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Bless You Boys Podcast 124 was recorded August 16, 2014, has a running time of 53 minutes and features Al Beaton and Kurt Mensching.
Special guest: The return of the Crown Prince of the Upper Peninsula, Kurt Mensching.
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Hear more: BYB Podcast archive - SB Nation podcast archive
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Slumping again: The Detroit Tigers are 1 1/2 games back in the Central and 1/2 game out of the wild card. They are 3-7 in their last ten games, 12-17 in the second half, and would not make the postseason if it began tomorrow. These same Tigers held a seven game lead three weeks ago.
Weekend disaster, including ten and 19 inning losses: The Tigers lost two games in walk off fashion to the Blue Jays, including a blown saves by Joe Nathan on Saturday and Joba Chamberlain on Sunday.
Joe Nathan in need of PR lessons: Saturday, Nathan pulled a Prince Fielder post ALCS, saying:
"This is not going to ruin my day. It's not going to do anything like that. I'm going to still go get some dinner, go to sleep, wake up and do it again."
If he wasn't already, Nathan became public enemy number one Wednesday night when he used an Italian chin flick gesture to tell fans who had booed him to F-off. He apologized the next day. For a 39-year-old veteran, Nathan seems to have an awfully thin skin and a surprising propensity for saying and doing the wrong thing.
Victor Martinez - "We really need the fans": Martinez handles the "upset fan" situation in far better fashion than Nathan. in a long, impassioned statement, Martinez says understands fans being upset but asks for patience and support. Is that really too much to ask?
Injuries are piling up: From Justin Verlander, Anibal Sanchez and Joakim Soria to Buck Farmer, Robbie Ray and Melvin Mercedes. And we wonder why the Tigers are struggling?
On tap, Jim Johnson? The ex-Oriole All-Star and A's washout been up and down while pitching for Triple-A Toledo. Johnson asked for one more outing before being called up, and it was not confidence inducing. But who would you rather go with, Johnson and his track record of (not all recent) success or one of the busload of minor league relievers who have no record of MLB success?
Are we a spoiled fan base? Kurt says yes, our friend Rogo says no.
All that, plus tangents galore!
Upcoming guests:
Aug 22: Chris Iott, Mlive.com
Aug 29: Jason Beck, MLB.com
Find the BYB staff on Twitter: @BlessYouBoys, @BigAlBYB, @BYBKurt, @HookSlideBYB, @BYBRob, @Tigerdog_1, @JGoro8, @MelissaHeyboer, @CSlonksnis, @NoRunSupport, @Yooper_IA, @GregEno, @SBNationMLB.
HookSlide's Detroit Tigers audio clips archive at Chirbit.com and Facebook page.
For more MLB news, check out SBNation's MLB page. For the latest rumors, head to SBNation's MLB Daily Dish.
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