#MyCardMonday: Curtis Granderson

Sticking with the same game plan as last week I will pick a player who has been playing well during the playoffs for #MyCardMonday. This week I figured I would showcase one of my favorite former Detroit Tigers, Curtis Granderson. Drafted in 2002 by the Tigers, Granderson made his debut in 2004 and played for them until the off season following the 2009 season. During his time in Detroit Grandy would post a career OPS+ of 114 with a slash line of .272/.344/.484. He was involved in the trade with the Yankees and Diamondback that brought the Tigers Austin Jackson and Max Scherzer. During his 4 seasons as Yankee he would show off his power with 115 home runs. Last season he signed with the New York Mets and has been a huge contributor to them in their World Series push this season.

Grandy has done it all this post season. So far he is 9 for 24 with 3 runs and 7 RBIs. He has also stolen 3 bases for the Mets. Last night he flashed the leather with robbing Chris Coghlan of a home run.

#MYCARDMONDAY

A quick post for #MyCardMonday I thought I would go with someone who is currently playing for a playoff team. I have a trend of going with a relic or an autograph and thought I would switch it up with a gold parallel #/50 from the 2014 Bowman Chrome set. George Springer of the Houston Astros is coming off his second season where he hit .276/.367/.459 with 16 home runs and 41 RBIs this season. Currently the Astros won the AL Wildcard game against the New York Yankees where Springer went 1-4 with a double. Next up the Astros are taking on the Kansas City Royals as of right now (3:51 pm on 10/12) the Astos lead the Royals 5-2. If the Astros can hold on and win the game they will advance to the ALCS.

#MyCardMonday

With the regular season wrapping up this past weekend the Detroit Tigers did end on a high note. They beat the Chicago White Sox 6-0 with only giving up 3 hits, the young guys looked good with their hustle on Sunday, and Miguel Cabrera claimed his 4th batting title in 5 years.

In honor of Miggy winning another batting title I figured I would share another one of his cards for #MyCardMonday. This bat relic comes from the 2013 Topps Tier One set. This is my one and only bat relic that I have of Miggy and thought it was fitting for today.

Even the back of the card is pretty cool talking about Miggy's Triple Crown season of 2012 when he drove in 139 runs. The team had produced 726 runs that season. He drove in 19.15 percent of the runs that year which is the highest for a player whose team made the playoffs that year. He broke Johnny Bench of the Reds 1970 record of 19.10 percent.

#MyCardMonday

Last night Torii Hunter launched his 350th home run of his career and I couldn't think of a better ball player to do a #MyCardMonday then Hunter. Being a Tigers fan I have had a lot of chances to watch him play when he started his career in Minnesota to him playing for the Tigers for two years after he left the Angels and now that he is back with the Twins. Hunter has to be one of the most liked guys in the game. He always plays with a smile and always gives it his all.

In his two years in Detroit he batted .295/.327/.456 with an OPS+ of 115. His defensive had taken a step back from his early years when he won 9 straight gold gloves from 2001-2009. Along with his 9 gold gloves and 350 home runs he has 2,435 and counting hits in his 19 year career. He has been selected to 5 all star games and won two silver sluggers. At the end of his career I believe Hunter will be a borderline Hall of famer. 350 home runs and 9 gold gloves is nothing to go unnoticed on his resume. I would give him the nod if I had the vote.

#MyCardMonday

#MyCardMonday goes out to the 2014 Topps Series 1 Justin Verlander Rookie All-Stars. I love this card and I love the fact that I pulled it out of a box myself. It is really thick card featuring the Topps All-Star Rookie award. JV has battled back to his all star form this year and I thought this would be a fitting card for today.

This time last year Justin Verlander was struggling on the mound and probably was our fifth best pitcher on the team. Now after having core muscle surgery in the off-season and finally making it back to the team healthy he is showing his dominance once again. In his last start he took a no hitter into the 9th before giving up his first. He would finish the inning out with leaving the runner stranded. I really think JV never lost anything after his past 8 starts it was all a matter of dealing with the core muscle injury and getting healthy. With our bullpen in shambles and our starting rotation struggling, JV is one of the bright spots for the team right now. He takes the mound again tomorrow night against Johnny Cueto and the Royals. Should be a good pitching match up with those two on the mound.

#MyCardMonday: Justin Verlander

I have been doing a #MyCardMonday for awhile now and I really never have talk much about the card that I have posted, but more about the player that is featured on the card. Well today the card and the reason why I picked the card goes hand in hand. I will do my best to explain why I picked this card over the other ones I could choose from.

