So how will the Tigers do now that they're expected to do well?

I'm guessing they shatter Comerica attendance records this season.

So they start at home with the Blue Jays in 8 days. So far this spring the Jays have been around .500 with crappy hitting and very strong pitching. If they come into Detroit and take 2 or 3, do you think fair-weather Tigers fans panic even though it's one series? What if the Tigers sweep? Do fans quickly forget about the long haul of 162 games and predict 120 wins?

It's only the first series, but I cannot wait!

The only thing that concerns me about Toronto is that 1-2 punch of Rance Mulliniks and Ernie Whitt.

j/k I'm excited, too.

8 days? Damn I bet its easy to be a baseball fan when they play every day and only get a two week winter break.

I'm very excited too. Hopefully they don't go backwards this year now that they have expectations.

http://detroit.tigers.mlb.com/mlb/images/events/opening_day/y2007/hdr_595_mlb.gif

Detroit (0-0) vs. Toronto (0-0), Monday, 1:05 p.m. ET

After their first World Series appearance in 22 years, the Detroit Tigers appear ready to make a run at another.

The defending American League champions begin that quest Monday when they open the season at home against Roy Halladay and the Toronto Blue Jays.

Detroit finished the 2006 season 95-67 to claim the AL wild card, and eliminated the New York Yankees and Oakland in the postseason to advance to their first World Series since winning it in 1984. The Tigers lost in five games to St. Louis, but still completed an impressive turnaround from a 71-91 record in 2005, and a club-worst 43-119 mark in 2003.

"It's a good time to be a Tiger," said manager Jim Leyland, who will attempt to lead the team to its first consecutive playoff appearances since 1934-35. "We're a team that's talked about. We've got some respect, obviously.

"I like the fact that people are expecting us to do something. I've gone to too many spring trainings where everybody said, 'Well, you've got no chance.' I don't know how we're going to do, but this is good pressure."

The offseason addition of Gary Sheffield could improve Detroit's offense from a season ago. The 19-year veteran, a .297 lifetime hitter with 455 home runs, is slated to be the team's designated hitter after spending the last three seasons with the Yankees playing mostly right field.

The 38-year-old Sheffield is expected to prevent a repeat of last year's World Series, when Detroit only managed to bat .199 and score 11 runs. He also rejoins Leyland and team president Dave Dombrowski, his manager and general manager in 1997, when he manned right field for the World Series champion Florida Marlins.

"When you have the track record he's got, you fit in anywhere," Leyland said of Sheffield. "He's a real interesting guy, and he's one of the best guys I've ever had in the clubhouse.

"Gary speaks his mind, and I have no problem with that. He doesn't have a vicious bone in his body. Not one. I love him."

After acquiring Sheffield in a four-player trade with New York, the Tigers promptly signed him to a $28 million contract extension through 2009. He is coming off a subpar season, as a wrist injury limited him to 39 regular-season games in 2006. He hit .298 with six homers and 25 RBIs in the limited action, then went 1-for-12 in the division series against Detroit.

Sheffield wasn't the only one struggling against a Tigers pitching staff that led the majors with a 3.84 ERA and 16 shutouts.

However, 42-year-old left-hander Kenny Rogers, who went 17-8 with a 3.84 ERA in 2006, is expected to be out until at least the All-Star break after undergoing surgery Friday to remove a blood clot from his left shoulder and repair arteries.

With Rogers sidelined, Jeremy Bonderman gets the ball Monday.

Bonderman is coming off the best season of his four-year career, going 14-8 with a 4.08 ERA and finishing second in the AL with 202 strikeouts. This year, the right-hander is adding a changeup to his repertoire to complement his fastball and slider.

"I feel very confident about it," said Bonderman, who went 1-0 with a 1.50 ERA and 10 strikeouts in two starts against Toronto last season.

Halladay is making his fifth consecutive opening-day start for Toronto. The right-hander went 16-5 with a 3.19 ERA in 32 starts last season, and finished third in AL Cy Young award voting behind Minnesota ace Johan Santana.

"He's one of the premier pitchers in baseball," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons told the team's official Web site. "He's arguably the best. If not, he's in the top three. He's going to give you a chance to win usually every night he goes out there. Aside from that, he's the cornerstone and the leader of our pitching staff."

Toronto strengthened its offense over the winter by signing free-agent designated hitter Frank Thomas to a two-year, $18.1 million deal. The 38-year-old veteran came back from two injury-plagued seasons to have 39 home runs and 114 RBIs last year, helping Oakland to an AL West title.

He is expected to bat cleanup between center fielder Vernon Wells and third baseman Troy Glaus, who led the Blue Jays with 38 homers last season.

"We should be a very good offensive club," Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi said. "I like the way our lineup is built from top to bottom. I think it puts us on par with the Yankees and the Red Sox."

The team finished last season with an 87-75 record and came in second in the AL East, one game ahead of Boston and 10 behind New York. It was Toronto's highest finish since 1993, when it won the division and its second straight World Series title.

Detroit and Toronto split six meetings last season.



Pitching matchup
TOR: RHP Roy Halladay
• 16-5, 3.19 ERA in 2006
• Did not face DET in 2006
• 10-2, 1.85 lifetime vs. DET

DET: RHP Jeremy Bonderman
• 14-8, 4.08 in 2006
• 1-0, 1.50 in 2006 vs. TOR
• 2-1, 3.27 lifetime vs. TOR


Batting Order
1. Curtis Granderson, CF:
If his shorter swing, all-fields approach and more aggressive baserunning from the spring stick, Granderson could be the most improved player on the team.

