Everybody Wants To Read My Blog

Let's Watch the Wings and the Sabres!

2012-01-16T16:38:00.000-08:00

We have some Old Business to tidy up before they drop the puck here tonight at the Joe Louis Arena where the Detroit Red Wings will try to do something no Red Wings team has ever done before: win 15 straight home games and it concerns the game here Saturday in which the Wings tied (with an asterisk) their team record for Most Consecutive Wins at Home by beating the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 in overtime. We say "with as asterisk" as had the game been played in 1965, which is when the Wings set the record they tonight seek to break, the game would have ended in a 2-2 tie--no OT, no shootouts in '65, of course--and thus the win streak would have ended.

That was some kind of a game here the afternoon before last. Detroit outshot Chicago 21-4 in the first period and led 2-0. Then the Blackhawks roared back, outshooting Detroit 16-5 in the third period and getting the game-tying goal in the final minute of regulation. That was it for their charge however, as the Wings outshot the Blackhawks 9-0 in overtime, eventually getting the game-winner from Todd Bertuzzi a mere 39-seconds before a shootout would have been declared.

Some notes (and this is the Old Business to which we refer) on what is turning out to be quite a season series between these two Orginal Sixers. It marked the second straight time the Wings had beaten Chicago in overtime this season. And get this: all three Chicago-Detroit games have ended with the final score 3-2. Detroit is 2-1-0 in the games (4 pts) and Chicago is 1-0-2 (4 pts). The Wings have outscored Chicago 8-7 in the season series.

That's about as close as close can be. Except for this: the standings in the Western Conference right now show the top 8 teams--the teams which would qualify for the playoffs, that is--separated by 9 points. Detroit, fifth, is only three points out of first, and only six points out of 8th.

So, tonight, here come the Buffalo Sabres, a game under .500 at 19-20-5 and on the outside looking in playoff-wise right now. Ryan Miller--their astoundingly good young goalie, is back in the lineup tonight after missing his 8th game of the season due to concussion symptoms Saturday night.

7:47 1-0, Detroit as deep in the Buffalo zone Juri Hudler stole it and Henrik Zetterberg buried it. It was his 9th of the season. Zetterberg was alone below the hashmarks moving from Miller's left to right and he beat him high on the long side. The shot may have been re-directed off the stick of a Sabres defenseman, but that was not immediately clear, even on replay.

8:03 Time to Feel Old (Part One): Ryan Miller, Buffalo goalie, and Drew Miller, Red Wings foreward, are brothers. Their dad is either Kevin, Kelly or Kip Miller. I'm not sure and it's strangely not important in the instant discussion. What is important is the fact that each of those older Millers, Kevin, Kelly and Kip, played on a team for which I was the play-by-play broadcaster at one time or another. So, I am now watching the sons of a player who was already way younger than I when that player and I were members of the same traveling party to some of the finest non-NHL cities all across North America. And there is this weird curiosity. I caught a puck at an NHL game about 20 years ago. The player who shot it into the crowd? Kip Miller. Does this mean anything?

8:13 They really ought to do something, anything, about that Pavel Datsyuk. Like declare him illegal, or something. He just hit Johan Franzen with a blind, 50-foot backhand pass that sent Franzen in alone from the center ice red line and you know the rest. It was goal #18 for Franzen and Bertuzzi also got an assist, which sort of ruined the beauty of the play because really it was Datsyuk, and Datsyuk alone who did it at 18:11. He may be the best all-round player I have ever seen in person and I'll tell you what, I've seen some pretty good players with my own eyes: Howe, Orr, Beliveau, Gretzky, etc...

8:15 At 19:43, Nicklas Lidstrom makes it 3-0, Detroit; charging the net and banging a rebound past the helpless Miller who now skates off, disconsolate. Franzen and Bertuzzi had the assists on Lidstrom's 9th. Shots on goal are even at 11, but that is the only thing about this game which is even right now. AFTER ONE: DETROIT 3, BUFFALO 0.

8:29 Time to Feel Old (Part Two): So, I've been playing hockey for almost two years now with an torn left postibular (sic) tendon and I am not going to lie to you, it has not been easy. What ever it is that that tendon is supposed to do, it can't do because it is no longer there and because it is no longer there I cannot keep my left skate blade in proper attitude (perpendicular) relative to the ice surface. I can barely stand. I cannot execute a slide step. I can hardly go side-to-side at all. It used to be that I could move two meters from a standing stop to a spot I'd picked out on the ice in the time it takes to say, "move two meters." Now, I just sort of standing there longingly, remembering the good old days when my bodies wish was my command, essentially. I was fitted for a brace a week ago which I was told would, if not completely correct, would at least enable me to regain a good deal of mobility out there and, as you can imagine, I was pretty excited about it. I went it to try it on today, ready to go for tomorrow's skate, and they couldn't get the thing inside my skate. The demo I tried on last week fit just fine, but the model they made for me from a case of my lower leg and foot did not. So, I am back at square one, and that is a square I don't not want to be, in. Or something. Tomorrow we'll tape it up again and later we'll try something else. Oh, and it's 4-0, Detroit. Bertuzzi with a beauty spin-o-rama backhand early in the second. And, oh, it's 5-0, Detroit. Darren Helm is in alone to score on a feed from the Miller brother who plays for Detroit and it is that goal which drives the Miller brother who plays for the Sabres from the game after facing all of 13 shots, only two in the second period. The two Detroit goals come 13 seconds apart, at 4:19 and 4:32 and on the first, Datsyuk's assist gives him 700 career points. It has been quite a night and we've only played 25 minutes of a 60-minute game...

8:46 Did I mention I'm picking the 3 Stars of tonight's hockey game? I'm thinking of filling in 3 names right now (Datsyuk and Bertuzzi seem safe enough choices) and calling it a night. This is one of those games where the Wings are just sick.

8:57 Time to Feel Old (Part 3): I was looking at the Sabres bench and standing there behind it is a familiar face but I can't quite place it. I looked at the Game Notes to see who the Buffalo assistants are, and there is the name Kevyn Adams and, yes, I remember him and not just because of the odd way his parents spelled his first name. I had Kevyn on my team in Grand Rapids back in 1996-97 when he was a baby-faced 22-year-old kid out Miami of Ohio. He played ten years or so in the NHL and his back in the NHL this year as an assistant to Lindy Ruff, the guy who has been coach of the Sabres since 1997, which makes him the longest-tenured coach in the NHL and the third-longest tenured of any coach in any major professional sport, so there. Ruff must feel like he's coached the Sabres 14 years this night alone, as Detroit continues to lead 5-0 with just over 3 mins left in the second.

9:07 The second period is over, and I really don't know what to say. The Wings have been overwhelming in this game. Twenty minutes to go before they set the new team record for home wins in a row. Incredibly, shots are 19 Detroit, 18 Buffalo. Incredibly....AFTER TWO: DETROIT 5, BUFFALO 0.

9:46 They are going to be coming for the 3 Stars any minute now, so here you go--you get to know before anybody else. #3 Jimmy Howard (this will be a good pick if he gets the shutout, an ok pick if he doesn't). #2 Todd Bertuzzi: A highlight reel goal and a couple of assists. #1 Pavel Datsyuk: Hits the 700-point mark with a couple of the prettiest helpers you will ever see. And, with that it is off to The Room for post-game fun and commentary. Until next time, North America...

Let's Watch the Red Wings and the Blackhawks!

2012-01-14T09:34:00.000-08:00

It's a quarter after 12 and it feels funny to be up here in the Joe Louis Arena pressbox at this time of day but the schedule is what the schedule is and we've got the Blackhawks in here this afternoon with a chance to see history, sort of.

The Wings today look for their 14th consecutive win at home, which, if they can do it, would tie the franchise record. But it would, in my view, have to come with an asterisk. The record Detroit is trying to equal this afternoon was set in 1965, when the Wings won every game they played at Olympia Stadium from January 21 through March 25. Here, the night before last, Detroit beat Phoenix 3-2 in a shootout to extend their home win streak to 13. The thing is, had that game been played in 1965, it would have ended in a 2-2 tie as there was no overtime, no shootout back in those days. In other words, if the rules were the same today as they were four decades ago, Detroit would no longer be working an active win streak today, they would be taking a 13-game unbeaten streak into the contest. A slight difference to be sure, but still a difference worth noting.

Can you explain this to me? How can the Wings--or any team for that matter--be, as Detroit is right now, 16-2-1 (.868) at home and at the same time be 11-13-0 (.458) on the road? That's the record for Detroit though as we move to within a few minutes of faceoff.

We are just barely into the second half of the season (today's is game 44 of 82 for Detroit). We are then, in other words, getting deep into the season. Which makes this highly unusual: Detroit is only 4 points out of first place while at the same time they are only 5 points out of 8th. 9 points are all that separate the top 8 in the West. That's remarkable. And it means that no team, not Detroit, not anybody, can afford even a little slump over the course of the final 3 months. You could do something like lose 3 or 4 in a row and find that it winds up costing you a playoff spot.

The teams are hitting the ice. We'll have the National Anthem and then the puck will drop. We'll be here to keep you updated...

12:47 We've played almost 6 mins and nothing noteworthy has happened yet. This is the 3rd of 6 regular season meetings between these teams, the first here in Detroit. The Wings are 1-1-0 against Chicago, the Blackhawks are 1-0-1 against Detroit. Detroit lost 3-2 the night before New Years Eve in Chicago and beat the Blackhawks there a week ago tomorrow 3-2, coming back from a 2-0 deficit in the first five minutes of the game to win in overtime 3-2. Chicago leads the Central division with 57 points, Detroit is third with 55. As we said earlier, the race this year looks like it will be close all the way. With that in mind, we note that Chicago will be here in Detroit for the last game of the season onn April 7.

12:52 Chicago goalie Corey Crawford just stopped Tomas Hollmstrom on a breakaway and then got lucky when the rebound hopped over the stick of Detroit's Cory Emmerton with the open net yawning. Detroit has outshot Chicago 13-1 here mid-way through the first.

1:02 The Wings are on the board on Tomas Holmstrom's power-play redirect of an Ian White shot at 12:26. Pavel Datsyuk also got an assist on the goal, which came on Detroit's 17th shot on goal today. Chicago has been held to two shots on goal, so far. Detroit is 19-7-1 (.722) when scoring first this season.

1:07 2-0, Detroit on a breakaway finish by Todd Bertuzzi (7). Bertuzzi hopped off the Detroit bench, changing on the fly and Datsyuk, inside the Detroit line, hit him in stride with a 40-foot pass and Bertuzzi had a couple of steps on the all-of-a-sudden caught Blackhawks defense. He went in and beat Crawford with a backhand high. Datsyuk's assist was the only helper handed out on the goal.

1:14 It's hard to imagine that Detroit, or for that matter any team, could play a better period of hockey than the Wings just did in the first here. They oushot Chicago 21-4 (I think the Blackhawks had only 2 legitimate scoring chances) and they lead 2-0. AFTER ONE: DETROIT 2, CHICAGO 0.

1:26 Some housekeeping as we move into the second period. An assist has been added to White on the Bertuzzi goal. So, now White and Datsyuk each have a pair of assists this afternoon. Should the Wings go on to win today, they and Chicago will each have 57 points, but Detroit would be ahead of the Blackhawks in the standings because it would have taken them fewer games to arrive at that point total than it had Chicago. But, let's not get ahead of ourselves...

1:30 This is the first game this season that it's really felt like a hockey game. We have been blessed, BLESSED, I TELL YOU, by an abject lack of snow this winter. That has changed these past couple of overnights and we woke up this morning to find flurries flying and an inch or so on the ground. It was enough to make it look like winter and to make it drive like winter so we sort of inched our way downtown to the rink, slipping and sliding a little bit for the first time this season. Which is okay, this is, after all, the winter game. The second period has just begun...

1:42 Detroit leads the NHL with only 34 goals allowed at home this season (19 games). The Wings have held their opponent to two goals or less in 15 of their 19 home games and are undefeated (14-0-1, .967) in those games. We're almost 8 minutes into the second period this afternoon and it is still 2-0, Detroit.

1:55 Nicklas Lidstrom just made a mistake which happens so infrequently that it is post-worthy when it does. He made a bad decision not to pinch, then went for the puck at center ice, got beat, and Chicago had an odd-man. But, Jimmy Howard looked like the All-Star goalie he is, made two or three really big stops, and that was the end of it. Moments later though, Howard misplayed a shoot-in trying to stop the puck behind his goal. He deflected it right out in front, and since he was behind the goal there was nobody in front of the entwined enclosure to defend it against Chicago's Andrew Shaw who tucked it into the great big wide-open to make this a 2-1 hockey game, Detroit.

2:05 The second period is over and, except for that giveaway hiccup by Howard at 14:54, it was another good one for the Red Wings. Unlike the first period though, they did not score and shots (8-7, Detroit) were much more even in the middle 20 than they were in the first when it was 21-4 Detroit, in Shots on Goal. The Game Notes tell us that the Wings are 18-1-1 (.925) when leading after two and that Chicago is 4-13-1 (.250) when trailing after two. AFTER TWO: DETROIT 2, CHICAGO 1.

2:22 The third period begins. Say, did you know there is football today? How about that. With any luck (and by luck I mean without any Auto Show traffic) I'll be home in time for the Saints-49ers game at 4:30. I'll take New Orleans by about thirty as I saw what the Saints did to the Lions a week ago tonight and because I still can't see that San Francisco ballclub. I didn't believe in them when the season began, I didn't believe in them when they beat Detroit, I didn't believe in them when they got the first-round bye, and I don't believe in them now. I am, if nothing else, consistent.

2:26 Just over three into the third and Jimmy Howard is looking in the net behind him for the puck, but it is not there as he as made some sort of miracle save which was so good even he didn't know he had pulled it off. The Blackhawks are storming the net here, getting a push just like you knew they would. They've outshot the Wings 7-0 in the period and Detroit is hanging on. You had to figure the Wings would have to withstand in this period. Chicago is a good club, you know. They won the Cup only the year before last and they don't just hand you the damn thing. Shots are now 9-0, Chicago in the period, which is 5 minutes old.

2:40 This third period has really been moving along. 7:05 left and still 2-1, Detroit. Chicago was really taking it to Detroit when Drew Miller got a double minor. For whatever reason, going on the power play seemed to take Chicago off their game. They had been doing better at even strength than they did a man to the good, although they did hit a goalpost during the power play. Shots in the period: 15-2, Chicago. It's looking like a nail-biter down the stretch and you know how this goes, I have to get downstairs to get post game interviews. I will update this blog later. Thanks for hanging out with us today!

Thanks! (And Let's Watch the Red Wings and the Coyotes)

2012-01-12T16:54:00.000-08:00

First off (and off topic) thanks to everyone for their kind words and congratulations regarding my daughter and her academic scholarship. A full ride at a 4-year university with a Division I basketball program for academics? Way to go, kiddo. Way to go. And again, thanks to everyone for their kind words.

The Red Wings, seeking their 13th straight win at home, are flat-out kicking the snot out of tonight's opponent, the woeful Phoenix Coyotes. Which would mean more than it does if the Wings weren't actually losing the game. Which they are, 1-0 as a moment ago Radim Vrbata rifled a wrister over the right (stick) shoulder of newly-minted Detroit All-Star goalie Jimmy Howard. Other than that, the Wings have been all over 'em.

8pm: For the record, as Detroit looks to extend the old home ice win streak tonight, we note that the Wings team record for Most Consecutive Home Wins is 14. They accomplished this feat 46 years ago between January 21 and March 25, 1965. The streak ended when Toronto beat the Wings at Olympia 4-0 in the regular season finale. In a cruel irony, the Wings that season, after winning regular season championship, lost to Chicago in the first round of the playoffs (there were only two rounds in the playoffs back in those Original Six days, as you know) when the Blackhawks defeated them in game 7--in Detroit. It was the only home-ice loss for the Wings in the 1965 Stanley Cup playoffs and it was one too many.

Trivia: Who was the Wings leading scorer in that 1964-65 season? (The answer later if I remember to post it...)

The period is over and I pissed off a couple of Coyotes. I was a little mad at myself for getting caught in the mens room trying to beat the intermission run on the bathroom when the Wings tied the score 19:09--Valtteri Filppula, unassisted--and when I stepped out of the bathroom they were showing the replay and I blurted out (which is something, blurting, that I usually don't do) "Who the hell is #53?" He was the Phoenix D-man who was standing there reaching halfheartedly (or half-some other body part) with his stick as Filppula fired. I forgot that visiting players not dressed for the game sit in the section of the pressbox where I spoke up and one of them asked me, "Why, what do you think he did?" I said, "I think he didn't block the shot." Which he didn't. He just stood there, looking terrible. The player nodded at me but I think a couple of those guys were annoyed with me. Add this to the fact that chances are good they were in foul humor to begin with what with the being healthy scratches and all, and now they are mad at me and thus I cannot, not matter how dire matters may be or may become, go back to the bathroom again until the game is over and they have left. I'm going to cut back on the Diet Cokes (they don't work, anyway) and hope for a well-played, uh, efficient hockey game. After One: Detroit 1, Phoenix 1.

I'm writing hurt tonight, I'll have you know. All to keep you up to date with the latest info from here at the Joe Louis Sports Arena. I decided that calling a high school game last night (Rochester United 3, Farmington Hills 2 for those of you who track these things), wasn't enough in the way of preparation for watching an actual NHL game, so I went out this afternoon and played some hockey myself. It surprises some people that I still do that, but I do. In fact, a while back somebody asked me if I was a retired person and I laughed and thought to myself, come on out to the Oak Park Ice Arena some Tuesday or Thursday and I'll show you how retired I am..." Anyway, today, in addition to the usual office workers, policemen and firefighters with whom I play, some ringer who I was later told played pro in the NY Rangers system either in the American or East Coast Leagues, who knows, ripped a shot right from inside the rim of the circle to my left, right off my funny bone. I mean, it was a blast. I mentioned the guy played pro, didn't I? Those guys can really bring it. And he did. I was pleased to have made the save (I forgot to mention that I'm a goalie, didn't I?) for about a nano-second before the pain came and I spent the rest of the game just trying to hold onto my goalie stick without much of any feeling at all in my hand since my entire arm went numb. Right now, my elbow looks like a plum has been surgically implanted just under the skin. It wasn't a league game or something; just a little drop-in. Why didn't I just let it go in? Those words, "Why didn't you just let it go in?" are the best hockey advice I ever got. I was showing the Red Wings trainer a bruise I gotten from some other slapshot in some other time and he was so impressed he called on some of the Wings themselves to join me in the Medical Room to inspect the damage. It was nasty. I'd gone into the butterfly position (down on the ice, pads spread as wide as you can) and the shot hit me on the inside of my thigh and the resulting contusion had to be a foot and a half in diameter. Mike Vernon, the Wings goalie at the time, looked at it, then he looked at me and said oh-so-matter-of-factly, "Why didn't you just let it go in?"

As I reminisce, the second period has concluded. There was no scoring, although Cory Emmerton hit the post which flat on the ice which I am sure will be a highlight as it was The Best Play I've Seen Not Resulting in a Goal in weeks, and so it is still tied here after 40. After Two: Detroit 1, Phoenix 1.

An hour after it was scored, they have added an assist on the Detroit goal by Filppula. They gave it to Ian White. I said, "May I have an assist, too? It would be my first NHL point." Hey, you at least have to ask!

9:25: I'd better give you the answer to Tonight's Trivia Challenge (who led the Wings in scoring the year they set a team record which still stands with 14 straight wins at home) pretty quick since it now appears that the Wings are going to screw this thing up, lose and see their 12-game home win streak end as Taylor Pyatt has just scored to give Phoenix a 2-1 lead at 3:02 of this here third period. So, here you go: Norm Ullman with 83 points. Bonus points if you know that his 42 goals led that NHL in '64-'65. More than Bobby Hull or Jean Beliveau or Gordie Howe or any of them.

9:36 Johan Franzen, in the greatest moment in hockey since Henderson scored to beat the Soviets in '72, has just scored to tie the game 2-2 at 10:03. Goose bumps are everywhere as we move into the last half of the last period of the epic battle which rages on the pure white ice below. Hey, I'm just trying to capture the flavor of the thing.

9:45 Well, you know how this goes. I have to shut this thing down now and get to the room for post game comments, such that they are or may be. Thanks for reading!

Let's Watch the Lions and the Saints!

2012-01-07T16:30:00.000-08:00

For all of you karma fans out there, the last time the Lions won a road playoff game was December 22, 1957--a 34-27 win over the San Francisco 49ers at Kezar Stadium. Detroit trailed 27-7 in the 3rd and their 20-point comeback was the biggest in NFL playoff history at the time. The Lions won the NFL Championship game a week later. This has been the year of the comeback for the Lions, has it not? Get ready for kick in New Orleans tonight with a look at this Lions Classic!
http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-network-top-ten/09000d5d810a994f/Top-Ten-Comebacks-1957-NFL-playoff

This has to be the greatest QB matchup in playoff history, doesn't it? Any other one in which the QB's combined to throw for 10,514 yards and 87 TDs in the regular season? Don't think so...

Remember last Sunday how everybody said they wouldn't be able to throw the ball at Green Bay because of the high winds and all we would up with was the HIGHEST PASSING YARDAGE game in NFL HISTORY? That's what I think of predictions...

8:20 Lions go 80 in 8 to lead 7-0, 4:02 in. TD is 10y Matthew Stafford pass to Will Heller as Stafford is 5/6 for 70y on drive. Big plays were 22y pass to Calvin Johnson on second play of game and 15y pass to Titus Young on 3rd and 7 after Lions got one of those dumb Too Many Men in the Huddle penalties. Oddity: Lions leading rusher right now is Young (8y

Saints were cruising right down the field, but they fumbled inside the Detroit 20 and the Lions get it back and that is exactly how you pull off an upset. New Orleans had driven from own 19 to Det 18 in only 5 plays when Marques Colston fumbled and Detroit's Justin Durant recovered. 7-0, Det midway through the first. It would be huge if the Lions could get points off the TO and put the Saints in a hole early. A bigger hole, that is.

OT, but as I watch the Wings out of the corner of my eye, does anyone have a reason for them being 15-2-1 (.861) at home and 10-11-0 (.477) on the road? Neither do I. Wings down 3-2 in Toronto late second, but were down 0-3 when period began. Lions drive to midfield, punt. Still up 7-0 in New Orleans...

8:45 QTR ends as Saints drive from their own 11 to the Det 11 in 8 plays. The biggest play was an 11y Pierre Thomas screen pass that was good for 11 and and first. He totally juked Lions CB Eric Wright. S Louis Delmas was the fakeout victim on a 31y Thomas run moments later. 7-0 Det, going second.

8:50 Tie game. Saints go 89 in 11 (surprisingly enough, 56 of the 89 yards on the drive came on the ground) and tie Lions 7-7 just :59 into second quarter.

9:00 The drive is 87 in 9 and the Lions lead again on 13y Stafford to Johnson TD toss. Up and down the field they go with 9:11 left in the half! Det 14, NO 7. Seven of the nine plays in the drive were passes with Stafford 6/7 for 73 yards.

OT (again) The Wings have just come back from 0-3 down to tie Leafs 3-3 in Toronto in 3rd with 15:30 left in reg.

9:10 Anybody else wondering why they blew the play dead on that Brees fumble? Because it looked to me like the Lions might have scored on the play, for crying out loud.

An official, thinking the play was an incomplete pass instead of a fumble, blew his whistle and ended the play in which Brees fumbled. That makes this the second week in a row in which incompetent officialing (not a word, btw but I've decided to write the story the way they call the game) has cost Detroit aTD.

9:29 That was no catch, right? Didn't the ball juggle around a bit when he hit. Isn't that "Process of the Catch" stuff?.

9:36 Good first half. Real good. Better than I expected to be honest with you as I thought if GB's second stringer could light up the Lions Brees just might be able to do the same. But, Stafford (180) has more pass y in half than Brees (174). Det 14, NO 10 at the half. Time to break for all-important halftime snackage. Wish I was at Ford Field since they always have something nice for us at halftime but then again, I would be able to be in a t-shirt like I am now. Red Wings lose 4-3 in Tor, fall to 10-12 on the road.

9:52 Brees finally hits a big one, a 41y TD pass as Saints go 78 in 4 to take 17-14 lead 1:51 into 3rd. Can Stafford answer?

10:02 Uh, not a first down there on that third and long from the NO 7.... Refs get the Lions again.

10:08 Anybody remember the Lions opener at GB about 15 years ago when Scott Mitchell lept and thrust the football forward to get a first down on Dets first possession of the season and had the ball swatted out of his hands and returned for a Packer TD? Could have happened to Brees right there, but it's a NO first down instead.

10:10 Saints TD drive is 92 in 13 with the bad spot on the 3rd and 7 from the 7 and the Brees 4th-and-inches reach-across the big plays and now the Lions, trailing 24-14 with 4:03 left in 3rd, have to respond.

10:25 For those of you scoring at home, that is first rush TD by Stafford this season. Det TD drive is 80 in 8. Stafford 4/6 for 79 on the drive. Det back in game, down 24-21 with 0:26 left in third.

NO is 7-10 on 3rd down but that's misleading because on two of the misses they came back to convert on 4th down (2-2 on 4th down converts) and on the other they kicked that field goal on last play of first half.

10:43 If you can't get 'em off the field, eventually--by definition--they score. Darren Sproles runs it in from 17 to complete a 14 play, 80y Saints drive. Now it's 31-21, NO and now there's 9:53, that's all, left.

10:48 A pick. Damn. A pick. Stafford, having a typically great night until this very moment, puts it up for grabs and it's intercepted and it's the first TO by DET tonight and it's a killer. Unless the defense can get 'em off the field and off the field in a hurry. Under nine to play.

10:52 Good night, everybody. Brees ends it with a 56y pass to Robert Meachum and it's 38-21 ballgame with 7:29 left and I don't think the Lions can make the deficit up in that amount of time. Brees has thrown for 425 tonight and 3 TDs..

10:29 Is anybody else streaming this game? Who is that singing that annoying "I want to be a billionaire song" and can you make her stop?

10:59 Way to not give up. Stafford now at 367 pass y and 3 TD as he hits Johnson in the end zone to make it 38-28, Saints with 4:40 left. Kick or on-side kick?

11:08 616 yards of offense for NO is a new NFL postseason record and they didn't have to punt once. Not once. That's the story, isn't it? 4 plays is all it takes them to put it in the end zone again after the failed on-sides kick. 45-28 with 3:13 to play.

11:11 Correction: NFL website says NO had 618y of offense after that last TD, not the 616 I said. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have cause. A desperate Stafford is picked again and the Death Watch is underway.

11:20 I am not, by rule (No Cheering in the Press Box), allowed to root for the Lions, but I feel badly for the guys and for the members of the staff who helped me so much in covering them this year. I remember being on the sidelines at RFK the night they got blown out in the '92 NFC title game and a remember being sad for the players then, too. I hope they will quickly realize that they had one hell of a fine year. And wait until you get a load of that LeShoure kid out of Illinois next season. Detroit's leading rusher had 28 yards tonight. That won't happen with him in the lineup. Final: New Orleans 45, Detroit 28. Thanks for reading!

I'm Still the Smart One, Right?

2011-12-17T16:37:00.000-08:00

So, I'm out on the ice with the boys Thursday tending the 6x4 and we are all of us every one giving it our all out there and when the game is over, I can't get the tape on my ankle and my ankle brace undone and I don't have knife to cut it off which means I can't get my hockey underwear off (think either long johns or lightweight sweat pants) which means I have to put my jeans on over them and they are soaking wet as I have, as mentioned, just finished giving my all out there and sweat and lots of it is the byproduct. Because they are wet, they are cold and they are nasty, too. I'm thinking I'm going to get some sort of rash before I can finish the drive home. Or catch my death en route, one or the other. When I do get home, my poor daughter has to cut the tape off so I can hit the shower which, although she said nothing (such a sweet child) has to gross her out to the maximum. I mention all of this to Jeannie yesterday and she asks why I didn't ask somebody in another locker room if they had a knife and I tell her I didn't think of it and she asks me why I didn't go to the office to see if they had some scissors and I tell her I didn't think of that, either and I say, "So what you are saying is that anytime a little problem like this crops up (and they have, you know. We're eighteen years into our marriage, after all.) I can just call you and you will give me all sorts of potential solutions?" And she says, "Of course," and I say, "Okay, but I still get to be the smart one, right?"

You gotta work to make your marriage work, boys. Keep it in mind!

We are at the Joe Louis here tonight for the Wings and the Kings and it is not going well at all for one of the teams whose name ends in "ings" and I can tell you for sure that it is not the local hockeyists as they led 2-0 at the 2-minute mark and 3-0 eight-and-a-half in. And that is where we are now. I was planning a quick getaway tonight but as soon as I got here they asked if I could pick tonight's Three Stars of the Game which means A). I have to pay attention and, B). I cannot leave early as it is difficult to pay attention to something one is not actually at, you know? But, what the hey. The crowd is having a good time and the we can spread out in the pressbox as it is not crowded, so let's enjoy... 3:02 left, 1st Period: Detroit 3, LA 0.

One is done and the Wings dominate with a 4-1 lead at the first intermission. 8 (8!) different Wings record at least one point in the period. Incredibly, LA outshoots Detroit 10-9 in the period, proving once and for all, we suspect, that "Shots on Goal" is the weakest stat in the history of athletic competition. 1st Intermission: Det 4, LA 1.

Okay, two periods complete here and it is still Detroit by four, 6-2. 12 different Wings have recorded a point here, which is remarkable. As is the fact that the LA club leads in shots 19-16. I didn't check in with you because not a lot was going on here. Detroit appeared to get a little bored midway through the period, analogous to a cat tiring of playing the with mouse he's caught, I thought, and the Kings made 'em pay and the game was 4-2. Then it got a little chippy and there was some shoving and cruel taunts and hurt feelings. The Wings got two goals late: Henrik Zetterberg roofing a backhand under the bar although there clearly was no open spot for him to hit and Pavel Datsyuk was in alone in the last minute and he did what he does when he is in alone, netting his 10th of the year. Detroit is 12-2-1 (.833) at home this year. In another half an hour or so, they will be 13-2-1 (.843) and you can book that. 2nd Intermission: Detroit 6, LA 2.

I am going to shut this thing down now as I will have to hustle in the 3rd to get away once the 3 Stars are turned in to Budd Lynch--the legendary PA announcer here.

It turns out Dec. 15 was the 32nd anniversary of the last game ever played at Olympia Stadium. I was there. Detroit fell behind 4-0, but came back to tie Quebec 4-4. A few nights later, they played the first game in this building, and I was here for that one, too. I cannot believe I have been coming to games in this place for 32 years....

Let's Watch the Lions and the Vikings!

