I'm sick of cheering Gary on, hoping he gets a hit.  At this point Id rather boo him and scream for a pinch hitter

Today was the cumulation of the frustration with Gary.  Bottom of the 8th, down by one run, full count, men on first and second.  Jim Leyland calls for the hit and run.  The pitch by the left hander Okajima was a fast ball, belt high and right down the center of the plate.  Gary Swings!... and misses.  Maggs is thrown out at third by a mile because Gary couldn't even make contact with a fastball right down the middle.  That cost us a scoring chance and almost the game (thank you Polanco). 

It doesn't seem to matter where you stick Gary in the lineup or the field, he is becoming a liability on offense.  I don't know if i can excuse it for injury or what, but his bat does not seem to be feared by anyone anymore.  He seems to pop out or strike out every other at bat.  The only reason his batting average isn't under .100 is because he has so many "non at bats" because of walks. 

The problem is, what do you do with him.  He is getting paid a ton of money to do one thing, hit.  Jim Leyland seems to have the ultimate trust in him, but a two month slump is past a slump.  I am sure the Tigers do not want to eat his salary by designating him.  So really the only alternatives are DL, bench, or continue to play him and hope. 

The first option leaves us without Gary for at least 15 days.  Thames could easily fit in Left or i suppose you could use Brandon as well.  But this option would likely bring out the headcase that is Gary Sheffield.  Benching also has the same problems of him not seeing live pitching for a certain amount of time, probably not real helpful to get his swing straight. 

Playing him is like batting a pitcher right now.

My solution?  None of those options.  Gary is one of the strangest, craziest individuals in the world.  He is probably completely backwards of any of us.  Gary once said last year during his April slump that he wanted the Detroit fans to boo him for his poor performance.  So my solution is boo the crap out of him until he starts hitting.  During the games I watch and the games i have been to, the urging chant "GARY!  GARY!" is predominant during any clutch situation he comes into.  Gary hates being rooted for.  Do the opposite!  Boo him until we can cheer for him. 

His "best" series thus far has been the New York series.  The New York fans hate Gary, for all kinds of reasons.  They booed him every time he went up to bat.  He even managed to get a HR during that series. 

I know this is completely opposite of how us Detroit fans normally act.  We are very forgiving and optimistic about our athletes.  We like to cheer for them.  The best example is the fact that Detroit fans root for athletes everyone else hates, like Rasheed and Chelios.  But we have to act more like New York fans wheneven A-rod goes 0-4.

BOOOOOOO!!!!!!    BOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

Lately, I've found myself wondering. When the payroll skyrocketed, I was mostly pretty happy. We'd been waiting for the Tigers to cut loose with some cash since, well, since Juan Gone thankfully turned it down. But as the season approached and I looked at where the Tigers were in spending, I began to feel some pangs of regret. People were lumping our boys in with my two most dreaded teams, the Yanquis and the Red Sawx. Still, I was glad to have the players that we acquired, and it put it all behind me. Then there's the whole Brandon Inge thing. When did the Tigers players start thinking that they were bigger than the team? That settled down quite a bit, but now Sheff is running off at the mouth about what's best for Sheff. Guillen (shockingly) is starting to talk about what he wants. It's become much more about what the players seem to want, and I think it's starting to show in the way that they work (or don't work) together. The final straw to me is the series of recent actions by ownership/management. The Tigers I knew left Mike Maroth out there long enough to lose 21 games. The Tigers of 2008 are a "must win" team. If they go a few days without kicking someone's ass, then the fans and the media call for someone's head. I can handle being a fan of a losing team. Heck, I've been a Tigers fan since the mid-sixties, I'm used to be a fan of a losing team. But I can't handle being a fan of the Yankees. I can't handle being a fan of a team that has no patience and no chemistry. So please Jimmy, Donny, Mikey. Let's relax and remember that this is a game, and these are the Tigers. Maybe taking the pressure off will actually help.

Grilli and J. Jones are gone.  Hopefully Miner is next up for the axe.  I do agree that Sheffield has no business playing defense-it does nothing but increase his chances of serious injury.  No he hasn't come around at the plate this year, but I feel that it is only a matter of time.  Big Clete Thomas, Thames and Rayburn are 3 perfectly good candidates for the LF position or a rotation of the slot.  I haven't heard much about the guy they brought up for RF, but it's a rather large risk after being swept and going into a 4 game series against Boston followed by another run against the Yankees and Twins-lets hope this pans out as Dice K, as well as the rest of the Boston pitching staff are on top of their game.

Would someone please inform me to why Leyland is placing players in positions they have no business playing? Guillen, Cabarra, Inge, just to name a few STANDOUTS, are not where they play the best. This, to me, has gone on too long!! Now, I know that Leyland is a veteran manager, but sometimes even the veterans can be illogical. Manager Leyland should make the necessary changes before the players realize how bad they are playing!

This Winter, everyone jumped on the Tigers bandwagon.  Then when Zumaya was determined to be out, Rodney was injured, Cruceta was lost in legal limbo, the sound of people jumping OFF the bandwagon was deafening.  Everyone was glad to say that the boys would score a thousand runs, but the big gaping hole in the Tigers this year is the bullpen.

