Burning Questions: World Series Game 4

Note: During the playoffs, Monday Morning Manager will be answering Burning Questions. The morning after every Tigers playoff game, come back here for MMM's answers to the questions that many  of you have about the previous night's game. Today's BQ addresses Game 4 of the World Series.


Where did you go? We all missed you after Game 3.
MMM thanks you for your concern. A busy Sunday, which included watching the Lions nip the Seahawks, took MMM off the grid. Apologies.

So it's over, just like that/ Did you ever in your wildest dreams (or nightmares) expect a Giants sweep?
Absolutely not. Funny, but MMM was rooting for the Giants; he didn't want to see the Cardinals again, because (how's this for irony) the Cards seemed to be the team sprinkled with postseason pixie dust lo these past several years. MMM clearly had no idea what he was asking for.

Getting swept in the championship round of any sport is humiliating. Will this have deep reverberations around the franchise?
It shouldn't. As bad as this World Series was, MMM still believes the Tigers should dominate the Central Division for years to come. Their best players are all in their prime. Yes, there are holes but doesn't every team have them? Plus, the Tigers get Victor Martinez back next year. There should be the usual tweaking and massaging of the roster, but this isn't a time to panic and make crazy trades.

We'll discuss potential offseason moves in a second. But back to the Series. The Giants won the old Dodgers way---with pitching and defense. Is that the new blueprint, making a comeback?
You mean like how the Pistons 2004 championship was supposed to change the way NBA teams won titles? Look, the Giants were the superior team, no question. They caught the ball (EVERY ball, it seemed), threw the ball and turned double plays like Trammell and Whitaker. They had timely hits, though not that many of them---just enough to win. MMM thinks you hit your way to the postseason and then pitch your way to the World Series. It's been that way for a long time, and will continue to be that way. It might seem like the Giants are a pitch/defense/no hit team, but they really aren't. They just played their best baseball after falling behind 3-1 in the NLCS, while the Tigers bats went into a deep freeze.

Was Jim Leyland outmanaged by Bruce Bochy?
MMM thinks if you lose a World Series, you're out-everythinged. That's why you lost. But Bochy didn't really have to do too much in-game managing, frankly; that's how good the Giants pitching and glove work were. If Leyland had a guy hit three homers in one game on his way to nearly setting a postseason record for base hits, then maybe this Series would have been different. MMM wasn't displeased, really, with Leyland in the Series, with the exception of hitting Quintin Berry second instead of, say, Andy Dirks. But then again, nobody hit, so maybe it wouldn't have mattered. But MMM knows one thing: Gene Lamont was out-third base-coached by Tim Flannery!

Let's play word association. Prince Fielder. Go!
A lost soul at the plate. MMM was shocked at how stunningly bad Prince looked. Totally clue-free, and overpowered by average fastballs. It got worse as the Series went on. But this happens sometimes, even to great players. Still, this postseason will follow Fielder, as it should. If the Tigers make it back to October (and they should, given their talent) in future years, Fielder needs to atone for what happened in 2012. Mike Ilitch didn't invest $214 million for that performance.

Speaking of Ilitch, many people were shocked at how frail he looked while receiving the American League championship trophy. Now another year goes by without a WS trophy for Mr. I. Thoughts?
MMM was taken aback, as well, at Mr. I's physical appearance. The last time MMM saw Ilitch was at the Prince Fielder press conference back in January. The owner didn't look great, but not as bad as he looked a couple weeks ago. MMM has heard through the grapevine that there might be an illness involved, but no speculating here about whether that's true or not.

As for Ilitch getting his WS trophy, it doesn't look good the older he gets. But 83 years old isn't a death sentence nowadays, especially when you can afford the best health care available. Keep the faith!

Pablo Sandoval was the WS MVP. A no-brainer?
Definitely. In a sweep, that award should always go to a position player, or a closer. Sandoval was lights out, offensively and defensively. Just a great World Series. MMM has no choice but to give the guy his props.

As promised, let's quickly discuss the offseason. Who is gone, in your eyes?
Delmon "I hold the Tigers postseason record for home runs" Young is gone, for sure. There's nowhere for him to play, with V-Mart's return next year and reclamation of the DH slot. You don't dare play Young as an everyday left fielder. That said, Delmon probably earned himself a nice contract elsewhere, based on his postseason.

Anibal Sanchez ought to be re-signed, if the Tigers can fit him into their budget. But he's another who picked the best time to pitch his best. We'll see if he wants too much money for the Tigers liking. Jhonny Peralta might be gone; the Tigers may want to upgrade at SS. Jose Valverde is definitely gone. And based on what happens with Sanchez, i.e. if he stays, don't be surprised if the Tigers package Ricky Porcello in a trade, maybe for a left-handed, second tier starter. Brennan Boesch's future is uncertain (or it should be), as is Quintin Berry's.

