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Afternoon Prowl: Metrodome Horror, Easy Pick Twins, Porcello's Fastball, and the Cabrera Dilemma

  Joe Posnanski compares the Metrodome to the horror film slasher that just won't die.  And even those who say they love the place don't really love it.  Posnanski also suspects that a mutual dislike of the 'Dome among Twins fans has become a source of pride.

(via Baseball Musings)

  Rob Neyer thinks the Twins are an easy pick today and lists five reasons why.  (Does Kurt know about this, now that Mack Avenue Tigers shares a virtual office with Neyer in "SweetSpot" land)?  

  Speaking of Mr. Mensching, he and the SweetSpot network's Twins blogger collaborated on some Q&A.  You can read Nick Nelson's thoughts on the Twins at MAT, and check out Kurt's responses to five Tigers-related questions at Nick's Twins Blog.

  ESPN's Buster Olney talked to a scout who says Rick Porcello's fastball will tell us how he's handling the pressure today.  If he's controlling that fastball, Kid Rick is playing it cool.  If he's missing the strike zone with it, his emotions probably aren't in check.  [Insider]

  I was one of the guests on the This Week in Detroit Tigers Baseball podcast over the weekend, and host Joe Dexter thinks this whole thing is my fault after I made a joke two weeks ago about the Tigers not being done with the Metrodome.  (Yeah - sorry about that.)  Of course, we talk plenty about the tiebreaker between the Twins and Tigers.

  Curtis Granderson wants to win a World Series championship for you, Detroit!  As Grandy writes for Big League Stew, playing meaningful baseball has made this year fun.

  We know how the Tigers got to today's game, but how did the Twins get to this position?  Aaron Gleeman looks back at how Minnesota ignited after season-ending injuries to Justin Morneau and Joe Crede.

  If you want to hear two guys debate whether or not Cabrera should have been suspended for today, give a listen to today's On the DL podcast.  (If you just want to get to the Cabrera talk, forward to the 15:10 mark.)

Nick Tarnowski agrees with Kevin Kaduk that the Tigers should sit him down, making the comparison that if this happened in Philadelphia, Phillies fans would go nuts.  Dan Levy, however, believes that suspending Cabrera now would be placating the media.  If the Tigers were going to take action, they should've done it on Saturday.  Nick and Dan also make predictions on today's game.

  Also feeling strongly that Cabrera should be benched for today is Mike McClary of The Daily Fungo.  In Mike's opinion, Cabrera shouldn't be allowed to possibly redeem himself for his actions by playing today.  Sitting him down could also lay the groundwork for Jim Leyland wielding proper authority over his team next season.

  Danny Knobler falls on his sword for picking Cabrera as his AL MVP before the season.  Don't be too hard on yourself, Danny.  No one else knew it would turn out like this either.

  Talking to Yahoo! Sports' Jeff Passan, Justin Verlander reveals how maturity and preparation helped him elevate his game and rebound from last year's disappointing performance.  One telling quote: "I guess I’m not able to flip the switch like I thought I could."

  Jon Heyman ranks his 30 best moves of the year from this past season.  Two of the Tigers' transactions are on the list.  And you may be surprised at where one of them is ranked. 

  Dan Bickley of the Arizona Republic thinks Kirk Gibson's handling of young players such as Justin Upton, along with the fans who criticize him, make him excellent future manager material.

(via The Daily Fungo on Twitter)

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Too Much Tension

I call for a live blog — no one’s getting work done today anyway

by The Nicker on Oct 6, 2009 2:29 PM EDT reply actions  

Agree!!!

I am just sitting here constantly looking at the clock

by MrPants20 on Oct 6, 2009 2:43 PM EDT up reply actions  

In retrospect

That was a good idea.

But GameThread goes up in about an hour. Might as well live it up in here.

by Ian Casselberry on Oct 6, 2009 2:49 PM EDT up reply actions  

Beyond the Box Score has an open thread of tonight's game

from a sabermetric perspective.

Right now Jeff just has the Ump’s strike zone tendencies, but when the lineups are released a full statistical analysis will be included. This is going to be fun.

http://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2009/10/6/1072548/minnesota-vs-detroit-10-6-2009#comments

"What we do in life, echoes in eternity!"

by Justin Bopp on Oct 6, 2009 2:33 PM EDT reply actions  

Hahahahahahahahahaha!!!

Feels like forever since I saw the Tigers. Watching BP now and they have a cheesey 70’s station on as background. Playing now:

“Last Night I Didn’t Get to Sleep At All”

by NCDee on Oct 6, 2009 2:38 PM EDT reply actions  

You'd wonder why the game is even being played...

reading all the predictions. Jeez. I know it’s a tough place to play and the Tigers are up against it, but the way the talking heads are spewing, the Twins are Big Red Machine and the Tigers are the Bad News Bears.

And most of them are saying it gleefully. Guess the Twins are just so darn lovable.

by rook34 on Oct 6, 2009 2:39 PM EDT reply actions  

I said this a couple of days ago...

…but if we somehow pull this out and win this thing, we’ll be looked at as the kings of the trash heap. If the Twins win, they’ll be Cinderella.

by SabreRoseTiger on Oct 6, 2009 2:41 PM EDT up reply actions  

"most sportswriters think.....

We would save everyone a lot of time and trouble if we just went out and shot ourselves.". Lou Brown, Major League

by rook34 on Oct 6, 2009 2:45 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions  

I have zero confidence right now...

Am i a bad person?

Is this legal?
I don't know. It's fun, though...

by moonshineboy on Oct 6, 2009 2:43 PM EDT reply actions  

No.

