State of the Tigers

Here's how I see it. The Tigers have dug themselves a hole that will take them years to crawl out of. 

To wit --

Verlander, once an ace, is no more than a journeyman these days with a ridiculous salary. For whatever reason, he no longer even attempts to throw his once-devastating split-finger pitch.

Fulmer has been hailed as great by Detroit pundits, but he's actually little better than average.

Cabrera's triple crown season seems like a long time ago. Of late, his production has nose-dived drastically. Throw in another mega-contract for a player clearly on the back side of his career, and who else would touch him?

Kinsler remains a good, but not great all-around player, but he'll start eroding soon as well.

Waiting for Castellanos to blossom into a force is fool's gold. Ain't gonna happen. He's a .240 hitter and far less than average defensive third baseman.

JD Martinez could hit, but was a defensive liability in rightfield. Now he's gone for prospects that -- well, who knows?

Victor Martinez likely couldn't play for any team but the Tigers. Who needs a 38 year old DH, hitting maybe .250, who is slower than molasses in winter on the basepathes, and can't play a defensive position?

Guys like Romine, Matouk, and Presley are little more than band-aids. The best they can come up with.

Catcher-wise, Avila surprisingly hit well this year, but he's terrible defensively and can't stay healthy. His daddy being the GM certainly works in his favor. A little nepotism anyone? McCann has a great throwing arm but can't hit a lick.

The bullpen remains little more than cannon fodder.

Iglesias is an injury waiting to happen. Always has been.

If there was any doubt about Ausmus lasting beyond this season, it's gone now. He's the lamest of lame ducks, given the Tigers' record, but it's not his fault if he's stuck with a roster of bad news bears players.

The Tigers are now 11 games under .500 and fading fast. Yet I don't see how Avila has many cards to deal.

The farm system was once basically looted in a "go for it now" mentality acquiring short-term free agents. They never got over the hump and the mercenaries have since gone elsewhere.

Yeah, I get it that local scribes are "homers", but it's laughable when they suggest Verlander should have been the Cy Young winner last year with a 16-9 record, while Rick Porcello was chalking up a 22-4 mark for the Bosox. And BTW, what were the Tigers thinking letting that guy, especially considering his young age, get away?

Yep, they've painted themselves into the proverbial corner, and they'll have to pay the price for it in the foreseeable future. The proverbial piper has finally come to collect and he won't be denied.

They're already bad, but this has all the makings of getting uglier than Congress and the White House in years to come.

Kyrie Irving is-----

Actually, a lot of things. A great basketball player to be sure.

But also start checking several boxes when it comes to being injury-prone. A finger problem. A bad toe. A broken hand after a moment of stupidity. How about a cheek bone? Let's add a bum knee.

Yep, Kyrie's gone through more than his fair share of medical specialists along the way.

He's also been very fortunate.

Irving wound up at Duke for his freshman college year. Few would doubt Coach K and the university itself are among the elite in the world of college sports. Academic standards have always been high. With the exception of the boys' lacrosse team being wrongfully accused of sexual misconduct a while back -- which was proven to be nothing more than a cruel hoax perpetrated by an incompetent prosecutor and a lying "victim" looking for her 15 minutes and a cha-ching, the Dukies are pretty much squeaky clean when it comes to the world of ethics. You just don't hear about one of Coach K's boys getting in trouble.

But being a typical "one and doner", Irving declared for the NBA draft after one year in Durham. OK, that was his option.

Then he was lucky enough to get picked by the Cleveland Cavaliers. It could just as easily have been a sad sack team, like Charlotte, Detroit, Sacramento, and a few other back-water places few NBAers really want to go to.

In an incredible stroke of fortune, guess who was on the way to Cleveland as well in the near future? That Lebron guy, and Kevin Love, along with a really good cast of supporting players.

Two years ago, Kyrie Irving was part of an NBA championship team, when the Cavs upset the highly favored Warriors of Golden State. Irving doesn't get that ring without the mega-help that the Cavs had enlisted to play on the same team with him.

Meanwhile, Kyrie's been cruising along making 16, 17, 18, and it will keep going up to 19 and 20 million bucks a year for playing hoops. Throw in endorsements, and it's likely twice that amount. First class airfare, staying in 5 star hotels on the road, limos -- it's all part of the package.

In short, Kyrie has led a blessed life indeed to date. He's also been a "star" player wherever he's gone from high school, college, playing in the Olympics for team USA, etc.

