Sunk to a NEW low..

[skeletor]

Can you believe this team ? TANKING tonight against the Royals..
Got swept..which really stinks...Myself, tired of excuses, this team
is flat..no spark, no passion...and no runs...and when we do score runs,
the pitching AIN'T there...What to do ? Begin a mini 'fire sale ?'

Fire the hittting coach, or re assign him ? Promote Durham from
Toledo ? Release some players ? Even consider dumping Leyland
if this funk doesn't snap out...WE are fast becoming the 2006
Tribe and 2007's ChiSox...

I wanna go in that clubhouse...scream and yell, overturn food
tables, and let these clowns know, this team HAS way tooooo
much talent to be where they are...What is DD thinking, let
alone doing ? I sure hate to be outta the race, before JUNE 1st,
let alone the all star break..Hopefully, this team will find it's
core and center, and play the way they should..and get their
arses in gear.....kid gloves ain't gonna help here...good thing
Steinbrenner ain't running the show here...it could get real ugly.

Gonna be a looooong summer..if things don't turn around,and quickly..

[Solair Wright]

Come to St. Louis, where the team is having similar problems. They (the Cardinals) are unproven, and they have relief problems as well, and a somewhat inconsistent offense. Jason Isringhausen is more of a poison than a cure to the bullpen (did Jason Grilli possess him? I hope not ). I say deep-six the hitting coach, (McClendon) and promote Durham to the hitting coach of the Tigers from Toledo.

[Urbanshocker13]

This seems to be happening to a bunch of teams so far this year, a few teams that you think should be great are underpreforming. Same thing is being said in the Yankee forum and the same in the mets. It's been a weird topsy turvy season so far look the Tampa Bay Rays are in first in the AL east!! It's still early and hopefully things will even out and get back to normal and order will be restored to the baseball universe.

[KCGHOST]

I think the Tigers 2008 season is a clear statement of how unimportant managers are. In 2006 Jim Leyland was the greatest thing since inside plumbing. His name was being ballyhooed far and wide as one of the greatest managers ever. Now the guy is clueless.

Its always about the horses. If they run well the manager looks smart. If they don't he is just some hopeless dope that needs to be carted off to assisted living. Like Whitey Herzog said after the Cardinals acquired Bruce Sutter, "I just got a whole lot smarter".

[Dodgerfan1]

I think the Tigers 2008 season is a clear statement of how unimportant managers are. In 2006 Jim Leyland was the greatest thing since inside plumbing. His name was being ballyhooed far and wide as one of the greatest managers ever. Now the guy is clueless.

Its always about the horses. If they run well the manager looks smart. If they don't he is just some hopeless dope that needs to be carted off to assisted living. Like Whitey Herzog said after the Cardinals acquired Bruce Sutter, "I just got a whole lot smarter".

KC, I couldn't agree more. I have stated several times that managers are vastly overrated. They are only as good as their players. Guys like Torre and LaRussa have had some great teams to manage and, as a result, ride their coat tails to success. Sure, some of them can make a difference in some ways, but generally a mediocre manager can win pennants with a great team. Just wind them up and let them go and Voila! You are an instant genius.

[YankeeFanUK]

i agree with the managerial comments BUT some managers are succesful wherever they go because they`re GOOD managers ( Tony LaRussa, Sparky Anderson etc )

[Pere]

I think the Tigers 2008 season is a clear statement of how unimportant managers are. In 2006 Jim Leyland was the greatest thing since inside plumbing. His name was being ballyhooed far and wide as one of the greatest managers ever. Now the guy is clueless.

Its always about the horses.

Except, before this season got underway, the conventional wisdom was that the Tigers' "horses" were verging on unbeatable. "On paper," the team appeared, to many observers, as being phenomenally strong. Maybe the Tigers 2008 season is a statement of how unimportant "name" players are.

This seems to be happening to a bunch of teams so far this year, a few teams that you think should be great are underpreforming. Same thing is being said in the Yankee forum and the same in the mets. It's been a weird topsy turvy season so far look the Tampa Bay Rays are in first in the AL east!! It's still early and hopefully things will even out and get back to normal and order will be restored to the baseball universe.

And what might "order in the universe" mean to a Yankee fan?

Maybe those teams that "should be great," really just aren't as good as everybody thought.

[Tigfan38]

Perhaps the Cubs were on the right track when they had the rotating managers idea. The Tigers should probably dump Leyland and hire Trammell back, keeping Leyland on retainer so they could bring him in again when the team falters under Trammell. It seems just as likely to me, though, that the "win now" approach occurs with aging owners. It's great for the fans when it works. It didn't work for the Royals when Mr. Kauffman tried it and it left the team in bad shape for a long while.

[Tank]

I keep hearing that "real fans" aren't giving up hope. Overlooking the insulting and condescending first part of that statement, where is this hope coming from?

When the Tigs started 0-7 everyone said don't panic. Ok. When they finished April under .500 all I heard was "you can't judge them until 40 games in". Sure. Now that we're a shade over 40 games in and 10 games under .500, can I panic now? Am I allowed to worry that the season is over, or would that make me a "bad" or "fake" fan?

Look, I don't see any reason to believe that this season will get turned around. When they pitch they can't hit. When they hit they can't pitch. When they pitch and hit they stink it up in the field. All of the quick, and desperate IMO, fixes Leyland has tried haven't worked. The closest one of those fixes come to working is switching CG and MC at the corners. But even then there is going to a be a learning curve.

Do I want the Tigs to win? Hell yes. Do I think they are going to have some sort of movie script comeback and shock the world this season? No. I'd be more than happy to eat my own words if they did somehow pull it off, but I'm not going to skip any meals just in case.

I'll still watch every game I can. I'll still go to any games I get the chance to. Hell, I just ordered two new Tigs shirts from the DAC., and I'll wear those every chance I get. But even I have to resign myself to the fact that this is another season of underachieving by a team that has no reason to underachieve.

[tigers527]

panic?

Hey they are 1-0 when the entire team wears high socks.

I wanna see them get to .500 and then we'll see how it goes, until that happens I will just be watching with much the same attitude of 2003-2005 if they win great, if they lose oh well. It is a shame a payroll that large has to be viewed in that way.

[PWNdroia]

I still think the Tigers will turn their game around eventually.

[Seattle1]

The Mariners are doing terrible. So it could be worse Tigers fans.

h

That's one way to look at it.

[tigers527]

The Mariners are doing terrible. So it could be worse Tigers fans.

h

That's one way to look at it.

We do both have 3B men that did pretty good in the NL, and have yet to put up those numbers in the AL (although, Cabrera's sample size is much smaller and the Tigers moved him to 1B).