Wow. I thought you said don't do anything rash.
I also said the usual tweaking and massaging will occur. Every team has attrition. But the core will stay in place, as it should. MMM thinks the Tigers should win three more division titles over the next five years.

OK, here's a toughie. Describe the entire 2012 season, regular and postseason, in one word.
That's easy: that one word is "constipated."

That is, strangely...accurate!
That's why MMM is MMM and you're...not.


Thanks for spending time with MMM this year! See you in 2013!

Burning Questions: World Series Game 2

Note: During the playoffs, Monday Morning Manager will be answering Burning Questions. The morning after every Tigers playoff game, come back here for MMM's answers to the questions that many  of you have about the previous night's game. Today's BQ addresses Game 2 of the World Series.


As David Bowie once sang, "Panic in Detroit." Correct?
Pretty much. Going down 0-2 takes your margin for error, which in the World Series is already narrow, and squeezes it. You can say whatever you want about the Giants merely holding serve at home, but the fact of the matter is the Tigers have to figure out a way to win a ballgame Saturday night. Period.

The Tigers haven't caught a break yet. Are the Giants the team of destiny?
MMM still believes in the power of change of venue, especially with the Tigers, who play much better at home. Maybe an off day, some travel, and chilly Detroit will cool off the Giants and turn the tide. But the bottom line is you are not going to win too many baseball games by managing two hits.

Well, you called it. You said Madison Bumgarner was going to eat the Tigers' lunch. Was his stuff that good?
No. MMM was appalled at the swings and misses that Mad-Bum got. Once again, a guy on a bad streak gets healthy against the Tigers. Has happened a lot this season. MMM almost would rather have seen Bumgarner's ERA being 1.12 in the postseason rather than 11.25. Bumgarner got an amazing number of swings and misses with his high fastball, which is hardly explosive. Brutal offensive performance by the Tigers.

Twitter almost blew up when third base coach Gene Lamont sent Prince Fielder home in the second inning, trying to score Prince from first base on Delmon Young's double. Prince made a bad slide, but how bad was the decision to send him?
MMM doesn't have enough breath to tell you how bad that was. MMM played Little League ball, and even at age 8 he was told, "Never make the first out of an inning at third base or home plate." That decision was rotten to the core. It wasn't like the Giants had to make extraordinary effort; just a simple relay. Had Lamont done the right thing, the Tigers would have had runners on second and third with nobody out. Jhonny Peralta didn't help matters by popping out on the first pitch after that play. So suddenly there were two outs and a man on second, just like that. Changed the inning dramatically. The Tigers could have gotten to Bumgarner very early in what was termed to be a bounce back start for him.

Playing Devil's Advocate here, was Lamont merely trying to get the Tigers on the board early?
If that was Austin Jackson or Quintin Berry, maybe you send the runner. But again, there was nobody out. Chances are you'd get that run home sometime during the course of the inning; no need to push the envelope there. All that play did was rob the Tigers of some early momentum and get the crowd back into it. So, so wrong. What a time to be betrayed by your coaches.

Why can't the Tigers score runs for Doug Fister?
That's rhetorical, right? MMM has no clue. Fister just has had bad luck lately in that department. Unfortunately for him, the Tigers were facing a junkball lefty---the kind of pitcher who eats them alive.

Another key play and example of the breaks going the Giants way was the sacrifice bunt laid down by Gregor Blanco in the seventh inning with two men on and no outs. Catcher Gerald Laird elected to let the ball roll, and it stayed fair. Thoughts?
MMM was yelling for Laird to pounce on it and throw. It wasn't THAT close to rolling foul. Never leave your fate to chance like that, especially in a series where you are starving for breaks. Laird should have fielded the ball, gunned Blanco out, and move on. It was very fortuitous that the Giants only scored one run in that inning, not that it mattered. But while that was a break for the Giants, it was the result of poor decision-making by the Tigers.

Kung Fu Panda, Pablo Sandoval, reared his head again, this time with the glove---robbing Miguel Cabrera of a double by spearing Miggy's laser in the fourth inning. Why won't he leave the Tigers alone?
How he made that catch is anyone's guess. You can't hit a ball any harder than Cabrera hit that line drive. Yet Sandoval, all 300 pounds of him, was able to flash some dexterity and make the catch. It was another head shaker, and MMM can only hope that those kinds of breaks stay with the home team in Detroit.

So here are at must win time; you said so yourself.
Thanks for the reminder. But it's true. No other way to put it.

Is this Series reminding you of 2006?
Not until Lamont's blunder. MMM wrote off Game 1 as just one of those bad nights that happen sometimes, even in the World Series. But after watching Lamont make love to the pooch on the send of Fielder, memories of all that bad baseball the Tigers played against the Cardinals in 2006 definitely came roaring back (no pun intended). In that Series, the Tigers were done in largely because their pitchers couldn't field their position. Lamont's blunder has put a new wrinkle on self-destruction.

