a notice

Regular (or something more closely approximating ‘regular’) posting will resume once grad school stops being so grad school and Boston stops being so, you know, bombed.

Deep breaths, watch the Tigers.

the latest in RotT BlogNews

Just a couple of things Roar of the Tigers had been up to lately out there in the vast reaches of the Internet.

Thing the First:

Old Time Family Baseball has been running a blogathon. He blogged for 24 hours straight yesterday, and today has turned the site over to a series of guest posts so he can get some sleep.

The point? To fill the Tumblrs with all manner of baseball facts, fictions, weirdnesses and wonders. Also, to raise money for Doctors Without Borders, a cause arguably more important than, say, love poems about Vin Scully. If you haven’t already, you should totally go give them some money.

I will have a guest post going live there at some point today. The image up top is a little preview. You can keep an eye on OTFB, or just wait until I see it post and update this post with a direct link, but either way, seriously– go help make this baseball blogathon a thing of success and beauty.

ETA: Here’s the post! Go look, go donate!

Thing the Second:

The Society for American Baseball Research (which most of you may know as SABR) has an ongoing Baseball Biography Project. A while back, one of their biographers got in touch with me because of an image he had seen on this very website. He liked it so much, for some unspeakably deranged reason, that he wanted to use it for the SABR profile of that player.

And now the Roar of the Tigers touch shall forever be upon the history of LimaTime.

Paws help us all.

eta: Thing the Third:

Joel Zumaya has signed a deal with the Twinkies. As Jason Beck correctly points out, Target Field was where he threw the pitch that broke his arm and murdered his Tigers career once and for all. Fun memories, I’m sure!

Given the amount of time and hope the Tigers invested in him, it would be difficult to see Zoom come back 100%, or even 90%, with Minnesota. But we should remember that Zoom staying healthy for a full season now is about as likely as the life of a mayfly is long.

welcome to the new home of RotT

illustration by Samara Pearlstein

Have a click to see the Floating Head Raft of Tigers bigger!

Well, hello again! Hopefully you’ll find this new blog home just as good as the old home, if not better. I’ve done my best to get all the archives back in place, and I’m in the process of going back through them and making sure that the formatting is fixed and old links are redirected and all that jazz.

The categories should all still be working, so if you want to look at all the posts about Chad Durbin being a pimp or posts in which Rod Allen says something ridiculous/awesome or whatever, you can do that.

As you can see at the top of the blog, I have a “Nicknames and Terms to Know” section here… can you cats think of any RotT nicknames or weird terms that newcomers may not know right off the bat? I’ve been trying to plug them in as I think of them/come across them while going through the archives, but I’m sure I’m going to miss some.

Other Tiger Blog News:

–Matt of Take 75 North is obviously moving as well. I believe he’s heading over to the Bloguin network, where the Wayne Fontes Experience currently lives. I think his new address will be t75n.com, but it’s not active yet.

–Ian of Bless You Boys will be stepping down as the head blogger, although I believe he’ll be remaining involved in a reduced capacity. Much wailing and rending of hair and whatnot. Taking over the reins there will be Kurt of Mack Avenue Tigers, so at least the site will remain in the hands of someone we know.

programming note

photo by Samara Pearlstein

WBC ’09 Liveblog List o’ Wonder

– China/Japan (complete)
– Chinese Taipei/Korea (complete)
–Japan/Korea (complete)
–Canada/USA (complete)
–China/Korea (complete)
–South Africa/Cuba (complete)
–Korea/Japan Pool A final (complete)
–Italy/Venezuela (complete)
–USA/Venezuela Pool C final (complete)
–Pool 1 Cuba/Japan (complete)
–Pool 2 Venezuela/Puerto Rico (complete)
–Pool 1 Korea/Japan (complete)
–Pool 1 Japan/Cuba (complete)
–WBC semifinal USA/Japan (complete)
–WBC final!! Japan/Korea (complete)

—-
Just a quick fyi to say that there will be a Chinese Taipei/Korea liveblog over here. It’ll be rolling from 4:30 am Friday until whenever the game is over, and the transcript will be available for readin’ thereafter.

