Leelanau Sports Guy’s World

I love Yahoo! Sports. I can find all of my breaking news and up to the minute scores in just seconds. I love the photo galleries of annoucements, events, signings, etc.

I did start laughing out loud when I saw they had 7 pictures from the Seattle Mariner’s press conference announcing the signing of former Tigers pitcher Jeff Weaver to a 1-year contract.

7 pictures? For a average starting pitcher who signed just a 1-year deal? 8.325 million for Weaver?

Here’s his stats from last year…

Weaver was 3-10 with a 6.29 ERA with the Angels before being traded to the Cardinals. He finished the season with an 8-14 record with a 5.76 ERA

I know he did have a great playoff and World Series, but still…

7 pictures!

View Jeff Weaver Photos at Yahoo! Sports

The Detroit News has compiled a list of the Top Michigan athletes by jersey number. Check it out and let them know of any they missed…

Read Top 99 Athletes in the Detroit News

My View: Here’s some of my favorite jersey numbers from the list above…

#20 - Billy Sims is the main reason, but Barry Sanders has something to do with it too.

#19 - My all-time favorite Red Wing.

#52 - Hey, she’s from Leelanau County, plus she’s a great player!

#11 & #4 - They will always be together in my book as the duo led the Pistons to their first two titles.

#3 - My all-time favorite Tiger.

I loved the Gary Sheffield trade. Extending Brandon Inge’s contract was smart. Signing Jose Mesa to a 1-year deal, well we’ll see, but it looks good on paper. What do all of these have in common? They are all moves that make the Tigers better, and without adding a bad contract to the roster.

Exactly why the Jeremy Bonderman contract extension was a great move by Dombrowski and the Tigers. He is still young, getting better every year, and has shown he can pitch in big games. He is a steal at 4 years and $38 million.

Read Bonderman deal bargain for Tigers at MLB.com

Here’s a great article by Greg Eno about the possible grooming of Joel Zumaya as a closer, and his opinion of it. I have to say, I agree!

Read Zumaya A Closer? NO! NO! NO! at Out of Bounds

I know you’ve all been driving yourself crazy waiting for it, well here it is, the 2006 Detroit Independent Baseball Scribes (DIBS) Awards…

Guillen Named DIBS Player of the Year
Rogers and Verlander also garner hardware

Detroit, Mich. — The Detroit Independent Baseball Scribes announced Tuesday (Nov. 28) the winners of the 2006 DIBS Awards. Shortstop Carlos Guillen was named the DIBS Player of the Year as voted on by DIBS members. Pitcher Kenny Rogers earned pitcher of the year honors with fellow starter Justin Verlander being recognized for his breakout season. In addition to the three regular season award winners, DIBS named Rogers its Postseason Performer.

Guillen earned the top honors after hitting .320 with 41 doubles while cracking the century mark in runs. The Tiger shortstop earned 13 first place votes and two second place votes.

Rogers posted a 17-8 record with a paltry 3.84 ERA, but that was the least of his contributions. His ability to teach and work with the young pitching staff proved equally as valuable to the Tigers run to a Wild Card. Rogers put an exclamation point on his season with three postseason wins, all shutouts while striking out 19 batters in 23.0 innings.

Verlander went 17-9 and a 3.63 ERA in his rookie campaign, tying Rogers for team lead in wins. He finished seventh in the American League in wins and ERA while earning Major League Baseball’s nod as Rookie of the Year.

Staff from 14 Tiger fan sites participated in the second annual award voting. Last year’s winners included Placido Polanco (Player), Jeremy Bonderman(Pitcher) and Chris Shelton (Breakout).

DIBS (Detroit Independent Baseball Scribes) are a collection of independent websites that cover the Detroit Tigers. Formed by Brian Borawski, Bill Ferris and Ryan Sosin in 2005 with the idea of uniting a community of fans and writers, DIBS is focused on improving and promoting the quality sports coverage taking place on the internet.

Player of the Year (FP votes)
1. Carlos Gullen (14) - My Vote!
2. Magglio Ordonez (0)
3. Kenny Rogers (1)

Pitcher of the Year (FP votes)
1. Kenny Rogers (9)
2. Justin Verlander (6) - My Vote!
3. Joel Zumaya (1)

Breakout Player of the Year (FP votes)
1. Justin Verlander (9) - My Vote!
2. Joel Zumaya (5)
3. Curtis Granderson (2)

Postseason Performer (FP votes)
1. Kenny Rogers (11) - My Vote!
2. Carlos Guillen (0)
3. Sean Casey (1)

View a list of current DIBS members!

