After salvaging a victory from a four game set that can only sum up the entire season, the Toronto Blue Jays were able to beat up on the Tigers, who showed us that they are waving the white flag in anticipation of getting done with the 162 game sked.

Alright, alright…we give up!

Worn down, worn out, nonchalantly meandering about the remainder as only a formality and instead of competing hard and showing that pride is still something to play for, they are now showing signs that they are more concerned about the sounds coming from frustrated fans in the stands than going out and competing hard to the end.

The usually quiet Seay must have felt compelled to stick up for the youngster

This reference is in response to a post game interview with lefty reliever Bobby Seay in protecting young fire-baller Joel Zumaya who couldn’t record an out, walking a trio of Jays henchmen and giving up a pair of runs en route to yet another Tigers’ bullpen collapse.  The usually supportive (at least to Zoom-Zoom) crowd seemed to show signs of disdain to the fastball specialist.

Fans love watching the radar when #54 hits the mound

Zumaya was almost immediately placed on the DL and has since confirmed to have some torn scar tissue from his repaired shoulder.  Nothing drastic, but certainly a sign that all wasn’t right.  Without a real reason to hurry back, I know see the Tigers doing the right thing and shutting him down until next year, with a winter regimen to be ready to go, healthy and 100% come spring.

Shutting it down early…again, due to injury

Many fans are starting to be frustrated by the teams inconsistencies and may have put too much expectations on the three-digit fastball throwing phenom.  Truth be told, that since the magic displayed in the 2006 season, Zumaya has disappointed and frustrated with multiple injuries and middle of the road stuff and big league hitters are realizing that with his location problems, if he isn’t hitting the plate, they can sit on a fastball and connect for power off of him, something that a year or two in the show will do to a guy with his skill set.

He’s ultimately going to have to learn to pitch, and not just pull back and throw the ball as hard as he can, and many who know and love the game have thrown out there that perhaps they should condition him to be a starter.  I’m not opposed to that, as being able to strut out every fifth day would be valuable for sure, should he be able to harness his goods into effective and controlled situations.

What to do Zumaya?  Starter, closer, underachieving bullpen commodity?

With all of this being said, as a whole we should give the youngster some credit, considering that he is such a competitor and at 24 may have once again had his ego win out over reality by returning a bit earlier than his tender shoulder could handle.  Clearly, no one wanted to resume pitching more than anyone else to get back to doing what he does best.

Since returning he has shown that he can still rev up the gun; however, the main problem is the fact that he is experiencing major control issues.  Issues that can be clearly indicative of his 1:1 K/BB ratio and the fact that his ERA has raised from 1.88 to 3.47 over his last 9 innings of work.  Someone who throws that hard shouldn’t be flirting with the even numbers like that, let alone become as hittable as he has.

Thus, the tattoed wonder has fallen from grace and for the time being has become human again.  These happenings have put the finishing touches in nailing the last nail on the coffin of the Detroit Tigers 2008 season.  All that’s left is finishing up the last month and a half and watching the team disassemble in the off-season.  With several players becoming free-agents, as well as team options look for the Tigers to make some tough decisions.

I will be blogging about that in the near future, so keep your eyes out for that.

In the meantime, should you be able to stomach any more games, watch them for the joy of the game and not for the hopes that tonight is the night they turn it around.  They don’t deserve that from us as fans anymore, because it has been a painful and disappointing season and it’s time to move on.

Another day, another pair of blown saves.  With that, so is another opportunity for the Tigers to gain a bit of momentum in what is turning into a big farce of a race for the divisional title.

THUMBS DOWN TO THE TIGERS BULLPEN!I’m not quite sure what it is about save opportunities and the Tigers bullpen, but I am getting extremely tired of writing about it, but even more sick to my stomach watching it unfold.  Now, I wasn’t one of the crazies that stayed up and watched into the wee hours of the night; however, I did catch bits and pieces up to the 12th inning and to be completely honest, it was more or less to be able to see how the Tigers were going to blow it on this occasion.

Watching the Tigers ‘pen is equal to waiting for a bomb to go off…

At least they didn’t disappoint me, and continued with their newfound success of finding new ways to collapse, as once again  Kyle Farnsworth (who has officially pitched 3.1 innings this go ‘round with the Tigers and has been bombed for three rockets in key situations) co-stars in the production. Just a thought, but does something happen when players suit up in the old English ‘D’ and have to enter the game when it is on the line?

Yesterday chalks up the 20th blown save (in 42 opportunities, for the 3rd worst conversion percentage of 52%) the Tigers have experienced this season.  Can you believe that?  20 games the Tigers have led in the latter portion of the game only to have the bullpen allow their opposition to take them over. Mind you, blown saves do occur, but the Tigers save opportunities are few and far between, and when you want to act like you are in a pennant race, blowing half of the games that you have an opportunity to lock up is purely unacceptable.

Just imagine if the Tigers had locked up somewhere around the league average of about 71% conversion.  That would equal 30 wins of the 42 opportunities (rounded up from 29.68) which would represent an extra 10 wins from the 20 they have successfully coverted.  You do the math, as they are presently 55-57 and an extra 10 wins puts them at 65-47 or 2.5 games up on the White Sox for the Central lead.

