The Tigers
Thursday, April 8, 2004
Tigers 10. Twins 6
Last year, the Detroit Tigers couldn't win at the start of the season. This season, they can't lose.
Fernando Vina scored the go-ahead run on Brad Thomas' wild pitch in a five-run seventh inning, and the Tigers rallied to beat the Minnesota Twins 10-6 Thursday in their home opener.
Detroit is 4-0 for the first time since 1985. Last season, the Tigers started 0-9 and won their fourth game on May 4, finishing with an AL-record 119 losses.
The Tigers trailed 3-0 before scoring four runs in the sixth and five in the seventh.
Bobby Higginson, who has been a part of many miserable seasons with the Tigers since 1995, hit a go-ahead two-out, two-run double in the sixth. He capped the seventh-inning rally with a two-run triple.
In his home debut in Detroit, Ivan Rodriguez singled twice, walked and caught a runner trying to steal.
Nate Cornejo earned the win in his first start of the season after giving up four runs and seven hits over seven innings.
Minnesota's Carlos Silva allowed four runs and eight hits over six innings in his first start of the season. Silva, acquired in the trade that sent Eric Milton to Philadelphia, had made only one previous start in 130 career appearances.
The Tigers got one hit off Silva in the second through fifth innings before breaking through in the sixth.
Alex Sanchez led off the inning with a solo homer. Higginson's two-run double off the wall in right-center gave the Tigers a 4-3 lead and brought the sold-out crowd to its feet.
On the second pitch of the next inning, Jacque Jones tied the game at 4 with a solo homer.
Loser Aaron Fultz relieved Silva in the seventh and allowed Carlos Pena's two-run single and Higginson's triple.
Eric Munson had a solo homer in the eighth for a 10-4 lead. Rob Bowen hit a two-run homer in the ninth.
Notes: The Tigers started 6-0 in 1985, a year after winning the World Series. ... The game drew 42,121, the second-largest crowd since Comerica Park opened in 2000. The largest crowd was 44,095 last June 1 when Roger Clemens was pitching for his 300th win. ... Detroit's Jeremy Bonderman is not expected to miss his next scheduled start. He was hit on the left calf by a comebacker during his win Wednesday at Toronto
Believe! Tigers perfect
TORONTO -- Tell the truth: Did you think this was possible? Did you really believe the Tigers would come home to Comerica Park today undefeated? The Tigers completed an improbable season-opening sweep of the Blue Jays with a 6-3 victory Wednesday night at SkyDome, sending them into today's home opener 3-0. Detroit also is alone in first in the American League Central.
DREW SHARP: Bad break won't faze new Tigers
TORONTO -- Given the choice between healthy and happy, Dmitri Young would opt for the latter -- even if the consequences are a possible six weeks on the shelf. "If I can't play," he said, "I'll be the loudest son of a gun cheerleader y'all ever heard."
Parking for opener to be tight
Expect thousands of people to compete for prime parking around Comerica Park for the Detroit Tigers home opener this afternoon. The City of Detroit recommends parking in a municipal lot, where prices range from $4 to $10. Tailgating is not allowed during the event at any of the city-owned facilities.
Young offers support
TORONTO -- It was painful watching Dmitri Young hobble on one crutch into the Tigers' locker room Wednesday. "I've got this crutch, but I don't really know how to use it all that well," said the Tigers' designated hitter, who broke his right leg in Tuesday's game. Young didn't have to be in uniform on the bench vs. Toronto.
Wednesday, April 7, 2004
BREAKING NEWS: Tigers start 2-0; Young out 6 weeks with fractured leg
TORONTO -- The Tigers' record is perfect. Their luck is not. The Tigers beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 7-3, Tuesday night at the SkyDome. They are 2-0 for the first time in 18 years, but they lost cleanup hitter Dmitri Young with a broken right leg. The club announced that Young would be sidelined up to six weeks.
DREW SHARP: Tigers' assurance a good sign
TORONTO -- Given the choice between healthy and happy, Dmitri Young would opt for the latter -- even if the consequences are a possible six weeks on the shelf. "If I can't play," he said, "I'll be the loudest son of a gun cheerleader y'all ever heard."
Maroth's aggression pays off
TORONTO -- He stared dispassionately at the tape from last Sept. 5, focusing on each batter as he tried to find clues that could help him in Tuesday's game.
Monroe likely sub for Young
TORONTO -- As the season approached, manager Alan Trammell noted that while last year the Tigers were hopeful, this year they are confident. That confidence continued in the clubhouse Tuesday night as players talked about life without Dmitri Young. The cleanup hitter will spend the next several weeks recovering from a broken right leg sustained in a 7-3 victory over the Blue Jays.
