Tigers Beat Up White Sox; Magic Number is Dean Palmer

Saturday night was opposite day at U.S. Cellular field.  Or “add a zero to your previous night’s hit total” day for the Tigers.  A night after managing just two hits, Detroit rattled off 20 (20!) Saturday night as they came back to beat the White Sox 12-5.  The 20 hits was the most in all of baseball for Saturday night.

This was a classic example why baseball is one of the greatest games in the world and you can never count a team out.  There are nine innings and 27 outs (and no time limit) for a reason, so when the Tigers trailed 5-0 after the 4th inning it’d be silly to think the Tigers were just going to roll over and die.  After all, the Tigers are amongst the Top 5 in all of baseball in comeback victories this season.  I don’t know what it was about tonight, but I knew it as soon as Miguel hit his 32nd home run of the season in the top of the 5th that Detroit was going to come back. It’s a long season, but stay on the wagon.

Sure enough they wound up getting 11 more unanswered runs to not only comeback and beat the White Sox, but absolutely pummel them to shrink their AL Central Division magic number to seven.

With that, we’re going to bring back a Tiger from the past to represent the new magic number: Dean Palmer.

Dean Palmer played five seasons with the Tigers, two of them which went pretty well and three that were downright pitiful.  In his first two seasons, Dean hit 67 HRs and 205 RBIs combined.  In his final three years with the Tigers, he played a total of 87 games and hit a whopping .191 with 11 HRs.  Not good.

Dean might be most famous for starting one of the biggest brawls in baseball history, or maybe not the biggest brawl but the one which had the steepest penalties.  About nine and a half years ago, also on a Saturday night, Dean Palmer charged the mound against the Chicago White Sox (another connection) after being plunked in the seventh inning, sparking the first of two fights that game.  After it was all said and done, 25 players/coaches were suspended or fined for their actions in the multiple fights.

Here is a breakdown of the major suspensions.  You will recognize one of the White Sox players suspended:

Here are some more random thoughts/facts about tonight’s big win:

• Ozzie Guillen was upset his team did not care about losing tonight.  Here is the quote (with the expletives snipped):

“When you go into the clubhouse and turn the TV on and watch the stupid football, when the damn football players don’t care about you, that’s embarrassing.”

• I’ve been hard on Curtis Granderson this season.  I love the guy and think he’s a terrific baseball player, but I don’t think there’s any denying that he’s struggled, particularly in clutch situations this season.  Since I’ve been tough on him, I’ll be the first to point out that he had a great game tonight and came up with big hits in key spots.  He tied the game on an RBI single in the 7th and would go on to have two more hits and two more RBIs.  Good job, Curtis.  I’m happy for you.

• Miguel Cabrera has 100 RBIs for the 6th season in a row.  If it weren’t for only playing in half the games in his first season in the bigs, he’d have 100 RBIs in all seven seasons.  He’s had 30+ HRs in 5 of his 7 seasons.  He’s a freak and one of the best hitters in all of baseball, if not the best.

• Figaro looked good in relief of Nate Robertson.  Maybe he’ll get another chance to start, maybe he won’t.  Leyland said he’s tired of shuffling in and out guys at the back end of his rotation, but I assume he’s probably more tired with poor outings and overworking his bullpen.

• Polly, Magglio, and Miguel are tearing it up lately.  If tonight was a sign to come with Curtis, and other Tigers hitters such as Laird, the Tigers hitting woes could be a distant memory if it helps them get into the playoffs and continues to do well down the stretch.  One breakout game of 20 hits is too early to say they may have turned a corner, but can’t deny that this is the perfec time to get hot with the wood.

• Of course, the Twins won tonight.  Here are the updated standings:

• Go Tigers!