I was trying to find out when he got his last hit. I'm not sure if he ever batted once at Old Dominion. The only thing I could find from high school was that he had a 0.38 ERA his senior year.
In that YouTube clip, Northrup and Horton both have helmets whereas Cash did not opt for a batting helmet. If given the choice (and facing Bob Gibson), I don the helmet.
Here is the tough thing with Verlander and hitting. If he's pitching well, but it's still a close game, Leyland will have to make a choice about pinch-hitting for him once the game gets to around the 7th inning. So, if there are runners on base and it's a 0-0 game, then you almost have to pinch-hit for the pitcher.
At least we have a manger that knows how to manage with a pitcher in the lineup. Leyland is a 2 time NL manager of the year and also won an NL world series with the Marlins in 97. He won't run into a situation that he hasn't seen 500 times before. Having to put Young in the outfield and having to drop out Berry or Garcia is another consequence. And of course there is zero disadvantage for the NL having to play by the AL rules, except that they might not bother to have a guy like Young on the roster in the first place (because they would have been outbid by an AL team on the margin). Tigers may want to tweak the roster for the WS, but JL is indicating no change at the current time... he left the door open. One big change of strategy going on now from 2006 involves our preparation during the layoff. Scrimmage against minor league players tomorrow in a closed practice.
No, they just sat around and played tiddlywinks. This bringing up of the instructional league team to play back-to-back scrimmage games on Sunday/Monday is completely new.
Not if there are guys on base, particulary a guy on third and less than two out. I can't see Leyland doing that.
It'll be interesting to watch the NL-style managing in the road games....especially tough scenarios like this one.
So, starting out in San Francisco after all. No chance for a re-match with Cards. This is going to be interesting here on the West Coast.
Of course he's going to say he's ready to pitch in the World Series. Hopefully Leyland is keeping a close eye on this. In Jim I trust.
You are either in the minority of Tiger fans or you are a Giants fan. Most Tiger fans hope to never see Valverde pitch for the team again.
Coke has an enormous ERA against righties and Valverde against lefties. And lately, Valverde has stunk against both. I don't have that much faith in Coke based on just a few escapes. He allowed 2 base runners in one of them and already had one out on the board when he entered the game. The only thing that I do like about him is that he throws strikes and is much less likely to get into a mess through walks. That is my main problem with Valverde is that he constantly walks the tying or winning run to the plate instead of challenging guys ahead of them. I have a lot more confidence in Smyly and Porcello, but they are young and Leyland isn't going to trust them. Albequerque is also another option for a closer of course. Expect to see just about everybody pitch at some point in this series. It's not going to go down like the Yankees sweep. Leyland also made it very clear that he is going with 4 starting pitchers in the WS. 1) Verlander. 2) Fister. 3) Sanchez. 4) Scherzer. The only surprise here to me is that he doesn't have Scherzer going game 3 and then potentially again in game 7. It seems a little too much to expect Sanchez to pull off a high pressure W on the road to end the season. I'd rather see Scherzer go twice than Sanchez, because he has better "stuff" and just had a no hitter through 6. Sanchez has been nice though and it more used to batting/ bunting, so maybe that will come in handy in a big game. I still can't believe how difficult it was for this great team to win the division and sneak into the playoffs. We are a much better team with a healthy Fister and the addition of Sanchez, so let's hope they prove it and go down in history as winners. Can't help but to think of next year a little bit with Victor back in the lineup. It's a shame that he couldn't rehab this year and rejoin the team over the last month.
The problem with any reliever save Coke at this point is going to be rust.... when was the last time any of the other relievers got much of a burn. Nice problem to have but with how our starters have gone and then the week off.... I have more faith in our closer then most, but with him.... he needs to only go into the game in a save chance, he's never been good otherwise. The lose against Oakland should have never happened, never should have been in the game in the first place.
