The 20% Factor

How good is your pitching when 18% of your wins are via the shutout? Is that not an incredible statistic? How good would Nate Robertson's record be if he hadn't been the victim of low run support. I'm going to continue to pound home some facts: 1) the Tigers approach at the plate last night paid dividends ... use that approach more often! 2) pitching and defense wins and that's why the Tigers continue to roll ... they have the best pitching in baseball, not to mention pretty solid defense. 3) a good manager makes a huge difference (as do injuries, chemistry, and all that). Jim Leyland has done a great job, as has his former-manager-heavy coaching staff. But, getting shutouts 18% of the time ... that is PRICELESS! That's a shutout every week. Not bad, dudes!

Verlander will be on the mound tonight. Look out, Angels, he's ready to redeem.

Sean Casey has been a better pick up for the Tigers than Bobby Abreau would have been. Chris Shelton may never play in Detroit again. The Tigers should re-sign Casey and hold on to him. And unless DY hits a walk-off in game seven, he will be playing in Tampa Bay with his bro next year. They might set a record for home runs by a brother combination for the same team.

Zumaya has become a focal point in Detroit, in the national media, etc. He's calm, collected, straight-forward, and handles the pressure like someone a lot older than his 21 years. How great it is that he is a Tiger.

Leave Neifi Perez alone ... he's doing what they asked of him. He's not a .300 hitter like Polanco, but Omar hasn't proved himself ... Neifi is here to help out, but also to push the 23-year old Omar.

Notice how young these Tigers are? Sparky Anderson couldn't have handled the youth on this team. Kids scared him. But these Tigers have so many rookies on the squad and so many youngsters. It's hard to believe that Jeremy Bonderman has been on the team for four years. He's only 23!

The future is bright, so Jimmy Leyland will continue to wear shades!