Um, excuse me?

Since the April shellacking against Cleveland (13 games) the bullpen has put in 41 innings, given up 24 hits, 5 runs (all earned) 16 BB and 20K.  Now I’m not a rocket scientist, but by my math that’s an ERA of 1.09 and a WHIP of 1.07.

Now, to further my amusement, I looked at what Todd “Rollercoaster” Jones has been doing during that same period:

5IP 3H 2R 2ER 3BB 1K for an ERA of 3.60 and a WHIP of 1.20

Taking that out of the bullpen stats, you can see that WITHOUT Jonesy, the numbers are:

36IP 21H 3R 3R 13BB 19K for an ERA of 0.75 and a WHIP of 0.94.

Sure, I’d like to see less walks, but when your middle relievers and setup guys have an ERA of 0.75, you are gonna win some games.

The bullpen has gone from being the key weakness of the team this year into a something rock solid.

Ok, now I better get back to work.

See Ya Grilli! And thanks for the parting shot to TIGERS Fans.

Between reaching for my TUMS in the First with Bonderman and going for a Sandwich in the Nineth with Jones.

Grilli was just to much to watch in the middle. Especially at Home.

The Fans go on Him because, he always would let in 2 or 3 runs in that were added onto someone else`s ERA. Then, He would settle in.

If you you look at His year end stats,they`re not bad.

He`ll probably end up being the 4 or 5 starter over there!

Good Luck Grilli. You`re a Good Guy.

And thanks for the Autograph last season.

We Still got Snow in the Keweenaw!

Fats

Is it just me, or does Jacque Jones really Suck?

My Cubbies Buddys were just as glad to get rid of Him, as they were to be rid of C-Mo.

I have to hand it to Thames, You don`t hear a peep out of Him.

I know Jones is a lefty, but to give up Thames Bat?

Stick Thames in for Sheffield. Sheffield is done as soon as those shots wear off! Keweenaw Fan

DOESN`T ANYBODY SEE THE SHEFFIELD`s DAY`S ARE NUMBERED? THREE CORTIZONE SHOTS LAST WEEK. AND AT LEAST 3 LAST YEAR. CORTIZONE SHOTS ARE THE LAST RESORT. AND IN THE LONG RUN, DOES NASTY THINGS TO YOUR CARTILAGE. I HARDLY THINK IT`s WORTH LEAVING HIM IN, JUST CAUSE HE TAKES a FEW WALKS. HE`s DEAD WEIGHT in THE 3 SPOT!!! I SAY to PLATOON the DH WITH the REST of THE LINEUP. AND DOES IT EVER LOOK GOOD THAT WE STILL HAVE INGE! THERE`S A GUY WHO CAN WIN A GAME FOR YOU PLAYING DEFENSE. I SEEN HIM LAST YEAR IN THE TWIN CITIES IN FIELDING PRACTICE BEFORE THE GAME. THE BALL CAME TO HIM AT THIRD. HE MUFFED IT. PICKED THE BALL UP AND THREW IT BETWEEN HIS LEGS, ON A PERFECT LINE TO FIRST. CASEY SHORT HOPPED IT WITH THOSE SOFT HANDS HE HAS AT FIRST. UNREAL, THAT`s a STRONG ARM,eh? We STILL GOT SNOW on the FIELD in the KEWEENAW! GOOOOO0000oooooo TIGERS!!! P.S. WHERE`s FATS FOTHERGILL WHEN WE NEED HIM? 3rd ALL-TIME TIGERS BATTING AVERAGE-.337

The Gist: Armando Galarraga continues to wow and the Tigers' Curtis Granderson, Placido Polanco and Magglio Ordoñez each knocked two hits in a 6-4 win over the Angels. Galarraga took a no-hitter into the sixth but ended up without a decision. He allowed three runs (one earned), three hits and two walks in six-plus innings. Aquilino Lopez, who's been nothing short of nails so far this year -- try a 0.49 ERA -- got the W.

The Quote: "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it." -- Jim Leyland on the fate of Galarraga when Dontrelle Willis comes off the DL.

The Stat: 102.4%. That's how full Comerica Park was on Saturday for a 3:30 p.m. start time that coincided with the Wings/Avalanche game at Joe Louis.

Up Next: Angels at Tigers -- Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN

Justin Verlander (1-3, 5.93) vs. Jered Weaver (1-3, 4.95)

The Gist: The Tigers lost 4-3 to the Angels in one of the best baseball games the Tigers have played this year -- i.e., both teams played well. Nate Robertson gave up four runs in the Angels fourth and the Tigers chipped away but couldn't overcome Ervin Santana. Curtis Granderson went yard for the second straight game.

The Quote: ""I really don't know what to say about him -- he's a freak of nature." -- Robertson on Vladimir Guerrero, who hit yet another bad-ball rocket shot.

The Stat: 15.26. Santana's ERA in Detroit heading into Friday night's game.