No Longer Looking Back
_______________________________________________________________
nytimes.com
By JOE LAPOINTE / THE NEW YORK TIMES
June 27, 2008 - DETROIT - Todd Jones, the Tigers’ closer, put on a shaggy wig and a Magglio Ordóñez jersey and took a bat to the tarp-covered infield during a rain-delayed game at Comerica Park.
With 40,091 fans laughing and cheering, Jones re-enacted the home run by Ordóñez that clinched the 2006 American League Championship Series over Oakland. “I had to go back and look at the tape of his mannerisms and stuff,” Jones said.
As he circled the diamond in semi-slow motion, he performed Ordóñez-like fist pumps and arm waves. “I think it went over pretty good,” said Jones, who added that he first got permission from Ordóñez.
That was Wednesday night, a few hours before the Tigers completed an 8-7 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. On Thursday afternoon, they won again, 3-2, on a bases-loaded walk to the rookie Clete Thomas by Mike Parisi in the 10th inning.
It was Thomas’s second bases-loaded walk of the game. Recalling a “walk-off walk” in Class AA last season, Thomas said he thought this time: “Oh, wow! I walked in the game-winning run. For the Tigers. In the big leagues.”
The victory means the Tigers have gone 14-4 since June 7. Their record of 38-40 puts them five games behind the first-place Chicago White Sox in the American League Central.
So, despite a stunningly poor start of 0-7 and 16-26 and a lineup that is sometimes shuffled like a stack of expensive baseball cards, the Tigers still hope to celebrate something this season beyond whimsical re-enactments of the glories from their recent past.
“We’ll see,” said Dave Dombrowski, the team’s general manager. “We still think we have a good team. We’re playing better. We’ve got a long haul to go.”
Dombrowski’s team has a payroll estimated at $138 million, second in the A.L. behind the Yankees. Before the season, some thought Dombrowski’s major trade with Florida had given Detroit the best team in baseball.
But the first quarter of the season caused skeptics to question the wisdom of Dombrowski’s acquisition of infielder Miguel Cabrera and starter Dontrelle Willis for six prospects.
Cabrera, with a batting average of .273, 11 home runs and 44 runs batted in, quickly proved unable to play third base. This forced Manager Jim Leyland to move him to first base and put Carlos Guillén — last season’s shortstop — at third.
The bigger problem was Willis, who won 22 games in 2005 but only 22 over the next two seasons. Willis signed a three-year contract for $29 million, but sustained a hyperextended right knee in April.
On June 9, in his third appearance of the season, he lasted only an inning and a third against Cleveland. Willis looked sweaty and unnaturally nervous as he gave up eight runs on three hits and five walks. “I would boo me, too,” he told reporters.
Leyland said he felt sorry for Willis, who was demoted to Class A Lakeland. In two weeks there, Willis has not pitched in a game. Dombrowski said Willis had no injuries and offered little explanation of what was wrong.
“I’m not going to get into it,” Dombrowski said. “We’ve got a program set up.”
Among Willis’s problems: his control, his mechanics and his weight, which looked to be above the 225 pounds listed in the media guide. He is 26 years old.
A key senior Tiger is designated hitter Gary Sheffield, 39, who has played in only 42 games because of injuries. He called his recent problem with an oblique muscle a “blessing in disguise” because “it gave me time to rest my shoulder.”
Sheffield won Wednesday’s game with a ninth-inning single and tied Thursday’s with a ninth-inning home run. Afterward, he had ice packs on his right shoulder, right thigh and waist, and confidence in his heart.
“We can make up any deficit,” Sheffield said. “We have that much talent in the room. We can turn the corner.”
Another star Thursday was Curtis Granderson, who had four hits to increase his average to .282 and his hitting streak to 14 games. Granderson missed the first three weeks with a broken finger back when Detroit fans shifted from hubris to despair.
“They wanted the World Series in April,” Granderson said, smiling. “Still a lot of time left.”
With starter Jeremy Bonderman sidelined with a blood clot, the Tigers will need continued improvement from Justin Verlander, who won his last two games to raise his record to 4-9.
The bullpen has been bolstered by the recent return from injury of Joel Zumaya and Fernando Rodney. Zumaya now carries less weight, even more tattoos and again throws in the high 90s. Other Tigers are showing competitive fire and edgy tension.
Marcus Thames and Plácido Polanco were ejected in the last two games for arguing over called third strikes. So Jones’s pantomime mellowed the mood, although it drew mixed reviews.
Leyland frowned and said, “I’m not into the Barnum & Bailey stuff.” But Dombrowski smiled and said, “I think it was funny; I think it was great.” |
