The Complicated Case of Melky Cabrera

Down two games to none and on the wrong end of seemingly every bounce in the Fall Classic to date, the Tigers will take any advantage they can get going forward and with the World Series moving to Detroit for Games 3, 4 and 5, the structure of the game reverts to American League rules. Of course, that means both teams will replace their pitcher in the batting line up with a designated hitter. As it does in virtually every interleague contest staged in American League parks through the regular season, this creates an advantage for the home team. Although Delmon Young will almost certainly be the DH for Detroit tonight, he played left field in Games 1 and 2 so on the margin, the Tigers gain the services of Andy Dirks. Dirks hit .322/.370/.487 (batting average/on-base percentage/slugging percentage) in 2012 and whether the Giants go with Hector Sanchez (.280/.295/.390) Aubrey Huff (.192/.326/.282) or Joaquin Arias (.270/.304/.389) they don’t have nearly as strong of an offensive threat to add to their line up.

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World Series Preview: Detroit vs. San Francisco

That’s why Detroit is 7-2 in the post-season and why they are perceived to be huge favorites in the World Series. Everyone is assuming its defense against the Giants will be as good as it was in the last 9 games as opposed to how they played in the preceding 162 regular-season games. To be sure that can happen because, as I wrote in the very first summary of the Tigers when the playoffs began, if you’re going to bring a glaring weakness to the table, make sure it’s defense. As shown at the top of this piece, even over just nine games, the worst hitting team in the majors can’t turn themselves into the 1961 Yankees, and the worst pitching team won’t similarly transform themselves either. But the worst fielding team can.

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Game Theory: Why Joe Girardi Needs an Attorney

In a 1990 episode of L.A. Law, a disgruntled season ticket holder sues Chicago Bears head coach Mike Ditka, played by, according it IMDB, ”himself” (talk about type casting) for decisions that ran counter to the team’s promise to season ticket holders to “field a winning team.” If ever there is a case for a class action suit by a fan base for managerial malpractice it occurred last night in the 9th inning in Detroit. It’s a good thing for Yankees manager Joe Girardi, that Michael Kuzak and Victor Sifuentes are no longer practicing law.

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NLCS - St. Louis Cardinals vs. San Francisco Giants

NFL offensive coordinators have mastered the skill of ‘thinking on their feet.’ At any moment of an NFL game, within a window of ten of fifteen seconds, tops, he must choose from a pool of over a hundred plays designated for possible use by his team’s offense for that week’s game. Those plays have been culled from several hundred more included in the team’s training camp playbook. The offensive coordinator must be ready, on a moment’s notice, to call a play if “1st and 10 at the opponent’s 14” arises or “2nd and 24 at the 28” follows seconds later. Further, he must be ready to modify those calls for unexpected twists like “the defense just brought in a back-up safety” or “the wind is blowing from left to right and we have a left footed kicker.” To be effective under that much pressure, offensive coordinators must spend nearly every waking moment from July to January thinking about various scenarios until their reaction and decisions are second nature. You can question the critical reasoning of offensive coordinators (situational punting, run/pass mix, etc.) but their ability to think under pressure is unquestioned.

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ALCS - Detroit Tigers vs. New York Yankees

In 1993, the Philadelphia Phillies played the Toronto Blue Jays in a World Series that, thanks to Joe Carter’s walk-off home run to clinch the Series for Toronto, will always have a highlight in World Series montages. I believe though, if not for that home run, little of the 1993 Fall Classic would be recalled, which is a shame because it’s one of the most underrated World Series match-ups of our generation.

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