2022 DETROIT TIGERS REGULAR SEASON THREAD

[Tiger337]

28 minutes ago, RandyMarsh said:

There are very few things on Earth I hate to the extent that Lynn hates Comerica Park and its dimensions.  Bitching about it again this morning on twitter after Grossman was quoted as saying that he didn't like hitting here as an opponent. If I understand his last sentence correctly it sounds like Lynn has blown past just moving the fences in and wants a whole new ball park. 

Henning might finally be right about the dimensions.  It never used to play liked a pitcher's park, but the home run factor has been way down the last couple of years and probably this year too.  I like it though.  What they need is a front office who can design a team for the park.  

[gehringer_2]

14 minutes ago, bobrob2004 said:

I always disliked the park as a fan.  It's way too open; you don't have any shade from the sun/rain.  It's very poorly designed.  But I'm fine with the dimensions.

And I absolutely hate the merry-go-round.  It's completely out of place for a ballpark.  

Lynn is moron about some stuff. Just look at the numbers Lynn, the park plays as close to run neutral as you could ever design another one to be (ask the Yankees about how easy it is get exactly what you intend when you design a field). Yes you are going to lose some shots to CF, but you get some back as you move to the left and right. The bonus is the park gives a lot more excitement when you have a great CF out there with room to show off his stuff, plus more of the rarest play in baseball - the triple. The park has produced 5 BA crowns in 20 yrs,  Tiger stadium produced 2 in the 60 yr post war period.  Plus one HR crown. It's not too hard to hit in. Also a couple of Cy Youngs. The balance between hitting and pitching in the park is actually much better than average.

That said, lack of protection from the Sun is without doubt the biggest single issue at COPA.

Edited June 20, 2022 by gehringer_2

[gehringer_2]

Well, the odds are Robbie isn't going to have to worry about COPA being his home park for much longer anyway.

Edited June 20, 2022 by gehringer_2

[mtutiger]

One thing that has grown on me about Comerica (full disclosure, I haven't been in years, this is strictly from a TV perspective) - the backdrop with the Detroit Skyline in the background. It's never going to be Pittsburgh, but especially in our current era where Globe Life Field, with it's generic look and Costco-like atmosphere, is considered the model ballpark, there's something to be said about a ballpark located in the central business district of a city and not out in suburbia. Just more aesthetically pleasing.

Like G2, the dimensions of the ballpark are fine and generate more action than I think the park gets credit for, owing to the amount of room in the gaps and the possibilities of triples that don't exist most places.

[oblong]

The merry go round is fine.  The kids enjoy it.  It's harmless.  Nobody forces you to ride it.  Just because we didn't have one when we were little doesn't mean the kids can't have one today.  When we were kids the games weren't 3 hours long either.  It's a nice break when taking small kids to go do that then catch the rest of the game.  I took mine on them when they were little.  

I do think the ballpark should be reconfigured.  The RF corner is the obvious choice.  Just make a straight line to CF.  You can add more seats in the OF.  I'm surprised they haven't done it already because from my seats I can't see that scoreboard fully and you know... that's less eyeballs on the advertising. 

 

[gehringer_2]

I wonder if KC has a sports writer that bitches and moans about the size of the OF at Kaufman? Maybe we can send them Lynn. Trade him to the Royals for a fountain that works better and a UL Washington memorial toothpick.

Edited June 20, 2022 by gehringer_2

[HeyAbbott]

The park factor is close to a neutral balance. Maybe some tweaking in the outfield, and if there was some way to add some shade, these would be improvements.

I grow weary of all of the whining when some MLB park doesn't play like a beer league softball field though. The biggest long term problem is our gambler's pal of a commissioner.

[Motor City Sonics]

I don't know what to really think of the dimensions, but I don't understand why they keep messing with the ball.   Didn't they basically use the same ball from the 70s until the mid 2010's ?    Why not just go back to that?   Don't need tightly wound balls or deadened balls.  It's nuts.  Do this bullshit in the minors, do it in Spring Training, you don't do it season-to-season or even in MID season like it seemed to happen last year.    To me is is exhibit #1 for the argument that Rob Manfred is not fit for his job.  