Makes you think upcoming free-agent K-Rod would look nice in Tiger colours, doesn’t it?We have been hard on Todd Jones for his inability to have a clean finish; and while I won’t let him off the hook one bit, the rest of the Tigers arms have provided a measly 2 saves in 21 opportunities.

Trust me, I’m not begging for Jonesy to re-take the reins!It has gotten so bad that in listening to last nights’ game, even when up 6-1 I had a feeling that it just wasn’t going to be enough.  Slowly; but surely, the Sox starting chipping away and I knew the inevitable would happen.  No one in the ‘pen wants to be designated the closer, because no one is ready, or able to do so.

So that’s it folks, officially write the season off if you already haven’t, because the rest of the games are just a formality.  This team deserves everything that this season has brought them as they have “dodged, ducked, dipped, dived and dodged” every chance and opening possible.  There are obviously some elements missing with this team and while an increased payroll provides the aw factor and the potential on paper, the character and unity that championship teams emit has to be considered priceless.

What a horrific weekend of action for the Detroit Tigers.  Being swept by the uber-hot Tampa Bay (don’t call us “Devil”) Rays at home where they have won 39 of their last 48 is nothing to be ashamed of.  However, what is unsettling to my stomach that has simply had enough, is the fashion that the Tigers have lost each of the three games.

Baseball fans have gotten used to seeing this lately

The Tigers are starting to resemble another professional sports team that calls Detroit home, by finding new and exciting ways to lose games.  Now, I’m not pulling the dramatic card and suggesting that things are anywhere near as bad as they are next door at Ford Field with the Detroit Lions, but I will say that at least about the Lions is that they are expected to lose.  That same statement honestly can’t be said about the Kitties at Comerica.

Detroit sports fans are used to seeing this…but not at Comerica!!!

One of the common conclusions for the recent failures is due to the fact that the entire bullpen is suddenly full of gas cans, just waiting to implode when called upon.  A ‘pen that is supposed to be improved with the return of Zumaya and Rodney, along with the deadline addition of the big righty from the Yankees, Kyle Farnsworth.  All that this group has been able to show, is that they are extremely vulnerable and don’t have the mental capacity to pitch their way out of tough situations.

It would be nice to have a solid, dependable arm coming out of this beautiful ‘pen…wouldn’t it?

Sunday was yet another blasphemous display of just how horrible things have become.  The bats gave the Tigers two opportunities to close the door, and in the 1st opportunity the prized acquisition gets touched…er; should I say SLAMMED, for a pair of moon-shots courtesy of Eric Hinske and BJ Upton which allows the Rays to jump back ahead in a game that should have salvaged a win in the weekend series.

The only reason why they were given another shot at a victory is due to Detroit Tigers catalyst, Curtis Granderson leads off the 9th with a blast of his own, off of former teammate Troy Percival (who has been lights out), followed by Bobby Seay pitching a clean bottom half of the inning to send it to extras.  At that point anything could have happened, and it did.  In the top half of the 10th Miguel Cabrera hits a ball that would’ve broken through the roof had it not hit the cat-walk above the playing field to put the Tigers ahead for another brief stint.  It’s almost as if you could see what was going to happen, before it even happened.  Cue the music.

Thought we had the win after Miggy’s blast…(insert sad face)

Chance number two comes when Fernando Rodney makes his way to the mound for another shot at his 1st save since being officially named closer.  Rodney’s line: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 3BB (1HBP) 2 R, 2 ER, 1 K.  Needless to say, “FROD” (pronounced fraud) doesn’t have the closer’s knack that his stuff garners.  He may be successful elsewhere, but his value has surely hit a low and may need to start off fresh elsewhere to redeem himself and prove that he’s got good enough stuff to be a major league pitcher.

Yeah…closing isn’t going so well is it?  We’ve seen a lot of looks like this out of Fernando!

Seriously, what happened to this team?  There is little to no drive there.  All they can show are flashes here and there, but nothing has gelled enough to live up to the lofty expectations that were placed upon them.  They have had opportunity after opportunity to minimize the gap that separates them from the true contenders and have failed at each and every shot.  Maybe they are content to collect a paycheck and be mired in mediocrity, because if there was any sign of hope, it was crushed this weekend.

Add in the fact that Minnesota has caught and surpassed the Sox for first, they are going to be battling it out the rest of the way, leaving two teams to catch by the margin they are trailing.  Add to that, the Tigers can’t beat the Central on their own and that my friends is a recipe for disaster.

Slow down Twinkies…You’ve only been in first for less than a day.

Needless to say, the 2008 Detroit Tigers season has not only been a disappointment, it has been a bust, leaving a record number of fans confused at what the future has to offer.  Long gone is the high of a magical run in 2006, leaving many wondering what went wrong.  With some of the decisions made, one can only hope that the moves don’t hold a long-term effect.

Hindsight is 20/20, and unfortunately breaking even is about what this Tigers squad is capable of doing.