10/01/2023 3:10 pm EDT Cleveland Guardians vs Detroit Tigers

[roarintiger1]

I was thinking yesterday during the game about how,  if Juan Gonzalez would've been happy to stay in Detroit and had the numbers that he had while in Texas, he could've had some kind of ceremony upon his retirement.  As it was, he is remembered in Detroit about like that pimple you had on your butt in junior high..............

[gehringer_2]

23 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

I find it interesting that some people are so easily rating Cabrera over Kaline.   Kaline has always been regarded as a god in Detroit and I grew up thinking that his numbers didn't match his status.  So, I kind of get it.  In later years, I came to the conclusion that he really was a great all around player who lasted a long time and worthy of much of the adoration.  Cabrera was a better hitter than Kaline, but not THAT much better whe you consider the eras in which they played and Kaline was a far better defender and had more good years in Detroit.,  

Beside recency bias and the extra drama of being a HR hitter, I would put part of the difference in perception being that during Cabrera's peak years, he was putting up almost 45% OBP's - you almost couldn't get him out, he was hitting every ball hard somewhere. Kaline was never quite that dominant. He had few 400 OBP seasons, none quite as good as Miguel's best, and they were more scattered across his career. And part of that was the ball, the bats, the mound, the 'era' for sure.

Mostly the HRs make the difference though I think. When Kaline was playing, he was often the 2nd or 3rd HR threat on the team (Maxwell, Colavito, Cash, Horton, Northrup etc). He only led the team in HR a few times in his career. What can you say, Chicks love the long ball.....

Kaline and Beltre were sort of similar in being very good on both sides of the ball for a long time without having many 'led the league in something' seasons.

Edited October 2, 2023 by gehringer_2

[1776]

I probably watched all of Miggy’s plate appearances via replay video this weekend. I couldn’t help but notice that Cabrera’s swing was more about contact than power. I’m sure his legs/knees play a big part in that approach but his swing was such a contrast to the ‘all or nothing’ cuts these guys take nowadays. He was a kid again this weekend. 

[Jim Cowan]

30 minutes ago, 1776 said:

I probably watched all of Miggy’s plate appearances via replay video this weekend. I couldn’t help but notice that Cabrera’s swing was more about contact than power. I’m sure his legs/knees play a big part in that approach but his swing was such a contrast to the ‘all or nothing’ cuts these guys take nowadays. He was a kid again this weekend. 

I think he was always a line drive hitter who was so strong that a lot of his "contact" went over the fence.

[gehringer_2]

39 minutes ago, 1776 said:

I probably watched all of Miggy’s plate appearances via replay video this weekend. I couldn’t help but notice that Cabrera’s swing was more about contact than power. I’m sure his legs/knees play a big part in that approach but his swing was such a contrast to the ‘all or nothing’ cuts these guys take nowadays. He was a kid again this weekend. 

Over the last few seasons, Miguel's ISO has pretty much tracked directly with how often his right knee allowed him to pick up his front foot and drive off the back leg. He's been able to do it progressively less often each year to where this year he pretty much only tries to hit flat footed. It's a measure of his strength and ability to square up the ball that he can still get balls to the OF at all doing that. Not many guys could. 

 

Edited October 2, 2023 by gehringer_2

[Motor City Sonics]

On 10/1/2023 at 5:39 PM, Motor City Sonics said:

Welp, that's a wrap. 

 

Considering the 2-9 start and the 9-game losing streak, there was a lot to like about this season and the young guys developed better than we'd hoped.     Hopefully they continue that next year and that next wave of guys do what they did.   

Gonna need to sign 2 starting pitchers.   

 

 

Well, not the cream of the crop, but we got 2 starters.