I have follwed the Tigers my entire life, and I must say that I have somewhat mixed feelings about all the folks jumping on the bandwagon. I have stayed loyal through the lean years. I attended 5 Tigers road games in 2003 (tigers record in those games 0-5).

Here is my breakdown on the best team in baseball.

First: Chris Shelton. Great daytime hitter. Not nearly as good a night hitter. Once he gets a bit more consistent, he will be a monster. Ok defensivly. Leyland (and this is a reoccuring theme) has handled him incredibly well. He has been hitting 6-7th the entire year. Will become more consistent as the season goes on.

Second: Placedo Polanco. Amazing. Absolutely a steal when they got him for Urbina. Great contact hitter, great defensivly. Would have won the AL batting title last year had he not come up short on AL at bats. Great number 2 hitter. Does not strike out.

Short: Carlos Guillen. Great contact hitter, good power. He is injury prone, but has managed to stay healthy this year. Will be a .300 20 hr 100 rbi guy as long as he stays healthy. Decent defensive range, but can be erratic with his throws.

Third: Brandon Inge. Not many teams HR leader bats 9th, but Inge is leading the Tigers with 17 dingers right now. But the Tigers are on pace to have 7 players hit 20 or more homers. Batting average is low, but when your 9 hitter is on pace for 35 hr and 100+ rbis, you cant complain. Has a cannon of an arm and is steadly improving defensivly.

Catcher: Pudge. Great defensivly, good contact hitter. Going to take a few more days off as the season goes on, as Wilson has proven to be a revelation. Has worked well with the staff this year.

Right: Maggs. Having a comeback year after being hurt last year. Good power, good average.

Center: Curtis Granderson. The Truth. Best defensive centerfielder in the game (espcially considering how big Comerica is). Good power, great speed. Good OBP. Walks a lot.

Left: Craig Monroe. Blah. Has some power, but his average has tanked. Really the only player I am not too happy with. Thames has been getting a lot of his playing time lately. I would really like to see them pick up Abreu, even if it costs them one of the young starters (Miner or Maroth). Thames is better, has more power, but still not the average hitter that Abreu is.

(Random Note: while writing the post, this happened. Tigers kind of year)

Game #2910509454: 7 Card FL (£1/£2) - 2006/07/05 - 22:32:15 (ET)
Table "Alice"
Seat 1: Ioa250610 (£30.58 in chips)
Seat 2: Bbobs42 (£100 in chips)
Seat 3: jchammer (£119.25 in chips)
Seat 4: Juskimo (£62.50 in chips)
Seat 5: Pokermann (£30.40 in chips)
Seat 6: Island4G (£32.75 in chips)
Seat 7: $1000 (£26.32 in chips)
Seat 8: mrdeviant (£104.25 in chips)
$1000: posts the ante £0.25
Juskimo: posts the ante £0.25
Island4G: posts the ante £0.25
mrdeviant: posts the ante £0.25
Ioa250610: posts the ante £0.25
Bbobs42: posts the ante £0.25
Pokermann: posts the ante £0.25
jchammer: posts the ante £0.25
----- 3rd STREET -----
dealt to Ioa250610
dealt to Bbobs42
dealt to jchammer
dealt to Juskimo [Kc 7c Ac]
dealt to Pokermann
dealt to Island4G
dealt to $1000
dealt to mrdeviant
Pokermann: brings-in £0.50
Island4G: folds
$1000: folds
mrdeviant: folds
Ioa250610: calls £0.50
Bbobs42: calls £0.50
jchammer: folds
Juskimo: calls £0.50
----- 4th STREET -----
dealt to Ioa250610 [9d]
dealt to Bbobs42 [2c]
dealt to Juskimo [Kc 7c Ac][Tc]
dealt to Pokermann [3d]
Pokermann: bets £2
Ioa250610: calls £2
Bbobs42: calls £2
Juskimo: raises £4
Pokermann: calls £2
Ioa250610: calls £2
Bbobs42: calls £2
----- 5th STREET -----
dealt to Ioa250610 [As 9d][Td]
dealt to Bbobs42 [7d 2c][9s]
dealt to Juskimo [Kc 7c Ac Tc][Qc]
dealt to Pokermann [3c 3d][5h]
Pokermann: checks
Ioa250610: checks
Bbobs42: checks
Juskimo: bets £2
Pokermann: calls £2
Ioa250610: calls £2
Bbobs42: folds
----- 6th STREET -----
dealt to Ioa250610 [As 9d Td][Qh]
dealt to Juskimo [Kc 7c Ac Tc Qc][4c]
dealt to Pokermann [3c 3d 5h][Ah]
Pokermann: folds
Ioa250610: checks
Juskimo: bets £2
Ioa250610: calls £2
----- RIVER -----
dealt to Juskimo [Kc 7c Ac Tc Qc 4c][Jc]
Ioa250610: folds
Juskimo: doesn't show hand
Juskimo collects £28.50 from Main pot
----- SUMMARY -----
Total pot £30 Main pot £28.50 Rake £1.50
Seat 1: Ioa250610 folded on the River
Seat 2: Bbobs42 folded on the 5th Street
Seat 3: jchammer folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 4: Juskimo collected £28.50
Seat 5: Pokermann folded on the 6th Street
Seat 6: Island4G folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 7: $1000 folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 8: mrdeviant folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)

Starters: Rodgers has been solidly good. Maroth was solid before he got hurt. Robinson has been incredible. Verlander would be a 20 game winner, but the tigers will go to a 6 man rotation and keep him to 180 or so innings. I think if they let him pitch 210-220 innings he would be rookine of the year. Bonderman is rounding into form as the domanent power pitcher. Great all around.

Relievers. Zumiya is absured. 100 mph fireballer with a low 80s changeup. The bullpen is solid. Im not sold on Jones as the closer, but Leyland is not going to turn Zumiya into the cloer yet.

I think that they will cool off a bit, but still finish with 95-100 wins. I dont think the White Sox can catch them, but you never know. I think that the AL East teams should be worried, because the White Sox have a decent lead in the WIld Card right now.

-Jus