Trots
09-02-2003, 08:02 PM
I thought this was pretty accurate.
Tram can rebuild Tigers, but not without llitch's help
By Jim Hawkins , The Daily Oakland Press 09/02/2003
Sept. 2, 2003
DETROIT
Re-build: To repair, to dismantle and reassemble with new parts; to replace, restrengthen and reinforce."
That is how the process is supposed to work - on paper anyway.
Then there is the way the allegedly rebuilding Tigers have been forced to operate - for the past decade, and particularly for the past three years.
Look at Monday's soggy line up:
Ben Petrick in center field.
Danny Klassen at second base
Cody Ross in right.
Somehow I can't believe that was what supposed savior Alan Trammell had in mind when this sorry excuse for a baseball season began.
For lack of better talent and more money, Trammell has been forced to rely on other teams' rejects, falling back into the same stop-gap mentality that has gotten the Tigers into trouble so many times in summers past.
Omar Infante and Andres Torres, once key cogs in the team's future plans, who were expected to assume everyday roles this season, have fallen so far from favor that neither even received a September summons, leaving two more holes to be filled.
Obviously, somebody overestimated.
Trusting the wrong people
On this very date, three years ago, the Tigers were 68-66, in third place, theoretically within reach of a wild card invitation to the playoffs. The Tigers, playing their first season in Comerica Park, were finally feeling good about themselves - and their fans were finally feeling pretty good about the Tigers.
After a hideous 9-23 start, they had played like the best team in baseball, actually climbing above the .500 barrier that so many other teams annually take for granted.
Phil Garner was so enthused about the future he delayed a postseason hunting trip to hang around town for a rare face-to-face meeting with Mike Ilitch. The Tiger manager had been led to believe the front office would be allowed to spend an additional $20 million on talent in 2001 and Garner thought he might be able to coax an additional $10 million out of the owner on top of that.
After all, the boss had promised that when the time came and the new ballpark was up and running, he would step up to the plate himself and spend whatever was necessary to make the Tigers winners again. An additional $20 million or so, properly spent, would have at least made the Tigers respectable.
"That's why I came here," Garner confidently - and naively - declared at the time. "If we do our part, he'll do his part. I really believe that."
Silly Phil.
According to then-GM Randy Smith, Ilitch asked his baseball people what they needed. They told him their No. 1 priorities were a power hitter and a front-line pitcher.
Monday, as the Tigers continued to flail away in pursuit of baseball's all-time record for futility, I couldn't help but wonder what things would be like today if Ilitch had not abruptly pulled the rug out from under Garner and Randy Smith three years ago.
Needs are still the same
Today, the Tigers still find themselves in dire need of a productive power hitter - or two. And Trammell admitted Monday he would very much like to add a proven big-league pitcher to bolster the Tigers' kiddy corps staff.
"If we could get somebody with a little experience, that's something I'd like to have," he said.
Of course, that depends on who might be available this winter - and, more importantly, how much money Ilitch will let Dave Dombrowski spend.
Right now, that is anybody - including Trammell's - guess.
If Trammell and Dombrowski are adequately funded and left alone by the owner, I believe they will eventually turn things around.
Of course, those are two big "ifs."
If Garner and Smith had been adequately funded and left alone by the owner, they would have eventually turned the Tigers around, too.
Thanks to Ilitch, the past three seasons - like the past decade - have been one huge waste.
And right now I cannot think of one good reason why the Tigers will not lose at least 100 games again next year.
(Jim Hawkins is a sports columnist for The Daily Oakland Press. E-mail him at jim.hawkins@oakpress.com.)
©The Oakland Press 2003
Tram can rebuild Tigers, but not without llitch's help
By Jim Hawkins , The Daily Oakland Press 09/02/2003
Sept. 2, 2003
DETROIT
Re-build: To repair, to dismantle and reassemble with new parts; to replace, restrengthen and reinforce."
That is how the process is supposed to work - on paper anyway.
Then there is the way the allegedly rebuilding Tigers have been forced to operate - for the past decade, and particularly for the past three years.
Look at Monday's soggy line up:
Ben Petrick in center field.
Danny Klassen at second base
Cody Ross in right.
Somehow I can't believe that was what supposed savior Alan Trammell had in mind when this sorry excuse for a baseball season began.
For lack of better talent and more money, Trammell has been forced to rely on other teams' rejects, falling back into the same stop-gap mentality that has gotten the Tigers into trouble so many times in summers past.
Omar Infante and Andres Torres, once key cogs in the team's future plans, who were expected to assume everyday roles this season, have fallen so far from favor that neither even received a September summons, leaving two more holes to be filled.
Obviously, somebody overestimated.
Trusting the wrong people
On this very date, three years ago, the Tigers were 68-66, in third place, theoretically within reach of a wild card invitation to the playoffs. The Tigers, playing their first season in Comerica Park, were finally feeling good about themselves - and their fans were finally feeling pretty good about the Tigers.
After a hideous 9-23 start, they had played like the best team in baseball, actually climbing above the .500 barrier that so many other teams annually take for granted.
Phil Garner was so enthused about the future he delayed a postseason hunting trip to hang around town for a rare face-to-face meeting with Mike Ilitch. The Tiger manager had been led to believe the front office would be allowed to spend an additional $20 million on talent in 2001 and Garner thought he might be able to coax an additional $10 million out of the owner on top of that.
After all, the boss had promised that when the time came and the new ballpark was up and running, he would step up to the plate himself and spend whatever was necessary to make the Tigers winners again. An additional $20 million or so, properly spent, would have at least made the Tigers respectable.
"That's why I came here," Garner confidently - and naively - declared at the time. "If we do our part, he'll do his part. I really believe that."
Silly Phil.
According to then-GM Randy Smith, Ilitch asked his baseball people what they needed. They told him their No. 1 priorities were a power hitter and a front-line pitcher.
Monday, as the Tigers continued to flail away in pursuit of baseball's all-time record for futility, I couldn't help but wonder what things would be like today if Ilitch had not abruptly pulled the rug out from under Garner and Randy Smith three years ago.
Needs are still the same
Today, the Tigers still find themselves in dire need of a productive power hitter - or two. And Trammell admitted Monday he would very much like to add a proven big-league pitcher to bolster the Tigers' kiddy corps staff.
"If we could get somebody with a little experience, that's something I'd like to have," he said.
Of course, that depends on who might be available this winter - and, more importantly, how much money Ilitch will let Dave Dombrowski spend.
Right now, that is anybody - including Trammell's - guess.
If Trammell and Dombrowski are adequately funded and left alone by the owner, I believe they will eventually turn things around.
Of course, those are two big "ifs."
If Garner and Smith had been adequately funded and left alone by the owner, they would have eventually turned the Tigers around, too.
Thanks to Ilitch, the past three seasons - like the past decade - have been one huge waste.
And right now I cannot think of one good reason why the Tigers will not lose at least 100 games again next year.
(Jim Hawkins is a sports columnist for The Daily Oakland Press. E-mail him at jim.hawkins@oakpress.com.)
©The Oakland Press 2003