COMERICA PARK IS THE PLACE TO BE THIS WEEKEND

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BIG WEEKEND AS THE TIGERS HOST THE YANKEES AND INDIANS DURING SIX-GAME HOMESTAND THAT FEATURES FRIDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT FIREWORKS, STAR WARS NIGHT, DARTH VADER/JUSTIN VERLANDER FATHEAD AND PRINCE FIELDER POSTER, MAGGLIO ORDONEZ RETIREMENT.


DETROIT – The Tigers return home from their 10-game road trip to begin a six-game homestand at Comerica Park tomorrow night. The New York Yankees (June 1-3) and Cleveland Indians (June 5-7) will both visit Comerica Park for the first time this season. First pitch on Friday against the Yankees is 7:05 p.m., Saturday is at 7:15 p.m. and Sunday is at 1:08 p.m. Games on Tuesday and Wednesday against the Indians begin at 7:05 p.m., while the game on Thursday begins at 1:05 p.m.

Get your Tigers tickets for the 2012 season at Comerica Park now! Tickets are available at the Comerica Park Box Office, online at tigers.com and by phone at (866) 66-TIGER (84437). For complete ticket information including single game, season, group and suites visit tigers.com/tickets or call 313-471-BALL (2255).

Friday, June 1 – New York Yankees (Probables: Crosby vs. Sabathia) @ 7:05 p.m. (Gates open at 5:30 p.m.)

· Friday Night Fireworks, presented by Pepsi, will take place following the game (weather permitting).

· Game Ball Delivery: Sergeant Abigail Brown of the Michigan Army National Guard from Adrian, Michigan will deliver the game ball. She has completed three deployments, with her most recent tour of duty in Afghanistan, and has proudly served for 12 years.

· 42nd Annual Polish American Night: Don't miss out on the Detroit Tigers' longest-running annual cultural celebration. The night of festivities will include live polka bands, on-field costumed Polish dance performances, festive decorations and Detroit's favorite mascot, PAWS, in traditional Polish attire! Ticket packages are no longer available.


Saturday, June 2 – New York Yankees (Probables: Porcello vs. Kuroda) @ 7:15 p.m. (Gates open at 5:30 p.m.)

· Saturday Night Fireworks, presented by Verizon, will take place following the game (weather permitting).

· The first 10,000 fans to enter Comerica Park will receive a Darth Vader/Justin Verlander Fathead, courtesy of Belle Tire.

· The national anthem will be performed by the Motown legend and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame group, The Four Tops.

· Star Wars Night: Over 50 members of the Empire and the Rebel Alliance will take over Comerica Park this Saturday during Star Wars Night. Star Wars characters will roam the ballpark and greet fans at entrances including Princess Leia, Stormtroopers, Jedi, Darth Maul, Han Solo, R2-D2, C-3PO and Darth Vader, who will throw out the first pitch. Star Wars Night will also include a life-sized Tauntaun, photo backdrops and a pregame Star Wars parade featuring Star Wars music performed by members of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. The celebration will be out of this world!

· Game Ball Delivery: Specialist Rob Moga of the Michigan Army National Guard from Carlton, Michigan will deliver the game ball. He recently returned from his first deployment supporting Operation New Dawn in Kuwait and Iraq. He has received several awards and has proudly served for three years.

Sunday, June 3 – Kids Day – New York Yankees (Probables: Verlander vs. Hughes) @ 1:08 p.m. (Gates open at 11:30 a.m.)

· All kids 14-and-younger will receive an “Every Kid, Every Sunday” Prince Fielder Poster, courtesy of Meijer.

· Michigan native and “The Voice” finalist Tony Lucca will perform the national anthem and God Bless America

· Magglio Ordoñez Retirement Ceremony: Former Detroit Tigers All-Star outfielder Magglio Ordoñez will announce his retirement in a special pregame ceremony this Sunday at Comerica Park. The ceremony will honor Ordoñez and his contributions to the Detroit Tigers. Dan Dickerson will emcee the ceremony, which will begin on the field at approximately 12:40 p.m. Ordoñez and his family will take part in the ceremony. Fans are encouraged to come out to Comerica Park early to pay tribute to Ordoñez. He will be available to the media at 11:00 a.m. in the Cigar Bar at Comerica Park on Sunday.

· Game Ball Delivery: Staff Sergeant Joe Polo of the Michigan Army National Guard from Holt, Michigan will deliver the game ball. He has served two deployments, including tours in Cuba and Kuwait. He has earned several awards and has proudly served for nearly 13 years.

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Raburn Optioned To Toledo, Omir Santos Starts Tonight

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The Tigers today have purchased the contract of catcher Omir Santos from Triple A Toledo. Santos hit .310 (26x84) with seven doubles, a triple and nine RBI in 27 games for Toledo.


Santos will wear number 18 when he joins the Tigers for tonight's game at Boston.

Second baseman/outfielder Ryan Raburn was optioned to Toledo following last night’s game.