Any final thoughts?
Last night's game was everything we crabbed about during the season, in a microcosm. Lamont (who is no favorite in Detroit); paralyzed hitting against a hittable pitcher; no run support for Fister; an offense that goes into hibernation on the road. It was all there last night, shining its light directly into the Tigers eyes.

Anibal Sanchez to the rescue in Game 3? He has to go up against Ryan Vogelsong, who's been very good in the postseason.
Wait---did you say the other team's pitcher has been very good? Great!! MMM likes those odds. If you had told him that Vogelsong was 0-2 with an 11.25 ERA, like Bumgarner, then MMM would have squirmed. Bring on the guys with the good numbers!!

I have one word for you: cynical.
I have two words for you. Wanna hear them?


Come back here Sunday for BQ after World Series Game 3!!

Burning Questions: World Series Game 1

Note: During the playoffs, Monday Morning Manager will be answering Burning Questions. The morning after every Tigers playoff game, come back here for MMM's answers to the questions that many  of you have about the previous night's game. Today's BQ addresses Game 1 of the World Series.


"Legends are Born in October" is how the tag line goes. Looks like we have our first one of this World Series in Pablo Sandoval, huh?
Anytime your company includes ONLY Babe Ruth, Reggie Jackson and Albert Pujols, you're in rarified air. Sandoval's three-homer game in a World Series has now occurred in consecutive years, but prior to that it happened in 1926 and 1928 (Ruth) and 1977 (Jackson).  That's it. No one saw this one coming, from a dude who hit just 12 home runs all year. But Kung Fu Panda now has six homers in the postseason. Craziness.

How does Sandoval get on top of an 0-2 fastball from Justin Verlander and smack it 411 feet over the center field fence?
MMM hates to quote Fox's Tim McCarver, but he will. "I don't know," which is what McCarver said when Joe Buck asked the same question. The answer, MMM guesses, is "That's baseball." Until Sandoval's homer, Verlander had not given up a four-bagger on an 0-2 pitch all season. Again, craziness.

After just one game, who from the Giants has your shorts bunched in a knot?
Wow, such imagery. MMM already thinks Angel Pagan is annoying, and Marco Scutaro is giving MMM ghoulish nightmares of past pedestrian players like Brian Doyle (1978) and Gene Tenace (1972), who turned into World Series legends. Tim Lincecum looked like his old, Cy Young self. And what is that silly salute that Pagan and other Giants players do? That's got to go, too.

Game 1 was all Giants, obviously. Care to guess why?
Verlander was due for a postseason stinker, and he had it last night. An ominous sign was the Tigers leaving men on first and second in the first inning, when they got those runners there with only one out. But when Prince Fielder, perhaps too anxious, popped up on the first pitch, MMM squirmed.

Aside from that, the Giants had it all going: the breaks, their bats, the crowd, Sandoval's historic night. MMM doesn't buy into the "too much rest" theory. The Tigers just got beat like a drum, period. That happens sometimes, you know.

Speaking of Verlander, what happened? And his career World Series ERA is now 7.20 and his record 0-3.
He labored like he hasn't labored in weeks. Again, not a time factor; he pitched on just one more day's rest than normal. He just couldn't finish hitters, especially the "relentless" (another McCarver word) Scutaro. Verlander got two strikes on a lot of hitters, but to the Giants' credit, they fought off a lot of good pitches and elevated his pitch count. That's why Jim Leyland pinch hit for JV after just four innings (and 98 pitches) of work.

As for his WS numbers, they're only based on 15 innings. And two of those starts came when he was a 23-year-old rookie.

So the Tigers didn't look rusty to you?
Not really. They have typically struggled with lefty junkballers like Barry Zito, and last night was no exception. All everyone talked about was what Verlander was going to do to the poor Giants hitters. But nobody cared to mention that Zito is the kind of pitcher that typically gives the Tigers fits. We're talking about a team (Tigers) that routinely makes Bruce Chen look like Steve Carlton.

Anything positive you can give us?
MMM is hoping that the Giants blew their wad of superlative performances and lucky breaks (read: Pagan's double that caromed off the third base bag, which started a two-out, three-run rally in the third inning) in one game. MMM doesn't see Game 2 as being anything like Game 1. The Tigers have a game under their belts and should have a better showing tonight.

Must win tonight?
No. But Game 3 will be, obviously, if the Tigers go home down 0-2. Certainly a win in Game 2 will calm everyone's nerves and make Game 1 that much easier to forget, because last night's game was, indeed, forgettable if you're a Tigers fan. Sooner or later the Tigers will have to win a game on the Bay if they're to be world champs. MMM would like to see it come sooner than later, but let's not get into "must win" mode already. There's enough pressure here.

