Motor City meltdown
04/10/2002
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Bad weather spared Tigers fans from another ugly loss on Monday. Unfortunately, the rain didn't save Phil Garner and Randy Smith.
At 0-6, the Detroit Tigers are the only winless team in baseball, losing those six games by a combined 40-13 score. Even worse, they got swept by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays to open the season.
Yeah, it's that bad.
So hours before Monday's rainout, Tigers President/CEO Dave Dombrowski fired Garner, his winless manager, and Smith, his clueless general manager, hoping to generate a little enthusiasm in the clubhouse and maybe even a few wins.
Good luck.
Detroit owns a combined 145-185 record since Garner took over at the start of the 2000 season, a .439 winning percentage that somehow looks successful when compared to the Tigers' 411-566 record under Smith's seven-year reign. They haven't sniffed the playoffs since 1987 and .500-ball has been non-existent in Detroit for nearly a decade.
Yes, there's been an unpleasant odor floating out of both Tiger Stadium and now Comerica Park for quite some time, an aroma that's been cultivated through many years of poor management on and off the field. But while Garner's dismissal has earned the most headlines, as most managerial firings do, it was Smith's questionable baseball decisions in the front office that prolonged the Motor City's losing ways.
Think back to 2000 for a minute, when Comerica Park had just opened and, for once, there actually was some optimism surrounding the Tigers. New ballpark, new attitude.
New slugger. Juan Gonzalez.
The two-time American League MVP, brought into town from Texas in a nine-player trade, was supposed to not only be the presence in the lineup that would propel the Tigers back into the playoffs, but also the presence on the roster that would once again attract sell-out crowds and national recognition.
Juan Gone attracted crowds, but they all booed him. And he shifted baseball's attention to Comerica Park, but only after he refused to sign a reported eight-year, $140 million extension.
Mission accomplished, I guess.
The contract squabbles lasted all season while rumors persisted that Gonzalez wanted out of Detroit. He supposedly didn't care for Comerica's spacious outfield and monster power alleys, and he also didn't seem very fond of his new hometown. The Tigers kept publicly insisting that they'd lock up their unhappy slugger but as the year wore on, fans realized that wasn't going to happen. So did Smith, who late in the season tried to work out a trade that would net him some talent while also giving Gonzalez what he wanted -- a one-way ticket out of Detroit and an opportunity to test the free agent waters that winter. But unable to find a deal that Juan Gone would approve under his limited no-trade clause, the Tigers instead watched their right fielder sputter all season, hitting just .289 with a mere 22 homers and 69 RBI, production that represented about half of what Gonzalez was expected to bring with him from Texas. Months later, he signed with Cleveland, leaving Detroit with a void in right field and nothing to show for the throng of players they sent to the Rangers a year earlier.
Obviously, Smith can't be blamed entirely for what happened during the 2000 season, but he's the man who gave up Gabe Kapler, Frank Catalanotto, Justin Thompson, Francisco Cordero, Bill Haselman and a minor leaguer for Gonzalez, without knowing whether or not the slugger ever had any intentions of making Detroit his permanent home. For that, Smith certainly should and apparently has been held responsible.
Some may argue, though, that while the package of players surrendered by the Tigers seemed impressive at the time, two years later most of those players have been disappointing as well. True, Cordero, Haselman and Thompson, a lefty starter with some serious arm problems, all have contributed next-to-nothing in Texas, but Kapler, a 26-year-old outfielder who hit 17 homers and stole 23 bases last year, and Catalanotto, a 27-year-old second baseman who hit .330 with 11 homers and 15 steals, are different. Both are just now hitting the primes of their baseball lives, and they're regulars in a potent Rangers lineup, with Catalanotto, a legitimate batting-title contender, hitting leadoff and Kapler flashing his impressive power/speed combination near the bottom of the order.
Tell me the now 0-7 Tigers couldn't use these guys. The uninspiring Damian Easley plays second in Detroit while the outfield quartet of Bobby Higginson, Jose Macias, Robert Fick and Jacob Cruz is anything but impressive.
