1776 Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 26 minutes ago, oblong said: People will think Lou Whitaker died Hope not. Whitaker turns 67 this Sunday. Willie Mays celebrating #93 today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gehringer_2 Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 3 hours ago, Tiger337 said: 60 definitely feels different from 50 and I imagine 70 will be worse. The funny thing is I don't really think any differently than I did when I was 35. I see people who are 60 and I think to myself "I don't look old or act old like them" but I probably do! The thing I do notice is physical - joint pain and inability to recover quickly from strenuous activity. Well, somedays 70 feels like 45, and others like 105! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casimir Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 2 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said: Well, somedays 70 feels like 45, and others like 105! Is all of this related to humidity or wind or something? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motor City Sonics Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 3 hours ago, chasfh said: I would love to be 50 years old again. It blows me away that I am 6 years older than Frank Zappa ever was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chasfh Posted May 6 Author Share Posted May 6 18 minutes ago, Motor City Sonics said: It blows me away that I am 6 years older than Frank Zappa ever was. Maybe, but he beat his body up pretty good with his work habits and diet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motor City Sonics Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 (edited) 2 hours ago, chasfh said: Maybe, but he beat his body up pretty good with his work habits and diet. it was the cigarettes too. How many packs a day for Frank. Had to be 3 or more. He refused to believe cigarettes were bad for his health, even when he was dying at 53. Smokers are much more likely to get pancreatic cancer than non-smokers. There is nothing good about cigarettes. It's why they tried so hard to make them as addictive as possible. My dad and had nine siblings. One died very young from drinking illegal alcohol (or he got whacked by the purple gang, we still don't really know), my one aunt (the youngest in his family) quit smoking before she was 30 and is still alive. Out of the other 8 (including my dad), 7 died from breathing/lung related issues and they all smoked, and smoked heavily. The only sibling of my dad who never smoked is 94 and still alive and still shovels his snow and walks a couple miles a day. In fact, he, at some point every time you see him will say in his Boston accent "ah, you're all soft". Edited May 6 by Motor City Sonics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeyAbbott Posted May 7 Share Posted May 7 (edited) 4 hours ago, gehringer_2 said: Well, somedays 70 feels like 45, and others like 105! On some days, being 70 reminds one that a) growing older is not for sissies and b) growing older is a privilege reserved for the fortunate few. Edited May 7 by HeyAbbott 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex Posted May 7 Share Posted May 7 All IMHO, I am just venting a bit here, as I have mentioned this before and will say again, SHarris, IMHO, does tend to go overboard with a certain type of player acquisition and it may be excluding a potential 'bigger' time tested understanding. He seems sold on contact types that work the count. Players that control the strike zone. This is fine to an extent but is this approach, used against MLB pitchers taken an idea too far in that it is putting our hitters in a hole too often - meaning getting behind on the count. When that happens we all know the odds favor the pitcher. I have heard CPena mention this on a broadcast, 'that the word is out on the Tigers'. I have heard Gibby talk about our low league ranking on missing middle-middle pitches. Even C-Mo has said the Tiger hitters are missing/taking too many hittable pitches. Scott Harris, at least to me, seems too intent on finding 'INFs that can move around versatility wise, that work the count'. There is a pattern; NMaton, JCamargo, JRizzo, ZMcKinstry, YHLee, NSolak, RVilade, AIbanez (not so much a count worker here) GUrshela, etc. Even the draft for the 2nd and 3rd picks last year (after an obvious 1st choice of one of the two OFs) they went after KMcGonigle and MAnderson (both middle type INFs who work the count - but not alot of projected power). I have heard him say he wants AJ Hinch to have choices to create a 'dynamic lineup' every game. Is he not appreciating the 'guys' who can swing it and drive the ball that play most every day? Paraphrasing the next two statements: Ted Williams often said "Every AB you get one good pitch to hit so don't take it, don't miss it and don't foul it away." I remember Jim Leyland when asked about all the baseball strategy changes and saber-metrics, etc. and about on base percentage - he said "I am more concerned about having guys who can drive in runs." With said, I do, along with many others like the organizational changes that have taken place with the Tigers. All the scientific stuff Ryan Garko and others have been implementing. Yet, in the end, the game is still the same. You have a defense behind a pitcher who throws the ball and you have a batter with bat in hand and the idea is to drive the ball and score runs. If you spend too much time and resources on trying to 'get on base' and ignore the driving the ball part - it may start showing up in games more than many might think. So I ponder, does SHarris (and the GM) have the ability to really get/develop 'hitters'? Would he consider, when the time is right, to get a real quailty hitter? Does he have the ability to make negotiate (trade or FA wise) such a move? BTW, here is where I, and others felt, AAvila had challanges. I will also say, perhaps there may be something to Comerica