10-15-13 Tigers and Atwater

Flashback

On October 13, 2012 the Detroit Tigers had a 4-0 lead going into the bottom of the ninth against the Yankees in Game 1 of the ALCS. Jose Valverde's meltdown had been brewing for some time having struggled all season and already blowing one save in the playoffs [the Tigers lead the A's 3-1 in Game 4 of the ALDS and eventually lost when after Jose Valverde gave up three consecutive hits to the A's]. Valverde entered the bottom of the ninth of Game 1 of the ALCS and gave up two home runs. The Tigers eventually won in the twelfth but Jose Valverde was no longer the closer the for the Tigers.  The only thing that I really enjoyed while Valverde completely broke my heart was the Atwater Dirty Blonde I had in my hand at the time.

Papa Grande during his playoff meltdown

Buy or Sell

The Tigers Bullpen

I'm selling the Tigers bullpen, it was the downfall last year in the playoffs and I don't see it as being any other better. In Game 2 of the ALCS the bases were loaded with  2 outs and the Tigers had turned to their closer Joaquin Benoit to shut down the Red Sox. David Ortiz hit a grand slam off Benoit and nightmares of Jose Valverde's return came flooding into my head. For a second I thought it was 2012 all over again and Papa Grande was on the stage. Even after four relievers and Joaquin Benoit the Red Sox were able to tie the ALCS at one game each. The Tigers bullpen features AL Albuquerque Jose Veras, Jeremy Bonderman, and Phil Choke er I mean Coke. There's no arguing against the strength of the Tiger's starting rotation, their bullpen is a totally different story.  Albuquerque is the best pitcher in the bullpen with an era of 2.98, which is worrisome for the Tigers especially when Justin Verlander pitches scoreless innings but doesn't get any run support. I thought back in the spring that the Tigers should have made a move for Brian Wilson [he does have a career postseason era of 0.00], if the Dodgers don't sign Wilson to a long term deal the Tigers ought to or at least  try to get better relievers,  after all relievers have been [as of late] and are going to continue to be the kryptonite of the Tiger's, especially in the playoffs.

Phil Choke [I mean Coke]

Back to the beer

While Valverde caved under pressure in the playoffs, I did only what any other heartbroken Tiger's fan would have done-I drank. I sat on the couch drinking one of the last summer beers I could get my hands onto -Atwater's Dirty Blonde Ale. Atwater Dirty Blonde Ale was one of those ales that I remember being bland. It's like Atwater is trying to mass produce their beers and steer away from the true heart of craft brewing -beer taste. On my phone I keep a sort of journal to record my musings on different craft beers which I try, looking back on Atwater's Dirty Blonde this is what I had written down

Atwater's Dirty Blonde

[1] Clear yellow body

[2] Citrus smell

[3] It combines nicely and has a sweet aftertaste and finish

[4] A smooth and sort of creamy beer

Overall Dirty Blonde isn't that bad, but it isn't that great either. It's one of those beers that lies in the middle, it isn't as bad as mass produced beers but it feels like it lacks the handmade quality of good craft beers. It's one of those beers that I just find it hard to rave about.

History Lesson

 Atwater Brewing was founded in 1997 with the sole purpose of carrying on the rich history of breweries in Detroit [Stroh's anyone?]. Atwater uses a traditional style of German brewing operating on a Kasper Schultz brewing system. They bought the system itself from a company in Germany and use German malts and hops for their traditional style lagers while their specialty beers use American hops.

Atwater's current owner Mark Reith started investing in Atwater in 2002 and by 2005 he owned the company outright. With his ownership he brought a vision of producing the highest quality beers while putting Detroit back on the national brewery map [didn't I say something about Dirty Blonde Ale feeling more like a mass produced beer than a quality craft brew?].

Atwater currently produces 19 different beers, 8 are year round,  6 are seasonal and 5 are single batch series. The beers Atwater produces are as follows:

Year Round

[1] Atwater Dirty Blonde

[2] Atwater Vanilla Java Porter

[3] Atwater Decadent Dark Chocolate Ale

[4] Atwater Detroit Pale Ale

[5] Atwater D-Light

[6] Atwater Grand Circus IPA

[7] Atwater Purple Gang Pilsner

[8] Atwater Voodoo Vator

Seasonal

[9] Atwater Bloktober

[10] Atwater Cherry Stout

[11] Atwater Mai-Bock

[12] Atwater Summer Time Ale

[13] Atwater Traverse City Cherry Wheat

[14] Atwater Winter Bock

Single Back Series

[15] Atwater Conniption Fit

[16] Atwater Shaman's Porter

[17] Atwater Teufel Bock

[18] Atwater Uber Ursa Imperial Pils

[19] Atwater VJ Black

One Final Note

Atwater seems to be another big brewery that tries to mass produce its "crafts" and in doing so they lack in true quality of craft. The Tigers also lost a close on in Game 3 of the ACLS with Mike Napoli hitting a solo shot in the seventh. Thank goodness it's a seven game series otherwise I'd start to worry. I still think the Tigers have the stuff to go all the way to the World series [again] but I still strongly believe that their bullpen is going to be the reason that they don't win it all [unfortunately]. 

