What Should Bud Do?
Last night was one of the most emotional events I've ever covered. A perfect game would have been incredible, but what happened instead is something that will go down in baseball history.
Originally, the mood was anger toward Jim Joyce for blowing the call and costing Armando Galarraga the first perfect game in Tigers history. After Joyce's emotional meeting with reporters - probably the most gut-wrenching interview I've ever done - and his apology to Galarraga and the Tigers, things changed in the park. By the time I left last night, the feeling was more deep sympathy for both of them.
That hasn't changed, but now people want to know what Bud Selig is going to do to fix this travesty.
I think the answer is simple.
He shouldn't do a thing.
As I see it, he has two options. The first is to overrule the official scorer, Chuck Klonke, and change the call from a hit to an error. That would be a joke. Calling it an error would say that either Miguel Cabrera or Galarraga made the mistake that allowed Jason Donald to reach first base. They didn't - the mistake was made entirely by Joyce.
The other option, proposed by Fox Sports' Jon Paul Morosi, is to overrule Joyce. Declare that Donald was out, erase Trevor Crowe's subsequent at-bat from the record books, and rule that it was, indeed, a perfect game.
I actually have more sympathy for that than I do for the first option, but I still don't think it works. Jon Paul's argument is that it is a one-time exception, and since the game ended with the next batter, you have the chance to fix history. He's right, but what if Crowe had singled, the next batter had homered and the game had gone to extra innings? You couldn't wipe all of that away, could you?
My wish is that baseball would use this as a reason to expand instant replay. Let each manager have a challenge, just like they do in the NFL. It wouldn't slow the game down that much, and you'd get big calls right.
But you know what? Everyone I've talked to today, including Galarraga, both managers and players from both teams, hates the idea. No one in baseball wants more instant replay. They are willing to deal with events like Wednesday night as "just part of the game."
I disagree, but I'm not going to win an argument against an entire sport.
So, Commissioner Selig, please do what you do best.
Nothing.
Trading Curtis Granderson
Remember when the Red Wings almost traded Steve Yzerman? It was just before the 1995-96 season, and Scotty Bowman was ready to pull the trigger on a deal that would have sent The Captain to Ottawa for a package built around Alexei Yashin. Obviously, the trade never happened, but on Opening Night, the rumors were still swirling. That night, as the team was being introduced, Bowman got one of the most negative reactions I've ever heard from a Detroit crowd. This was a man who is arguably the greatest coach in NHL history and who had just gotten the Red Wings to their first Stanley Cup final in 40 years. But because he wanted to trade Steve Yzerman, he was Public Enemy #1.
I'm seeing the same kind of anger from Tigers fans about stories that Curtis Granderson is on the trading block.
Granderson isn't close to Yzerman in terms of accomplishments in his sport. Yzerman was a first-ballot Hall of Famer, and probably the fourth-best player in franchise history behind Gordie Howe, Terry Sawchuk and Nick Lidstrom. Granderson's not getting anywhere near Cooperstown, and he's lucky if he's the fourth-best player on the current Tigers roster. He's definitely behind Justin Verlander and Miguel Cabrera, and you can make arguments for Magglio Ordonez, Edwin Jackson and Rick Porcello.
That comparison completely misses the point. In his six years with the Tigers, Granderson has become one of the most popular athletes in town. Not only does he look like a great player with his speed and his spectacular plays in centerfield - he's one of the best people in sports and he does huge amounts of charitable work. That's the reason that people are upset about this.
I understand the reasons that Dave Dombrowski is shopping Granderson. It's no secret that Jim Leyland was frustrated with Granderson's offensive performance last year, especially his increasing inability to hit left-handed pitching, and he's going to be 29 on Opening Day. For most major leaguers, skills start declining around 30, so what the Tigers see now is probably as good as it will get.
So his trade value today is higher than it will be a year from now or two years from now. Even though he had a bad year at the plate, he was still an All-Star, he's still considered a top defensive centerfielder and he doesn't have a huge contract. There will be a lot of teams that are willing to assume that last year was a fluke, and he's still the player he was in 2007 and 2008.
There's also the money issue. The Tigers lost fans this year, even while leading the division for most of the season, and the economy isn't going to be any better by April. The payroll is out of control, thanks to some terrible contracts given out by Dombrowski, and there's no simple way to fix it. They aren't going to trade Miguel Cabrera, and no other team is going to take on the eight-digit salaries of Ordonez, Dontrelle Willis, Jeremy Bonderman and Nate Robertson. That means, to save any money, you have to get young, cheap players in exchange for the guys a little lower on the salary ladder - Granderson, Jackson and maybe Brandon Inge.