But the Gonzalez incident wasn't the only blemish on Smith's Detroit record. His inability to bring in quality position players forced Garner to field a team of career utility guys and part-time players. Craig Paquette at third. Shane Halter at short. Randall Simon at first. Macias in center. Cruz and Fick in right.
Casey Stengel couldn't win with that lineup, so how could Tiger fans expect Phil Garner to be successful? More important, how can they expect Garner's eventual replacement, whether it's Felipe Alou, Buck Showalter or current interim manager Luis Pujols, to win with this sorry cast of everyday stiffs?
And the pitching? Aside from starter Jeff Weaver, who seems like a much better #2 starter than a staff ace, closer Matt Anderson and knuckleballer Steve Sparks, the Tiger staff is an absolute joke. Juan Acevedo? Brian Moehler? Danny Patterson?
Jose Lima?
With his losing record in Detroit coupled with an unsuccessful stay in Milwaukee, Garner seemed like an obvious target after the Tigers' pitiful 0-6 start, but his general manager never really gave him much of a chance to succeed. In the end, they both suffered the consequences.
"Wins and losses are how you're evaluated, and Phil's win-loss record wasn't the greatest," said Higginson of his former manager. "But did they give Phil what he needed to win? I don't think so. You could bring in MacArthur, with what they gave (Garner) to work with, and he's probably not going to come out with more wins."
My point exactly, although I'm not sure the General was much of a baseball man.
Here are just a couple other general observations from the first week of the season:
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Through four starts, San Francisco starting pitchers Livan Hernandez, Russ Ortiz and Ryan Jensen have gone 4-0 with 14 strikeouts and just three earned runs allowed. Impressed? There's more -- check out their combined offensive stats: 8-14, six runs, five RBI, two doubles, one homer, two strikeouts. Everybody expects their starting pitchers to keep them in games, but Hernandez, Ortiz and Jensen have single-handedly outscored the opposition in their four combined starts. Who needs Barry Bonds?
- As good as the San Fran trio has been on the mound, the apparent revival of Atlanta starter Kevin Millwood could be the most encouraging news of the young season. After going 35-15 with a 3.29 ERA in 1998 and 1999, the 27-year-old right-hander won just 17 of his 56 starts from 2000-2001 with an ERA of 4.53. But past shoulder problems now behind him, Millwood and his devastating curveball are seemingly back in form, judging by his four-hit, eight-strikeout, one-run performance against the Phillies Monday night and an overall 2.51 ERA through two starts.
- Millwood looks good. Mike Hampton looks bad. The Colorado lefty had a terrible spring, surrendering 35 hits and 21 runs in 20 innings of work, ineffectiveness that carried over into the regular season. Through two starts, the Rockies' "ace" is 0-2 with an 11.17 ERA and 19 hits allowed in just 9.2 innings pitched. Even scarier, both starts came on the road, one in St. Louis and the other in L.A. How's that $121 million taste now, Colorado fans?
- A career .291 hitter with four .300 seasons and a couple 200-hit, 20-homer, 100-RBI campaigns on his stat sheet shouldn't make much noise by going 2-5 in his first game of the season, right? If his name is Carlos Baerga, though, 2-5 is news. The former Cleveland All-Star second baseman is now in the mix for playing time at third, second and DH with the Boston Red Sox, and on Sunday the Sox gave Baerga his first start since 1999, hitting second in the order ahead of Nomar Garciaparra and Manny Ramirez. The 33 year old responded with two-straight singles in the fifth and seventh innings. After seeing that box score, I just had to bust out my old Baerga T-shirt for old-time's sake.
- Barry Bonds, Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson are good.
- Ray Lankford, John Rocker and the Devil Rays aren't.
In the Bullz-Eye
Phil Mickelson. Augusta National takes center stage beginning this Thursday, meaning it's again time for the Masters. Hampered with the dreaded "Best Player To Never Win A Major" label, Mickelson won't get the respect he truly deserves until he can prove his worth on a stage as grand as Augusta.