Yep, most would consider this living in the lap of luxury. It surely beats the heck out of pumping septic tanks, super-sizing customers at a fast food drive through window, or being on the road-kill clean-up crew for a local government entity somewhere -- which is about all his "formal" education would otherwise get him.

But now Kyrie has a problem. Playing on a pro team making huge bucks that made the NBA Finals the last three years in a row isn't good enough.

He wants to be more of a "focal point". So he went to Cleveland owner Dan Gilbert and asked to be traded. Incredibly, though he has no say-so whatsoever in such a thing, dear Kyrie even listed the teams he would "settle" for. The Cavs, of course, are under no obligation to do anything. Irving's still under contract to them. And even if they trade him, it could be to ANY team -- see some of the not-so-good possible destinations listed above.

To sum up, most of the media, per their usual politically correct ways, have somehow decreed that the fault lies anywhere but with Kyrie. They'll go on and on trying to blame somebody else for the friction and/or dissatisfaction that has settled in with Irving and the Cavs.

They are wrong. It is entirely of Kyrie Irving's own selfish doings and sense of entitlement.

All his life he's been treated like a king, and paid accordingly, because he can dribble and shoot a basketball.

And now he wants even more.

Indeed, opinions are in no short supply as to how this could have happened to poor dear misunderstood Kyrie.

Your truly has one of his own.

Can you spell.....

I-N-G-R-A-T-E?

The Ilitch mystery

As owners went, Mike Ilitch of the Detroit Tigers and Red Wings was a bit reclusive. Such are the ways of billionaires at times.

He certainly wasn't "out there" like Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys, Dan Snyder of the Washington Redskins, Mark Cuban of the Dallas Mavs, or Dan Gilbert of the Cleveland Cavs, among others. Even the cheese baron, Robert Kraft of the New England Patriots was spotted here and there.

[Idle thought. Given his artery clogging empire, Kraft should have owned the Green Bay Packers. How perfect would that have been?]

Yet once in a while, Mike Ilitch would emerge from his ivory tower to make an appearance.

[Idle thought II. Supposedly, the fans own the Packers. They can buy in, but never sell. Kind of like a Hotel California scenario. Check in but never leave. Scary. Yet that begs the question -- who and how decides who the front office personnel is in Cheeserland?]

But since Ilitch's death earlier this year, his son Chris, ostensibly the controlling partner of both the Wings and Tigers, seems to have become almost CIA spookish. As in, we kind of know he's out there somewhere, but it's all top-secret hush-hush classified information.

Dad wasn't afraid to spend lavishly in pursuit of championships. Indeed, the Wings would transform from also-rans in the NHL to winning 4 Stanley Cups under his ownership. He shelled out whatever it took to procure great players.

Likewise with the Tigers. Their payroll has consistently been in the upper echelons of Major League Baseball for several years. Alas, they would win two American League pennants, but could never get over the hump in the World Series. It wasn't for lack of ownership dough.

But now that Ilitch the elder has passed on to the great (if a bit greasy) pizza pie in the sky, it appears the days of free spending are over.

This seems strange, given the massive amounts of money television contributes to professional sports franchises for the broadcast rights. Some have claimed teams don't need to sell a single seat at a single game, and will STILL turn a hefty profit from ad and paraphernalia sales. Call yours truly skeptical regarding that claim, especially given the preposterous player salaries the free agent market and labor/management negotiations have created in the last couple decades. But I dunno. Let's just say serious bucks are changing hands somewhere, and the average fan is footing the bill one way or the other. Those $10 watered-down draft beers and $8 soggy hot dogs aren't by accident.

Nevertheless, it would be nice if Chris Ilitch showed his face once in a while and actually uttered a few words to the public.

Hey, his daddy left him a billionaire heir. The least he can do is mingle with the hoi-polloi on occasion.

Though it might go against his blue-blood heritage, it's really not that daunting a task.

Distasteful? Maybe.

But hey. It's Detroit. Most everybody's only sense of taste is in their mouths anyway, the afore-mentioned greasy pizza notwithstanding.

The Justin Verlander thing

OK, the KC Royals knocked off the Detroit Tigers again. No big surprise there. Though the front office of the Tigers (and their fans) are no doubt loath to the idea of totally rebuilding, it appears they won't have much choice but to blow it up and start over before long. The current team in its current state is not sustainable and will only get worse over time.

Former "ace" Justin Verlander escaped without another loss on his record, but obviously didn't get a win either.

