Andrew Schrauben

For my birthday last month Amanda planned an outing to a Tigers game. Last weekend it finally came to pass as Amanda and I were joined by eight family members to enjoy a perfectly sunny day at the ballpark. I still call it Tiger Stadium even though technically it's Comerica Park; not so much out of protest as much as out of habit. Speaking of which, I miss the old ballpark - I was lucky enough to attend the 4th to last game ever played there. On our way to the new park we drove past the old one:



It's sad how the city of Detroit and the Tigers franchise are allowing this historic stadium to rot away when there are so many folks willing to do what it takes to preserve it as a museum and/or exhibition ballfield. At least Comerica Park is a beautiful place to attend a ballgame and in my opinion underrated among the MLB ballparks.

We arrived early to watch batting practice, however the Tigers were already done by the time we arrived - despite arriving right after the gates opened. It always amazes me how normal ballplayers look - we stood about ten feet away from Joe Mauer as he warmed up and he doesn't seem any more fit than I am. Then you see him (and every other player) throw effortlessly and watch the ball rifle 150 feet and pop into a teammate's glove without having to move an inch. Wow.

Before taking our seats we wandered around the park, ending up among the statues of Tiger greats. We watched a few players warming up before taking our seats.

Our seats were great - upper deck front row along the LF line near the foul pole. It was a great view of not only the field but also the Detroit skyline. Amanda took a couple photos of the first batters before putting away the camera to enjoy the game.

And what a game! Johan Santana has been the best pitcher in all of baseball over the last three years but Mike Maroth matched him. Bottom of the 9th inning Brandon Inge hits a solo HR into the bullpen right in front of us and both the crowd and the Tigers dugout erupted in cheer! ROAR!

Some baseball observations:

• Joe Mauer is amazing with the bat - in BP he would hit the ball on a line in every direction seemingly at will.
• Justin Morneau has wicked bat speed, clearly a step above any other Twins hitter.
• Magglio Ordonez was born to hit - he looks so comfortable at the plate, he makes it look easy. Fielding... no. He was born to DH - he never seemed to read fly balls well and on one play Curtis Granderson had to run all the way from CF to attempt a catch that was ten feet from Ordonez the statue; Granderson missed and Ordonez didn't back him up, forcing Granderson to run after the ball that became a triple.
• Gary Sheffield is over his slump - aside from one pop-up, he hit every ball hard - he had a single that two-hopped to the RF and I swear the ball was never more than five feet off the ground.
• Carlos Guillen is barely a passable SS - not only did he make a few bad throws, but his footwork looked as stiff as some of the 50-year-old guys on my softball team.
• Mike Maroth doesn't throw hard - 88 mph was his max - which made it cruel on the Twins when Joel Zumaya relieved him and started throwing 100 mph.
• Pat Neshek has one of the most unique deliveries you'll ever see - it's not your typical sidearm. Even better, Neshek has his own blog that he started when in the minors.
• Jesse Crain... he gave up that HR to Inge, but I'm surprised that Crain isn't a more dominant pitcher. He had a 94 mph fastball to go with a 74 mph off-speed pitch, a combination that normally is quite deadly.