2011-12-11T09:28:00.001-08:00

Good afternoon from Ford Field. This is the first time I've seen a football field since last Saturday night when I was leaving Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis about an hour and a half after poor Isiah Lewis was flagged for running into the kicker in that heart-breaker of a Big Ten Title game which the Spartans lost to Wisconsion 42-39.

This is the first time I've seen this field since Thanksgiving Day when I thought at the half that the Lions were going to upset the Packers since Detroit had out gained Green Bay 202-86 in the first half and were only down 7-0. But, the Packers drove the length on the first possession of the second half, the drive culminating in that Ndamukong Suh stomp/Personal Foul which enabled Green Bay to continue their drive and score a TD when they'd been stopped on 3rd and a goal and were certainly going to bring their field goal unit onto the field. Things went downhill from there in what wound up a 27-15 Packers win.

Ten wins almost always get you into the playoffs. To get to 10, Detroit must win three of their last four. And even then they could get edged out. Heading into today's game, the Lions are the #7 seed in a race in which only the top 6 make it. At 7-5, Detroit has the same record as the Bears and the Falcons. But Chicago is the #5 seed and the Falcons are # 6. Here's why:
*Chicago finishes ahead of Detroit based on conference record (6-3 to the Lions'5-5).

*Chicago is the No. 5 seed ahead of Atlanta based on head to head (1-0).
*Atlanta is the No. 6 seed ahead of Detroit based on head to head (1-0).

I think it's going to come down to Detroit and Chicago and both teams still have to play at 12-0 Green Bay. The combined record of the remaining opponents for the Lions and the Bears is identical: 26-22. Atlanta has the easiest remaining schedule with their opponents a combined 20-28. However, Atlanta has to play at New Orleans so who's to say they won't lose that one meaning the best they could do is finish 10-6, too. But that's the problem. Even if the Lions finish 10-6, they will still miss out if both the Bears and Falcons do too. So, you Lions fans, it's not enough just to root for the Lions, you must also root against the Bears and the Falcons. The Bears are at 7-5 Denver today, the Falcons are at 4-8 Carolina.

Minnesota RB Adrian Peterson will not play today. And even at this late moment, under 20 minutes to kick, we do not know if Vikings QB Christian Ponder (crossword clue: Jesus Contemplater?) will be able to start due to injury. We will, of course, keep all y'all updated...

We've had some computer problems but it looks like we are back now...at least for now. Let's bring you up to speed. In less than ten minutes (9:06 elapsed to be precise) the Lions have taken a 21-0 lead over the Vikings. Detroit has run 11 plays on offense and have scored 21 points. On the Vikings first play from scrimmage, at their own 7, QB Christian Ponder had the ball slapped out of his hand by Cliff Avril and Stephen Tulloch recovered in the end zone for his first career TD. 7-0, Detroit. On the Vikings second possession, Ponder was intercepted by Alphonso Smith of Detroit and the Lions turned that turnover into points too, when Matthew Stafford hit a streaking Titus Young down the near left sideline for a 57-yard TD. 14-0, Detroit. Stafford made it two TD passes in the first quarter the next time Detroit got the ball when he hit Brandon Pettigrew from 17 and with just under 6 minutes left in the quarter, the Lions had a 21-0 lead. The Vikings have just driven down the field to score and make it 21-7 and we still have almost two minutes left in the quarter. What a start we are off to here.

Halftime and we've been having a heck of a time with the internet here this afternoon. Let's get caught up on what has transpired so far. First of all, it's 31-14 Detroit. Minnesota turned it over 4 times in the half and the Lions got 24 pts off the turns. Alphonso Smith had two intercepts in the half, returning one for a score. Matthew Stafford threw 2 TD passes. Christian Ponder has 2 TD passes for Minnesota--the only reason they remain in the game at all. Word at the half is that Carolina has the lead over Atlanta, which is great news for Detroit. Remember, the Lions, Falcons and Bears are all 7-5. Only two of the teams will make the post season. If current scores stand up, and if the Bears can lose at Denver, Detroit will have a one-game lead in the playoff chase. Second half just underway...

We're into the 4th, now and the Lions lead 34-21, but haven't put them away just yet with 12:09 to go. Joe Webb is in at QB for the Vikes and all he did was tear off a 65 yard scramble for a TD, probably the longest QB scramble I've ever seen. The Detroit secondary continues to rack up injuries, and there is some cause for concern here. Meanwhile, ATL has come back to lead CAR 24-23.

Let's Watch the Red Wings and the Coyotes!

2011-12-08T16:38:00.001-08:00

Well, let's see. We haven't been together since last Saturday night and that thrilling down to the last cup Big Ten Title game. Tonight, a contest of much less import as the Wings try to put an end to a modest two-game losing streak against the Phoenix Coyotes, a team many say is playing its last year in the National League. For the record, this will go down as the day Albert Pujols got a contract worth a smidge (4 million dollars is indeed a "smidge" when it's part of a $254 million dollar deal) over a quarter of a billion dollars. Wow, etc. That is more that the current owner of the Angels, the team shelling out the dollars for Pujols, paid for the entire franchise short a few years ago.

I've been at this for about five minutes and can report that the Red Wings lead the hockey game 2-0. Twice Wings were left all alone in front of Coyotes goalie Mike Smith, and twice they buried the thing. Todd Bertuzzi made no mistake at 1:16 and Valteri Filppula--who I had heard earlier today wasn't even going to dress tonight due to a leg injury--found the net at 2:09. The goals were strikingly similar. In each case, the goal scorer was all alone below the hashmarks on the circles, right out in front of the goal. In a strange oddity, Phoenix has outshot Detroit 5-4 here in the early going. DETROIT 2, PHOENIX 0.

8:05 Make it 3-0, Detroit. Phoenix put Detroit on the power play and Tomas Holmstrom put it on the board at 14:46. He fired in a rebound and in spite of a 10-10 shots on goal total, the rout is on. And now it is REALLY on. Darren Helm just took a feed off to the side of the net and made it 4-0 at 15:29. Which turns out to be bad news in the extreme to those of us up here in the press box as Mike Smith is replaced in goal by Jason LaBarbera which is much more difficult to spell. DETROIT 4, PHOENIX 0.

Juri Hudler greeted LaBarbera with yet another goal and Detroit's running away, 5-0 after one. In a statistical oddity, or quirk if you prefer, shots on goal in the period were even: 12-12. Sometimes things just don't add up. AFTER ONE: DETROIT 5, PHOENIX 0.

True story: back in the day, Phoenix coach Dave Tippet was the coach of the Houston Aeros, and when we'd go down there to play them I'd run into him outside the arena between periods, pacing, having a smoke. I don't know if Tippet's quit yet, but if he hasn't I'll bet he's lighting the last one with the next one right now outside the building between periods here at the Joe.

Hockey hurts. I'm out there tending some net this very afternoon and some guy winds up for the slapper from the point to my left and I go down but the puck surprises me a little and goes up. No problem--I figure to snag it with the trapper but I miss and it ticks the edge of the ole catch glove (that's what they call it: a "catch" glove) and deflects a little but that's no problem because it has to hit me in the chest and stay out but no, it finds a gap between my torso and arm and in it goes and I'm left down on my knees muttering some very bad words which I will not share with you here except to mention that one of them (which I may have uttered more than once truth be told) is a perfect rhyme for "puck". Literally adding injury to the insult which this goal was, is the fact that on its way through it nicked my left side which felt a lot like being snapped with a wet towel in the boys locker room and which left a welt. I hate hockey. I hate it so much I have vowed never to play again until next Tuesday when the usual crew gets together again at the Oak Park Ice Arena.

There was a fight out there today which you really don't like to see in Rec Hockey. I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm out there to have some fun and get some cardio and that's it and the boys know that if they screw with me--slashing me with their sticks trying to dig the puck out from under my pads and crap like that--I will up and leave which apparently ruins their entire game because it's better with a goalie than it is without even if it's a crummy goalie like, oh I don't know, me. Anyway, out there today one guy gets it into his head that he's Gordie Howe and this other guy decides that he's John Ferguson (look it up if you have to) and they stand each other up and then there's a shove and then there is the dropping of the gloves and then there is a guy prostrate and motionless on the ice and I decide I've played enough hockey for this day. They say the goalies are the crazy ones, right? Let me tell you, the boys who skate out are, as was so well put by goalie Denis Lemeaux in the movie classic Slapshot, all a "bunch of English pig-dogs with no brains." And with that, the second period is underway here in Detroit.

Here's your Middle of the Period update: still 5-0, Detroit. Phoenix got back-to-back power plays, including an overlap which gave them :49 of a two-man, and got nothing. 9:13 left in the middle twenty.

Ok, 5-1 after two. Radim Vrbata slapped one by from the left circle late in the second. Same thing that happened to me today. Jimmy Howard went down and the puck went up. There wasn't much of an opening under the bar but these are NHLers and they don't need much. 21-20 shots after 40 mins, favoring the Coyotes. Did you know that Detroit and Phoenix each have 33 points and are tied for 3rd place in the Western Conference? Me neither. AFTER TWO: DETROIT 5, PHOENIX 1.

Here's the quote of the day/year, courtesy of Pujols circa 2009 via Deadspin:

"People from other teams want to play in St. Louis and they're jealous that we're in St. Louis because the fans are unbelievable. So why would you want to leave a place like St. Louis to go somewhere else and make $3 or $4 more million a year? It's not about the money. I already got my money. It's about winning and that's it. It's about accomplishing my goal and my goal is to try to win.

The third period is about to begin. I'm going to do something I rarely do in deference to the score. I am going to go downstairs early tonight and get set up for the post game interviews. I've the Wings blow the lead it is on my for the karmic disruption this change in routine will cause. If I don't get back to you tonight, we will see you Sunday at Ford Field for the Lions and the Vikings (I can't come to the game here Saturday against Winnipeg because we are going to cut down the Kincaide Family Christmas Tree and we always get the chicken dinner in Frankenmuth afterwards and we never get home before ten or so). So, for now and unless a change in conditions warrants it, goodnight from the Joe Louis Sports Arena!

Let's Watch the Big 10 Title Game!

2011-12-03T17:18:00.001-08:00

8:18 Kick off here at Lucas Oil Stadium. Wisconsin gets the ball moving from my right to left. Here we go....
8:29: UW in end zone. 71y in 9 plays. 4:56 elapsed. MSU couldn't stop Monte Ball. Remember, MSU was down 14-0 to UW at Spartan Stadium on Oct. 22.
8:38: Wow! MSU simply drives 59y (46 on the ground) in 6 plays to tie the game with 6:44 left in first. Drive took 3:13. State just pushed 'em right down the field. 7-7!
8:47 UW RB Montee Ball hits is QB Russell Wilson for 32y to give 'em 1st and goal. Ball's done this before. He's now 2/2 for 57y and a TD passing this yr.
8:50 One play after the pass to Wilson, Ball lugs it in from 6y out. UW goes 60y in 7 plays in 3:00 to lead 14-7 with 3:44 left in first.
8:52 Deadspin reported this week that a Craigs List ad was offering people $75 to come in sit in a section near midfield tonight--a report laughed at by the City of Indy and the Big Ten. The thing is, the section in question, near midfield and opposite the main TV cameras, is surprisingly unfull tonight. Game not a sellout as the uppder end zone seats are empty. MSU fumbles kickoff and UW recovers at MSU 24. Yikes.
8:59 Montee Ball just scored again. Has 2 TD and 105 rush y on 13 carries before game is 12 mins old. UW scored 2 TD in :32 after MSU fumbled a kickoff. Spartans down 21-7, under two left in first.
9:06 MSU goes for it on 4th and 1 and BJ Cunningham is WIDE OPEN to take Kirk Cousins TD pass from 30. 80y in 7 in 3:07! Second just underway (14:55) and it is 21-14 UW and it is a HELL OF A GAME!!!
9:21 INCREDIBLE!!! Nichol laterals to Cunningham for a TD and Sontag--the extra point holder, runs it in for 2. MSU LEADS 22-21!!! Still 10:21 left in half. MSU has come back from 14 down to lead here--just as they did in win over UW in Oct.
9:31 UW: 155y, 3 TD on 1st 3 poss. 6 plays, 6y on last 2. 22-21, MSU, 8:42 left in half. Spartan ball: 1st and ten at MSU 42. Cousins picked on first play though.
9:42 UW has NO ANSWER for MSU right now. Another long drive (84y) and its 29-21 State. 22 unanswered by MSU! (They had 23 unanswered after being down 14 in first meeting v UW).
9:48 Montee Ball had 105 y rushing in 1st qtr, has 2 (two!) in second. UW has gone 3-out on last four drives after scoring TDs on first 3. :46 left in half, 29-21, MSU!
9:59 MSU outgained UW 208/-4, outscored 'em 22-0 in 2nd qtr. Lead 29-21 at half!
10:22 Almost ready for the second half. An incredible turnaround in this game. State came back from 21-7 down after one to lead 29-21 after two. A long way to go. Big hits on UW QB Wilson and RB Ball in that second quarter turned the game around, I think. At least to this point. MSU gets ball to start third.
10:37 Momentum shifts again. MSU had UW stopped on 3rd and long but offside call kept drive alive and it's 29-28 as they drive 62y in 8 in 3:30 on first poss of second half. 42y Wilson pass is the scoring play. MSU went three/out to start second half. 9:13 left in 3rd.
10:48 Promising MSU drive stalls, but MSU punt pins 'em back at one. 4:52, 3rd, 29-28, MSU!
10:59 Ta-dah! Cousins to Cunningham, again. It's a 44y TD pass--BJ's 3rd TD catch and Cousin's 3rd TD toss tonight! The drive: 44y in 3 (1:41). There happens to be the same amount of time left in the qtr as the drive took,: 1:41. MSU 36, UW 28!
11:04 3rd qtr over. 36-28, MSU. Boy, am I nervous...
11:10 UW scores again in this ping-pong game on a shovel pass to Ball who has 7y rushing since he had 105 in first qtr. UW misses 2-point when Worthy tips pass. 36-34, MSU and the Spartans are knocking on door again...
11:20 MSU settles for short FG to lead 39-34 with 8:28 left. I am still nervous...
12:49 Back in press box, almost time to leave. Was ten feet fro Isiah Thomas as two teammates helped him off after the game, after he got flagged for that running into kicker penalty that negated the Keyshawn Martin punt return which likely would have won game for MSU. Toughest thing I've ever seen in sports. Toughest loss I've ever seen. Great game. Good night.

Let's Watch the Lions and the Packers!

2011-11-24T09:06:00.001-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving, gobble, gobble and all that. We have been here at Ford Field for about an hour and a half. The Thanksgiving Day Classic (which is the event we are covering today) presents a couple of unique problems. The first is one of logistics. The route I take to get to Ford Field, and it is never particularly easy to get to Ford Field, is blocked due to the Thanksgiving Day parade. My plan "B" worked well as it usually does (this isn't the first trip this turkey has made to the Turkey Day game, after all) so we got here in good order. The second problem is making sure that you don't overfeast (a word which Spellcheck tells me I just invented along with the word "Spellcheck" so we are off to some kind of a start!) at the pre-game media buffet which, today of all days, features the best spread of the season: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, etc. Everything, in other words, that you are going to enjoy when you get home from the game. One must pace ones self. Stuffing yourself before the game is a rookie mistake, and you hate to see it.

Well, we have the Packers in here today and there will be a record crowd and, to be honest, I don't give the Lions much of a shot. There's a reason Green Bay is 10-0 and there is a reason they are the defending Super Bowl champs, after all. And that reason is that they are pretty good. That said, remember I said a moment ago that this isn't my first trip to this rodeo? History tells us that when the Lions pull off an upset, particularly a huge upset, they do it on Thanksgiving Day. So, we shall see what we shall see.

Besides, didn't the Lions beat the Packers the last time they played? (Hint: they did. 7-3, here last December.) The last time Detroit beat Green Bay two in a row was the last meeting between the teams in 1998 and the first meeting between the teams in 1999. And if you like omens, both of the games were played in Detroit. Well, in Pontiac, actually, but both were at the Lions home field.

I am playing hurt today. I had the biggest leg cramp of my life overnight and right now my left calf feels like there's a needle sticking into deep tissue, But, gentle reader, would I let something like that keep me from blogging for you? I think not.

The Lions get a couple first downs, but a holding call on Nate Burleson costs 'em and they have to punt. It didn't look like much of a hold in my view, but once again, they didn't ask me...

The Lions get a couple first downs after the kickoff, but a holding call on Nate Burleson costs 'em and they have to punt. It didn't look like much of a hold in my view, but once again, they didn't ask me. The Lions hold the Packers to a single first down, and they punt to Detroit. Which is a case of so far, so good.

Green Bay has scored an NFL-high 94 1st quarter points this season. With 2:12 to go in first today, they have none. Lions have done a good job of ball control but penalties have hurt. They have had 3 holding calls (one hands to the face, actually) called against them. Which hurts. They might have points on the board except for the penalties.

The Lions don't score--but neither do the Packers in the first. Detroit holds GB to only 8 plays on offense in the entire quarter--not bad considering the Packers are the highest-scoring first quarter team in the NFL this season. (They are also the highest-scoring first half team in the league). Detroit has the ball to start the second.

The Lions moving smartly here. They've gone from own 15 to GB 48 with a 22y Matthew Stafford run looming large. When he was tackled I thought to myself, "That HAS to be a career-long run for him!" Moments later, Lions PR confirmed that it was, in fact, the longest run of his career. Teams don't expect Stafford to run, and the middle was wide open for him. TOP right now: 14:09 to 3:33, Detroit. Still scoreless. Very exciting.

Lions 6th penalty of the day (GB has 0) gives the Pack a first down conversion when otherwise they'd have been punting to Lions. 0-0, under ten left in first half. Lions playing really well--but the penalties are hurting them.

Lions had 'em in 3rd and forever after hold call wiped out 25y GB gain, but are called for hands to the face. Only a 5y pen--but automatic 1st down. Lions hold though, and GB has to punt again. Det 1/10 at own 20 with 5:43 left in half. Detroit defense impresses. GB has scored 189 first half points this year. Today, zero!

Stafford pass is tipped and intercepted and GB has it at Det 13. Pass interference gives them 1st and goal at 1. They score 2 plays later on Aaron Rogers 3y TD pass. A 13-yard, :42 second scoring drive. A bad break and now the boys will have to do with some adversity in this one.

Lions down 7-0 at half, but get a load of these stats: TOP (Time of Possession): Detroit 20:02, GB 9:58. Total y: Det 218, GB 86.Wow. This could be a great second half.

The second half could not have begun any worse than it did for Detroit as GB drives 77 yards in 11 plays in 5:54 to score and go up 14-0. The Packers gained almost as many yards in that one drive (77) as they did in the entire first half (86). Worse than that, Ndamukong Suh--last years NFL Rookie of the Year--was ejected. The call came after the Lions had stopped Green Bay on 3rd and goal. The penalty gave GB a gift first down and John Kuhn scored from a yard out. But, there is more bad news. Kevin Smith--the running back cut by the Lions last March but resigned the week before last due to injuries in the Detroit backfield, the RB who scored 3 TDs and racked up 201 total yards in the win over Carolina just last Sunday, suffered what is being called a lower leg injury and is out for the game. And there is this: on Detroit's first second half possession, Stafford throws his second interception of the afternoon. So, Detroit's down two scores and Green Bay has the ball again and it is noticeably quieter here.

The first play after the pick is a 65 y Rogers to James Jones TD pass. 21-0, Green Bay. Just like that. 5:25 left in 3rd.

Let's Watch the Wings and the Flames!

2011-11-23T16:17:00.001-08:00

We are here at the Joe Louis Arena to take in the Red Wings-Calgary Flames game--sort of a pump-primer for the Big Game tomorrow as the Lions host the Packers in the annual Thanksgiving Day Classic. I'm looking forward to that, indeed, I'll be leaving home for Ford Field and the game in a scant 14 hours or so. Meanwhile, here, Tomas Holmstrom has just tipped in a right point shot blasted by Nicklas Lidstrom to open the scoring. It's power play goal (PPG) at 6:14 with Juri Hudler getting the second assist. So, the Wings, a team at times running hot and at others not, will try to build on their 8-3-1 (.708) record when scoring first.

Right now, the Wings are running hot. They've won two in a row. This comes after the lost two in a row. Which came after they won four in a row. Which came after the lost six in a row. Which came after they won five in a row. And there you have the entire Wings season to this point. They are11-7-1 (23 pts.) which you can look at one of two equally valid, equally true ways. You could say, hey, the Red Wings are just four points out of first place in their division. You could also say, hey, the Wings are in a tie for the last playoff spot in the Western Conference. As I say, both statements are true.

Sparky Anderson used to say (I don't have to tell you who Sparky Anderson was, do I? Hall of Fame Manager of the Tigers and Reds, etc.), "Let me see 40 games and I can tell you what kind of a team I have." 40 games is about a quarter of a baseball season. A quarter of a hockey season is, since your hockey season is half the number of games as a baseball season, 20 games. Tonight is game #20 for Detroit. Therefore, we should know after this one what kind of a hockey team we have this season. Which will be good to know because I have to tell you, right now I have no idea.

This is the second meeting between the Wings and Flames. Calgary came in here and beat Detroit 4-1 nineteen days ago. It was the last game of that six game losing streak which had everybody so concerned as the month began. Detroit is 6-2 since losing that game. Still 1-0 Wings with under four to go in the first. We'll keep you posted....

The period is over. Shots are 8-8. The Wings appear to be defensive-minded tonight which is good because it tends to give you the best chance to win. On the other hand, it tends to result in a less than thrilling evening at the rink. So, what do you want? Two points or goose bumps?

I read some of the Green Bay Packer Game Notes last night. I say some because they ran 122 pages. The interesting thing is that it was the Packers who invented Game Notes back in the '50s. It was the invention of their PR guy and it was called "The Dope Sheet." Which is what it was, a sheet. You know, as in a page. And now it's 122 pages. At any rate, what I gleaned from what I read is that Green Bay has some kind of an offense. I will give just one fact from "The Dope Sheet": The Packers are on pace for 568 points this season. The franchise record is 461 points in 2009 and the NFL record is 589 points by New England in 2007.

There's another interesting note, so I guess I'll give you two facts from "The Dope Sheet": The Packers will be the first undefeated NFL team to play on Thanksgiving since a 10-0 Green Bay team visited Detroit on Nov. 22, 1962.

They didn't mention this is "The Dope Sheet" so I'll throw it in for you. That game on November 22, 1962? Green Bay was 10-1 after it was over. That was the game--perhaps the most famous single game in Lions history--in which their defense sacked Bart Starr 11 times (still the Lions single-game record) at Tiger Stadium and won 26-14. The Lions might have been NFL champions that year had it not been for another one of their more famous games earlier in the year. This one, the first meeting of the season between the Lions and the Packers at Green Bay's City Stadium is more accurately described from a Detroit point of view as infamous, actually. 7 weeks before the upset in Detroit, the Lions were beating the Packers in 7-6 with under two minutes to go when Milt Plum, trying to run out the clock, threw an interception near midfield and the Packers returned to the Detroit 18 before Paul Horning kicked a 14-yard field goal with 26 seconds to go to give Green Bay at 9-7 win. The game is perhaps best remembered for Alex Karras throwing his helmet at Plum after the game in the Lions locker room in an attempt to do his Great Bodily Harm, an attempt which according to all accounts just missed. Most of the Lions, hell, most of everybody thought Plum, the responsible party as back in the day the quarterback and not the coach or the coordinator or anybody else called the plays, should have run the ball, forced Green Bay to use their last time out, and let Detroit's great punter, Yale Lary, pin 'em deep. But they didn't and so by the time they'd KO'd the Pack back in Detroit on Thanksgiving, the damage had already been done and the season was over in spite of their spectacular win over Green Bay.

Meanwhile, back here at the hockey game, Calgary scored a couple of quick ones--quick as in two goals before the second period was three minutes in--on Jimmy Howard (the second was soft as well as quick) but the Wings have answered as Flames goalie Mikka Kiprusoff let in one he should have had, too. So it's 2-2 and we are midway through the second period. As I was reminiscing about the Lions and all while all of this was going on below me, I have, actually, no idea, none at all, who scored the Detroit goal. They'll give me a sheet containing that information during the intermission. I can wait. Oh yes, I can wait. Under 8 to go in the second, 2-2.

Hey, wait. I do too know who scored that Detroit goal. I get a text anytime a Red Wings scores a goal. I am not sure why I do, but I do. It's a good thing, too. Some nights it's the only thing that reminds me I'm alive. It turns out that it was Ian White. The goal was described as a "47-foot wrist shot." See, I TOLD you Kiprusofff should have had it. 47-foot wrister, indeed.

I'd chastise myself and say I've got to get my head in the game except I got over self chastisement years and years ago, and besides, I'm bailing, pulling the chute, bugging out, whatever you want to call it, early tonight. The NHL scouts all leave with 5-6 minutes left in the game because apparently nobody ever does anything that is more worth their while than beating the traffic with the, you know, GAME ON THE LINE. Tonight, I'm with them. I have to be right back here downtown by 9:30 tomorrow morning and it won't any picnic, either. That's because it's a parade. On Thanksgiving Day now, you have to battle parade traffic to get to the football game. When they played in Pontiac, that parade traffic, due largely to the fact that in affected only downtown Detroit, wasn't nearly as big a factor as it is now that both the parade and the game occur within a few blocks of each other. So, I'll see enough traffic tomorrow that I feel I can blow it off tonight. Besides, there are no live radio shows tomorrow that need tape from this game, so I don't need any post-game tape. I did bring my recorder in case somebody scored 6 goals or died or something big like that, but it is increasingly apparent that nothing big is happening tonight. So when I leave you hanging this evening, remember, it's for a good cause...

Less than three into the third Holmstrom gets his second PPG of the night to put Detroit up 3-2. He was alone in front and spun around at the top of the crease to plant his own rebound with a backhand. It doesn't matter how long your legs are, and Kiprusoff's are among the longest, when a guy like Holmstrom can extend his reach with a backhand like that and you are down in the butterfly, you are going to be scored upon.

Let's Watch the MSU/Indiana Game!

2011-11-19T08:52:00.001-08:00

Here we are, high above Spartan Stadium for the last time in 2011, and what a year it has been here. The Spartans, as you know, can win their division (Legends or Leaders, we are ten or eleven weeks in and I still haven't figured it out) just by beating an awful 1-9 Indiana team here on this blustery fall Saturday and by winning on the road at Northwestern one week from today. If they do that, they will be in the first-ever Big Ten title game in two weeks in Indianapolis. I am working the press box this afternoon asking people I know to see if they are going in hopes of finding somebody I can go with and split the driving costs. If you are going--let me know, okay.

My daughter--accepted a few days ago into the MSU Honors College--spent the night in one of the dorms with a friend last night and had, as I knew she would, a great time. She's really hoping to come here in the fall. I'm looking down on the MSU Spartan Marching Band as I write, hoping come next fall when I gaze down upon them, one of the mellophones will be she. Almost kick-off. It's Senior Day and all of them have been introduced and now the full compliment of Spartans take the field. We'll be back to keep you posted on all the fun!
And now from our Twittering today:

MSU wear classic Green and White uniforms today. My favorites. Dwn in AA, Brady Hoke is wearing shirtsleeves. Dummy. It's cold
IU gets first down on first play, then 3 n out. MSU starts own 31.
Kirk Cousins to BJ Cunningham goes for 37 on 3rd and 7 to IU 29, then Cousins hits Garret Selleck for 21 and it is 1st and goal.
Can't convert first and goal, Dan Conroy hits 21y FG. 3-0, MSU w 10:05 left in 1st.

Cousins to Cunningham for 63y and a TD!!! 10-0, MSU 6:24 lft in 1st! 3 plays, 76y is the drive.

I don't know why I haven't ever entioned this before, but did you know you can follow me on Twitter @RichKincaide? You can and you should on account of I've always got something cool to say. Yeah, right.

UM, sad to say, is pushing Neb around this aft. Up 7-0 in 1st and are in Red Zone again. I hate UM, but you prob knew that.

Now is it Cousins to Keyshwan Martin for another score. 47y this time and the drive is 70y in 5. 17-0, MSU. 2:09 left 1st.

IU: 2 1st downs in first. Tot y: MSU 224 , IU 57. MSU 17, IU 0 after 1. NEB on bd in AA, trail UM 10-7 after 1.

KMartin goes end around into end zone from 19y out. 2play/24y drive. 24-3, MSU. 10:06 left in half. Illinois leads Wis 14-0 near the half!

1/2time. 34-3, MSU. Not that close. Tot y: 241-58, MSU. Ill leads UW 17-7 at half, UM leads Neb 17-10 at half. MSU band on the field. It's chilly, 47-degrees. Hope the kids are finding a way to stay warm! They sound like they are. Supposed to look up an old friend here at the half--so let the search begin.

Never did find my buddy. MSU goes right down and scores again. Cousins to Cunningham TD pass from 7y. Cousins: # TD passes today. it's 41-3, MSU. ILL lead over UW down to 17-14 mid-third.

Johnny Adams intercepts pass, runs it back 87y for TD. 49-3, MSU and still not halfway thru 3rd qtr. Blow. Out.

Adams return is 5th-longest in school history (interceptions and fumbles).

Finally found my friend down in the suites and I hung out with the well-to-do in 4th qtr. MSU wins 55-3 and now a win at Northwestern one week from today (noon kick, eastern time) means a berth in 1st-ever Big 10 title game. Time to snag some tasty post-game audio and find my (not so) little girl! Talk to you soon, etc.

@ The Red Wings-Calgary Game

2011-11-03T16:48:00.000-07:00

Come tonight the Calgary Flames, and who ever thought we'd be writing this tonight: the Flames are one of only 3 Western Conference teams (St. Louis and Columbus) with a worse record than Detroit. The Wings are winless in 5 (0-4-1) and the reason why is no mystery. In the five games, the Wings have managed to score 5 goals. Tough to win when to do so you have to hold the opponent to zero. Of course, the Wings came within one minute of doing just that here two nights ago in what wound up being a 2-1 loss in overtime to the Minnesota Wild. The Wings led 1-0 when the Wild scored with a minute showing on the clock before they beat the Wings on that overtime goal by Devon Setoguchi. The Wings were shorthanded 9 times in the game Tuesday. The killed off the first 8, but you know...

I turned out to be prescient here on the blog the night beofre last, saying in the third period that I was worried as soon as I looked through the binoculars and saw Setoguchi down there. That guy killed Detroit in the series last spring against San Jose. I had to look up the numbers, but he had a hat trick in Game 3--including the gamer in OT--and he opened the scoring in Game 7, a 3-2 Sharks win. All told, Setoguchi scored 5 times in that series against Detroit, almost a third of the goals San Jose scored in the series.

Underway here in Detroit, 0-0 in the first.