In fact, he hasn't won a game in a month. Only two in the last two months. His record stands at 5-7, with a mediocre 4.50 ERA over 100 games into this season.

For that matter, Verlander has only had one decent year since 2012, that being 2016. Other than that, he's been the definition of a "journeyman" pitcher.

Yep, he's a horse and capable of throwing 120-130 pitches in any given start, but what good is it if he can't rack up wins?

Throw in the fact the Tigers still owe him almost $80 million for the remainder of his ridiculous contract (three more years plus pro-rating the rest of this one), and the Fastball Flakes man starts looking a lot more like an albatross around their necks than a serious asset to the team.

Hey, if you're going to shell out way north of 20 million every year to a guy that only plays every 5 or 6 days, it's certainly not unreasonable to expect he'll win more games than he loses. But that has not been the case.

As the trade deadline quickly approaches, it is rumored teams such as the Chicago Cubs and LA Dodgers might have an interest in Verlander.

The Dodgers have certainly been cruising along this year, holding the best record in all of baseball. But their ace Clayton Kershaw might have an injury that sidelines him for a while.

Since their historic World Series championship run last year, the Cubs just can't seem to get any traction this year, despite their talent elsewhere, and their starting pitching has been a main reason why.

Money isn't a problem to either of these franchises, but why would they consider bringing Verlander on board, even if the Tigers could work out a deal with either of them?

The LAST thing the north-siders and la-la landers need to do is trade off promising young prospects or established position players for a pitcher that is clearly on the back side of his career. And a hugely overpriced one at that.

The Cubs were champs last year. The Dodgers are coming strong. The Tigers appear to be going down the tubes.

Verlander's from Virginia, has spent his entire major-league career with the Tigers, and likely wants to finish it there.

It's difficult to imagine how and why he could, or would prefer to go somewhere else at this point.

It is the opinion of yours truly that if Tigers GM Al Avila has a lick of sense -- which is debatable -- he'll try to unload #35. It would shed a huge salary and he just might, repeat MIGHT, get something halfway decent in return to build on in the future.

The only question is --

Is anybody else dumb enough to bite?

The NASCAR Indy problem

Well OK, Kasey Kahne won the 2017 Brickyard 400. The two fastest cars on the track, teammates, somehow figured out a way to wreck each other.

Good. Both Kyle Busch and Martin Truex drive for Joe Gibbs racing. You remember Joe. A deeply religious man. Red, white, and blue to the core. Mom, apple pie, and ---- Toyota?

Yep, he became quite the hypocrite when he sold out to a Japanese auto company for cars and engines. So screw him, his cars, drivers, and teams. The very definition of NASCAR -- has "National" as its first word, not international. This is an American race and series, dammit. Buy and drive American or get the hell out.

But enough on that rant. NASCAR has a much bigger problem to worry about. Falling attendance at tracks and rapidly dwindling TV ratings.

It's certainly true that, once upon a time, the Indy 500 was the "greatest race on earth". Yours truly used to make his annual pilgrimage to the famed track every year back in the days of yore. So many legendary names of Indy car racing were involved that I won't list them here.

And it was a tough ticket to get. The track would be packed, both in the stands and infield every year.

Then came the infamous "feud". One faction of Indy car brass wanted to drastically change the rules, and the other refused to go along with it. As both sides continued to stand fast, it all but ruined the sport. Attendance and fan interest plummeted.

At the same time, NASCAR was enjoying a rising tide of popularity. They had a bunch of big-time name recognition going on as well, the marketing department was in overdrive, and there wasn't an empty seat in the house at their over 30 races each year. At one point, it was the second largest revenue sport in America, though always far behind the mighty NFL.

But look what has happened in recent years. The Indy 500 has rebounded to almost, but not quite its former place of eminence in the world of racing. They're selling out again.

On the other hand, NASCAR has taken a ratings nosedive.

At this year's Brickyard 400, once a huge draw for motorheads, the number of empty seats was astonishing. Entire sections of bleachers with nary a soul sitting in them. Even on the "front stretch", prime viewing, attendance was sparse.

Of the roughly 400,000 fan capacity at Indy, including the infield crazies -- which I was once a proud member of -- it appeared they could only sell a fraction of them -- maybe 20% -- if that.

Also true is NASCAR has lost a few "name" drivers to retirement in recent years. Gordon, Stewart, and Earnhart Jr. is next. But the one-time magic of the "good ole boys" packing the tracks everyplace they go appears to be over.

