major league baseball

Each Tiger gets $284,275.50 for American League pennant

Mark Brush — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 19:59:07 +0000

Some dream of the Powerball, others live the Powerball.

For winning the American League pennant, each of the Detroit Tigers will get $284,274.50 as his share of postseason revenue.
Each member of the World Series-winning San Francisco Giants, who swept the Tigers in the fall classic, will get $377,002.64.
The numbers, which are pretax, were provided this morning by Major League Baseball.

Spirit of Detroit suits up for the Tigers, Bing talks trash

Mark Brush — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 20:18:56 +0000

This photo was tweeted out by Matt Helms, City Hall reporter for the Detroit Free Press.

Helms writes in today's Detroit Free Press that Mayor Bing has been trash talking with San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee.

The two have made a wager, writes Helms, "the losing mayor has to visit the other team’s city to participate in a day of service for youth and youth programs."

Tigers manager Jim Leyland 'the bridge' to Detroit's past

Mark Brush — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 15:23:13 +0000

The odds makers are picking the Detroit Tigers, but the San Francisco Giants are a loose bunch.

They fought off three elimination games on their way to the World Series... twice.

Here's one statistic NPR's Tom Goldman pointed out this morning:

"Three times in the past in World Series when a team that's swept its way into the Series, like Detroit did, played a team that went the full seven games, like the Giants did, the team that went seven won every time."

Next Stop, The World Series: Tigers rout Yankees 8-1 for 4-game ALCS sweep

The Associated Press — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 01:21:23 +0000

DETROIT (AP) - Max Scherzer capped a stupendous stretch for Detroit's starting rotation, and the Tigers advanced to the World Series for the second time in seven years by beating the New York Yankees 8-1 Thursday for a four-game sweep of the AL championship series.

Miguel Cabrera and Jhonny Peralta hit two-run homers in a four-run fourth inning against CC Sabathia, who was unable to prevent the Yankees from getting swept in a postseason series for the first time in 32 years.

Baseball: 'I can't come out to play! It's raining out!' Why not?

Mark Brush — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 14:16:44 +0000

Last night's rain delay of Game 4 of the ALCS reminded me of one of my all-time-favorite George Carlin bits....

...the differences between football and baseball.

"Football is played in any kind of weather... rain, sleet, snow, hail, mud. Can't read the numbers on the field, can't read the yard markers, can't read the players numbers... the struggle will continue.

In baseball, if it rains, we don't come out to play!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-638Vd6Hteg

So why can't baseball be played in the rain?

I found the rules that outline how a game is called (by the home team manager during the regular season, and by the league in a championship series).

But not why it's called.

This explanation seemed to explain it well enough.

Rain affects the game of baseball differently because "it's a game of precision":

As a result, heavy rain makes the ball extremely hard to grip. This actually harms the team on defense dramatically more than the team on offense. If a pitcher is unable to grip the ball, he will throw erratically and will have to significantly slow his pitches. As a result, the batting team will be at a great advantage as it is not significantly harder to swing a bat or run on a dirt track in the rain.

When it's raining, the advantage goes to the offense.

Runs could be scored in bunches while the defense struggles to get three outs. Once an inning does end, the rain might let up, and the opposing team would no longer have the same advantage.

That makes sense to me. Although it does seem like it would be hard to slog through the mud to get on base.

How does this explanation sit with you? Are there any other explanations that you know of?

Detroit Tigers' Miguel Cabrera wins MLB's first 'Triple Crown' in 45 years

Mark Brush — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 03:42:34 +0000

Miguel Cabrera won baseball's rare "Triple Crown" tonight after finishing up the regular season in Kansas City.

That means he led the American League in home runs (44), batting average (.330), and runs batted in (139).

It's been 45 years since the last player, Carl Yastrzemski, won the Triple Crown while in Boston.

The Associated Press reports Cabrera is the 15th player in Major League Baseball history to achieve the feat. Others on the list include Lou Gehrig, Mickey Mantle, and Ted Williams.

Cabrera's milestone wasn't official until the Yankees pinch hit for Curtis Granderson in their game against the Boston Red Sox. Granderson had homered twice to reach 43 for the year, tied with the Rangers' Josh Hamilton and one shy of Cabrera.
Cabrera went 0 for 2 against the Royals before leaving in the fourth inning to a standing ovation. He finished the regular season with a .330 average, four points better the Angels' Mike Trout, his biggest competition for MVP. Cabrera was the runaway leader with 139 RBIs.

Congrats are pouring in to Cabrera on his achievement, who is on the short list for the MLB's MVP award (the award the Detroit Tigers' Justin Verlander won last year).

Detroit Tigers sign contract extensions with manager Jim Leyland, general manager David Dombrowski

Steve Carmody — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 16:32:42 +0000

The Detroit Tigers today announced contract extension for manager Jim Leyland and general manager David Dombrowski. Leyland received a one year extension. Dombrowski got a four year extension.