The Pressbox

Clete Thomas became a hero for the Detroit Tigers today without swinging the bat.

Thomas drove in two of the Tigers’ three runs by drawing bases-loaded walks. It was great discipline by a young player, especially after he fell behind in the count 1-2 in the bottom of the 10th inning.

It was a questionable move by St. Louis manager Tony LaRussa to intentionally walk Miguel Cabrera to load the bases in the 10th. Sure, Cabrera has earned far more respect as a hitter than Thomas probably ever will, but he put a ton of pressure on his pitcher by doing that.

But the Tigers are not complaining. Now they are just two games under .500 and have won five straight series.

Mickey Lolich, star of the 1968 World Series for the Detroit Tigers, spent a half-inning in the TV booth Tuesday night and said some very interesting things when asked if he watched many Tiger games.

Lolich admitted he had never been a huge fan of watching games, even as a kid. He said he watches many of the Tiger games now, but often flips channels. The pace of the game is too slow for him. “You have to remember,” he said. “I used to pitch a nine-inning game in two hours and 15 minutes.”

He hit on one of the biggest problems with today’s games. There are too many pitching changes, too many delays for batters to adjust hitting gloves, too many trips to the mound, too many long at-bats…. just too much time wasted.

Did you ever notice how often get-away games (the last game of a series when the teams have to move on to the next city) are played in less than three hours.

The players can pick up the pace when they want to.

Memorial day almost became very memorable for Detroit sports fans.

The Red Wings took a 2-0 lead in the Stanley Cup finals, the Pistons beat Boston to even the Eastern Conference finals at 2-2 and the Tigers were locked up in a great pitchers’ duel with the Los Angeles Angels.

The Tigers lost 1-0 on a bases-loaded walk in the 12th inning. It was a shame to waste a great pitching performance by Kenny Rogers.

You have to question manager’s Jim Leyland decision to intentionally walk a batter to load the bases in the 12th. The bullpen has struggled to throw strikes all season.

Jim Leyland finally blew up at the Tigers on Tuesday and since then they have won three straight and scored 30 runs in those games.

Seems like his explosion was long overdue. Something needed to be done to light a fire under this team.

Granted, the 30 runs came against a Seattle pitching staff that is struggling, but it should restore some confidence in the hitters.

Leyland has to accept a good share of the blame for the Tigers’ awful start. I wrote about Leyland and Flip Saunders of the Detroit Pistons in my column this week. Here is a link:

http://www.monroenews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080522/KRUGERSPTSCOL/350875574/-1/COLUMNISTS

Thank you, Placido Polanco.

Polanco’s bloop single in the ninth inning – his fifth hit of the game – saved the Detroit Tigers from one of their most frustrating losses of the season Wednesday night.

The Tigers had a four-run lead several times during the game, but their bullpen kept giving it back. When Boston took a 9-8 lead in the top of the ninth and had closer Jonathan Paplebon coming to the mound, it looked like the Tigers were destined for another loss.

Sure, Detroit got a couple of breaks with a fluke infield hit and an error to start the ninth, but Ivan Rodriguez executed a perfect sacrifice bunt, Curtis Granderson hit the ball to the right side to get the tying run home, then Polanco delivered.

The game quickly went from a devastating loss to the kind of win that can spark a team. The Tigers certainly need some sort of spark.