On the other hand, when do you start cutting off your nose to spite your face? Sure, the Tigers could get a ton of prospects for those three players, and that might be a good idea in the long run, but how much damage does it do in 2010? The Tigers still drew 30,000 fans a game last season, but they can't count on that. Remember what the crowds looked like in 2002 and 2003? How long do you think it will take to get back to that level if they decide to rebuild next season, and do it without two of their most popular players in Granderson and Inge?
I'm not saying the Tigers shouldn't listen if a team makes an offer for Granderson. After all, maybe the Cardinals have gotten bored of watching Albert Pujols crush baseballs. The Royals might have decided that they are destroying Zack Greinke's soul by making him play for the worst organization in the sport. If Detroit gets offered one of those two players, I suspect the fans would understand if they made the trade.
(By the way, one of the persistent rumors has the Tigers talking to the Yankees about a trade that would feature Joba Chamberlain. Joba is going to end up as a reliever. With his stuff, he'll probably be very good at it, but do you really want to make a major deal for a pitcher that the Yankees only trusted in middle relief in the postseason? They were desperate for a fourth starter and refused to use him, even though he made 31 starts in the regular season. That's a massive red flag. It's not at all hard to see Joba Chamberlain turning into Fernando Rodney, and I suspect no Tigers fan would trade Curtis Granderson for Fernando Rodney.)
If they are going to do this, they need to do it for the right reason. Trading Curtis Granderson because it makes a lot of sense on the baseball field might be acceptable to the fans. Getting rid of him in a fire sale would be a very bad idea.
At The Break
47-47
That isn't exactly what Tigers fans were expecting from The Greatest Offense Ever Assembled, but that's what they've gotten. With 68 games to go, the Tigers are seven games behind the White Sox and eight games out of the wildcard spot. If Chicago just plays .500 from here on in, the Tigers will have to go 41-27 down the stretch just to tie.
Is that possible? Sure. In their last 68 games, the Tigers have gone 40-28, so they would only have to play as well as they have in the last three months.
Of course, that's assuming the White Sox play .500, and that the Twins don't stay hot. Neither of those is a given at this point. Ozzie Guillen has proven that he can get a young, hungry team to overachieve, and Ron Gardenhire is an expert at winning when no one thinks he has enough talent.
So the Tigers have to be thinking that they have to get to at least 90 wins to have a realistic shot at the playoffs. That means 43-25 or better after the All-Star break. How do they do it? I think it has to be with offense - there doesn't seem to be much reason to think the pitching is going to drastically improve.
The bad news for the offense is that several of the players that the Tigers expected to carry the offense have flopped through the first 94 games. The good news is that those same players have proven in the past to be capable of doing more.
Want an example? Edgar Renteria. Last year, he hit .332/.390/.470, and this year he's at .254/.301/.326. Last year was probably a fluke, but he's never had a season nearly this bad, so the odds are that he'll be somewhat better in the second half.
Other guys aren't as dramatically down, but there's still reason to expect improvement. Miguel Cabrera will probably be better. Magglio Ordonez should be healthy. Gary Sheffield might not be completely done.
On the other hand, the Matt Joyce/Marcus Thames thing is a little out of control. They might be a combined .265 hitter, but I don't really think they have 50-homer power, even as a platoon.
On the pitching side, Verlander appears to have his stuff back, but I'm not sure who else you can count on. Rogers is 93 years old, Robertson is the definition of average, the league is starting to catch up to Galarraga and, well, there is no #5 starter. Zumaya looks OK, but Rodney has been terrible, so that's not going to be the huge boost that people expected.
I still don't believe in the White Sox or the Twins, but the Tigers can't wait until September to get back into this. Leyland said Sunday that he wants to be within three games going into the final month, and I suspect that's a very good goal.
D-Train Wreck
This is painful to watch.
Dontrelle Willis was just taken out of the game in the second inning. It's already 8-0.
Willis threw 64 pitches and got exactly four outs. He walked five of the 12 batters he's faced and gave up two long home runs.
This is a guy that was an All-Star in 2005, and now he's completely helpless. He's walked 21 batters in 11 1-3 innings, and his ERA is now over 10.
The biggest problem? The Tigers just signed him to a three-year, $29 million contract. He's going to get that even if he never throws another strike.
