I call DIBS on that Tiger!

Because one Tigers blogger is not nearly enough, we have joined terrifyingly awesome forces to bring you, the unsuspecting reader, a conglomeration of Detroit-ly themed writing goodness, otherwise known as

Fear our might!

DIBS sites include the following:

– TigerBlog
– Tigers Central
– the Detroit Tiger Weblog
– Motown Sports Revival
– The Cheap Seats
– Beyond Boxscores
– Out of Bounds
– Sports Pig (Northern Michigan Detroit Sports Blog)
– Bless You Boys
– Detroit Sports Squad

and of course your very own Roar of the Tigers. You should check out all those guys (and gals? I’m not sure who’s what), though, because you just can’t get enough Detroit sports blogging. Don’t deny, kids. You know you love it.

Anyways, as a mark of the PURE AWESOMENESS and TIGER LOVIN’ SOLIDARITY of DIBS, we (and by ‘we’ I mean ‘three of us‘) had the idea that everyone in DIBS ought to have a vote on the Player of the Year, Pitcher of the Year, and Breakout Player. The results were tabulated by the super magical scientific method of counting, and everyone nodded in agreement. I admit I was a bit surprised about the ultimate Player of the Year winner, but… well, you’ll see.

First, my votes. Plus commentary. Plus photos of the players in question, taken by me, at various games this season, just because. Click the photos for bigger.

TIGER PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Placido Polanco.

Shut up, I know he was only there for a relatively short period of time, but in that period of time… holy cats, was this dude hitting. He injected a little aura of respectability and hope into the team when it seemed like they needed it most (not that it did any good, but STILL), he seemed to get along with most everyone (more than can be said for many Tigers), and he was willing to sign on for future years, which shows either real belief in the team, or immense stupidity and greed. Either way: I LIKE IT. Also, the mystery of his marvellously misshapen cranium gave us something to think about when thinking about the actual team got too painful.

TIGER PITCHER OF THE YEAR: Jamie Walker.

I want to give this one to Bonderman so, so badly, but I just can’t work out what happened to him at the end of the year. All the starters were so horribly inconsistent. I feel stupid voting for a guy who is, basically, a LOOGy, but you know what, tough kittens. On the whole, Walker pitched well this year, and there were several games where I was *so sure* he was going to blow it, and then he didn’t, which is, again, more than can be said for many Tigers this season. Plus he switched to the high stirrup socks at the end of the year, which should be worth at least two votes all on its own.

TIGER BREAKOUT PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Chris Shelton.

Duh. OK, so I kind of wanted to give this to Granderson (you know I heart Curtis Granderson), but when you get right down to it, Shelton was up for longer and made a greater impact on the team. 18 homers in 107 games? Yes, please. Nearly ending the year with a .300 average (.299, that’s just as good in my books)? Hot damn. Having an OBP markedly higher than his batting average, and still slugging well (unheard-of for a Tiger)? Indeed. Being pale and red-headed and with huge staring frog eyes and no chin? Yes plz!

I kid, I kid. Obviously the hottest Tiger is either Brandon Inge or Carlos Pena. But the point is that Big Red’s bat-handling glosses over many things, startling appearance among them.

So that was what I thought. The actual DIBS award winners were as follows.

Player of the Year: Placido Polanco.
Pitcher of the Year: Jeremy Bonderman.
Breakout Player: Chris Shelton.

See, I thought I was weird for picking Plonkers, but it turns out that we’re all just weird in the same way. And I feel even dumber for going with Walker, but… no, you know what? I stand by my hick LOOGy and his goofy ways. But Bondo can feel good…. THE PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN, BONDO! YOU ARE THE COMMON MAN’S CY YOUNG WINNER! As for Big Red, yeah, no surprises there. Our love for him transcends any piddling barriers of socially-accepted norms of beauty or gender.

So I would say that the first year of the DIBS Awards was a resounding internetful success. Bask in the glory of Detroit sports blogging, my friends. The future is now!

And it is tiger-striped.