2012 World Series: San Francisco Giants vs Detroit Tigers

Well I managed to get something right in my pre-postseason picks. The San Francisco Giants will play against the Detroit Tigers. This is the first time the two clubs have ever met in a World Series, which is odd enough knowing the long history of both clubs. The San Francisco Giants originally established in 1883 when they were in New York as the New York Gothams for two years. Then changed the name to the Giants becoming the New York Giants from 1885-1957. The team moved to San Francisco along with their inner-city rival the Brooklyn Dodgers to California. The Giants have been in San Francisco since 1958. The Detroit Tigers were established in 1894. They have been in the American League since 1901 to the present day.

Here’s some more stats for the two clubs to water your senses:

Both clubs combined for 10 World Series titles. Giants (1905, 1921, 1922, 1933, 1954, 2010) and the Tigers (1935, 1945, 1968, 1984).

Both clubs combined for 33 pennants for their respected leagues.

The Giants (1888, 1889, 1904, 1905, 1911, 1912, 1913, 1917, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1933, 1936, 1937, 1951, 1954, 1962, 1989, 2002, 2010, 2012).

The Tigers (1907, 1908, 1909, 1934, 1935, 1940, 1945, 1968, 1984, 2006, 2012).

In terms of picking a winner I’m still standing by my original pick of the Tigers winning the series in 7 games. Two games will be in San Francisco due to the National League winning the All-Star Game this past July (yeah I kind of forgot since that time too…). There’s a good chance if Justin Verlander starts in one of those two games the Tigers will win one of those games. Then three games will go to Detroit, and then the final 2 games (if necessary) will be back in San Francisco.

The pitching match ups have not been set for game 1 yet but one can perhaps feel that Verlander will start game 1. The Giants starter could certainly be Barry Zito, who started for game 5 of the NLCS which was last friday, for game 1.

In terms of match ups between the various areas of the two clubs (i.e. hitting, starting pitching, base running, bullpen, managing, fielding) the two teams are very much alike. Perhaps too much alike. It really could be one of the best World Series match ups in the last 5 years… okay last year’s World Series was probably the best one in the last 5 years too. Here’s a breakdown:

Hitting:

San Francisco: .269 batting average (3rd in National League), 718 runs (6th in National League), 103 home-runs (15th in National League)

Detroit: .268 batting average (3rd in the American League), 726 runs (6th in American League), 163 home-runs (10th in American League

Edge: Detroit. Despite the .001 difference in batting average, the Tigers offense has scored more runs and hit more homers than the Giants.

Pitching (in the 2012 regular season):

San Francisco: 5 complete games, 14, shutouts, 3.68 team ERA (4th in National League), 1,237 strikeouts, .248 against batting average.

Detroit: 9 complete games, 8 shutouts, 3.75 ERA (3rd in American League), 1,318 strikeouts, with a .256 against batting average.

Edge: San Francisco. This one was pretty difficult to take. The Giants pitching has a better ERA and against batting average. The Giants get a nod, but very close to saying the Tigers.

Fielding:

San Francisco: 115 errors, 4,353 putouts, 1,639 assists

Detroit: 99 errors, 4,292 putouts, 1,481 assists

Edge: Detroit. 

Baserunning:

San Francisco: 118 stolen bases

Detroit: 59 stolen bases

Edge: San Francisco.

Managing: 

Bruce Bochy (San Francisco Giants): has taken the San Diego Padres to the World Series in 1998, lost to the Yankees. Won the World Series with the San Francisco Giants in 2010. 3rd trip to the World Series for him. Won 1,454 games and lost 1,444 games in 18 years, .502 winning percentage.

Jim Leyland (Detroit Tigers): Won a World Series with the Florida Marlins in 1997, and took the Detroit Tigers to a World Series in 2006 but lost to the Cardinals. Another trip to the World Series for him with this tigers team. Won 1,676 games and lost 1,659 games with a .503 winning percentage in 21 years as a manger.

Edge: Detroit. 