All feelings at this point are valid. I’m feeling about 15 things at once myself.

by NCDee on Oct 6, 2009 2:44 PM EDT up reply actions  

& i kinda want to puke...

Is this legal?
I don't know. It's fun, though...

by moonshineboy on Oct 6, 2009 2:45 PM EDT up reply actions  

no, it makes you rational

I am ascillating between “oh my god the stupid Twinkies are going to win and the collapse will be brought up every baseball season until the end of time” and “if they are loose and confident and the Tigers pull this off this is going to feel fantastic!” and everything in between on a continuous loop with a duration of approximately 14.7 seconds.

But mostly I feel like screaming hysterically.

"While there's life, there's hope." --Cicero

by Baroque on Oct 6, 2009 2:58 PM EDT up reply actions  

I don't either

President, Vice President and Secretary of the Casey Crosby Fanclub.

by David Tokarz on Oct 6, 2009 3:53 PM EDT up reply actions  

Maybe a joke'll loosen things up...

I heard on the radio today that Denard Span is the length between a man’s testicles…

Is this legal?
I don't know. It's fun, though...

by moonshineboy on Oct 6, 2009 2:47 PM EDT reply actions  

lmao

I heard that too on 97.1 the ticket

by Detroitchik on Oct 6, 2009 2:49 PM EDT up reply actions  

no way

He’s taller than that. :D

"While there's life, there's hope." --Cicero

by Baroque on Oct 6, 2009 2:54 PM EDT up reply actions  

lolz

That is horrible.

President, Vice President and Secretary of the Casey Crosby Fanclub.

by David Tokarz on Oct 6, 2009 3:54 PM EDT up reply actions  

very little confidence myself BUT

Remembering what leyland said "that’s why they play the games" has the feeling of a bowl game. Heading over to my parents house to watch the game with family. So werid that the playoffs have not even started and we are in a game 7 situation! Go Tigers!

by PBURGTIGER on Oct 6, 2009 2:50 PM EDT via mobile reply actions  

Okay

Leaving here, going to take a walk, feed some squirrels and WHO IS THIS PERSON TALKING ABOUT RAYS FOUNDATION GRANTS ON MY COMPUTER oh okay DP is back.

Yeah — I need a walk

Leaving to “We Are Family”

by NCDee on Oct 6, 2009 2:52 PM EDT reply actions  

ahhh

the rambling has started already…..

by Detroitchik on Oct 6, 2009 2:54 PM EDT up reply actions  

So, I was originally going to skip two classes today

but I accidentally overslept (set my alarm for PM instead of AM…whoops) so I’m missing all three. It’s not like I would’ve been able to concentrate anyway.

by kendra.michelle on Oct 6, 2009 2:53 PM EDT reply actions  

Anything going on at the CoPa

or around the stadium? I live just south of Toledo….. I don’t know if I want to watch this alone

by MrPants20 on Oct 6, 2009 2:57 PM EDT reply actions  

not to my knowledge, Mr. Pants

The game may be on at either Elwoods or the State bar. We are headed to a place called Boomer’s after work to watch on the big screen, you aew welcome to join us there….

by Detroitchik on Oct 6, 2009 3:02 PM EDT reply actions  

Thanks

I’m freaking out here!

by MrPants20 on Oct 6, 2009 3:05 PM EDT up reply actions  

Thanks

I don’t know what I’m going to do… I’m freaking out here!

by MrPants20 on Oct 6, 2009 3:06 PM EDT up reply actions  

what did denard span say?

beck: Span’s remarks on #tigers choking posted in clubhouse, with highlighter.

by allikazoo on Oct 6, 2009 3:04 PM EDT reply actions  

“I don’t want to say they’ve choked, but, yeah, they have choked. They’ve choked a little bit. But they have the opportunity to not choke, I guess. I think the pressure is still on those guys. They’ve had the lead all second half.”

by StringTheory on Oct 6, 2009 3:08 PM EDT up reply actions  

Hey, because I probably won't be here when the Game Thread is posted...

Could someone post this link for me:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6wRkzCW5qI

I posted it on Sunday, thinking we needed something motivational or inspirational, and I think we could use it again.

by SabreRoseTiger on Oct 6, 2009 3:06 PM EDT reply actions  

YES

President, Vice President and Secretary of the Casey Crosby Fanclub.

by David Tokarz on Oct 6, 2009 3:57 PM EDT up reply actions  

Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright

In the frigging Metrodome tonight.
Your pitchings great, your fielding, adroit;
Let’s kick the crap out of the Twins, Detroit!

by Wayne Comer on Oct 6, 2009 3:09 PM EDT reply actions  

That. Is. Fabulous.

"While there's life, there's hope." --Cicero

by Baroque on Oct 6, 2009 3:47 PM EDT up reply actions  

Lineups

TIGERS (86-76)

1. Curtis Granderson, CF
2. Placido Polanco, 2B
3. Magglio Ordonez, RF
4. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
5. Carlos Guillen, DH
6. Ryan Raburn, LF
7. Brandon Inge, 3B
8. Gerald Laird, C
9. Ramon Santiago, SS

TWINS (86-76)

1. Denard Span, CF
2. Orlando Cabrera, SS
3. Joe Mauer, C
4. Jason Kubel, RF
5. Michael Cuddyer, 1B
6. Delmon Young, LF
7. Jose Morales, DH
8. Matt Tolbert, 3B
9. Nick Punto, 2B

by The Nicker on Oct 6, 2009 3:16 PM EDT reply actions  

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