Leelanau Sports Guy’s World at sportspig.com

A nice breakdown from SI’s Tom Verducci on why he thinks the Tigers are for real and why they will contend throughout the entire season.

Read They’re for real at Yahoo! Sports

Sure we’ve been here before. Elimination game. Everyone writing them off. We’ve doubted them before and they have proven us wrong, do they have it in them to win three in a row against the Heat? My gut tells me no, but these still are the Pistons we are talking about. I think. They don’t resemble the team I am used to seeing, but they still are in there somewhere, hopefully ready to break out!

I don’t have a lot of time to analyze the game, plus I didn’t see it, so here’s the breakdown from my favorite bloggers…

Read The Pistons are broken. The question is, are they fixable? at The Wayne Fontes Experience

Read Is It Too Early? at KevinAntcliff.com

Read Tired? Bored? Pissed? Take your pick. at Luke Waltons Forehead

Read Daddy’s home, and he’s not happy at Sweaty Men Endeavors

The Traverse Beach Bums defeated the Kalamazoo Kings 6-3 to even their record at 1-1 and earn their first ever franchise victory. We waited out a 47 minute rain delay, but it was well worth it as the nephews got to go on the field and play catch with the players after the game. They played catch with 3B Justin Meagher. It was part of the “Field of Dreams” promotional night which also included every kid getting a Beach Bums baseball glove.

Disclaimer: I am not a professional photographer!

Here’s some of my thoughts on the team, stadium and everything Beach Bums!

• Wuerfel Park is amazing! It’s a great place to watch a game, I came away very impressed. Lots of room and areas to explore in the ballpark. Not a bad seat in the house.
  

• Arrive early for great chances at autographs, we ended up with a bunch!
• Shaun Parker pitched tough. The lefthander earned the first ever win for the Beach Bums going six innings. His fastball was consistently in the high 80’s and touched 90 a couple of times. I look for him to have a big summer in TC.
  

• Mike Reese can just plain hit. His 2-run double down the left field line keyed the victory.
  

• Nathan Gravley also had a big night with two RBI singles to help the victory.
• Second baseman Stephen Young can play! He is solid defensively and gobbled everything up that came his way.
• Wuerfel Park is BIG! I don’t know how many homeruns will be hit there, but lots of runs should be scored.
  

• Hunter Davis threw two scoreless innings in relief and had the Kings baffled. His submarine style was fun to watch.
• Kids will love the mascots!
• The late inning rally!
  

• Food Report: Hot Dogs were good! Free Pop always tastes good (we carpooled and received free drink coupons) but the winner was the Mancino’s Cinnamon Ball Things with frosting, yum!
• Overall: Lots of fun and I can’t wait to go back. We kept thinking how great it was to have minor league baseball in Traverse City! Thanks Wuerfel Family!

Read Beach Bums earn franchise’s first victory in the Record Eagle

I’m not a Michigan fan, but everyone else in my family is, and so I do on occasion listen to U of M football on the radio. It was a smart move bringing back Frank Beckmann and Jim Brandstatter. They make the game easy to listen to and have lots of fun doing it.

Read U-M radio deal done; announcers will stay in the Detroit News

All of the Record Eagle’s Traverse City Beach Bums articles in one place…

Record Eagle’s Traverse City Beach Bums Special Section

Marissa Treece helped the Glen Lake Lakers to a second place finish in the Girls portion of the Northwest Conference Meet by winning four events. She won the 1600 meter run, 800 run; 3200 run and pole vault.

On the boys side, Glen Lake placed 4th and Suttons Bay 5th.

Read Kingsley sweeps Northwest in the Record Eagle

The pregame celebration went well, but that’s where the fun ended as the Traverse City Beach Bums lost their inaugural game 10-2, to defending league champion Kalamazoo Kings.

Starter Robbie McClellan surrendered five runs on six hits in five innings to take the loss. The Beach Bums were never able to get on track offensively or defensively as they committed three errors.

Game 2 is tonight and I will be there. As long as the weather holds up, check back tomorrow for some pictures…

Read Kings have Traverse City bumming in the Kalamazoo Gazette

Updated at 11:05 AM
Here’s the Record Eagle links…

Read Fans give park thumbs up in the Record Eagle
Read Beach Bummer in the Record Eagle
View Beach Bums Opening Day 2006 Photo Gallery in the Record Eagle

Updated at 12:19 PM
Article from the Beach Bums site…

Read Enthusiastic Crowd watches Beach Bums drop opener at TraverseCityBeachBums.com

Photo © 2006 John Russell / Great Lakes Images and Traverse City Beach Bums

The Record Eagle has a special section in today’s edition about Opening Night for the Traverse City Beach Bums.

(I am thankful for Opening Day to distract me from the horrible Pistons performance last night)

Lots of area fans are excited, the team is excited and everyone is ready to go!

Check out the links below about tonight’s opening night versus the defending Frontier League Champions, the Kalamazoo Kings. First pitch is set for 7:05 PM. The game can also be heard on 94.3 The Fox.

Here’s a couple of my favorite articles…

Read Fans gear up for the game in the Record Eagle
Read Champion Kings first up for Bums in the Record Eagle (Calling the team the “Bums” is going to get old very quick)
Read What you need to know for game day in the Record Eagle

Read more in the Record Eagle Sports Section

Official Site at TraverseCityBeachBums.com

Liz Shimek earned one of thirteen roster spots on the Chicago Sky for the 2006 WNBA season. Shimek didn’t play in game 1, a 83-82 win over the Charlotte Sting.

