FanHouse The Black Lung

The 2009 season is going to be a make or break year for Tigers manager Jim Leyland. If the Tigers can bounce back from a dreadful 2008 season, odds are The Black Lung will stick around unless he wants to leave. If the Tigers finish towards the bottom of the AL Central again, then the choice will likely be made for him. So Jimmy is probably feeling some pressure this year, and although he has his cigarettes to help deal with the stress, his players don't have the same liberty.

And what better way is there to soothe the souls of young men then by belting out an R&B hit from the 70s? That's exactly what Leyland did on the Tigers recent trip to the Motown Museum, singing the Stylistics' "Betcha By Golly Wow" and thankfully somebody at the Detroit Free Press got the whole thing on video.

On Wednesday morning I wrote about Tigers manager Jim Leyland saying he wasn't sure when he was going to use Joel Zumaya again. Going off of what he'd been seeing from Zoom while on the mound, Leyland felt that something had to be wrong with flame-throwing reliever.

Well maybe Jimmy should start up a psychic hotline, because it turns out his fears for Zumaya were dead on. As it turns out, there's some loose tissue in Zumaya's surgically repaired right shoulder. As a result Joel has been placed on the 15-day disabled list, but don't let that fool you, his season is basically done.

"I think it's great news that we got" on Zumaya, Leyland said. "He blew up scar tissue. It wasn't an elbow, shoulder or anything like that. From my standpoint, that's great, great news.

"Hopefully he'll be ready by spring training -- possibly pitch again this year, but I'm not going to push for that."

I have to agree with Leyland on this one, this is great news for the Tigers. When a pitcher has gone through the type of injuries that Joel has, and throws as hard as he does, everytime you find out he's having some trouble physically you always expect the worst. So finding out that it's nothing major and won't require any additional work being done, it's a huge relief.

Sure, Zumaya's absence is only going to make a weak Detroit bullpen that much weaker, but the odds of the Tigers making a playoff run were very much against them anyway. At least the team can now look forward to having a healthy (fingers crossed) Zumaya for the 2009 season, which would go a long way in helping the Tigers get back to the top of the AL Central.

While the Tigers learned something new about Gary Sheffield on Tuesday - that he hits really well when he's angry about being placed on waivers - they also saw something they've known about for a while. Their bullpen sucks. After Sheffield's two home runs helped get a lead for the Tigers, the Detroit bullpen came in and blew the game like they normally do.

Tuesday's goat was Joel Zumaya, who walked three Blue Jays and gave up the game-winning runs without recording an out, all to the chorus of boos from the hometown crowd. As a result, Jim Leyland doesn't plan on using Zumaya again anytime soon, but it's not because of his performance. No, The Black Lung fears that there's something wrong with Joel and that he's not telling anybody.

"I can assure you, I'm not going to have Zumaya for a while, even if everything checks out all right," Leyland said. "All I know is there is a problem. Joel is not himself. I can see it in his face. I can see it in his demeanor."

Asked how long Zumaya might be out, Leyland said, "Right now, I don't feel comfortable pitching Joel. I'm not talking about because of results. I'm talking about because something is not right.

"It's going to be next year until he gets back to 100%."

The Tigers Gary Sheffield has been in the papers a bit lately thanks to some comments he made to the Boston Globe in recent days. In the article Sheffield says he'd be open to a trade if the Tigers felt like moving him was the right thing to do, and that he'd be happy to go somewhere else in hopes that he'd get to play in the field everyday and possibly win another World Series.

You see, Gary isn't that big a fan of his role as designated hitter (which is something he's hinted at before).

"I can be in the outfield and play every day. I don't want to DH. I don't feel like a baseball player when I DH. I don't know how to be the leader that I am from the bench. I can't be a vocal leader. I can't talk to guys from the bench because I don't feel right about it.

"I'm in a role now where I don't know what to do, really. The guys are out there busting their butt for nine innings, they come in and they hit and they grind. I just sit down and hit. That's all I do, so I can't be in a leadership role from that position."

Obviously Gary's comments eventually got to his manager, and after reading them and being asked about them, The Black Lung couldn't do much more than scratch his head.

On Thursday afternoon the Detroit Tigers were about to start a four-game set with the Minnesota Twins that they were hoping would help get the team right back in the AL Central race. Well, three days later the Tigers are finishing up their series with Minnesota just trying to salvage a game.

After finally getting above .500, the Tigers have dropped three straight to Minnesota and are a game below again, 6.5 games behind the Twins for second place. What's made the last three losses even worse is the fact that they've all been one-run defeats. It's enough to make Jim Leyland's stomach hurt, and damn it, he wants yours to hurt too.

"If they don't hurt, you should go home," Leyland said after Saturday afternoon's 6-5 loss, a game in which the Tigers were able to cut a four-run deficit to one, but came up empty after that

"I hope the guys out there are hurting as much as I am, because it's supposed to hurt. If it doesn't hurt, pack your bag and go home. That's the way I look at it.

"I'm not upset at anyone in particular, but I am upset that we just lost three close games when we're trying to fight our way back into this thing. If that doesn't hurt some people in the stomach, they should go home."

I get the feeling that Jimmy isn't too happy with the attitudes he's seeing in the clubhouse after these games right now. Though he says there's no one in particular who has upset him, I wouldn't be surprised if he does have a few people in mind and is trying to send a message. Of course, it could just be that his team realizes they're playing the Twins right now, and the Twins just have a knack for annoying the hell out of teams. It's as if they don't enjoy winning as much when they do it by two or more runs.

Yesterday I wrote about Tigers manager Jim Leyland's complaints about the Tigers only having three days off every year for the All-Star break while other teams get four days of rest. To be more specific, The Black Lung said that the scheduling was "It's a joke. Silly is what it is. Not responsible."

