This is the running W-L record of games I’ve attended in person.

March 31 - Royals 5, Tigers, 4 - Loss
April 23 - Tigers 19, Rangers 6 - Win
May 7 - Tigers 10, Red Sox 9 - Win
May 10 - Yankees 5, Tigers 2 - Loss

Current record: 2-2

Maybe I’m just a glutton for punishment, but I’ll be accompanying my fellow Tiger fans to tonight’s Tigers/Red Sox game.

After last night’s pathetic display of hitting, I’m fully expecting a seven-run outburst. And if it doesn’t happen, I’ll just chalk it up to another night of disappointment, courtesy of your 2008 Detroit Tigers!

See you there.

With apologies to my friend, Steve, with whom I share a 27-game season ticket package, I cannot share his optimism and hold off my tirade until the 54-game mark. I’m having a hard enough time as it is waiting until 40 games, which has been called, by more than one expert, the best barometer for measuring a team in terms of game played.

If the Tigers win the next six games, they’ll be .500 at 40 games, which begs the question: Are the Tigers, a team picked by some to score 1,000 runs and make the World Series on sheer name recognition alone, at best, a .500 team?

The answer is no.

Unfortunately, they’re worse.

As Detroit Free Press columnist, Michael Rosenberg alluded to in today’s column, management is pulling out all the stops to try and turn this team’s fortunes around.

Jim Leyland closed-door eruption? Check.

Cut a proven player who is not producing? Check.

Make a “drastic” change by moving Gary Sheffield down to sixth in the batting order and put him in left field at his bequest? Check.

And the result since the latter two changes is…0-2.

In fact, since Jim Leyland made his latest managerial moves of brilliance, the Tigers have managed 3 runs on eight hits against such stalwart pitchers as Daisuke Matsuzaka, who walked eight batters and still somehow only allowed one run, and Tim Wakefield, who can’t break a pane of glass with his fastball.

In those two games, Sheffield, who, according to him, does not have his head in the game if he isn’t playing the field, is 0 for 4, with 3 walks. The walks are all fine and dandy, but the Tigers aren’t paying him $13 million to not swing the bat. Maybe if he was the leadoff hitter would this be acceptable, but he has killed more rallies than the National Guard this season, and it’s only going to get worse.

Last October, Dave Dombrowski, when asked about Sheffield’s range of motion after shoulder surgery, said “we’re not sure about the throwing”.

Less than two weeks ago, Sheffield couldn’t even cross his arms without wincing in pain.

Now he’s playing the outfield?

There is a very real possibility that Sheffield gets worse as a result of the outfield experiment. And while I would love to see him removed from the lineup, he’s bringing them down every day he’s out roaming the outfield.

I thought Leyland made all the right moves in 2006. But that was two years ago. He needs to stop being so loyal to guys who clearly aren’t as spry as they once were, and make some moves that actually make sense, like making Brandon Inge the full time third baseman. You can complain all you want about his bat, but right now, he makes the team better.

I never thought I’d say that.

Good news: The Tigers have decided to part ways with Jacque Jones. This move comes about two weeks too late.

Bad news. Jack Morris thinks it’s obvious that Justin Verlander’s shoulder is bothering him.

If Verlander is hurt we might as well shut him down. No sense risking long-term injury in a season that is quickly spiraling out of control.

EDIT: I’m now hearing that Gary Sheffield is starting in left. The same Gary Sheffield who said he couldn’t throw, thanks to his bum shoulder.

What the hell is going on!?

Man. Just when I was about to write a response to my “Top Ten Excuses Why the Detroit Tigers Suck”, the Tigers go and…suck.

Seriously - does anybody want to refute my idea to make Brandon Inge our full-time third baseman?

If Jim Leyland is really serious about making the team better — which was the main reason for switching Carlos Guillen to third in the first place — he needs to put Inge at third, because chances are good the Tigers would have won today if Inge was manning the position.

I propose making Guillen the full-time DH, bench Gary Sheffield, and put Inge at third. Inge’s sterling defensive skills more than make up for his shortcomings at the plate. And it’s not like Sheffield is tearing the cover off the ball.

If you want to keep Sheffield in the lineup, move Cabrera to left field, move Guillen back to first, and bench Jacque Jones. This really doesn’t improve the defense (which is the point of this exercise) but it keeps Sheffield in the lineup, which is something Leyland will probably do no matter how poorly he’s hitting.

But defensive switches aside, the Tigers deserved to lose the game. How can you score six runs in the first, and none the rest of the way?

