Results tagged ‘ Miguel Cabrera ’
Spring is in the air
Although the calendar might say that today is March 1st, I would argue that it already is starting to feel like spring. Perhaps that has something to do with the fact I spent part of last week in Florida, or even the fact that baseball if officially back.
Shortly after my birthday, I decided to book a last-minute flight down to Florida. I’ve never been a fan of cold weather, so it sounded like the perfect time to leave for a mini vacation. So I packed my bags and headed south without any real plans.
After landing, my parents picked me up and we headed to visit with a cousin who lived near Tampa. She decided to show us around town, which included driving by Tropicana Field. I was hoping to be able to get at least a tour, but they weren’t doing any while I was in town. We were taken to one of her favorite spots, the St. Pete Pier. The shops weren’t of much interest to me, but the view from the top was pretty breathtaking.
A view from the top of the pier
Once we were done with our tour, we headed back to the condo and relaxed by the pool. After all of the running around for the day, that was good enough for me.
The next day included a pit stop at one of my mother’s favorite locations in Florida. If you’re a fan of ridiculously good (not to mention reasonably priced) desserts, look no further than Parksdale Farms. Located in Plant City, it’s a fruit market and dessert stand. Known primarily for their strawberries, they have an entire dessert menu built around just strawberries. I opted for the sundae.
I promise there’s ice cream at the bottom
From there, we headed to Lakeland, where I got my first ever opportunity to watch the Tigers play a game in Spring Training. If I’m not mistaken, I’ve been to Lakeland about five times (my favorite memory coming from when I had to chase David Wells to his car to get his autograph), but I’ve only been able to watch them practice.
Of course I didn’t bring any luck to the Tigers, but I did get to watch top prospect Bruce Rondon pitch, and see both Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder hit a home run.
Rondon unleashes another 100 MPH fastball
But that wasn’t all of the baseball I got to watch while I was down there. I met up with a few friends that I met through the MLB Fan Cave, and we headed to Bradenton to watch the Pirates host the Atlanta Braves. Although I wasn’t too familiar with most of the prospects, it was fun to watch Justin Upton, B.J. Upton and Jason Heyward playing the outfield. Not only that, but I was able to root for ex-Tigers Brandon Inge and Gerald Laird.
Braves taking batting practice before the game
On the final night, I met back up with my friends for some bowling. I once again proved that I’m a terrible bowler, but at least I can take pride in the fact my score improved after every game. If they would’ve let me bowl til five in the morning, I might’ve been able to break 200 (I doubt it, but you can’t prove otherwise)!
Tuesday morning meant it was time for me to leave, so I was dropped off at the airport at noon for my 2:05 PM flight. Unfortunately, mechanical issues delayed my departure to 4:05. That later changed to 4:30, which changed to 5:00 and eventually switched to 5:19. Knowing that there was a snowstorm back home, I wasn’t exactly thrilled.
The flight was fine, but the drive home was without a doubt the craziest thing I’ve ever experienced in a car. On the commute home, I witnessed three accidents, a semi truck crash through a guard rail, and a car going the wrong way on the expressway. Even though traffic was going no more than 40 MPH, there was still plenty of crazy stuff going on.
Although the drive lasted more than twice as long as it usually does, I was thankful to finally make it home in one piece. Even though it’s currently 25 degrees here in Michigan, knowing that opening day isn’t too far away, it doesn’t seem so bad.
My 2012 World Series preview and prediction
Tomorrow marks the beginning of the end of the baseball season, as the San Francisco Giants will host the Detroit Tigers for the first game of the World Series. The Tigers will look to redeem themselves after their disappointing showing in the 2006 World Series, whereas the Giants are simply hoping to recapture the magic they had when they were world champions back in 2010.
So before the first pitch is thrown, I wanted to take a minute to give my official World Series thoughts and predictions. Being from Detroit, it’s not easy to be objective, but I’m going to give it my best shot.
There’s an old saying in baseball that pitching and defense wins championships. Of course if history has taught us anything, it’s that nothing is quite as simple as that. It’s an ironic adage, because the Tigers definitely have better pitching, but the Giants definitely have the superior defense. Does this mean there’s no clear favorite? Oh there is, and the advantage definitely goes to Detroit.