For starters I have a few of different relic cards of Justin Verlander that I could have picked from, but this one was sitting on my kitchen table and its from this years Topps Series. The relics and even the autographs even the set features a feat from the player on the card. In Verlander case it features the 24 wins he posted in his Cy Young/ MVP season of 2011.

Now the second part of why I picked Verlander and the reason why I picked this card is to talk about how much better Verlander has pitched as of late and why wins for pitchers are pretty much a pointless stat.

Verlander last season had one of his worst seasons, but was dealing with a core muscle injury. He started this season on the DL and has only made 11 starts so far this season and has an ERA of 4.11. Now if you look at his last 7 starts he is 1-3 with a 2.85 ERA and a WHIP of 1.01 while only walking 7 batters and striking out 42. Now if you watch Verlander pitch or only look at his starts the record and the rest of his stats do not go together. The Tigers have average 2.71 runs per game during those 7 starts of his and even his win the final score was 2-1. It just goes to show the the number of wins and losses for a pitcher does not tell the whole story on how the pitcher is actually pitching.

#MyCardMonday: Placido Polanco

As a Detroit Tigers fan everyone knows that 2006 was a magical season for the Tigers. To me it was the season that turn the Tigers into one of the worse teams of the decade into a team that showed they could compete. We all know that season was capped with a World Series run. Out of all of the players on that team, Placido Polanco was probably my favorite player out of them all.

Saturday night I was watching the Tigers pregame show and they were talking with Polanco before he was honored during the game. They were celebrating the 10th anniversary of Fiesta Tigres which honors Latin-American ball players. Polanco spent five seasons in Detroit as our second basemen and our number 2 hitter in the lineup. As a hitter I cannot think of anyone who was better then Polanco batting second. He wasn't a power guy, but he could move the runner over and hit for average (.311 as a Tiger) along with getting a walk (.355 OBP). Defensively he was one of the best defenders in the game at second. He posted a career dWAR of 6.8 and won two gold gloves in Detroit. His defensive career is highlight by him setting the record of 144 straight games at second without an error.

In 2009 Polanco would reach free agency and would sign with the Philadelphia Phillies. The Tigers hoped that upcoming prospect Scott Sizemore could hold down second base for them. I thought they should have kept Polanco and have him work with Sizemore at second before letting he have full control. That didn't work out for the Tigers as plan. The Tigers didn't have a second basemen until they traded for Omar Infante in 2012.

#MyCardMonday Thank you Yoenis Cespedes

I guess you could say this is a second part of my last blog post about David Price being traded away from Detroit. I will save my ramblings about why this was for the good of the team, because you can just go back to the last post to read that.

Yoenis Cespedes spent a half season with the Detroit Tigers before he was traded to the New York Mets for two prospects, Mike Fulmer and Luis Cessa. In the half season he spent in Detroit, Cespedes put of some of his best numbers yet as a major leaguer. He posted .293/.323/.506 with 18 home runs and 61 RBIs while having an OPS+ of 126. He was on pace to have his best season yet. I hope he finishes the season out strong for the Mets and maybe from the rumors (he has been telling friends and family that he would like to come back to Detroit) he will re-sign with the Tigers in the off-season. Either way thank you Cespedes for the exciting half season we were able to watch you play.

#MyCardMonday

I figured with today being #MyCardMonday I will pick someone who I personally believes should be the starting third basemen for the National League. I am not trying to take anything away from Todd Frazier, he is having an outstanding season as well. Looking at Arenado stats he is hitting .293/.329/.598 with 24 home runs, league leading 70 RBIs and an OPS + of 135. Throw in the amazing defense at third he has my vote. I am fortunate to watch Jose Iglesias make awesome plays at short for the Tigers and the Rockies get to watch awesome plays at third from Arenado. Either way the National League couldn't go wrong with picking Arenado or Frazier, both are had great first half seasons for their clubs.

Here are some highlights from the season for Arenado.

#MyCardMonday

Detroit Tigers has one of the worst farm system in all of baseball and it has been like that for many seasons. It is really hard to get really excited for a prospect in the Tigers farm system. A couple of years ago we saw a young outfielder named Avisail Garcia making a name for himself. It was the same time that Nick Castellanos was their top prospect. Between the two I was more excited for Garcia. It might be from his nickname "Little Miggy" due to the fact he looks like Miguel Cabrera.

Garcia would be traded during the 2013 season to the White Sox in a three team trade that involve Jose Iglesias coming to Detroit. We got a future gold glove winner and the White Sox got a solid corner outfielder. Really happy to see Garcia doing well even though it is for the team I despise the most. So far this year he is hitting .278/.327/.392 with 7 home runs and 30 RBIs. Defensively he has 9 outfield assists with only 1 error. The highlight play from the season for Garcia came this weekend against the Orioles.

