MSU Red Cedar Message Board

Haha, fair enough. But you have to know who John Kruk is, right?

Fat guy, one testicle, almost got hit in the head with a Randy Johnson fastball in an all star game and turned his helmet around backward. Doesn't ring a bell?

.120 team avg. with the bases loaded is absurd. Beyond absurd.

Just atrocious. Do you know the average with runners in scoring position?

5th right now in the majors with a .281 average...

He won't catch this year. If this was 1995 I would agree with you. Surgery and rehab has come a long way the past few decades. He caught 26 games last year. I can see him catching around the same amount next year with a whole off season to work with. We need a solid backup for Avila. He caught alot of games last year. I think the long season is taking the toll on him now.

Having Vmart as the backup catcher can open up an additional roster spot. You don't have to waste the spot on Santos or Laird.

99-01 red wings was hard. I almost accept the loss to the avs in 2000 but 99I was dominant team coming home with 2-0you lead on avs and 01 first round loss to the kings was awful.

My ADD is kicking in so I'm not gonna read all the responses but my rational brain says we've still got a looooooong way to go before this season is over. And I know this is a "hypothetical" scenario as stated, assuming that they continue to tank, but I don't believe it's going to happen. The team has holes, so does every other team in the fucking league. They also have 2 of the top 3-4 players in the game, a lot of talent elsewhere, and playoff experience. They aren't going to play like this all year. Water usually finds its level.

All that said, I get as frustrated as anyone else....they are just fucking brutal to watch at least half the time.

No one is going to run away with this division and the Tigers will play better than they have. Doesn't mean they'll be in the ALCS again, but you're letting the frustration of watching them underperform to date go to your head if you think they're going to finish 12 games under .500 or whatever.

I hear you, but Martinez is now a full-time DH. He may have been the emergency catcher, but Laird was signed as the primary backup catcher.

Martinez wasn't a particularly good catcher his last two years in Cleveland. He's a designated hitter.

I guess my biggest frustration with them is that there is little that one can point to and say, "this one thing must change in order for us to get better". It's just bad across the board. Hitters aren't hitting in the right moments, fielders are fucking up and playing lazy, relievers are letting in runs at inopportune times, pitchers are having uncharacteristically bad games, and the overall players are just making some very poor judgment calls (all the baserunning mistakes for instance). It's early June, and it feels like the team is on the ropes already and they're playing like it. You can tell how badly they want to break out but it's just setback after setback. I don't know, I don't get the feeling that there's a monster underneath this cover; it just feels like they'll be mediocre/flirting with .500 all year.

Well, one point of view would say that Prince will continue to hit solo HRs if no one is getting on base in front of him. Outside of Prince and Miggy, there isn't much that one can REALLY expect from the rest of the lineup. Take a look at it up and down and tell me who you truly expect to break out based on pedigree:

Jackson: hitting way above his talent-level; this will drop
Dirks: same as above; his average will probably settle in the .270-.280 range (which I'd be happy with)
Berry: same, although I expect him to be around .240 or .250 if he gets enough ABs
Boesch: hitting poorly, but outside of a couple of months, he hasn't hit THAT well in his big league career for us to expect huge things
Peralta: hitting poorly and his average should rise; still, last year was an anomaly and he may hit .250 all year
Avila: can't really expect the same year as last year; not enough of a sample size to truly say that he's been hitting poorly this year
Kelly and Santiago: not much you can expect from them
Young: hitting is up to .260 now, not much more you can expect

Now, if Jackson, Berry and Dirks continue to get on, and Peralta/Boesch/Avila can increase their average a bit, then we'd have something.

long way to go guys

08 Tigers
05 Lions(team had some talent)
02-03 Wings
03-04 Wings
05-06 Wings

Detroit loves college sports, so I'm going with the 2007 Michigan Wolverines.

Started the preseason ranked in the Top 5 and viewed as a national title contender. Immediately lost to Appalachian State.