The Temple of Steinbrenner

Being an out-of-town fan, I don't get to see too many Tiger games in person any more. They are making one trip to New York this year, and to take advantage I sprung for a few seats on Sunday's game. It was my first visit to the "new" Yankee Stadium, or as I like to call it, The Temple of Steinbrenner.

I'd always liked Yankee Stadium, thinking it a great place to see a game, and it is certainly sad to see it go, but like Tiger Stadium and many others throughout the league, they have been sacrificed to the needs of the modern day. The new stadium is certainly a palace, with numerous shops and restaurants, and also with a great sense of history. For the first time, I was there early enough to visit Monument Park, where the greats of the team have been honored in bronze.

I went with my friend Bob, who is a Mets fan but also a baseball fan. We had seats in the upper deck, but between third and home, so had a great view of the field. I don't mind being high up, as long as I'm in foul territory.

The Tigers threw Max Scherzer, and Yankees C.C. Sabathia. Scherzer was never sharp; he ended up walking seven and throwing 119 pitches without getting out of the fifth inning (the first time that had been done since 2004).

But the game remained close. It was 2-1 after Prince Fielder lined a home run in the top of the fourth, and 3-2 after Miguel Cabrera doubled in Brennan Boesch. The Yankees were leaving men on base at a record-setting clip; at one point they left the bases loaded in consecutive innings.

This got my friend Bob in action. Bob is an endless reservoir of curiosity and trivia. Armed with a smartphone, he checked on the major league record for men left on base. Turns out is 20, set by the Yankees themselves in 1956. After the sixth inning, they had 14. Bob and I then were likely the only people in the ball park who were aware of that, and secretly rooted for the Yankees to tie or break the record.

They didn't. They would only leave 15 on base, winning the game 6 to 2. Andruw Jones, amazingly still in the league, added a home run. Curtis Granderson also homered, with Austin Jackson getting his glove on the ball but losing it when the glove hit a railing.

The Tigers, mired in a funk, are now 11-11, certainly not what they anticipated, although they are only a game out of the division lead. It's early, though, and if they can get it together, early in the season is not a bad time to have a slump.

I didn't wear any Tiger gear, so wasn't the victim of any taunting. A few brave souls did, but they received nothing more than good-natured ribbing. In the men's room after the game was over, Frank Sinatra's recording of "New York, New York" reverberated throughout the stadium, as it does after every game. I stood in a long row of men at urinals, all singing, a truly bizarre sight. I couldn't resist joining in.

Home Run Barrage

It's frustrating being an out-of-town fan. I get to see the Tigers play irregularly--usually only when they play the Yankees, or the occasional ESPN or Fox game. Fortunately, when a team is good, they will be on more often, and I had my first chance to see them yesterday against the Red Sox. It made what had been a shitty day a little more tolerable, as they routed the Bosox 10-0.

The slugging started early, with Miguel Cabrera, still sporting evidence of the ball he took off the cheekbone in spring training, smacking his first home run in the first inning. He would add an another, one that needed umpire review, as it somehow went over the fence, came back on the field, and then rolled under the bullpen gate. Cabrera would also make some sparkling plays on defense.

The new arrival, Prince Fielder, had two of his own. One was a long ball to left-center, the second a missile to right that took less than a second to land in the grandstands. The Fox crew came up with a great bit of trivia--the last time the number three and four hitters each had two home runs in one game was July 4, 1968 (Jim Northrup and Norm Cash). Alex Avila added a two-run shot for good measure.

The only discord in the game was when Doug Fister, the capable starter, had to leave in the fourth inning with a strained muscle in his side. He will go on the 15-day DL; let's hope that rest will do the trick. The relief core was more than up to the task, shutting out the Red Sox the whole way, with Duane Below picking up his first-ever Major League victory.

The Tigers are now 2-0, certainly too early to anoint them winners of anything, but if they can keep up the hitting machine attack like they did against Josh Beckett, it figures to be a fun season.

2012 Season Preview

Prince Fielder

Tomorrow the 2012 season kicks off for the Detroit Tigers, with defending A.L. MVP and Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander taking on Boston's John Lester to start a six-game home stand. The opening will be tough, as those six games will be against the Red Sox and Rays, who figure to be in the hunt for the playoffs this year.

