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

Tigers pitchers helping keep baserunners at bay.
Brad Ausmus began his first Spring Training as Tigers manager preaching an emphasis on baserunning. His push for his team to run the bases better gained a lot of attention. His push for pitchers to hold baserunners better did not.

So far, the latter is producing better results as well -- not league leading, but easily enough to make a difference. The Tigers entered Tuesday's game against the Indians having thrown out 34.1 percent of would-be basestealers, seventh best in the Majors and fourth best in the American League.

By comparison, Detroit produced an 18.5 percent caught-stealing rate last year, worst in the AL and second-worst in the Majors. The Tigers haven't topped 30 percent over a full season since 2010, Alex Avila's first full season in the big leagues.

Avila hasn't made any adjustments from last season. The major change came from Tigers pitchers.

"It's been a major focus for us," Rick Porcello said, "because last year, as a pitching staff, we didn't do a very good job holding runners on. Max [Scherzer] and Doug [Fister] were very good at it, but the rest of us did not do a good job. And a lot of times, the runners steal off the pitcher and not off the catcher.

"That was one of the first things I remember Brad talking with us about as a group."

The emphasis, Porcello said, wasn't so much about holding runners or picking them off. The focus shifted to becoming less predictable for baserunners to detect a pattern and time their jump. Pitchers began to hold the ball longer before delivering a pitch, then shorter some other times, and changing the timing on slide steps and pickoffs.

"Me, personally, it's been a big focus," Porcello said, "because it's so important for me to keep the guy at first and keep the double play in order. We've devoted more time to getting better at it this year."

By doing that, the pitchers have given Avila more of a fighting chance.

"When you throw out baserunners, it's not just because the catcher makes a good throw," Avila said. "It's because the pitcher holds them on to where they can't get a good jump. When the catcher does make a good throw, he has a chance to get them out. It's a two-way street."
from the Tigers official site
 
V-Mart showing power, disciplined swing.
Victor Martinez headed into Tuesday's game against the Indians with more home runs (11) than strikeouts (nine), putting himself on pace to become just the second 30-homer hitter in the last 50 years to post more homers than strikeouts. But there are ratios to show why.

Surprisingly, it's not only about refusing to chase pitches out of the strike zone. It's about staying alive on the pitches he does chase.

According to Fangraphs, Martinez has actually swung at pitches outside the strike zone at a higher rate this year than last, up from 32.7 percent to 33.4 percent. When he does, however, he makes contact at an alarmingly high rate, connecting on 88.2 percent of the pitches. That's the highest rate of any season in his career.

Only Oakland's Alberto Callaspo (89.8 percent) has made contact on a higher percent of swings at pitches outside the zone. Only Twins catcher Kurt Suzuki (93.9 percent) and Martinez's teammate, Ian Kinsler (92.9 percent), entered Tuesday having made contact on a higher percentage of swings overall than Martinez (92.3 percent).
from the Tigers official site
 
http://www.mlive.com/tigers/index.ssf/2014/05/tigers_indians_justin_verlande_1.html
Indians 6 - Tigers 2: Justin Verlander allows five runs on 11 hits; Torii Hunter, Alex Avila hit home runs.
from Mlive

http://newenglishd.com/2014/05/20/how-was-the-game-may-20-2014/
How Was The Game? (May 20, 2014).
from the NewEnglishDTigersBlog

http://www.freep.com/article/201405.../detroit-tigers-cleveland-indians-game-thread
Cleveland 6 - Detroit 2: Justin Verlander not sharp in Tigers loss.
from the freep

http://motorcitybengals.com/2014/05...er-early-detroit-tigers-second-night-row-6-2/
Cleveland Indians get to Justin Verlander early, down the Detroit Tigers for the second night in a row 6-2.
from mcbtb

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/inde...014_05_20_detmlb_clemlb_1&mode=recap&c_id=det
Verlander endures rocky outing as Tribe takes series.
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/inde...d=det#gid=2014_05_20_detmlb_clemlb_1&mode=box
Boxscore.
from the Tigers official site