Mikka Kiprusoff is in goal for the Flames tonight. He's 10-12-4, 2.86 lifetime against the Wings, which surprises me a bit as I would have thought his GAA vs Deroit would be zero-point-something. Detroit has had some nights when they can't get a thing past this guy. Remember the playoffs in 2004? He eliminated the Red Wings all by himself in that series and Calgary went all the way to the Final. (They lost, though). Fun Fact: Calgary has not won a playoff series since they went to the Cup Final in '04.

The Wings are hooted off by some here as they trail the Flames 1-0. Lee Stempniak scored at 15:53. Jimmy Howard looked bad on it--Stempniak was along the goal line to his right and slid it in with a shot that Howard should have had with ease. And I think he would have had not Detroit defenseman Brad Stuart not gotten the blade of his stick on it, changing its direction. So, it wasn't, at least in my judgement, Howard's fault but you can't bet the number of people in this arena right now who know that numbers fewer than 100. There are, of course, nearly 20,000 here tonight. Shots in the period would up 8-5, Detroit. And there you have it, yet another goal-less period for the Red Wings.

Might be six in a row without a win. Iginla just scored again--the same shot he used to score his other goal tonight, a one-timer from low in the circle--but it never would have happened were it not for an awful play by Kronwall who had plenty of ice as he looked to lug it out of the defensive zone but he overskated it, turned it over, and Iginla, behind the play, all of a sudden was all alone. We're under ten to go here, and the Wings are down two and it is not looking good. At all.

While I had a moment, I refreshed my memory on that Flames-Wings playoff series in '04. Calgary won the series by winning the last two games by identical 1-0 scores. In fact, in the four Calgary wins, Kiprusoff allowed a grand total of four goals. Since two of the games went to overtime, his goals-against against Detroit in those games was less than 1. Which is pretty good. Back with more after the intermission...

I was worried when the Red Wings season began. I mean, yes, the Wings might well have won the Cup last year had they beaten San Jose and I think they would have beaten San Jose without all the injuries. Remember Franzen couldn't play and then Bertuzzi and (who was it?) Helm or Cleary both got hurt during Game 7? Plus, I'm pretty sure Datsyuk was playing with a broken wrist. But, without all of that I think Detroit would have won Game 7 and could well have beaten Vancouver and would have beaten Boston for the Cup. So, it sounds strange to say all that and in the same breath say you have concerns about a team. But to me, it's like what Gretzky said to his dad in explaining his retirement; "Every year I get a year older and they all get a year younger". That was my concern with the Wings. But when they started 5-0, when they were so dominant, I thought, "Silly me, I'm wrong again." Now, winless in 5, I'm worried again. And all the more because Jerome Iginla just scored (open in the left circle for a one-timer high into the net on the power play) and so now it's 2-0 Calgary here.

A rebound just went in off Danny Cleary's shoulder so the Wings are on the board, trailing 2-1 as we approach the mid-point of the period and the game. It's the first of year for Cleary, which goes a long way toward explaining Detroit's difficulty in scoring goals here of late. Cleary doesn't score until game #11. But, at least now he finally has.

Niklas Kronwall went off on an iffy hook with about ten seconds left in the period but the refs missed a high stick to the face of Darren Helm seconds left which left Detroit coach Mike Babcock screaming at the officials as they went off for the second intermission. You could lip-read the word "joke" on the closeup they showed of Babcock. You could also lip read the word he said which preceded it, but this is a family blog. Flames on the PP for almost a full two when the third begins...2-1 Calgary here.

We seem to have lost a paragraph or two. Oh, well. It's 3-1 Calgary and the scouts are leaving the press box as it is apparently not important for them to scout how the players perform at crunch time. Kronwall overskated the puck when he had an easy clear and Iginla, who was way behind the play at the time, was all of a sudden all alone in the circle with the puck following the turnover and he buried his second of the night and now it looks like it's going to be six in a row without a win for Detroit and if any of you have any good questions for Babcock or the boys, the "comments" section is wide open. Only two Wings came into to meet reporters the night before last after the loss to the Wild. I wonder how many we'll get tonight.

Calgary score into the empty net on the power play and with 1:18 to go and it being 4-1 Flames, that is going to do it. You are never as bad as you look when you lose, goes the saying, but Detroit did not look good in this one at either end. Off to the room...

@ The Red Wings Game

2011-11-01T17:01:00.000-07:00

Well, we're back. For the first time since last May, for the first time since Game 6 of the Western Conference Semi-Final against the San Jose Sharks, we are back at Joe Louis Arena for a Red Wings game. I know what you're saying: "Rich, the Wings opener was, like, a month ago. What's the deal?"

The deal is: Shutup! Do you think I don't know that? Between the Tigers being in the playoffs and my Friday night high school football play-by-play assignments (plus the fact that I blew off the real Opening Night because I hate Opening Nights in general because it's all crowded and a big pain in the whatever) I have had conflicts. Plus, I skipped the entire exhibition schedule on account of the games not counting and I figure they play enough games that do count (82 regular season plus God knows how many in the playoffs) that I don't need to burn a trip downtown for a game or games that don't.

I am badly under-informed as tonight's game begins. How badly, you ask? Here's how badly. This morning my bride asks me if I'm going to the game tonight and I say, "What game?" "I thought the Wings were playing tonight," she says. "I thought they were playing Thursday," I said. "I'm going Thursday." So, I go on-line and, sure enough, the Wings are home to the Minnesota Wild so I had to call the PR guy and make an excuse about failing to call yesterday because you are supposed to call 24 hours in advance and what not to get a credential so he's a little miffed but he says he'll leave a pass anyway, and so here we are. I'm back in the press box again...

The Wings are 5-4-0 which I happen to know because I was paying attention to the scores in October, at least. Detroit won their first 5 games and we were all planning the parade with the Stanley Cup in early June and then, wham, four straight losses. It started when I was in the press box at Spartan Stadium a week ago Saturday night for that great Wisconsin game that the Spartans won on that Hail Mary Full of Grace pass with no time left on the clock and the officials confused about whether MSU had actually scored or not. The Wings--with that perfect record--were in Washington to take on the Capitols that night. We'd get updates during the Spartans game and, to say the least, they were not good. Detroit lost 7-1 or something. "Well, if you're going to lose, you may as well go big..."we said to ourselves. The thing is, the Detroits haven't done anything but lose since that night and so now we figure they're a bunch of stiffs who will miss the playoffs entirely and so much for our nice parade.

The last loss in the current streak (I should say, "the most recent loss") came to these very Wild in Minny Saturday night, 1-0. There will be no repeat of that here tonight. Nicklas Lidstrom, in his 54th season with the Wings, tipped in a shot fired by Henrik Zetterberg at the 6-minute mark and Detroit is ahead 1-0. Pavel Datsyuk made the play out of the near left wing corner and was, appropriately, awarded an assist as well.

As I scan the Detroit roster I note that, to my surprise, there are 3 players I've never heard of and another who I did not know was playing for the Wings this season. Like I said, I've been busy. As far as the Minnesota roster goes, well, let's just say there are several names there with which I am unfamiliar. Plus, my favorite Wild--and perhaps my favorite player, period--Clayton Stoner, is not dressed tonight. Who even wants to come if Stoner can't make it, I ask? I love to say, "Look at the Stoner down there," when he's in the lineup. I never tire of it. You'd think I would, but I don't.

I'm gonna watch some of this game for a while and will check back in later.

The first period ends with Detroit outshooting Minnesota 12-4 and leading 1-0. The Wings are rewarded with warm, sincere applause.

I am somewhat dismayed as I survey the arena tonight to see two large ads sponsored by companies which have actually, personally fired me. It's a little disconcerting. Anyway, I saw an article on NHL.com this afternoon headlined "An Unforgettable First Month", or some such, so I think I'll spend the break reading that so I can learn what it is I'm supposed to never forget. Back later...

The article about the "unforgettable October" turned out to be eminently forgettable. Nothing of note appears to have happened in October. They made a big deal about the games in Finland (who cares?), about the NHL returning to Winnipeg (if you don't happen to be in Winnipeg, who cares?), and the fact that Ottawa and Edmonton either lead or are battling for the lead in their divisions. Yawn. Turns out I didn't miss a thing. That's the problem with the regualar season, no? 82 games nobody cares until the playoffs begin, by which time the Tigers season will have begun. Oh, there was a 9-8 game between somebody and somebody else on Oct. 27, so I'll go look at the highlights of that one as it sounds like that was a pretty good game. I love a good 9-8 hockey game. 1-0 here, still. Read into that what you will.

They just introduced tonight's Red Wings "Oldtimer of the Night" (they call them "Alumni", but we all know what they mean) and the "Oldtimer of the Night" is younger than me. Which is a pisser.

Oooh. I just got asked to pick the 3 Stars here on Saturday night when the Wings play somebody else. Credibility returns to my resume.

I'm planning on reading "Wonkette" during the second intermission and I have to tell you, if things don't pick up here soon, I'm not going to wait for the break.

Second period ends. Shots 21-16, Detroit. Score: 1-0, Detroit. I am glad I am not picking the 3 Stars tonight. We don't have 3 yet in this one.

The third period begins. It is 9:22pm, just for the record.

I'm starting to not like this thing and I'll tell you why: Devon Setoguchi plays for the Wild. This guy killed Detroit in that series against the Sharks last spring. Had a hat trick--which included the gamer in OT in one of the games, and scored a goal against Detroit in Game 7--a game which Detroit just happened to lose by a goal. Todd Bertuzzi just went off for slashing him. And now the Wings are two men short as Drew Miller up and Charged the Wild goalie, which, of course, you cannot do. We'll see...

Jimmy Howard made five or six really nice stops during the Minnesota two-man, so the Wings still lead 1-0. If Detroit goes on to win, this, the killing of the two-men short thing, will be what we in the sportswriting game call the Turning Point which is something which, for reasons unclear to me, is something we are always looking for: every night, every game. It gives us something to ask about. I.E., "Would you say such-and-such was the Turning Point?" Christ, a nine-year old could do this job.

It was announced during the intermission that the local power company has changed to goal lights here from incandescent bulbs to "energy-saving" LED bulbs. In addition to this "Save the Earth" initiative, the two teams here tonight are doing their part by never doing anything which might somehow cause those goal lights to have to be turned on.

If the score holds, at least on the Minnesota side of the ledger, four of Detroit's first ten games this season will have involved a shutout. I'm going to have to shut this down pretty soon so I can get down to the room for pearls. I hope somebody else has some good questions (they won't) because right now I've got exactly nothing. We'll go with the "how's it feel to end the losing streak" crap and hope for the best.

A minute to go...and the Wild tie it! Mikko Koivu tipped in a shot from the line. The crowd boos at the end of reg time. It's 1-1, going OT. I will have to close up shop here now so I can get downstairs in time for postgame. See you back here Thursday night. Calgary or somebody will be here.

PS: We are back home now, chopping up the post game interviews. Nick Lidstrom, in response to my question, said he thought there should have been a penalty against Minnesota's Mikka Koivu seconds before the Wild scored the game-winner in OT. He may be fined for so saying. You know who scored that game winner, don't you? Devon Setoguchi. I knew it. I just bleeping knew it.

Let's Watch the World Series!

2011-10-19T16:49:00.000-07:00

Hey, everybody. I suppose I'd be in Saint Lewis right now, freezing my ass off in one of those outfield seats they set aside for the press at an MLB Jewel Event--that's what Major League Baseball calls the Championship Series', the World Series and the All Star Game when you apply for credentials: "Jewel Events"--but I'm here all warm and dry in the rumpus room getting ready for the first pitch and that isn't all bad.

Just between you and me, and I know this is going to sound awful, but there is a part of me (a little, tiny part but a part nonetheless) that is not unhappy that the Tigers didn't advance. The first two rounds of the playoffs flat-out wore me out. I don't know what it is, but covering a playoff game is approximately a magnitude of difficulty greater than covering your run-of-the-mill Championship season game. I was getting to the ballpark around 2pm for an 8:30 start and leaving around a quarter after two the following morning. Then I'd be up and on the air talking about it at 6. I can honestly tell you that last Friday, the day after Game 5 of the ALDS, I was as tired as I had ever been, professionally speaking.

On the other hand, I hate that I am not there to see history being made, which is what the Series is all about. All in all, I would have preferred that the Tigers had advanced. And you know what? After Cabrera hit that ball off of third base to turn a for-sure double play into an RBI double, sparking Detroit's game-winning rally last Thursday to send the ALDS back to Texas, I was sure that what I had seen was an omen, something we'd look back on for as long as there was Tigers baseball and point to it as the exact moment the 2011 Detroit Tigers became a team of destiny.

But, not to be, and now the Tigers have gone from being a team of destiny to being a team in the half-off bin. To wit...

WHAT: PostseasonMerchandise on Sale at The D Shop

WHEN:    Now – End of Month
   The D Shop Hours: Monday-Friday 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

WHERE:    The D Shop - located at Comerica Park on the corner of Witherell Streetand Montcalm Street

WHY:    Beginningtoday, all Tigers fans will receive fifty percent off all postseasonmerchandise at the D Shop. Items available for purchase include the 2011 ALCentral Division Champions T-Shirts, AL Central Division Champions Caps,Official Clubhouse T-Shirts and Official Clubhouse Caps. Other items availableinclude Comerica Park exclusive pennants and decals as well as commemorativebaseballs and pins. The offer is only valid for postseason merchandise andwhile supplies last.

CONTACT:    The D Shop at(313) 471-2673.

Oh, well. As least there's good deal to be had out of all of this.

What I am going to do now is peruse tonight's game notes for interesting World Series tidbits, and then I'll be back to pass them along.

DVR "Suburgatory" and "Modnern Family" and "Countdown" and all your other favorite shows, the World Series is about to begin!

This is the 107th World Series, did you know? And there is this. One of the two major leagues has a big lead in the all-time World Series, series. Do you know which one? THE AMERICAN LEAGUE has the overall lead in the World Series, 62-44, but the National League has won three of the last five with wins by the Cardinals in 2006, the Phillies in 2008 and Giants in 2010. Since the Yankees won three straight World Championships from 1998-2000, the two leagues are knotted at 5-5 in the Fall Classic. However, over a longer span in the World Series, the A.L. hastaken nine of 15 since 1996; 12 of 19 starting 1991; and 17 of 28 times beginning 1983. (Courtesy, Major League Baseball).

Also from MLB: Tonight’s Game 1 calls for a cool and cloudy forecast, with a projected 47 degrees game-time temperature, according to Weatherbug.com as of 11:00 a.m. today. The 47-degree start would be the second coldest game-time temperature for a Game 1 of the World Series since temperature stats were kept starting in 1975. The coldest Game 1 was a recorded 41 degrees at game time in 1979 at Baltimore, October 10 against Pittsburgh. Update: The official game time temperature is 49 degrees.

On this date (October 19): In 2004, the Boston Red Sox force a Game 7 in the ALCS against the Yankees, with Curt Schilling and his surgically repaired ankle guiding Boston to a 4-2 victory, their third straight win after being down 0-3 in the series;

At the Big Michigan (ugh) Michigan State Football Game

2011-10-15T07:34:00.000-07:00

Dawn is breaking over the altogether lovely in all of its fall splendor Michigan State University as we join you this morning Live, sort of, from the MSU Union, hard by the West Circle dorms, one of which was my home for several years many, many years ago. It is overcast and it is chilly. It is also windy. Very, very windy. The forecast says we can expect gusts of 50mph as the Spartans host the Wolverines in about three and a half hours.
We had a reader complaint the other day as I was forced to suspend by Twitter/FB coverage of that amazing Tigers win over the Rangers in Game 5 of the American Leauge Championship Series. The gripe was that I had bailed out in the 8th inning, before the game was over, with the outcome still in some measure of doubt. I'll get to the reasons for that in a moment, but I wanted to talk for a moment about that phrase, "some measure of doubt." The Tigers, as you recall, scored four in the 6th in that game to snap a 2-2 tie and added another in the 7th for a seemingly safe 7-2 lead. I had an usher standing next to me (we get kicked out of the Press Box in the post season and watch from an auxiliary press area which normally is the right-field bleachers so fans and ushers and God only knows who else are elbow to elbow with us) and this guy saw Tigers Manager Jim Leyland grimacing on the TV monitor next to me. "What's he worried about?" asked the usher. "He's worried," I replied, "because he knows that in five pitches he could be tied." Which is how baseball works. Every pitch could be hit out of the park, which means that every pitch represents a potential run. People, and I fall into this category myself at times, forget this.
This particular game provided an Outstanding Example. I haven't got my scorecard on me (you travel light when you come to MSU because you have to walk a relatively long way from your car to Spartan Stadium and back) but I think my memory will suffice. In the top of the 6th, game tied at 2, Texas had the bases loaded with only one out. You could feel the entire Tigers season slipping away. Then, as quick as can be, Justin Verlander induced a grounder to third. Brandon Inge stepped on the bag and fired across the diamond. Double play and the inning and threat were over, just like that. And it was still a 2-2 ballgame.
About ten minutes later, the Tigers had not only escaped a potentially series-ending rally, they had scored 4 runs. Ryan Raburn led off with a single. Miguel Cabrera then hit a grounder of his own to third. Given his speed, it was a dead-solid lock that Texas was going to turn an around-the horn rally-killing double play of their own. At least that was my thought as soon as the ball was hit. Watching through my binoculars, I saw the ball shoot straight into the air, over the head of the waiting Rangers third baseman and begin to roll towards the left field corner. "Total bad hop," I either said aloud or thought. Rayburn came all the way around to score and instead of two outs and nobody in a game still tied 2-2, Detroit had the tie breaking run in with a man in scoring position and nobody out. On the replay I saw the reason for the bad hop. Cabrera's routine-as-could-be grounder hit the third base bag. Total luck, but that's the game and that's sometimes what you need. It sometimes what kills you. At any rate, six pitches later, Victor Martinez tripled down the line in right, notable because it turned out to be the first triple he had hit all season (in came his 636th Plate Appearance) and now it was 4-2 Detroit. Two pitches later, Delmon Young homered and Detroit had hit the first natural cycle in all of baseball postseason history--a single, double, triple, and homer by consecutive batters--and the lead was 6-2. It took 16 pitches. So in that span, again, only ten minutes or so, the game had turned completely from what looked like a season-ending loss by the Tigers to a game Detroit was now in a great position to win. Which, although there were still some exciting moments to come, they did.
I would have loved to have been there for all of you right to the thrilling end, but when the games ends, my work begins. In the regular season, I can stay to the end as all I have to do is walk a hundred feet or so to an elevator which takes me down to the dugouts. In the playoffs though, I have get from the right field seats all the way to a room under the stands behind home plate. And to get there, I have to go against the flow. At the same time 45,000 people are leaving the stadium, I am circling it going in the opposite direction. If I don't leave a little early, I'll never get there in time. I'll miss the interviews, and the interviews are the reason I'm there. If I miss them, I miss my moment on the national stage. I miss my chance to ask my question. Here's what I mean. I had the chance, because I left in time to get there, to ask Verlander for his thoughts on Phil Coke, the Tigers pitcher who came out of the bullpen and got a gutty five-out save which he had to get all by himself because the Tigers top relievers had been overworked in each of the two previous games and were, because of that, unavailable to appear in Game 5...

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=19897907&topic_id=25501166&c_id=mlb

So, that is why I sometimes have to leave you hanging at the tail end of games. I have to go to work.

Which is what I have to do right about now. The Press Box at Spartan Stadium is open, so I think I'll take my stroll across campus and get set up for the game. I like to drop off my gear (set up the computer, scan the Game Notes, etc.) and then spend an hour or so walking around near the stadium. This is my school. I have friends here. You never know who you'll bump into, but without fail, I come across somebody I know. It's always fun.

I hope this explains why I may have to leave you hanging again today. The Media leaves the Press Box with about 5 minutes left in every MSU game and we watch the finish from the sidelines so we are close to the postgame interview area, and again, that's why I'm here. To collect to record for posterity the deep thoughts which are sure to follow in the wake of today's Epic Battle.

Ok. in Press Box. Have posted TweetPic here.

I'm going off in search of food. No Press Box freebies in Spartan Stadium, which is okay, but I will note the spreads at Ohio Stadium and Notre Dame Stadium were terrific. Just sayin. But, with the governor of this state cutting funding for colleges (he wants to eliminate all state funding for both of the schools playing here this afternoon--effectively rendering each a private school)--you have to cut back. So I can live with it.

For a noon game, I must say that many attending today's contest are impressively faced.

MSU has taken the field in their new-look uniform. The referee just referred to MSU has the "gold" side. I think they look awful, but the kids like 'em so let's see if it helps them play better. The Spartans have the #1 defense in all of college football, including the #1 defense against the run. Which is important. The team with the most rush yards has won 38 of the last 41 UM/MSU games.

TD UM. Robinson-should hve been tack in backfld got away for 15y TD run. M ran for 65 y on 10p/80y drive, lead 7-0. 8:50 1st qtr.

UM went right down the field and ran for 65 yards on 8 rush attempts against that #1 in the nation rush defense of MSU. On the TD, Denard Robinson should have been tackled for a loss, but he got away and when that happens, look out. I think he's the finest open-field man in the game today. The Wolverines drove directly into the wind which is coming right out of the north and which has all the flags stiff this afternoon.

TD MSU! Drive: 9p/63y in 3:37. 5:08 1st. Edwin Baker 2y TD run. MSU ran for 55 on drive, passed for 8. 5 firsts. 7-7 Baker ran for 49 of the 55 rush yards amassed by MSU on their scoring drive.
END 1st QTR. 7-7. Tot y 102-85 UM. Rush 7 69-63 MSU. 1st dwns 6-5 UM. MSU had two huge drops, def gave up 29 and 26y plays
MSU winds up punting into wind and UM has it at own 32. Last MSU poss began at own 10, so you get an idea of field pos battle

And, halftime. 7-7 is the score. MSU made mistake after mistake after mistake, world without end. What jumps out at you is the 8 penalties for -67 on Sparty, as many penalties as they had first downs. They had t 2 big pass drops--Keyshawn Martin on a for sure TD and BJ Cunningham to cost MSU and first down and an extended drive. (MSU did go on to score after the Martin drop.) Both teams scored on their first possession and both made it look rather easy, although MSU sure helped the Wolverines out by committing their first 2 penalties of the day on the drive. In fact, the Spartans were called for offside on the game's first snap, perhaps setting the tone for the day. Since those first drives, neither side has gotten even close enough to attempt a field goal. MSU got to the UM 46 later in the first quarter..their deepest penetration since the score, and failed to advance beyond their own 44 in the second quarter. Michigan's deepest penetration since they scored was to the MSU 36.

It's been a game of field position and, as you would expect, it has been harder on the team trying to advance the ball into today's big wind. It is blowing at around 30 mph right out of the north (the team moving from right to left as you watch on TV is the team going into the wind).

Everybody up here is talking about what a crummy game this is. I don't see it that way. I see the #1 defense in the country holding down a UM team which scored 35 on Notre Dame and an MSU team trying to overcome the weather conditions--and their own mistakes. The team that wins the rushing battle wins the UM/MSu game (38 of the last 41, at any rate) and in that key stat at the half, well, it's a push, basically: 100 for MSU, 95 for UM. On to the second half...

Spartans up 14-7 on 10y Cousins to Martin TD pass. MSU drive 9play/56 yards in 3:49. 11:07 left in 3rd. Score comes on MSU first possession of second half.

Not gonna lie to you. Thought UM was going to tie game in 4th. Why'd they try to pass when they needed half a yard at MSU 9 trailing by 7? A great day at MSU! The great Stadium is empty now and from up here on level 8 I can see the traffic is clearing nicely. I can cut up the post-game interviews when I get home, and I should be home in plenty of time for Game 6. Will blog a little more about this game--and about that game--at that place, at that time. Until then, WE BEAT MICHIGAN!

Here We Go Again

2011-08-30T17:24:00.000-07:00

It has the same feel, I can tell you that much.

Tonight's Tigers game, in which Detroit starter Doug Fister has yet to permit a baserunner through six, feels exactly like the Imperfect game of last season, and by that I mean it is moving right along. We've been at it for one hour and 15 minutes, and we are in the top of the 7th. These things get on you in a hurry. The top of the Roayls order is up to start the 7th. It is exciting. If he gets through this inning, it will be nerve-racking. And there is something else at play this evening: the Tigers have yet to score a run.

And it ends. Alex Gordon doubles to lead off the 7th on Fister's 74th pitch of the night. The Perfect Game, gone. The no-hitter, gone. And the game itself, following a sac bunt, in jeopardy as KC has the go-ahead run at third with only one out. Billy Butler plates Gordon with a long sac fly to center, and the Tigers, somehow, trail. There's another single for KC, but the inning ends with incident. So now the Tigers trail 1-0, and they have been outhit in this game, somehow, 2-1. Talk about a pitchers duel. Jeff Francis and Doug Fister are having at it tonight.

Frances is coming out of the ballgame. Delmon Young reached on a error and Miguel Cabrera hammered a single to left. So, even though he has a 2-hitter going and has thrown only 90 pitches, Francis leaves leading 1-0. Both teams now have 2 hits. Victor Martinez is up with men on first and second and one out. Greg Holland is the new KC pitcher.

The Tigers can't get it done in the 7th, but in the bottom of the 8th, Ordonez singles in a run and we go to the 9th, tied 1-1. Fister, for the record, has an ERA of 0.83 (2 ER/21.2 IP). He will be no-decisioned here tonight.

What a ballgame! We are heading to the 10th after the Royals walked the bases loaded with two out in the 9th when 12 of the last 13 pitches thrown by Louis Coleman were balls. But former Royal Wilson Betemit--what a story it could have been, no?--struck out to end the inning. Benoit, perfect in the 9th: 1-2-3 on 11 pitches, stays on to start the tenth. Still 1-1. Still a very exciting night.

Get Out the Brooms?

2011-08-21T10:24:00.000-07:00

The Tigers go for the sweep of the Indians here this afternoon and wouldn't that be huge if they could pull it off? Remember, when this series began, a sweep by Cleveland would have put them in first place all alone. Now, the Tigers have the chance to go 4.5 up on the Indians. And even if the Tigers lose this afternoon, they will still be a game better off in the standing, leading second-place Cleveland by 2.5, than they were when the series began and Cleveland came to town only 1.5 games back of Detroit, and even with the Tigers in the Loss Column.

It won't be easy, not that it ever is. After outscoring the Indians 14-2 in the first two games, the Tigers are up against Ubaldo Jimenez this afternoon. He's the stud the Indians traded their future to Colorado for. His numbers are remarkable. Lefties hit .231 off him. Righties are clipping along at a .230 pace. Those are pretty solid numbers. In fact, the only stat of Jimenez I can find that works in favor of Detroit is that he is a.500 pitcher on the road in his career (26-26) and a sub-.500 pitcher on the road this season (3-4).

Rick Porcello is looking to regain his form after a couple of rough outings during which he has posted an ERA of 11.17. In his six starts prior, he'd put up a five-game win streak with an ERA of 3.26. If he wins today, it will be his 112th of the season and will make Detroit the only team besides Philadelphia with 3 12-game winners. And it will mean Jim Leyland will come off smelling like a rose. Justin Verlander has had his four days of rest since racking up his 18th win of the season here on Tuesday night over the Twins, so it should be his turn to go today. But, Leyland, even though it's an important division game (in hockey they call 'em 4-point games because of the possible point swing which results from winning or losing), Leyland is giving Verlander an extra days rest. As he said in his press gaggle this morning--and there were only four of us there for that at 9:30 on this Sunday morning, maybe everybody else went to church--"I've got to protect Justin Verlander, and that means not just this season." And you can see his point. 82 millions dollars, the amount of Verlander's multi-year contract, is indeed a sizable investment. Porcell gave up a single in the first, Jimenez did the same, and both the runners died on base. We go to the second and there is no score and we will, as usual, be here to keep you up to date.

Oh, by the way, THE TIGERS HAVE SEVEN IN AND ARE STILL BATTING IN THE THIRD. They have lit Jimenezs up. He's thrown over 40 pitches in the inning and has given up a 3-run homer to Delmon Young, a 2-run blast to Victor Martinez, plus RBI singles to Ramon Santiago and Austin Jackson. It ties for the biggest inning of the year for Detroit (accomplished twice previously) and the inning finally ends when Santiago fans. Detroit sent 12 to the plate and Jimenez threw 47 pitches. And never once did the Indians have a man up in the bullpen. We are going to the 4th and we are breathing easier as it is now, Detroit 7, Cleveland 0. The Tigers, as an aside, are 50-19 (.725) when scoring first this season. I do not know their record in games in which they score the first seven, but I am betting it is awfully, awfully good.

Hey, now. We have a ballgame again, if you can believe it. Porcello, after allowing two singles and only two singles in the first three innings, couldn't handle the good fortune of that 7-run Detroit outburst in the third. First he gave up a solo homer to Carlos Santanta to make it a 7-1 game, then, with two out, he allowed three straight singles and a double which put three more on the board and which made it a 7-4 ballgame and Jim Leyland had seen enough. He came to get Porcello, brought in Duane Below, and the Indians are still hitting in the 4th with yet another run in on a Below wild pitch and, unbelievably, we have a game again. It is Detroit 7, Cleveland 5 and the Indians have batted around and are still batting here in the 4th. Wow, etc.

I'd like to say things are calming down here, and they are a bit, but this one; a game the Tigers had in the bag, is going to go down to the wire. It's 8-7 and are only in the 6th. The Tigers just got a break when Travis Hafner pulled up lame going from first to second on an easy double and was thrown out due to the fact that he was between the bases and could not move. A blown hammy, for sure. But the hit did score a run and that 7-0 Detroit lead is a memory. This is a one-run game and we have a ling way to go. Cleveland is gone in the 6th and the Tigers and hanging on by one.

The Tigers still lead 8-7 and have a leadoff double by Alex Avila here in the 8th. By my count, in this game which the Tigers led 7-0 after three, Cleveland has sent either the tying or the go-ahead run to the plate 17 times. The scorecard they give us here in the press box has room for 7 pitchers. On my card right now, there is one space left. He's warming in the bullpen. He, of course, is Jose Valverde. What an afternoon this has turned out to be. Oh, and I didn't even mention Jim Leyland getting tossed out of the game for arguing a call at third back in the 6th. I'll tell you something: I know there are 162 games in a season, and I know Detroit still has 36 to play after today. But, this is the kind of a game that, when it's all over and whether you have finished first or second, you look back on as a turning point. This has become, for the last couple of hours now, a grim battle for survival. Detroit does not score. Here comes Valverde. He is 36 for 36 in Save Situations this season. As you know....

El Papa Grande walks the first man and hits the second. Two on, none out. A sac bunt puts 'em at second and third. Cleveland's #9 hitter, Lou Marson, comes to the plate. OH MY GOD! Marson lines to center and Austin Jackson throws Fukudome out at the plate for a game-ending double play. What a throw. What a game. The Tigers win 8-7...lead the Central by 4.5.