03-26-13

I wrote this post on March 26th on a blog [I quickly gave up on] the link is here, it seemed like a good idea at the time:

http://chinmusicdotme.wordpress.com/

15 reasons the Tigers will win the World Series

I’ve spent my entire life as a Tigers fan. I grew up wearing a Cecil Fielder jersey. Through the ups and downs I’ve  rooted for them as much as I root for the ever struggling Lions. Even through the Fall of Jose Valverde I stayed on his bandwagon.

Even after being swept by the Giants in 4 last year’s World Series here are 15 reasons the Tigerswill win it all this season.

1. The Tigers have made back to back ACLS appearances, falling short in 2011 and winning in 2012. This was a first in franchise history2.  Since 2006 The Tigers have had 3 playoff appearances,  with 2 resulting in World Series appearances.

2.  At the all star break in 2012 the Tigers were 3 games under .500. Whenever the Tigers have trailed for the division lead at the break, they’ve gone on to make a playoff berth.

3.  Off-season acquisitions. The Tigers acquired OF Torii Hunter in the offseason, as well signed Anibal Sanchez to a 5 year/$80 million deal and catcher Brayan Pena to a one year deal.

4. Pitching.  The Tigers finished the 2012 ranked 3rd in the AL in pitching behind Tampa Bay and Oakland.  They posted an ERA of 3.75 and a batting average of .256.  The rotation has 5 strong pitchers in Verlander, Sanchez, Scherzer, Fister and Smyly.  While its rumored that Rick Porcello could be traded, he may have a break out year if the Tigers elect to not trade him.

5.  Justin Verlander. Since his MVP title in 2011 he leads the MLB in innings (489 1/3), wins (41), strikeouts (489), ERA+ (166), and opponent batting average (.205).  He is second only to Clayton Kershaw in ERA (2.52) and OPS (.578).  No pitcher works harder than Justin Verlander.  During the past 5 seasons no pitcher has made more starts (168) or averaged more pitches per start (112.6). Also his number of innings pitched (1203 1/3) ranks second only to CC Sabathia. A 2011 AL CY Young winner, he finished second in votes for 2012.  In 2012 he was ranked first (in the AL) in IP (238.1), SO (239), and CG (6). He was ranked second in ERA (2.64) and WHIP (1.06), 4th  in  W (17) his weakest ranking was 5th at W% (.680)

6. Victor Martinez. Even with the addition  of power hitting Prince Fielder in the lineup, the Tigers had a lower BA in 2012 (.268) then in 2011 (.277) when Martinez was in the lineup.

7. Torii Hunter. He replaces Delmon Young, let’s be fair though, Young has always played great against the Yankees, he even hit .313 with a .907 OPS last offseason. However, Hunter is clearly better overall. Last season he hit .313 with an .817 OPS. Far better than Young’s .267 and .707 OPS regular season stats. Young was generally in the lineup because he fared well against lefties, batting .308 with an .833 OPS,  7 home runs and 26 RBI. However, once again Hunter fares better against lefties, batting .340 with  an .868 OPS, 4 homers and 14 RBI. Not to mention on the field Hunter is a 4x all-star, has won 9 consecutive golden gloves and a silver slugger award.

8.  Closers. While the Tigers haven’t solidified the closer role, they have Coke, Rondon, Benoit and Albuquerque as strong relievers.  With Valverde no longer on the roster the Tigers should take a chance in giving someone like Brian Wilson a one year contract to strengthen arguably the weakest part of their roster. Rookie Rondon throws a fastball that sits in the upper 90s to lower 100s range, and arguably could become the next Craig Kimbrel if he were to strengthen one of his off speed pitches, not only in velocity but in its control

9.  Prince Fielder.  Of hitters who had at least a 10% walk rate, there were only 2 hitters in baseball that had a better walk rate than strikeout rate- Joe Mauer and Prince Fielder. He’s missed one game the last 4 years…ONE GAME. While it could be argued he is prone to some sort of injury, the man shows up to play. His .951 OPS in the past four seasons ranks 4th best in the majors.

10.  Miguel Cabrera. The first triple crown winner in 45 years. He’s had 9 straight years with at least 100 RBI. He’s a 7 time all star, and has placed in the top 5 for AL MVP votes in the last 4 seasons. He’s posted 30 home runs in at least 8 different seasons.  He also has a lifetime batting average of .318

11. Max Scherzer. He finished the season second in strikeouts in the AL (231) behind teammate Justin Verlander. He led the AL in strikeout rate (11.1 per 9 innings). He also finished the 2012 season with career high wins (16) and win percentage (.696).

12. Austin Jackson. In  2012 he won the Wilson Defensive Player of the Year Award,  he also finished the season ranked 5th in R (with 103). He had career high walk (10.9%0 and strikeout (career-low 21.7%) rates. He hit his first .300 season, drove in 103 runs scored and had a .377 on-base percentage.

13. All-stars: The Tigers sent 3 to the All -Star game last year and added Torri Hunter into the mix who is a 4 time all-star himself.

14.  Back to Back AL MVPs in Justin Verlander and Miguel Cabrera.  In the last 4 seasons both have been in the top 5 for AL MVP in votes.

15. Jim Leyland. As a manager he has 6 Pennants and 2 World Series Title. He also has been manager of the year 3 times.