Detroit Tigers Links gets irrationally excited

WOOOOO

Yes the Twins are bad. Yes we had Justin Verlander pitching. I don’t care. The Tigers absolutely had to win both of those games. The Tigers did win those games. Let’s go!

That day game was well attended

Jim Leyland would absolutely hate this article

538 took a statistical approach, as they do, to judge the best and worst bullpen managers. You will never guess who made the list of worst:

I seriously want someone to show this to Jim Leyland. First he would ask what that hand held computer contraption was, and then he would tell you how stupid it is to use stats to determine match ups and baseball feels. Then to redeem his street credit after the iPhone question he would dab you into oblivion.

“In a year that has been so improbable, the impossible has happened...”

Vin Scully will call his final game this Sunday, and MLB Network will be simulcasting the broadcast if you want to tune in. I’m a little too young to have a true appreciation for his greatness, but Jayson Stark wrote a terrific profile on the legend if you are under educated like myself.

ESPN also put together a compilation of Scully’s classic calls, and you will note that a couple do not even have video because good lord has he been calling games for a long time. Or just take in Kirk Gibson’s 6 (!!) minute at bat in the 1988 World Series:

Yankees sold Coke to Pirates for cash

The Braves are... interesting?

We all had a grand time making fun of the Braves in April. They literally could not hit a home run and were on pace for the worst record in baseball history. But it’s a long season, and eventually, a young team started to figure it out.

The team not only has a winning record since the All Star break, but also the best wRC+ in the NL. Oh yeah, and they are out here doing things like this:

So while conventional wisdom for a team nearing 100 losses is to continue to blow it up, the Braves may take another route.

With Freddie Freeman hitting like an MVP candidate in the second half, Dansby Swanson emerging, and Ender Inciarte justifying the Shelby Miller trade on his own, it’s not out of the question to suggest the Braves might have a core to build around in the short-term rather than the long-term. They might be more interested in using 2017 as a bridge year to contending in 2018, which is a plan that usually gives the team that slight chance of shocking the world a year early, like the Astros and Rangers last season.

I’d bank on them adding pieces if only to try and fill their new ballpark. Would be nice to contend after charging Atlanta $392 million.

For your free time.

Adam Jones is not impressed with your fandom, Baltimore. Joakim Soria is just a scapegoat for the Royal’s real problems. Ausmus may be back, unless hes not. Mark Lowe has been quietly good in the second half. Because he hasn’t had a single leveraged situation. New title, Mark Lowe has existed for the second half.

Baseball is awesome.