I’m not expecting any of you lot to be awake and chiming in (although if you are, feel free to say hi), but I get a kick out of these things, and they enhance my already ridiculous enjoyment of WBC games by increasing my awareness of the absurd minutiae, if you had read the first one by now you would know what I mean. I mean, ahem, cough, I’m just saying.

I will update the list above if/when I do more of them to let you know and to provide links to the liveblogs/transcripts. Links for the newest upcoming liveblogs should go live sometime the night before the game, except when I have more than one scheduled for the same day, at which point the link for the newest one will go up when the previous game has ended.

new and… kind of shiny

photo by Samara Pearlstein

Well, kids and kittens, here we are. The new MVN. There are still some kinks: posts and comments from the last few days are being migrated over later this week, some features are still not quite operational, etc. But hopefully the big things are here, i.e. the posts, and you, and me, and the Spazzosaurus.

As you have hopefully noticed, the new RotT address is mvn.com/roarofthetigers and the old address will NOT redirect you here, so you will have to update your links. Boo, hiss, etc. It is just how things have to be.

The comic is coming along– I’m working on slightly larger board than the intro ‘issue’, so it takes a bit longer to ink, but I think the end result will be worth it. If you’re really bored and want to see what I’ve been up to lately, you can check out my photos from Game 4 of the ALCS and this BCRS post about Game 5 of the ALCS. Photos from Game 5 (oh yes, I was there) are coming eventually, but I’ve still got to process ‘em all.

Here’s hoping you guys are all seeing this page and post A-OK.

ETA: If you’re on Livejournal, offspeed has awesometastically set up a syndicated feed you can use to follow RotT right over here. If you want the straight-up RSS feed, it’s over here.

important RotT notice

photo by Samara Pearlstein

OK, first off, the next installment (episode? issue?) of The Season of Much Woe comic is being worked on: I’ve got a couple pages inked and a few more already laid out, and I’m debating whether I should post it without colors or not. The story is very exciting, with lots of standing around and talking and also monsters and shooting. So that will be up relatively soon.

But this is mostly just to let you guys know that the long-awaited MVN platform change should be happening soon. It’s supposed to be done by October 15. Now, I know we tried this once before already, but this time it ought to be FOR REAL, YO. We are not expecting any downtime on the site.

There are going to be a number of changes to MVN itself, but what will this mean for RotT? The site’s gonna look different, for one thing; I believe column width will be greater, making it possible for me to post wider and thus infinitely more obnoxious images, and there should be a little more in the way of team-specific colors instead of all this gray. But the most important thing to note is that

THE ROAR OF THE TIGERS ADDRESS WILL BE CHANGING.

I repeat: the RotT web address WILL BE CHANGING. Links pointing to this address will no longer direct you to RotT! If you go to the current mvn.com/mlb-tigers address, you will get something, but IT WILL NOT BE ROAR OF THE TIGERS. This has not been explained to me with 110% clarity, but I believe at this address you will instead get a space including everything posted anywhere on MVN that pertains to the Tigers – a MVN Tigers content round-up page, if you will. Roar of the Tigers SHOULD be accessible somewhere on that page, i.e. I have been led to believe that there will be a link from there, so on the Day of Reckoning you should be able to find RotT’s new address with just one additional click.

Now, I THINK the RotT new address will be mvn.com/roarofthetigers but I am NOT positive on that. I can email you as soon as I know the new address; you can either comment on this post (in which case I can see your email) saying you’d like to be notified, or you can email me at bluecatsredsox at gmail dot com saying you’d like to be notified. Or you can just wait ’til October 15 and find the new address on your own. Again, I have been led to believe that this will not be too difficult, but I’m not really sure what the new page at this address is going to look like, so who knows.

If you watch this page via RSS feed, that will also be changing. I will try to let you guys know where to find the new feed as soon as I know.

