Growing up in Canada with the city of Detroit being the closest destination to watch a major league baseball game, I became a huge fan of the Detroit Tigers. I rejoiced in 1967 when Mickey Lolich and his crew knocked off the might Bob Gibson and the St. Louis Cardinals to win the World Series. Expansion brought baseball to Canada with first the Montral Expos and then the Toronto Blue Jays, so the Tigers became a distant memory. In the past couple of seasons though, I have found myself watching the Tigers as they assembled a very nice pitching staff. I thought their President/CEO/General Manager Dave Dombrowski made a glaring error though when he hired former Detroit shortstop Allan Trammell to run the ship. Trammell brought in his buddies Kirk Gibson and Lance Parrish and their coaching talents were better suited to little league not the major leagues. But kudos to Dombrowski who issued that trio a bus ticket and then brought in former Pirate skipper Jim Leyland and he in turn brought in a veteran coaching staff. Now as we peer up at the American League standings we see the Tigers sitting at an incredible 18-9 including an outstanding 11-4 on the road. The starting pitching has been the key as they are getting consistent performances top to bottom with their starters. Mike Maroth 4-1, Kenny Rodgers 4-2, Nate Robertson 3-2, Jeremy Bonderman 3-2 and 2004 1st round pick Justin Verlander 3-2. Together they have won 17 of the 18 games this year, with the bullpen only winning one, which speaks to the starters being durable and the Detroit bats getting in front early. In Detroit's last 14 games, its starting pitchers are 10-3 with a 1.87 ERA. On the offensive side they have seven hitters with double digit totals in RBIs with points to depth in the lineup, so what is their Achilles heel? I would say their team defense where they have accumulated already this season 15 errors. The left side of the infield with Carlos Guillen and Brandon Inge has been brutal with 12 between them. Playing the Twins and the Royals has not hurt and Detroit is 40-4 in those 5 wins. Kansas City has lost five straight and is 0-11 on the road this season. The major league record of 13 road losses to start a season is held by the 1969 Houston Astros and 1988 Baltimore Orioles. 2006 has been kind to the residents of Motown with the Super Bowl earlier and now the Tigers play early in the season. Too bad about the Detroit Red Wings! Bob Acton Online Sports Betting |
