Detroit Tigers should bring back classic D on hats; shorter season needed
What, if anything, stands out to you after the first week or so from the Tigers?
It’s beyond dangerous to draw conclusions from one week of baseball. So I’ll offer up only two.
- The baseball season needs to be shortened.
- The D on the Tiger hat needs to be returned to normal as soon as is humanly possible.
That’s all I got.
I know that the season will never be shortened although I thought it was cruel and unusual punishment for the Tigers to schedule a 6:10 p.m. game on Easter Sunday in frigid temperatures to make up for the rainout the day before. Nobody wanted to be there, not the players, not the fans and certainly not the stadium workers. The season is too long. The cold weather is too pervasive. The World Series now ends in November. It will never change. There is too much money to be had. But that doesn’t make it right.
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As for the Tiger hats, I’m angrier now than I was when the new look first came out earlier this year. I can handle the change to the home uniforms (even though I wouldn’t have done it). But the hats now look the they were purchased in bulk at a Mobil station rest stop on I-94. The smaller, classic D was fantastic. Every time I see the new one, I cringe. I honestly believe that this will go down along with the teal Pistons uniforms and the black Lions uniforms as one of the great mistakes in local uniform/logo history. I’m guessing that MLB prohibits changes to a logo midseason — so the Tiger hats need to return to normal by Opening Day 2019. Please. Do the right thing.
Beyond that, it’s borderline impossible to draw anything major from what we’ve seen so far over the first week plus of the season. ESPN comes out with their MLB power polls weekly to measure which teams are rising and falling in the game. Before the season started, the Tigers were 29th in all of baseball, just ahead of the Marlins. After one week of .500 baseball, the Tigers remain 29th in all of baseball, just ahead of the Marlins. In other words, despite three straight wins over the White Sox and four wins in their last five, the powers that be at ESPN aren’t overreacting just yet, and they’re probably right.
I really think the cold temperatures make these games tough to judge. On Sunday, we were treated to a pitching duel between Mike Fiers and Chicago’s Reynaldo Lopez. Fiers had a 5.22 ERA in 2017. Lopez was making his 15th career start spread out over three seasons. You’ll excuse me if I see a game with five hits total between the two teams as not being indicative of great starting pitching. I know it’s hard for pitchers as well and they complain about not being able to properly grip the baseball. But I also see quick at-bats by hitters who are just as anxious to get out of the cold as the fans are. Am I accusing the hitters of not giving it their all? I am not. I am saying that it’s harder to focus when you’re uncomfortable and less focus tends to mean quicker at bats.
Jamie Samuelsen:Tigers' Old English 'D' hat change violates a 'never'
But why dwell on the negative. The Tigers haven’t played their way out of anything yet which it certainly looked like they were going to do after the first three games against the Pirates. Yes, there are a few positive signs in the early going that bear watching as the season unfolds.
First is Joe Jimenez. The Tigers all along felt that Jimenez could be a very good big league pitcher. They just didn't think he was ready last season. Maybe they were right. Both Jordan Zimmermann and James McCann told us on 97.1 The Ticket that Jimenez really stood out to them in spring training and looked ready to take the next step this season. Couple that with the fact that Jiminez has a 0.00 ERA entering play on Monday night and has induced plenty of swing and miss strikes and perhaps the Tigers have a real weapon in the bullpen for the first time since Joaquin Benoit was one of the best setup men in the game (other than that one appearance against David Ortiz in 2013).
Second is the fact that the Tigers have been manufacturing some runs. A hit here. A steal there. Miguel Cabrera drove in a run on Sunday with a sacrifice fly and drove home two on Saturday with a sharp single to right following back-to-back walks. Too often in recent years, the offense stalled out because there was no speed on the bases and we were just waiting for the long ball from Cabrera, Justin Upton or J.D. Martinez. With the legitimate power threats now diminishing from the roster, the Tigers are going to have to find other ways to scratch out runs. So far, they’ve done that.
Nobody expects much from the Tigers this season. A decent start probably isn’t enough to change many minds. But a decent start means that the season remains interesting. A decent week buys another week. Eyes on televisions, ears to the radio. That may not mean much for now. But it’s better than it looked a week ago at this time. And that is, at least, a bit of progress. Despite the small sample size and despite the size of the D on the hat.
Jamie Samuelsen, co-host of the "Jamie and Stoney" show at 6 a.m. weekdays on WXYT-FM (97.1), blogs for freep.com. His opinions do not necessarily reflect those of the Detroit Free Press nor its writers. You can reach him at jamsam22@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter@jamiesamuelsen
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