From all the reading I've done, the Tigers are prohibitive favorites to win the A.L. Central this year. That perennial doormat Kansas City is picked by many to finish second indicates that the normal competition, the Twins, White Sox, and Indians, are in flux or rebuilding.

Certainly the Tigers seem to have it all, especially as far as pitching and offense. The Tigers have as good a four-man staff in all of baseball, with Verlander, Max Scherzer, Doug Fister, and Rick Porcello. Porcello could be a key, as he has been up and down in his career. This spring, Porcello was 2-0 with a 1.59 E.R.A. As long as he keeps his pitches down, he's effective. Verlander was 2-0 with a 2.03 ERA, and Fister was 4-0 with a 1.86 ERA. Scherzer had the roughest spring, going 1-2 with a 5.76 ERA.

The bullpen is also stacked. Returning are Jose Valverde, who was perfect in save situations last year (at least in the regular season). Joaquin Benoit will be the eighth-inning man, and the Tigers have added Octavio Dotel to pitch the seventh. Once Dotel throws a pitch, it will be for a record 13th team. He's had a sub-2.00 ERA this spring. In long relief will be Phil Coke and Daniel Schlereth.

The question will be with the fifth starter. Right now it will be rookie Drew Smyly, who will get a few starts with Toledo in Triple A before he will be needed later in April. Of course, the Tigers could find someone off the scrap heap, like they did with Brad Penny last year. If they can get a .500 record out of a fifth starter, it should be sufficient.

As far as the lineup goes, it's loaded, especially with the addition of Prince Fielder via free agency. The number 2 though 7 hitters are all dangerous: Brennan Boesch, Miguel Cabrera, Fielder, Delmon Young, Jhonny Peralta, and Alex Avila. The lead-off hitter is Austin Jackson, who is not a prototypical lead-off hitter, in that he strikes out way too much. The Tigers have worked on him this spring in taking more balls and shortening his swing, but if that doesn't work they really don't have any other option.

At least Jackson covers a lot of ground in centerfield. Defense figures to be the Tigers' weakness this year. With the arrival of Fielder, Cabrera has moved to third base. I asked my go-to guy on the Tigers, my dad, how he's been playing, and his answer was "adequate." Many think the experiment won't last, and Cabrera will end up DHing, but hopefully he can block enough balls and drive in enough runs to offset his errors. In the outfield, neither Young or Ryan Raburn are world beaters in left, or Boesch in right. Figure on a lot of high-scoring games this season.

The defense up the middle is better. Avila is a good signal caller, and this year he has a decent backup, as Gerald Laird returns to the team. Laird can't hit a lick, but he's great at throwing out base stealers, and will give Avila much needed days off. Peralta at short is fine, and Ramon Santiago at second (platooning with the multifaceted Raburn) is also reliable at second. As mentioned, Jackson patrols the vast centerfield well.

So, how far will the Tigers go this year? Anything but a division title will be a disappointment, and to exceed last year's effort will require a trip to the World Series. The New York Times picked them to face the Miami Marlins in the Series, which would be fun.

Here are my highly unresearched picks for this year:

AL East: New York Yankees
AL Central: Tigers
AL West: Anaheim Angels
First Wild Card: Texas Rangers
Second Wild Card: Toronto Blue Jays

Play-in: Rangers over Blue Jays
Divisional Round: Tigers over Rangers, Yankees over Angels
Championship Round: Yankees over Tigers

NL East: Miami Marlins
NL Central: Cincinnati Reds
NL West: Arizona Diamondbacks
First Wild Card: Philadelphia Phillies
Second Wild Card: San Francisco Giants

Play-in: Phillies over Giants
Divisional Round: Marlins over Phillies, Diamondbacks over Reds
Championship Round: Diamondbacks over Marlins

World Series: Yankees* over Diamondbacks in five.

*Note: this prediction is made due to the uncanny fact that for the last six times Kentucky won the NCAA basketball championship, going back to 1949, the Yankees have won the World Series. Also, by my picking the Yankees to win, they most certainly will not.

2011-2012 Superlatives

Julie Johnson

Paula Romanchuk

The season for the Princeton Tigers Women's Ice Hockey came to an end last weekend, as they fell to the Harvard Crimson in two games. They played tough, losing 5-3 (the last goal on an empty net) and then in overtime, 4-3, after tying the game with about a minute to go with an extra attacker.