Monday Wrap on Tuesday
Pistons-Celtics: There's No Such Thing As Momentum
People always talk about which team has the momentum in the NBA playoffs. It doesn't matter. At all. The Pistons were supposed to have it after ending Boston's unbeaten record at home in Game 2, and Boston won Game 3. That meant the Celtics had it, since they had gotten the road-game gorilla off their backs, but then they lost Game 4.
So I suppose now the Pistons have it, right?
Three things matter in the NBA postseason - home court, energy and shooting. Yesterday, the Pistons were at home, played hard - especially Antonio McDyess and Jason Maxiell - and made shots. That's why they won the game.
Speaking of McDyess, it is great to see him playing so well. He's a good guy, and he's come back from horrific injuries to both knees. This was someone that was one of the 10 best players in the NBA, and he basically lost three seasons to knee injuries, and has worked incredibly hard to get back to where he is now. Unlike the rest of the Pistons core, he doesn't have a ring, and he desperately wants one.
Red Wings-Penguins: Shoot The Puck!
In the hockey playoffs, there is a type of momentum that matters - the hot (or cold) goalie. Right now, the Penguins don't look like they could score on Chris Osgood if the NHL let them have three pucks. Actually, if the Pens did get three pucks, they would just immediately turn all of them over to the nearest player in a red jersey, so I guess it wouldn't matter.
Marc-Andre Fleury is looking a bit rattled in the other net, but can you blame him? At this point, he knows that his only chance of winning to keep the game 0-0 until the ancient Red Wings like Nick Lidstrom and Chris Chelios have to go to bed.
Tigers: Consistently Inconsistent
Speaking of endless 0-0 games, the Tigers lost 1-0 in 13 innings to the Anaheim California Angels of Los Angeles last night, meaning they've now scored one run in 24 innings. The Tigers are averaging a decent 4.9 runs in their last 14 games, but 49 of those came in the three wins against Seattle and the 19-3 blowout of the Twins.
Ron Gardenhire said last week that the Tigers remind him of "piranhas", but I think he had the wrong animal. They are more like pythons. They can devour massive amounts in one gulp, but they are only hungry once a week.
Horse Racing: Daytona Is In California?
There were three major races on Memorial Day - the Gamely and the Shoemaker at Hollywood Park, and the legendary Met Mile at Belmont.
The Shoemaker was supposed to decide the West Coast's best turf horse, and Daytona made a pretty good argument for himself. He sat behind Ever A Friend for most of the race, then kicked by him in a tough stretch duel.
Daytona won the Hollywood Derby in November, but people were impressed by Ever A Friend's win in March's Frank Kilroe Mile, so this was supposed to the championship match. If it was, Daytona won a unanimous decision, and now he appears headed for a showdown with Kip DeVille in October's Breeders Cup Mile.
Diamond Diva tried to steal the Gamely by jumping out to a big early lead, but Precious Kitten ran her down in the stretch. Diamond Diva did finish second, which is a nice finish given the presence of major-winner Ruthierenne.
In the Met Mile, Commentator got into a speed duel with First Defence, and Divine Park took advantage by blowing by both of them in the stretch. Commentator is unbeatable when he gets a comfortable early lead, but at 7, he can't handle sustained pressure duels.
Cricket: Aussies Hang On
The Australians won the First Test against West Indies on Monday when they bowled them out for 191 to win by 95 runs.
Why is this important? Because I had told Justine Larbalestier that watching the Test would be something fun and relaxing, because there was no way her beloved Aussies could lose. I looked like an idiot when they were at 18-for-5 in their second innings, but they recovered to 167 and bowled out the Windies with time to spare.
When you are trying to impress famous authors with your witty cricket comments, it helps if they don't blow up in your face, so well done, Australia.
Perspective
The Red Wings are hosting Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals on Saturday. At the same time, the Pistons will be hosting Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals, and the Tigers are playing a home game against the Twins. It's already being called "Super Saturday" - the biggest day in Detroit sports history.
But here's a different way of looking at it. If all three games sell out, which they probably will, the combined crowd will still be more than 20,000 fans smaller than Michigan draws for every home football game.
Jim Leyland Hates Jason Grilli
Jim Leyland isn't too impressed with Jason Grilli's observation that letting Sean Casey go has hurt the Tigers' chemistry. (Video is safe for work, but only because the 872 curses have all been bleeped.)
The interesting thing is that he also goes off on Carlos Guillen, although without mentioning his name. Guillen was quoted recently as saying that he didn't think the expectations put on the Tigers were "fair".
