Tigers Far From Being Out of Woods

The Detroit Tigers ended an eight-game losing streak Tuesday night at Edison Field, but make no mistake: One win or even two isn’t going to stop people from wondering if the Tigers haven’t rolled another Edsel off the Motor City assembly line.

In a long and painful rebuilding process since winning their last division title under Sparky Anderson in 1987, the Tigers have finished better than .500 only three times and twice lost more than 100 games.

They opened the 1998 season with a 3-17 record on their way to 97 losses, lost 92 last year and faced the Angels on Wednesday night with a 5-14 record, baseball’s worst.

New Manager Phil Garner called it a disaster.

“Pitching, hitting, defense,” Garner spat at Edison Field.

“The only area that hasn’t been a problem is baserunning, and that’s only because we haven’t had many baserunners.”

Garner knows disasters.

After all, he managed Bud Selig’s underfinanced and undermanned Milwaukee Brewers for eight seasons.

And in 1992, his Houston home was destroyed by fire, which would have been a real disaster if a passing police officer hadn’t noticed the flames, crashed through the front door and helped evacuate Garner and his sleeping family.

“Sometimes we have a guardian angel,” he said. “I just wish that angel would show up again. We could use a little divine intervention here.”

Garner would settle for a clutch hit or complete game.

In the eight-game losing streak, the Tigers set a one-season franchise record by giving up seven or more runs in all eight games.

No surprise, wrote longtime Detroit columnist Joe Falls in the harshest blast, because the Tigers are “a team of losers.”

Falls absolved Garner, Juan Gonzalez and Dean Palmer, but asked:

What has the rest of the Tiger cast ever done?

Legitimate question, although Garner had predicted in the spring that this cast would be good enough to contend in the American League Central and was better, in fact, than the dominant Cleveland Indians.

“I’ve had to eat some crow, and I don’t like the taste,” he said. “It’s been discouraging, but it’s still early. You never like to have a rotten run like this, but it’s better to have it at the start when you have the rest of the season to recover.”

Garner agreed to a four-year contract as Larry Parrish’s successor because he felt the Tigers, despite 189 losses the last two seasons, had potential and the opening of Comerica Park would provide added revenue to restock the team.

Things could get worse before they get better, though, at least from a manpower standpoint.

Several players are expected to be suspended after Saturday’s brawl with the Chicago White Sox, disassembling a lineup that played together for only the second time Tuesday night when second baseman Damion Easley returned from the disabled list and Tony Clark (.125) and Luis Polonia (.179) were provided another chance to cure their ailing bats.

While some felt, at least, that the brawl enhanced Tiger togetherness, veteran Gregg Jefferies took a dim view.

“We can be buddies in the cellar,” he told Danny Knobler of Booth News Service. “I’d rather be enemies in first place.

“You talk about momentum, about bringing a team together, all that garbage. If you don’t win, it doesn’t mean anything.”

The manager has kicked rears and patted backs.

As a player, Garner was a gamer known as Scrap Iron.

He once traded punches with Dodger teammate Mike Marshall, believing the big first baseman was malingering.

He won’t go down without a fight now, but it is illustrative of the frustration level with a team that is last in the league in virtually every offensive category and was hitting .173 with runners in scoring position that Garner and coaches Bill Madlock and Doug Masolino were ejected from a 10-4 loss Monday night at Anaheim.

Said Garner later:

“I’m pretty much at wit’s end. My job is to keep them positive, but I’m tired of arguing, tired of screaming.

“I’ve never experienced a tougher stretch with a mature team. The Brewers were a lot younger.”

With their new park, the Tigers have much at stake.

The stumbling start threatens midsummer attendance (the team sold out only opening day on their first home stand), and Gonzalez could become a season-long distraction.

Acquired in a nine-player trade with Texas as a star for the Comerica marquee and reportedly offered a $140-million contract, Gonzalez has already been the focus of considerable consternation.

Is he unhappy with the spacious dimensions at Comerica and lack of lineup protection?

Would the Tigers adjust the dimensions if he commits long term?

Has he already told players that he has no intention of signing with the Tigers, a report Gonzalez and the Tigers strongly dismissed last week?

It’s early, of course, but many in baseball believe Gonzalez, who is also struggling with three homers, six RBIs and a .261 average, would be smart to take the $140 million because it is doubtful he will be offered that much as a free agent next winter.

The Tigers, in turn, will be roasted if Gonzalez leaves and they get only draft choices for a player who cost them outfielder Gabe Kapler, pitcher Justin Thompson and four others.

He is clearly on management’s mind.

Publicist Jim Anderson got off an elevator in Chicago on Saturday and was greeted by pitcher Jim Poole.

“Did you hear that they came in and took Gonzalez?” asked Poole.

“Juan?” replied a stunned Anderson.

“No, Elian,” Poole said.

Mistaken identity has been a problem during a rebuilding process aimed at re-arming.

Of the seven pitchers selected in the first round of the nine June drafts since 1991, only three remain in the organization and only two--Jeff Weaver and Matt Anderson--are on the current staff, of which a resilient Hideo Nomo is the ace, so to speak.

Similarly, only three members of the regular lineup came out of the Tiger system.

Said Hall of Fame broadcaster Ernie Harwell:

“It’s a shame, but the construction of the team didn’t keep up with the construction of the ballpark.”

Finances have been a factor. So has the occasional intrusion of owner and pizza baron Mike Ilitch, apparently thinking the success of his hockey Red Wings translates to baseball expertise.

Randy Smith, in his fifth year as Tiger general manager and on a hot seat with the Gonzalez deal and other moves, insists the foundation was in place for an improved season of .500 or better with a lineup that includes four all-stars but has been together for only those two games through Tuesday.

“I still think this is a team capable of taking a significant step forward,” Smith said. “Maybe not to take on Cleveland or reach the playoffs, but with Gonzalez to be on the plus side of .500. We haven’t played well, that’s obvious. We need to turn it around and fast, but if this was football we’d be only in the fourth quarter of our second game. Hopefully, we can collect our lineup and make a move.”

In the meantime, he continues to preach patience, asking increasingly skeptical Detroit fans to look to the future.

In a city that knows lemons, it has become an increasingly sour pitch.