Pennant Fever, Catch It

2011-08-19T16:22:00.000-07:00

Well, we're here at the big showdown as the Tigers open their three game weekend series against the Indians. Detroit leads Cleveland by a game-and-a-half but the teams are, as they say in baseball, tied in the loss column. It means, in this case, that Cleveland has played three fewer games than Detroit. It means that if Cleveland wins all three of those games, they will be tied for first with the Tigers. If you think about it, the fact that Cleveland has three more games to play than Detroit may work in the Tigers favor, because there will be three days between now and the end of the season--now just five weeks away--where the Indians will be hard at work while the Tigers have the day off. We'll see how it all plays out. By the time Sunday evening rolls around, the Tigers will either be leading the division by four-and-a-half, or they will be trailing by two-and-a-half, or something somewhere in between. That's what makes the weekend important, etc. There's an interesting note about the Indians starter tonight, Josh Tomlin. At least I think it's interesting. Tomlin has never had a start in which he has failed to qualify for a decision. In other words, he has never had a start (tonight is the 37th of his career) in which he failed to go at least five innings. It's the longest such streak to begin a career in Indians history, and may the longest streak of its kind on big league history. So, we'll quietly root for the Tigers to knock this guy out after, oh, four-and-two-thirds or something else that is less than five, just so we can see history made here this evening. We are in the bottom of the first, Max Scherzer gave up a walk and nothing else in the top in the inning, and that is that. We will, as always, keep you posted.

Still scoreless here in the 4th and Tomlin has been very impressive. He's allowed one hit but has faced the minimum because the Tiger who got the hit, Jhonny Peralta, was doubled off first when Cleveland left fielder Michael Brantley made a great running catch and Peralta had rounded second thinking the ball was going to fall. Scherzer also allowed only 1 hit. We're off to the 5th and there is no score. We've been watching the Lions game out of the corner of our eye and while they trail 7-0 late in the first in Cleveland, they are driving and have a first and goal thing going on inside the five. And now they have an apparent TD, but it is under review. I only tonight learned that all TD's will be reviewed automatically in the NFL, which seems to me to be a foolish time-waster. More later, etc...

Tomlin got his five in. We've gone to the 6th, no score, each team with only two hits. A classic pitchers duel. Tomlin has now gone at least 5 innings in each of his first 37 career appearances to extend his club record. And remember, Cleveland's been in the American League since 1901--the first yhear there was an American League.

Hey, now. Austin Jackson's towering fly cleared the wall in left with plenty to spare and since the batter who preceeded him, Ryan Raburn, had singled, Jackson's 6th homer of the season was of the two-run variety and those are the only runs in this game as Cleveland bats in to the 7th. Both teams have only four hits. Scherzer's been great, but he is over 100 pitches now and there is stirring in the Detroit pen. Benoit lurks to come on in the 8th, I suspect.

We've have a couple of very, very very close calls go against Detroit here in the 7th and the Indians have scored a run as a result. Lonnie Chisenhall was called safe at first with two out when it was ruled that Scherzer's foot was off the bag when he took a relay from first baseman Miguel Cabrera who had made a remarkable diving stop of a Chisenhall grounder. Moments later, Scherzer was covering the plate after a wild pitch and just barely missed getting the tag on runner Carlos Santana in time. He was safe by, like, four inches and that's all. Scherzer got Luis Valbuena to ground to first--Cabrera touched first himself this time, no need for a toss to the pitcher covering--and the inning ended. Bottom of the 7th and it's 2-1, Detroit. It is, in every aspect, a nail-biter.

And just like that, with two out in the 7th, Alex Avila just got the run back with a bomb to right, his 14th, and Peralta has gone-back-to-back with a big fly to left, his 18th. As both Avila and Peralta were first-ball hitting, the back-to-back homers came on back-to-back pitches and are the last pitches Tomlin will throw on this night. He is gone. He worked six-and-two-thirds and gave up the four runs on six hits. All four Detroit runs tonight came as a result of the three home runs he allowed. Detroit leads now 4-2. Detroit, still up in the 7th, is six defensive outs away from victory.

The bullpen gate swings open and Papa Grande stands, alone for a moment, then jump-skips onto the field and trots to the mound as the crowd, even though it is between innings, lustily roars. Jose Valverde is in the game. He looks tonight for his 36th consecutive save to start a season--already a Detroit record. He, on this night, has the maximum allowable lead in which a save can be recorded: three runs. Valverde was the losing pitcher here the night before last as Minnesota scored two unearned runs in the 9th to beat him. Since the game was tied when he entered, it was not a Save Situation for Valverde. We are in the 9th. The Tigers lead 4-1, and are three defensive outs away from victory.

36 for 36. Valverde got 'em on 14 pitches in the 9th. 1-2-3. The lead is 2.5. Even if they lose the last two games of the series, Detroit will still be in first place when it is over. Game two comes off here tomorrow night--and we will be back with you at that time, from this place.

40 To Go

2011-08-17T16:42:00.000-07:00

122 games down and 40 games to go for the Tigers (65-57) as they close out the series tonight here against the (53-68) Minnesota Twins. The Indians lost in 14 last night (the second Tuesday in a row in which they have played a 14-inning game) so the Tigers are three up on the Indians and three-and-a-half up on the White Sox. Those two teams get underway in Chicago in about half an hour. That was quite a game there last night. Gavin Floyd of the White Sox struck out 7 of the first 9 hitters he faced, including 5 in a row, but he failed to survive the 6th as the Indians came back from a 5-2 deficit to tie. The Indians were down again, 7-5, going to the 8th but single runs in the 8th and the 9th forced extras. Chicago had 5 triples in the game, including one to lead off the 12th, but they failed to get the man home. They finally won in the 14th, at 1:29am today, Detroit time. The Indians used their entire bullpen last night, and unlike Detroit, they do not have Thursday off. So, theirs could be a tired staff when they come to town Friday night.

I'm busy up here in the press box tonight doing the same thing I was doing last night, cutting up tape from Jim Leyland's afternoon press gaggle and from Lions practice. I'm trying to get all of this done tonight so I can feed my radio stations with material they can hold for release until Friday which will mean that I, like the Tigers, will have the day off tomorrow.

Detroit is down 1-0 after two tonight. Jim Thome hit career homer 601 off Brad Penny with two out in the second, and that's been it. We'll keep you posted, as usual.

1-1 in the 4th, now. Brad Penny just escaped a bases-loaded jam in the top of the inning, racing to cover first and just barely beating Minnesota's Tsuyoshi Nishioka to the bag to take the throw from Ramon Santiago for the somewhat rare 4-1 putout. The Tigers tied the game in the 3rd on a Sac Fly by Delmon Young who would have had more than that but for a diving grab by Ben Revere in right-center. Young should be 2-for-2 tonight but has twice been robbed by Revere who ran down a fly ball on the track in dead center to deny Young with a Willie Mays-like over-the-shoulder basket catch in the first. It was about as nice a catch as we've seen in this yard this year, and the grab in the third was no slouch, either. We're headed to the 5th...still 1-1.

About ten minutes after Jhonny Peralta put the Tigers ahead 2-1 with a solo homer in the 6th, Rene (really? Rene? What is this, the NHL?) Tosoni hit Penny's 100th (and last) pitch of the night into the seats in right with a mate aboard to put the Twins ahead 3-2. Penny pitched a fine ballgame tonight, allowing only 5 hits in six innings (plus two hitters) of work. Two of those hits went the distance though, and so the Tigers are down a run as they hit in the Detroit 7th.

Miguel Cabrera's two-out single in the 7th tied the game 3-3, but Boesch was cut down at the plate to end the inning as he tried to score the go-ahead run. In the Minny 8th,. Jim Thome hurt the Tigs, again, with an two-out RBI single of his own. The Tigers, down 4-3, have two on with none out in the bottom of the 8th. A good game. A good pennant race game. Now the bases are loaded with none out. Cleveland has gone ahead of Chicago 2-1 and are batting in the 7th at US Cellular Field.

Wilson Betemit, pinch hitting, hits a Sac Fly to center to score pinch runner Austin Jackson and we're tied 4-4 with the Tigers still hitting in the 8th.

The Twins loaded 'em in the 9th off Jose Valverde on a single and two errors on bunts but Valverde fanned the next two hitters. Justin Morneau singled in two with two out on a grounder right up the middle. I happened to have looked it up prior to the game yesterday, and at that point, in the last 365 days, Morneau was hitting a hard-to-believe .222. So much for that stat. On to the bottom of the 9th: Twins 6, Tigers 4. Cleveland is ahead of Chicago 4-1 and are threatening in the top of the 8th, again. We may have to bolt for the locker room so, if so, we'll see you here at Comerica Park Friday night when those Indians hit town...

Verlander, Yawn, Dominates Again

2011-08-16T18:14:00.000-07:00

We're late getting to you tonight, but we've been pretty busy cutting up tape from Lions practice--#1 pick Nick Fairly (broken bone in foot) is out of his cast and is in a walking boot--and from Jim Leyland's pre-game presser. The big news that came out of that is that Al Alburquerque is expected back once his stay on the 7-day concussion Disabled List ends Saturday. The key word is "expected". Leyland said he's pretty sure, but not 100% sure. Alburquerque did throw on the side today, which was good news. After spending Friday night in a Baltimore hospital for a head injury sustained when he was clocked in the temple by a line drive as he stood in left field during batting practice, Alburquerque was driven back to Detroit Sunday. He was unable to fly because doctors were concerned about the effects of pressurization. But, as we say, he's much better now. All in all though, it was pretty scary stuff.

I've also been sending texts to Dan Dickerson in the radio booth to keep him up to date on the Cleveland at Chicago game tonight at US Cellular Field where the White Sox lead 2-0 in the 4th, and where Chicago's Gavin Floyd has 7 strikeouts through three innings. Oh, and he's perfect so far: 9 up and 9 down.

Here at Comerica Park, things are going as one would expect them to with Justin Verlander on the mound. It's men against boys, again. The Tigers lead 7-0. We are in the top of the 7th. Minnesota has played dreadful defense tonight, and look every bit the part of a ballclub which is 14 games under .500. We'll keep you up to date...

Verlander gets the standing "O" as he departs here in the top of the 8th. The Twins put three singles together in the 8th to score their first run of the game--it's 7-1 Tigers. Verlander had retired 14 of the last 15 hitters he faced starting the 8th. After three of the first six Twins he faced in the game reached, Verlander retired 18 of the next 20. A pretty routing performance for a guy who, after starting the season 2-3, had gone 15-2 with an ERA of 2.00 since that game heading into his start tonight. Phil Coke is in to mop up. Over in Chicago, it's 3-2 White Sox in the middle of the 5th.

Chicago's up 5-2 now in the 5th and Ubaldo Jimenez is out after allowing 5 runs (4 earned) on 9 hits in 4.2 innings. He responsible for a man on second. We've got two out in the 9th here and things appear well in hand with Detroit up 7-1. So...off to the locker room!

One-Sided Trade

2011-08-15T16:51:00.000-07:00

The Tigers today traded a minor leaguer I've never heard of (which probably means he'll wind up in the Hall of Fame) for outfielder Delmon Young who was once a hot prospect for the Tampa Bay Rays back when they were still the Devil Rays, but who turned out to be a bit of a bust for the Twins. The whole thing was odd, as Detroit made the deal while the Twins were in town to open a three-game series against the Tigers here tonight, so Young wound up being told of the trade prior to boarding the Twins team bus from their Birmingham hotel to Comerica Park. "I'm not going to spend $50 bucks on a cab ride," said Young.

So far, and to be fair we are in the third inning of Young's first game as a Tiger, the deal has been one-sided in favor of Detroit since all Young did was homer in his first at-bat as a Tiger. This raises the question: how many players have homered for their new team against their old team in their first at bat with their new team on the same day they were traded? We have no idea. It may be a baseball first. Personally, in the 111 years of the modern era--yes, the "modern era" in baseball dates to 1900 which doesn't sound all that "modern" when you think about it--I'm going to guess that there has been a player who did what Young has just done. But perhaps not. Perhaps we have just seen baseball history made. The boys over at the Elias Sports Service will have it figured out soon enough, and as soon as we hear from them we will let you know.

Young's feat, regardless of the degree of history involved in it, has been overshadowed for the moment by the way the Twins knocked Rick Porcello around in the third as they scored three. The Tigers made two errors in the inning and I don't have to tell you that it is never, ever a good thing when you give the other team extra outs.

It's good to be back at the ballpark. The Tigers just wrapped up a 9-game road trip yesterday so this is the first time in a long time we've been at our seat on press row. Cleveland's off tonight. The White Sox are off tonight. The outcome of the game here this evening thus means the difference between a three game lead for the Tigers of the Indians, or a two game edge. We'll keep you posted...

The Tigers, who scored five runs Saturday night in Baltimore after starting an inning with the first two hitters making out, just scored two in their half of the third after two were out and the bases were empty. Miguel Cabrera singled and Victor Martinez homered. 3-3 here...after three.

Now it's 6-5 Twins after six and Porcello is out in favor of Daniel Schlereth. Porcello allowed six runs (4 earned) on 9 hits, and he gave up Jim Thome's 599th career homer in Minnesota's three-run 6th. They would have scored four, but Alex Avila stood in there and held onto the ball as Ben Revere tried for an inside-the-park homer but was thrown out on a great relay from Ryan Raburn to the plate for the final out. Avila then doubled in Ordonez in the Detroit 6th before scoring himself on Wilson Betemit's sac fly. So...it's Minnesota 6, Detroit 5 in the top of the 7th. And it's a pretty good ballgame.

I don't know how good the game is now...but we have seen history--maybe for the second time tonight, but certainly no doubt about the fact that it was history as Jim Thome has just hit his 600th career home run. I watched it the whole way out through the binoclulars. It was a towering fly to left and it cleared the fence by ten feet or so. It would not have been a home run had the Tigers not brought the fences in a few years ago. But they did, and it wound up in the Detroit bullpen. I've never seen a 600th homer before. I'm guessing there will be a reporter or two around Thome's locker after the game, and I suppose I will be one of them. Meanwhile, the Tigers are in real trouble now. Schlereth walked two and struck out two before Thome connected and oh those walks will kill you. In this case, they accounted for a three run homer and a 9-5 Twins lead. Raburn has just led off the Detroit 7th with a big fly of his own, HR #11 (the same as Thome's hit this year but only career #50 for Raburn) and now it's 9-6 Twins as the Tigers continue to hit in the 7th.

Still 9-6 Minnesota as we head to the bottom of the 9th and, as such, things don't look good. I'll shut this thing down for down as I have to head downstairs to go ask the players what went wrong. Unless there's a miracle rally of some sort, that is.

No miracle rally. The Tigs went out in the 9th on, like, five pitches and they lose 9-6. The lead is two.

A's (at) Tigers: July 20, 2011

2011-07-20T16:30:00.001-07:00

Live blogging the Tigers-A's game from Comerica Park right here:

http://mlblogsrichkincaide.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=1806078&action=edit#

New York Mets (at) Detroit Tigers: Wednesday, June 29, 2011

2011-06-29T16:14:00.000-07:00

We are at Comerica Park Live-Blogging, as usual. The Mets are in town again tonight after squeaking out a 14-3 nail biter over the locals last night;

http://richkincaide.mlblogs.com/2011/06/29/new-york-mets-at-detroit-tigers-wednesday-june-29-2011/

Another beautiful night for baseball here in Detroit. The sky is as clear as can be and it is 76 degrees as we are a minute or two away from first pitch. It's a battle of 7 game losers this evening as Phil Coke (1-7) goes for Detroit against Chris Capuano (6-7) for the New Yorks. The Tigers are 4-9 when Coke starts in 2011.
Jose Reyes, four hits for the Mets last night, hits Coke's third pitch of the game right back up the middle for a single, and that is how we begin. Are you ready for your Official Game Notes?
Detroit Tigers Media Information.
New York Mets Game Notes.

New York Mets (at) Detroit Tigers: Tuesday, JUne 28, 2011

2011-06-28T16:22:00.001-07:00

We are once again live-blogging the Tigers game (its the Mets in town tonight for the first of three) right here:
http://richkincaide.mlblogs.com/2011/06/28/new-york-mets-at-detroit-tigers-tuesday-june-28-2011/

7:13 As we join you six minutes after First Pitch, the Tigers are already down 2-0 on RBI doubles by Daniel Murphey and Angel Pagan (who happens to have one of the more interesting names in Organized Ball, don't you think?) Rick Porcello is getting knocked around early, continuing a trend. In his last 3 starts, Porcello's ERA is 8.59. He's pitched 14.2 innings, has allowed a whopping 23 hits, and 14 Earned Runs. If we factor in the first inning tonight, which just ended by the way, that ERA (now covering his last 4 starts) rises to 9.19. Or, as we in the industry say, "Yikes!"
Here are your Official Game Notes:
Detroit Tigers Game Information.
New York Mets Game Notes.
b-1: Detroit 0, Mets 2.

Thanks, Sparky!

2011-06-26T10:22:00.000-07:00

Live blogging the Tigers-D'back game live from Comerica Park here:
http://richkincaide.mlblogs.com/2011/06/26/thanks-sparky-arizona-diamondbacks-at-detroit-tigers-sunday-june-26-2011/

Down on the field right now Dan Petry is addressing the crowd, talking about Sparky Anderson. His #11 is being retired here today for the balance of all time. Players from back in the 1960′s like Al Kaline and Willie Horton and Gates Brown are among those seated in the infield between the mound and home plate. Players from the 1980′s, guys who played for Sparky like Lou Whitaker and Tom Brookens and Milt Wilcox are down there, too. There are 15 or 20 of those former players taking part in the ceremony this afternoon and it occurred to me during the introductions that there is not one of them who I didn’t see play in person. Like it says at the top of this blog, “I saw my first game in 1963…”

I was at the press conference in June, 1979 when Sparky Anderson was named manager of the Tigers. I was at the press conference in 1995 when Sparky quit. I was still a baby reporter back there in ’79 and I can tell you that Sparky went out of his way to put me at ease and to give me good material with which to work. I have never forgotten that, and I never will. And that’s what I think of Sparky Anderson. He made me feel like I belonged at a time when I still wasn’t quite sure that I did.

A lot of people here in the press box this afternoon have been asking why the Tigers waited until Sparky was dead to do this. Why didn’t they honor him while he was still alive. It’s because they never forgave him for refusing to manager the replacement players back in the early 1990′s during one of this sports many labor disputes. That’s what I think. Sparky said at the time that he was a major league manager and that meant he would only manage major league players. Off all the managers in baseball, Sparky Anderson was the only one who took that stand. I thought he was %100 right to do so. The organization disagreed, and that was the end of Anderson’s career here in Detroit. And there a thing about baseball. It has a long memory. A really long memory. So that’s why I think they didn’t retire Sparky’s number until today.

Just about time for First Pitch, so that means it’s just about time for today’s Official Game Notes:

Detroit Tigers Media Information.

Arizona Diamondback 2011 Game Notes.

It’s a beauty day, sunshine at 73. The start of the game is delayed by the Anderson ceremony, but it won’t be much longer now.

1:26 I hate to admit this, but I missed the game last night, which means I missed seeing another gem by Justin Verlander. All he did last night was set a new career high in strikeouts with 14, but other than that, it was no big deal. I was in Lansing doing play-by-play of a minor league football game which was fun and which was a paying gig and all, but the game took way longer to play than it should have due mostly to the fact that they were using minor league officials to officiate the minor league game and they kept getting confused and had to hold up play whilst they conferred with one another and the like. Plus, there were a lot of injuries. A lot. Half a dozen guys had to be dragged off the battlefield on their shields, or on the shoulders of teammates still standing. So, I didn't get back to the Detroit area until the game was in the sixth and since I was still half an hour from the ballpark, I figures, "What's the point?" I'm here today though. Ready to watch Brad Penny. It is 1:26 and we are underway.
1:29 For those of you scoring at home, the Tigers are 2-4 in Penny's last six starts dating to May 14. Just as an aside.
1:32 Penny got them out on 11 pitches in the first, allowing only a two-out single to Justin Upton who happens to have a brother--also named Upton--playing for some other Major League team. Interesting. I am, for the first time in I don't know how long, maybe 30 years, wearing a sport coat and a tie today here in the Press Box. It's in honor of Sparky who was a stickler for that sort of thing. He said to be a professional you had to look like a professional. Besides, I thought I might have a chance to talk to his widow and I wanted to look like a professional for that. I was going to tell her that stuff about what it meant to me to have Sparky treat me the way he did, but she did not attend today. I'll send her a note. I'll probably write it in my underwear, which would be ironic.
1:40 The Tigers got two, two-out singles in the first, the big news being that Magglio Ordonez went first to third on the second of them, and Victor Martinez hit a for-sure double down the line in left but it was a foot foul. He striped it, too. After that, he hit a weak pop foul to first and that was that.
2:21 Sorry, I forgot all about the blog what with the doing the live update on WDFN and the ice cream being served and all, but leading off the second Jhonny Peralta homered to left, a high fly ball right down the line that made it about four rows into the stands, and that's all the scoring so far. It was Peralta's 12th homer of the year, which is pretty good. We are in the top of the fourth, and Penny has held them to just two hits, both singles. t-4: Detroit 1, Arizona 0.
3:01 The Diamondbacks just left two on in the 6th which was more LOB in the inning (2) than they had had in the entire game to that point (1). Penny has held them to only 4 hits--all singles--but the Tigers too have only four hits--three of them singles--but they also have that just-barely-go-out-of-here homer by Peralta leading off the second. b-6: Detroit 1, Arizona 0.
3:03 Wow. Joe Saunders just got the Tigers out on seven pitches in the bottom of the sixth. That's 1-2-3 in a hurry.
3:17 The D'backs have taken the lead in a hurry. Four hits, three singles and a double, have produced two Arizona runs and have driven Penny from the hill after 6 and two-thirds innings of pretty solid work. Al Alburquerque is in with runners and the corners and those two outs. None of his first four pitches catch the strike zone and none are offered at by the hitter, so now the bases are loaded and Alburquerque has just thrown his 5th consecutive ball, prompting a mound visit from somebody who came bounding out of the Tigers dugout wearing a Detroit windbreaker and whatever had said worked as Alburquerque finally throws a strike. Alburquerque gets the strikeout and the inning ends. But the Diamondbacks get the two runs on the four hits and they lead. The Tigers have nine outs left to change that. b-7: Detroit 1, Arizona 2.
3:57 Arizona's Joe Saunders retired the last ten Tigers he faced, but did not answer the bell for the 8th and now the Tigers have two on and two out and Kirk Gibson--he manages the D'backs, as you know--has brought in his second relief pitcher of the inning. It's a big, big at bat for Magglio Ordonez, what with the game on the line and all.
4:01 It's a 4-pitch walk to Ordonez, all of them inside and Cabrera bats with three men on and two men out. Cabrera, the scoreboard tells us, is a career .431 hitter with the bases loaded. That's sick. And he's hitting better than that, now after lashing a line drive single to left to score two and put the Tigers on top. That might have been the biggest two-out hit for Detroit this season. Victor Martinez singles in another and Detroit has a three-run eighth going, still two on and two out.
4:08 The hits keep on coming and Gibby goes to his third bullpen ace of the eighth inning. Peralta gets a single, his third hit of the game, to plate another Detroit run, their 4th of the inning. And to think that Detroit was an out away from being retired in this inning without scoring any runs. b-8: Detroit 5, Arizona 2.
4:13 Inge is up--the 7th Tigerto come to plate this inning with two out, and he singles in two more. Detroit has sent ten men to the plate in the 8th and have scored six. It looked like the inning would be over, but the third baseman kicked a totally routine grounder and it's another run for the Tigers, seven in the inning all told. There are still two out. b-8: Detroit 8, Arizona 2.
4:17 Jackson strikes out to end an inning in which Detroit scored seven runs, each and every one of them with two out. Imagine. If Cabrera makes an out instead of singling, Arizona still leads this ballgame 2-1. I think we can start packing up for the trip home. No locker room today. I got enough material out of the Anderson ceremony to meet my needs. We'll be back here tomorrow and we'll talk to you then.

Fart in a Mitten

2011-06-24T17:01:00.001-07:00

Live-blogging the Tigers game from here at Comerica Park tonight, right here;
http://richkincaide.mlblogs.com/

The Tigers are opening a 10-game homestand here tonight against Arizona and judging from the ambient noise in here, everybody in the press box seems to have missed everybody else. A lot of chatter, tonight.
Jim Leyland went off on Jason Beck before the game as Beck, who I think does the best job of covering the Tigers of anybody (he's the beat man for mlb.com) had the temerity, the nerve, to ask about Don Kelly's role with the ballclub now that Brandon Inge is back from the DL and Danny Worth has been sent back down. For the record, it was a perfectly reasonable, baseball-related question to ask a Major League manager. Leyland accused Beck of asking a question designed--and I'm cleaning it up here, a little--to stir up trouble: "Where would you play him? Do you want me to got tell Inge he's not playing?" And so on.
So, since the reporters love it when the manager loses it, that's pretty much all they've been talking about tonight. That and Leyland's comment about Sparky Anderson when yours truly asked him to describe his relationship with Sparky, who is having his number retired here in a ceremony prior to the game Sunday. Leyland said, and I am not making this up, "He was like a fart in a mitten." We were all speechless, pretty much. Somebody had the good sense to ask Leyland to elaborate, and he said, "You know, (I have to tell you, we really didn't) he was always jumping around, always active." All I could think about was how the fart got in the mitten in the first place. Maybe this means I am not a good reporter.
Anyway, between the cursing and the farting, Leyland said what I though was the most amazing thing. He was talking about Al Alburquerque and he said, "He's been a Godsend. You could make a case for him being an All-Star. Without him, we'd be six or seven games worse off than we are." Wow, right?
The other Leyland News today was that he said our new favorite Tiger, Charlie Furbush, the poor rookie relief pitcher who has to carry the gear out the bullpen every night in that cute little pink backpack, might just be better as a starter than a reliever. So, maybe we'll see him in that role later this season.
Kirk Gibson and Alan Trammell are back in town as the Manager and Bench Coach of the D'backs, respectively. So, they'll be here for the Sparky cerimony Sunday. They each held a press conference before the game tonight and we'll talk about what they had to say about Sparky a little later on.
Everybody is wondering why Brennan Boesch isn't in the lineup tonight, but Leyland told us the week before last he wasn't going to answer any more questions about his lineup saying, "I'm not answering any more questions about the lineup! I play the players I think are going to give us the best chance to win!" So, the answer to the question regarding Boesch is that Casper Wells gives the Tigers a better chance to win, tonight. You might have thought Boesch was out because Arizona is starting a lefty and Boesch is a left handed hitter, but if you check the stats, you will see that Boesch is hitting .355 off the lefties this season. So, that can't be the reason.
The Tigers had the two runs in (thanks to a Jhonny Peralta double with the bases loaded), runners on second and third and Alex Avila at the plate when Ron Cameron couldn't help himself. He said "(Arizona Starter) Zach Duke is hitable. And they are hitting him tonight." As soon as I heard that, I turned to the guy sitting next to me and I said, "I'll be you this guy doesn't give up another hit for, like, six and two-thirds." Avila, for the record, took a called third and the Tigers were out in order in the second. I remember back in April Eric Bedard was starting for Seattle and Cameron eyeballed Bedard's numbers, a high ERA couple with a low number of wins, and proclaimed it to be "gaurenteed win night" for the Tigers. I don't recall if Bedard actually shut the Tigers out that night, but I do remember Seattle's victory in the game was decisive, and that's being kind. Bedard broke their bats in half.
But, maybe that won't happen tonight. Casper Wells and Magglio Ordonez (no, I have not forgotten that I had him relegated to the minors in this space a couple of nights ago) each doubled to start the third and it's 3-0 and there is stirring in the D'backs pen.
Here are your game notes for tonight:
Detroit Game Information.
Arizona Diamondbacks 2011 Game Notes.

Sit, Miggy, Sit

2011-06-21T16:58:00.003-07:00

Live-blogging Tigers at Dodgers again tonight here: http://mlblogsrichkincaide.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=1805916&action=edit&message=6

Here's your pregame.

We should have some kind of pool tonight to see who can come closest to predicting the inning of the Tigers-Dodgers game during which I fall asleep. I'm old, it's late and I'm sitting in the glider rocker which we got to put our daughter to sleep when she was just a baby, but which never once helped her to do so, not once. Me? That's another story. All I have to do is kick back in the thing and start counting down from 100. I won't make it to 88.

With last night's 4-0 loss, during which the Tigers were held to a season-low two hits, Detroit has now lost 7 of the last 13 overall and three of four so far on the road trip. They remain a game behind Cleveland as the Indians also lost last night, beaten at home by Colorado 8-7. Those same two teams are playing again tonight and are scoreless in the third.

Those Dodger Notes last night were as prescient as any I've ever seen, what with the prediction that Juan Uribe would homer in the series against Detroit--which he did, in the first innning during his first at bat--and the note about Clayton Kershaw being tied for the ML lead in hits. Kershaw's 2-run single in the eighth gave him the outright lead in hits by pitchers this season (10).

Miguel Cabrera sits tonight. Jim Leyland says he needs a rest and tonight's just the night to give it to him says the Skip as Cabrera is 0x12 lifetime against the LA starter. I've read some comments from angry Tigers fans wondering why Leyland doesn't wait till he gets home to rest Cabrera as Detroit is de facto shorthanded already tonight with no DH and I think they make a pretty good point. I don't agree with Leyland on this one. We note that Leyland has managed over 3,000 games in the majors compared to, well, none for me, so if I were you I would give that stat some weight.
Here are your notes. As always, we admonish you: READ THE NOTES.

Detroit Tigers Game Information.
Los Angeles Dodgers Game Notes.

10:10 first pitch and we will be back for that, unless, as I say, I fall asleep.

Somebody's Got To Go

2011-06-20T16:07:00.000-07:00

We will be live-blogging the Tigers at Dodgers game tonight here: http://mlblogsrichkincaide.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=1805891&action=edit&message=1

Here's your pre-game coverage.

Let us take a moment to reflect upon the moundsmanship (a word I seem to have made up, just now) Justin Verlander's thrown in our direction of late. Here's JV's line--that's what they call him, you know, JV--starting with his May 7 no-hitter in Toronto and running through his win over the Rockies yesterday:

GS	W	L	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA	BA
9	7	0	72.2	39	14	14	9	59	5	1.73	.157

Not bad, eh? The number I like best there is 59 strikeouts and 9 walks. Or, actually, maybe the number I like best is 7-0.