The Tigers have several things going for them, including the fact that all of their pitchers are rested, and they can line up their rotation however they like. Coming off a crucial game seven on Monday, the Giants do not have that luxury. The Giants are going to possibly have to face Justin Verlander, Doug Fister and Anibal Sanchez each two times. Throw in the Max Scherzer for at least one start, and things start to look promising for Detroit.
In case you’re not aware, in nine playoff games, Detroit’s starting pitchers have combined to go 5-1 with a 1.02 ERA. On the other hand, the bullpen hasn’t been nearly as good. Joaquin Benoit has had his struggles, and nobody is even sure if Jose Valverde will get a chance to save another game this postseason. If Detroit is going to win the World Series, the bullpen simply needs to be better.
Even if Detroit allows a few runs, there’s still no need to panic. When the heart of your lineup has Miguel Cabrera, (who just so happened to win the Triple Crown) Prince Fielder and Delmon Young, you can’t help but feel like your team is going to be able to score a few runs every night.
Regardless of how heavily their favored Detroit is, you still cannot count out the San Francisco Giants. They have two of the most dominant starting pitchers in recent years in Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain, not to mention they do have home-field advantage for the series. Oh yeah, they also have the likely NL MVP in Buster Posey.
But at the end of the day, I just don’t see either team scoring a lot of runs, and Detroit’s starting pitchers have been lights out for the postseason, and I don’t see that stopping now. I’ll take the Tigers to defeat the Giants in five games.
So close, but so far
The Tigers had not one, but two chances to get themselves into first place today. With a doubleheader against the Minnesota Twins, a sweep would guarantee them at least a tie for first in the AL Central. As it was, they came out looking flat, dropping both games.
It was still a good week for the Tigers, who have managed to to bring themselves within one game of the White Sox, but there’s still a bit of cause for concern. Sure, the Tigers have managed to narrow the gap, but they have been greatly aided by the fact that the White Sox have lost their last five games. Simply put, it’s not realistic to expect them to keep losing at this rate.
The Tigers have some of the best players in baseball, so there’s no excuses for them to not be able to catch the White Sox and win the division. When your lineup includes a guy who has a chance to win the Triple Crown (Miguel Cabrera) and a guy who is on pace to hit .300 with 30 HRs and 100 RBIs (Prince Fielder), and your rotation has the reigning MVP (Justin Verlander), you’re expected to win games.
There’s only 10 games left in the regular season for both teams, so it could very well come down to game 162, or possibly a tie-breaking game between the Tigers and White Sox. Will the White Sox be able to hold off the Tigers, or will the preseason favorites find a way to get it done? Time will tell, but it should be fun to watch.
Time to turn it around
The Tigers have been on a downward spiral the last week, losing five of their last seven games. When Rick Porcello takes the mound tonight against the Red Sox, the Tigers need to find a way to get back to their winning ways.
Entering the game, the Tigers find themselves three games back of the first place Chicago White Sox. Although it’s by no means an insurmountable number, you don’t want to find yourself trailing by more than five games entering September. As long as they can keep pace with the White Sox, they should certainly find themselves fighting for a spot in the playoffs.
In an attempt to shake things up, the Tigers are now going to have Brennan Boesch hitting fifth in the lineup instead of Delmon Young. During the month of July, Boesch hit .295 with a .538 slugging percentage. By comparison, Young hit for a disappointing .250 average and a .417 slugging percentage during that same time. If Boesch can keep that production level during August, it should lead to more runs being scored.
If that doesn’t work, don’t be surprised if the Tigers attempt to make a move through waivers, similar to how they acquired Young last year. When you have Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder in the heart of your lineup, there’s no reason why the Tigers shouldn’t be scoring more runs. Of course you can’t put all of the blame on the lineup, as Detroit’s starting pitchers have also struggled in the last few weeks.
For the 2012 season, the Tigers rotation has struggled to show signs of consistency. In fact, the Tigers starting pitchers have an ERA of 4.19 on the year, which ranks them 21st in all of Major League Baseball.
Of course the hope is that acquiring Anibal Sanchez will help strengthen their rotation, but if the Tigers want to make it back to the playoffs, their starting pitchers have to do better. There’s still plenty of baseball left to be played, and plenty of time to turn it around.
Social media: Changing how fans watch baseball
Recently, Major League Baseball asked its fans how they felt social media has changed their experience with watching the game. I’ve been meaning to share my thoughts on the subject, but wanted to put it in something a little more thought out than a tweet.