IF YOUR WEBSITE/BLOG LINKS TO ROAR OF THE TIGERS, I REPEAT, THE CURRENT ADDRESS WILL NO LONGER DIRECT YOU TO ROAR OF THE TIGERS AFTER OCTOBER 15. PLZ BE PREPARED TO UPDATE YOUR MAD CRAZY LINKZ AFTER THAT DATE. I know this is a pain in the stripey tail and I am not particularly happy about it myself, but it is apparently the Only Way this particular platform change could go.

So that’s your heads up. I’m not planning to change content at all, or to let any of these shenanigans slow down the comics – they’ll be posted as they’re finished, whenever that may be, without regard for the change-over. Get ready to be alert around the 15th, and you can join me in hoping that the new MVN won’t suck.

moving day

illustration by Samara Pearlstein

Quick note to let you guys know that MVN will be down from around 9 am Saturday to 6 am Tuesday (eastern time zone, I think). They’re moving us to shiny new places with shiny new formats. Hopefully everything will be pretty and functional once we get there.

So do not panic! Roar of the Tigers shall return after the holiday weekend.

If you do not understand the panda, please refer to the previous post. :)

quick RotT programming note

Hey kids and kittens, we’re having some internet problems here at RotT headquarters, in the sense that there isn’t any. Internet, I mean. I’m currently, er, borrowing from a friendly neighbor but past experience tells me that this connection is pretty spotty. I’m going to do what I can to keep things rolling, but if I don’t update about a game or two, well, that’d be why.

The moral of this story is that Comcast, as a collective entity, needs to be taken out back and shot. I could regale you all with stories about the multitude of problems I have had with them, in various locations, but quite frankly that would turn into a blog post so long that no one would want to read it. The latest and most hilarious development involves a lack of technician attention until at least Wednesday, unless we want to go to the nearest service center… which apparently does not have a phone, so we can’t call them and figure out exactly where they are. I could not make this stuff up if I tried.

As I quietly and not-so-quietly seethe at the festering mass of incompetence that is Comcast, I invite you to reflect upon the struggles of Edgar Renteria and his Amazing Disappearing Bat. I hesitate to call it expected, but as someone who also follows the Red Sox, it does look like Edgah’s engaging in an AWFULLY familiar sort of struggle…

perplexing Tigers behavior continues, but this time we are happily perplexed

photo illustration by Samara Pearlstein

So the offense decided to come out to play today. They scored a grand total of ZERO runs on Friday and a grand total of NINETEEN runs on Saturday. Is Boof Bonser really that much worse of a pitcher than Kevin Slowey? Going into his Tigers game, Slowey had a 5.49 ERA. Bonser had a 5.25 ERA before his game.

Obviously they’ve since gone in divergent directions, and ERA is such a coarse way of looking at a pitcher, but it is still mind-boggling that the Tigers can look like two COMPLETELY different teams against two not-overly-dissimilar pitchers. I mean, they made Slowey look like an All Star out there, and they made Boof look like an oversized little leaguer.

If I think too closely about this I suspect that my brain will simply explode, so I’m just going to accept this game as a little present and leave it at that.

Magglio went 3-for-3 with 4 runs scored, a walk, and 6 RBI. He hit two home runs. He is eating Boof Bonser up there at the top of the post because, seriously, LOOK AT THAT. Who hits like that? WHO ACTUALLY HITS LIKE THAT? Magglio freakin’ Ordonez hits like that, kids and kittens. Look upon his mighty hair and weep.

(Also, he seems to be starting a mustache. This is not quite so horrifying on him as it was on Bondo, but I do fear that if he actually grows the mustache out and keeps his hair like it is now, he’s going to look an AWFUL lot like a French musketeer. Which is fine, if that’s the look he’s going for, but I just don’t know that it is.)

It also seems worth pointing out that Polanco has somehow dragged his line back up to .294/.361/.405. I think he was batting .247 at the end of April. This is just Placido doing what he does, but there were people expressing concern about his ability to hit now that he’s a whole friggin’ season older, so I’m just sayin’. Look upon his mighty cranium and weep.