I didn’t watch the entire game, but I watched enough to see quite a few first-pitch swings. It’s as if the Tigers thought their six-run first inning would hold up and intimidate the Twins into giving up.

But when is the last time the Twins looked intimidated? They’re the most annoying team in baseball, and they showed it today. They stole a victory. Plain and simple. And with the AL Central as close as it is (the Tigers really wasted an opportunity this weekend with the White Sox getting swept by the Blue Jays) a win like this could be huge come September.

The Tigers, on the other hand, looked like they wanted to get the hell out of the Metrodome, so they made Boof Bonser throw approximately 27 pitches over the final five innings of his start. I just had an eerie feeling the way this game was going when the Twins cut the lead to 3. My suspicions were confirmed when my friend called to bitch about Guillen’s error. That was the impetus for this post, actually.

Look. At this point in the season, it should be clear to the team that talent alone is not going to win games. I hope today serves as a wake-up call. And judging by the tone of this article on detnews.com, changes might be afoot.

I just hope they’re the right ones.

Before we get into last night’s game, I want to take a moment to acknowledge Detroit’s sports domination last night: Best. Night. Ever?

You would be hard-pressed to remember a night when each of our professional sports team so thoroughly dominated their opponents. If I didn’t know better, I’d think they placed a gentleman’s bet to see who could out-beat up their opponent.

(If we had to choose a winner, the Red Wings won going away.)

But I digress.

***

In 2000, I clearly remember the Tigers winning a game in late August and watching Todd Jones walk off the mound with his index finger pointed skyward.

(No, he wasn’t giving props to the Man Above, like some of the more devoted closers in the game.)

That lone finger, pointed skyward, represented a thought and a goal once deemed to exist only in Tiger fans’ dreams: the .500 mark.

After that 4-3 victory over the Oakland Athletics — thanks to some super clutch hitting by Wendell Magee — the Tigers stayed in the Wild Card hunt for a few weeks, hitting their high water mark of three games over .500 with a 7-5 win over the Anaheim Angels in front of 20,322 fans.

Because Tiger fans were so beat up over losing and losing and losing, one game over mediocrity was as exciting as it got. Looking back, we had good reason - there was no future for this team. But then Dave Dombrowski took over for Randy Smith, and the rest is history.

When the Tigers surged to within a game of .500 with last night’s win over the Yankees, I found myself realizing how lucky we are as fans.

Less than ten years ago, we were excited to be mentioned within the same breath as the Wild Card leader. Expectations were low. When we started winning on a somewhat-regular basis, baseball became fun. Then in 2006, we shocked everyone. That season was probably the most fun I’ve ever had at the ballpark.

Now that we’re the heavy favorites, everything is scrutinized and slow starts cause grown men (like me) to become grumpy. Every fan of every team hates us. We’re practically the Yankees, for crissakes!

While in no way, shape, or form do I wish for the early years of the Naughts to repeat themselves, a little part of me enjoyed the seasons with low expectations.

Less stress, ya know?

Jason Grilli has been traded to the Colorado Rockies for Zachary Simons.

Francisco Cruceta has been called up.

Rejoice.

I will be live blogging tonight’s Tiger game vs. the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

Hopefully it goes better than last time.

Tonight’s probables:
Justin Verlander (1-3, 5.93 ERA) vs. Jered Weaver (1-3, 4.50 ERA)

Top of First - Three up, three down to begin the game. Looks like Verlander’s velocity, at least for this inning, is better than it’s been all season.
Tigers 0, Angels 0

Bottom of First - Weaver matches Verlander’s first inning by retiring the first three batters he faces. I wonder if his brother is in the house tonight?
Tigers 0, Angels 0

Random thought: For as good as Edgar Renteria is, it seems like he always waits an extra beat when he makes the throw to the base.

Bottom of Second - Apparently, you don’t get a warning on Dell laptops when the battery is about to die. Guillen was up with two on and nobody out, but the Tigers didn’t score. Not sure what happened because I was watching Extreme Home Makeover with my wife.
Tigers 0, Angels 0

Bottom of Third - Weaver continues to allow baserunners, and he continues to escape danger - this time by picking off Granderson.
Tigers 0, Angels 0

Top of Fourth - The Angels get the first run of the game on Torii Hunter’s triple off the wall in right. Magglio Ordonez shows us why he will never be considered for a Gold Glove.
Angels 1, Tigers 0

Bottom of Fourth - Weaver gets Guillen looking on a 3-2 count to end a small threat. I’d have to look up the exact number, but I think the Tigers have stranded 33 runners so far.
Angels 1, Tigers 0