#MyCardMonday

This week I am keeping the same trend for the past two weeks, a N.L. pitcher who has the ability to throw a no hitter every time he steps on the rubber.

Looking at Clayton Kershaw's numbers this year without knowing it was his numbers, but another pitcher in the majors you would think he is having a good year. ERA of 3.20 ERA+ of 116 leading the N.L. in strikeouts with 140 and a WHIP of 1.036. In reality for Kershaw his numbers are down this season. His career ERA is 2.53 and the ERA + 149, now his strikeout per 9 is up one whole strikeout this year compared to last year at 11.8. I would expect him to get back to the Kershaw of old and be that dominating pitcher that he has been. I just like looking at his numbers that are actually good numbers for anyone other then a handful of pitchers in the major league. Just goes to show how good Kershaw has been in his career.

#MyCardMonday

In the Ramones song "Judy is a Punk" they have a line that goes "second verse same as the first" well this post fits that song lyric. Last week I wrote about Max Schrezer great outing of pitching a 1 hit complete game shut out while striking out 16 batters. Schrezer was up to it again on Saturday against the Pittsburg Pirates.

Last year watching Schrezer pitch for the Detroit Tigers, I remember my dad always telling me that "Schrezer is do! He is going to throw a no hitter!" Well unfortunately for the Tigers he never did in while wearing the Old English D. On Saturday though, Max was perfect through 26 batters. Then Jose Tabata of the Pirates step into the batters box and got a 2-2 count on him. Schrezer would try to go inside on him and when he did Tabata did nothing to get out of the way except to drop his elbow to get him by the pitch. It is almost as bad as trying to bunt during a no hitter. Either way though Max would get the next batter to fly out and get his first no hitter of his career. He struck out 10 on the day and just looked dominating. Congrats Max Schrezer on your first no hitter.

 

#MyCardMonday

Another Monday another #MyCardMonday post. Flipping through my cards yesterday trying to decide what card I want to use for today's post I stumble across this  Magglio Ordonez relic card. I made a trade with the Snorting Bull while I was visiting him last August and once I came home I had filed this card away and somewhat forgot about it. It is a really cool card with having part of the letter "E" I believe for the relic.

Magglio Ordonez has been one of my all time favorite Detroit Tigers. He signed with the Tigers in 2005 after he left the Chicago White Sox for free agency. He was part of the new look for the Tigers after the dreadful 2003 season. He would play a total of seven seasons while wearing the Old English D,  Five of the seasons he would hit over .300 including the 2007 season when he won a batting title while hitting .363. Injuries slowed him down his final two years before he decided to call it quits, but he fun to watch at the plate while he was healthy and we cannot forgot the memorable walk-off home run in the 2006 playoffs.

#MyCardMonday

For the past couple seasons the Detroit Tigers have had Alex Avila as their starting catcher. Avila is best known for his work behind the plate, but has struggled offensively. This season James McCann beat out Bryan Holaday as Avila's back up catcher. Once Avila went down with another injury McCann claimed the starting role.

McCann has been best known for his offensive over his defense. Well he has shown that he is a pretty good defensive catcher so far this season. He has gunned down 9 base runners so far on the short seasons. Offensively he hitting .278/.313/.407 with 2 home runs and 12 RBIs. While his numbers might not be huge they are big upgrade so far over Avila.

#MyCardMonday

I should have done this post a week or so ago, but I am just not getting around to it. This year for the Detroit Tigers we are seeing some new familiar faces broadcasting the games with Mario Impemba. Former Detroit Tigers greats, Jack Morris and Kirk Gibson are splitting time with Rod Allen to broadcast the games. A week or so ago we found that unfortunately Kirk Gibson has been diagnosed with Parkinson.

Gibby was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in 1978 and played his first 9 seasons for the Tigers and then his final 3 years in the majors, including the 1984 World Series team. He is Michigan native from Pontiac. He was a solid outfielder who never made an All-Star team during his career, but he is best remembered for his walk-off home run in the 1988 World Series where he was a pinch hitter who could barely walk to the plate. He did win the MVP that season while playing for the Dodgers.

This is my favorite moment from Gibby's career. This was before I was born, but watching the highlights from the 1984 team this was great. Goose Gossage thought he could strike-out Gibby and you had Sparky yelling from the bench "He don't wanna walk you!"

I wish Kirk Gibson the best fighting Parkinson disease.

