Always A Tiger.

[mfbmike]

I hope so. lol. I played the demo for the first time lastnight. Two innings. Managed to only get 1 hit. Struck out twice too. lol, just gotta get used to not swinging at everything.

Kicked ass with Hamels though. Striking bitches out ftw.

[Mit]

I hope so. lol. I played the demo for the first time lastnight. Two innings. Managed to only get 1 hit. Struck out twice too. lol, just gotta get used to not swinging at everything.

Kicked ass with Hamels though. Striking bitches out ftw.

You had more luck than I did. Kazmir struck me out 10 times through 4 innings. It was ridiculous.

[mfbmike]

D-Train On Track To Dominate In Early Going


Dontrelle Willis had a rough '08, going 0-2 with a 9.38 ERA for the Tigers.

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Dontrelle Willis has clearly been happy the way he has pitched so far in Spring Training. He had a different look on Tuesday.

It wasn't just about what he was throwing, it was how he felt about throwing it.

As Willis talked about his second session of live batting practice Tuesday, he wasn't simply gushing about how good he felt to be back on the mound and throwing strikes. This was a little more of a quietly confident Willis, someone who envisions success before he takes the mound and goes out looking to execute.

"I knew what I wanted to do today: Get there and continue to throw quality pitches throughout the 12 minutes today," Willis said.

More than attacking the strike zone, trying to force hitters to put the ball in play, Willis was attacking particular parts of the zone, keeping his pitches low while working them inside and out. More than firing fastballs, he was mixing changeups and breaking balls to every batter he faced. When he missed, he was missing mostly off the plate, not over the middle of it or hanging something in the zone.

"Everything was low and with movement," said infielder Ramon Santiago, one of the batters who faced Willis. "And he threw where he wanted."

There was still that Willis smile, especially when he set up Mike Hessman for a swing and miss. But clearly, Willis isn't simply satisfied to throw strikes again. He's working to throw quality strikes.

"I threw a bunch of good changeups. I'm gaining confidence in that," Willis said. "I'm going to try to use that a lot more. I felt like I was down a lot today. I was able to repeat it. All in all, just a good pace."

In turn, the Tigers seem to be gaining confidence in Willis.

"He looked really good," manager Jim Leyland said. "Good life, good movement, throwing strikes. ... He looks tremendous right now, to be honest with you."

-tigers.com

[mfbmike]

Everything I read about Tigers spring training is that D-Train is ready to rip bitches.

[LC AAU]

D-Train better pitch good this year.

[Miggy]

I remember when the D-Train was down here I went to like 5 of his starts and he fucking owned. Miguel is a candidate for MVP this year so you better come through Mike!

[mfbmike]

I'll try man. Hitting has been one of my weaknesses so far in the demo. lol.

[mfbmike]

Off from work tomorrow, will be picking up game tomorrow morning and getting this show on the road.

[mfbmike]

Here we go!

[mfbmike]

Opening Day Is Here

The real games are here at last, and it's time to get rolling Tigers fans.

What do you expect this year? Justin Verlander gets the start on opening day as he looks to return to dominance. Manager Jim Leyland has done all he can to get the club ready, so it's up to the hitters to hit and the pitchers to pitch and the defenders to defend. How will the 2009 season go?

Stay tuned all year. It ought to be exciting.

With opening day upon us, here is the official 2009 Detroit Tigers Lineup and Pitching Rotation.



Batting Order:


1. CF Curtis Granderson

2. 2B Placido Polanco

3. RF Magglio Ordonez

4. 1B Miguel Cabrera

5. DH Gary Sheffield

6. LF Carlos Guillen

7. 3B Brandon Inge

8. C Gerald Laird:

9. SS Adam Everett

Bench:

C Matt Treanor
SS Ramon Santiago
LF Marcus Thames
RF Clete Thomas



Pitching Rotation:


1. Justin Verlander

2. Armando Galarraga

3. Jeremy Bonderman

4. Edwin Jackson

5. Dontrelle Willis

Bullpen:

LRP Zach Miner
LRP Nate Robertson
MRP Freddy Dolsi
MRP Bobby Seay
SU Fernando Rodney
SU Joel Zumaya
CP Brandon Lyon

[The Messenger]

Please post games. I won't be getting it for another 2-3 days and I can't wait lol.