The season had to be considered a disappointment, given that this is the lowest seed the Tigers have been since the ECAC was realigned eleven years ago. But there were some outstanding performance by many players, and they deserve to be recognized. Of course, they will be officially by their team, but a group of fans (actually, it's just me and two other guys) who call ourselves the Baker Rink Irregulars (Sherlock Holmes fans will get the gag) give out our own awards. They are:

MVP: Rachel Weber. Easy call. Weber, who played all but one period in goal this year, had a brilliant season, and was named Ivy League goalie of the year and second-team All ECAC. If it weren't for her steadfastness between the pipes, Princeton many not even have made the playoffs.

Rookie of the Year: Ali Pankowski. A solid blueliner, Pankowski excelled on the power play, and already may have the Tigers' heaviest shot. When she winds and blasts it means a loud bang if the puck hits the boards, and oohs and aahs from the crowd.

Most Unsung: Heather Landry. A senior, Landry is an occasional scorer, but never a dominant presence. This year she had to fill in on the top line when Olivia Mucha went down, and could always be seen working hard.

Most Improved: Kelly Cooke. The diminutive Cooke may be the Tigers' fastest skater. When she arrived as a freshman, I thought she was a star in the making, but could disappear in some games, and hasn't scored as much as I anticipated. This year she re-emerged as a scoring presence, and if you wanted to find her on the ice, all you had to was look for the puck.

Pearce Award: Denna Laing. Named after Kim Pearce, who exemplified playing through pain, this year the award goes to Denna Laing. I read in the local paper that during the week leading up to the playoffs, she was wearing a sling. She ended up scoring twice and getting an assist in the playoffs.

Perfect Attendance: Julie Johnson, Paula Romanchuk, Charissa Stadnyk. These three seniors played their entire four-year careers without missing a game for any reason.

Best Pony-tail: Ali Pankowski. It falls below the bottom of her number on her jersey!

Going Out in Style: Princeton 3, Union 0

From left to right: Danielle DiCesare, Rachel Weber, Paula Romanchuk, Charissa Stadnyk, Julie Johnson, Heather Landry, Anne-Marie Ervin

Barring a series of miracles that would dwarf the "Miracle on Ice" at the 1980 Olympic Games, yesterday was Princeton's last home game of the season. They head into the playoffs as the number seven seed, and thus would only return home if they and the number eight seed, Brown, made it to the finals. Trust me, it won't happen.

But the Tigers ended the regular season with a fine game, and rewarded the large Senior Day crowd. Coach Jeff Kampersal started all six of his seniors in uniform, and each played a role in the victory. Primarily it was goalie Rachel Weber who provided the biggest noise--she stopped 15 saves to get the shutout.

None of the seniors got goals, but they did provide assists to the underclassmen who got them. The first goal was by Sally Butler, who ends the season with the most goals on the team. She was assisted by senior Heather Landry. This goal came after a scoreless first period. The Tiger added a second goal in the period on the power play, and it was two seniors who made perfect passes: Julie Johnson to Paula Romanchuk behind the net, who dished to Ali Pankowski in the slot.

The Tigers added a goal in the third when Denna Laing scored on a power play on feeds from Gabie Figueroa and again Landry.

I had told my friends in the crowd before the game that I thought Weber would get the shutout, and though the dominating Princeton D held Union to 15 shots, some of Weber's saves were cat-like.

During one of the intermissions, the mother of senior Danielle DiCesare had a great idea, and I hope it becomes a senior day tradition. As usual, the team hung the road jerseys of the graduating seniors (including Anne-Marie Elvin, whose career was cut short by concussions but served as the team's manager) on the balcony. Mrs. DiCesare pulled them down and they were worn by the mothers of each of the players. Not only was this a nice family moment, but it enabled us to see who belong to who.

Also as usual, the Tigers held a skate-around after the game for young fans. I'm not young, nor do I skate, but a large crowd headed onto the ice. The kids skated and got autographs, and the adults hobnobbed with parents and players and took photos. Such a lovely way to end the season.

I will not be attending the playoff games in Harvard next weekend. It's an uphill battle; since realignment ten years ago no seed lower than a five has ever won an ECAC quarterfinal. In addition, Princeton has not played well in Harvard for the last few years. But anything can happen. After the end of the season, I'll be back to post a wrap-up.

