AGRI Biz

Eleven. That's the Tigers' magic number this morning. With 13 games left and a three-game lead, 11 is really the only number that matters right now. Over the weekend, the Tigers lost twice to the Twins, but more importantly won once. That is all we asked of the team, and that was all that was truly required of it to keep Minnesota at arms' length as the season enters the final two weeks. Detroit ...

The first place Tigers meet the second place Twins at the HHH Metrodome this weekend. It promises to be an exciting and tense three days of baseball for fans of both teams. But did I fall asleep and miss two weeks of the season or what? Detroit Free Press headline: "Tigers-Twins series could determine who wins Central" Is that the football philosophy or what? High school has nine games. Each is really important. ...

A few days ago, Major League Baseball announced its 2010 schedules. Here is Detroit's. For fans of the NFL, a schedule announcement is a pretty big deal. There's 16 games. Each of them seem infinitely valuable. But a 162-game baseball schedule? Eh, not so much. Your league schedule doesn't change much year-to-year. So you check to see where you open the season, when your home opener is set, and what team will be ...

Or: Will the last pitcher in Detroit please turn off the light? It quickly became apparent Tuesday: Jarrod Washburn's season in Detroit may just be over. The Tigers have quickly fallen from too many starting pitchers to just three. In late August, right-handed starter Armando Galarraga had to rest his elbow. He has allowed nine runs in 4-2/3 innings since returning to the team. Next! On Sep. 11, lefty-starter Nate Robertson left the ...

It's like a splinter you just can't get out. For whatever reason, the Detroit News' beat writer Lynn Henning just keeps picking at Curtis Granderson relentlessly. Henning just cannot get over the fact the fan favorite and All-Star center fielder is allowed to have an off-year. And by off-year I mean, he's only the second-most productive position player on the team. Earlier this year, Henning wrote Granderson needs to concentrate more on ...

Last Monday, the Tigers enjoyed a well-deserved Labor Day like many of us: They enjoyed a day off. They had just swept the defending American League champion Tampa Bay Rays for their sixth consecutive victory. The bullpen had performed terrific, while the Tigers batters found timely hitting and pushed the runners home whenever they were in scoring position. Detroit led the AL Central Division by seven games, and the big question for ...

Notable nattering nabob of the Detroit Free Press Drew Sharp recently took a break from his negativity to proclaim Tigers manager Jim Leyland as the easy pick for American League Manager of the Year. When Sharp writes, I instinctively believe exactly the opposite. But maybe he's on to something. Leyland won the award in 2006. In just his first year in Detroit, he guided the Tigers from perennial bottom-feeder to their ...