In hockey you often hear the phrase "men v. boys" to describe a mismatch and it so happens that that is the best way to describe Verlander's pitching for the past month and a half. But no matter what you choose to call it, I can tell you that I cannot recall watching a Detroit pitcher since the Denny McClain of 1968 and 1969 or the Mark Fydrich of 1976 who overwhelmed the opponent the way Verlander has of late. I perk up every time his turn in the rotation comes around because I know I am going to see something memorable.
Here's the funny thing. I don't know if you remember this, I didn't until I looked it up, but through May 2, Verlander was 2-3 and the Tigers were 2-5 in games he'd started. And on May 2, the Detroit Tigers were 8 games out of first place. Here's another phrase you often hear in hockey is applicable to the current discussion: You figure it out.

All right, then. I've been thinking about what Jim Leyland was talking about late last week in a couple of those press gaggles he conducts in his office three and a half hours before game time. When he talks at these things, it's sort of like trying to decipher what the head of the Federal Reserve really means when he speaks publicly. Leyland was saying things like, "I am not one of those managers who thinks that you automatically get your job back when you get back from being hurt." And, "I'm not talking about [Brandon] Inge." And, "You guys are going to have a field day pretty soon. We've got some tough decisions to make when Inge comes back. You guys will have plenty to write about."

So, who's gonna go to make room for Inge? Will it be Andy Dirks or Ryan Raburn or Danny Worth or Don Kelly or Casper Wells? Or will it be Inge himself? Or somebody else?
All of us in the press box love Dirks' glove, and Leyland might too, but he's not wild about his bat: (.263 BA/3HR/10RBI).

Nobody is wild about Raburn's bat, .207/6/25, but Leyland stands up for him with comments like, "Look at what he was hitting in early June last year." So I did look. Raburn was .188/1/13 at this time a year ago in about half the at bats he's had this season. My thought is that when Leyland says to look at where Raburn was a year ago, what he's really saying is to look at the fact that he hit .315 after the break last year with 13 HR and 46 RBI. I'm thinking Leyland's thinking the same thing could happen this year, and if it does, it would do the Tigers no good if Raburn were doing it in Toledo.

Worth would seem to make sense. He's only played 23 games. But he is hitting over .400. Kelly has played a lot of third since Inge has been out. He's versatile. Wells is an extra outfielder, a guy you can bring in late to upgrade the defense when you've got the lead.

What about Inge himself? He's hitting .211 with but a single homer and only 11 RBI, but he is far and away the best glove the Tigers have in the infield.

But, remember what Leyland said about now getting your job back just because you are back from an injury? He said he wasn't talking about Inge. Besides, Leyland likes defense.

What about Magglio Ordonez? He was hitting .172 when he went on the DL. He's hitting .215 since returning on 3x14--all singles. Leyland complained about how the Tigers blew the game Friday in part because they got only one run out of a bases-loaded, one-out situation in the first. Ordonez was up with everybody on and one out and he failed to hit it out of the infield. (And then some reporter asked Leyland after the game if he thought Ordonez was coming around because he got a couple of singles later in the game. I'll bet you whatever you want to bet that Leyland didn't give a hoot about those hits. He wanted a hit when a hit would have meant something. That's why he brought up Detroit's first-inning failure in the first place.) And you saw that pinch-hit at-bat Ordonez had Saturday night with the tying run on second in the sixth. It was sad. That's the only way to describe it. I don't think Mags came within a foot and a half of hitting the ball. Leyland was steaming, I'm sure of it. He didn't play Ordonez yesterday. Now, Ordonez is back in the Detroit line-up tonight, but I'm pretty sure that he'd better start hitting and he'd better start hitting soon because I think he is running out of time. Inge is slated to re-join the Tigers when they come home from the road trip. That means Friday. That means somebody who is a Tiger today won't be by weeks end. Somebody has to go. I think Leyland was trying to tell us something last week. I think he was trying to tell us that the somebody is going to be a big name guy. Somebody like Magglio Ordonez.

Tonight's game notes:
Detroit Tigers Game Information.
Los Angeles Dodgers Notes.

10:10 (Eastern) for first pitch. We'll be back with you then.

Seattle Mariners (at) Detroit Tigers: Sunday, June 12, 2011

2011-06-12T08:24:00.000-07:00

We are live-blogging today's Tigers-Mariners game live from Comerica Park. Our pregame reporting is complete and you follow along on my mlbblog here:

http://richkincaide.mlblogs.com/2011/06/12/seattle-mariners-at-detroit-tigers-sunday-june-12-2011/

Seattle Mariners (at) Detroit Tigers: Saturday, June 11, 2011

2011-06-11T16:27:00.000-07:00

We are live-blogging the Mariners at Tigers game tonight here:

http://richkincaide.mlblogs.com/2011/06/11/seattle-mariners-at-detroit-tigers-saturday-june-11-2011/

Seattle Mariners (at) Detroit Tigers: Friday, June 10, 2011

2011-06-10T17:19:00.001-07:00

Am live-blogging Mariners at Tigers tonight from Comerica Park here:

http://richkincaide.mlblogs.com/2011/06/10/seattle-mariners-at-detroit-tigers-friday-june-10-2011/

Seattle Mariners 1 (at) Detroit Tigers 4: Thursday, June 9, 2011

2011-06-09T15:23:00.000-07:00

We are here at Comerica Park and will live-blog tonight's Seattle at Detroit game on our mlb blog right here:

http://richkincaide.mlblogs.com/2011/06/09/seattle-mariners-at-detroit-tigers-thursday-june-9-2011/

Feel free to join us there. We will paste and copy the night's effort in this space at the conclusion of the game.

It's a beautiful night for baseball here, by the way.

BP: We're about an hour from first pitch and we are excited about getting to see (6-3) Justin Verlander, in the parlance of the game, toe the slab tonight. The Tigers, 7-3 losers last night in Texas, have nonetheless won 8 of their last 10 and have pulled to within a game and half of first-place Cleveland in the American League Central Division. The Indians are idle tonight. They open a series at Yankee Stadium tomorrow night.
Let's go back to when this current Detroit hot streak began. It was a week ago Sunday--May 29--and the Tigers were playing the back end of day/night twin bill against the Boston Red Sox here at Comerica Park. Boston had won the opener a few hours earlier when David Ortiz broke a 3-3 tie (the Tigers had rallied from 3-0 down to even the score) by going yard in the 9th off Jose Valverde. The Tigers were staring a four-game sweep by Boston right in the eye. Also, when they took the field that night against Boston, Detroit trailed the Indians by 6 and a half games. Verlander was the Tigers starter in that game against Boston, and he, simply put, turned in one of the most impressive pitching performances I have ever seen. He was dominant. He was in command. You could see it. Verlander threw a career-high 132 pitches and the Tigers beat the Red Sox 3-0. Since then, as we say, the Tigers have been on a nice little run. The win over the Red Sox was the first of what turned out to be a four-game Detroit win streak. After losing the first game of their just-completed road trip, the Tigers reeled off another four-game win streak before losing that game at Texas last night. The Tigers didn't arrive back in Detroit until 3:15. Seattle--which blew a lead in Chicago late before coming back to beat the White Sox in 10, 7-4. The Mariners had to wait out a storm sitting in their plane on the tarmac at the Chicago airport. They didn't arrive in Detroit until 3:45 this morning.
Here are tonight's Official Game Notes for you:
Detroit Tigers Game Information.
Seattle Mariners Game Information.
First pitch is set for 7:05 EDT. A moment of silence for the late Jim Northrup precedes the start of tonight's game here at Comerica Park. We will be here to keep you abreast of developments here all evening long.
7:23 We are into the second inning here. Verlander got them out on 18 pitches in the top of the first--10 of them to Brendan Ryan who did something I'm pretty sure I've never seen before. After beating out a grounder to shortstop Jhonny Peralta for an infield single, Ryan noticed that nobody was paying attention to him and he noticed that nobody was covering second so off he went and he made it without a throw. More than one of us in the press box looked up to see him standing at second and asked, "How'd he get there?" And, how exactly to you score that? The base has to be accounted for. What do you call it? An infield double? Official Scorer Chuck Klonk watched the replay and ruled it a single with the runner taking second on the throw. As we say, it was a very unusual play. And speaking of unusual, Miguel Cabrera came up with runners on first and second, meaning Seattle starter Diug Fister had to pitch to him, and, first ball hitting, Cabrera grounded into a 5, 5-3 double play as Luis Rodriguez fielded the hard grounder, stepped on third for a force out and fired across to complete the 7th double play Cabrera has grounded into this season--tops on the Tigers. Verlander walked Mike Carp with one out in the second and then promptly picked him off first which is a really good way to respond to a base on balls. b-3: Detroit 0, Seattle 0.
8:01 The Tigers just did something silly. Alex Avila led off the third with a triple--he gapped it to right-center for his second 3-bagger of the season and the 8th by the Tigers as a team--and Detroit let him die there as Ryan Raburn popped to first, Austin Jackson took a called third (I wasn't wild about the call, for the record) and Don Kelly hit a routine fly to right. Geez. b-4: Detroit 0, Seattle 0.
8:06 You know you've had a good trip when you go ox5 in the last game of it, and still wind up with a .444 average on 12x27. That's what Brennan Boesch did on the 6-game trip to Chicago and Texas, and he's 1x1 tonight with a lead-off single here in the 3rd. Cabreara bounced to the right side to move him to third with one out.
8:08 Victor Martinez's fly to center wasn't deep enough for Boesch to score, so, for the second inning in a row, the Tigers have a man at third with two out, and for the second straight inning the man at third is still there as the innings ends as Andy Dirks pops up to the catcher. t-5: Detroit 0, Seattle 0.
8:23 The other night I was explaining how you score it when the catcher fails to catch a third strike and the batter-runner reaches first. It's a strikeout and either a wild pitch or a passed ball. We just had one here, and it cost the Tigers a run. Greg Halman was on 3rd (he showed good hustle moving up from second on a 2nd-out fly ball to deep right) and he scored when Verlander threw a strike-three wild pitch to Jack Wilson, enabling Wilson to reach first safely as Halman raced home from third. But, in the bottom of the inning Peralta singled and Avila tripled him home. Don Kelly plated Avila with a two-out single to left to give the Tigers the lead, 2-1. Avila is the third Detroit catcher known to have hit 2 triples in the same game, joining Brad Ausmus (1999) and Lance Parrish (1980). And now, Boesch has homered to right. It's his 8th of the year and with a man aboard, it makes it a big inning, a four-run inning for the Tigers. b-5 Detroit 2, Seattle 1.
8:42 We are wondering up here in the PB how much long Verlander will go tonight. He is through 6. He has thrown 103 pitches. I think the number tonight is 115. Others think he will still be out there in the 8th. I'd love to get another inning out of him. I know the bullpen's been great lately, but I don't like turning a game over to the pen with 9 outs to get if you don't have to. We are in the bottom of the 6th. Verlander has 8 strikeouts tonight, and he just struck out the side in the top of the inning, with a single mixed in.
8:53 Perfect. Verlander gets the side out in order on 11 pitches in the 7th. At 114 pitches, his night is done. I'm almost sure of it. With the Tigers up by 3, I look for Joaquin Benoit in the 8th and El Papa Grande in the 9th. Verlander has fanned 9, matching his season high. And here's something you will only find here (and don't tell anybody until after the game because I'm going to use it when I talk to Jim Leyland in the post-game presser): If Verlander wins tonight, no pitcher Leyland has had in his 20-year managing career will have won more games for him than Verlander. Doug Drabek won 90 games for Leyland in Pittsburgh. A Verlander win tonight would be his 20th with Verlander as manager.
9:00 I am wrong. Verlander comes out to start the 8th inning for Detroit. t-8: Detroit 4, Seattle 1.
9:08 Perfect, again. Verlander needs only 11 pitches to retire the side in the 8th. He gives up his 5th hit--all singles--but he also racks up his 10th strikeout, a season high. b-8: Detroit 4, Seattle 1.
9:20 Jose Valverde on in 9th. Two out, none on...walk. We'll have to wait a moment. Who am I kidding? This is baseball. Sometimes you have to wait a long time for the 27th out. Sometimes it doesn't come in time. But not tonight. Valverde gets a bouncer to 3rd to end it. Off to the locker room. FINAL: Detroit 4, Seattle 1.

Tigers 8 (at) Texas 1: Tuesday, June 7, 20011

2011-06-07T22:01:00.001-07:00

Batting Practice: We'll do it a little differently tonight. I'll post a link to the Game Notes so you can study up before first pitch at 8:05 Eastern and then I'll be back with you around game time, maybe a little before. It was a long night last night. The Nationals at Giants went 13 and didn't end until 2:45 in the morning my time. Good game, though. The Giants trailed 4-0 after six and came back to win 5-4.
We'll tell some stories tonight about the time I went to The Ballpark in Arlington, taking Troy Aikman's parking place, and the Texas School Book Depository Building. All while we stay on top of the Tigers game. It should be a well-rounded evening.
So, here you go. Don't forget: READ YOUR GAME NOTES! (You never know what you might learn.)
Here's the Detroit Tigers Game Information sheet.
And here's something from the Tigers Game Information sheet:
Brennan Boesch established career highs with five hits, two home runs and five RBI last night at Texas. It marked only the seventh time since at least 1919 a Tigers player has collected at least five hits, two home runs and five RBI in a single game. Carlos Pena was the last Tigers player to accomplish the feat when he finished with six hits, two home runs and five RBI on May 27, 2004 at Kansas City.
And:
Boesch became only the fifth player in Tigers history to collect at least three runs scored, five hits, two home runs and five RBI during a single game last night at Texas. He joined Ty Cobb (1925), Hank Greenberg (1937), Charlie Gehringer (1937) and Carlos Pena (2004) in doing so. (Source: Elias Sports Bureau)
Tonight's Rangers Game Notes are here.
As an aside, we note that, right now, it is 96 degrees in Arlington, Texas and 92 here in the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan.
8:53p No score in Arlington after 3. Around the League, Cleveland has a 1-0 lead over the Twins as they bat in the bottom of the 7th. Indians starter Carlos Carrasco was perfect through 4 innings tonight, he has allowed 3 hits now through 7. Try to find the video of the Cabrera to Cabrera double play turned by Cleveland in the 7th--you won't see a better one all year. The White Sox just jumped into a 5-0 lead over King Felix and the Mariners in the bottom of the third in Chicago. The Mariners come to Comerica Park for the first of four Thursday night. Jacoby Ellsbury led off the game at Yankee Stadium tonight with a homer, and Yankees starter Freddie Garcia last only 1.2 innings and allowed 4 runs. Boston leads the Yankees 4-1 in the 5th. Mark Texiera--second in the majors with 18 home runs, left the game in the first, helped from the field after taking a Jon Lester pitch off his right kneecap.
9:06 The Tigers just got a break. Austin Jackson struck out but umpire Ed Hickox ruled his third strike foul tip was not caught by Texas catcher Mike Napoli. Hickox was wrong. At least that's how it looked on the replay. It should have been strike 3. So, Jackson's still up with the bases loaded and a full count and a run in. Will he take advantage of the gift? Yes! He singles to right and two score. Danny Worth is out at the plate which isn't good baserunning, but I'll give him points for aggressiveness. Casper Wells doubles in Jackson. Top 4: Detroit 4, Texas 0.
9:24 Cleveland has defeated Minnesota 1-0 on an unearned run and 8.1 innings of 3-hit ball from Carrasco. The Tigers thus need to win tonight to stay 1.5 games behind the AL Central-leading Indians, which strikes me as a really strange sentence to write, the AL Central-leading Indians, I mean.
9:54 Quite a win for the Pirates tonight over Kirk Gibson and Alan Trammell and the Arizona Diamondbacks. Trailing 5-3 in the bottom of the 8th in Pittsburgh, the Pirates scored 5 runs before they made an out in the inning and they went on to win 8-5. Lyle Overbay hit a bases-loade, bases-clearing double to cap the rally. The Rangers are on the board in the 6th with a run in, two on, and one out. Action in the Tigers pen. Is Rick Porcello tiring? B-6: Detroit 4, Texas 1.
10:11 Three singles give Detroit what is known in the business as an "add on" run in the 7th. Jhonny Peralta (who mis-spells his first name; I don't know if he knows that) gets the RBI. Texas goes for a pitching change. T-7: Detroit 5, Texas 1.
10:13 I just saw the graphic: In going 2x3 tonight, Brennan Boesch is now 12x21 on the road trip. This wasn't on the graphic: That's a batting average of .571.
10:43 Miguel Cabrera has driven in his 45th run as the Tigers score again in the 8th. He is 3rd in the American League in RBI's. Boston's Adrian Gonzales leads with 50. T-8: Detroit 7, Texas 1.
11:00 It's 11:00 and there are still 7 games going on in the majors. 8 are final. I don't think I'm going to be able to stay up for the west coasters tonight, but we'll see. I think maybe I'll file my material for the Michigan Talk Network and call it a day. T-9: Detroit 7, Texas 1.
11:28 It's over. It's been over for some time now, but, after 3 hours and 17 minutes, the last out has been recorded and it was a terrific running catch by Andy Dirks. The Tigers had a season high 18 hits on Monday. Tonight, Tuesday, the Tigers had a season-high 20 hits. Detroit has won 4 in a row and 8/9 and remain 1.5 games behind Cleveland. FINAL: Detroit 8, Texas 1.
12:48a Still here. The Giants game is the only one still going--Washington leads 2-1 in the 9th--and I'm watching Pittsburgh's bottom of the 8th rally to beat Arizona from earlier this evening. I have the Arizona broadcast on which is some guy and Marik Grace. Why did I choose to watch the Arizona feed? I love to hear broadcasters cry, and I know these two are going to have a long, hard, good one. I can hardly wait. Then I will sleep.
12:56 Poor Tram. He's managing tonight because Gibby is serving a one-game suspension for what the announcer called "the incident on Sunday." I don't know what that means. I suppose I should find out. You ought to see the look on Trams face as this one slips away. Lyle Overbay is up, and in a pitch or two he will hit a bases-loaded double, scoring 3 and breaking a 5-5 tie. I hate to think how Tram will look then. Oh, he's pissed. He's coming out to change pitchers and Alan Trammell is NOT a happy guy. Too bad for Tram. He's one of the good ones. He got the shaft here in Detroit when Leyland got his job, so I feel for him, but this is baseball and some nights you just get the hell kicked out of you no matter what you do. Good night, all.

A Note on the Stanley Cup Final

2011-06-04T10:01:00.000-07:00

Early in this years playoffs, the buzz was about the success being enjoyed by road teams. From NHL.comNHL.com we learn now that this is no longer the case. Want to bet to win? Bet on the home team...

Visiting teams won 26 of the 49 games played in the opening round, with San Jose going 3-0 at Los Angeles and Tampa Bay winning its last three games in Pittsburgh. The visitors also went 11-10 in the second round, with the Canucks winning all three of their games at Nashville and the Predators taking two of three in Vancouver.

But home teams have dominated since then, winning nine of the 12 games in the conference finals as well as the opener in the Stanley Cup Final. That has put home teams back over .500, with 43 wins in this year’s 83 playoff games.

Last season’s winning percentage of .517 was the lowest since 2001, when home teams split the 86 games. The last time visiting teams won more than home teams was 1999, when the road teams won 44 of 86 games.

This year’s pattern is much the same as last season, when home teams were 35-39 after the conference semifinals but won 11 of 15 games in the last two rounds to end up 46-43. The two finalists, Chicago (8-3) and Philadelphia (9-2) both dominated at home --just as this year’s final two have done. Vancouver, despite the two losses to Nashville, is 8-3 at Rogers Arena; Boston is 7-3 at TD Garden but has gone 7-1 since dropping the first two games of the opening round to Montreal.

That is all...for now.

Detroit 4 (at) Chicago 6: June 3, 2011 The Live-Blog

2011-06-03T20:19:00.000-07:00

0p: I know we are getting to you a little late tonight but, well, that was exciting, wasn't it? Young Mr. Oliver loaded 'em up in the bottom of the first and got out of it, nicked for a mere run and he shouldn't even have given them that. And if you are wondering what he was thinking when he went to first and ignored the almost for-sure double play on that one-hopper back to the mound with the bases loaded, what he was thinking was is that he's 23 years old and he's making the 7th start of his major league career and, by God, he just got out of a bases-loaded none out situation surrendering only one run and it could have been so much worse. So, let's give the kid some credit, okay? A little more experience and he'll make the right play. Andy Oliver's first inning tonight is somewhat eerily similar to his first inning of work in his last start, which was his first of 2011 for the Tigers. Against the Red Sox at home in the day part of the day/night doubleheader last Sunday, Oliver allowed Boston but a single run in an inning in which the Bostons stole four bases. I can't remember the last time I saw a team steal four bags in an inning, but they did, and Oliver responded be getting the last two hitters and leaving runners stranded in scoring position and with Detroit, as they are tonight, down by only a run. Oliver would surrender 2 solo homers later which cost him, but he was no decisioned when the Tigers rallied from 0-3 to tie, only to lose in the 9th when David Ortiz won the mano-a-mano showdown with Jose Valverde by hitting a game-winning homer. I asked Oliver--noting that it was something like his 23rd inning pitched in his big league career--if working out of that first inning mess was the most important thing he's done so far in The Show and he said it was. Chicago is threatening again in the second with two on and two out, but again young Oliver escapes. The Tigers, just as an aside, are asking a lot of the youngsters, don't you think? Oliver is, as mentioned, only 23. The starter in Detroit's last game, Rick Porcello, isn't even that old. He's 22. T-3 Detroit 0, Chicago 1.

OUT OF TOWN: Texas has the lead in Cleveland 2-1 in the 7th and bat with runners on the corners and 1 out. The other game we are watching is quite entertaining. Oakland 5, Boston 5 in the 4th at Fenway Park. UPDATE! 3-RUN HOMER BY JOSH HAMILTON!!! TEXAS 5, CLEVELAND 1, T-7. UPDATE, UPDATE: Nelson Cruz hits 2-run homer in 7th. Texas 7, Cleveland 1, t-7. (The Tigers can pick up some ground on 1st-place Cleveland here, but none of this will matter, of course, unless Oliver works out of another jam: runners at 2nd and 3rd with one out on the 3rd.)

9:08p He did it again! Oliver fans Brent Lillibridge on a full-count heater and gets big, old ugly Adam Dunn (he's cultivating the big, old ugly look--unshaven, looks like the evil Yankees slugger in the movie Major League, etc.) to bounce to first. At second and third, Chi runners die and Detroit is still only a run down.

9:17p 2 on, 2 out for Detroit in the 4th and it's time for a couple "Did You Knows?" Did you know the Tigers have won 9 in a row against the White Sox? I did not know that until I read the game notes this morning. And, did you know that tonight's Chicago pitcher, Mark Buerhrle, is 16-9 all-time versus Detroit and is 8-3, 2.93 against the Tigers at US Cellular Field? He is, according to The Notes. (There is an anomaly tonight in the Official Game Notes. The Detroit notes say the Tigers 9-game win streak against the White Sox is the longest since the Tigs beat Chicago 10 straight back in 1920. The Chicago notes say this is the longest win streak by Detroit against the White Sox, ever. This hardly ever happens because, simply put, the The Game Notes are never wrong. Ever. Never, ever. But, tonight, somebody is wrong! I swoon.) The Tigers can't cash in in the 4th, by the way. And in the bottom half, Chicago again has 2 on--just as they have the entire game so far. This time, Andy Oliver pays and pays the Maximum Price. Carlos Quentin hits The Big Fly and its a 3-run homer with 2 out and the hill just got steep. Oliver exits, one pitch away from still having his team in the game, but they aren't anymore. B-4: DETROIT 0, CHICAGO 4.

9:32p Hey, it's Charlie Furbush! #49 for Detroit and one of my faves. He's pitched exactly 9 innings in his ML career to date and has not allowed a run. And he's done this in spite of being humiliated each and every night. See, somebody has to carry the snacks and junk out to the bullpen before every game, and what they use to do the toting of the snacks and junk is a bright pink vinyl backpack. The kind which would be, I suspect, VERY popular with your average middle school girl. It is Charlie Furbush who has to sling that thing on his back every night and carry it from dugout to bullpen, somewhere between the singing of the National Anthem and the throwing of the first pitch. I asked, "Why you?" and his one-word answer was: "Rookie." All in all, small price to pay to be living your dream, though. Wouldn't you say?

9:41p DETROIT IS BACK IN THE GAME!!! CASPER WELLS HITS A 3-RUN HOMER TO LEFT AND THE TIGERS NEGATE THE 3-RUN HOMER BY QUENTION IN THE 4TH AND HOW ABOUT THAT? T-5: DETROIT 3, CHICAGO 4! (This is a very entertaining game, no?)

9:47p: For my money, the play of the week prior to tonight was the sac bunt laid down by Wells that put runners at 2nd and 3rd in the 8th inning of a 7-7 tie against Minnesota Tuesday night. A perfect lay-down and it meant that Brenan Boesch's fly to right would be a sac fly and the game winner. Wells told me after the game that it was the first sacrifice bunt of his life, ever. Which stands to reason. He's always been the best player on his team--Big Leaguers are always the best players on their team until they get to the Big Leagues--and who asks their best player to bunt? Anyway, now, tonight, he hits the big home run to get the Tigers back in the game. Here's something I looked up a little earlier today. The Tigers hit 17 three-run homers last year. This year, they had hit two heading into the game tonight, (Wells' is #3) putting them on pace to hit 6 for the year. I don't know what it means, I just thought it interesting. Lillibridge homers off Furbush in the Chi 5th. b-5 Detroit 3, Chicago 5.

9:58p I forgot. It's over in Cleveland: Rangers 11, Indians 2. If the Tigers come back, they will be 3.5 back of the Tribe. The last time the Tigers were that close to first place was May 15, as I am sure you are aware. And a HUGE double play gets Furbush out of a fix in the 5th! Chi had 'em loaded with one out and all they get is the single run on the Lillibridge homer. The fellows have been dancing on the razor's edge tonight like you hardly ever see. On to the 6th...

10:16p: We've got 4 west coast games getting underway, plus they are only in the 7th at Fenway, etc. Kevin Youklis just got hit by a pitch. 75th time in his career--the most in Red Sox history. You'd think over the years opposing pitchers would have found somebody (Ted Williams?) better to throw at than Kevin Youklis, wouldn't you? The Angles--turning 50 this season--are wearing throwback caps with a stripe around the top which is supposed to look like a halo but which makes them all look like convicts. They are hosting the Yankees, by the way. Tampa is at Seattle and the Mariners are wearing the sea-green jerseys they only wear at home and only on Fridays. They are very nice. I can't remember who else is where, but we'll get caught up. I watch a lot of baseball. A lot. That play where Buster Posey broke his leg? Watched it happen. 12th inning of a night game in Frisco. No big deal. I had to stay up, anyway. The game in Philly went 19 innings that night. I watched a Dodgers game this season that didn't end until 4:15 AM. You get, you know, invested. I called the radio station in LA carrying the game during a rain delay to let them know I was still following the game but I got trumped. Somebody called in from Germany, somebody called in from Israel, somebody called in from Japan. So, big deal, Detroit guy. On to the 7th in Chicago. It's hard to believe we still have a third of a ballgame to go, but we do... T-7 DETROIT 3, CHICAGO 5.

10:40p: Boesch just flied to center with the tying runs on to end the Detroit 7th. Since his average stood at .350 on April 28, Boesch is hitting .183 (19 x104) and, yes, that includes his 2 for 4 in the game tonight. The other reporters love him, but I don't think he's particularly what we call in the business "good copy". He doesn't seem to like being interviewed and I don't think he gives us great stuff. But, night after night, the press gaggle is there to surround him. I think he'd be better off if he got a few nights off from those of us with the notebooks and the microphones.

10:52p: Of all people, Ryan Raburn (.194) just got a hit and the Tigers have the bases loaded with one out in the 8th. This is probably the old ballgame, right here. Alex Avila (.275) is the hitter. Great catch by Juan Pierre in left on a drive by Avila over his head. The runner scores from 3rd on the sac fly and it's a one-run game again. That one run is, of course, the run Oliver let them score in the first when he went to first on a bouncer back to the mound when it would have been equally as easy to get the force at home and prevent a run from scoring. But, we discussed that earlier. Pitching change: Chicago. T-8 DETROIT 4, CHICAGO 5.

10:57 Ramon Santiago is up against new pitcher Sergio Santos and the first pitch is high and they call it a strike anyway and now Santiago is in a 1-2 hole. Santos freezes him on a curve and that is that. The Tigers are down to 3 offensive outs left in the game and they are still down a run.

11:02p Pierre, who ruined the Tigers rally with that catch off Avila in the top off the inning, may have doomed Detroit in the bottom of the 8th. He hits a solo HR off Gonzales and the Tigers will be down 2 runs, at least, when they come to bat in the 9th. b-8: DETROIT 4, CHICAGO 6.

11:10p They walked the leadoff guy and that's never a good thing when one is protecting a lead. Jackson is on first base for Detroit. Everybody talks about Jackson's strikeouts--he's among the league leaders--but would it surprise you to know that the only Tiger this season to walk more often than Jackson is Miguel Cabrera? It's true. Jackson makes it to second but now there are 2 out. But, with first base open, they are pitching to Cabrera! The strategy works. Mighty ~~Casey~~, er, Cabrera, has struck out. The game is over: FINAL DETROIT 4, CHICAGO 6. The Tigers 4 game win streak is over (as is their 9 game win streak over the White Sox) and Detroit (29-27) remains 4.5 games behind AL Central-leading Cleveland. But, hey, Justin Verlander is pitching tomorrow. Game time is 7:10 EDT and we'll be with you then. As Vin Scully always says, "Good night, everybody!"

Tigers vs. Twins: June 1, 2011

2011-06-01T15:31:00.000-07:00

We are live-blogging tonight's Tigers-Twins game tonight on our mlbblog page here and will post the post in its entirety later tonight here....
RK

Tigers 8, Twins 7 May 31, 2011

2011-05-31T21:47:00.001-07:00

We were live-blogging over at my mlblog website during the Tigers come-from-behind (twice) win over the Twins on Tuesday night. Here's how that went:

7:09pm We are off to a good start here at Comerica. Max Scherzer got the Twins 1-2-3 in the first on 11 pitches. The temp has dipped below 90, our game time temperature at 7:05 was 89. We are monitoring the Indians at Blue Jays game (just underway) as well as the White Sox at Red Sox. We will check in on other games as needed. I keep hearing people say you can’t count the Twins out, but even if that remains a valid statement right now, I think we are fast approaching the time when it will not be. Do you know what happens if the Twins go 64-46 (.582) the rest of the way? They win 81 games, that’s what. Now maybe .500 will be good enough to win this division, but I think it probably will not be. For the Twins to win 90 this season, they will have to play at a .664 clip the rest of the way–that’s a 108-win pace when carried over the course of a full season. 90 wins is, in my view at least, a more realistic prediction of what it is going to take to win the AL Central. But we shall see. Brian Duensing is the starter for the Twins tonight. He’s 2-5. He though, just like Scherzer, gets ‘em out in order in the first, fanning both Austin Jackson and Brennan Boesch. So…on to the second here in Detroit.

