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

Opening Day crowd of 45,051 was 2nd-largest in Comerica Park history, largest for Opening Day...just love seeing this place full game after game.

Fielder what he jokingly said to Boesch, after XBH-robbing catch: "Just 'Nice catch. ... VERY nice catch. ... Jerk."

Prince & Cecil Fielder - 2nd father-son combo with 2+ HR games vs Yankees joining Tony & Eduardo Perez. EliasSports

Avila: (Smyly) threw great. Pretty much if it wasn't for Prince's home runs, he was the reason why we won.

Smyly's stuff was sharp....he had command of all his pitches...he retired all 12 batters he faced, struck out 5...he gets first ML save...

Fister got 12GB outs, only three hard hit balls all day, but lasted just 5IP, walked two, hit 2 batters, and K'd 2....gave up 3ER...
 
Tigers manager Jim Leyland on extending the lineup out, past the top 5:
"The big key, as the season goes on, for us to be good, and really good, is for us to extend that lineup out with Alex and Peralta and Infante. Gets lost in the shuffle now, but Infante got a big hit to drive in the second run.
"Alex hit a home run".
"Certainly not to take anything away from the top five, but if you?re really going to be good, if you?re going to win the tough games, when you?re pitching around guys, things of that nature, that?s when those other guys have to come up big. We like the way our lineup is extended, and if we can get Alex and Peralta of two years ago ... that?d be a good thing for us."
 
Drew Smyly, who got a four-inning save Friday, on Tigers' closer-by-committee:
"It’s closer by committee, so no one knows. All we’re thinking about is pitching good. Go do our job, and everything will fall into place. I don’t think anyone’s stressing about throwing in the sixth or the ninth. It’s just, when the phone rings, get warm — it’s time to go."

Tigers' Drew Smyly on getting his first save at any level:
"I’ve been a starter my whole life, but I’ll take it. It was fun. It’s exciting pitching like that, with a five-run lead, ninth inning, 45,000 people cheering. That’s what gets your adrenaline going."
 
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Downs becoming more than lefty specialist.
DETROIT -- When Darin Downs was making his first outings this spring, he mentioned that he was working on a changeup that he could throw to right-handed hitters. He had become a left-handed specialist at times after his callup from Triple-A Toledo last summer, but he wanted to enhance his versatility.

"Over my career, I'm tougher on lefties, but I'm just trying to really bear down against righties, as well," Downs said in early March.
A month later, he has struck out five out of the eight batters he faced, including four of five right-handed batters. In the process, he has manager Jim Leyland looking at him as more than a short-outing reliever.

With a closer by committee and a bullpen by matchup, that makes a major difference.
"The days of the specialist, the one hitter, are still there, but not near as much," Leyland said. "If you look, when people talk about stuff like that, they just assume that somebody has three left-handed hitters in a row. That doesn't happen anymore."

The Twins were a very good example, mixing hitters so that they rarely had back-to-back hitters from the same side.
"Both guys [left- and right-handers] have to be able to get somebody out from the other side," Leyland continued.

Downs had that in mind when he worked this spring. If he continues to change speeds as effectively as he has, it'll pay off.
"Instead of throwing two-thirds of an inning, I can cover a full inning and it'll save guys down the line," Downs said.
from the Tigers official site
 
Leyland: 'No-brainer' bringing back Valverde.
DETROIT -- Jim Leyland was combing around his office and taking phone calls Friday morning before the Tigers' home opener. He wasn't getting settled into his office again after the offseason. He was looking for Jose Valverde's phone number.

There's no guarantee he'll manage Valverde again, but Leyland wanted to at least congratulate the former closer on being back in the organization and get an idea where he's at pitching-wise.
When the 2012 season ended, it appeared Leyland was saying so long to Valverde for good. In this case, situations change.

"I'm really happy for him. I'm happy for us," Leyland said. "I think it's a really simple thing, to be honest with you. I think if you look at the entire situation, common sense tells you that when you've got a high-profile agent like Scott Boras and you're a free agent, it probably dictates -- at least, most people are thinking -- really big dollars and a long-term contract. And I think the simple denomination there is we weren't ready to do that. So obviously, it didn't turn out that way.
"I think this is a great situation. It's a no-brainer to take a look, see what's there."

