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Detroit Tigers Team Notes Over 3 Million Views!!! Thankyou!

Too often, baseball is analyzed by Zoroastrians, believing that the eyes of baseball executives and scouts are the blind side of the past, while there are many who have devoted their lives to sitting behind home plates in ballparks from Bellingham to Kissimmee.

But Miguel Cabrera is an example of a player whose future was evaluated by his former manager Brad Ausmus, whose eyes are as perceptive as anyone in the business. And those observations have indeed been quantified by the best of the analytics.

Miguel Cabrera?s 2017 numbers made him appear to be a declining star: his .243/.329/.399 was below league average, and the result-oriented w/OBA put him in the section with Daniel Descalso. But Ausmus predicts a big comeback season, based on Ausmus? eyes and analytics and what he says is Miggy?s intense desire for greatness. ?He really wants to prove he is still a premium player.? Says Ausmus. ?Miggy cares about being great. It matters. And from what I watched last year and know of him, I think he?ll come back.?

Thanks to the phenomenal Network Research staff headed by Nate Purinton and Mike Petriello of Statcast, it seems Ausmus was right on. Using xwOBA?which measures how balls were hit and their hit predictability, Cabrera indeed was one of the unluckiest hitters in the game.

The difference between his w/OBA and the xwOBA was far and away the greatest of any player with a minimum of 250 at-bats (see below), nearly double that of runner-up Mitch Moreland.

(250 AB min) xwOBA/ wOBA/ Difference
Cabrera: .382/ .322/ -.060
Moreland: .371/ .335/ -.036
V. Martinez: .344/ .311/ -033
Avila: .401/ .368/ -.033
Pujols: .326/ .294/ -.032
K. Morales: .358/ .326/ -.032
B. Moss: .336/ .305/ -.031
Motter: .288/ .259/ -.029
J. Martinez: .411/ .386/ -.025

Tiger fans may have little hope in 2018, but Cabrera and Victor Martinez were two of the unluckiest hitters in the game. And for those Red Sox fans screaming for Dave Dombrowski to give J.D. Martinez seven years and $210M, Moreland (2) and Hanley Ramirez (11) were two of the 11 hitters in this unlucky category. Which, with $100M on the table for J.D. Martinez and places held for Blake Swihart and Bryce Brentz, makes the run to the first of March in Fort Myers all the more interesting.

Peter Gammons
 
February 3 in Tigers and mlb history:

1886: Albert Spalding begins a sporting goods company with $800. He will become the manufacturer of the first official baseball as well as the tennis ball, basketball, golf ball, and football.

1920: A meeting in Kansas City results in the birth of the Negro National League. Chicago American Giants owner Rube Foster spearheads the formation of the league, which will consist of eight franchises: Chicago Giants, Cuban Stars, Dayton Marcos, Detroit Stars, Indianapolis ABCs, Chicago American Giants, Kansas City Monarchs and St. Louis Giants.
1920: The Detroit Stars become a charter member of the new Negro National League.

1942: Major League owners hold a meeting to discuss regulations to be used during World War II. The owners decide to have each team play 14 night games, except for the Washington Senators, who will be permitted 21 games under the lights at Griffith Stadium. Two All-Star Games will be played, one with a military All-Star team. Curfews are set for night games with no inning to start after 12:50 A.M.

1975: Billy Herman, Earl Averill and Bucky Harris are selected for the Hall of Fame by the Special Veterans Committee.

1976: The St. Louis Cardinals purchased Tom Walker from the Detroit Tigers.

1977: The Special Committee on the Negro Leagues elects Martin Dihigo and shortstop Pop Lloyd to the Hall of Fame. Dihigo, a dominant pitcher born in Cuba, also was a infielder and outfielder from 1923 to 1945. Lloyd, a standout shortstop and dangerous hitter, played in the Negro Leagues from 1906 to 1932.

1993: The Detroit Tigers signed Luis Garcia as an amateur free agent.

2003: The Detroit Tigers signed Kevin Witt as a free agent.

Tigers players, coaches, and managers birthdays:

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/byrdha01.shtml
Harry Byrd 1957. Al Kaline's first ML at bat vs. this pitcher 6/25/1953.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Dick_Tracewski
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/t/tracedi01.shtml
https://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/tracedi01.shtml
Dick Tracewski 1966-1969, coach 1972-1995, manager 1979.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/comerwa01.shtml
Wayne Comer 1967-1968, 1972.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Joe_Coleman_(colemjo05)
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/colemjo05.shtml
Joe Coleman 1971-1976.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Fred_Lynn
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/lynnfr01.shtml
Fred Lynn 1988-1989.

Tigers players who passed away:

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/finneha01.shtml
Happy Finneran 1918.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Steve_Demeter
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/demetst01.shtml
Steve Demeter 1959.
April 12, 1960: Traded by the Detroit Tigers to the Cleveland Indians for Norm Cash.

from Baseball Reference
 
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