Japan Baseball: Detroit Tigers Links: More proof the Tigers are slow to round the bases

Friday, April 29, 2011

Detroit Tigers Links: More proof the Tigers are slow to round the bases

Magglio Ordonez isn't the fastest guy with two legs, which might explain why few Tigers can go from first to third on a single.

AP PhotoMagglio Ordonez isn't the fastest guy with two legs, which might explain why few Tigers can go from first to third on a single.

• The legs of Brandon Inge, Miguel Cabrera, Magglio Ordonez, Jhonny Peralta and Victor Martinez might explain it all.

But the Tigers are one of the poorest baserunning teams when discussing advancing extra bases on singles and doubles. Only the New York Yankees are worse, but they've always been a station-to-station team that bashes the ball and breaks the scoreboard with home runs.

For many other baserunning stats the Tigers are very average; they get thrown out on the basepaths just about as much as everyone else, and their percentage of baserunners scored is also right on par.

Look, speed is nice but it's not a necessity to score runs. However, if the ball can't find the gap or the seats, it could be a long night. This is something else to consider why the Tigers leave so many men on base; it's because they're not going from first to third or from second to home well enough. You can't always chalk it up to hitters not being clutch. [Baseball-Reference]

• Read Lynn Henning's column on Jim Leyland and you may have a better understanding of why this guy is not getting fired anytime soon. But hey, keep on blaming him after every loss. [Detroit News]

• Now this ... this is just mean. It's a doctored "hit tracker" on Miguel Olivo's home run yesterday. [FanGraphs]

• Best wishes to Roy Oswalt and his family in Mississippi, currently dealing with tornado damage. It looks like his parents' house was lost in the storms. Stay safe down there. [USA Today]

• Oakland Alameda County Coliseum is now going to be called the Overstock.com Coliseum. It's funny, because the Athletics' pitching staff is basically a big department store for other teams. Too bad the Tigers didn't save their receipt for that Bonderman they acquired. [HardballTalk]