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/...0111/Indians-rough-up-Justin-Verlander-Tigers
Indians rough up Justin Verlander, Tigers.
from the detnews

http://www.blessyouboys.com/2014/5/...-verlander-detroit-loses-second-straight-game
Indians 6, Tigers 2: Cleveland rocks Verlander, Tigers drop second straight.
from bybtb
 
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May 21 in Tigers and mlb history:

1907: National League president Harry Pulliam dismisses the Opening Day protests of Pittsburgh manager Fred Clarke over Roger Bresnahan's shin guards. As yet, Bresnahan is the only catcher using them.

1920 - Hughie Jennings manages his 2,000th game in the majors, all with the Tigers.

1923 - Formal transfer of T.L. Huston's interest in the Yankees to Jake Ruppert is completed for $1.5 million. Ten days later, Ruppert buys two more sets of uniforms so his players can wear a clean outfit every day, an unprecedented move.

1930 - Babe Ruth hits three consecutive home runs in the first game of a doubleheader against the A's, then batting against Jack Quinn in the 9th, Ruth decides to hit right-handed. After two strikes, he switches to lefty but strikes out. This is the first of two career 3-homer games for the Babe.

1940: Jimmie Foxx hits a grand slam for the second day in a row against Detroit in an 11 - 8 Red Sox win. Only Babe Ruth, twice, and Bill Dickey have slammed in consecutive days in the American League. Ted Williams, Bobby Doerr and Doc Cramer also homer for Boston. Hank Greenberg and Rudy York homer for the Bengals, while Wally Moses has a pair of triples and two singles.

1943 - Hal Newhouser endures his longest outing: 13 IP, 9 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 5 BB, 10 K.

1947 - Joe DiMaggio and five other Yankees are slapped with $100 fines for not fulfilling contract requirements to do promotional duties for the Bronx Bombers.

1957: Boston baseball writers reaffirm their decision to bar women from the press box and refuse to allow Doris O'Donnell, a Cleveland feature writer traveling with the Indians, to sit in the Fenway Park press area.

1957 - Jim Bunning has his longest career outing: 13 IP, 10 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 11 K, but it results in a no-decision as his Tigers prevail 2-1, over the Orioles in 16 innings.

1959 - Despite growing pressure to expand, major league owners, at a meeting at John Galbreath's farm in Ohio, decline the option to add new teams to the existing American and National Leagues. Given there are no plans for expansion, Commissioner Ford Frick will announce at a later date that Major League Baseball will "favorably consider an application for major league status within the present baseball structure by an acceptable group of eight clubs which would qualify under ten specifications."

1967: Earl Wilson gives Detroit its third straight win over the Yankees, 9 - 4. Mickey Mantle hits his 5th homer in six games but it's not enough for Whitey Ford, who appears in his last major league game.

2006 - Tiger reliever Todd Jones records his 155th save as a Tiger, breaking the franchise mark held by Mike Henneman.

Tigers players birthdays:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/a/ayersdo01.shtml
Doc Ayers 1919-1921.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Earl_Averill_(averiea01)
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/a/averiea01.shtml
Earl Averill 1939-1940.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/molinbo01.shtml
Bob Molinaro 1975, 1977, 1983.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/floribr01.shtml
Bryce Florie 1998-1999.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Andrew_Miller
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/millean01.shtml
Andrew Miller 2006-2007.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Jacob_Turner
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/t/turneja01.shtml
Jacob Turner 2011-2012.

from Baseball Reference
 
http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2014/05/police_submit_detroit_tigers_e.html
Police submit Detroit Tigers Evan Reed rape investigation for review by prosecutor.
from Mlive

http://www.freep.com/article/20140521/SPORTS02/305210144/Tigers-evan-Reed-sex-assault
Police seek warrant for Detroit Tigers' Evan Reed in sex-assault case.
from the freep

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/...wing-sexual-assault-claim-against-Tigers-Reed
Prosecutors reviewing sexual assault claim against Tigers' Reed.
from the detnews
 
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