Just Enough: Princeton 2, RPI 1

Brianne Mahoney

The script looked like the same, grim scenario: Princeton goalie Rachel Weber gave up an early goal, this time 23 seconds into the game, before the notes from the National Anthem had cleared the arena. Already the Tigers were behind the eight-ball; an uphill battle for a team that values goals like pink diamonds.

But the Tigers showed a little resilience, and battled back to tie and then go ahead, winning the game against Rensselaer 2-1. It was an impressive win in some ways, as RPI had everything to play for; their inclusion in the playoffs hanging in the balance, while Princeton is set as the seven-seed. But the Tigers played some smart and vigorous defense, and Weber, after the early misstep, played brilliantly.

I didn't even see the first goal, but I did see the Tigers' two goals. The first, midway through the first period, was by Denna Laing, who recovered a rebound off a slap shot by Brianne Mahoney.

The second and game-winning goal came off the stick of Sally Butler, who was in the right place at the right time, the puck almost falling in front of her as if ordered, and slapped it home.

The Tigers had a lead with more than half a game to play. In the stands we joked that they needed to now kill off a penalty lasting well over 20 minutes. In fact, RPI controlled the action for what seemed an eternity, an almost four-minute forecheck. At one point the puck was loose in the front of the net, Weber was out of position, but two Tiger defenders stood like a phalanx in the crease, and a shot bounced harmlessly off their torsos. After icing the puck, coach Jeff Kampersal was forced to call a timeout just to get his exhausted players off the ice.

With the sterling play of Weber and her blueline protectors, including Mahoney, who shadowed the RPI wings claustrophobically, the Tigers kept RPI off the scoreboard.

No Offense Intended: St. Lawrence 1, Princeton 0

Gabie Figueroa

This is a broken record, one that's been spinning a long time, making the tone-arm bounce for a decade. The Princeton Tigers, being coached by Jeff Kampersal, struggle to score. Through dozens of players, and now a new pair of assistant coaches, the team has always been one that has good goaltending and defense, but to whom goals are like Bigfoot sightings--few and far between.

The latest travesty was against St. Lawrence yesterday. Princeton can get shutout in a variety of ways--this time they almost doubled the Saints shot total, 31-17, yet still lost 1-0. There were several tantalizing moments--Denna Laing missed an open net in the first period, while Corey Stearns and Sally Butler seemed to say, "The hell with this, I'm gonna score come hell or high water," but just couldn't get the puck in the net. There was even a goal waved off, but for unknown reasons. When that happened I turned to my friend and said, "Don't the refs realize we don't get many of these?"

I've never played the game, so I have no real understanding of what this team's problems are. Maybe it's the players--Gretchen Anderson was the last consistent scorer the Tigers had, and she graduated in 2004. But I look at the stats for D-I and see plenty of players with high scoring totals. The Tigers do not have anyone in the top 50 in scoring, a certainty given they now average only 1.96 goals a game. Princeton does not offer scholarships, and they're not a legendary hockey program, so they won't get the best players, but come on!

It's therefore easy to blame the coach, as the story has been the same for several years now. When St. Lawrence scored early in the game--Jessica Hon grabbed her own rebound and lit the lamp--I had a sinking feeling the Tigers would not score. It's not fair to Rachel Weber--by far the Tigers MVP--that she has to pitch a shutout in order to have a chance to win. She would have a spectacular win-loss record on another team, one that can score.

I grew frustrated watching the Tigers' offensive scheme, what there was of it. At some moments, the passing was crisp and effective, but at other times there seemed to be no discipline--players just dumped and chased, seeming to make things up on the fly. At one point four of the five skaters were gathered around a puck frozen against the boards--if it came free, who was the player going to pass to? Kampersal has never believed in one man, one puck--it's like a free-for-all.

At least the defense played well in this game, limiting St. Lawrence to just those 17 shots. I thought Gabie Figueroa had a great game, patrolling the blue line. She seems to have great vision on the ice, and though occasionally a puck will sneak past her out of the zone, she does a nice job. I also admire Ali Pankowski, who has the heaviest shot on the team. In this game, Kampersal employed a different set up on the power play. Instead of two players on the point, he had a sort of "triangle and two," with one player on the point, two at the face-off circles, and two in the slot. Unfortunately, he had Pankowski in close. She should be back on the point, as her shot is the best chance to making it through the crowd. Instead, Kampersal had Charissa Stadnyk back, and her shot isn't blistering enough to make it through.

The regular season winds up next week with two home games. I hope to celebrate a few goals.