The Tigers have signed Sean Casey! Great move in my opinion. A solid .300 hitter who plays great ‘D’ at first base.

And no surprise here, Jim Leyland named AL Manager of the Year. This was a no-brainer. He brought winning baseball back to the Motor City and more importantly brought a city and state with him for the ride. I don’t know if I have ever seen more people excited about a single team then the 2006 Detroit Tigers!

When you have nothing to say, just post links to others who do…

Verlander wins AL Rookie of the Year
Not a big shocker here. He earned it and deserved it. I can’t wait for spring training to start after the successful season the Tigers had. Adding Sheffield makes it even harder to wait. It’s World Series or bust for Motown in 2007!

Read Tigers’ Verlander, Marlins’ Ramirez are top rookies at ESPN.com

Gerry Ahern states his case for a UM/OSU rematch in January
I have to say, I agree with him on all of it except the outcome of the big game! Seriously I think Michigan is going to win!

Read The Point After: Let’s play two at Yahoo! Sports

Here’s a neat bracket to determine the best Wolverine/Buckeye team of All-Time (My pick: 1968 Buckeyes)

Lions lose to 49ers
Is this some kind of sick joke? Nope, it’s just our beloved Lions giving away another game.

Read Lions drop back down to earth after last week’s win at the Freep

The Rest
I’ll be honest, I haven’t paid any attention to the Pistons yet, some to the Wings, and too much to the Spartans.

Norm the Detroit Insider just emailed me 20 minutes ago…

Sheffield for Humberto Sanchez and two pitching prospects. Tigers extend his contract.

Read Tigers deal three pitchers to Yankees for Sheffield at ESPN

My View: WOW! I thought this might be possible, just didn’t think it would happen. The Tigers basically are trading Sanchez straight up for Sheffield at the moment. You never know what the other two prospects Kevin Whelan and Anthony Claggett will do, but for now they are at AA and A. This will be a steal for the Tigers and it gives them the big bat they need in the middle of their lineup. Sheffield hits for average and power, drives in runs, and doesn’t strike out alot. Just what the doctor ordered!

As always with the Tigers big free agent signings lately, health, will be an issue. Before last season’s injuries, Sheffield had played in 154 games each of the previous two seasons. 140 games would be great.

Now we just have to wait and see which pitcher they end up with? Barry Zito perhaps?

Some very happy news about our beloved Detroit Tigers as Dave Dombrowski is going to stick around for a while…

Read Dombrowski agrees to lead Tigers through 2011 at FOXSports.com

Plenty of time to bring us some more World Series appearances. Love to see Illitch keep opening up the checkbook to keep this franchise at the top!

I was trying to come up with words to describe how I felt about the 2006 Tigers and their amazing season. Well, I didn’t get around to it. Between pumpkin carving and picking apples, the weekend disappeared pretty fast, but thankfully I found a great article by Greg Eno.

Read Thank You, Boys! at Out of Bounds

But the way that Game 5 went, I wasn’t thinking of thanking the Tigers…

Here’s an article by Jeff Peek, which talks about the Cardinals World Series strategy…

Read Cards’ winning strategy? Hit the ball to the pitcher in the Record Eagle

A look at the Tigers game 4 victory from the eyes of some Leelanau County residents…

Read Tigers faithful in their glory in the Leelanau Enterprise

A detailed look at how our AL Pennant winning Tigers were built…

Read Constructing the Tigers required patience, risk, luck at ESPN.com

No, no, I don’t have any tickets, and I know everyone and their brother is looking for tickets, so I figured I would post some links to some of my site sponsors and tickets they have available. Be warned they aren’t cheap.

Coast to Coast Tickets
OnlineSeats.com
TickCo Premium Seating
BuySellTix
GoTickets
BarrysTickets
JustGreatTickets.com

You can also try to find tickets at Tigers Ticket Exchange or DetroitTigers.com (tickets may become available, keep clicking!).

Or you can Buy 20 Red Wings Tickets and Qualify to Buy 2 World Series Tickets!

Just remember if a deal seems to good to be true, it probably is, be careful!

Sorry for the lack of posts, alot of the Detroit Sports Blogs I visit seem to have hit the same wall, namely postseason baseball! The Tigers have taken up lots of my spare time and along with the regular everyday busy life the blog has suffered. Nevertheless, here’s my thoughts on the current state of Detroit Sports!