Read Liz Shimek’s Bio at WBNA.com

Justin Verlander is a star in the making. The rookie improved to 6-3 on the season as he helped the Tigers to a 8-0 win over the Royals. The Tigers now own a 30-14 record.

After the game everyone was talking about Verlander’s speed, he registered 99 mph on the gun in the first and last innings! Both managers were impressed.

“I’ve never had a starting pitcher throw 99 in the ninth inning,” Detroit manager Jim Leyland said. “I’ve seen some closers throw 99. I’ve never had a starter throw 99 in the ninth inning before that I can recall.”

“That’s as good a stuff as I’ve seen in a long time,” Royals manager Buddy Bell said. “His total command was exceptional.”

On the offensive side Curtis Granderson and Brandon Inge homered, Magglio Ordonez and Omar Infante each collected three hits.

Read Verlander, Tigers shut out Royals at Yahoo! Sports

John Czarnecki of FOX Sports takes a look at some of the quarterback situations around the NFL. He has the Lions ranked as the potential #3 disaster. I don’t know if it’s that bad, but he does bring up some good points.

Detroit: Mike Martz has a solid backup in Jon Kitna and a very athletic Josh McCown to develop. It’s a lot to ask of an offensive genius like Martz. Neither quarterback seems to possess the accurate touch that Kurt Warner and Marc Bulger had in St. Louis; nor do the Lions have the offensive weapons the Rams had when they went to consecutive Super Bowls. The Lions had to rid themselves of big baby Joey Harrington, who pointed the finger at everyone but himself before flying off to Miami for even more guaranteed money. The big problem for Martz is that he could become frustrated with the lack of offensive explosion; that could spell doom for new head coach Rod Marinelli.

I think McCown could end up being a big surprise this year. He is athletic like Czarnecki said, and can throw the deep ball. I just think Martz is enough of a genious to make it work and make the pieces fit.

Read Looking at the best and worst QB situations at FOX Sports

I feel bad for ever doubting them now. We should have known they would comeback. All I want to say is – “Thanks Lindsey Hunter!”

Read Hunter, A Piston When It Wasn’t Chic, Provides Much-Needed Energy In Game 7 at Out of Bounds

Read HEAT’S ON! Pistons kick Cavs to curb, set sights on Shaq, Miami in the Detroit News

The Record Eagle has started their preview of the upcoming inaugural Traverse City Beach Bums season and their opening night on Wednesday.

I won’t be going until Thursday (check back for pictures) but here’s some links to some of the interesting articles on the Beach Bums.

The Team
A look at how John and Leslye Wuerfel got the man they wanted to manage, Jeff Isom, and his mark on building the current roster.

Read Wuerfels, Isom build up Beach Bums in the Record Eagle

The Economy
Local fans aren’t the only ones excited about the upcoming season.

Read Businesses ready to play ball as baseball season nears in the Record Eagle

The Food
A big part of a trip to the ballgame is the food you will be eating while watching the game. At least it is for me! Here’s rundown from Director of Concessions Randy Sharp on what to expect when attending a Beach Bums game.

Read Fresh pie — oh my — and other goodies at ballpark in the Record Eagle

Also here’s a cool article from Jeff Peek about a previous minor league team in Traverse City.

Check back for my review of Game #2 and my review of the ballpark!

I love it when the Tigers make the headlines in my ESPN Sportsflash newsletter! Kenny Rogers leads the majors in wins and homeruns from Brandon Inge and Placido Polanco (he needs to get rolling) helped the Tigers to their seventh straight win in a 5-3 win over the Twins. THEY OWN THE BEST RECORD IN BASEBALL! Yeah, that’s right!

Read Tigers extend longest team winning streak since ‘93 at ESPN

Told you ESPN was in love…

Tigers mania! The entire Page 2 staff went out and bought Tigers hats yesterday. Two of us purchased Justin Verlander jerseys. Someone else purchased a Chris Shelton jersey. We have the fever.

Detroit beat Minnesota 5-3, for its seventh straight win (longest for the Tigers since ‘93). Kenny Rogers became the majors’ first 7-game winner. He’s got a 2.92 ERA and is up to 197 career wins. And the staff ERA is now 3.13. The last AL team to finish with a lower ERA was the ‘89 A’s, with a 3.09 ERA. That team won the World Series. The lowest AL team ERA of the Steroid Era was the 2001 Mariners, at 3.54.

Dang! Wish I could afford to go out and buy a Verlander or Shelton jersey, oh well, at least I have another reason to hate ESPN!

Maybe if I don’t buy groceries for the next two weeks… the kids will survive on water and dry cereal for that long right?

Ian at Sweaty Men Endeavors has an interesting post about the “scales of Sports Justice” and how maybe the Tigers are partially to blame for the Pistons being in trouble.

Read Detroit vs. The Gods of Sports Justice at Sweaty Men Endeavors

Here’s more on our Pistons troubles from the usual gang of suspects…

Read What the crap was that? at Luke Waltons Forehead

Read We have an elimination game. But it’s not the team we expected that’s on the brink at the Wayne Fontes Experience

Read Um … Yeah. at KevinAntcliff.com

Read WWLHA: What Would Larry Have Allowed? at Out of Bounds

Read NBA Comix Presents: Got Game? at Farlane.Blog