#MyCardMonday

Over the past couple years it seems that if you are a young pitcher with a lot of promise you there is a high probability that you could have Tommy John surgery and be out of commission for a year. Well, the Arizona Diamondbacks' young rookie pitcher, Archie Bradley last week went on the disable list with a different injury. In a scary incident he took a line drive off of the face from the Colorado Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez. He suffered a right sinus fracture and was placed on the 15 day DL and is hoping to be able to get back to throwing this week.

I somewhat have followed Bradley the past few seasons after getting this card. I was hoping he would have made the majors last year, but again to an injury his season was cut short. He did make the team this year and looked really good early on in the young season. For #mycardmonday I thought I would wish Bradley a quick recovery and I hope he has good long career!

The jury is still out on Harper

A late post for #mycardmonday is better then no post at all. It was a busy day at work for me and with the Red Wings in a good hockey game (unfortunately they lost) I am just now getting to the post.

Back in 2012 the baseball community saw two big name player make their rookie debuts. One really made his name when he came up to the majors (that being Mike Trout) and the other having a bunch of hype even before he was drafted. The latter of the two being Bryce Harper. Over the next three seasons I am unsure of what I think of Harper. He has put together a good OPS+ of 123 over his short career, but only has a career high of 22 home runs and 59 RBIs, both of which came in his rookie season. For as much hype he has received since he came up I would think he should be hitting at 30+ home runs and drive in over 100 RBIs a year. Why I am still on the fence to believe the hype is because he is still young, only 22 year of age. Maybe he will start to produce as he starts to age and mature a bit. Only time will tell.

This video is Cole Hamels "welcoming" Harper to the majors. He threw at him and Harper got his revenge by stealing home. I would be lying if I did told you that I didn't love this. To me this shows me that Harper goes all out. I love that he didn't charge the mound, but decide to show up Hamels by stealing home. I know stunts like this and him running full speed into the outfield fence and injuring himself has caused him some flack from people, but I would love to see some play this hard more often then someone ease up, because of being afraid to piss off a veteran guy or a possible injury. What Harper needs to lay off of is being such a "bro" on and off the field.

I would love to see Harper live up the hype he was given before he was drafted. He does need to mature on and off the field and maybe he will be that 30+ home run guy with 100 RBIs driven in each year, but only time will tell what he will do.

#MyCardMonday

As a Detroit Tigers fan I will say I am extremely lucky to watch a player who should go down in history as one of the all time greatest hitters to play the game that we all love so much. That player being Miguel Cabrera.

For #mycardmonday I thought I would honor Miggy today. It is truly a pleasure to see him play almost every night in the Old English D uniform. Even with injuries that was dealing last year he still managed to play 159 games. He did have a down year offensively, but a down year for Miggy he still hit .313/.371/.524 with 25 home runs and 109 RBIs. Oh and lets not forget he did lead the league with 52 doubles all while dealing with bone spurs. As of right now he is 8 home runs shy of 400 for his career so it shouldn't be much longer and I will being doing another post about him reaching that milestone.

Once Miggy decides it is time to hang up the cleats, it will only be a few years before he should be immortalized in the Baseball Hall of Fame. It is really something to watch this guy play for my Detroit Tigers.

#MyCardMonday

After missing last Monday I thought I would do a card that is something other then baseball for #MyCardMonday. Today I will show off one of my favorite hockey players of all time, Bob Probert.

Probert was one of the most feared guys to ever lace up the skates. He was known for his fists and protecting his teammates. When he was with the Red Wings he had a motto if you went after Steve Yzerman, the captain of the Wings, you better watch your back.

Kevin Maguire learned the hard way in this video. It might be a cheap shot, but Probert was going to get his message across one way or another. Nobody was going to lay a hand on his captain and go unmarked.

You know you are a legend when a hardcore band, Grimlock, writes a song about you. Here is the song "24" by Grimlock along with the highlights of Probert's career. RIP Bob Probert.

#MyCardMonday

I'm just like everyone else and loves to get a good autograph or relic card. I know when I look on EBay or wherever to buy cards I tend to look for one of those. I know that is only one end of the perspective in collecting. For #mycardmonday I thought I would show off my favorite non autograph or relic card.

A 2014 Topps Acetate of the Tampa Bay Rays Desmond Jennings. I am a fan of Jennings who plays a good centerfield for one of my more favorite teams. I know the acetate cards have been around for awhile, but this is the first one that I have picked up. It is a low numbered card with there only being /10.

Here is what the back of the card looks like. Just a reversed image of the front. Even the back of the card is pretty cool. All in all a cool card to have in my growing collection.