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[kalinecountry]

Avila proving unlucky with balls put in play.
DETROIT -- Jim Leyland has the middle of his lineup going, leadoff man Austin Jackson out of a slump, and ninth hitter Omar Infante swinging like a power hitter. He does not have his catcher hitting yet. That's becoming a bigger concern.

"It would be advantageous to us if we could get Alex [Avila] going," Leyland said. "That makes you deeper and deeper, and I think he's going to get going."
Leyland isn't getting into the specialized stats on why Avila is struggling, but he's seeing the same thing many fans are.
"Early on, he was jumping on the ball pretty good," Leyland said, "and then later on, the trigger looked a little slow for some reason."

Avila's statistics show he is more aggressive swinging at pitches early in the count than he has ever been. He's swinging at the first pitch 37 percent of the time, easily topping his full-season high of 30 percent set in 2010. He's also fouling off pitches at a higher rate than he has in any season since '10.
Add it up, and he's swinging at 44.3 percent of pitches, up about 5 percent from last year, according to fangraphs.com. He's making contact with about the same percentage of swings that he did last year.

So far, though, those swings aren't bringing him up. He's hitting just .209 on balls put in play, compared with .313 a year ago.

"We do the same thing with Alex that you do with every other hitter on every other team," Leyland said. "We look at film. We hit extra. We talk about pitchers. We talk about some things. [Hitting coach Lloyd McClendon] is very good at dissecting stuff."
from the Tigers official site

 

[kalinecountry]

Coke expresses respect for Collins' coming out.
DETROIT -- Phil Coke doesn't know NBA player Jason Collins, but he now knows of his story. He doesn't believe it's his position to make a judgment. But after reading about Collins' decision to come out publicly as a gay professional athlete, he expressed an abundance of respect for Collins.

"My job is to make sure I'm being the best human being I can myself, and not worry about what you're doing, or what he's doing, or what they're doing," Coke said. "At the end of the day, it's about what I'm doing in my own right with whatever decisions I've chosen to make in my life. And the man decided that it was time for him to move the curtain and be like, 'Hey, this is me, and I'm not hiding behind a fa?ade anymore.'

"So you have to tip your cap to the man. You have to, because that takes a lot more to do that than hiding behind a curtain. Anybody can hide behind a curtain and act the way they think other people think they should act. It takes a lot for you to step outside the box. We don't scrutinize people for the organizations that they represent or anything like that. Why would we scrutinize an individual that is a professional athlete? Why would we scrutinize him for his preferences?"

It's not his role or anyone's, Coke said, to make any moral judgment other than commend the courage to make an announcement when no one else has in the middle of a career.

"This is a topic that needs to be hashed out, just as every other major issue that has faced us as a society," Coke said. "This is an important thing to a lot of people. It's a big deal today. He's a free agent going into the summer and he's looking for a job. He wore No. 98 this year representing the hate crimes of '98. You have to respect a man for standing up for what he believes and [for] himself in the same right."

 

[kalinecountry]

April 30 in Tigers and mlb history:

1922 - Charlie Robertson of the Chicago White Sox pitches a 2 - 0 perfect game against the Detroit Tigers.

1946 - Bob Feller of the Cleveland Indians strikes out 11 and pitches his second of three career no-hitters, his first since returning from a three-and-a-half year stint in World War II. Feller defeats the New York Yankees, 1 - 0.

1952 - Ted Williams plays his final game before leaving for military duty inKorea. In his last at-bat on "Ted Williams Day" at Fenway Park, he blasts a game-winning, two-run home run against Dizzy Trout of the Detroit Tigers. The home run gives the Red Sox a 5 - 3 victory.

1958 - Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox becomes the tenth major league player to tally 1,000 extra-base hits.

1967 - Steve Barber and Stu Miller of the Baltimore Orioles combine on a no-hitter, but still lose the game to the Detroit Tigers, 2 - 1. A wild Barber gives up 10 walks in eight and one-third innings before giving way to Miller, who pitches one-third of an inning.

2005: Major league players are asked by Commissioner Bud Selig to agree to a 50-game suspension for the first offense, a 100-game suspension for the second offense and a lifelong ban after the third offense for the use of steroids. In addition to the harsher "three-strike" rule, the commissioner is also seeking a ban on amphetamines.
2010: Scott Sizemore and Brennan Boesch both hit their first major league home run in the 4th inning as Detroit beats theAngels, 10 - 6. Another rookie, Austin Jackson, goes 5 for 5 for Detroit. Sizemore's dinger follows one by Gerald Laird, while Boesch's is a grand slam during the 8-run inning.