In Valverde's case, it's the situation Boras was anticipating all along, even if it unfolded more slowly.
"We were patient," Boras told MLB.com in a phone conversation Thursday night, "and we thought there would be a need in the organization."
Boras said that Valverde had other offers, but that the familiarity with the Tigers and the opportunity to fill save situations on a contending team made it an obvious choice.
Boras said that he expects Valverde to report to Tigers extended spring training this weekend and pick up his throwing program. He has been throwing bullpen sessions every other day in the Dominican Republic, but he hasn't been throwing to hitters.

That could happen soon enough in extended spring games next week. From there, Valverde could be ready to face Triple-A hitters at Toledo within a few outings.
Leyland agreed with the assessment from team president/general manager Dave Dombrowski that Valverde had gotten away from his splitter last year and become a one-pitch pitcher. Statistics on fangraphs.com and STATS show that transition actually began in 2011, when he went from almost an even split to 80-20 in favor of fastballs.

The signing did not cause a ton of reaction within the Tigers' bullpen. Joaquin Benoit, Valverde's closest friend on the team, said he didn't know anything about the plan and that he hasn't spoken with Valverde since January or February. Octavio Dotel said the signing was a "good thing."
For now, at least, Benoit said the deal has no impact on the closer by committee.
"Right now, we have to be ready every inning," Benoit said.
from the Tigers official site
 
Boesch has no hard feelings in return to Detroit.
DETROIT -- This was definitely not the way Brennan Boesch anticipated soaking in the Tigers' home opener. It probably wasn't the way he figured on getting his first start as a Yankee, either.

Boesch sounded ready to adjust.
"It's great. It's kind of a good storyline for me," the new Yankee right fielder told reporters Friday morning from the visiting clubhouse at Comerica Park. "I'm sure when I'm older, I'll look back and kind of relish this moment, because my first start in a Yankee uniform against Detroit is pretty cool, and Opening Day for Detroit, too. It's going to be a great day, and I'm excited."

Boesch's history against Tigers starter and ex-teammate Doug Fister -- 7-for-12 with a home run and three RBIs in 2010 and '11 before Fister's trade to Detroit -- probably didn't hurt, either.
It was Boesch's third Tigers home opener, but his first time being introduced on the visiting side. He received arguably more than his fair share of boos last year during a struggling season that ended with him on the bench and eventually off the postseason roster.

When the Tigers tendered Boesch a contract last offseason, his chances of making the Opening Day roster seemed long. Still, he had no regrets over the way his spring played out, from a mid-March release from the Tigers to a one-year contract with the Yankees a couple of days later.

"It's not like I got sent to Erie. I'm playing for the Yankees," Boesch said. "Can't really ask for more than that. It's just a new chapter in my career."

Boesch echoed his remarks from last month that he appreciated the Tigers' decision to release him in mid-March rather than wait until the end of Spring Training. It was a decision that actually cost him money, since it meant the Tigers owed him just one-sixth of his salary rather than one-fourth, but his $1.5 million contract with the Yankees made up a good part of the difference from his $2.3 million salary he was due to make in Detroit.

"I'm just looking forward to being a Yankee," Boesch said. "It's been great since I've been over here. Went from one classy organization to another. It's pretty cool."
from the Tigers official site
 
Willie Horton, Four Tops part of opening festivities.
DETROIT -- Tigers broadcaster Jim Price made no secret as to his approach for getting back behind the plate for former teammate Willie Horton's ceremonial first pitch.
"I'm going to give him a high target," Price said.
Price wasn't going to squat, but he still had to stretch to dig out Horton's pitch from in front of the mound as the part of the crowd that had already filed into Comerica Park cheered.
It was part of the pregame festivities that are a big part of the Tigers' home opener, an unofficial holiday in Michigan. Crowds were already building around the ballpark early Friday morning, with busloads of fans coming in to join tailgaters and celebrate the unofficial arrival of spring.
The Four Tops performed their rendition of the national anthem that became well known during last postseason.
from the Tigers official site
 
Austin Jackson has led off each of Detroit's first four games with a single. The Tigers have driven him in three out of those four times, each time on a ground ball with fewer than two outs.
 
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