[T.Dot]

Looks awesome Mike, I'm getting the game in about an hour and I play the Tigers in the first series. Good luck.

[mfbmike]

Opening Day Series Preview:

(0-0) @ (0-0)


Rogers Centre in Toronto

Projected Matchups:

Game 1:


Justin Verlander 0-0 , 0.00 ERA | Roy Halladay 0-0 , 0.00 ERA

Game 2:


Armando Galarraga 0-0 , 0.00 ERA | Dustin Mcgowan 0-0 , 0.00 ERA

Game 3:


Jeremy Bonderman 0-0 , 0.00 ERA | Jesse Litsch 0-0 , 0.00 ERA

Game 4:


Edwin Jackson 0-0 , 0.00 ERA | David Purcey 0-0 , 0.00 ERA

Blue Jays Lineup:

RF Alex Rios
DH Joe Inglett
CF Vernon Wells
C Rod Barajas
3B Scott Rolen
1B Lyle Overbay
LF Adam Lind
2B Aaron Hill
SS Marco Scutaro

[mfbmike]

Please post games. I won't be getting it for another 2-3 days and I can't wait lol.

I'm gonna start playing games now but probably won't update until tonight. My gf has my flash drive. :screams: lol.

How did I miss this? This looks awesome man, I'll be following. Should be a great chise.

Thanks dude.

Looks awesome Mike, I'm getting the game in about an hour and I play the Tigers in the first series. Good luck.

Thanks. Good luck to you as well. Gotta get used to this.

This is my first mlb chise so my layouts may not be all that good as I'm learning. :P

[mfbmike]

Barajas 2 Run Shot In The 7th Ruins Verlanders Shutout

(0-0) @ (0-0)


Despite having a quiet game at the plate, Miguel Cabrera made some impressive defensive plays on opening day.

Justin Verlander pitched a solid 6 innings allowing only 3 hits until the 7th inning. With Vernon Wells on 1st, Barajas got all of a Verlander fastball and knocked it out of the park. Even so, Verlander put in a good days of work on opening day but the Tigers offense just couldn't bring in any runs, despite getting more hits than the Blue Jays.



Tigers Pitching:
Justin Verlander (L, 0-1) 7 IP | 5H | 2 ER | 1BB | 4SO | 2.57 ERA
Joel Zumaya 1 IP | 0H | 0ER | 0BB | 0SO | 0.00 ERA

Blue Jays Pitching:
Roy Halladay (W, 1-0) 8 IP | 0ER | 0BB | 8SO | 0.00 ERA
B.J. Ryan (S , 1) 1 IP | 0H | 0ER | 0BB | 1SO | 0.00 ERA

Tigers Lineup:
CF Curtis Granderson 1-4 | K
2B Placido Polanco 2-4
RF Magglio Ordonez 1-4
1B Miguel Cabrera 1-4 | K
DH Gary Sheffield 1-4 | K
LF Carlos Guillen 0-4 | K
3B Brandon Inge 1-4
C Gerald Laird 1-3
SS Adam Everett 0-3 | 2K
PH Marcus Thames 0-1 | K

2B: Ordonez

Blue Jays Lineup:
RF Alex Rios 0-4 | K
DH Joe Inglett 0-4 | K
CF Vernon Wells 1-3
C Rod Barajas 1-2
3B Scott Rolen 0-3 | K
1B Lyle Overbay 1-3
LF Adam Lind 1-3 | K
2B Aaron Hill 0-3
SS Marco Scutaro 1-3

HR: Rod Barajas
RBI: Barajas 2
R: Vernon Wells
2B: Overbay
BB: Rod Barajas
GIDP: Inglett

Player Of The Game:

Roy Halladay

Halladay held the Tigers to 8 scoreless innings, striking out 8 in the process and sending the Tigers to an opening day loss.