Going to be an interesting summer, especially if they don't get this turned around.
Monday Wrap: Goldfinger
You probably had no idea that Auric Goldfinger won the first Buick Open, did you?
Actually, that's Hall of Famer Billy Casper, who was in town Monday to help kick off the Buick Open's 50th anniversary celebration. The guy on the right is the legendary Brian Bateman, who won last year's tournament - a bit of a letdown after the tournament had gone Jim Furyk, Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, Vijay Singh, Tiger Woods in the previous five years. When was the last time the PGA had five winners that good in a row?
Tiger is going to be back this year - he missed last year after the birth of his daughter - so there should be massive crowds in Grand Blanc next month. He's also holding a clinic at Comerica Park, which might allow us to answer the question "Could a pro golfer hit a ball over the massive scoreboard in left field?"
Postseason Lull
The Red Wings are about to start Game 6 against Dallas - they need to end this nonsense and blow the Stars out. Letting them win Game 4 was nice, but losing Game 5 was a bit silly. They don't want them to get to Game 7 on a three-game winning streak - it would be rather humiliating to be the first franchise to blow two 3-0 leads.
Meanwhile, the Pistons will end their week-long holiday when they play Boston in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Tuesday. A month ago, I would have predicted the Celtics would rout Detroit, but now I think the Pistons will win the series in six games. Maybe all those first-round losses for Minnesota had more to do with Kevin Garnett than with Flip Saunders.
Tigers in Freefall
(That headline makes me want to see a tiger wearing a parachute.)
Three weeks ago, I said I thought the Tigers were in "decent shape". Since then, they've gone 5-12, which doesn't exactly make me look like a genius.
Thus far in May, they've gone 2-1 against the Yankees and 2-11 against the rest of baseball. The worst part is that they've been this bad while getting good pitching - the offense has gone back into the tank. You know things are rough when Matt Joyce has almost as many homers in the month as the rest of the team combined.
Oh, and if Brandon Inge wants to be an everyday player, he might want to score more runs for the month than Armando Galarraga. Right now, it's 1-0 in favor of Galarraga.
Shock Lose - Laimbeer Fails Again To Go 34-0
The Shock are 1-1 - they blew out Houston on Saturday and lost to Minnesota on Sunday. They aren't as good as they looked against the Comets, and they aren't as bad as they looked against the Lynx. They are a high-end team that has had about a week of practice and whose top two players - Cheryl Ford and Deanna Nolan - are playing hurt. Given the Olympic break, nothing is going to matter in this league until September anyway.
Monday Wrap: Fulhamerica Stays Up
Fulham Football Club has been trying an odd experiment as they struggle to stay in the English Premier League - load the roster with Americans. Brian McBride is the team captain, Kasey Keller is the starting goalkeeper, Clint Dempsey is the leading scorer, plus Eddie Johnson and Carlos Bocanegra.
Until the last month, it wasn't working too well. Midway through the 38-game season, they slid into 19th place and stayed there for weeks. The bottom three teams out of 20 are relegated to the English Championship, and at one point, British bookies were giving 50-1 odds on them avoiding relegation.
On April 12, though, they won 1-0 at Reading. Not only was that just their fifth win in 34 games, it was their first victory away from Craven Cottage all season. A week later, they lost 2-0 to Liverpool, meaning that
to have any chance of staying in the first tier of English soccer, they'd have to win their last three games.
The "Great Escape" really started April 26 in Manchester. Playing at Manchester City, a team that had beaten Manchester United twice this season, Fulham fell behind 2-0 in the first 21 minutes. On the BBC, the announcers said they were now dead and relegated.
It was still 2-0 at halftime. After an hour. Then, after 70 minutes, Diomansy Kamara scored to make it 2-1. Nine minutes later, Danny Murphy tied the game at 2, and in the dying moments, Kamara scored again to win the game. A stunning road win against a very good team, but they still needed two more.
May 3 - home against Birmingham, one of the teams they were trying to send down to the Championship. Captain America (McBride) scored, Kasey Keller picked up a 2-0 shutout and Fulham were up to safety in 17th place for the first time in months. But it still wasn't over - they needed a third road victory on the last day of the season to stay up.
May 11 - at Portsmouth. Fulham had to be hoping that Pompey was focusing more on next Saturday's FA Cup Final than on this game.
Fulham: Day of Destiny (YouTube)
Keller played well in goal, but it was 0-0 with 15 minutes left and results elsewhere meant that Fulham knew they needed a win.