Detroit Tigers - WOW! and WOW! Everyone in northern Michigan seems to be buzzing with World Series fever as the Tigers get set to face the Cardinals/Mets winner. I am pulling for the Cards because their offense doesn’t seem as scary. I know, I know, what about Pujols? He is scary, but I think top to bottom the Mets lineup is stronger. Plus I would love to see a Leyland vs. LaRussa World Series. I know, they don’t actually play, but seeing them match wits head to head would be alot of fun.

I will be travelling down to the Motor City this weekend, no tickets unfortunately, but will probably try to cruise down and check out the craziness that will be at Comerica Park. I can’t wait to see it!

Check out lots of Detroit Tigers Info at Absolute Michigan

Detroit Lions - Lost in World Series fever is the fact that our beloved Lions won their first game of the season. Coach Rod Marinelli was awarded the game ball and he deserves it. I know it doesn’t show up in the overall record, but I am seeing some good things out of our Detroit Lions. They have been competitive in every game but one, and could easily be .500 with a break here or there. I think Marinelli will get this turned around, despite Millen’s goofs and I expect a playoff team possibly next season, but for sure in Marinelli Season 3.

Detroit Pistons - I have seen lots of positive press about Jason Maxiell and I have to say I am excited about the upcoming Pistons season. They will miss Big Ben, but this team will score more and be much better offensively, which might be necessary as the “D” might be down from what Pistons fans have seen the last few seasons. Either way, the Pistons will contend for the Eastern crown.

Detroit Red Wings - I will admit, haven’t really given much attention to the Wings yet, but once the World Series is over, they will be back on my radar.

Detroit Shock - Their second WNBA Title came without much of a word from me, so for that I must apologize. Congrats! I keep wondering why no NBA team has made Bill Laimbeer an NBA coach!

Michigan Wolverines - #3 in the BCS and could be setting things up for a #1 vs. #2 matchup when they travel to Ohio State. That’s something I have been predicting all along and now it’s beginning to look like I may have finally been right about something.

Michigan State Spartans - After the Illinois loss, I have been down on my Spartans. Now 3-4 and clinging to a possible bowl bid, they are through the worst of the schedule. I don’t know if there’s enough left in the tank, but John L. will give it his best shot.

That’s a quick look into the mind, not much going on as you can tell, but I will try to post more frequently and will try to snag some photos from my Detroit trip.

Go Tigers!*

*From what I can tell this is the new way to say Good-bye in northern Michigan!

The Tigers used some timely hitting and some good pitching to cool down the Yankees 4-3 to even the Division Series 1-1 as they head back to Detroit for tomorrow night’s game!

Not bad for a team that no one thinks can win it!

Read Tigers 4, Yankees 3 at Yahoo! Sports
View the Box Score at Yahoo! Sports

Was reading the Detroit News about the Tigers season-ending slide that is sending them to New York, and stumbled upon this article. When I read the following, I started laughing…

Longtime fan Mike Pierce raised his hands in disbelief when he witnessed the fall.

Calling the loss an “epic collapse,” the 23-year-old carpet cleaner from Dearborn hung his head as he exited the stadium. “The Tigers getting swept is an absolute absurdity,” he said. “I’m absolutely astonished. It blew my mind. This should have never happened.”

What’s the definition of longtime fan? I don’t know if you can be 23 and considered a longtime fan, can you? It means he was probably in diapers when the Tigers won the 1984 World Series and spent his childhood cheering the Tigers teams of the 90’s. That doesn’t seem like “longtime fan” to me.

When I picture some who has been a longtime fan, I think of parents and grandparents, not someone who is barely old enough to drink!

It’s been 19 long years, some longer than others, but the Detroit Tigers are heading back to the playoffs for the first time since 1987. After an 11-4 win over the Kansas City Royals, the Tigers celebrated and enjoyed the moment!

“One-hundred-nineteen to a playoff,” said pitcher Jeremy Bonderman, referencing the number of times the team lost in 2003. “Unbelievable.”

That is a perfect word to sum it up. Back in spring training who knew that adding manager Jim Leyland, starting pitcher Kenny Rogers and reliever Todd Jones would help springboard the team to a playoff berth and a possible division championship? Some of us thought health would be the key and it has been, but the maturation of Justin Verlander, Joel Zumaya, and Curtis Granderson was another big part of it as well!

Listening to ESPN last night on the old AM radio, they were talking about watching out for the Tigers. They are suddenly on a winning streak, the Yankees are losing (they are playing some younger guys), but a team that gets hot can do a whole lot of damage in the playoffs (just look at the White Sox last year). I am just saying, don’t count out these Tigers!

Read Cheers and tears: Finally, Tigers get an Octoberfest in the Freep