Gimme A Break! Rogers Should Take One, Free Spot For Bonderman

Rogers (left) should step aside for Bonderman

First, let me admit that I have a bias when writing this post.

Jeremy Bonderman of the Tigers should be in the All-Star Game -- you've all read my post about it a few days ago. I'm sure it was the talk of the Internet (hey, let me have my dream, okay?). Bondy deserves it, the game is in his ballclub's town, and he has a distinct advantage over a certain 40 year-old lefthander from Texas:

HE'S NOT FREAKING SUSPENDED FROM MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL!

Yeah, yeah, I know that Rangers' pitcher Kenny Rogers isn't "technically" suspended -- his case is on appeal, which means he can play in the meantime -- but come on, he got 20 games for the infamous cameramen assault. You think he's not gonna serve some time? That makes him suspended in my book. That also makes him a leper as far as this All-Star thing is concerned. You do the crime, you do the time -- even if that means sitting out the Midsummer Classic.

Rogers apparently told the Dallas Morning News Sunday night that he plans on hopping on a plane for Detroit and taking his place along the third base line with the other American League All-Stars, despite his lovely status as a man appealing his punishment, which would banish him for nearly a month's worth of games.

Rogers pitched seven innings Saturday night, which means he probably wouldn't be of any use to AL manager Terry Francona anyhow. So not only is Rogers selfishly taking up a roster spot, he will be doing so without any realistic chance of even throwing one pitch.

That's where Bonderman comes in -- or should.

Had Rogers declined to participate, which most reasonable thinking players in his situation would have done, there was a very high probability that Francona would have tabbed the 22 year-old Bondy to take Rogers' roster spot. In front of his home fans. For the whole world to see. And, since Jeremy hasn't pitched since last Wednesday, he would have been very available to Francona, who probably would have let the youngster throw an inning or so, electrifying the Comerica Park crowd.

But as Steve Martin would have said during his standup days, "BUT, NOOOOOOO....!"

Rogers, just days after reading a statement in front of TV cameras in which he apologized and promised us it wouldn't happen again (Lord, I would think not!), now pulls this narcissistic act. For not only is his place in this game, or any game, tainted until his appeal is heard, he has now created a needless sideshow and distraction for the next couple of days in Detroit.

"I earned it," Rogers was quoted, referring to his presence at Comerica.

Maybe, Kenny, but then you unearned it.

You attacked two cameramen without any evident provocation. You committed an act that, had it happened on any city street, would have subjected you to time in county lockup. You embarrassed yourself, your family, the Rangers ballclub, and baseball players in general. And you "earned" a place in the All-Star Game? I think not.

Like I indicated, I am biased because Bonderman's selection to the AL squad was probably riding on Rogers' decision. But gosh darn it, I believe I would feel the same way even if a Tigers pitcher didn't have a stake in it. I just may not have been riled up enough to write about it, but that doesn't make me a hypocrite -- just a Tigers fan.

Seriously, Kenny Rogers has no more right to be on the All-Star team than I do, quite frankly. He gave up that right when he decided to show those cameramen his Jackie Chan impersonation. New rule: no players who have suspensions of 10 games or more on appeal should be allowed to play in an All-Star Game. Simple as that. What kind of message does that send when Rogers is allowed to represent the game around the world having done what he did? And don't give me any bull about due process. His violent act came out better than my wedding video, for crying out loud. He done did the deed -- the only reason for the appeal is that Rogers can play until the league gets around to flying him to New York to explain himself. He's playing the game. All he's doing is buying time, squeezing it out like the last bit of toothpaste from the tube. And just as the toothpaste will eventually run out, no doubt about that, so will Rogers end up suspended after all.

But yet he has the nerve to show his face in the American League clubhouse at CoPa.

HA!!

Of course, as I've written, Jeremy Bonderman will be playing in a ton of these All-Star thingies. He doesn't need this to be his first appearance. But golly, wouldn't it have been nice if Kenny Rogers had done the honorable thing and withdrew himself from All-Star Game eligibility?

You gotta know when to fold 'em, Kenny.

Fire The Coach! But Red Wings Should Also Take A Look At Their GM

So as I suspected, Dave Lewis is out as Red Wings coach. Fine. He probably maxed out, having been with the franchise as a coach for 17 years, over half of those years with the very same players who are currently on the roster. His message and his ways were probably getting stale -- I'll give you that.

But Ken Holland has been the Red Wings' general manager since 1997, and while he has two Stanley Cups on his resume as GM, what about his ways? What about his approach? What about his culpability in the team's two recent playoff disappointments?