2. Placido Polanco, 2B:
The prototypical No. 2 hitter returns to his usual spot after falling just shy of a .300 season in his first full year in Detroit. His ability to put the ball in play and move runners is unmatched on this team, but he showed in the playoffs that he can be a run producer, too.

3. Gary Sheffield, DH:
The Tigers traded for Sheffield two weeks after the World Series to provide that feared bat they lacked in the middle of the order. His quick swing appears to be unharmed after missing most of last year with a broken wrist.

4. Magglio Ordonez, RF:
The quiet 100-RBI man became a Motown hero with his walk-off homer in the ALCS. Ironically, he's not really a feared slugger anymore, but he's a clutch hitter with runners in scoring position.

5. Carlos Guillen, SS:
The Tigers' best all-around player in 2006 will again back his buddy Ordonez in the lineup. He's not a slugger, but he's a proven extra-base hitter armed with a new contract that will take him through 2011.

6. Ivan Rodriguez, C:
Rodriguez will likely bounce around the lineup this season, batting leadoff against left-handed starters and elsewhere versus righties. He has matured into his mid-30s as a .300 hitter with doubles power and deceptive speed.

7. Sean Casey, 1B:
One of the Tigers' best hitters during the World Series, Casey has the potential for a .300 average once he becomes more familiar with AL pitchers.

8. Craig Monroe, LF:
The Tigers' home run leader in 2006 is back near the bottom of the order in '07. He's hoping that less of a feast-or-famine approach will result in better at-bats and more hits for him, even if it sacrifices some power.

9. Brandon Inge, 3B:
Only Monroe hit more home runs on the Tigers last year than Inge, who batted .290 with less power after the All-Star break. A high-average full season is likely out of the question, but he could be an emerging two-way player.

Craig Monroe's pulled back two homers. 3-3 in the 7th.

It only took me one inning to remember how much I dislike Jim Price.

Great play by Guillen!

Woah.

Cleveland's beating up on the White Sox 9-2. And it's only the third fucking inning. Unreal.

Contreras got rocked, lol.

8 ernies in 1.0 IP

Damn. I get back from class to listen to a big inning from the Jays in the top of the tenth.

Rally Gum Time

Fucking Rodney.

We shouldn't have had such a difficult time stopping the Jays offense.

However, scoring 3 against their pitching today isn't anything to be upset about. Keep in mind that of the last 159 games Roy Halladay has started, he's been charged with 37 losses.

The Tigers looked like the team of two years ago in a lot of instances. I hope that the players got chewed out. There was a badly misplayed ball in the outfield, a missed chance to throw out a runner at first, way too many walks, and a few other plays where the Tigers just looked either lazy or bad. I'm hoping that this loss will snap them out of it. I still think that this team will make it back to the World Series.

Yeah, I don't think we can be upset about losing in extra innings. The Jays are a tough team, Halladay's a stud and their lineup's pretty fucking good. I want to win them all but even if we have an amazing year, we're going to lose 60 of these things.

You can pretty much throw this series out the window if you're looking for tell tale signs as to how the Tigers season is going to progress

Game 1: you went up against Former Cy Young winner Roy Halladay on Opening Day as if facing him wasnt enough you have to extraneous opening day crap and jitters

Game 2 & 3: Weather Weather Weather.....if it gets cold windy hell even snow.....chuck it this series wont give you anything

My boss caught a foul ball of Sheffield in the 10th.

The Tigers looked like the team of two years ago in a lot of instances. I hope that the players got chewed out. There was a badly misplayed ball in the outfield, a missed chance to throw out a runner at first, way too many walks, and a few other plays where the Tigers just looked either lazy or bad. I'm hoping that this loss will snap them out of it. I still think that this team will make it back to the World Series.

uhhh... 162...

Fireball Burnett is on the bump today

Nate better bring the stuff if the Tigers want to keep up to the potent Toronto lineup

That's more like it.

Holy shit, I looked away for a few minutes and they put up a snowman!

Much better.

Question of the day: who will have a batting average first: Inge or Monroe?

gggggrrrrrrrrrrrowwwwwwwwwwwwwwlllllllllllllllllll lll!

Maggs should've gotten that.

10-6, one out, top of the 8th, good job Grilli.

Get Grilli the fuck outta there.

He's the bullpen's weakest link IMO.

Can we play Sheff in RF?

Maggs has been horrible this inning.

Jesus Christ.

F. Rodney.

Fucking Rodney.


(Let's see how many games in a row I can say that)

Glad that inning's over.

Scoring 10 runs and leaving 25 men on base is insane.

Casey has 7 LOB himself, Inge has 6.

Between Casey, Monroe and Inge they have 21 runners LOB.

C'mon Rollercoaster, just finish this debocle.

I like the way the radio guys were talking about how classy Granderson was by not coming home on the passed ball when it was 10-2. SCREW THAT! This game proves that until you're winning 25-0 in the 8th inning, you ALWAYS take the extra run. Forget the unwritten rule there.

LOL. Grilli ERA: 27.00. Rodney is over 20 as well.

And we hold on.

First win of the season.

Game called on account of cold.

Damn.....this killed my afternoon. I was all geared up to zone out at my desk with the game on.

Game called on account of cold.

Was this posted by Beaver Cleaver?

I guess this thread will have to hybernate until September.