Elbow operation possible for Rodney
TORONTO -- It's a good thing the Tigers signed right-hander Ugueth Urbina. Right-hander Fernando Rodney, due to be the closer, is out indefinitely because of a sprain in his pitching elbow, the club announced Tuesday.
Tuesday, April 6, 2004
CELEBRATE GOOD TIMES, C'MON!
Highlights of the Tigers' season opener at Toronto: First pitch: Alex Sanchez took a strike from Roy Halladay at 1:19 p.m. First chance to be thankful for the SkyDome roof: The game-time temperature outside was 28 degrees, with winds of 27 to 35 m.p.h.
DREW SHARP: Jokes cease for one day at least
TORONTO -- One pitch. One swing. Ivan Rodriguez drove Roy Halladay's initial offering of the sixth inning deep into the Toronto bullpen beyond the leftfield wall. And as soon as it left Pudge's bat, Halladay dropped his head in disgust. The reigning Cy Young Award winner made a mistake. He just wasn't accustomed to facing any Tigers hitters capable of making him pay for it.
HAPPY NEW YEAR: Tigers open with shutout of Blue Jays, 7-0
TORONTO -- The baseball field is the land of opportunity. Often in the early to middle stages of a blowout, the losing team has a chance to turn matters in its favor.
Patience at plate fuels special win
TORONTO -- Professor Sparky Anderson's students could see in advance that Monday's Tigers opener qualified as a "reverse lock." Anderson defined a reverse lock as a pitching matchup so heavily weighted in one direction that the other team is certain to win. It's perhaps the foremost flowering of baseball's whimsical nature.
Pudge sets winning tone for Tigers
TORONTO -- The last time Ivan Rodriguez played in game that meant anything, the Florida Marlins clinched the World Series against the Yankees. Though the stakes in the Tigers' season opener Monday were considerably less, Rodriguez didn't approach it with any less intensity.
READ OUR BASEBALL PREVIEW AND TAKE OUR TIGERS QUIZ
Check out the Free Press' expanded 2004 baseball preview section for online readers at http://www.freep.com/sports/tigers/spring2004.htm. A few of the highlights:
Monday, April 5, 2004
2003 HEADLINES
March 28: Second baseman Damion Easley becomes the most expensive player to be cut by a team in baseball history when the Tigers release him with more than $14 million owed on his contract.
All about Pudge
Pudge's house is a palace. When he signed with the Marlins in 2003, the Miami Herald reported, Pudge's palace had nine bedrooms, 11 bathrooms and a 6-foot-plus, one-ton bronze statue of himself. He has a twin-engine, 750-horsepower cigarette speedboat and a 118-foot yacht with a giant kitchen, living room, flat-screen television, five bedrooms and nine beds.
BEST BEHIND THE PLATE
Ivan Rodriguez follows three other All-Star catchers who had distinguished careers with the Tigers. They were among the best of their time. The three and Rodriguez: MICKEY COCHRANE A Tiger in: 1934-37. Nickname: Black Mike. Height/weight: 5-feet-10, 180 pounds. Batted: Left.
BROADCAST INFO
With Dan Dickerson (play-by-play) and Jim Price (color)
Cochrane a good model for Pudge
Seventy years ago, the Tigers were coming off another losing season, and home crowds were sparse at Navin Field. The frustrated ballclub was looking for a manager and another star player, preferably a left-handed hitter. A future Hall of Fame catcher was available, but he would cost a fortune. The Tigers paid it.
DREW SHARP: Tigers need good start by youngsters
Medical attention might be required for any enthusiasm that lasts more than four hours for the Tigers. Come to think of it, four hours is usually the extent of the Tigers' annual involvement in the pennant chase.
ERNIE HARWELL: Ty Cobb telegraphed his early exploits
This is a baseball column, but the setting is the 1941 Masters. It was the first golf tournament I had broadcast, and it brought me together with two boyhood heroes.
Free Press sports staff picks
Fresh start
The Tigers acquired several veterans this off-season. Here's a look at five. Where's Pudge? Check out our expanded coverage. RHP JASON JOHNSON
Getting to know Fernando Vina
Gibby t-shirt available
Higgy, Munson will bat lower in order
TORONTO -- Tigers manager Alan Trammell announced his Opening Day batting lineup Sunday, and it had a couple of surprises -- both at the bottom of the order. Trammell said he'll bat rightfielder Bobby Higginson eighth and slugging third baseman Eric Munson ninth. Higginson hit mainly third last season. "I don't look at it as being that big of a deal," Trammell said.
How Rodriguez helped the Marlins win a title
JUPITER, Fla. -- For all of his high leg kicks and bursting smiles, for all of his ebullient freshness as baseball's phenom of the year, Dontrelle Willis was a rookie left-hander on the brink of big trouble last Sept. 13.