One last question: Game 2's Giants starter, Madison Bumgarner, has earned the first half of his surname in the postseason: 0-2 with an 11.25 ERA. What does this mean?
That Bumgarner will eat the Tigers' lunch. MMM is only partly kidding. Seems these kinds of dudes give the Tigers all sorts of problems. So many times bad numbers for the opposing pitcher have equaled masterful pitching performances against Detroit. And Bumgarner is another Chen-like guy. This won't be a picnic, but MMM foresees a Game 2 win by the Tigers and a 1-1 Series heading to Detroit.

A predicted win? This is going on the Internets, you know.
So doesn't that make it automatically true?

Come back here tomorrow for BQ after World Series Game 2!!

Burning Questions: ALCS Game 4

Note: During the playoffs, Monday Morning Manager will be answering Burning Questions. The morning after every Tigers playoff game, come back here for MMM's answers to the questions that many  of you have about the previous night's game. Today's BQ addresses Game 4 of the ALCS.


The Tigers have advanced to the World Series three times since the LCS were introduced in 1969, and in all three occasions they have swept their ALCS opponent. But did they win this too quickly, given what happened in 2006?
Not at all. There's something to be said for rest and recharging. You might call MMM nuts, because of how the Tigers played poorly in the 2006 World Series after having a week off. But manager Jim Leyland told TBS after last night's game that the Tigers have a plan this year for the break. He wouldn't divulge it, but he did say that the team won't be "sitting around doing nothing for a week" as it did in 2006.

Besides, it's not always a good thing to bounce right into another series. The Tigers have been playing "big games" for nearly two months now, as the division race took everything they had to pass Chicago in the final week. That wears on you. Taking a few days off to relax and gather yourself is not a bad thing right now.

The Tigers starting pitchers have been off the charts in the postseason. Were you surprised at how they dominated the Yankees?
If you're asking if MMM was expecting an ERA from them of about 0.67 (27.1 IP, 2 ER), then yes, surprised. But not shocked, because the Yankees also expended a lot of energy to overtake the Orioles in both the division race and the ALDS, and the Yanks aren't exactly spring chickens. The Tigers exposed the Yankees as old, slow hitters who ran out of gas.

Any particular key moment in Game 4?
Might sound odd, but MMM thought the way Max Scherzer came out and struck out two of the first three hitters sent a message: New York, your pain on offense won't subside so easily, if at all. The worst thing for the Tigers would have been if the Yankees, who showed some tough at-bats in the ninth inning of Game 3,  tagged Max for a run or two in the first inning. But Scherzer came out dealing, and in fact didn't even give up a hit until the sixth inning.

And, of course, the Tigers' four-run fourth inning, which broke the game open and allowed Scherzer to relax a little. That kind of gave the game a feeling of fait accompli.

What has gotten into Jhonny Peralta, who hit two of the Tigers' four homers last night?
If Leyland and Peralta can't explain it (they have both gone on record as not being able to), then you expect MMM to explain it? But Peralta's sudden emergence with the bat and the glove in the postseason is what makes baseball, and especially playoff baseball, so great. And it's not just Peralta. Delmon Young was named series MVP. These are two of the most maligned Tigers, from an offensive standpoint, this season. Yet here they are, producing in the clutch at the most important time of the year. Simply amazing.

Speaking of maligned guys, how about Phil Coke?
MMM wouldn't have been heartbroken if Coke was left off the playoff roster---that's how much he'd fallen into disfavor with yours truly. But he's another whose game has been shifted into overdrive for the postseason. He's pitching with supreme confidence now, and it's all because Jose Valverde imploded in Game 1. If that doesn't happen, Coke doesn't get these high-profile chances.

What happens now to the Yankees?
The easy thing would be to say, "Who cares?" But clearly we all care, like it or not. The Yankees have made the postseason every year but one since 1995---MMM finds that terribly impressive. But theirs is a team that is old and petering out. The roster is filled with guys past the age of 36, and some with ball-and-chain contracts. They might be able to get by with a reload instead of a rebuild, because there's always free agency. MMM, however, is reminded of the adage, "You can't outrace the calendar." MMM thinks this may be the first time in almost 20 years that the Yankees are staring at a crossroads before them. One slight move either way could determine the direction of their franchise for years to come.

Did you know that this is the first time a team has eliminated the Yankees in the postseason two years in a row since the New York Giants in 1921 and 1922?
MMM heard that mentioned and it's quite amazing. That's 90 years coming. Another amazing stat: The Tigers are 10-3 against the Yankees in the postseason. How many teams (if any) can say that?

Gut question: Does Jose Valverde close in the World Series?
That IS the $64,000 question, isn't it? Papa Grande says he has it all figured out now---a mechanics issue that has been solved. And he was warming up in the ninth inning of Game 4, albeit with a seven-run lead. If Valverde's troubles were physical (i.e. an injury), then he wouldn't be on the postseason roster. If the Tigers add him to the World Series roster (which they presumably will do), it doesn't make sense to not use him. As good as Coke was in the closer's role in the ALCS, given the time off and the supposed fix in mechanics, MMM sees Papa Grande returned to his closer role. But his leash will be very short.