Top of Fifth - The Angels grind out another run thanks in small part to a balk by Verlander. That shouldn’t surprise anyone since they lead the league in intangibles which, according to Joe Morgan, cannot be measured.
Angels 2, Tigers 0

Top of Sixth - The Angels score two runs in that inning, but it could have been a lot worse if Verlander doesn’t get out of that jam. and then score two more as Verlander can’t get out of the sixth.
Angels 6, Tigers 0

Bottom of Sixth - I turned the channel to see what tomorrow’s golfing weather looks like (cold and damp), and when I turned back to the game they’re in commercial. I’m just going to assume the Tigers didn’t score a run.
Angels 6, Tigers 0

Top of Seventh - Miner cruises through the top of the seventh to keep the Tigers within striking distance. And by striking distance, of course I mean below the mercy rule. The Tigers will come to bat with the tying run still wearing his catcher’s gear.
Angels 6, Tigers 0

Bottom of Seventh - Coming into this inning, you had to think that if the Tigers were going to do anything in this game, they need to put a couple on the board with Ordonez, Cabrera and Guillen due up. And two runs will force me to stay up for the rest of this game.
Angels 6, Tigers 2

Top of Eighth - Jason Grilli gets the Angels 1-2-3…wait, that can’t be right. *Checks notes* Yep, I guess that is accurate. Jason Grilli gets the Angels 1-2-3 to keep the momentum in the Detroit dugout.
Angels 6, Tigers 2

Bottom of Eighth - So much for that comeback. Tigers go down in order as we head to the ninth. Sheffield does nothing to make me change my mind about what I wrote yesterday.
Angels 6, Tigers 2

Top of Ninth - Angels go down in order as the pilot fires up their team plane. Let’s get this over with so I can go to bed. I have to golf in the morning in a typical Michigan spring day. *sigh*
Angels 6, Tigers 2

Bottom of Ninth - Ordonez reaches base via base on balls and stands there for the rest of the inning.

Final Score: Angels 6, Tigers 2

Good thing the Tigers don’t have any more Sunday Night Baseball games scheduled in the foreseeable future; I don’t know how many more I can take.

When the Tigers traded three-quarters of their farm system for Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis, I was, like many Tiger fans, glad to see Brandon Inge’s full-time career with the team coming to an end.

His 2006 season aside, I thought last year the pitchers really figured out how to pitch to him, and if we had to endure another season of swinging strikeouts, I was going to throw my remote through the television. (His constant whining at Spring Training in regards to being relegated to the bench didn’t help, either.)

But then something strange happened: I changed my mind. And it happened during this afternoon’s game, as a matter of fact.

With Carlos Guillen still nursing a leg injury, and Cabrera playing his now regular position at first base, Inge got the start at third. And it was during two plays that it dawned on me how much sense it makes to make Inge the regular third baseman.

The first play was an in-between hop he fielded cleanly to throw out either Vladimir Guerrero or Torii Hunter (I don’t remember which). And I thought to myself, “Does Guillen make that play so effortlessly, if at all?”

Probably not. I mean, wasn’t it just last year that we were complaining about Guillen’s range and arm strength?

The second play was Inge’s diving attempt to catch the foul ball in the top of the ninth for the final out of the game. Nothing against Guillen, but does anybody think he would have dove like that? Especially with a fragile leg?

Again - probably not.

So the more I thought about it, making Inge the third baseman makes too much sense on a number of levels:

1. Putting Inge at third would allow Guillen to become the everyday designated hitter. Not only does that put less stress on his legs while inserting his bat into the lineup, but I think it vastly improves our defense.

2. Making Guillen the designated hitter gives Jim Leyland a valid reason for taking Gary Sheffield out of the lineup. I know Sheffield is Leyland’s boy and all, but the dude has been downright awful this season. I have yet to see him hit a ball like the Gary of old. It looks like he’s lunging at the plate. (Oh - it’s probably not a good sign when you have to get cortisone shots in both shoulders.)

3. Essentially, you replace Sheffield’s bat with Guillen’s, and put Inge ninth in the lineup. This makes Inge the best ninth hitter in all of baseball. I’m sure of this.

If you really think this through, we’re replacing Gary Sheffield with Brandon Inge. But while it sounds crazy, it’s the best thing the Tigers could do right now. Five months ago I never thought I’d say that, but I’m convinced it’s the best thing for the team.

The Detroit Free Press reports Curtis Granderson is starting and playing centerfield tonight.

Welcome back, Curtis.