[gehringer_2]

31 minutes ago, Motor City Sonics said:

I don't know what to really think of the dimensions, but I don't understand why they keep messing with the ball.   Didn't they basically use the same ball from the 70s until the mid 2010's ?    Why not just go back to that?   Don't need tightly wound balls or deadened balls.  It's nuts.  Do this bullshit in the minors, do it in Spring Training, you don't do it season-to-season or even in MID season like it seemed to happen last year.    To me is is exhibit #1 for the argument that Rob Manfred is not fit for his job.  

I think part of the problem with the ball was accidental and it only got bad because they wouldn't just admit the problem and fix it (no doubt in part because the suits thought HRs were good for the game anyway). The specs on the ball go back pretty much to when they were hand made so the tolerances were pretty loose. The problem is that the at upper end of those tolerances you got a pretty live ball - but the balls in a box were always a range. Well what would naturally happen over time? Production techniques got better, variation went down, but the balls began converging to a point that was on the live end of the old spectrum so now instead of having one or two live balls in a box, you had a whole box full of them. Yes, they still met the original spec, but the variation that kept more of them in the ball park was reduced.  I can't prove this is what actually happened but I would place my bets on it.

Edited June 20, 2022 by gehringer_2

[oblong]

I did a cursory glance at some stadiums on google maps and their roofs looked about the same as Comerica except many have third levels which could lead to more shade.  I have heard that the Tigers got an exemption on the ballpark angle from the league because they wanted the skyline.  I wonder if that changes things?  It seems an easy fix would be just to extend roof on the upper deck a few feet, but would that increase shadows for the players that we typically see in late September for day games?  Where the hitter is in the shade but the pitcher in the sun?  I was there last Wednesday afternoon when it was 95.  It was tough.  On day games in the summer the 3B and LF lines are almost unbearable and it's noticable when nobody is sitting out there.

I don't want a band box for a home stadium but I also think a well hit ball to right CF should be rewarded.  Utlimately I guess it would have to be a decision based on inside baseball, pun intended.  Do the players have to make dramatic adjustments?  I want excellence on the field, from both sides. It's why I hated the Metrodome and some other indoor parks with the catwalks, etc.  

[Motor City Sonics]

34 minutes ago, oblong said:

I did a cursory glance at some stadiums on google maps and their roofs looked about the same as Comerica except many have third levels which could lead to more shade.  I have heard that the Tigers got an exemption on the ballpark angle from the league because they wanted the skyline.  I wonder if that changes things?  It seems an easy fix would be just to extend roof on the upper deck a few feet, but would that increase shadows for the players that we typically see in late September for day games?  Where the hitter is in the shade but the pitcher in the sun?  I was there last Wednesday afternoon when it was 95.  It was tough.  On day games in the summer the 3B and LF lines are almost unbearable and it's noticable when nobody is sitting out there.

I don't want a band box for a home stadium but I also think a well hit ball to right CF should be rewarded.  Utlimately I guess it would have to be a decision based on inside baseball, pun intended.  Do the players have to make dramatic adjustments?  I want excellence on the field, from both sides. It's why I hated the Metrodome and some other indoor parks with the catwalks, etc.  

410' is still a ride. 

[gehringer_2]

22 minutes ago, oblong said:

I have heard that the Tigers got an exemption on the ballpark angle from the league because they wanted the skyline.  I wonder if that changes things? 

sure. Since COPA opens to the South and the South is where the Sun is in the northern hemisphere, the Sun literally shines into the stadium during the day particularly all along the 3rd base line, in a way it never did at Tiger Stadium where the Sun was always behind the high walls of the stadium to the South and West along Mich and Cochran. At Tiger stadium  for the the primary grand stands between the foul poles, the boxes on the 1st base side were about the only place the sun  could ever shine on you during a game. At COPA you can get fried anywhere in the lower deck at a 1:pm game. Maybe when they designed it they assumed Sunday would be the only day games left, but since then Thursday and Sat days games seem to be making a comeback.

[gehringer_2]

27 minutes ago, Motor City Sonics said:

410' is still a ride. 

the park is a lot bigger than Tiger stadium, but again, part of that is the rotation of the ball park. Summer wind in MI is prevailingly from the west so the wind blows out to left at COPA a lot more than it did at Tiger stadium. Tiger Stadium rotated to where COPA is would be a band box for RH hitters. 

Of course a lot people believe Tiger stadium was also 440' to dead center. It was not after some renovation in the 60's (don't remember the exact yearz) - more like ~425, which is pretty much what COPA is where the CF wall meets the LF/RF walls (maybe even 430). the 440 marker for Tiger stadium was for where the flag pole was, but at some point they put up a fence in front of that area to level it off which created a storage area and also removed the pole from being in play. CF originally went out to almost a square corner which was the 440'. That fence shortened the distance by about 15 feet, but they never changed the 440 marker on the wall which IIRC was just to the right of where the added fencing started.