Nate gave us a solid start, and Aquilino looked good for 2.2 innings. It’s not like they had much stress hanging over their heads once the offense got going. Even after the Twins had 3 runs on the board, that was still a 16-run cushion for most of the game, as the Tigers stopped bothering to score after the 5th. Which is a little disturbing, but NO, I will NOT think about it, no need for head ‘splodey. I merely point it out.

Oh hey, exciting new blog feature! (note: blog feature not actually all that exciting) We have a FAQ section now! You can see it in that top row where the tags and links sections are, or you can just click this if you want. I think I covered all the most frequently asked questions, but if there’s something that you think should be in there that I’ve missed, PLEASE let me know.

Sunday Verlander’s up against some lifelong Minnesotan named Glen in a game that I will probably listen to on the radio because it’s in the middle of the day and we need to go buy shrubbery. GO TEAM!

bonked on the head by the sinker of Fausto Carmona

photo illustration by Samara Pearlstein

Urgh. Not a good series, even worse because it was against THE big rival right now. Taking our division lead from us…. *grumble grumble grumble*. Remember the days when the AL Central was kind of a joke? Where are those halcyon days? Why can’t we get them back?

I shouldn’t complain. After all, the division being good includes us. We could be the Royals… futile as ever AND stuck in a division suddenly everyone’s afraid to play.

See, now I’ve gone and mentioned the Royals, and everything I was going to complain about in today’s game, and in this series, suddenly seems so inconsequential.

From this game, the good:

–Exceptional Mental Makeup Mike Maroth displaying his EMM once again, having a TERRIBLE first inning (4 runs immediately, blargh) and more or less kicking rear for another 7 innings, thus saving us from having to use the tissue-thin bullpen.

–Brandon Inge breaking up his hitless streak with a double.

–Quote of the day, from umpire Bruce Froemming, the longest-tenured ump in MLB today (I think).

Froemming: “Do you know how good my eyes are?”
Young ump: “How good are they?”
Froemming: “On a clear day, I can see the sun. It’s 93 million miles away, and I can still see it.”

Good job Bruce Froemming. Although the distance of the earth from the sun varies over the course of its orbit, it is in fact generally between 91 and 95 million miles away. Good on him for knowing his astronomy.

Random trivia fact: I was at Bruce Froemming’s 5000th game, as it was in Fenway.

From this game, the bad:

–Losing to the Racist Logos.

–Compounding the slide down out of first place.

–Ryan Garko (went into what he did yesterday in the previous post. Today he homered in 3 runs in the first).

–Failing to reward Maroth’s EMM.

–9 men left on base.

–We have to face the Racist Logos again soon… and next time, in their house. Oy.

That’s a lot of bad, and it’s substantially worse than the good… but like I just said, when you think about the Royals, it’s hard to feel as terrible as you otherwise might. Be cheered, Detroit fans!

Fabulous news for people who want to delve further into the depths of my insanity!
[NOTE FROM THE FUTURE: all the links in here died with MVN. Sorry. Sucks.]

Some of you may already be aware of The Last Page. It’s MVN’s space for writers to post “feature-length” articles, as opposed to short little things like we throw up on the blogs.

I had been telling the General MVN Overlord, Evan, about my senior thesis project. He was fascinated/horrified by it, and immediately said that I should do a write-up of it for The Last Page. I figured it would be a nice little exercise in recapping the madness for me when the whole thing was done, and agreed.
Then The Last Page started up for real… and I read the essays people posted. Essays about drug use in sports. About free agency. About new hockey rules. Serious essays, written seriously.

O HAI GUYZ I HAVE A ART PROJEKT ITS ABOUT BEETLEZ AN BASEBALLZ HAR HAR U WANNA SEE??

Nobody’s going to read it. It’s long, it’s about a freakin’ art project, and it’s bizarre to the max, and makes me look even more psychotic than THIS blog does.

That said, if anyone DOES want to read it, the permalink is right thisaway. Feel free to comment. I’ve had lots of feedback on this project from artists, and almost none from baseball fans.
*shamelessly plugs*