Here we are, a couple of hours from the most nerve-wracking Tigers game since Game 163 and the club’s first winner-take-all game since the 1972 ALCS, as Lee Panas pointed out after Game 4. Let’s see what happens. (Not unlike to my approach to this post.) Jim Leyland this afternoon explained why we’ll see Max [...]

In the first inning of Tuesday night’s ALDS Game 4, Yankees starter A.J. Burnett was on the ropes. He’d walked the bases loaded and with two out Don Kelly ripped what appeared to be a liner over Curtis Granderson’s head in centerfield. (Lord knows we still love Grandy in Detroit, but his reaction to that [...]

When Victor Martinez crushed an offering from Tony Sipp on Wednesday for a grand slam, things seemed to change for a Tigers team that is on a remarkable roll. Up to that point, I was thinking (and maybe you were too), that you could see a loss coming in the finale against the Indians. As [...]

In case you missed it, ESPN.com’s SweetSpot blog has featured a nice collection of Tigers-focused posts over the past few days: Dave Schoenfield lists his unsung heroes, among them is Jhonny Peralta: I’ve sung Peralta’s praises on several occasions, but everyone just keeps talking about this Verlander guy. All Peralta has done is hit over [...]

Note: This article first appeared on ESPN.com’s SweetSpot blog today. When the Tigers traded Scott Sizemore to the A’s over Memorial Day Weekend, it brought an abrupt and mildly startling end to his tenure as Detroit’s second baseman of the future. The Tigers, after all, anointed him as the heir apparent to Placido Polanco almost [...]

Sometimes I want to rail on Major League Baseball about the lameness of so many things it does — the vapid celebrity softball game, the interminable Home Run Derby, the “this-time-it-counts” angle on the All-Star Game — but then I realize it’s probably me just getting old. The Tigers’ collection of All Stars is the largest [...]

Jason Thompson Born: July 6, 1954 in Hollywood, Calif. Bats: Left Throws: Left Height: 6′ 4″ Weight: 200 lb. Acquired: Drafted by the Tigers in the fourth round of the 1975 amateur draft. Seasons in Detroit: 5 (1976-80) Uniform Number: 30 Stats: .256 avg., 98 HR, 354 RBI, .779 OPS Awards: Three-time All Star (1977, [...]