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MAGGLIO ORDOÑEZ TO RETIRE

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MAGGLIO ORDOÑEZ TO ANNOUNCE RETIREMENT TIGERS TO HONOR STAR OUTFIELDER IN PREGAME CEREMONY ON SUNDAY, JUNE 3

DETROIT – Former Detroit Tigers All-Star outfielder Magglio Ordoñez will announce his retirement in a special pregame ceremony on Sunday, June 3 at Comerica Park.

Photo by Jennifer MacPherson / In Play! Magazine

Ordoñez played the final seven seasons of his 15-year major league career with the Detroit Tigers and will forever be remembered for belting one of the most memorable home runs in the franchise’s 112-year history. His walk-off, three-run home run off Oakland’s Huston Street in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series on October 14, 2006 at Comerica Park lifted the Tigers to a 6-3 victory and a four-game sweep of the Athletics to propel the Tigers to the 2006 World Series.

Ordoñez batted .312 (989x3171) with 186 doubles, 107 home runs and 533 RBI in 847 games with the Tigers. He was named to the American League All-Star squad in both 2006 and 2007, won an American League Silver Slugger Award in 2007 and batted .363 in 2007 to win the American League batting title, becoming the first Tigers player to win the batting title since Norm Cash in 1961.



In addition to his two All-Star selections with the Tigers, he was named to the team four times with the Chicago White Sox (1999-2001, 2003) and also won two American League Silver Slugger Awards with the White Sox (2000, 2002). He remains one of the greatest Venezuelan-born players in the history of baseball, ranking second with a .309 career batting average and 294 home runs, while he is third with 1,236 RBI, fourth with 426 doubles and sixth with 2,156 hits.

The Tigers will hold a pregame ceremony on Sunday to honor Ordoñez and his contributions to the Detroit Tigers. Dan Dickerson will emcee the ceremony, which will begin on the field at approximately 12:40 p.m. Ordoñez and his family will take part in the ceremony. Fans are encouraged to come out to Comerica Park early to pay tribute to Ordoñez.

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TIGERS TONIGHT

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FRIDAY, MAY 18, 2012
TIGERS TONIGHT



PITTSBURGH PIRATES (18-20)
RHP CHARLIE MORTON (2-3, 4.05)

DETROIT TIGERS (18-20)
RHP JUSTIN VERLANDER (4-1, 2.47)

TONIGHT’S TIDBITS

• Tonight’s ceremonial first pitches will be thrown by Detroit Lions Wide Reciever, Calvin Johnson, and grandson of Hall of Famer Norman “Turkey” Stearnes, Norman Anthony Brown.

• The national anthem will be performed by Joyce Stearnes Thompson and Rosilyn Norman Brown.

TIGERS AT A GLANCE
Record: 18-20 / Streak: L2
Game #39/ Home #21
Home: 9-11 / Road: 9-9

STREAKS
Last five games: 2-3
Last 10 games: 4-6
Last 15 games: 6-9
Last 20 games: 8-12

RECENT RESULTS: The Tigers suffered a 4-3 loss to the Twins yesterday afternoon. Doug Fister (0-2) took the loss for Detroit after allowing four runs three earned) in six innings of work. Andy Dirks, Prince Fielder and Brennan Boesch all hit solo home runs for the Tigers. The Tigers continue a five-game homestand with the first game of a three-game series versus Pittsburgh this evening. Following an off day on Monday, Detroit begins a 10-game road trip to Cleveland, Minnesota and Boston on Tuesday.

INTERLEAGUE HAPPENINGS: Tonight’s contest against the Pirates is Detroit’s first of the club’s 18 games during interleague play in 2012. Since interleague play started in 1997, the Tigers have compiled a 141-124 record. The Tigers are 69-39 in interleague games at Comerica Park.

AMONG THE BEST SINCE 2006: The Tigers have compiled a 70-38 record, a .648 winning percentage, during interleague play since the start of the 2006 season. The .648 winning percentage during interleague action is second-best among major league clubs during that stretch. The Boston Red Sox have compiled a 73-35 record, a .676 winning percentage, during interleague action over that stretch.

PRINCE PLAYS LONGBALL AGAINST PIRATES: Prince Fielder enters tonight’s game with a home run once every 12.85 at-bats against Pittsburgh, second-best among all active major league players versus the club. He is hitting .280 (97x347) with 12 doubles, a triple, 27 home runs and 74 RBI in 98 games during his career against the Pirates.
FRIDAY NIGHT FIREWORKS: The first fireworks display of the season, presented by Pepsi, will take place following tonight’s game (weather permitting).


NEGRO LEAGUES WEEKEND:The Tigers are continuing their celebration of African Americans and their numerous contributions to the game of baseball. The ceremony will include the “Passing of the Bat” ceremony featuring former Tigers Great Willie Horton, FOX Sports Detroit broadcasters Rod Allen and Craig Monroe and former Negro Leagues player Jake Sanders. The national anthem will be performed by Joyce Stearnes Thompson and Rosilyn Norman Brown, daughters of National Baseball Hall of Famer Norman “Turkey” Stearnes.