Edited June 20, 2022 by gehringer_2

[gehringer_2]

Cable cutters rejoice. Bally to launch its streaming service next week.

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/other/2022/06/20/bally-sports-detroit-launching-subscription-service/7681616001/

Quote

The service, Bally Sports+, will launch Thursday, and will mirror the content available on the linear service.

The cost will be $19.99 a month; fans who sign up for a year get 21% off, at $189. Bally Sports will be offering a seven-day free trial.

"For those fans that currently don't have an option to watch Tigers, Wings or Pistons due to whoever their provider is not carrying Bally Sports Detroit, they're going to have an option come Thursday," said Greg Hammaren, senior vice president and general manager for Bally Sports Detroit.

 

[oblong]

Going off on a tangent but was thinking about when my son eventually moves out..... he's 21.  He won't get cable.  He never watches TV the traditional way.  He either streams something directly from a service.  They won't just sit around and watch "whatever is on...."

Outside of Michigan games I am not sure he's ever just sat down and watched anything for 3 hours.

 

[gehringer_2]

Funny thing, if I were to drop my DirectTV to the lowest service level (meaning I would lose Bally) and buy the Bally service separately, my total bill would......wait for it......end up exactly the same.

[Biff Mayhem]

25 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

Cable cutters rejoice. Bally to launch its streaming service next week.

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/other/2022/06/20/bally-sports-detroit-launching-subscription-service/7681616001/

 

Oh yes! So what if I have to screen mirror to my tv, I am on this.

[Motor City Sonics]

50 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

Cable cutters rejoice. Bally to launch its streaming service next week.

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/other/2022/06/20/bally-sports-detroit-launching-subscription-service/7681616001/

 

its about damn time.     Doesn't Sinclair own it?   It would explain a lot.  Welcome to the 2010s !!!!!   Only it's 2022 !

[Motor City Sonics]

I would imagine this mean's Bally's would be available through an Amazon fire stick.   

[oblong]

4 minutes ago, Motor City Sonics said:

I would imagine this mean's Bally's would be available through an Amazon fire stick.   

Bally's would have to cut a deal with Amazon.   Amazon want's their piece of it.

I use Kindle to read books.  I buy a book every few weeks.   I cannot buy a book from the Kindle app on my iphone.  Apple and Amazon don't have a deal in place to support it.  So I have to open a web browser on my iphone and buy the kindle version that way.  The transaction cannot take place from the Kindle app.

 

[Ancient Fan]

On 6/13/2022 at 5:15 PM, lordstanley said:

On June 3 I traveled 20 hours to get from Vancouver to a small town north of Manchester on the Irish Sea. I spent the next 6 days trekking 185 miles on foot from that coast to the North Sea on the other side of England. Then took multiple trains to get to Manchester, overnight, continue onto Heathrow and fly home, arriving Saturday night. I've now been home 45 hours. In all that time, the Tigers have not hit one home run.

Sounds fun. Do you have pictures?

[Hongbit]

1 hour ago, gehringer_2 said:

Cable cutters rejoice. Bally to launch its streaming service next week.

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/other/2022/06/20/bally-sports-detroit-launching-subscription-service/7681616001/

 

Rejoice?   This is a complete rip-off for $20/month.    

[theroundsquare]

Should one of us start a game thread for tonight?  I have no claim to do so but I am willing 

[buddha]

1 hour ago, oblong said:

Bally's would have to cut a deal with Amazon.   Amazon want's their piece of it.

I use Kindle to read books.  I buy a book every few weeks.   I cannot buy a book from the Kindle app on my iphone.  Apple and Amazon don't have a deal in place to support it.  So I have to open a web browser on my iphone and buy the kindle version that way.  The transaction cannot take place from the Kindle app.

 

you could just buy the print book...

[oblong]

17 minutes ago, buddha said:

you could just buy the print book...

Not as convenient to read for me.  I do buy print books too.  But honestly I wouldn’t have bought 95% of what I have if a kindle version wasn’t available.  I usually get fluff books anyway. Nothing serious.   Space. TV. Sports. That kind of thing.  Just finished the Pearlman book on the lakers after watching winning time.