The Lung also asked that his quotes be printed in BIG BOLD PRINT so that MLB would hear his complaints and hopefully do something about it. Well, they heard (or read) them, and they'd like Jim to know that they're not out to screw the Tigers. At least, not consciously.

"Every club has scheduling issues that seem specific to them," said Katy Feeney, MLB senior vice-president of scheduling and club relations. "I assure you, the Tigers are not being singled out or targeted.

"I don't know the exact reason this has happened, but it could be a ripple effect from elsewhere in the schedule."

Upon hearing the news, Leyland lit up four Marlboros simultaneously, inhaled deeply and said "Daaaaaaaaaaaaaamn straight. Grumble grumble." He's such a bad ass. Obviously MLB can do nothing to rectify the situation this season, but I'd be willing to bet Leyland a carton of smokes that his team has four days off next season.

For a sports fan, baseball's All-Star break is generally the three dullest days of the year. Sure, there's the actual game and the home run derby that goes with it, but other than that, not much goes on in sports for three days. Well, unless you consider summer league basketball a must see event. For the players that don't make the team though, the days off are a blessing they can use to get some rest and try to remember their wife's name.

Of course, not everybody is happy with the time off, or at least not the amount they get anyway, as Jim Leyland isn't quite sure why the Tigers have only gotten three days off the last three years while every other team has had at least a four-day break. Hell, eight teams have had four days off each of the last three years, and The Black Lung doesn't appreciate it.

"That doesn't make any sense to me," Leyland said. "We should all be playing Thursday (two days after the All-Star Game) or nobody should be playing Thursday and you can quote me in big, bold print (your wish is my command!).

"I want everyone to write it and put it all over the airwaves. It's a joke. Silly is what it is. Not responsible. You get to the All-Star break and eight teams get four days every year and one team gets three days?"

Personally, I don't really see the big deal here, but Jimmy does have a point that the Tigers should at least get four days off once in a while like everybody else. Of course if MLB doesn't cooperate, I strongly encourage Mr. Leyland to give his team the day off every time they play my White Sox in the second half.

Before the Detroit Tigers had their bi-weekly offensive explosion on Tuesday night against Seattle (one their bullpen did everything in their power to blow), manager Jim Leyland was asked about some comments made by former Tiger reliever Jason Grilli.

Grilli was traded earlier this season to the Rockies, and was recently asked by some reporters out there what he thought was going wrong back in Detroit, where the Tigers have failed to live up to expectations. Grilli's response was that he thought the Tigers hurt their team chemistry by bringing in new stars, and letting go of clubhouse favorites like Sean Casey. Jim Leyland was not amused.

"You have to be kidding me. I mean, please," Leyland said before the Tigers' 12-8 win over the Mariners on Tuesday night. "Jason Grilli ought to just worry about Colorado.

"Jason Grilli's not here any longer because Jason Grilli didn't pitch good under pressure situations and didn't pitch very well in Detroit. You want to tell it like it is? When players want to start talking, I'll start talking."

Leyland's reaction to Grilli quickly became somewhat of a warning to the rest of his team just in case anybody gets the bright idea of popping off about the team.

Remember earlier this week when I told you about how happy playing in the outfield makes Gary Sheffield? How the grass looks greener, the air smells sweeter, the ball looks bigger, and life just seems better for Gary when he's not relegated to a role as a designated hitter. I hope Gary cherished those memories of chasing down fly balls, because he's not going to get the chance to do it too much in the near future.

The Black Lung has pulled the plug on the experiment.

"His shoulder isn't right, and I don't think it's made any better by playing the outfield, because he can barely lob the ball in," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said Wednesday. "The longer I think about it, it doesn't make sense that the shoulder can get better when you're playing, swinging and having to throw than serving as DH."

For his part, while he's not exactly happy about it, Sheffield understands the move and isn't going to complain about it. Though if he continues to lose playing time because of it, that might change. Sheff was out of the lineup yesterday, and will be in it today, but he's only going to play one game this weekend as the Tigers go to Arizona and won't get to use a DH.

Another source of frustration for Gary may come from the fact that Leyland still doesn't really know what he's going to do with Sheffield in the future.

"I kind of have to play that by ear. That's a tough situation for him, because he doesn't want to put me in that situation and I don't want to be in that situation.

"I don't really know what to do, to be honest with you. I'm confused."

Which is always what you want to hear from your manager.

After the Tigers lost to the Twins on Saturday, manager Jim Leyland put out his cigarette and told the reporters around him that he would be making changes to his lineup for Sunday's game. Then Sunday came around, and The Black Lung turned in the same lineup card he'd been turning in all season. His team rewarded him for his faith by scoring six runs in the first inning off of Minnesota's Boof Bonser.

Then the Tigers bullpen reared it's ugly head, and Detroit ended up blowing that early lead and losing 7-6, dropping them back into last place in the AL Central. Now The Black Lung is ready to make those changes again.

"We can be tough to watch sometimes. I'm going to shake things up pretty shortly, I think," he said. "There will be no personnel changes or player movement. Same pieces, but quite a bit different (order). For whatever reason, we haven't had that killer instinct.

"I just think our offense is better than this. I know it is. There's no doubt in my mind.

"We can lull you to sleep at times, and I can live with that. But that's why we have to hit. That's what we're supposed to be able to do. I don't know why, but we haven't had the sense of urgency that we need."

Sunday really was a perfect microcosm of how the Tigers lineup has worked this season. They started the game by scoring runs at a record pace, and then completely shut off for the next 8 innings. It's the way things have gone all season as one day the Tigers will score one run, follow that up with 15, and get shut out the day after that. Poor Jimmy's gone from smoking two packs a day to four and a half.