Park in that some hitters may be getting 'psyched out' by it. Some players that have spoken about it: JGonzalez, BHigginson, NCastellanos, EHaase, etc. and they are just a few who have been open to say it. How many have not publicly? Keep developing the pitching. Play good fundamental ball and provide sound defense. Yet get/develop some hitters for 'this park' who can drive the ball. Go Tigers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gehringer_2 Posted May 7 Share Posted May 7 (edited) 34 minutes ago, alex said: perhaps there may be something to Comerica Park in that some hitters may be getting 'psyched out' by it If that's still so it really is all in their heads because it just isn't that big anymore. We have had an unusual amount of east wind this spring though - which means in from left instead of the more normal summer west wind out to left. That could a factor this year, but the crappy offense out the gate is now in it's 3rd yr. If I had one wish for a change in the Tiger hitting approach it would be to change the mantra from 'control the strike zone' to 'defend the strike zone' Edited May 7 by gehringer_2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gehringer_2 Posted May 7 Share Posted May 7 38 minutes ago, alex said: Ted Williams often said "Every AB you get one good pitch to hit so don't take it, don't miss it and don't foul it away." and to be honest, I can't even agree with Ted here anymore. MLB pitching has reached a point where you don't always get a good pitch to hit in an AB anymore. You better be ready to hang in there against spin and good location or you're just going to give away too many ABs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edman85 Posted May 7 Share Posted May 7 Ryan Vilade is 6 months older than Tork, 8 months older than Meadows and Perez, younger than Dingler and Bigbie... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1984Echoes Posted May 7 Share Posted May 7 2 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said: and to be honest, I can't even agree with Ted here anymore. MLB pitching has reached a point where you don't always get a good pitch to hit in an AB anymore. You better be ready to hang in there against spin and good location or you're just going to give away too many ABs. I think the key is something that's been mentioned in here a few times... I think with today's pitching... That the mantra should be: "Go with the pitch". I would enforce this throughout the Org. Take outside pitches to the opposite field. Pull middle pitches. Fight off inside pitches. Control the strike zone. I think that all adds up. And it includes their favorite "control the zone" mantra. But if they are locked into "look for pitches only in 1 zone...", or anything like that... I think they're messing up. It has to be "go with the pitch". IMO. And "go with the pitch" means you don't swing for the fences as a sell-out with outside pitches... you simply try to "barrel" and that's it. No need to do a Ty Cobb "choke" on the bat, just don't sell out on outside pitches and go for contact instead... IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1984Echoes Posted May 7 Share Posted May 7 4 minutes ago, Edman85 said: Ryan Vilade is 6 months older than Tork, 8 months older than Meadows and Perez, younger than Dingler and Bigbie... I am perfectly on board with giving him a chance to prove he's more than just a 4A player... Let's see what he's got... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gehringer_2 Posted May 7 Share Posted May 7 2 minutes ago, Edman85 said: Ryan Vilade is 6 months older than Tork, 8 months older than Meadows and Perez, younger than Dingler and Bigbie... We do have a lot of guys hanging around the margins of make it/break it. The Covid year was obviously a factor, but lack of break through picks like Riley is also too much of the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiger337 Posted May 7 Share Posted May 7 (edited) I don't see anything in Vilade's profile that makes me think he's going to break out and surprise us. He is flexible and has decent on base skills which are two things that Harris looks for. I don't know what kind of defender he is. Flexibility often means not being able to play any position particularly well. If he can move around without hurting them defensively, then he can help. Edited May 7 by Tiger337 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theroundsquare Posted May 7 Share Posted May 7 47 minutes ago, Edman85 said: Ryan Vilade is 6 months older than Tork, 8 months older than Meadows and Perez, younger than Dingler and Bigbie... Does he smoke? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiger337 Posted May 7 Share Posted May 7 3 minutes ago, theroundsquare said: Does he smoke? This is not JIm Leyland's Tigers. He's a non-smoker and vegetarian. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casimir Posted May 7 Share Posted May 7 15 minutes ago, Tiger337 said: This is not JIm Leyland's Tigers. He's a non-smoker and vegetarian. He also kept his distance from Deuce. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gehringer_2 Posted May 7 Share Posted May 7 1 hour ago, 1984Echoes said: But if they are locked into "look for pitches only in 1 zone...", or anything like that... I think they're messing up. It has to be "go with the pitch". IMO. And "go with the pitch" means you don't swing for the fences as a sell-out with outside pitches... you simply try to "barrel" and that's it. No need to do a Ty Cobb "choke" on the bat, just don't sell out on outside pitches and go for contact instead... Agree 100% 84, I have always believed good hitters 'earn' the good pitches they get to hit by still being a tough out on the pitches they don't like so much. If this team needs any more obvious example they just need to look at their best hitter. Riley will put a ball in play that was pitched pretty much anywhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1984Echoes