Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you your Detroit Turtles!

[moochman]

What the heck is it with .500 that makes the Tigers turtle? An embarassing lack of effort in last night game against a slumping Giant team and a struggling Schmidt, who was throwing his fastball at a Marothian 89 MPH to an pedestrian 92.

I don't think that Schmidt beat the Turtles as much as they once again saw a chance to start to win and their heads immediately retracted into it's shells.

And when Alou proves that there are a lot of bad managers out there by leaving Schmidt in long enogh to load the bases, did he not have anyone ready to go in the 9th???, The Trutles 5, 6 & 7 hitters strike out to Todd Walker???? Puh-leez!

I am starting to wonder if Tram will be canned not for his idiotic decisions, but becuase he can't get this team climb above .500.

The Turtles won't have the Pistons to hide behind soon and if they can't put together a win streak people are going to go to the beach instead of the ballpark. Thank you, I'm done venting for now.

[cmchampa2]

It does seem that the Tigers have had trouble climbing over .500 even when they've had little trouble getting near it. I can't believe the problem would be a lack of effort or heart considering some of the guys on the roster.

I may be in the minority, but I hope Tram never gets let go because of not getting his team motivated. I've always thought that was the biggest load of crap reasoning for firing a manager.

Go Tigers.

[moochman]

I may be in the minority, but I hope Tram never gets let go because of not getting his team motivated. I've always thought that was the biggest load of crap reasoning for firing a manager.

Go Tigers.

You may feel it's a load, but dumping the manager to motivate the team is time tested. Even this season all you have to do is look at the Royals. Do they suddenly have better talent? No, just a new manager.
Maybe a team has to prove itself to a new guy and in doing so play a little more focused. Whatever it is, it seems to work many more times than not.
And Tram isn't doing anything spectacular as a manager. He has the division's highest payroll, I believe, and is leading them to a 4th place standing. Hmm.

[mcqfesijiba]

Just to give a little different perspective. I look at the guys we play right now and I see a lot of the same team as last year. Some guys have improved (Bonderman, Inge, Johnson) while others have disappointed (Pena, Infante, Guillen's health).

Last year at the All-Star Break, we were 42-45 (87 GP). This year a few weeks or so before the All-Star Break, we are 32-33 (65 GP). It's very possible this team could have an improved record going into the break this year.

Pitching has been vastly improved this year, but the offense has declined, particularly in the past 1 1/2 - 2 months. We can only hope that our pitching can continue to keep us in games, and that Carlos Guillen and Magglio Ordonez can find their way into the lineup regularly in the 2nd half to give the stuttering offense a boost. With those two, we no longer have to start a AA level rookie and we gain two players who don't K like crazy, particularly Ordonez.

[cmchampa2]

I may be in the minority, but I hope Tram never gets let go because of not getting his team motivated. I've always thought that was the biggest load of crap reasoning for firing a manager.

Go Tigers.

You may feel it's a load, but dumping the manager to motivate the team is time tested. Even this season all you have to do is look at the Royals. Do they suddenly have better talent? No, just a new manager.
Maybe a team has to prove itself to a new guy and in doing so play a little more focused. Whatever it is, it seems to work many more times than not.

I'll buy that it often works, I just can't stand the fact that a manager gets fired and then the same group of guys suddenly play better. PLAY HARD NOW! PLAY TO WIN!

Tram is not costing the Tigers wins (though some of his moves have been questionable). The team is doing pretty well and hopefully healing up. Everybody thought Higgy was washed up, and Tram hasn't played him. Infante couldn't handle the leadoff gig and Tram quickly inserted Inge and Logan and both have been great. Bonderman was a very young guy to throw out there on opening day but Tram did just that and it turned out great.

I'd just hate to see a good manager let go because some statheads think they should be 36-30 instead of 33-33.