Tiger Notes

The curious case of Joel Zumaya

In 2006 he came from out of no where. Armed only with a fastball that reached 100 mph, Joel Zumaya caught the fancy of the on lookers at Comerica Park and the fear of MLB hitters league wide.

Dominating. that is the simplest way to describe Zumay’s 2006 season. He struck out 97 in 83.1 innings pitched, while posting a 6-3 record setting up Todd Jones.

His 1.94 ERA was stunning – but it was his fastball that caught the imagination of Tiger fans. And it was during the Tigers 2006 playoff run that Zumaya’s legend grew bigger.

Against the hated New York Yankees, Zumaya pitched one and a two-thirds innings, strikeing out three, reaching speeds of 103 MPH.

Five days later, Zumaya just 21 at the time, threw what was then the fastest pitch ever recorded in MLB at 104.8 MPH.

The record was later broken by Cincinatti’s Aroldis Chapman, who had a pitch recorded at 105.1.

Offseason injuries, an addiction to Guitar Hero, and freak accidents have side tracked this kids attempts at recapturing that 2006 season.

Just another what-if for the Detroit Tigers. If the talented right hander can stay healthy, he adds depth to a very impressive bullpen and an even better rotation.

In many ways Joel has a lot in common with the only MLB manager he’s ever known. If he falters this could be his last season wearing the old english D.

A lot of what makes competitive sports great gets lost in the medias
attempt to translate what is going on during the game and what goes
on behind the scenes.

More fans today are consumed with payrolls, buyout clauses, player
bonuses than ten years ago. I haven’t seen the back of a baseball
card in years, but I’m pretty sure that I could look at Albert Pujols
baseball card and see his salary listed amongst the other stats of a MLB
player.

That’s just the nature of the sport these days.

But at it’s very core it is a simple, beautiful, family game. For three
hours a night, you can sit around the tv, the radio, your laptop, in the stands,
at the pub, etc. and just get lost in the most simplest of ways.

I was going through today’s Detroit Tiger news links when I came across this one,
and it took me back to those years of living in Prescott, Michigan and watching the
Tigers as they won the world series in 84, captured the pennant in 87, and solidified
my love for this sport.

I had Ernie Harwell to listen to, My Dad to talk about the games with, and a gas
pig to emulate Jack Morris on. As the years go by, as I get more and more jaded
in the way I look at life, I still hold on to those memories. And I always will.

Tom Brookens was my Dads favorite ball player. Brookens wasn’t a superstar, hell,
he was marginally good. But he busted his ass when he played. He was that prototypical
gamer – scrappy, played wherever he was penciled in at, and never took a day
off when asked to be ready.

Kind of like my Dad.

I moved back to Midland a few months ago. I’ve been gone for 8 or 9 years. I’m finding
that watching a hockey game without my Dad is difficult. Baseball season will be strange
too. Dad isn’t as big a baseball fan as he used to be, but he’d ask me what was going on
after I’d yell at my laptop watching MLB.TV.

And though it’ll be tough, I’m looking forward to this season a lot more than I have
in the past – I have four young men that I get to sit with and educate them on the finer
things in baseball.

I wont’ bring up Miguel Cabrera’s salary or his “drinking problem”, we’ll just marvel at his
amazing power. I won’t bring up that Justin Verlander is under contract for the next four
years, and going to make 92 million dollars … I will tell him that the guy could throw
a no-hitter at any point in this season.

And I guarantee they too will find their Tommy Brookens. The guy they want to emulate as a player, They’ll feel the need to put the game on pause (because we have that technology now) and go outside and slide head first into a fantasy.

Twenty years from now, they will look back at these times with a smile on their face, as there kids sit around a green field of hope and tell them about that guy on the field that left it all out there.

Just like their Dad.

See what i did there?

The weather here in Midland, Michigan is warm. With the warmth comes not only the melting of snow but another day closer to baseball season. The one thing that remains constant in a sport that is continuously changing is the hope that springs from the unknown.

With the Detroit Tigers, all that we really know is that Miguel Cabrera has the ability to have a very special year , Justin Verlander will pitch 200 + innings of ace like baseball, and Carlos Guillen will again be turned down by Lloyds of London.

Everything else is a crap shoot. Will Brennan Boesch hit like the first half of his rookie year, or will he again channel the second half season of 2006 Chris Shelton? Will Rick Porcello and Max Scherzer continue their second half performances or will they falter? Will Magglio Ordonez regain his power stroke? Will Austin Jackson be able to slay the legend of the sophomore slump? How many times will I spell Scherzers last name wrong.

It’ll be an interesting season, to say the least.

The Tigers have a very legitimate chance of winning this division. If the starting rotation of Verlander, Porcello, Scherzer, Brad Penny and Phil Coke can stay healthy and pitch to there abilities, there is no team, with the exception of the Chicago White Sox, that can match them … and even the White Sox aren’t a lock in that department.

Mark Buerhle is coming off a 13-13 record with an ERA of 4.28 … his highest in five years. At 32, Buerhle is on the downside of his career. Still a decent pitcher granted, his arm has a lot of wear and tear on it. Buerhle will battle Jake Peavy in spring training for the ace slot in the rotation, and Peavy himself could see time on the DL, not having pitched 200 innings since 1997, when he won the NL Cy Young.

John Danks is the wild card in the rotation – if he can stay healthy, he could have a break out season for the White Sox. If is a funny word though, because each team has a bunch of what-ifs.

The Twins what-ifs are simple: Will Joe Mauer and John Morneau be able to contribute a full season to the Twins. Mauer had another fine season, driving in 75 RBI and batting .327, but had his power all but eliminated within the brand new and very spacious Target Field. Morneau, however, played just 81 games after suffering a concussion at Toronto.

The balance of the division rests in the hands of the players mentioned – but of course in any one season a surprise player could emerge and carry the team on his back. That’s what makes the game great. The hope that springs from the unknown.

“It’s not the pressure,” Jim Leyland replied, when asked about the pressure his squad would feel this season, “it’s how you handle the pressure.”

Kind of a Yogi Berra reply, wouldn’t you say? There is no doubt that Leylands job security is nonexsitent if the Tigers fail to make a playoff run this year.

With an estimated payroll of 105 million dollars (down from 135.9 last season) the Tigers have the pitching depth that most teams dream of … its the questions in the lineup that will prove to be Leylands giant to tackle this season.

Will he continue to champion the veteran’s cause … even when they aren’t helping the team (see: 2010 Gerald Laird or every year Brandon Inge) or will he continue to play a struggling hitter (see: 2010 Brennan Boesch) while a very capable hitter (see: Ryan Raburn) languish’s in the dugout, picking up meaningless at bats when a season has all but slipped away in the dying months of the summer?

I’m a fan of Jim Leyland. I know he has his detractors – most managers in MLB do, it’s just a nature of the business – but, clearly, where there is smoke, there is fire.

And if Smokey doesn’t quiet his detractors this season, he’ll be fired.

The 40 man roster and 2011 schedule has been updated.