Social media has changed a lot of things in society. A fine example of that, is how major sports are starting to fully embrace it, allowing fans to have more direct interactions with not just the teams they root for, but even the players on those teams. Whether it’s Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, fans are welcoming social media with open arms.
I’ll stick with baseball, since I’ll admit it’s really the only sport that I use social media to help enhance my experience. With a few clicks on a mouse, I can instantly get all the late-breaking news from local and national media outlets, as well as players that I enjoy rooting for. It’s revolutionary, in the sense that you can basically alter your interactions to be mostly based on just what you want to know. Finally, a chance to filter your news exactly the way you want it.
Another thing that social media has allowed, is provided fans a chance to interact directly with one another. Major League Baseball realized the potential for this, when they created the MLB Fan Cave. The primary purpose of the Fan Cave is for fans to have the opportunity to interact with each other (the fans), Major League Baseball, and players from their favorite teams.
This isn’t to say that every single player in baseball is involved with social media, but a lot of star players are. If you look on twitter, you can find such stars as Matt Kemp, Justin Verlander, Miguel Cabrera and Logan Morrison. I do believe it’s a great tool for players, as they look to directly communicate with their fans.
This year also marked the first year that fans were able to use social media to vote for the MLB All-Star Game. On July 5th, from 12:00-4:00, fans were able to cast votes for the Final Vote by using preselected hashtags on Twitter. It makes you wonder if Major League Baseball will consider expanding their use of social media for next year’s All-Star game, perhaps letting fans cast votes in a similar fashion using either Facebook or Twitter. That would certainly create quite a bit of buzz and publicity, and is something they should consider looking into.
There’s plenty of opportunity for growth in social media, and as a fan, I’m excited and curious to see how that will take place. Fans seem to be open to the concept of using social media, and I think all of the four major sports are starting to recognize that.
#VoteCabrera
When you ask people who is the best right-handed hitter in Major League Baseball, most of them will tell you Miguel Cabrera. So why is it that he has never been voted to start an All-Star Game?
It’s a puzzling thing to figure out, and Cabrera has even said before how big of an honor it would be if he was voted to start an All-Star Game. Yes, Cabrera did start at first base in the 2010 All-Star Game, but that was only because of an injury.
Moving to third base, I figured it would be Cabrera’s spot to lose. Unfortunately, Adrian Beltre of the Texas Rangers had other thoughts. Beltre’s numbers have been very comparable to those of Cabrera. Let’s take a closer look.
Miguel Cabrera: .304/.363/.525 (BA/OBP/SLG), 44 runs, 15 home runs, 60 RBIs and 3 SB.
Adrian Beltre: .333/.365/.538, 44 runs, 13 home runs, 49 RBIs, 1 SB.
I was surprised to see just how similar their numbers are. Although Beltre does have a higher batting average, he does have a few less home runs. I really don’t think the stolen base stat means anything, but it’s not often where I get the chance to say Miguel Cabrera and stolen base in the same sentence.
Today marks the final day of fan voting for the 2012 All-Star Game, so who should you vote for? For me, it’s Miguel Cabrera.
Fans can vote up to 25 times by clicking HERE.
#VoteTigers
With the 2012 All-Star Game drawing close, it means that time is running out for fans to vote. Today I’m going to tell you which Tigers you should vote for and why.
Leading off for the Tigers (pun intended) is Austin Jackson. Jackson has been a catalyst for the Tigers this year, posting a slash line of .320/.410/.547, all which rank in the top 10 in the American League. Jackson is not only an All-Star because of what he’s done offensively, because he’s only one of the top (if not the) defensive center fielders in all of baseball. The biggest knock against him will be the fact that he missed a few weeks due to an injury, but I don’t think he missed enough time that it should deter fans from voting for him.
Moving down the line, you’ll find the best right-handed hitter in all of baseball, Miguel Cabrera. A lot of people wondered how Cabrera would do defensively, and I think he’s quieted most of them. No, he’s still not an elite defender, but he has done a decent job at the hot corner. Cabrera is currently hitting .313 with 14 home runs, while driving in 55 runs. I’d be absolutely shocked if he’s not starting for the AL on July 10th.
Across the diamond, you’ll find Prince Fielder. Fielder was the largest acquisition of the offseason for the Tigers, and he also makes more money than anyone else on the team. The Tigers were willing to give Fielder 23 million dollars to do one thing, and that’s hit the ball. Fielder has put up solid numbers so far this year, batting .311 with 10 home runs. A lot of people might worry about Fielder’s home run numbers, but Comerica Park isn’t exactly built for home runs, it’s built for doubles. Despite that, Fielder is on pace for what could very well be one of his best offensive years, and he certainly deserves to be voted for.