DETROIT STARS SINGING COMPETITION: The Tigers have partnered with Radio One for the sixth annual Detroit Stars Singing Competition hosted by Tune Up of Radio One. The competition will take place at the Big Cat Court starting at 5:30 p.m. The top 10 finalists will be judged by celebrity judges Duke Fakir of The Four Tops, Calvin Johnson of the Detroit Lions, Tatiana Grant, Entrepreneur and President of Infused PR and Events, and Drew Rives, Marketing Director of Island Def Jam Music Group. The winner will receive $1,000 and the opportunity to sing the national anthem prior to the Tigers vs. Twins game on July 2, 2012.

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Tigers - A blog by 31-6 Denny McLain

By 31-6 Denny McLain
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Is there anything really wrong with the Tigers?


There has been so much conversation, debate and conjecture as to what is wrong with the Tigers. What if there is nothing wrong with the Tigers?

Blaming Jim Leyland is not the reason that the Tigers have not played well, they have obvious issues like second base and relief pitching to name a couple. Sure there are things I would do that Leyland doesn’t, but of course Jim is managing to win ballgames and win another division unless of course he loses Cabrera, Fister or Verlander.

Several guys had “Career Years” last year, in other words the best seasons of their lives and more than likely will not have comparable years like that again because of the league catching up with them.

First of all as a team last year they hit 277, incredible team batting average and they all got hot in the 2nd half.

The division was the worse possibly in the history of baseball, no other team in the Central Division really had pitching, defense or offense. The pitching from the other divisional teams was to say the least, pathetic, no one will deny the lack of quality in the Tigers division. So with the other teams having horrible pitching, (essentially the pitchers throwing the ball down the middle or walking guys what seemed like every inning last year), the Tigers soared and soared big time.

Not one team in the Central Division besides the Tigers had a winning record---Hello? The closest team to the Tigers was Cleveland; 15 games behind at the end of the year.

Not one Central Division team had an ERA below 4. Even the Tigers gave up more than 4.04 runs per game.

And to say the least (with the exception of Kansas City), the hitting in our division was horrible.

Here are some stats from last year for you. All-Time career years for the following players:
Avila: .295 and 19 home runs.
Rayburn: .256 but hit 14 home runs.
Valverde: 49 out of 49 saves.
Verlander: 24 wins.
Peralta: .299 and 21 home runs (Hadn’t hit more than .270 since 2008 and not hit more than 20 homeruns since 2008.)
Bosch: 283 and 16 home runs.

This team is still the best team in the Division but to talk about play-offs and World Series appearances when you are struggling to stay above .500 is a bit of a reach at this point.

The pitching staff ERA is 4.19, we have all been pleased with Smyly and his ability.

As far as the guys they are really counting on, Scherzer (ERA 5.73) and Porcello, (5.18) they need to ramp it up, cause their inconsistency is really stopping the club from getting on a steady roll.

And finally, Fister, he is the real thing, he may not have the best “STUFF” on the team, but I believe he may be the best pitcher on the team right now.

He always has command and I have never seen him become rattled. He doesn’t have a Verlander fastball, but he has more than an adequate fastball and a real exceptional curve-ball, slider and change-up and he is not afraid to throw any pitch at anytime. Look out for him to really win a bunch of games, he has a few great assets that no one else seems to have, he challenges hitters, he throws lots of strikes quickly, he gets ahead of just about every hitter and he has consistency.

Your defense loves pitchers who throw strikes and work quickly, he doesn’t tease anyone and he pitches and pitches quickly. As long as Fister stays healthy, we win the division.

What would I do?

First, I would make sure that Verlander and Fister pitch every fifth day, moving a turn back because of weather or whatever. Who would you rather pitch every fifth day, Porcello, Fister or Verlander? Get your best guys out there all the time per their five days.

I would have Fielder hitting ahead of Cabrera. With Cabrera hitting behind Fielder, Prince is going to get a ton more good pitches to hit, no one wants to pitch to Cabrera with men on base, so Prince would get the benefit of pitchers having to challenge him more and more, no hitter in baseball right now is as good with men on base then our Cabrera, NONE!!

I would also move Bosch behind Cabrera. With Bosch hitting behind Prince and Cabrera he is going to get lots of pitches with men on base, cause you now pitchers are going to be much more careful and more than likely walking more and more guys to get to Bosch, but with men on base, and no where to put him, the pitching from the other teams will have to challenge Bosch more and more.

As far as the league, the pitching seems better around the league and since almost any hitter can be pitched, all of our guys have been seen now for a couple years by the league’s pitchers, so when you see a guy on a regular basis, the opposition will figure out how to pitch to hitters in different situations.

And it also seems to me that the schedule really favors our club now, we start to play more in our own division and while the division may have improved (at least early in this season,) the teams on the surface sure don’t look any different than last year, so we are a lock to win our division.

As for Inge?

The pressure is off Inge, he is not competing for a job and Oakland is not going anywhere, so they handed him a job, a .200 hitter at best and I believe that they are just hoping for the best. He will hit a couple home runs but can’t and won’t make a bit of difference where the Oakland team finishes this year, so let’s all move on.

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TIGERS TODAY

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TIGERS TONIGHT

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TIGERS TONIGHT

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