Are the Tigers the team to beat in the World Series, regardless of who emerges from the National League?
If the starting pitching continues to be lights out, the Tigers will run roughshod over their NL counterparts. But if the games require 5+ runs to win every night, then beware; the Tigers' offense can go dormant in a hurry.

You ready to take a few days off before the World Series?
MMM could use a break. The beer is running low, after all.

Come back here next Thursday for BQ after World Series Game 1!!

Burning Questions: ALCS Game 3

Note: During the playoffs, Monday Morning Manager will be answering Burning Questions. The morning after every Tigers playoff game, come back here for MMM's answers to the questions that many  of you have about the previous night's game. Today's BQ addresses Game 3 of the ALCS.


Let's start with what happened before the game---namely, the Yankees lineup. No A-Rod, no Nick Swisher. Surprised?
Not really. If there's anything that MMM likes about Joe Girardi (and there are several things, actually), it's the manager's backbone. He doesn't bow to resumes and Hall of Fame credentials. He puts the guys in there who he feels gives his team the best chance of winning. MMM likes that. Now, the whole team is struggling, so you might wonder why Rodriguez and Swisher were singled out. Clearly, with A-Rod it's a matter of his 0-for-18 vs. right-handers in the postseason. With Swisher it was a chance to get Brett Gardner in the game, batting leadoff to replace the injured Derek Jeter.

For all the talk of the Yankees bats going silent, the Tigers aren't exactly hitting the cover off the ball, either. Concerned?
With a 3-0 series lead and Tigers starters putting zeroes up on the scoreboard like the 1966 Baltimore Orioles, World Series version, MMM isn't concerned so much as anxious. As long as you're winning, all is good. But it would have been nice for the Tigers to blow the game open in the sixth inning, when they had the bases loaded, one out, and Miguel Cabrera at the plate with a 2-0 lead. Even a sacrifice fly would have been nice. But the Triple Crown winner swung at the first pitch and grounded into a double play.

The good news is that the Yankees don't appear to be a team about to bust loose, so maybe you don't need a lot of runs to beat them.

Justin Verlander went 8.1 innings and threw a season-high 132 pitches, yet only struck out three hitters. Two-part question: was it right to pull him when Jim Leyland did; and what did you think of his outing?
First part first: yes, it was the right move. The Yankees had a flurry of lefty hitters coming up, plus switch-hitting Mark Teixeira. Leyland had southpaw Phil Coke, who is picking the right time to pitch the best he has all year, ready to go.  No reason to leave JV in at that point. MMM didn't like how Verlander hung that curve ball which no. 9 hitter Eduardo Nunez (who had a great eight-pitch at-bat) clubbed over the left field wall in the ninth inning, which was another red flag that JV was on borrowed time. As for Verlander's outing, he may not have been as sharp as a tack, but he got people out, and that's all that counts.

As in Game 2, Leyland did not have closer Jose Valverde warming up in the eighth inning. It was Joaquin Benoit and Coke instead. Before the game Leyland said he would, basically, play it by ear and use his "managerial instincts" if the Tigers had a lead going into the ninth. Is Coke the new closer? He has saved the last two games.
It's looking like, at least for this series, that Valverde won't close anymore. But two things: Verlander was on the mound spinning a shutout; and Leyland must have liked the Coke vs. Yankees lefties matchup. And it paid off. Coke got Ichiro Suzuki with little drama. Then Teixeira and Robby Cano had great at-bats as Coke twice was within one strike of closing them out, but only a lefty could have made that nasty slider that Coke made on lefty-swinging Raul Ibanez to end the game.

With any luck, this series only has a game or two remaining and Leyland will have some time to determine whether to re-install Valverde as his closer for the (gulp) World Series.

The eventual game-winning hit was Cabrera's double over the head of centerfielder Curtis Granderson. Catchable?
Well, it wasn't like Jim Northrup's drive over Curt Flood's head in Game 7 of the 1968 World Series in terms of drama. It also differed from Northrup's hit in that Granderson got a bad jump, whereas Northrup's triple wasn't catchable, despite Flood's stumble. So yeah, MMM would call it catchable but it was also a very difficult play. Most centerfielders will tell you that the toughest play is the line drive hit right at you, which describes Cabrera's hit to a tee. Now, MMM isn't saying that Austin Jackson would have caught it; the play was extremely difficult. But a guy getting a good jump and taking the proper route might have snagged the ball; it wasn't uncatchable, as Northrup's hit was.

Girardi brought switch-hitting Swisher to the on-deck circle to hit for Russell Martin, had Ibanez kept the ninth inning rally going. No A-Rod against the lefty Coke?
Girardi explained afterward that had he pinch-hit Rodriguez, Leyland would have countered with the righty Benoit, and the Yankees manager is probably right. MMM guesses that Rodriguez must be dead to Girardi when a right-hander is on the mound.