Lewis -- and he admitted to this -- was a "player's coach". That's barely scrambled code for "too nice a guy" or "the inmates run the asylum."

"I probably wouldn't have changed my coaching style too much," Lewis said into a telephone to the Detroit Free Press on Friday, the day Holland held his press conference announcing that Lewis would not return as coach this season. When asked what doomed him despite two straight 48 win seasons, Lewis said, "It was the playoff record." Yes, it probably was. Lewis was 6-10 in two playoff runs, never getting beyond the second round.

Well, that's all well and good, but Holland has been mostly sheathed in teflon since taking over as GM following Scotty Bowman, who held both coach and GM titles until the first Cup in '97. Criticism of Holland has been few and far between, and while I don't think he needs to be villified, I do believe it is time to look at his record and determine what role he has played in the Red Wings' two-year dry spell, postseason wise.

The man who looks like the next coach in Hockeytown, Mike Babcock, is apparently attractive to Holland becuase he gets a lot out of his role players -- the checkers and grinders especially. Funny how Babcock was able to do that in 2003, when his Anaheim Might Ducks made it all the way to the Finals, but wasn't able to do so in 2004, when the Ducks dropped to 12th in the conference, sans playoffs. Regardless, it's interesting that Babcock's influence on those types of players is what makes him an ideal coaching candidate in Ken Holland's eyes, because it provides an excellent segue to my next point.

Hardly anyone in the local media, that I'm aware of, has cast a critical eye toward Holland, but yet he is the man who has provided Lewis -- and eventually Babcock apparently -- with the roster from which to work. And several of Holland's signings and acquisitions have proven to be folks who, for one reason or another, haven't produced when it has mattered the most.

Holland should be looking over his shoulder at us soon

Luc Robitaille comes to mind. He was signed in 2001, and while the Wings won the Cup that season, it was largely in spite of Luc than because of him. He went lonnnng stretches where he was invisible, especially in the playoffs. The following season was even worse. Lewis even benched him once, to which Lucky Luc had the nerve to be surprised. Brett Hull did a disappearing act of his own in the '03 and '04 playoffs, eventually ending up being on non-speaking terms with Lewis and the media. Ray Whitney was signed prior to the '03-'04 campaign, and if you can think of any defining moments he had in the playoffs, let me know. Curtis Joseph joined the Wings as the Goalie After Hasek, when the team could have had Ed Belfour for several million dollars cheaper. Belfour has outplayed Joseph considerably since then. Plus, Holland okayed the return of Hasek to the team after a one year retirement, which caused all sorts of trouble in the Red Wings dressing room -- a dressing room that was Lewis' to deal with, by the way.

I don't mean to be unfair here. Holland has had his share of triumphs, too, and some savvy signings. For example, he had veteran defenseman Jiri Slegr at his disposal, which came in handy when Jiri Fischer was suspended for Game 5 of the 2002 Cup Finals. There have been a few trade deadline deals that have panned out. And, frankly, Joseph did indeed look like a good choice back in the summer of 2002, even though he was more expensive than anyone else. The point is, Holland hasn't been infallible, regardless if some of it has been simply the breaks of the game. But you take the bad with the good; I'm sure Holland lucked out a few times, too.

It is unbelievable in a way that Holland has been given a free pass by the scribes in this town, which isn't usually the case with front office types. Sure, winning a few Cups has helped keep the crankiness away, but when there has been criticism of the Red Wings, it has almost always centered around the coach -- even Bowman -- or certain players. Hardly ever has anyone spoken ill of Holland and his moves. But I think it's high time that we do so. Lewis, Babcock, or whomever comes here can only coach the players he's given. And the Red Wings roster, at this very moment, is old and soft -- not terribly primed for success in the playoffs. Just so you know, there is only one man, truly, responsible for that: Ken Holland.

So we've had our "transitional coach" in the post-Bowman era, and now it's time to start a new chapter of Red Wings history -- appropriate since the NHL itself promises to start a new chapter with the ratification of the new CBA, which should happen soon. But there is still a major link to the Bowmanian Red Wings, and he sits in the general manager's seat.

A seat which, by the way, should be getting warmer and warmer, by rights.

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What do YOU think? As always, I want to know. Post a comment or email me at GregorySEno@aol.com and chime in.

Nate Robertson: Complete Game, 1-0 Loser; One Pitch, And The Tigers Win?

Nate Robertson could start today's game, too, if manager Alan Trammell would like. In fact, if this new trick keeps working, Robertson could start every game that's remaining, and the Tigers might win the AL Central, shocking the baseball world.