Tigers players and managers birthdays:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Chet_Laabs
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/laabsch01.shtml
Chet Laabs 1937-1939.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Phil_Garner
http://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/garneph01.shtml
Phil Garner manager 2000-2002.

from Baseball Reference

 

[kalinecountry]

http://www.blessyouboys.com/2013/4/30/4284398/the-all-tiger-killer-team-active-players-version
The All-Tiger Killer Team: Active Players Version.
from bybtb

 

[kalinecountry]

http://espn.go.com/mlb/blog/_/name/...max-scherzer-anibal-sanchez-piling-strikeouts
Tigers trio piling up a boatload of strikeouts.
espn

 

[kalinecountry]

http://www.freep.com/article/20130430/SPORTS02/304290169/detroit-tigers-minnesota-twins
Notes, quotes from Monday's win.
from the freep

 

[kalinecountry]

http://www.freep.com/article/201304...rii-hunter-mozart-comerica-park-walk-up-music
Tigers' Prince Fielder turns to Mozart for intro music before he bats.
from the freep

 

[kalinecountry]

http://www.freep.com/article/201304...detroit-tigers-minnesota-twins-prince-fielder
Prince Fielder's 3-run blast extends Tigers' win streak.
from the freep

 

[kalinecountry]

http://www.freep.com/article/201304...it-tigers-minnesota-twins-home-run-andy-dirks
Andy Dirks, HRs unlikely stars of Tigers' series opening win.
from the freep

 

[kalinecountry]

http://www.freep.com/article/201304.../motor-city-bengals-alex-avila-detroit-tigers
A look at why Alex Avila is struggling at the plate.
from mcb-tb for the freep

 

[kalinecountry]

http://www.mlive.com/tigers/index.ssf/2013/04/three_stars_prince_fielder_hit_1.html
Three stars: Prince Fielder hits key three-run home run, Max Scherzer strikes out 10 for Detroit Tigers.
from Mlive

 

[kalinecountry]

http://www.mlive.com/tigers/index.ssf/2013/04/detroit_tigers_andy_dirks_says.html
A healthy Andy Dirks would help Detroit Tigers stretch out lineup that has been strong on top.
from Mlive

 

[kalinecountry]

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/...mfield-Twp-officer-honored-before-Tigers-game
Slain West Bloomfield Twp. officer to be honored before Tigers game.
from the detnews

 

[kalinecountry]

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/...l-Coke-supports-first-openly-gay-male-athlete
Tigers' Phil Coke supports first openly gay male athlete.
from the detnews

With a 4-0 record, Doug Fister is the sixth Tigers pitcher since at least 1921 to win at least four games without suffering a loss in April.

The other pitchers: Max Scherzer (4-0 in 2011), David Wells (4-0 in 1993), Frank Tanana (5-0 in 1988), Jack Morris (5-0 in 1984) and Frank Lary (4-0 in the 1961).

 

[kalinecountry]

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/...y-more-valuable-than-many-Tigers-fans-believe
Do-it-all Don Kelly more valuable than many Tigers fans believe.
from bybtb for the detnews

 

[kalinecountry]

http://www.blessyouboys.com/2013/4/...rzer-makes-adjustments-pitches-deep-into-game
Overanalysis: Scherzer makes adjustments, pitches deep into game.
from blessyouboystigersblog

 

[kalinecountry]

http://www.fangraphs.com/fantasy/the-luckiest-babipers/
The Luckiest BABIP'ers.
from fangraphs

 

[kalinecountry]

http://beck.mlblogs.com/2013/04/30/game-24-scherzer-throws-twins-a-curve/
Game 24: Scherzer throws Twins a curve.
from JasonBeck'sTigersblog

 

[kalinecountry]

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/...y-more-valuable-than-many-Tigers-fans-believe
Do-it-all Don Kelly more valuable than many Tigers fans believe.
from bybtb Kurt for the detnews

http://www.detroittigersnark.blogspot.com/2013/04/do-it-all-don-kelly-less-valuable-than.html
Do-it-all Don Kelly Less Valuable Than Many Tigers Fans Believe.
from TigerSnark

 

[kalinecountry]

Leyland recalls Lee Elia's famous postgame rant.
DETROIT -- For a manager who has had his share of sound bites and postgame news conferences crash the airwaves and dominate highlight shows -- his blow-up about umpiring in Boston last May can still be seen on MLB Network -- Jim Leyland can appreciate a good rant.

With Monday marking the 30th anniversary of arguably the most memorable postgame managerial tirade ever recorded, Lee Elia's rant on Cubs fans after a loss at Wrigley Field, Leyland didn't need his memory jogged to recall it.

"It's one of the greatest I've ever heard. It was unbelievable," Leyland said.

He doesn't mean he was glad to see it happen to Elia, especially the fallout after it. Nor did he suggest Cubs fans deserved the offense from the then-Cubs manager. For entertainment, though, it was unmatched for him.

It's one of the toughest things for a manager to endure. And yet, when a manager loses his cool like that, it's something every manager can understand on some level.

"I love Lee Elia," Leyland said. "I managed against him in the Minor Leagues. I've known him all my life. I love him to death. And he just obviously lost it. It was not a good thing for Lee to do, but I have to admit, as a spectator, I thought it was spectacular. And I don't mean that as an offense against Cubs fans."

Leyland had an up-close view of the reaction in Chicago when it happened, because he was the third-base coach for the crosstown White Sox at the time.

"I mean, I couldn't believe it when I first heard it," Leyland said. "But I can't lie and say I wasn't laughing my butt off, because I was. You try to avoid those at all costs if you can."

But sometimes, Leyland said, a manager gets agitated enough that they can't help it.

Leyland has never had anything on that level. He has yelled, screamed and implored reporters to write what they saw, as he said last year in Boston. Arguably his most famous blow-up was his on-field shouting match with Barry Bonds during Pirates Spring Training one year.
from the Tigers official site