IT'S A DATE: Key dates in the Tiger schedule
Today: Tigers Opening Day at Toronto, 1:05 p.m. Thursday: Home opener vs. Minnesota, 2:05 p.m. June 7-9: Amateur draft. San Diego has the No. 1 pick. The Tigers have the second pick overall, despite losing more games. (The pick alternates between leagues annually.)
ODDS ON
Glantz-Culver betting odds to win the World Series have the Tigers at 150-1, which means if you bet $1 on the Tigers, you would win $150 if they win the Series.
TAKE OUR TIGERS QUIZ
So, you think you know your Tigers? Here's a quiz to test your knowledge:
THE POWER OF PUDGE: He credits his father for success, and his son shares in it
Somewhere at Yankee Stadium in the cool October night, a boy waited for a promise to be kept. His father had made the pledge before the playoffs. "If we win the World Series, we're going to walk around the bases, and we're going to get down on our knees and pray," the father said.
TICKETS
Charge by phone: 248-258-4437. Season, mini-plan, group tickets: 313-471-2255. Mail orders: Comerica Park Ticket Office, 2100 Woodward, Detroit, MI 48201. Online: tigers.mlb.com. Other cities: Go to www.mlb.com for information on purchasing tickets for other teams.
Tiger notebook
Sports Illustrated and the Sporting News have predicted hell to freeze over and for the Cubs to be in the Series. Sorry, we don't buy it. For something that crazy to happen, a few things would have to take place first: * Lions win another playoff game. * Cujo to model Dominator's fall fashions. * Darko averages a double-double.
Tigers finally are GM's team
The Tigers didn't expect to win a lot of games in 2003. At internal meetings before the season, management developed a plan: Avoid 100 losses and fly under the national radar while the club evaluated young talent. Instead, the Tigers were smack in the middle of the radar, with losses all across the screen.
Tigers' Johnson, a diabetic, pumped up to pitch today's opener
TORONTO -- Today is a day of firsts for Jason Johnson. It will be the right-hander's first start in a Tigers uniform, his first Opening Day assignment, and the first time he'll pitch in a major league game with a pager-sized insulin pump on his waist.
TIGERS PROMOTIONS AT COMERICA PARK
DATE TIME OPPONENT PROMOTION April 10 1:05 Minnesota Magnet schedule* May 1 1:05 Seattle Tigers poster @ May 15 1:05 Texas Baseball glove @ May 29 7:05 Baltimore Floppy hat % June 12 7:05 Florida D. Young bobblehead June 13 1:05 Florida Spider-Man day
Tigers scouting report
e -->FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER FIRST BASE
Tigers' starters have plenty to prove
It couldn't happen -- but it did. And Ivan Rodriguez presided over it. In 1998, Texas Rangers pitchers had the highest collective ERA of any starting staff in the American League. The next season, the starting staff had the second-highest ERA. Yet in both seasons, the Rangers won the American League West.
Tigers to win AL Central, if you trust video games
The Tigers will win the American League Central Division in 2004. They will beat the New York Yankees in the first round of the playoffs. That is, if you believe video games.
TIGERS' TOP FREE-AGENT DEALS
The signing of Pudge Rodriguez was the biggest free-agent deal in Tigers history. Some of the team's other big free-agent deals: Darrell Evans, December 1983 -- The 15-year veteran signed a three-year deal worth $2.25 million. Evans remained a solid component of the lineup through 1988 and led Tigers to the World Series in '84 and the league championship series in '87.
Tigers top prospects
The top 10 prospects in the Tigers' organization, according to Baseball America. Few are expected to join the major league roster before 2006. Tigers assistant general manager Al Avila talked to the Free Press about each player:
Tigers will likely climb from depths, but how far?
Even though Dave Dombrowski is in just his third year with the Tigers, he's acutely aware of the cloud that has hovered over the team for too long. "Once you lose for a lot of years, it's like this smog starts to form over your franchise, your city and everything that's attached," said Dombrowski, president and general manager.
Tigers: More bang for fans' bucks?
Not only are the Tigers theoretically putting a better product on the field this season -- at least on paper, at this point -- it's also going to be a better buy for some fans, according to a market study. The cost for a family of four to attend a Tigers game is down 9.9 percent this season, according to Team Marketing Report.
Young Tigers 3B eager for next step with 'Caps
West Michigan third baseman Kody Kirkland wants to be known for his play. So far, he's known for the peculiar spelling of his first name and for the trade that brought him to the Tigers. A 30th-round pick of the Pittsburgh Pirates from Pocatello, Idaho, Kirkland was acquired with pitcher Adrian Burnside on Nov. 25, 2002, for first baseman Randall Si
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