A 3-0 series lead with Max Scherzer, who hasn't pitched since Game 4 of the ALDS, on the mound. Should we get out the brooms?
MMM told you to beware of the Yankees-Verlander match-up, and that proved to be false worry. Scherzer hasn't pitched in a week, but no worries about that; Max's arm could probably use the extra two days rest. MMM hates 3-0 series leads, as strange as that sounds. There just seems to be added pressure to get that fourth win ASAP. The ninth inning last night showed MMM that the Yankees are still twitching. Sadly, MMM thinks you'd better clear Thursday's schedule for Game 5.

Party pooper!
Re-read the first sentence of MMM's last answer. *wink*

Come back here Thursday for BQ after ALCS Game 4!!

Burning Questions: ALCS Game 2

Note: During the playoffs, Monday Morning Manager will be answering Burning Questions. The morning after every Tigers playoff game, come back here for MMM's answers to the questions that many  of you have about the previous night's game. Today's BQ addresses Game 2 of the ALCS.


This is a nice question to ask about the other team for a change: Where are the Yankees bats?
It's not that they don't have bats---it's that those bats have as many holes in them as a whiffle ball. The number of swings and misses so far by the Bronx Bummers is staggering. Tigers pitchers are all but toying with the Yankees lineup, and MMM never figured he'd see that---at that cute little Yankee Stadium, no less. But the fences could have been 200 feet away; it really wouldn't have mattered.

Still, MMM doesn't trust that this offensive ineptitude is going to continue. Sooner or later the Yankees are going to bust loose. Maybe even against Justin Verlander in Game 3.

You're not serious. They might perk up against JV?
Why not? Baseball, as Joe Garagiola famously titled a book, is a funny game. Things don't always follow script, or precedent. All MMM is saying is, you never know what can happen. Maybe getting away from New York will help the Yanks. The played in a library over the weekend (with the exception of the ninth inning of Game 1). Comerica Park will be crazy, and that can help feed the visitors, too.

Maybe this is what you're talking about. Hiroki Kuroda was pitching on three days rest for the first time in his career, yet he was perfect through five innings yesterday. How did you see the duel between Kuroda and Anibal Sanchez?
Well, they were both terrific, obviously, but three days rest is still three days rest and eventually it will catch up to you if you're not used to it. No offense to Quintin Berry, but he's not usually a guy who drills balls over center fielders' heads, as he did to energize the rally in the seventh which produced the game's first run. MMM thinks Kuroda was beginning to lose some zip at that point, which wasn't very many pitches into his start, given how he cruised through the first six innings.

Once again the other team makes the defensive gaffe that everyone is talking about. This time it was Robby Cano, who dropped the ball on a sure-fire double play, scoring the first run from third base. Thoughts?
Stunning. Cano is Mr. Reliable, Mr. Smoothe, Mr. Calm, Cool and Collected. But for whatever reason, he chose to go overhand instead of sidearm, even though he had plenty of time to make his relay throw. The result was a case of butterfingers that proved huge. He makes that play and Kuroda wiggles out of a first-and-third, no outs jam. Devastating for the Yankees.

Speaking of defense, what has gotten into Ozzie Smith, er, Jhonny Peralta?
What did MMM say about baseball being a funny game and going against script? Sorry to answer your question with a question, but how else can you describe this? (Yes, that was another question. Sorry). Peralta has been nothing short of amazing in this series. He literally kept the Tigers in the game by himself in the early going of Game 1, and his bare-handed throw and cut down of Russell Martin in the sixth inning made Jhonny look like the most sure-handed shortstop in baseball.

MMM has been on Peralta's case at times this year, even about his defense. But Jhonny is quieting his critics, one by one.

OK, have to ask. The controversial play in which Omar Infante was called safe after over-running second base in the eighth inning, when replays clearly showed that he was out. Is Yankees manager Joe Girardi right---do we need replay in MLB for plays other than home runs?
You can take Girardi's bleatings with a grain of salt if you'd like, but he has a point. Why not try to get it right? MMM likes the NFL model of a limited number of challenges. Of course, which plays can be challenged would need to be determined. The trouble is, the nature of baseball is that, if a call gets reversed, it could create an additional set of problems, i.e. where to place other base runners, etc.

Clearly, umpire Jeff Nelson blew the call. He admitted it. Girardi made a good point when he said that, in the time it took for him to run onto the field, argue and get ejected, the umpires could have been looking at the play on video---and getting it right. MMM appreciates the "human element" of the game, but if it's good enough for the NFL, a multi-billion dollar corporation in of itself, then it's good enough for MLB.

Still, the Yankees never scored. So while it was a bad call, MMM has never seen a team win a game scoring less than one run.