Robertson's last two starts: complete game and a pitch

Last night, Robertson, the Tigers' heretofore tough-luck lefty, threw one pitch. One. As in, one more than none and one less than two. And the Tigers won, beating the Devil Rays 7-3. Last time out, Nate threw about 100 more pitches than one, completing the game, and he took a 1-0 loss to the Yankees. Who says baseball doesn't have a warped sense of humor?

I'd love to know how many starting pitchers in the history of baseball have thrown one pitch without an injury somehow being involved. Without any research, I'd say Robertson has to be in some small company.

Here's what happened: Devil Rays starting pitcher Scott Kazmir hit Tigers' leadoff batter Placido Polanco with a pitch. The Tigers ended up scoring four runs in the first inning. Robertson then sails his first pitch in the bottom of the inning behind D-Rays leadoff batter Carl Crawford. And umpire Tim McClelland ejects Robertson for retaliation. Bye-bye, Nate. Hello, bullpen and a Tigers win. So maybe it's not Robertson who has the rotten luck. Maybe the Tigers just haven't figured out how to use him. A complete game didn't work, but one pitch did. At this rate, Nate could be "all-time starter", just like when we played pickup baseball as kids.

Yeah, yeah, I'm being facetious -- so what? When you write a daily blog and you wonder what your angle will be, it's lovely when material presents itself. And any right-minded blogger would be failing his or her audience if he or she were to ignore something this rich.

Baseball has been very unkind to some pitchers over the decades. There was the Pirates' Harvey Haddix, who pitched 12 perfect innings in 1959 before losing in the 13th due to some shoddy defense. There was the Orioles' Steve Barber pitching a no-hitter -- a no-hitter! -- and yet losing to the Tigers in 1967. And there was Mets pitcher Anthony Young, whose record after his first three years in the big leagues was 5-35 -- sort of an '84 Tigers in reverse -- despite an overall ERA of under 4.00. But Robertson is the anti-Haddix here. For one poetically just evening, Nate Robertson got his just desserts for having pitched so remarkably well yet with so little reward in 2005. Sure, he didn't qualify for the win -- starters must pitch five innings of a nine-inning game to be win-eligible -- but he actually started a game the Tigers won for a change, and that's been a rare thing, despite Nate's 3.35 ERA.

Can a pitcher ever throw just one pitch and get a victory? Of course -- relief pitchers can. But starters can't, although they can, theoretically, throw just one pitch and get tagged with a loss, and where's the justice in that? Nate Robertson's one-pitch effort is both amusing and troubling, by the way.

It's troubling because it appears to be another example of today's umpires showing less and less common sense and tolerance. They are quick to eject pitchers for so-called retaliation, even though they have a neat little tool called a "warning" in their belt, something they too often refuse to use. Why didn't McClelland, a veteran ump by the way, simply issue a stern warning to both dugouts? It was the first inning, for crying out loud! Sometimes these guys umpire as if they're back in Pony League. As far as I'm concerned, any umpire who pulls the trigger on a pitcher after one toss of the baseball in the first inning must not have enough confidence in his abilities to take control of the situation and the game. Robertson's ejection was a sign of insecurity on McClelland's part, if you ask me.

Regardless, the Tigers won -- their fourth straight victory. They are doing what teams who are pretending to be playoff contenders are supposed to do: beat up on the hapless Rays, losers of 10 straight. And Nate Robertson didn't have to ice his arm after the game. Heck, he probably could have gotten away with sticking it in the freezer for 30 seconds and calling it a night.

Joe Garagiola sure got it right -- "Baseball is a funny game."

And Now, A Word For Our Sponsors....

This is long overdue.

Just wanted to give a big shout out and thank you to some of my regular readers, several of whom have blogs/websites of their own. They have been very gracious in not only visiting me here everyday, but also by linking me from their sites. I truly appreciate their readership and their kind words of encouragement and promotion on their own sites.

So, without further ado, I thank the following: Brian DeCaussin, who has the excellent Beyond the Boxscores blog. You can visit it at http://beyondboxscores.blogspot.com/. Brian is also the winner of an “Out of Bounds” t-shirt, as soon as I get the new ones made, for his reply to my College World Series query.

