T1B

Since when are popularity contests in need of justification?

My guess is that Jim Leyland wanted the days off and asked Joe to reward some of his players instead of giving him the honor of assistant manager or bench coach or dugout pine warmer.

Hater...

Jackson throws a 1-2-3 inning
Granderson hits a triple and scores the winning run

Bring on the second half, bitches!

Screw_Michigan wrote:Someone please justify to me how the fucking Tigers got four guys on the team for a club nine games above .500. Thanks.

Maybe the opposite way the Dodgers got 1 reserve infielder and 2 pitchers selected with the best record in baseball....

Home field advantage for the Red Sox.

To answer your question, Screw...

Verlander has 10 wins and is tied with Lincecum for the most strikeouts in the majors...he's the most deserving of the four who got on but didn't throw probably since he threw on Sunday.

Jackson doesn't have a great record but is second in the AL and maybe Maddon picked him because he was with the Rays last year...he was an iffy pick but did well in his inning of work.

Granderson's batting average would've justified not taking him. Johnny Damon has better numbers than him and probably could've gone over him. Low and behold, he hits a triple and scores the winning run.

Inge got voted in as the last guy...can't do anything about that. I thought Kinsler should've won that vote. In spite of his weak effort in the derby, he's had a very good first half. This team does well when he plays well. His other strong season was in 2006 when they went to the World Series.

Cabrera could've been there but there are too many quality first basemen in the AL. He was the best hitter in the American League prior to Mauer coming off the DL. He really cooled off in June and July but he was still the 4th or 5th best offensive first baseman in the league up to this point. It's almost a reverse of last year when he started off very slow but picked up later in the season. He had the great start in April and May.

The Tigers are somewhat fraudulent because of their division and the fact they don't really have eye-popping offensive numbers. The White Sox will be interesting to watch in the second half when they get Quentin back. The only way the Tigers hang in is if Cabrera gets back to being an MVP-caliber hitter and Verlander and Jackson continue to anchor that rotation. I don't know what they'd have to give up to get him but I'd love to see them go after Halladay. I bet the Jays would want Porcello though.

Shoalzie wrote:Jackson doesn't a great record but is second in the AL and maybe Maddon picked him because he was with the Rays last year...he was an iffy pick but did well in his inning of work.

Iffy? He has the second best ERA in the AL and gives up the fewest hits per nine innings. He'd have 16 more wins than starts at this point if the Tigers didn't get shutout every time he pitches.

Granderson and Inge were the iffy choices. Verlander and Jackson have shit on lockdown.

M Club wrote:

Shoalzie wrote:Jackson doesn't a great record but is second in the AL and maybe Maddon picked him because he was with the Rays last year...he was an iffy pick but did well in his inning of work.

Iffy? He has the second best ERA in the AL and gives up the fewest hits per nine innings. He'd have 16 more wins than starts at this point if the Tigers didn't get shutout every time he pitches.

Granderson and Inge were the iffy choices. Verlander and Jackson have shit on lockdown.

Okay, you got me. He's also second in the AL in quality starts. I was just looking it up...he's getting only 5 runs a game in run support while a guy like Galarraga is getting 8+ runs. He would probably be a 10-game winner like Verlander if he had that kind of support.

Obama throws like a fukkin' girl. Hell, Billy Mays could have thrown it better....what a pitchman! Did Rick Ankiel give him pitching tips?