended their careers — let alone made careers for themselves when none would have been in the offing — by using these illegal performance-enhancing supplements? Pettitte is an admitted cheater that deserves no sympathy from anyone. Playing the martyr card won’t help you, Andy. The wings have surely been clipped off this angelic choir boy.

- The Heckler

By The Heckler
Baseball Big Mouth
baseball news    

Beep . . . beep . . . beep . . . beep . . . beep . . .

The sound Tiger fans are hearing today, resonating in their heads in a repeated, pulsing fashion, is not a pleasant one. Like an elderly grandparent clinging to its last days wearing a well-used johnny shirt atop a creaky hospital bed, the beep seemingly grows louder with each passing visit.

Beep . . . beep . . . beep . . . beep . . . beep . . .

The Detroit Tigers 2007 season is officially on life support today, kicked in to critical condition with a crushing lost last night to division-leading Cleveland. No longer can that be denied. It is time to accept the gravity of the situation — the odds against a repeated magical October this year are greatly stacked against the team, and no excuses need apply. This is a Jim Leyland team. We deal in reality, thanks (well, that, and a lot of stale cigarette smoke).

Beep . . . beep . . . beep . . . beep . . . beep . . .

Up 5-2 in the eighth inning, the seemingly more-fallible Joel Zumaya — he, the anointed would-be closer of the team for next season by a great percentage of the fan base — coughed up the lead faster than Stimpy expelling a morning hairball. Aack!

A leadoff walk, a single, a couple of groundouts (making it 5-3) and then — disaster. A two-run bomb the opposite way by Jhonny Peralta. Bye-bye lead. Hello new ballgame. Aack!

Beep . . . beep . . . beep . . . beep . . . beep . . .

Did you really expect the Tigers to rebound after that emotional shot? The Heckler sure didn’t — and was proven right, unfortunately. Casey Blake, the latest hero-du-jour for the Tribe, effectively pulled the plug on Detroit’s division hopes with a homerun in the 11th off Zack Miner. Coupled with the Yankees latest win (this time over the hapless Baltimore Orioles) moved their Wild Card lead to 3-1/2 with 11 to play.

Beep . . . beep . . . beep . . . beep . . . beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep . . .

How will this team change in 2008? Probably more than fans believe. The rotation is anything but set — after Justin Verlander, is anyone a lock for Opening Day next year? Jeremy Bonderman? Who says he won’t be dealt as an attractive bargaining chip? FA-to-be Kenny Rogers? Will he be back? Nate Robertson? he of the less-than-impressive eight wins? Andrew Miller? Would a year of tearing up Triple A be the worst thing for this kid, and make no mistake, he is still a kid? Jair Jurrjens? Impressive thus far, but a lock? Hardly. And don’t even bring up Chad Durbin, deal? Safe to say what we got, we got. Period. Nothing more, nothing less.

But what of the rest of the staff? How Jason Grilli stayed on the team, only Leyland knows — but what of the other middle relievers? Jose Capellan looks every bit the all-arm no-head prospect he has always been; Virgi Vasquez flat-out ain’t good enough and Zach Miner needs a more-defined role and the trio of lefties (Bobby Seay; Tim Brydak and Bubba McBride) have been up-and-down. Yorman Bazardo looks to have something, but what? And let’s not forget about Fernando Rodney’s split-season (half abysmal, half good) along with another FA-to-be, Todd Jones. Do you bring him back? Is Zumaya ready for the everyday closer role? The Heckler says no, unfortunately. As much as certain body parts pucker when Jones enters the game (and, nearly as irriating, the way Jones has attacked the media has been tiresome to say the least) I would still resign him for next year. If he wants a two-year deal, give it to him. You can always walk away from the second part.

At first, is Carlos Guillen going to take to becoming a regular there? Will Cameron Maybin be ready for the show next year, ’cause he sure wasn’t this year — and what about a left-handed outfielder? Is Timo Perez a nice story, or a long-term fix-it solution? And what about Pudge Rodriguez’ $13 million option. Are you not going to pick it up, pay him $3 to walk — only to pay someone else (not any better, really) another $8 million? That’s not much of a savings in all, not to mention what it does to the clubhouse. Say what you will about Pudge, but his heart is in the right place. Others notice that as well, no doubt.

All the more sad at the conclusion of this disappointing season, fraught with injuries the 2006 team somehow avoided, is the fact that they didn’t close out last season with a World Series Championship. You just don’t get there as often in baseball as you do in other sports — and regrettably, the Tigers are learning first hand that opportunities like that simply do not come along everyday. More often than not — for 26 out of Major League Baseball – clubs are left with what-ifs and if-only’s as the air grows cold and the Fall Classic beckons.

Looks like this year, the only way the Tigers will be there is if they luck into a ticket, thanks to a hungry Indians team closing in on their first division title since 2001.

Pay your respects while you still can, gang, while this club still has a faint heartbeat. As the baseball cliché goes . . . there’s always next year, right Tiger fans? Ask the Cubs’ fans how it’s done. They’ve made a living out of looking forward.