Phil Coke got the final outs but don't call him the closer, according to Jim Leyland. Can closer-by-committee work, given Jose Valverde's demons?
MMM has a resounding answer for you: YES! MMM doesn't buy into the theory that games MUST be closed by ONE man, no matter what. In fact, MMM even favors the idea of having multiple pitchers in your bullpen who can be entrusted with the final few outs, as a general ideology. MMM would be thrilled if a big league team ever had the outside-the-box thinking to try that for a season. Granted, it might have to be a team that doesn't have a quote-unquote closer readily identified, but it would still be grand fun to see a team go against convention in this area.

So we don't see Papa Grande anymore in this postseason in a save situation?
MMM wouldn't be shocked, but he would be surprised. Jim Leyland's loyalty/stubbornness is why there wouldn't be a shock factor, but given the stakes here, surprised would definitely be the feeling if Valverde was summoned to close a tight ballgame.

Then when does he pitch?
MMM would blend him into the rotation of guys who normally pitch the sixth or seventh inning, but not necessarily in a close game. In other words, pick your spots with him carefully, and try to bring him in when there is some wiggle room for error.

Wiggle room? Sounds like a four-run lead in the ninth inning.
No one likes a smart aleck.

Verlander in Game 3. Yankees bats have gone AWOL. But it's not a lock for the Tigers?
There are no locks in the playoffs. No sure things. No mailing it in. That's what makes baseball a great game. But MMM wouldn't switch roles with the Yankees right now, that's for sure. They are Derek Jeter-less, and they looked like zombies without him. But again, no sure things.

Come back here Wednesday for BQ after ALCS Game 3!!

Burning Questions: ALCS Game 1

Note: During the playoffs, Monday Morning Manager will be answering Burning Questions. The morning after every Tigers playoff game, come back here for MMM's answers to the questions that many  of you have about the previous night's game. Today's BQ addresses Game 1 of the ALCS.


Funny question, I know, to open with after a win, but who is the most hated man in Detroit right now---Jose Valverde or Jim Leyland?
Not funny at all, that's the problem. MMM has an analogy for you. If a dog gets taken into a grocery store and urinates in the frozen food aisle, who do you reprimand---the dog or his owner?

Sorry for the visual there, but you get MMM's point, don't you? Valverde's meltdown in the ninth inning was stunning in that came on the heels of his meltdown in Game 4 of the ALDS. But after it became apparent, early in last night's appearance, that Papa Grande didn't have it, Leyland should have summoned Octavio Dotel, who was warming up furiously in the bullpen. The two-run homer by Ichiro Suzuki screamed for Dotel. Yet Leyland kept rolling the dice with Valverde, which were loaded cubes the manager was playing with. Hard to defend the decision to stick with Valverde, to say the least.

But Valverde struck out Derek Jeter and Robinson Cano in between all the damage. Didn't that make Leyland think that Valverde would be OK?
Just because you strike someone out doesn't mean you have your best stuff. Instead you should look at the pitches that were hit---and hit hard. Russell Martin's single (he's the number nine hitter for a reason) wasn't cheap. Ichiro's homer was even more expensive. And walking Mark Teixeira after getting ahead, 0-2, when you know Mr. Early October, Raul Ibanez, is in the on deck circle representing the tying run, well, MMM doesn't think two strikeouts cancel all that out.

Valverde's velocity was down, his pitches had no movement, and the Yankees were teeing off---when they were making contact. The two strikeouts were nice, but more of a case of good hitters simply missing hittable pitches, when you see what others were doing to Valverde's offerings.

Did you think the game was lost after the Yankees ninth inning rally, even though it was merely tied?
MMM likes to think of himself as a glass is half filled guy, but a walk-off win by New York wouldn't have come as a surprise, let's put it that way.

OK, more about the bullpen dilemma later on. What say you about Doug Fister?
A rocky start, obviously (three walks in the first inning). But then, yet another terrific performance by a Tigers starter. That makes six in a row now in the postseason. When your starters give you a chance to win every game, you can't ask for anything more than that.

Fister pitched like an Opening Day or Game 1 starter. Because, frankly, that's what he would be on any team that didn't include Justin Verlander. He was great after the first inning.

And the defense? Specifically, Jhonny Peralta?
Amazing, isn't it? Seems that in the postseason, the other teams are making the defensive gaffes, not the Tigers. MMM finds that deliciously ironic. As for Peralta, his plays early in the game got lost in the shuffle, but if he doesn't make them (backhand grab of Alex Rodriguez's base hit bid in the first and the ricochet off Fister's right wrist off the bat of Robby Cano, both with the bases loaded), the Yankees score at least three runs. And don't forget Austin Jackson, who ran down Eric Chavez's long drive in the eighth inning that could have been the start of something for New York.

