The Tigers from Detroit
Detroit's line-up in '08:
· Carlos Guillen
· Placido Polanco
· Edgar Renteria
· Miguel Cabrera
· Gary Sheffield
· Magglio Ordonez
· Pudge Rodriguez
· Curtis Granderson
· Marcus Thames or Jacques Jones
Pitching
· Bonderman
· Verlander
· Rodgers
· Willis
· Robertson
Kinda scary....
Willis works in the context of the team -- he's been subpar for more than a year now, but his 5.00 ERA isn't going to matter when the team is bashing.
Willis's ERA goes up at least a point for changing leagues.
I like it best if Willis gets some ABs not counting interleague. It's a shame to take one of the NL's best hitting pitchers away.
Nevertheless, they're going to be a lot of fun to watch.
The Brewers had a dude named Brooks Kieschnick (sp?) a few years ago. He was a marginal relief pitcher, but was a better -than-average hitter, so he often pinch-hit for position players, even when he was not pitching. So, it's not totally unheard of for pitchers to get hitting precedent over some position players.
Wasn't there an NL team this year batting its pitcher 8th? Maybe the Cardinals?
Time will tell.
The Sox 3-1 take this week looked easy, right after a Minn sweep.
Is there just no cohesion? Is Jim Leyland that bad as a manager? (I have a lot of respect for Lloyd McClendon, the hitting coach; he was a head manager for 5 years w/ Pittsburg).
These guys are in last in the Central (decent division, not great), and I sorta want to root for them, but jeez...