Jimmy Bullard swung in a free kick, Danny Murphy headed it home, and Fulhamerica will be staying with the big boys for another year.
On the other end of the table, the incredible Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 41st goal of the season to help Manchester United win the championship with a 2-0 win over Wigan. In an emotional moment, 119-year-old Ryan Giggs scored the clinching goal on the day that he tied Sir Bobby Charlton's record of 758 games for United.
So United finish two points ahead of Chelsea, but the Blues can get their revenge next week in the Champions League final in Moscow.
Pistons, Red Wings Rolling
Does anyone even want to bother with the rest of the Red Wings-Stars and Penguins-Flyers series? Let's just get to the Wings-Pens final, and see Chris Chelios playing the kid who could be his grandson, Sidney Crosby. Luckily for the Wings, they won't need Johan Franzen to beat Dallas, so he can rest his strange concussion syndrome and get ready for the finals.
As for the Pistons, losing Game 3 was no big deal. They always lose Game 3, and usually get blown out. You can't really expect this team to stay focused for three straight games, can you? Chauncey Billups getting hurt was a problem, of course, but Rodney Stuckey and Lindsey Hunter were more ready to step in than people realized. It also helps that Orlando isn't actually good.
So the Pistons are up 3-1, and Billups will have had almost a week to rest by the time Game 5 finally rolls around on Tuesday. They might not even want to play him - save him for a Game 6 or for Boston.
Yankees-Tigers Rained Out: Millions Cheer
No one actually wanted to watch that game yesterday, did they? Derek Jeter hitting cleanup with a pink bat might have been entertaining, but the first two games of the series were atrocious. Neither team can field, but they make up for it by not being able to pitch, either. These teams are spending a combined $330 million on their rosters, and they might be able to put together one decent pitching staff between them. Wang's fine, and maybe Verlander, Rasner and Bonderman will come around by the time Pettitte, Rogers and Mussina run out of Geritol. The bullpen would be all New York, unless you wanted Todd Jones to pitch mop-up innings. He's certainly not getting any crucial time ahead of Mariano Rivera, Joba Chamberlain and, as much as it pains me to say it, Kyle Farnsworth.
Big Brown Has A New Supporting Cast
For the first time since Citation in 1948 - Chris Chelios and Gary Sheffield's rookie seasons - the Kentucky Derby winner has scared all of his opponents off the Triple Crown trail. Big Brown is the only Derby horse headed to the Preakness. Recapturetheglory was the only other one under consideration, and he got sick.
This makes sense. After all, with the death of Eight Belles, there's not a single horse left that could come within 10 lengths of Big Brown, so why not find an easier spot than the Preakness. If you really believe your horse can still challenge him - Colonel John and/or Pyro come to mind - give him a breather and bring him back for the Belmont.
Of the new challengers in the Preakness, the one that stands out is Behindatthebar. He ran a nice race in the Lexington, and looks like he can make the adjustment from poly to dirt. I haven't run all the numbers, but at this point, he appears to be the only one that I can see challenging Big Brown.
Bronx Bums
The Yankees are dead.
I know it is only May 9, and I know they rallied from a 21-29 start last season to make the playoffs, but this isn't a good baseball team. You don't finish 73-39 with a starting rotation that only has one good pitcher - Chien-Ming Wang. Mike Mussina and Andy Pettitte used to be great, but they are both 97 years old. Darrell Rasner might be good someday, but isn't there yet, and Kei Igawa is terrible.
The offense isn't anything to write about, either. They are 7th in the American League in runs scored, 7th in on-base percentage and 5th in slugging percentage. A-Rod's still going to be out for another week, and Jorge Posada won't be back until mid-June.
That means lineups like the one tonight, with Melky Cabrera in center, Shelley Duncan at first, Wilson Betemit at third and the immortal Chad Moeller catching.
How bad is New York playing? They are about to lose their fourth straight game to Detroit. Those would be the same Tigers that are 1-7 against the rest of baseball since April 26.
Could they recover? Sure. But I don't see them catching Boston, so they'd have to get the wild card. That's not going to be easy - there are two good teams in the West in Oakland and Los Angeles, and Tampa Bay's actually going to be tough to catch in the East.
And now, just to add injury to insult, they've just lost Jonathan Albaladejo to some sort of physical ailment. I have no idea how serious it is, but if it keeps him out for the next two days, it will at least mean I won't have to try to spell his name on deadline.
The last time the Yankees didn't make the postseason, I was 24 years old. It would nice to see it happen again before I turn 40.