Posted May 7 Share Posted May 7 58 minutes ago, Tiger337 said: I don't see anything in Vilade's profile that makes me think he's going to break out and surprise us. He is flexible and has decent on base skills which are two things that Harris looks for... I think that's all he needs on this team to "break out". I can overlook a lack of power in one guy if he's a high-OBP guy and does other things... If he can prove a high-OBP in MLB that might be just enough. And yes, the flexibility and a need to be better than adequate in the field with that flexibility is also needed as a part of that package... So... we'll see. Maybe he'll have a lot of "grit" and be a "glue guy"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buddha Posted May 8 Share Posted May 8 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casimir Posted May 8 Share Posted May 8 21 hours ago, 1984Echoes said: I think that's all he needs on this team to "break out". I can overlook a lack of power in one guy if he's a high-OBP guy and does other things... If he can prove a high-OBP in MLB that might be just enough. And yes, the flexibility and a need to be better than adequate in the field with that flexibility is also needed as a part of that package... So... we'll see. Maybe he'll have a lot of "grit" and be a "glue guy"? I think there's a lot of value for a high OBP player if they have good baserunning skills (ie, not necessarily just speed) and good defensive versatility. That's a very good asset to a MLB bench. I don't know if Vilade is that player, but I guess we may find out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex Posted May 9 Share Posted May 9 (edited) On 5/7/2024 at 9:16 AM, gehringer_2 said: and to be honest, I can't even agree with Ted here anymore. MLB pitching has reached a point where you don't always get a good pitch to hit in an AB anymore. You better be ready to hang in there against spin and good location or you're just going to give away too many ABs. Pitchers have been able to throw pitches that 'spin' for years. You cannot say the pitches that BGibson or BFeller or NRyan, etc. threw did not 'spin'. Yes, today they have tweaked this a bit with grips and certain 'torquing' all measured through the motion of delivery by means of technologies used etc. to be able to quantify 'much' of it and then represent it. Years past, they simply did not have the tech to verify 'what they were doing then' and are doing today. Many pitchers throughout history have done things (heck, even the spitball made odd movements at times, lol). Also, today the ball is lighter so this 'tweaking' of ball motion often can take place. The mound was also higher before 1969. This is one reason why SPs rarely throw more than 180 innings anymore (as Chasfh pointed out previously). There is a lot to this and the times have changed. Yet, I would think good hitters have also made adjustments as well throughout history. Edited May 9 by alex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gehringer_2 Posted May 9 Share Posted May 9 15 minutes ago, alex said: Pitchers have been able to throw pitches that 'spin' for years. You cannot say the pitches that BGibson or BFeller or NRyan, etc. threw did not 'spin'. Yes, today they have tweaked this a bit with grips and certain 'torquing' all measured through the motion of delivery by means of technologies used etc. to be able to quantify 'much' of it and then represent it. The change that the tech has produced is that something that in the past only a few guys could do because the optimum way for them to do it came to them 'naturally', a lot of guys can do now because the tech gives you immediate quantitative feed back on each thing you try, it's like you can do a whole career's worth of trial and error on mechanics/grips/releases in a single series of bullpens. So more guys can get to their highest ceilings. It is probably also allowing teams to sift through prospects more efficiently so they find the top ceiling guys faster and spend less system resource on guys with lower ceilings. When you narrow a distribution, its average can increase without its maximum increasing (the same can be true the other way of course). So even if today's best MLB pitchers are not doing things that no-one ever did, there are more guys doing those things and the worst pitchers are likely a lot better - so on a day to day average pitching has gotten tougher. I tend to think this same statistical truth is what underlies the live ball controversy. The league can claim they haven't changed the ball spec, but if the manufacturer over time has naturally started to produce balls with less variation, but that reduction has taken place mostly in the percentage of balls on the softer end of the specification range, the average outcome is a liver ball on average even if the the spec never changed and the livest balls in the distribution are the same as they ever were. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobrob2004 Posted May 10 Share Posted May 10 So I found this website that can create music. I gave it a prompt and it spit out this song about the Tigers. This is 100% AI generated: https://suno.com/song/9ffb6f3d-fbe4-4bd4-9ec3-26fdd42a5ca9 It got the year 1904 wrong (should be 1901), but I guess it had to rhyme. [Verse] Beneath the city lights Where Motor City roars There's a team that's been fightin' Since 1904 The Detroit Tigers With a heart full of fire They play with such passion They'll never retire [Verse] Ty Cobb was a legend The Georgia Peach they say With spikes on his shoes He'd tear up the clay Hank Greenberg's bat Swung with might and grace A true power hitter Put fear in every base [Verse] From Kaline to Gibson A legacy so strong The roar of the jungle Keeps their spirits along World Series champions They've tasted the glory The Tigers The pride of Detroit's rich story Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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