And it's not just at the Indy venue. At most races during the year, one can see a noticeable absence of butts in the seats, and the TV ratings continue to fall.

Maybe this is what happens when a once proud mega-franchise markets a sorry competitor such as Danica Patrick to the heavens. She was never any good -- never will be. A total waste of sheet metal, tires, first class equipment, competent pit crew, racing fuel, and a wreck waiting to happen.

Or it could be that America has finally wearied of the "roundy-round" series and turned its attention -- and sports bucks -- in other directions.

Then again, I, for one, have never quite got my head around NASCAR holding its equivalent of the Super Bowl -- the Daytona 500 being the biggest "game" -- on the first week of their season.

Add in the fact they won't let a race end when it's supposed to, but rather make it go into overtime, or double overtime, with crazy restarts and sure to be resulting wrecks, along with the nutty scoring system even the Almighty probably scratches his head trying to decipher, and maybe they've finally reaped their just desserts.

But it ain't looking good right now.

Rocky mountain high mystique

Recently, Albert Chen of Sports Illustrated penned a lengthy article on how and why pitchers for the Colorado Rockies face such a nightmare.

It's the altitude, of course.

The poor hurlers struggle to catch their breath in such rarifed air, and balls go zooming out of the park far more than at any other venue. Needless to say, their collective ERAs suffer accordingly.

As most scribes and talking heads are wont to do these days, Chen had a bazillion geekish statistics to bolster his argument.

Because the altitude at the Rockies home field offers 20% less "air", then breaking pitches will spin 20% less, hence "breaking" that much less as well. Fodder for opposing batters.

All of which is balderdash when one takes into consideration the other unmentioned side of the equation.

If the air is that much thinner, then it logically stands to reason fastballs should meet that much less wind resistance and travel 20% faster. A guy that normally throws 95 MPH should now have a heater somewhere around 115 MPH on the radar gun. Try getting around on that.

Chen cites an above average amount of runs scored at Rockies home games. Well dang, shouldn't that work both ways? So what's the problem?

And if the "thinner" air is that much of a factor, as in the above-mentioned 20%, then why is it we've never heard of record-setting home run blasts? Nowadays, anything over 420-440 feet is deemed a "monster shot" by the hyperventilating announcers in their never-ending quest for superlatives.

So if those can happen at all other Major League ball parks -- and they do on a regular basis -- then shouldn't we hear about balls travelling 20% further at Coors Field? Like of the 500+ variety? When's the last time you heard of one of those being hit into "orbit"? You haven't, because it hasn't occurred.

This seems particularly odd in the age of (allegedly) "juiced" baseballs, bats custom made to fit every hitter, and the same hitters being in much better shape (stronger) than they ever were in days of old.

Evidently, we're supposed to believe a pudgy first baseman named Norm Cash that played for the Detroit Tigers decades ago hit several homers over the roof of the former Tiger Stadium, estimated to have traveled well over 500 feet, with deader balls, but no current sluggers can come anywhere near matching it. Does that sound logical?

And hey, let's face it. Both the Rockies and their opposing team on any given day play under the same conditions. If the venue is so conducive to run production, shouldn't that work both ways as well?

Far be it from yours truly to doubt the intent and veracity of Albert Chen, and SI in general, but excuse me if I call myself skeptical.

As the Bard once famously penned himself --

This could well be another classic case of Much Ado About Nothing.

Chump of the day

Here was the setting. The Detroit Tigers were visiting the KC Royals and getting pummeled. This is what can happen when a major league team throws the ball around on the field defensively like a bunch of little-leaguers that have been over Ritalined and their pitchers are basically serving up batting practice.

In the ninth inning, with the Tigers a whopping 12 runs behind and already one out while at bat, they had a runner on first base. Typical baseball etiquette, if there is such a thing, would have seemed to dictate they just get the darn thing over with. No way were they coming back from such a deficit. Take the beating and move on.

But no. The runner decided to steal second base. Of course there was no throw from the catcher. The Royals likely didn't anticipate such a bush league chump move and would quickly go on to close out the lop-sided victory.

So technically, the Tiger runner, who isn't worth naming, gets a stolen base added to his stats. Good for him.

But if I'm Kansas City, I'd file that away in the memory banks for a later date.

Next time this clown comes up to bat when the two teams are playing each other, perhaps one of their pitchers will drill him with a 95 MPH heater in the ribs.

Want to act like a chump?

We'll treat you like one.

By all means, take your base. And one more thing.....

How does that feel?