7:21p: Scherzer getst the first two men in the second then gives up hits on consecutive pitches: a double by Danny Valencia and an RBI single by Delmon Young, and the Twins grab a 1-0 lead. Austin Jackson sent a strong throw to the plate and there was a bit of a collision between Valencia and Detroit catcher Alex Avila who was unable to corral the throw and that was that. The top of the second ends.

MID-2ND: DETROIT 0, MINNESOTA 1. 7:29p Just like the Twins, the Tigers first hit of the night is a 2-out second inning double. Jhonny Peralta gets it, and that brings us to an interesting part of the Detroit lineup tonight. Get a load of these numbers: The 7 hitter Brandon Inge is hitting .206. He’s the best hitter of the bottom third of the order. Ryan Rayburn, in the 8-hole, is hitting .196. The #9 hitter, Danny Worth, has no batting average (.000).

7:32p We’ve got the windows closed up here in the press box tonight with the scoreboard showing that temperature of 89 degrees. That means no foul balls for me. I had one glance off the window sill Sunday night in the back end of the day-night doubleheader and I’m not going to lie to you, I wanted no part of it. I didn’t get a good read off the bat and I could see it was going to come close to hitting the ledge in front of me and who knows off what part of my face it might have caromed after that. I caught one last year on the fly so I didn’t feel bad about bailing on this one. If I think I can make a clean catch I’ll go for it. The window sill in front of me–solid thick aluminum–is covered with dents from the foul balls that have come screaming up here in the past few years. I wish Boston had played here in Detroit the way they are playing tonight at Fenway Park. Chicago leads 4-0 in the second, There was a big error at short and that Mexican pitcher who shut the Tigers down in that 14-1 game is getting knocked about. Rayburn had a couple of line smashes towards left but he went foul and he would up popping weakly to first, stranding 2. END OF 2: DETROIT, 0, MINNESOTA 1.

8:05p: Sorry. They turned on the ice cream machine so I was out of touch there for a few minutes. The Twins scored a couple more while I was noshing. Raburn took what we in the business call “a bad angle to the ball” on a liner off the bat of the Twins #9 hitter Matt Tolbert and by the time he squared up and got himself into the position to make the catch, he was four or five feet to short to make the play and the ball rolled to the wall in left for a double. A wild pitch and a sac fly cost the Tigers the run. Then Justin Morneau hit his 3rd homer of the year, to right. I’d say it was a bomb, but any ball that gets out of this place is a bomb. You can say what you want about Comerica Park (and I do) but there has never been a cheap home run hit in this place. BOTTOM OF THE 5TH: DETROIT 0, MINNESOTA 3.

8:23p: The news out of town is all bad. Cleveland–trying to let Detroit back in the race (even if the Tigers don’t seem to want to take advantage) with losses in 5 of their last 6 and with a sub-.500 record in their last 23 (11-12)–are off to an early 3-0 lead in Toronto in the bottom of the 4th. The White Sox are clubbing the Red Sox 6-1 in the 5th. The Tigers–who just scored–began the night in second place in the AL Central, 5 games back of Cleveland, 3 and a half ahead of Chicago. Here in the 5th, Austin Jackson singled in a run and Caspar Wells doubled in another. Wells’ ball was of the ground-rule variety which cost Detroit a run as Jackson, who could have walked home from third, had to stay there as the ball one-hopped the wall. Now the Tigers get a huge break. A routine grounder to short is thrown away by Tolbert who was trying to get the lead runner at third. He lobbed it into the Detroit dugout to permit Wells to trot home. Jackson scored on the original fielders choice so Detroit gets 2 on the play, and have four home in the inning. Miguel Cabrera is walked on purpose so Detroit has runners on first and second with one out and Martinez up. 5TH INNING: DETROIT 4, MINNESOTA 3.

8:38p: It’s tough to complain about Cabrera even when he makes a mistake,which he just did. He ran through a stop sign and was out by 15 feet at home trying to score the second run on a Victor Martinez double. Jhonny Peralta then doubled home Martinez and that is it for Duensing. The Tigers have six in with a man on and two men out here in the 5th. BOTTOM 5: DETROIT 6, MINNESOTA 3.

8:43p The Tigers settle for the 6-spot (might have been more if Cabrera hadn’t tried to score from first but, hey, at least he made an out enthusiastically) and lead this one 6-3 after 5, and they have gotten to the Twins bullpen. No change out of town. Cleveland and Chicago both have large mid-game leads. TOP 6: DETROIT 6, MINNESOTA 3.

9:17p What a turn of events. The Twins got a run back in the 6th to make it a 6-4 game and have scored 3 here in the 7th to retake the lead 7-6. One run scored on a Scherzer wild pitch, the other 2 on Morneau’s second homer of the night, a blast to right that looked pretty much identical to his first. Scherzer hit the next batter, for payback, and now he’s gone. Charlie Furbush is in. This is his 3rd career appearance and he has yet to allow an earned run in 8.2 innings. I blame myself for the sudden and sad turn of events. It turns out that this would have been the Tigers biggest comeback of the year–they had not won a game this season in which they trailed by more than 2 runs and they had trailed in this one by 3 before rallying with that 6-run 5th. Also, a win tonight would have set the Tigers up for a good homestand (a win tonight and a win in the finale tomorrow night would have given them a 6-3 record) and I was picturing myself asking the irascible Jim Leyland about that in the postgame scrum. Oh, well. The Tigers still have 9 offensive outs left, a third of a ballgame still to turn this around. BOTTOM 7: DETROIT 6, MINNESOTA 7.

9:31p: Everybody up here in the pressbox is second-guessing Leyland for leaving Scherzer in too long, long enough that is to allow the go-ahead homer to Morneau. I will bet you $50 right now that not a one of them has the guts to ask him about it. I don’t know if I will, because I don’t know that he did leave him in there too long. I might want to know what his thinking was and I do think it a fair question, so perhaps I will take the hit. We’ll see. The Tigers have the corners filled with one down and they tie the score on a sac fly by Peralta. Boesch comes in to score. BOTTOM 7: DETROIT 7, MINNESOTA 7.

9:40 Score tied and the Twins change pitchers. Mijares out, Dumatrait in. Two on, two out. Raburn up. Boston trying to come back at Fenway but they will fall short. They trail 10-5 in the top of the 9th. Same story in Toronto where the Jays comeback will likely be too little too late too. They trail the Indians 6-2 in the 8th. Rayburn fouls to right and leaves the two men on. Too bad. A hit there would have raised his average over .200 as he was at .199 when he came to the plate. Al Alburquerque coming on to start the 8th. TOP 8: DETROIT 7, MINNESOTA 7.

9:53p: Alburquerque is perfect. 1-2-3 with 2 punch-outs. Furbush meanwhile, coming on to get the last out in the 7th, has now worked 9 innings in his ML career and has not allowed a run. He has, in other words, begun his career with what amounts to a comlete-game shutout. We are going to the bottom of the 8th and we are still all tied up. BOTTOM 8: DETROIT 7, MMINNESOTA 7.

9:59p The Tigers threaten in the bottom of the 8th. A single, the pitcher tried and failed to get the lead runner on a sac bunt, and then a sac bunt that worked (nice job there by Wells–it was a perfect lay-down) and Detroit has ‘em at 2nd and 3rd with one out and the game tied. It’s over in Boston. The Red Sox threatened in the 9th but fell short 10-7 as the White Sox take the first 2 games of the series there. Boesch plates Worth–he’d started it all with that lead-off single–with a sac fly to right and Detroit leads 8-7. They walk Miggy and the crowd roars in disapproval. Don’t they know it just means they have to pitch to Martinez? Meanwhile, who closes? Valverde has been in 3 games in the last 2 days. The inning ends on a fly out by Martinez and it looks like Joaquin Benoit is coming in to close it out. I might’ve left Alburguerque in there…TOP 9: DETROIT 8, MINNESOTA 7.

10:13p: We may have to leave you to go to the locker room. One on and one out here in the 9th after a flyout and a bloop single by Span. Now Alexi Casilla walks so make it 2 on with 1 out. We will, as they say in the business, keep it right here. Oh, no. It’s Morneau. Left-handed hitter v right-handed pitcher and Justin’s hit two out tonight already. Benoit gets ahead 0-2. Got him! He fouled a couple off before Benoit fooled him with a breaking ball. Two on, two out. One run game. Michael Cuddyer is the hitter. Nothing is easy. Benoit goes 3-0 on Cuddyer. Cuddyer bounces into a forceout at second. Ballgame. Off to the room….FINAL DETROIT 8, MINNESOTA 7.

Tigers 8, Twins 7 May 31, 2011

2011-05-31T21:45:00.000-07:00

We were live-blogging over at my mlblog website during the Tigers come-from-behind (twice) win over the Twins on Tuesday night. Here's how that went:

:09pm We are off to a good start here at Comerica. Max Scherzer got the Twins 1-2-3 in the first on 11 pitches. The temp has dipped below 90, our game time temperature at 7:05 was 89. We are monitoring the Indians at Blue Jays game (just underway) as well as the White Sox at Red Sox. We will check in on other games as needed. I keep hearing people say you can’t count the Twins out, but even if that remains a valid statement right now, I think we are fast approaching the time when it will not be. Do you know what happens if the Twins go 64-46 (.582) the rest of the way? They win 81 games, that’s what. Now maybe .500 will be good enough to win this division, but I think it probably will not be. For the Twins to win 90 this season, they will have to play at a .664 clip the rest of the way–that’s a 108-win pace when carried over the course of a full season. 90 wins is, in my view at least, a more realistic prediction of what it is going to take to win the AL Central. But we shall see. Brian Duensing is the starter for the Twins tonight. He’s 2-5. He though, just like Scherzer, gets ‘em out in order in the first, fanning both Austin Jackson and Brennan Boesch. So…on to the second here in Detroit.

7:21p: Scherzer getst the first two men in the second then gives up hits on consecutive pitches: a double by Danny Valencia and an RBI single by Delmon Young, and the Twins grab a 1-0 lead. Austin Jackson sent a strong throw to the plate and there was a bit of a collision between Valencia and Detroit catcher Alex Avila who was unable to corral the throw and that was that. The top of the second ends. MID-2ND: DETROIT 0, MINNESOTA 1. 7:29p Justd like the Twins, the Tigers first hit of the night is a 2-out second inning double. Jhonny Peralta gets it, and that brings us to an interesting part of the Detroit lineup tonight. Get a load of these numbers. The 7 hitter Brandon Inge is hitting .206. He’s the best hitter of the bottom third of the order. Ryan Rayburn, in the 8-hole, is hitting .196. The #9 hitter, Danny Worth, has no batting average (.000). 7:32p We’ve got the windows closed up here in the press box tonight with the scoreboard showing that temperature of 89 degrees. That means no foul balls for me. I had one glance off the window sill Sunday night in the back end of the day-night doubleheader and I’m not going to lie to you, I wanted no part of it. I didn’t get a good read off the bat and I could see it was going to come close to hitting the ledge in front of me and who knows off what part of my face it might have caromed after that. I caught one last year on the fly so I didn’t feel bad about bailing on this one. If I think I can make a clean catch I’ll go for it. The window sill in front of me–solid thick aluminum–is covered with dents from the foul balls that have come screaming up here in the past few years. I wish Boston had played here in Detroit the way they are playing tonight at Fenway Park. Chicago leads 4-0 in the second, There was a big error at short and that Mexican pitcher who shut the Tigers down in that 14-1 game is getting knocked about. Rayburn had a couple of line smashes towards left but he went foul and he would up popping weakly to first, stranding 2. END OF 2: DETROIT, 0, MINNESOTA 1.

8:23p: The news out of town is all bad. Cleveland–trying to let Detroit back in the race even if the Tigers don’t seem to want to take advantage with losses in 5 of their last 6 and with a sub-.500 record in their last 23 (11-12)–are off to an early 3-0 lead in Toronto in the bottom of the 4th. The White Sox are clubbing the Red Sox 6-1 in the 5th. The Tigers–who just scored–began the night in second place in the AL Central, 5 games back of Cleveland, 3 and a half ahead of Chicago. Here in the 5th, Austin Jackson singled in a run and Caspar Wells doubled in another. Wells’ ball was of the ground-rule variety which cost Detroit a run as Jackson, who could have walked home from third, had to stay there as the ball one-hopped the wall. Now the Tigers get a huge break. A routine grounder to short is thrown away by Tolbert who was trying to get the lead runner at third. He lobbed it into the Detroit dugout to permit wells to trot home. Jackson scored on the original fielders choice so Detroit gets 2 on the play, and have four home in the inning. Miguel Cabrera is walked on purpose so Detroit has runners on first and second with one out and Martinez up. 5TH INNING: DETROIT 4, MINNESOTA 3.

8:43p The Tigers settle for the 6-spot (might have been more if Cabrera hadn’t tried to score from first but, hey, at least he made an out enthusiastically) and lead this one 6-3 after 5, and they have gotten to the Twins bullpen. No change out of town. Cleveland and Chicago both have large mid-game leads. TOP 6: DETROIT 6, MINNESOTA 3.

9:40 Score tied and the Twins change pitchers. Mijares out, Dumatrait in. Two on, two out. Raburn up. Boston trying to come back at Fenway but they will fall short. They trail 10-5 in the top of the 9th. Same story in Toronto where the Jays comeback will likely be too little too late. They trail the Indians 6-2 in the 8th. Rayburn fouls to right and leaves the two men on. Too bad. A hit there would have raised his average over .200 as he was at .199 when he came to the plate. Al Alburquerque coming on to start the 8th. TOP 8: DETROIT 7, MINNESOTA 7.

Rain Delay Programming

2011-05-31T11:42:00.000-07:00

Here's a little thing for a Monday even though it's Tuesday. I was stuck at the ballpark Saturday night as we were in the midst of getting rained out (again) and with time to kill I found this radio show out of Philadelphia on the internet that I had first heard while chaperoning my daughter and a friend on a trip in New Jersey last summer. It's the "Saturday Night Dance Party with Bob Pantano" and I'm a big fan. He plays a lot of songs which I have either never heard before or which I have not heard for so long that I've forgotten I ever heard them in the first place. So, while I was sitting there Saturday night, watching a tarp, I was listening to this...

Pretty nice, eh? There's a lot going on in that song. The artist is Robert John which, prior to the Google, I did not know. And here's something else I did not know: "The Lion Sleeps Tonight"? That's Robert John, too. I know you've heard of that one. Wee-mah-whac, ah-wee-mah-whack...

Anyway, thanks Philly station! They had their own style of music in Philadelphia. Perhaps you've heard of it. TSOP. The Sound of Philadelphia.

We had our own style of music here in Detroit, too. Perhaps you've heard of it. Motown. But I bet you've never heard of the Detroit Emeralds:

How can you not LOVE THAT? He's not just gonna buy her the dress. He's gonna buy her the ironing board so she can keep that new dress looking sharp. What a guy, am I right?!

Anyway, that's how I kill time during rain delays. I find old songs and then I listen to them and then I pass them along to you.

Well, no rain tonight, we hear. The Tigers have the Twins in for game 2 of a 3-game. Max Scherzer goes for Detroit. He was, just a week ago Saturday night in Pittsburgh, looking to become the first Tigers starter to have a 7-0 record in the month of May since 1939. In his first 9 starts of the season he was 6-0 and the Tigers were 7-2. His ERA was 2.81 and opponents were hitting .257 off him. But he got cuffed around a little bit that night in Pittsburgh and then got shelled by the Red Sox here last Thursday in a game Detroit lost 14-2. In his last two starts then, Scherzer is 0-2 and the Tigers are 0-2. His ERA is 11.74 and opponents are hitting .400 off him.

By the way, tonight's is game #54 for the Tigers in 2011. We play 162 at this level, which means that after tonight, the season will be exactly one-third through. If they Tigers win, they will hit the milestone a mere 2 games over the .500 mark. If they lose, they will be right at .500 with a record of 27-27. In either event, it is not good enough.

First pitch is 7:05 EDT and we will be there to blog it for you and to get all the postgame quotes and such. Unless we have fallen victim to heat exhaustion, that is. It's 90 right now, heading for a high of 93. Should still be around the 90-degree mark at First Pitch. We'll see.

Thoughts on the Red Sox v Tigers and My Role In All Of This

2011-05-26T22:09:00.000-07:00

I know a lot of you are wondering what it is I am doing at Comerica Park for the Tigers games, etc. I am sending audio material to some stations in outstate Michigan that can't afford to staff the games themselves. But, acting together...they can buy me off. Sometimes I send them a sound snippet (called an "actuality") like this one in which Detroit manager Jim Leyland comments on Max Scherzer giving up 7 runs on 7 hits in 2 innings today by saying something I couldn't explain to you if I tried, so just listen to it, okay?

I also file a more in-depth game wrap-up, but the thing of it is, I'm quirky. After Boston beat Detroit 14-1 Thursday, I sent this off for public consumption. It contains my fun exchange with Boston manager Terry Francona. I'm calling it, "What A Grinder!"

Oh, and Francona had this to say about his team scoring 14 runs in a game for the second day in a row.

So, there you have it. This is what I do...

Tigers Ripped Off in Beantown

2011-05-19T00:21:00.000-07:00

I finally got around to watching the Tigers game. You want to know what I think, right? I think this: The boys can say, "We wuz robbed," and the boys would be correct.

With the bases loaded and two out in the 7th inning of a scoreless game tonight in Boston, Austin Jackson completed his ten-pitch at bat by checking his swing for sure on a 3-2 Clay Buchholz heater which was high and out of the strike zone for sure, but on the appeal first base umpire Gary Cederstrom ruled a swing and a miss and rung him up and that was that. The Tigers should have had a run in on a bases-loaded walk and a 1-0 lead with the bases still loaded. Jim Leyland barked about it, but there was nothing he nor anyone could do, becuase this is how baseball works. On balls and strikes (and everything else, mostly) once the umpire decrees, it doesn't matter if you've got Perry Mason defending you, you are out. It doesn't help one get the call if one leads the American League in strikeouts as Jackson, now with 53, does.

Max Schlereth came on in relief of Ryan Perry with two out in the 8th inning of the 0-0 game after Perry had retired the only two hitters he faced in relief of Phil Coke. Schlereth walked the first hitter he faced, Carl Crawford, on a 3-2 pitch before .212 hitter Jarrod (gee, I really thought it was "Gerald") Saltalamacchia banged a wall-ball high off the monster near where it meets the center-field wall and Crawford, running on contact with two out, scored the only run of the game standing up.

Victor Martinez led off the 9th with a two-strike double off Jonathan Papelbon and pinch-runner Andy Dirks made third with one out via a Jhonny Peralta groundout. It would be the last ball the Tigers would put in play. Alex Avila took the first pitch which was about as grooved as a Papelbon pitch gets before the Red Sox closer went up the ladder to get Avila to swing at two which were probably out of the strike zone. Up came Ryan Rayburn, fourth in the AL when it comes to striking out, and he also gazed lovingly at a first pitch he could have driven to who knows where if only he'd swung. He too would go down flailing, (strikeout number 48) and that was that. A tough loss for the Tigers if ever there was one, in the rain, the mist and the fog in Boston with the game-tying run at third with less than two out in the 9th and Detroit unable to deliver the goods.

Nice outing by Phil Coke, so there is that, at least. 7 IP, 3 H, 0 ER. And all for nothing.

Rich Kincaide Is Watching MLB.TV Again

2011-05-18T22:37:00.000-07:00

I did tonight what I do most nights: I watch baseball on MLB.tv--where I have access to every game, except the game involving the team in my home market, Detroit. I have a new blog on MLBLOGS.com and I thought I'd try it out. Technical glitches aplenty, though, so I don't really know for sure whether these 3155 words written in real time between around 9pm (EDT) and 1:30am this morning actually made the net or not. But I reproduce them for you now, at this time, in this place:
------------------- ------------------------------ ----------------------------

I'm going to watch the Tigers-Red Sox game tonight on the computer and since I live in the Detroit market, I will have to wait until 90 minutes after the game is over to see it. So, no spoilers, okay?

UPDATE: OKAY, I SAW A TWEET AND I KNOW THE TIGERS LOST 1-0. GEE, THEY HAD THE TYING RUN AT THIRD IN THE 9TH.

The reason I'm waiting is so that I can utilize the crowd noise overlay feature and watch the game not in silence as would be the case were I to simply mute the audio, but with that crowd noise in the background: the same way it would be were I covering the game in person like I do at Comerica Park. I don't like having my opinions and judgements colored by what an announcer or a color guy might say. You know?

And, truth be told, I am not a fan of the Tigers broadcasters. There are a lot of crews I don't care for. Rick Manning sounds like he's really sold on himself in Cleveland and I hate Ken Harrelson so much--(as a broadcaster because he's such a homer; I'm sure he's a fine person)--that I sometimes bring him up when the White Sox are getting hammered just to listen to him whine to name but two.

But some I like. Michael Kay on the YES Network is outstanding. I enjoy listening to Dick Enberg in San Diego, he goes on and on, and, speaking of which, Vin Scully, maybe the best of all time, continues to turn in the best broadcast in The Show today out of Los Angeles. Vin skips the odd road trip now, but when he's behind the mike, I'm watching the game on MLB.TV. I love the guy. I make sure I tune in (of course on computer that should read, "I navigate over") at broadcast time every night I can just to hear him open his broadcast with these simple words; "It's time for Dodger baseball!"

One thing about Scully. He works alone. And, as I say, he's the best in the business. You'd think somebody would pick up on this and gas their color guy with all of his inside baseball bullcrap and let a guy work alone but none has, so far. I watch a lot of games, and I mean A LOT OF GAMES on MLB-TV. Right now I have the Orioles-Yankees game on as well as the White Sox-Indians. I have to watch the Indians because they lead the Tigers by 5 in the AL Central--besides, you have to watch the other teams in your division--and the game in Baltimore happens to be the most attractive of the other early games tonight. Plus, it, unlike most of the other non-west coast games tonight, is competitive with the Yanks leading at Camden Yards 1-0 in the 9th. Their run was unearned. The game in Chicago's good, too. Jake Peavy is shutting out the Indians 1-0 in the bottom of the 6th. We have a full slate of west coasters tonight (Sculley's going to be calling the LA-San Fransisco game from Dodger Stadium, for example), so I'll up late with you.

I see we have a rain delay in Boston, so who knows when we'll get to see that Tigers game tonight. They kept us waiting for a full two hours last night before they called the game in Detroit. I started telling whomever would listen after the delay and lasted for an hour that we wouldn't be playing last night but they didn't believe me. I dunno. I went, as I note at the top of this blog, to my first Tigers game in 1963. That should buy me some cred in these matters, but no...

Meanwhile, it's raining in Baltimore and Mariano Rivera has blown the save. Two singles and a sac fly by Vlad Guerrero plated the run that tied it at 1 and they are going to extras. And Peavy has thrown only 65 pitches and has allowed only 2 hits as the Indians (try to) bat against him with a man down in the 7th. Peavy could be as big as story as there is in the Bigs this year.

I watched Peavy make his debut in Los Angeles (okay, Anaheim) last week. He was trailing when he left, but I the White Sox won in extras, the go-ahead run scoring when LA's Jepson threw a wild pitch while trying to issue an intentional walk. You don't see that every night. He sailed it 10 feet over his catchers head. In Chicago, Lillibridge just made an amazing sliding catch on the warning track in center to get the first out of the 8th, Peavy still in there. But back to that game last week against the Angels. It ended with what I think will go down as the best play in the majors this season. Let's test my blogging skills and see if we can find the play and insert it for your enjoyment.

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jspmlb

Well, there's the link to it, anyway. (Click it, it's worth it.) WordPress wants $60 (ok, $59.97) for a feature which would allow me to embed the video, but I don't have that kind of cash and even if I did, I doubt I'd blow it on that.

I just heard Scully say, "It's time for Dodger baseball"; Peavy gets the game to the 9th allowing only 3 hits; the O's and Yankees have gone to the 11th; and the rain delay is over in Boston. The night continues...
Peavy came out for the 9th, a bit of surprise for a guy making his second start after surgery which could have, perhaps should have, finished him off for good, but instead he finishes the game and logs a 3-hit shutout with 8K and 0W. Wow. The O's have 'em loaded with 1 out in the 11th, oops, make it 2 out as Luke Scott fans when pretty much all he had to do was put a ball in play to beat the Yankees. Weiters flies out and that, as Scully always says, is that. On to the 12th in Baltimore as the Orioles let a great chance go by.

The Yanks let the O's off the hook in the 12th, returning the favor when Jeter hits a 40-foot ground out to 3rd with two in scoring position and two out in the inning.

Trevor Plouffe, shortstop for the Twins, has just overthrown first base by about 15 feet to give the A's an extra out in the 2nd. The Twins lead 1-0 in the second with two out and, thanks to the miscue, the A's have men on second and third in when they should be grabbing their mitts and heading out to play the field. A Kevin Kouzmanoff single scores both runners and the Twins, 13.5 games out in the Central and the most disappointing team in baseball by far so far, trail in Oakland 2-1 when they should have been out of the inning ahead 1-0.

The Tigers lost. I know this because, even with the scores blacked out, I see Boston did not have to bat in the bottom of the 9th at Fenway. This is not a good sign as I doubt that the Bostons would have declined their At bats had they been, in fact, trailing. Besides that, the Tigers haven't Tweeted much all night. I don't know how it is for your team, but the Tigers only Tweet when something good happens and they have been largely silent on Twitter on this night.

Baltimore has runners and 2nd and 3rd with two out in the 13th. (See, there's a lot going on out there.) Again the Orioles fail and the Yanks get their lead-off man on in the 13th. NY loads 'em up and A-Rod takes a called third and bitches about it. Accardo is the Baltimore pitcher and I don't know much about him.

Plouffe made up for the error that wound up costing the Twins 2 runs in the second by singling in 2 runs in the third and Minnesota leads again, 3-2. Dickerson strikes out in Baltimore (this is the first I've heard of a Yankee named Dickerson) and the bases remain loaded for NY, now with 2 out in the 13th. Gardner grounds out to first and for the umpteenth time, a team blows an extra-inning scoring chance in Baltimore tonight. The bottom of the 13th is coming up.

At Dodger Stadium, Scully's not bumming even if the Giants lead 2-0 in the second and have the bases loaded with none out because Scully never bums. You can't ever tell by listening to him if LA is up or down. What a pro! (But the Dodgers are in trouble tonight.)

We are "down" now to 7 in progress games around the Majors. Should we just type on until the night is done?

We may have to write all night. The Yankees, again bidding to win that game in Baltimore, have a man at second with nobody out in the 14th. And the Dodgers go down 1-2-3 in LA where Matt Cain has retired 12 in a row.

Cain begins the 5th at Dodger Stadium and another Matt, LA's Kemp, ruins the perfect game and all the rest of it with a homer. It's the first homer he's ever hit off Cain, says Scully. The lead-off man does not reach in the bottom of the 14th in Baltimore which might be the first time in the extra innings that the lead-off man has been retired. Felix Pie (they say P-ay, I say PIE) has his potential gamer caught on the track up against the wall by that guy Dickerson of NY.

Texas and KC are in extras, too. That game is in the 11th and I haven't had time to click over and see what's up at The K tonight. I should be able to log onto that Tigers game in about half an hour. The O's are out in order in the 14th, so it's on to the 15th inning at Camden Yards!

For the fourth straight inning in extra innings, and for the tenth time in the game, New York gets the leadoff man on in the 15th. The Dodgers, trailing 4-0 when the 5th began, follow the leadoff homer by Kemp by loading the bases with none out. Two out now and the bases still loaded in Chavez Ravine. The Orioles, with two on and none out, bring in the last relief pitcher they have left in the bullpen. The Dodgers fail to get a run out of that bases-loaded none out situation.

After 13 singles and 15 innings, Robinson Cano gets the first extra base hit of the night for New York and it scores two. Dickerson then takes a pitch to the head from Gonzalez, and he's down in a heap. Gonzales is ejected and Dickerson staggers to his feet. Guthrie, slated to start for Baltimore tomorrow, may have to come in to pitch now.

Guthrie is indeed in for the Orioles with the Yankees ahead 5-3 and none down in the 15th. Texas scored two in the top of the 11th and KC is now batting in the bottom of the inning with one down and none on. A sac fly in Baltimore is the first out of the inning for NY and ups their lead to 4-1.

Baltimore, down 3, gets the first two men on in the bottom of the 15th.

Game over in KC, 5-4 Texas in 11. The Royals had 1st and 3rd with 1 out in 10th, but Arthur Rhodes, featured this week in Sports Illustrated as a LOOG (Left Handed One Out Guy) induces an infield popup and gets out of the jam. Six games still going. We're going to Oakland next as the A's have tied the Twins 3-3, with that game now in the 8th.

Incredible in Balt. An apparent single that would have loaded the bases for the Orioles with one out, hits baseruner Snyder instead and so it's two on and two out instead and the next batter makes an out and the game is over: Yankees 4, Orioles 1 (15). Gary Thorne, tacitly noting that the game ended at 12:05am, says, "We'll see you tonight for game two of the series."

5 games still going on around the majors. Still tied in Oakland, now top 9 with one out. (Can you believe I pretty much do this every night? I watch baseball. It's what I do.)

I hate to say it, but Atlanta is tied 3-3 in Arizona. More extras? The A's and Twins are tied 3-3 in the 9th, also. Joe Nathan is coming in for the Twins with one out and none on. He's lost his closers job this year and there's a reason for that., We'll see if he can get the Twins to the 10th.

I don't know if he will. Kurt Suzuki rips the fourth pitch Nathan throws and there's a man in scoring position for the A's with one out.

We've clicked over to Arizona where the Diamondbacks have the winning run at second with one down in the bottom of the 9th in a 3-3 game.

Justin Upton flies to the Warning Track. 5 more feet and it would have been a walk-off homer for the D-Backs. Two out there. Two out in Oakland, too. Mark Ellis struck out and was struck by what he thought was the unfairness of the last two strikes, both called. A strikeout ends the 9th in Arizona and that game is now in extra innings. Nathan gets out of the jam as pinch-hitter Jackson (is that Conner?) grounds into a force and that game is now in extra innings. Also.

It was Conner Jackson batting for Oakland in the 9th...and it wasn't. He spells it "Coner", not Conner. I did not know that. Based on the length of the 15-inning game in Baltimore--about 5 hours--if any of these late games go 15, we will be watching baseball (it's what we do, you know) until 3 am.

J.J. Putz makes a bare-hand stab to get a putout in 'Zona while in Oak the Twins get a two-base sac bunt when, following a leadoff single, Daric Barton sails his throw of an Alexi Casilla bunt to second into centerfield and it's two in scoring position for Minnesota with none out.