The Tigers keep winning without having gotten a huge game yet from Miguel Cabrera. This is a good thing, right?
You asked a similar question before, but MMM feels you. Cabrera has been rather tame, but you know that won't last forever, and if the Tigers keep getting contributions from the likes of Delmon Young, Avi Garcia et al, then that's the recipe for postseason success. How wonderful that would be, if the Tigers lower half of the batting order picks the postseason during which to finally come alive!

The Yankees lost Derek Jeter to a fractured ankle, as told to reporters by manager Joe Girardi. Alex Rodriguez is scuffling in the postseason---again. So are several other Yankees. Their offense has been "wait for Raul Ibanez to save the day." Is this team ripe for the picking?
Whoa! The series is just one game old. Each series is different from the last, just like during the regular season. Let's not get too cocky here. The Yankees, unlike the Oakland A's, didn't get to this point with smoke and mirrors. They are still a very formidable foe. While MMM loves the Tigers starting pitching, Fister was a magician in Game 1, getting out of trouble. The Yankees problem is their lack of hitting with RISP, but they are sometimes able to overcome that deficiency with home runs, especially in that bandbox of a ballpark they play in.

It's a long series. The Tigers have beaten the Yankees twice in the postseason since 2006, but both were in the LDS. This is their first meeting in a best-of-seven, "real" series.

As for Jeter, that's a huge blow for New York. Still, let's not crown the Tigers after one game.

Back to the bullpen, as promised. What does Jim Leyland do now, with Valverde going off the tracks? Because Joaquin Benoit doesn't seem to have exorcised his demons, either.
MMM would anoint veteran Octavio Dotel as the closer, pronto. That's number one. MMM would then give Al Alburquerque and Phil Coke the seventh inning, between them. As for Benoit, MMM is much more confident in him than in Valverde. Yes, Benoit has been shaky in recent outings, but he hasn't had two implosions in a row, like Valverde has. Some, like Detroit News beat writer Lynn Henning, think that shuffling the bullpen now is like playing loser's poker. MMM disagrees. Don't throw your hands up---come up with a solution, and fast. A World Series berth is there for the taking.


Come back here Monday for BQ after ALCS Game 2!!

Burning Questions: ALDS Game 3

(note: During the playoffs, Monday Morning Manager will be answering Burning Questions. The morning after every Tigers playoff game, come back here for MMM's answers to the questions that many  of you have about the previous night's game. Today's BQ addresses Game 3 of the ALDS)


Where was the Tigers offense?
Some of it got lost in the gloves of Coco Crisp and Yoenis Cespedes. Both outfielders made terrific plays robbing Prince Fielder, which is what happens to you when you're 1-for-12, as Prince is in the series.

Crisp's thievery of a home run in the second inning seemed to set the tone. If you're an A's fan, it was appropriate that that play be made by Crisp, who was one of the goats in Game 2 for dropping Miguel Cabrera's fly ball in the seventh inning.

But aside from those two plays, the Tigers once again seemed vexed by a lefty with good off-speed stuff and a slider down and in to the righties and away from the left swingers. It was like Bruce Chen was pitching for Oakland.

So is it just a matter of turning the page and forgetting about it? Is it that easy?
It ought to be that easy. There's quite enough before you in the playoffs, with each game magnified in importance, that thinking about the last game simply can't be tolerated. Tonight is a new game. Game 3 is over and done with.

Was this a typical Oakland A's victory?
Pretty much. They won't pound you for 10 or 12 hits. They'll scratch out a few, knock one or two out of the ballpark, and pitch. That's how the A's won 94 games with a .238 team batting average. Tigers starter Anibal Sanchez pitched well, but Brett Anderson and the A's bullpen was better.

Frankly, the A's starters have pitched every bit as good, just about, as the Tigers through three games.

Speaking of Fielder, any worries about him?
Not really. MMM is sure that Fielder had a lot of 1-for-12 stretches during the season, as does every player. You just notice it more now. Besides, two of those 12 were robberies, and he's just as likely to bust out tonight with a couple big hits. As long as he doesn't seem frustrated, MMM isn't worried.

More pressure on the Tigers than on Oakland tonight?
More on the Tigers than there was yesterday, but not more than Oakland. The pressure is always greater on the team facing elimination. It has to be.

Having said that, the Tigers obviously would love to end this series tonight, with Max Scherzer on the mound. They would much rather have Justin Verlander for Game 1 of a seven-game series (ALCS), giving him maybe three starts, than in Game 5 of the ALDS. Even if the Tigers win a Game 5, JV wouldn't be available, likely, until Game 3 of the ALCS.

Any more thoughts on Al Alburquerque and "kissing-gate"?
The A's have nothing to complain about after Sean Doolittle's over-the-top scream after striking out the side in the eighth inning last night.

So who wins tonight?
MMM likes Scherzer against a strikeout-prone A's lineup. Tigers advance.

Can I quote you?
No need to. It's all over the Internet now, isn't it?

Come back here Thursday for BQ after Game 4!!