No All-Star team is complete without quality pitching, and I’d imagine that Justin Verlander will be getting the nod, barring something drastic. Coming off a career year that saw Verlander win the AL Cy Young and MVP awards, many wondered if he’d be able to come close to repeating that level of success. In 15 starts, Verlander has gone 7-4 with a 2.57 ERA. It’s hard to find anyone who has been as consistently dominant as JV, so him making the team is a no-brainer. Unfortunately, fans can’t vote for pitchers to make the All-Star Game, but they can still show their support for him via Twitter, Facebook or just by going to Comerica Park to watch him pitch.
I don’t know who will make the team, or who won’t, but you know I’ll be voting for the Tigers.
It’s a party
A lot of families bond doing various things, for mine, it usually revolves around baseball.
It’s not uncommon for my mom and her brothers to have what we affectionately refer to as a ‘Tigers Party.’ Simply put, we get together and watch the Tigers play. It’s the perfect combination of two things I love dearly, my family and baseball.
Tonight, we’re having the party at my parent’s house. It’s fun being able to answer questions about the Cincinnati Reds, since no one else in my family really knows that much about them.
I’ll chalk that up as one of the positive experiences of my quest to watch 500 baseball games this year. It really does force me to learn and research about players on every team, and not just my beloved Tigers.
Rick Porcello will be getting the start for the Tigers tonight, who is coming off one of his best starts of the year. In his last outing, Porcello held the Yankees to just one run in six innings. It’s going to be hard to do that against the Reds, who have one of the best left-handed hitters in all of baseball, in Joey Votto.
One thing that does bode well for the Tigers is the fact that Cincinnati’s stadium, the Great American Ball Park is notorious for being very friendly to hitters, allowing 78 home runs already this year. If Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder can pull a few fly balls, they should be able to score enough runs to get the Tigers a win.
Time to bust out the brooms
Down one run in the ninth inning with the tying run on second base, Miguel Cabrera came up to bat. Cabrera didn’t miss the pitch, and sent what proved to be a game winning two-run home run.
Not only did the home run give the Tigers the win, but allowed the Tigers to bust out the brooms for only the third time this year. The last time being when they swept the Kansas City Royals back in the middle of April.
Looking back on the last few games, the most important factor was the fact the Tigers offense seems to be getting into a good rhythm. In the last three games, the Tigers have combined for 40 hits and 24 runs. I’m not saying I expect them to continue at that pace, but it’s something we should be more than able to do from time to time.
The real test for the Tigers will be their upcoming stretch of games, where they’ll go to Boston for a four-game series against the Red Sox, and then host the New York Yankees for three games. Good teams should be able to beat under-performing teams like the Twins, but playoff teams are able to compete against every team. In the next week, we should get a better idea of what this team is really made of. You know I’ll be watching, and you should be, too.
Have you seen me?
Be on the lookout, as there’s something that’s been missing in Detroit. With your help, it’s possible we can bring it safely back home.
Photo courtesy of Fox Sports Detroit’s The Grand Slam Blog
Like most Detroit fans, my patience is wearing thin of the lack of offense that the Tigers have shown lately. This team was built to do two things well. The first being a high-power offense, and the second was to have a quality starting rotation. For the most part, the starting pitching has been fine, but the offense has certainly been lacking.
I know I keep saying it’s only a matter of time before the Tigers get back in the swing of things (pun intended), but I still firmly believe it. The track record of players like Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder give every indication that the Tigers will be scoring runs. Entering tonight, the Tigers rank 9th in the American League and 17th in the all of baseball in runs scored. Simply put, that’s not acceptable.
The offense isn’t the only reason that the Tigers aren’t winning games, but it certainly complicates things. When your team is regularly only scoring four runs a game (the Tigers are currently averaging just 4.2 runs scored per game), it puts a lot of extra pressure on the pitching staff. As a pitcher, you feel that you have to be nearly perfect in order for your team to win. That’s not the mentality that any pitcher should have to take, and it usually doesn’t lead to positive results.
So if you by any chance find the Tigers offense, please let the city of Detroit know, because we’re lost without it.
Brad Jeffers
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