Trevor Plouffe, whose throwing error gave Oakland two runs way back in the 2nd, gives the Twins the lead 4-3 with a sac fly. He's knocked in 3 tonight. Just checked in at Seattle, perhaps the prettiest ballpark anywhere, and the Mariners lead the Angels 3-0 in the 8th. Vargas went 7 innings and allowed 3 hits and no runs. Jamey Wright came out to start the 8th for the M's and LA threatens with 2 on and 2 out.

Matt Capps in to close in Oakland. He get's the first two hitters. Wright's troubles continue in Seattle. Bases loaded, 2 out, Hank Conger up for LA. Still a 3-0 Seattle lead, but the tying runs are aboard. Conger gets frozen on a full-count curve which breaks over the plate for strike three to end the inning. Sims, the Seattle play-by-play man, is amped and all impressed by this turn of events. Barton blasts a full-count Capps fastball to the track but it stays in the yard for the final out. The fence says 367. Barton hit it 365. Twins 4, A's 3 (10). Four games still going.

Atlanta has taken a 4-3 lead in the 11th in Arizona. I do not know how, but I will try to find out. Diory Hernandez (never heard of him) singled in the go-ahead run for the Braves. Now in the bottom of the 11th at Chase Field. That's where the D-Backs play, isn't it? Chase Field?

Craig Kimbrel on to nail down the save for Atlanta. We've checking in in Los Angeles for the first time in a long time right now as the Dodgers, down 5-2 to the Giants in the 8th now, have two on with two out. That guy with the beard, Brian Wilson, is on to get a four-out save. Juan Uribe greets him with a two-run double and now it's 5-4, SF. Scully says this is the first time Wilson's been in a game in a week. He's the third pitcher of the inning for SF as Cain took the game into the 8th. Now Troy Loney hits a roller into right to score Uribe and tie the game, 5-5! I'm more excited than Scully. And the Diamondbacks have just won with two runs in the bottom of the 11th to offset the run the Braves got in the top of the inning. I believe they got four singles to score two runs and win. I went to Gameday and checked because I couldn't watch that game (I was listening) and the Dodgers comeback and write it all down at the same time and it turns out that former Brave Kelly Johnson tied it with a single and Justin Upton won it with another. And, as another old announcer used to say, "How about that!?" Seattle has completed their 3-0 win over LA. Brandon League the save. Just like that, we are down to 2 games going in the Majors and wouldn't you know, one of them--the game at Dodger Stadium--is all tied up.

Scully just reminded me of something we wrote about earlier. Yes, the Dodgers scored 3 in the 8th to tie the game 5-5 and deny Cain (7.1 IP, 3 H) a decision, but remember the 5th when LA had the bases loaded with none out and failed to score.

Cody Ross has just hit a 3-run homer barely fair down the left field line with 2 out in the 9th and the Giants undue that 3-run LA comeback in the bottom of the 8th with 3 of their own in the top of the 9th. They now lead 8-5. What a ballgame. Haven't most of them been great? This is why we watch. Scully: "[Lance] Cormier, stung to the heart on that one." It's over in SD where the Padres get the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the 9th but lose to Milwaukee, 5-2. 1 game still going in the Majors. And, by the way, if Wilson can get the Dodgers out in the 9th, he will have a blown save and a win in the same game. Pitchers call that "chiseling" a win. But will he? The Dodgers get a leadoff single in the 9th.

Wilson, after giving up that single, is throwing warm-up pitches from the Dodger Stadium mound and I'm not sure why. The trainer came out, but Wilson says he's okay and he'll continue. Jamie Carroll bounced to the mound and Wilson gets the out but even that wasn't easy. Wilson knocked it down and scrambled to pick up the ball and get the throw to first in time.

It's over in LA. Ross's homer in the 9th wins it for SF 8-5. Scully signs off with his usual, "Stay tuned for Dodgers live, coming up next. Good night, everybody!" That says it all, pretty much. It is 1:30 in the morning. There are no games still being played in the Majors. And I still haven't watched that Tigers-Boston game.

May 16, 2011: Blue Jays (at) Tigers

2011-05-16T16:46:00.000-07:00

It occurs to us that even though we've been at just about all the games, we have yet to live-blog a Tigers game so, what the heck, we're here....

Baseball is the only game we cover where it is expected that one will actually do work while the game is in progress. One keeps score at the ballgame. At all other games, one merely sits and watches and waits for statistics--halftime starts, first period summary, etc.--to be handed out. I have no earthly idea why this is. I've never, for example, seen a reporter take a scorecard down into the locker room in case he might need to refer to it to check on something which may or may not have happened, so I'm not sure why we keep score, but we do. And while I was writing this, Juan Rivera of the Blue Jays made an out and I don't know how because I wasn't watching. Used to be you'd have to ask and somebody else would have to look at their card and tell you. Now, I can check on-line and nobody knows I wasn't paying attention. We do live in the best of times. We really do. (Rivera was an f8 by the way, and by the way, if you hit the shift button after you hit the "f" when you are trying to type "8", it looks like you are writing a dirty word instead. So, by way of a Pro Tip, don't do that.)

We are in the bottom of the 2nd inning here at Comerica Park and the main thing we can tell you is that it is cold. 44 degrees at game time. In the middle of May? The Tigers lead 1-0 and should lead by more. They had the bases loaded with nobody out in the first with Miguel (.309, 7, 27) Cabrera up and wound up scoring only once off Kyle Drabek, the Toronto starter and the son of the former Cy Young Award winner. Cabrera hit a sac fly and Victor Martinez, hitting .459 in May, grounded weakly up the middle and it was a 6, 6-3 DP. (You may want to learn how to score a game yourself if you want to follow along. What I just wrote is a double play in which the ball is fielded by the shortstop who steps on second base for the first out and throws to first base for the second. It's easy when you know how.) We'll check back in with you as events warrant.

Andy Dirks is making his Major League debut here tonight and a few moments ago he collected his first major league hit, singling to left. The culmination of a life's dreams, wouldn't you say? Two or three pitches later, he got picked off first. It's hard to feel much worse than you feel when you get picked off, especially with people watching. Which, incidentally is what we have here, sort of. The crowd is small, probably as small an audience as we have seen this season. We're in the fifth now and the Tigers continue to hang on to that 1-0 lead. And I almost forgot: Max Scherzer is bidding to go to 7-0 this season. The last Tigers pitcher to get off to such a good start was Jeremy Bonderman who went 8-0 to start the 2007 season. BOTTOM OF THE 5TH: DETROIT 1, TORONTO 0.

The Tigers just got out of the biggest jam of the night, so far. Corey Patterson and Juan Batista singled to open the 6th, but Scherzer escaped by getting Edwin Encarnacion to pop to the catcher, Aaron Hill to look at a called 3rd and Juan River to ground into a third-to-second force. Nice work by Max. Is it the key to the ballgame? We'll know in a little while. Cabrera has just walked with one down in the Detroit 6th--his 34th base on balls, second in the American League--and as such has no at bats tonight with a sac fly and two walks. Victor Martinez, (did I mention he was hitting .459 in May heading into tonight's game?) bounced back the pitcher and Jhonny Peralta lined out to left and that, as Vin Scully would say, was that. ON TO THE 7TH: DETROIT 1, TORONTO 0.

The Blue Jays have tied it up. For the second inning in a row, the first two Jays singled but this time, a successful bunt and a sac fly produced a run for Toronto. Cabrera was charged with an error for failing to catch a foul pop, rendering the run unearned. Although it still counts as a run so, into the bottom of the 7th the teams have traded sacrifice flys in a 1-1 tie. BOTTOM OF THE 7TH: DETROIT 1, TORONTO 1.

We are in the top of the 8th, Scherzer is out and Joaquin Benoit is in and for the third consecutive innings, the first two Blue Jays have singled. So the Tigers are in a spot of trouble. They are in a spot of trouble on offense, too. The Tigers have 3 singles in this game. Three.

Toronto makes them pay, again. A double by Aaron Hill is the third straight hit allowed by Benoit and it scores a run and it means that when Benoit finally gets an out, it comes on a sacrifice fly and costs him and the Tigers another run. And since Hill moved from second to third on that same fly ball, when J.P. Arencibia hits a fly to deep left, it's yet another sac fly and yet another run for the Blue Jays. It's not like Toronto hasn't earned it, they've outhit the Tigers 12-3 in this one. TWO OUTS, TOP OF THE EIGHTH: DETROIT 1, TORONTO 4.

That was quite an inning for Benoit and the Tigers. Three runs--earned--on 4 hits in only 14 pitches as he ERA goes up to 7.98, which is a hair on the high side. BOTTOM OF THE 8TH: DETROIT 1, TORONTO 4.

Game 6: Life on the Knife Edge

2011-05-10T16:32:00.001-07:00

Pre-Game Skate: Have you ever noticed that the only time the word "staved" ever get's used is when some team in some sports wins in a game which, had they lost, would have knocked them out of the race for a playoff spot or out of the playoffs themselves? We gather tonight to see if the Detroit Red Wings can stave. The Wings, down three games to none in this best-of-seven as of six days ago, now trail three games to two.

A few nights ago I discussed how much I dislike elimination games on account of nervousness. This is that, 3x. Tonight marks the third straight game in which Detroit has faced elimination. The locals stayed alive in Game 4 here last Friday night on a goal by Darren Helm which broke a 3-3 tie with about a minute and half to go after San Jose had rallied from a 3-0 deficit to tie the game. Sunday, in Game 5, the Wings were done. Dead. (How dead? Think Robert De Niro in "Casino" talking about his wife's boyfriend. That dead.) The Wings were smoked like a trout. They trailed, on the road, 3-1 in the third period. Thanks for playing and here are some lovely parting gifts, right? Then, the Red Wings found a way to score 3 goals on Antti Niemi on 6 final period shots and now trail this Western Conference semi-final three games to two. Johan Franzen will not dress tonight. He didn't play at all in the final 37 minutes Sunday. His spot in the lineup will be taken by...we don't know yet, for certain. It will be either Mike Modano or Jiri Hudler. Both are taking warm up. My guess: Modano. I think if there's a loose puck near the Sharks net you'd rather it be on his stick than Hudler's, but it's not my call. Ryan Clowe is injured or has the flu or something and is out of the San Jose lineup. He's been good for the Sharks in this series. I think that's all we have for you right now. Boy, am I nervous. Did I mention that?
8:00pm: It's Modano. He's not only dressed for tonight's game, he's starting on a line with Pavel Datsyuk (I still can't get over the play he made on the game-winner Sunday in San Jose) and Tomas Holmstrom. Kris Draper's a healthy scratch--if the Wings lose his career will end like that, as a healthy scratch--which means Drew Miller gets to play tonight.
8:15pm: We are underway. One shot on goal in the first minute, a long one by Logan Couture and an easy save for Detroit's Jimmy Howard. You like the first one to be an easy one.
8:18pm: Danny Cleary just got run from behind as San Jose takes the body in a big way to start the game. Incredibly, no call even though Cledary went head-first into the boards. But moments later they Sharks Dan Boyle goes off for holding at 3:59. Detroit is 4-18 (22.2%) on the power play in the series.
8:22pm: The Wings are crashing the net and have outshot the Sharks 7-1 in the first 7 minutes but there is no score. Detroit came oh-so-close on that power play when Cleary failed to tuck the rebound of a Modano blast from the line. Yes, Modano is on the Detroit power play tonight. 13:01 left, 1ST PERIOD: DETROIT 0, SAN JOSE 0.
8:30pm: We are halfway through the first and the Wings have an 11-2 edge in shots on goal. Still even on the big board, though. 9:49 left, 1st PERIOD, DETROIT 0, SAN JOSE 0.
8:34pm: Sharks power play at 14:19. This their first of the night, they are 4-21 (19%) in the series. Jimmy Howard just made a great save with his left skate on a drive from the line with about seven minutes left in the period. Phil Myre, the former goalie for the Montreal Canadiens and Philadelphia Flyers called it an old fashion kick save, the kind you don't see very often anymore. "Kick save and a beauty," I said. Old time hockey, eh? Speaking of which, old-time hockey, that is, did I mention I saw Gordie Howe before the game tonight. Because I did. Oh, and Devin Setoguchi just got called for hooking, negating the San Jose power play. 5:09 left, 1st PERIOD: DETROIT 0, SAN JOSE 0.
8:49pm: The period--dominated by Detroit as they outshot the San Jose 18-6, ends scoreless. I'll tell you, if you play all night the way the Red Wings played in the first, you win. Unless the Hockey Gods have it in for you, that is. END OF THE FIRST PERIOD: DETROIT 0, SAN JOSE 0.
9:06pm: Second period underway.
9:10pm: Drew Miller just missed the best scoring chance so far. He had a rebound ten feet out in front with Niemi down and out and he slid it wide. No second period shots for the Sharks yet: 21-6, Detroit at this point. The Sharks are going on the power play as Datsyuk--a finalist for the Lady Bing which goes to "Most Gentlemanly Player" gets called for roughing. Of all people. Of all infractions. 15:50 left, 2nd PERIOD: DETROIT 0, SAN JOSE 0.
9:17pm: I pride myself on not cheering in the pressbox but I just screamed, "Oh, oh, oh!" as Cleary who had been in the box serving the extra penalty given to Datsyuk in his exchange with Torrey Mitchell, took a pass, was in alone, pulled Niemi to create and open net and hit the post as dead-on as you can ever hit one. You worry about the "not meant to be" factor at this point. I mean, that was a certain goal for Cleary and he didn't score it... 11:35 left, 2nd PERIOD; DETROIT 0, SAN JOSE 0.
9:25pm: Detroit power play as Modano gets face-firsted into the boards in front of the Detroit bench by Patrick Marleau at 11:39. It's boarding for Marleau who is tonight the unwitting victim of controversy as being called "gutless" by Jeremy Roenick on the NHL Network. And the Wings take a make-even call as Holmstrom is whistled for goalie interference at 11:32. 8:28 left, 2nd PERIOD: DETROIT 0, SAN JOSE 0.
9:30pm: Pavel Datsyuk just had a shot blocked. Had it gotten through it would have been his first shot on goal in the game. There is some suspicion that he's not shooting nor taking faceoffs because he's playing with a broken wrist. That was the press room talk before the game at any rate. 6:27 left, 2nd PERIOD: DETROIT 0, SAN JOSE 0.
9:38pm: We've got just over a minute to go in the period and the Wings have held the Sharks to 7 shots in the period and 13 for the game. And still, incredibly, the game remains scoreless. 1:15 left, 2nd PERIOD: DETROIT 0, SAN JOSE 0.
9:40pm: Todd Bertuzzi is tripped behind the Sharks net, fairly obvious call as the guy who did the tripping, San Jose's Douglas Murray, had his stick go flying high in the air on the play. The call comes with only :20 left in the period. But, the Wings will start the 3rd with a man advantage. The Wings missed another golden one as Niemi robbed Holmstrom from the low rim of the left circle with a couple seconds left on the clock. Detroit outshot the Sharks 14-7 in the period, have outshot them 32-13 in the game. It's an amazing game. Amazing that San Jose is still in this thing, I mean. But, they are and I've seen that turn out to be not such a good thing. SECOND INTERMISSION: DETROIT 0, SAN JOSE 0.
9:59pm: The 3rd period begins...
10:05pm: The puck slides between Howards knee and barely, just barely, crosses the goal line before the Detroit netminder can cover. It was a goal close enough to review. The whole puck has to cross the whole line and this one did by about a 16th of an inch. The goal comes on the Sharks 16th shot of the night (Detroit has 34), at 3:54 of the third period. I think Logan Couture scored it. He's the guy who scored that huge goal for San Jose in Game 3 here in Detroit last year when Detroit coughed up a 3-1 lead in the third period and with it, their chance to beat the Sharks in the series. Assist to Dany Heatley. 15:57 left, 3rd PERIOD: DETROIT 0, SAN JOSE 1.
10:10pm: Still a lot of time left but I don't have a good feeling about this. Maybe it's just the fan in me being pessimistic like a fan would be (you can supress being a fan but you can't eliminate it) but this one feels like it's going to be the ultimate hard-luck loss. 13:53 left, 3rd PERIOD: DETROIT 0, SAN JOSE 1.
10:16pm: Niemi just made the save of the century. He was down and out,4 reduced to making snow angels--helpless in a word--and he lifted his left leg straight up in the air to deny Henrik Zetterberg who looked to have the entire upper half of the net there for the taking from 15 feet away. As good a save as I have ever seen. Except Phil Myre says he didn't make it, that the shot went high. And Phil Myre is usally right. 9:45 left, 3rd PERIOD: DETROIT 0, SAN JOSE 1.
10:19pm: And we are--just like that--tied. Zetterberg tips a right-circle wrist shot fired by Kronwall and something FINALLY got by Niemi. The goal at 10:38. Filppula also assists. The building is alive again. The Red Wings are alive again. 9:12 left, 3rd PERIOD: DETROIT 1, SAN JOSE 1.
10:25pm: THE RED WINGS LEAD. DATSYUK (WHO ELSE?) MADE THE PLAY ACROSS TO FILPPULA AND HE BURIED IT INTO AN EMPTY NET. SAN JOSE D-MAN JASON DEMERS TRIED TO BLOCK IT IN THE CREASE BUT HE HAD HIS BACK TURNED AND HAD NO CHANCE. I DIDN'T GET THE TIME (12:32 AS IT TURNS OUT) BUT WE'VE GOT A LITTLE UNDER 7 TO GO NOW. Penalty to Abdelkader at 13:14. WHAT A GAME. 3RD PERIOD: DETROIT 2, SAN JOSE 1.
10:34pm: We are standing on the bench again, in order to see. The Wings killed the penalty. They still lead by a goal. This is one of the greatest games I have ever seen. 2:30 left, 3rd PERIOD: DETROIT 3, SAN JOSE 1.
10:33pm: EMPTY NET GOAL! EMPTY GOAL BY HELM! THE WINGS WILL WIN. THEY LEAD 3-1 WITH 1:05 TO GO. I HAVE TO TO THE DRESSING ROOM NOW. BEEN GREAT SHARING THIS ONE WITH YOU. :40 LEFT, 3RD PERIOD: DETROIT 3, SAN JOSE 1.

9 Lives

2011-05-08T17:22:00.000-07:00

8:11pm: We are live-blogging tonight not from the HP Pavillion in San Jose, but from our office where we watch Game 5 between the Wings and Sharks on-line (Canadian feed from TSN) and on TV (US broadcast on Versus). This will adversely impact our ability to both observe and comment on the action, but it's the best we can do. You just don't see everything on TV that you do in person. You can't. You are at the mercy of the director. We see only that which he chooses to show us. And they miss a lot, usually because of their love of the close-up. For example, when I'm at the arena and there's an apparent goal, the first thing I look for is the red light. Has it come on? Is it really a goal? I'll bet you could watch a years worth of hockey on TV without even realizing that a red light is turned on whenever a goal is scored. Watch tonight and you'll see what I mean. They never show the red light. The always cut in close so you can see the facial expression of the player who just scored. Or they'll show some fans in the stands. I don't care about either. I assume the player is happy and overjoyed and all, and I assume the fans are jumping up and down in glee so why waste my time showing either? Don't get more started about sports on TV...
We do enjoy the same access to the Official Game Notes and real-time scoring that we get when we are in person, so there is that. The question for me tonight is whether I'll see another live game this season. If San Jose wins, the series will be over and the answer will be no. The Wings are attempting tonight to do something they have never do before: force a series in which they trailed 0-3 to a Game 6. The Wings are--as we mentioned the night before last from the Joe Louis Arena--0-10 all-time in series in which they trailed three games to none. Nine of the ten times they've been swept out in four games, the lone exception being last years' series against the Sharks when Detroit won Game 4 to extend the series, only to lose it in five. The big story at the outset tonight is that both Pavel Datsyuk and Johan Franzen are in the lineup. I saw a report a little over an hour before game time that neither would not play due to injury, a development which made me think that this Game 5 was over before it began and with it, the series. I don't think Detroit wins without those two. We are underway and San Jose is on the power play. We'll keep you up to date. FIRST PERIOD: DETROIT 0, SAN JOSE 0.
8:27pm: We have played one half of one period: edge, San Jose. They've had more scoring chances--that will happen when you outshoot a team 9-2 which is what the Sharks have done so far--and what we have here is what we expected we would have, what any road team expects; you have to weather a storm. Usually early. Usually right out of the gate, in fact. So far, though the Wings have hung on. San Jose is 0-1 on the power play tonight, 4-18 in the series (18.2%). Niklas Lidstrom has just been called for tripping at 11:28 and its power play number 2 in the first period for San Jose. FIRST PERIOD: DETROIT 0, SAN JOSE 0.
8:42pm: At 17:18, San Jose scores on a long shot from the line which is tipped past Jimmy Howard. Devon Setoguchi, who scored three goals in Game 3 including the overtime game-winner, gets the even-strength goal on assists from Dan Boyle and Joe Thornton. It was Boyle's blue line wrist shot which was tipped in. These three guys have killed Detroit in this series. The period winds down and with the teams at four-on-four in the waning moments due to offsetting penalties at 17:43, it ends. Detroit is outshot 15-7 (San Jose held an 11-2 edge at one point in the period) and they are down a goal in this do-or-die game. END OF FIRST PERIOD; DETROIT 0, SAN JOSE 1.
8:52pm: If the Wings lose, you can replay in your mind over and over the save San Jose's Antti Niemi made on Jonathan Ericsson on the first shot he face in the game. Ericsson has the whole upper half of the net to hit from inside twenty feet, and Niemi made as good a glove save as it is possible to make to stop him. Both Franzen and Datsyuk played as much in the period as any other Detroit forwards, pretty much. Both had 9 shifts. Only Darren Helm had more, and he had ten. FIRST INTERMISSION: DETROIT 0, SAN JOSE 1.
9:04pm: The second period begins.
9:09pm: Another San Jose power play at 2:46. Datsyuk goes off for holding and Detroit is short for the third time tonight. Reminds you, in reverse, of Game 4 when the Wings had the first four power play chances in the game. Howard makes two amazing saves on Boyle to keep it a one-goal game as the Sharks power play continues. Detroit has been outshot 21-9, now. 16:30 LEFT IN SECOND PERIOD: DETROIT 0, SAN JOSE 1.
9:12pm: Detroit back to full strength.
9:15pm: One thing you notice on the TSN broadcast is their use of the "Hockey Night in Canada" theme song. I do, at least. That's because I grew up in Detroit and as such got the Canadian Broadcasting Company's (might be "Corporation, I'm not 100% on that) Channel 9 from Windsor, Ontario which meant I got to watch HNIC every Saturday night. Probably a better-known piece of music in Canada than their own national anthem, "O Canada", the copyright on the HNIC theme music expired a few years ago and TSN bid a million bucks to get it away from the CBC--Canada's taxpayer funded network. It was crummy thing for TSN to do as that music really stood for the CBC. A poll was held and Canadian citizens opted not to use tax money to outbid TSN for the music. And do now TSN has it. They also have the awful former CBS sportscaster Chris Cuthbert (owner of one of the most annoying voices in all of broadcasting) calling the game tonight. Detroit is about to go on the power play. Joe Thonton goes off for hooking. Detroit is 4-16 (25.0%) on the pp in this series. 9:55 LEFT, SECOND PERIOD: DETROIT 0, SAN JOSE 1.
9:28pm: The Wings spend the power play trying--and usually failing--to gain the San Jose line. Detroit fails to get a shot in goal with the man advantage. The teams are back to full strength. 6:30 LEFT, SECOND PERIOD: DETROIT 0, SAN JOSE 1.
9:34PM: This is bad. This is very bad. At 15:32 Joe Pavelski converts at feed from Ryane Clowe, tipping it high into the net to make it 2-0. BUT THE WINGS ANSWER! At 16:25, Niklas Kronwall takes a feed from Datsyuk and whips a hard shot home, beating Niemi short side. Brad Stewart also assists. 3:00 LEFT, SECOND PERIOD: DETROIT 1, SAN JOSE 2.
9:42pm: The second period ends. Each team gets a goal and the Wings are outshot 13-9. San Jose holds the advantage in shots on goal through two periods, 30-16. There is one period to play, perhaps in the season. Detroit is down a goal... END OF SECOND PERIOD: DETROIT 1, SAN JOSE 2.
9:58pm: Detroit is 8-24-4 (.222) this season when trailing after two periods. That includes their 0-1-0 record in the playoffs this year. (Detroit led Game 3 in this series after two periods, but lost in overtime.) The third period begins...
10:00pm: Continuing to track ice time, Datsyuk had 10 shifts in the second period, up from the nine he had in the first. Franzen though had half the ice time in the second as compared to the first. And now Logan Couture, the guy who scored the key game-tying goal from the corner against Howard in the 3rd period of Game 3 last year when the Wings coughed up a 3-1 lead and lost in OT to go down 0-3 in the series, has just scored at :54 to restore a two-goal lead for the Sharks. Some say Couture will be the rookie of the year this year in the NHL. Couture scored on a breakaway, finish with a nifty toe-drag to get Howard moving from post to post to created the opening into which he tucked the puck. The Wings go on the power play. 17:10 LEFT, THIRD PERIOD: DETROIT 1, SAN JOSE 3.
10:05pm: The Wings don't score on the PP, but moments after it ends, ERICSSON SCORES! Datsyuk gets his second assist and Henrik Zetterberg also gets a helper as Ericsson winds up all alone out in front to make it, again, a one-goal game with at 3:43 of the third. 15:00 LEFT, THIRD PERIOD: DETROIT 2, SAN JOSE 3.
10:08pm: THE WINGS TIE IT! A goal mouth scramble and from the side, standing behind the goal line, Dan Cleary managed to punch it in. The time is 5:29 and it's two goals for Detroit in 1:46! It's Cleary from Kronwall and Todd Bertuzzi and we are back to even. New game, etc....12:45 LEFT, THIRD PERIOD, DETROIT 3, SAN JOSE 3.
10:14pm: Just a note but as we are now a little past the halfway point of the third, Franzen has yet to play a single second in the period. 8:30 LEFT, THIRD PERIOD, DETROIT 3, SAN JOSE 3.
10:20pm: THEY SCORE!!! DATSYUK MAKES AN UNREAL SPIN MOVE AND DROPS IT BACK TO LIDSTROM AND THE CAPTAIN BURIES IT HIGH! At 13:52, Lidstrom, with his third goal in the last 2 games, puts Detroit ahead! Check it--the official game sheet gives the goal to Tomas Holmstrom from Lidstrom and Datsyuk--so the ruling must be that Holmstrom deflected it. And now the Sharks go on the power play. God, this is exciting, isn't it? Justin Abdelkader is off for elbowing at 14:55. What a time to go off. A stupid penalty to take at the worst possible time. Hanging in the balance is one of the best periods in Wings history, not to mention the game, the series and the season. 4:45 LEFT, THIRD PERIOD: DETROIT 4, SAN JOSE 3.
10:28pm: The Wings kill the penalty and Abdelkader can breathe again. The rest of us can't, though. We are at 1:00 to go and the Sharks pull their goalie.
10:31pm: Time out, Detroit with 14.3 to go. Face off coming up in the Detroit zone. 14 seconds between Detroit and Game 6 in Detroit Tuesday night. Wow.
10:33pm: THE WINGS WIN! No....icing with 2.4 to go and that face off comes right back into the Detroit zone. This is tough to take. Sharks are trying to get more time on the clock. They call time out. Now 2.9 left as the clock is adjusted.
10:35pm: The puck goes into the corner and the clock runs out and the Wings are back in the series, trailing 3 games to two. Oh. My. God. They were down 3-1 in the third period. They were done, smoked like a trout and they scored 3 goals in 12:58 to win! See you at the Joe on Tuesday night everybody. What a game. What a result!
FINAL SCORE: DETROIT 4, SAN JOSE 3.
10:43pm: Just a quick note at the finish. The Wings were outshot tonight 42-22 and had only six shots on goal in the third period. They scored on half of those six shots. One of the announcers said the Wings have never won a Game 5 on the road when trailing 3 games to 1, until tonight. Also, Franzen's final shift of the game ended with a little under 7 minutes to go in the second period. He did not play at all after that, including therefore, the entire third period when the game was on the line. It makes you wonder if he will be able to play the night after next, which leaves Juri Hudler or Mike Modano as possible replacements. Wouldn't that be something if Modano got the shot and reached back to the glory days and played a key role? Well, we'll see. Hell of a game and a hell of night tonight.

The End of the Line?