Ian Casselberry has the eclectic, fun Fried Rice Thoughts blog and is a frequent reader and “commenter.” Ian also has promoted “OOB” on his blog, and I thank him. Visit him at http://friedricethoughts.blogspot.com/

DolphinFan, who runs My Opinion On Sports, visits me regularly and chimes in with his viewpoints. He also has me linked. Thanks! He's at http://www.myopiniononsports.blogspot.com/

I certainly can’t forget my friend and colleague at Motor City Sports Magazine, Kevin Antcliff, who has a very thought-provoking site about the effects of Alzheimer’s Disease, which unfortunately took his mother from him. Check it out at http://kevinantcliff.blogspot.com/. Also, Kevin’s lovely wife Becky created the awesome MCS banner on the left side of this page. Thanks, Beck!

Speaking of MCS Magazine, I wanna sey HEY to Muneesh Jain, another colleague there. Munie, you need your own site, too, pal!

An old pal and former coworker, Mickey Kent, found me thanks to the Free Press story of June 24, 2005 and I thank him for saying hi and weighing in. Good to hear from you, Mick!

Billfer over at Detroit Tigers Weblog is another supporter and has plugged “OOB” on his terrific site, which is a sabermatrician’s dream. Check him out at http://www.detroittigersweblog.com/.

I know I am probably leaving some folks out, and if I am, I apologize and will make it up to you with another posting, I promise.

Again, thanks to the above and ALL OF YOU who visit me frequently. It makes it fun to know I’m not writing in a vacuum. In fact, please post a comment or email me at GregorySEno@aol.com so I know who some of you are!! Always up for some more dialogue with you folks!

Most of all, thank you to my wife Sharon, whose love and support encouraged me to pursue my writing career about a year and a half ago. She is the one who loses her husband for hours while I type away. Thanks, babe – I love you!

Don't Worry, Bondy -- You're An All-Star In My Book

So Tigers pitcher Jeremy Bonderman isn't an All-Star, is he? That's fouled up.

No matter -- Bondy is an All-Star as far as I'm concerned. He won't be on the field during pregame intros at Comerica Park next Tuesday, with the other so-called All-Stars, but he should be, and he will -- sooner or later, at someone else's park on some other July evening. I'd be willing to wager he won't have too many more vacations during the mid-season break after this one. The kid is tagged for greatness, I'm telling you.

The best damn non-All-Star pitcher in the game today?


I watched Bonderman, who is still only 22 for goodness sakes, mow down the red hot Cleveland Indians Wednesday night on ESPN for his 11th victory this season, and he had nasty stuff, as usual. He just takes the ball and goes after people -- I like that. I like it a lot. There is nothing but a bulldog mentality coming from this youngster, and you get the feeling he'd just as soon knock your mother down if that's what it took to gain an edge. Hell, he might even knock his own mother down.

Seriously, Bonderman is the best thing to stand on a pitching mound wearing a Tigers uniform since Jack Morris. And Morris' last good season in Detroit was over 15 years ago. It's almost frightening to think what Jeremy Bonderman can accomplish by the time he's 30. And that'll just be the first half of his career.

Bondy's overall ERA of 3.99 doesn't bowl you over, but there's been a couple of real stinkers that have artificially inflated it. Mostly he's been superb, and he has an excellent chance to win 20 games. Winning 20 games as a Tigers pitcher nowadays should qualify someone for Cooperstown, let alone a silly All-Star Game. He's the team's bona fide ace, the man called upon to stop losing streaks and sustain winning ones. A Bonderman start almost feels like a Tigers lock, doesn't it? Oh, how long it's been since we've been able to say that about a Tigers' pitcher.

My first reaction upon finding out Bonderman was left off the AL roster was, frankly, this: $#!&$#. But then I chilled and reminded myself that this may be his last snub for a while, maybe forever. He's that good, and will be even better. But being the game is in Detroit this year, it would have been special for him to make the All-Star squad. Oh well. Bonderman is the only pitcher in baseball with 11 wins and not an All-Star. See? He's already in a class by himself.

The only thing I can think of is that too many folks looked at Jeremy's ERA, which was over 4.00 before Wednesday's start. But this kid can't be measured by frivolous things like an earned run average. His greatness is almost impossible to quantify, because of his tender age, his potential, and his status as the first real homegrown pitching prospect the Tigers have produced since Hal Newhouser. Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating, but not much. The accolades will come, and when they do, it will be like a runaway train -- there'll be no stopping them.

So Jeremy Bonderman isn't allowed in at this year's All-Star Game, and that's okay. It still kinda pisses me off, but this young man is just getting started. Eventually, 2005 will be the answer to a trivia question:

When was the last time Jeremy Bonderman failed to make the All-Star team?

Mark this one in your books, folks.