So I have the Detroit Tigers in 7 games. It looks like a good match up and both teams will fight for every out in the series. Exciting time of year for a baseball fan. Enjoy the series and best of luck to both teams.

How to fix the New York Yankees?

How to fix the New York Yankees:

Well some of you are thinking “Tom why should you give a crap about your rival that hates you as much as you hate them?” Well this is indeed true, I do hate the Yankees, probably my most deepest hatred in sports. My hatred towards the Yankees can certainly be compared to Manchester United, Los Angeles Lakers, and the Dallas Cowboys, but the Yankees have the top seat on my hate list. But why would I do a column on them if I hate them so much. Well this is the reason. There is an old adage that you should “Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies even closer.”

The Yankees like my Red Sox have had horrible years that can only be disappointing in that we didn’t win a World Series title. Baseball is certainly a game of numbers, wins, careers, but if you don’t win the World Series then you have a disappointing season. Like the Bronx Bombers my Red Sox had a disappointing in that our players had lackluster performances, have huge payrolls, and still come up short in getting to the World Series, let alone the postseason (points to the Red Sox). To buy world series titles can certainly get you into the postseason, but much more is needed to get a title. Luck, team chemistry, everyone doing their job and talent. The Yankees had the talent and certainly the luck and team chemistry but the 25 men the Yankees had on their roster didn’t do their job. Take game 4 of the ALCS for example. Here’s some stats to salivate your taste buds:

Yankees hitting was 2 for 30 in game 4. That’s .067 for team batting average for the game. Ouch.

Out of those two hits 1 of them was an RBI for Nick Swisher (certainly he did his job to bring in a runner) before that Eduardo Nunez hit for a triple (he did his job as well to get on base).

30 times the Yankees went up to bat, 12 of them were strikeouts.

CC Sabathia was the starter for the Yankees. He worked for 3 2/3 innings allowed 2 homers, 11 hits, 5 earned runs, and only struck out 2 Tigers batters. Starting pitching didn’t do their job.

The Yankees used 5 relievers for game 4. Only allowing 2 runs both of them home runs and only struck out 1 batter. A decent performance for the Yankees.

Now how to fix the Yankees after using this example of a performance by the Yanks in game 4 in the ALCS. I’ll pretend to be the Steinbrenner’s.

1. Find someway to dump Alex Rodriguez’s contract. Find some way to trade him, Only good news for Yankees next season is that A-Rod will make 28 million for 2013, one million less than this season. Certainly only a big market team can afford a contract like his. Miami is certainly a choice, both of the Los Angeles teams can be contenders. Another case is that the Yankees won’t trade him next season. The Yanks drove themselves into a ditch with this horrid contract. The contract will be up in 2017 when he turns 41. I will find someway to trade him.

2. Keep Cano, Swisher, Texeira, Ibanez, Nunez and start over with bringing up new younger Yankees from the farm system. If people say that our farm system is the best in baseball then let’s give these young bats and arms a shot. We need to get younger and each injury that our big contracts get hurts us financially and hurts our chances to get a title. Jeter, Pettite, Cano are just examples of our farm system that we brought up.

3. Fire Brian Cashman. The guy has brought us a world championship in the last 11 years yes. But his hits and misses have been few and many. He failed to get us Cliff Lee, Albert Pujols, etc. If we’re a world class organization we expect nothing but the best for our general manager to get us players.

4. Keep Joe Girardi. The guy certainly has tried his best to get us back to a World Series and this has been a disappointment. Not benching Alex Rodriguez sooner in the postseason does hurt him quite a bit in keeping him. To see this club find ways to win a division title and get this far into the postseason despite the injuries. The season ending injury to Mariano Rivera is just an example.

Bring on the tabloids!

Okay now back to being Tom. Screw the Yankees, you made fun of us Red Sox fans the entire season and laughed at us. Now who’s laughing? Getting to the postseason 3 times and fail to get to the World Series is such a great accomplishment. Seriously.

Okay I’m done, have a nice, cold winter Yankees and Yankees fans. Congrats to the Detroit Tigers.