2011-05-06T15:59:00.000-07:00

6:45pm: Welcome to the Joe Louis Sports Arena where it's win or go home one for the Wings and the Sharks. If San Jose takes tonight's Game 4 of the Western Conference Semi-Final, they go home and get ready for the Conference Final--the NHL version of the Final Four. If the Wings lose tonight, their season be over and they will go home, their season having tome to a conclusion shocking in the speed with which it occurred. It was just 8 days ago that this series began. Tonight it could be all over. Back with the opening faceoff in a moment....
7:04pm: The house lights are down, the light show is in full effect, etc. I'm nervous. I'm always nervous in elimination games. This time, I have good reason to be. The Detroit Red Wings have been down 0-3 in a best-of-7 series ten times in their history. They are 0-10 in such series. They have been swept in 9 of those ten series, the exception being one year ago when the Wings trailed these very Sharks 0-3 and won Game 4 to force a Game 5. They lost Game 5 and the series was over. Game 4 last year, somewhat ironically, was one of the best playoff games the Wings have ever played. It really was. Detroit beat San Jose 7-1. It was a hell of a game. I remember that Johan Franzen scored 4 goals to tie a Wings playoff record except that he didn't. He had for a while, but the scoring was changed late in the game and one of the Franzen goals was credited to one of his teammates. So now the question: Can the Wings repeat that performance? We are about to find out.
7:17pm: Kris Draper almost scored. The key word is, of course, almost. He had a lose puck just off the post to the right of Sharks goalie Antti Niemi but couldn't tuck it in as he was behind the icing line and reach as he might, he couldn't quite get leverage. Moments later, Draper was in the goalmouth again, banging away, but again Niemi stopped him, sprawling this time to block and cover. We have 15:06 left in the first. It has been intense, so far. I expect it will be all night.
7:19pm: TODD BERTUZZI SCORES! The time is 6:22 of the first and the story is the move Bertuzzi made, a 360-degree spin in the right wing circle with two Sharks on him. It gave Bertuzzi just enough space go get a backhand off, and the 20-footer beat Niemi high glove, which is to say over his left shoulder, just under the crossbar. The assists to Henrik Zetterberg and Danny Cleary. Moments later, Valtteri Filppula almost made it 2-0, but his shot from in close went just wide to the left of Niemi. FIRST PERIOD: DETROIT 1, SAN JOSE 0.
7:31pm: 2-0, DETROIT! Nicklas Lidstrom fires in a blast from the left wing circle off a tasty Niemi rebound. The Sharks tender made a big save on Cleary who was sent in on a nice pass from Bertuzzi, but allowed a rebound which came a good 25 feet off his pads right out in front and Lidstrom had plenty of time to wind up and blast away. As is so often the case, (more on that in a moment) he made no mistake. Cleary and Bertuzzi get the assist on Lidstrom's 3rd goal of the 2011 playoffs at 11:09. The Wings are outshooting San Jose 13-6, a number which reflects the degree to which Detroit has dominated this game so far. FIRST PERIOD: DETROIT 2, SAN JOSE 0.
7:43pm: Power Play, Detroit. Ian White goes off for Interference at 16:05. Detroit's 3/12 (25.0%) with a man advantage in this series.
7:46pm: LIDSTROM SCORES AGAIN! The Wings make White and the Sharks pay the penalty. Lidstrom collected a pass from Zettterberg by stopping it with his leg and batting at it while it was still in mid-air. His shot actually bounced on its way towards the net and skipped high over Niemi. Lidstrom who tied the record earlier in the period, is now the NHL's all-time leader in Playoff Power Play Goals by a Defenseman (30). (While we were writing this, Logan Couture scored an unassisted goal to make it a 3-1 game). The period has now ended with Detroit recording 17 shots to 12 for the Sharks. END OF FIRST PERIOD: DETROIT 3, SAN JOSE 1.
7:55pm: It was one year ago today that the Wings beat the Sharks 7-1 in Game 4 of the second round. For the record, the Wings led that game 5-0 after one. Still, a 3-1 lead after one is nothing at which to be sneezed.
8:08pm: The second period begins. An assist has been added during the intermission on the Sharks goal by Couture. Those of you scoring at home, add a helper to Ryane (I believe that's still pronounced Ryan but I can't be sure) Clowe.
8:11pm: There's one thing I can't/don't get. Remember I noted that Couture had scored while I was writing my account of the Lidstrom goal. There was no crowd reaction to the San Jose goal, none. I never even looked up, that's how much noise the crowd didn't make. I didn't see the goal and I still haven't. The only way I knew they had scored was that there was a stoppage in play and that the score on the scoreboard had changed from 3-0 to 3-1. Pretty good reporting, wouldn't you say? For the record, since I failed to note it earlier, the San Jose goal came :15 after the Lidstrom goal gave the Wings a 3-0 lead. Howard has had to be sharp here early in the second and I'll tell you what, if the Sharks get the next goal, this is going to be a long night for Detroit so the boys had best watch themselves. 15:32 LEFT, SECOND PERIOD: DETROIT 3, SAN JOSE 1.
8:17pm: Another Detroit power play. Joe Thornton for stick-holding which is a definite no-no. The Wings are 1-2 on the PP so far. The call at 5:47.
8:27pm: Another Detroit PP. Torrey Mitchell is off for holding Justin Abdelkader at 10:58.
8:31pm: No joy on the power play for Detroit. They are 1-3 in the game, now. 4-16 in the series.
8:34pm: San Jose has just scored and we got trouble here in (Detroit) River city. Dan Boyle--who got the game-winner in overtime here the night before last--took a great cross-ice feed in the attack zone from Kyle Wellwood and buried it high over a sprawling Howard. There wasn't much the Wings goalie could do. It was a perfect feed and a perfect shot at 13:44. At 14:29, Dany Heatley gives the Wings their fourth power play of the night (the Sharks have had none) when he's whistled down for tripping. 5:31 LEFT, SECOND PERIOD: DETROIT 3, SAN JOSE 2.
8:41pm: The Wings not only do not score on the power play, the fail to generate chances. It appears to me that right now, the Sharks have a bit more jump. They are getting to the loose pucks. The Wings look a little tired to me. 2:49 left, SECOND PERIOD: DETROIT 3, SAN JOSE 2.
8:47pm: The second period ends. As I mentioned, I thought Detroit, especially from the mid-point of the period on, was sort of hanging on. Sort of hanging on for dear life. And keep this in mind as we go to the third period. San Jose has yet to have a power play. All 4 minors called in this game have gone in favor of Detroit. I'll bet you a doughnut that before this game is over, San Jose will get a power play or two, at least. The Wings outshot the Sharks 10-7 in the period and have outshot them 27-19 in the game. San Jose as you have probably heard, has won 7 of the last 8 playoff games against Detroit with each and every one of those 7 wins coming in a 1-goal-game, 3 of them in overtime. The only non 1-goal game was that 7-1 Wings win here one year ago tonight that we talked about earlier. And guess what? With 20 minutes of regulation time remaining here tonight, we have ourselves a 1-goal game. END OF SECOND PERIOD: DETROIT 3, SAN JOSE 2.
9:05pm: The third period is underway.
9:07pm: That didn't take long. SAN JOSE TIED THE GAME 3-3. Just as I was noting that the Sharks were--as they had been through the latter stages of the second period--beating Detroit to loose pucks, Clowe beat Niklas Kronwall to one of those loose pucks behind the Detroit net and fed it to Heatley who was as all alone as you can reasonably expect to be at the NHL level and from between the rings, at the hashmarks, he fired high blocker side and the puck was in and the light was on and the game was tied. You get a guy that wide open and with that much time and chances are, in the National Hockey League, he is going to score and Heatley, a sniper, did. The goal at 1:14 of the period and now the Sharks are buzzing again. And now Bertuzzi is called and the Sharks are on the power play at 4:12 of the third. San Jose is 4-15 ( 26.7%) on the power play in this series. 15:00 LEFT, THIRD PERIOD: DETROIT 3, SAN JOSE 3.
9:22pm: We are just past the halfway point of the period. The Wings maintain a 10-shot edge in shots on goal but, as you know, we are tied in a game in which Detroit held a 3-0 lead. I guarantee you for for sure that the number of 3-goal leads the Wings have blown this season can be tallied up on one hand, but this is one of them. Welcome, once again, to nail-biting time. I myself am predicting overtime, again. 9:31 left, THIRD PERIOD: DETROIT 3, SAN JOSE 3.
9:25pm: San Jose goes on the power play for the second time in the game/period at 11:35 as Abdelkader is off for a cross check. The fans didn't like it, natch, but I thought it the correct call.
8:18 left, THIRD PERIOD: DETROIT 3 SAN JOSE 3.
9:30pm: The Wings get a kill which is huge, obviously. 5:45 left, THIRD PERIOD. DETROIT 3, SAN JOSE 3.
9:33 DARREN HELM SCORES! THE WINGS LEAD 4-3 WITH 1:27 LEFT. It was a beauty feed to Helm cutting into the left circle and he buried it off the setup by Brian Rafalski and it looks for all the word like we are heading back to San Jose. Still :45 to go, though.
9:44pm; THE WINGS WIN 4-3. THEY ARE NOT YET BACK IN THE SERIES, BUT THEY ARE NOT YET DEAD, EITHER. Off to the dressing rooms for the react. Back with you soon...
FINAL SCORE: DETROIT 4, SAN JOSE 3.

Do Or (Pretty Much) Die

2011-05-04T17:05:00.000-07:00

Pre-Game Skate: Welcome back to the NHL playoffs where tonight the (your) Detroit Red Wings are in pretty much the same boat--make that exactly--the same boat in which they were in one year ago: down two games to none to the San Jose Sharks heading into game 3 of the Western Conference semi-finals. We were talking about this last night at Comerica Park (where the Tigers finally snapped their 7-game losing streak, yay, I guess) and it was there that I learned that my memory had failed me. I thought the Wings had won game 3 then lost a 3-1 third period lead to lose game 4 which meant they were down 3-1 to the Sharks going back to San Jose, where Detroit was eliminated in game 5. That's not the way it went down. Yes, the Wings did lose a two-goal lead at home and wound u losing in overtime, but it was in game 3, not game 4. The Wings thus faced the toughest situation you can face in playoff hockey, trying to come back from 3 games to none down. Detroit did win game four 7-1 (as I recall Johann Franzen scored 4 goals but we've already demonstrated the limits of my memory haven't we?) but that was their only win in the series. The Wings have now lost six of their last seven playoff games against the Sharks and the thing is, each of those six losses have come by one goal. Mike Babcock, the coach of the Red Wings, promises line-up changes tonight and as soon as they let us in the Auxiliary Press Box know what they are, we will pass them along. The building is filling, it was be, with apologies to the United Center, a madhouse here tonight. The Auxiliary Press Box is, just for your information, the last row of the stadium seats covered by a table top. In other words, I am right in the middle of the crowd tonight. We'll do our best. And, for now, we'll see you face-off, set for 8:15 pm Eastern Daylight.
8:02: Pre-Game Hoopla. Indoor fireworks, loud music and you know the drill. I spent my time pouring over the Red Wings record book and learned that this is the 22nd time Detroit has been down 0-2 in a best-of-seven. They are 5-16 in the previous 21 series matching that criteria. Still ten minutes to face....
8:15pm: This sitting in the crowd thing is just primitive." We didn't even get the scratches and starting line-ups and such. I'll check NHL.com in a moment and get the information. Pavel Datsyuk is out there on a line with Johann Franzen and Danny Cleary. Justin Abdelkader is joined by Valtteri Filppula and Jiri Hudler, while Todd Bertuzzi is on a line with Henrik Zetterberg and, again, Cleary. The crowd just roared for a big hit in the corner. If I were the crowd, I wouldn't cheer until the Wings put one in the net. San Jose goalie Antti Niemi--the guy who won the Cup for Chicago last year--has a goals-against of 0.95 in the series. Anytime a goals-against starts with a "0", it's a hell of a number. Unbeatable, really.
8:21pm: Here are the scratches for Detroit tonight (I told you I'd go to NHL.com as quickly as I could): M. Modano, D. Janik, D. Meech, D. Miller, J. Kindl, C. Emmerton, J. Mursak, B. Smith, T. Tatar.
8:27pm: The Wings fail to score in the first power play of the game are are now 1-9 (11.1%) in the series. Niemi made a GREAT power play glove save on Abdelkader to keep the game scoreless.
8:32pm: Niklas Kronwall just leveled Dany Heatley and Heatley was a little, (okay, he was a lot) slow in getting up. No penalty but Kronwell left his skates to hit him and that always calls for a penalty so its safe to say the ref missed it. Bad blood between the teams and the crowd is in full-throated blood lust right now. They are really irritated when, mere moments after the Heatley hit, the Wings are called for a penalty which is most assuredly I assure you to make up for the call they just missed on Kronwall. San Jose is 2-11 (18.2%) on the PP v. Detroit in the series. Darren Helm goes for high-sticking on the "mascara" call (make up, duh.)
8:33 Devin Setoguchi just made the make up job look grotesque and cheap, giving San Jose a 1-0 lead on the power play. He collected the rebound off a shot from the slot which went high and bounced right out in front of Jimmy Howard's net off the lively Joe Louis Arena end boards and glass and tucked it in. Assists to Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau at 12:57. ED NOTE: AT THE END OF THE PERIOD, THEY TOOK THE ASSIST AWAY FROM MARLEAU AND AWARDED IT TO JOE PAVELSKI WHICH IS HOW I THOUGHT THE PLAY HAD GONE. I THOUGHT PAVELSKI FIRED THE SHOT FROM OUT IN FRONT THE REBOUNDED OFF THE GLASS OUT IN FRONT BUT THEY ORIGINALLY SCORED IT DIFFERENTLY. NO BIG DEAL, EXCEPT THAT IT'S NICE TO KNOW YOU CAN BELIEVE YOUR OWN EYES. It is the first goal of the series for Setoguchi ~~and the first point in the series for Marleau~~. FIRST PERIOD: DETROIT 0, SAN JOSE 1.
8:51pm: With 19.3 left in the period Nicklas Lidstom ties it on the power play. His shot was in and out of the net so fast it took them a couple of seconds to whistle the play dead. Zetterberg was all alone off to the side and it looked like he'd fire away, but he instead spun the dished to Lidstrom between the hashmarks and the Captain fired it home at 19:38. The replay showed the puck hit the camera suspended from the roof of the net and came right back out. The referee made the call instantly though and the replay was clear so there is no controversy. The goal means Niemi's goals-against in the series goes up to 1.23 from 0.95. So, it's a 1-1 tie after one with Detroit holding a 12-11 edge in shots on goal. The other assist on Lidstroms second goal of the playoffs and of this series went to Tomas Holmstrom. All in all, it was a period about which playoff hockey is all about. END OF FIRST PERIOD: DETROIT 1, SAN JOSE 1.
9:20pm: Just a quick note to let you know we are into the second period and is same old same old which in this case means the action has been tremendous. Datsyuk just had a great chance, the kind he normally buries, but it glanced off the Niemi's arm and stayed out while seconds later at the other end Howard made a game-saving glove save. I read somewhere where they timed the glove speed of an NHL goalie and it was something like 120mph and after that save by Howard, I believe it. This is a great, great hockey game. The guy sitting next to me is talking about soccer and all I can say is, "If you could watch hockey, why would you ever watch soccer? SECOND PERIOD: DETROIT 1, SAN JOSE 1.
9:30pm: We are slightly better than halfway through the period, the Wings have outshot 'em 10-5 in the middle twenty, and the Wings have nothing to show for it, save some excellent chances which all become excellent saves by Mr. Niemi. So, bottom line, this one remains too close to call. 6:50 left in the second... SECOND PERIOD: DETROIT 1, SAN JOSE 1.
9:34PM: 6:01 left in the period now, and Detroit has taken a 2-1 lead on the 3rd goal of the playoffs by Patrick Eaves. Darren Helm had it out in front and he waited and waited and waited and at first I thought Eaves had slammed in the rebound of his shot, but Helms never shot it. The replay showed he flipped a little backhand pass across to Eaves who was low in the circle to the right of Niemi and Eaves got just enough of it (or Niemi didn't get quite enough of it, your call) to slide it over the goal line. Kris Draper--a playoff hero in this town for about a decade and a half now--got the other assist. It's his first point of this years' post-season. The time of the goal was 13:59. SECOND PERIOD: DETROIT 2, SAN JOSE 1.
9:40pm: It took San Jose :50 to tie the score. Brian Rafalski was called for interference at 14:16 and at 14:49 the Sharks were on the board again, and again it was Setoguchi who got it. He sort of fanned on the shot from the left wing circle and I think it was the shots lack of speed that fooled Howard as it hit the post the the left of the Detroit goalie and bounced in, and just like that we are back to even; back to too close to call. SECOND PERIOD: DETROIT 2, SAN JOSE 2.
9:44pm: Pavel Datsyuk just pulled off a tremendously accurate and hard shot from the high slot over the shoulder of Niemi to put the Wings back on top by a goal with a little over a minute left in the period. It was a spin-o-rama pass by Zetterberg that set Datsyuk up for his third goal of the playoffs, and the Wings have now scored as many goals in this second period tonight (2), as they did in the first two games of the series in San Jose. The time of the goal was 18:17 and the second assist went to Lidstrom who started the play out of the Detroit end. The Wings outshot the Sharks 16-8 in the period and have outshot them now 26-19 in the game. END OF THE SECOND PERIOD: DETROIT 3, SAN JOSE 2.
9:57pm: Just a note to let you know I will probably have to leave you early tonight. It is going to take several minutes to get to the locker rooms tonight (sorry, this is hockey. I mean dressing rooms) so I will most likely begin the long trip from the last row of the upper bowl to ice level on the far side of the building with a few minutes left in the game. I hate to do it, but I have to get tape on this one tonight.
10:07pm: The 3rd period begins. Meanwhile, in the game would couldn't attend tonight because we are at this one, the Tigers made it two wins in a row over the Yankees, 5-0. I'm pretty sure it's the first shutout of the year for the Tigers. I asked the guy next to me if it were but all I got was a snotty "I have no idea" response. I think he's still pissed off that I think hockey is way, way more exciting than soccer. THIRD PERIOD: DETROIT 3, SAN JOSE 2.
10:10pm: Well, duh. The Tigers, the weekend before last, not only got a shutout, they got back-to-back shutouts and what makes it embarrassing for me is that it wasn't like I just read about them somewhere, I was there. For both of them. So the answer to the question, "Was this the first shutout of the season for the Tigers tonight," would be, uh, nooooo. Here, San Jose is going on the power play as Hudler goes for hooking at 6:22. It's nail-biting time....THIRD PERIOD: DETROIT 3, SAN JOSE 2.
10:18pm: Okay, here's the thing, it's 3-2 Detroit as we approach the halfway mark of the third and I have to go lest I be late to the postgame interviews. It's been a blast. I'll type up a quick wrap-up after I'm done in the room. And wish me luck. It's been a little while since I interviewed your professional athlete types. Not the firs time though, not by a long shot. 10:00 left in Regulation Time. See 'ya! THIRD PERIOD: DETROIT 3, SAN JOSE 2.
10:47pm: We're headed for overtime and I'm down in the Press Room beneath the stands which during the regular season is the press dining room and is empty at this time of day. Right now it is packed with reporters ready to head down the hall in a massive herd as soon as the game ends. San Jose tied it with 4:08 left on the clock and other than the fact that Dan Boyle scored it, there's not too much else I can tell you as I was either in a stairwell or actually outside the building when it happened (I took a wrong turn and wound up outside.) I did get to see Kid Rock, though. He was outside by the TV trucks smoking a cigar. At least I think it was a cigar. So, cool. Now I, with many, many others, sit and wait for overtime to begin. The entire season for Detroit hangs in the balance, that's all. And I'm watching it on TV, just like you. END OF THE THIRD PERIOD: DETROIT 3, SAN JOSE 3.
10:55pm: Overtime is underway.
11:07pm: Overtime continues. The Wings had a power play but they were unable to generate a shot on goal. Moments after the penalty ended, Zetterberg had a great chance in close, but Niemi, well, you know the story. There are 11 minutes left in OT.
IN OVERTIME: DETROIT 3, SAN JOSE 3.
11:09pm At 10:39, Setugucho completes his hat trick and wins it. FINAL SCORE: DETROIT 3, SAN JOSE 4 (OT).
11:27pm: Just back from the Red Wings dressing room where Goalie Jimmy Howard says, in answer to my question, "Can you still win this series>? said, "Yes, I think we can." He says the game-winner (loser) "knuckled" on him. We are waiting now for Red Wings coach Mike Babcock to address the media here in the press room. Firsst, San Jose coach Todd McLelllan.
11:47pm: Press conferences over. I asked the last question of the Wings' Babcock which was simply, "Can you still win this series?" He said, "I'm not even going to think about that. All I can think about is winning Thursday night. All I can think about is winning one game." Moments later he added, "It can be done, 3 teams have done it including Philly last year. But it's not easy." And with that we will call it a live-blog. I've got tape to edit. Night all and thanks for reading...

Do Or (Pretty Much) Die

2011-05-04T16:47:00.000-07:00

It's The Playoffs!

2011-04-13T16:25:00.000-07:00

7:20pm: Welcome to the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs, everybody. We are all of 2:16 into what promises to be a long run to The Cup by the Detroit Red Wings and already we've hit a little bump in the road. A slight hiccup, if you will. Pavel Datsyuk lost his man in the defensive zone and that man, Kyle Turris of the wildly over-rated Phoenix Coyotes, snapped a shot from the low rim of the circle to right of Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard over Howard's left shoulder (the short side for those of you scoring at home) and into the net and, thus, Phoenix has grabbed the early lead. Ray Whitney and Shane Doan got the assists and as we type, Phoenix almost got another one. A few moments after the Coyotes goal, Detroit's Danny Cleary, mere minutes after being selected in the first round of the annual Press Room Playoff Draft by this reporter, was the victim of Grand Theft Goaltender as Ilya Bryzygalov went post-to-post to rob him off a near cross-rink set-up. One wonders if the tone for the game, for the series and for the playoffs themselves was set in that 30-second sequence. FIRST PERIOD: DETROIT 0, PHOENIX 1.
7:32pm: The Coyotes are on the power play for already the third time here in the first, including ninety-seconds during which Phoenix had a 2-man advantage. So far the kill has been strong in the Detroits, but you know how it goes if you keep giving them chances. By the way, apparently because they are worried we'll forget it, the words "STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS" have been stenciled into the ice just inside the two blue lines so there will be no mistaking this for one of those next-to-meaningless regular season games. Ugh. The crowd is all rowdy and ready to kick ass and all like that there and I'm thinking StubHub might be the reason. In years past (this is the Wings' twentieth consecutive year of making the playoffs which is something they will simply not let you forget which I guess is understandable as it seems to me that when I was growing up they once went 20 straight years without ever making the playoffs) some of the seats in the early round games went patron-less. (I'm still in Masters mode, apparently. Every sporting event save the Masters have "fans". At the Masters, they are called "patrons".) No matter what you call them though, the patron-fans weren't always in the arena to see the Wings in the first couple of playoff rounds. The other day after hockey--the hockey which I play as opposed to the hockey I watch, one of the guys in The Room was telling us he'd found tix on StubHub for ten bucks. I suspect that's one of reasons--cheap internet tickets--behind the place being packed here tonight. We're under five left in the first now. A Coyote just has a breakaway and while he wound up in the Detroit net behind Howard, the puck did not. (In all the excitement, I forgot which Phoenix player is was. Sorry.) FIRST PERIOD: DETROIT 0, PHOENIX 1.
7:50pm: The first period ends with Phoenix both on the lead and on the power play (again). This is the 4th time in the first that Phoenix has been a man (or two) to the good but in spite of it the Coyotes only outshot Detroit 11-9 in the period. There are :49 left in the fourth Detroit minor whistled in the period as intermission comes. END OF FIRST PERIOD: DETROIT 0, PHOENIX 1.
8:18pm: I got a little engrossed watching the Indians-Angels on the computer--I've the MLB.TV package and I LOVE IT--and I sort of forgot about our little blog thingy here. Ooops. Anyway, the Wings just tied it on the prettiest little backhand you will ever see from Datsyuk. Johan Franzen had his backhand from point-blank range out in front stopped but the puck went in behind the net where Datsyuk collected it and sneaked it past Bryzgalov on the wrap-around. The goal came just eight seconds after a (rare) Detroit power play had ended. Assisting on the goal were Franzen and Tomas Holmstrom at 7:38. SECOND PERIOD: DETROIT 1, PHOENIX 1.
8:30pm: Franzen just scored on a 35-foot wrister that Bryzgalov really should've had. Unless the puck changed direction off the stick of a Coyote D-man and the replays were inconclusive on that question. You'd be surprised how little the puck has to change direction before you, the goalie, looks really, really bad. That may have been the case here. In any event, less than four-and-half minutes after the Wings tie it, they take the lead on an unassisted goal at 12:02. SECOND PERIOD: DETROIT 2, PHOENIX 1.
8:42pm: The fastest way to jink the whole deal is to say it's in the bag, but the Wings just scored again and I think this one is in the bag. Brian Rafalski wired one home from inside the blue line on the power play to make it 3-1, Detroit. Valtteri Filppula got the only assist. The shot beat Bryzgalov in the same place the shot by Franzen had beat him: blocker side high. It's a good place to shoot. It takes longer for the goalie to get the blocker up than it does the glove simply because he is, of course, using his blocker arm and hand to hold his stick and the stick has to be lifted, too. It slows him down just a shade. The Wings outshot Detroit 17-8 in a period in which they outscored Phoenix 3-0 and, as we say, Game 1 here may just be over with a period left to play in it. The Wings scored their 3 second-period goals in a span of 10:22. END OF SECOND PERIOD: DETROIT 3, PHOENIX 1.
9:08pm: The word right now isn't "jinx", it's "Juri". And Juri--as in Hudler--just snapped a shot into the Phoenix net laying waste to our blocker-side dissertation of a few moments ago in the process. Hudler went high glove to make it 4-1 at 3:16 of the third and if the Wings are going to stumble in this series (and remember it took them the full 7 games to defeat these same Coyotes last year) it isn't going to be in Game 1. Drew Miller got the only assist on the Hudler goal. THIRD PERIOD: DETROIT 4, PHOENIX 1.
9:15pm: Radim Vrbata of the Coyotes shot high and Howard went low and the puck went in the net. The Wings lead is down to two, 4-2, on the goal at 7:38. THIRD PERIOD: DETROIT 4, PHOENIX 2.
9:35pm: We're inside a minute to go and it looks to be in the bag. The Phoenix net is empty and Detroit almost put one in there a moment ago. 54 seconds to play and the Coyotes have called time out. Game 2 in this series is Saturday afternoon. We'll be here for all your playoff hockey live-blog needs. The crowd is denied the empty-net goal that would have brought a final roar, but that's all they are denied on this night, the first night of the playoffs. (We have a LONG WAY to go.) The Wings outshoot the Coyotes 35-28 and lead the best-of-seven series 1-0. FINAL SCORE: DETROIT 4, PHOENIX 1. SEE YOU SATURDAY AFTERNOON!

Chicago Blackhwaks at Detroit Red Wings, April 8, 2011: The Live-Blog

2011-04-08T16:46:00.000-07:00

7:38pm: Welcome to the Joe Louis Sports Arena where, :27 into the game, the Chicago Blackhawks have taken a 1-0 lead over the Detroit Red Wings. This is a battle of a team which is battling for their playoff life (Chicago) and a team which is getting some exercise prior to the start of the postseason (Detroit). I said on the radio this morning that due to this, I expect Chicago to win here in Detroit tonight and in the back end of the home-and-home Sunday afternoon in Chicago. The Blackhawks really need this game as they are hanging on by their fingernails to the eighth and final playoff spot. The Wings really don't as they won the division and assured themselves of a place on the playoffs a few days ago. Chicago continues to storm the Detroit net to my right here in the opening moments. Brent Seabrook got the goal, his eighth, from Patrick Sharp and Marian Hossa before this game was half a minute old. FIRST PERIOD: DETROIT 0, CHICAGO 1.
7:42pm: We are here at the Joe after spending the afternoon at Comerica Park where the Tigers won their 2011 home opener 5-2 over the Kansas City Royals. Victor Martinez, in his first home game as a Tiger, cleared the loaded bases with a first inning gapper to right-center as the Tigers scored four in their first home at-bats at home this season. Max Scherzer worked six innings of seven-hit, one-run ball to go to 2-0. We'll be there tomorrow as the teams continue the weekend series.
7:47pm: 2-0, Chicago as Ben Smith scores at 6:07. Patrick Kane gets the only assist. This one recalls that awful game here last week in which St. Louis, not a playoff team, waxed the Wings 10-3. FIRST PERIOD: DETROIT 0, CHICAGO 2.
7:50pm: While all this is going on, I'm watching the Giants try to come back in the bottom of the ninth against the Cardinals. This after Ryan Theriot finished off a 12-pitch about with a two-out single to score two runs for St. Louis in the top of the 9th. SF--in their home opener--has two on with two out in the bottom of the 9th. The Ku Fu Panda, Pablo Sandoval, is up for the Giants. He singles to tie the game 4-4. Good stuff. Not so good here. Chicago score again to lead 3-0 before the game is nine minutes old. This time it's Brian Campbell who gets the goal and this one has gotten ugly fast. The Red Wings call time out--perhaps hoping to lull the Blackhawks into taking a nap or something. FIRST PERIOD: DETROIT 0, CHICAGO 3.
8:29pm: The Wings continue to prepare for the playoffs by getting booed off their home ice, which they pretty much deserve. If it hadn't been for that nasty loss to the Blues here last week, the first period tonight would qualify as the worst period of hockey I've seen Detroit play in 20 years. Detroit got outshot 13-5 in the first. It wasn't that close. SECOND PERIOD: DETROIT 0, CHICAGO 3.
8:41pm: 4-0 Chicago and it's just embarrassing. The Blackhawks have scored on the power play at 6:44 of the second. Hossa got it, his 25th. Yikes, I say. This is just brutal. The Giants and Cardinals are into the 12th inning, so I can watch that at least. And how about that Tiger Woods fellow today at the Masters? He played the last eleven holes in seven-under and is third in the big golf tournament at the halfway mark, two (SORRY, THREE) back of 21-year-old Rory Mcllroy. And here I can't even remember what I was doing when I was 21, which I am pretty sure is on account of the, eh, medication(s) I was taking at the time. There were two great moments I saw today: Woods' out-of-the-gallery par on #11 and a player losing a ball in a Major. It happened on the short, little 156-yard 12th. Graeme McDowell was the unfortunate fellow who had to slog his way back to the tee and do a do-over. He hit into a shrubbery behind the green and with six people, including Woods, looking for it...no one could find the ball. McDowell made double bogey and missed the cut by, naturally, two strokes. Those two strokes. At least he got to play the Augusta National a couple of times, eh? For free, too. So there is that. The hockey game continues but I have, at least for the time being, lost interest, pretty much. SECOND PERIOD: DETROIT 0, CHICAGO 4.
9:02pm: Budd Lynch announces the final minute of the second period and the crowd roars in approval. Meanwhile, the Giants win in 12 as Albert Pujols muffs a throw at first with two out in the inning, extending the inning so that Aaron Rowand can hit a ball between the outfielders in left-center with the bases loaded to win it for 'Frisco 5-4. Drew Miller scores for Detroit at 19:38 and there is a scuffle at the horn which augers against the fans booing the Wings into the dressing room for the second consecutive period. The Wings are outshot again in the period, this time by a 13-11 margin. It is "Fan Appreciation Night" and the fans do not appreciate the effort so far. "If this is what they think of us...(sniff.)" SECOND INTERMISSION: DETROIT 1, CHICAGO 4.
9:40pm: Halfway through the third and I've been remiss. This is the first post of the period. Not that there's been anything of note to write about: still 4-1 Chicago. It's a great night for the Second City. The Cubbies are winning--I just saw Jeff Baker put 'em ahead 5-2 in Milwaukee with a three-run jack--the White Sox are up 4-2 over Tampa Bay and, of course, you have the, uh, little situation here. Here's an interesting note. Not only have the Rays not won this year, they have not led at any point in any game so far. The last team to do that (never hold the lead in their first six games of the season) was the 1992 Tigers and while I don't know for sure, I'm going to guess that '92 wasn't a good year for the Tigs. Oh, and so long to Manny Ramirez who retired today rather than take the 100-game suspension he was facing for getting busted for Performance Enhancing Drugs, again. Say what you want, but the second half of the season he had when he joined the Dodgers a couple of summers ago--when they names the stands in left at Dodger Stadium "Mannywood", was one of the greatest tears I've ever seen a hitter go on. The drugs weren't working this time around, though. Manny's was hitting .059 for the Rays when he decided to quit rather than face the drug abuse music for a second time. THIRD PERIOD: DETROIT 1, CHICAGO 4.
9:55pm: Under two minutes to go here and if the Wings can hang on, at least they'll be able to say they played Chicago even for the last 51:15 of the game. Of course, by 8:45 of the first they were down 3-1. Oh, look. Detroit just scored. They've outplayed the Blackhawks in the final 51 minutes tonight. They are, nonetheless going to lose and lose rather badly. Tomas Holmstrom is the goal scorer for Detroit at 18:40. And...we're done. FINAL SCORE: DETROIT 2, CHICAGO 4.