Tigers Stuck in a Web of Defeat

As the Detroit Tigers spent another week reeling -- if that’s a strong enough word for an 0-6 trip to Toronto and New York -- toward an infamous destination of 120 losses and the New York Mets’ 1962 record for ineptitude, catcher Brandon Inge was quoted as saying, “Everyone is numb to it. No one wants to hear about it anymore.”

Unfortunately, it’s everywhere. Even on the Internet, where Stephen T. Tremp, transplanted from Motown to Southern California and distraught over the demise of his beloved team under owner Michael Ilitch, has created a Web site called GROIN -- not to be confused with the groans the Tigers normally produce.

GROIN stands for Get Rid Of Ilitch Now.

Or as Tremp explains on the site:

“This site is composed by dedicated people who love the Detroit Tigers but are opposed to the neglect being shown by, and the direction of this team under Michael Ilitch.”

The Tigers haven’t had a winning season in a decade, and that probably can’t be narrowed to the owner’s neglect or a series of bad trades and signings by a series of general managers or a succession of bad drafts and developments.

The one certainty is that 2003 is what it is, a season seemingly without progress from April to September, although President and General Manager Dave Dombrowski disputed that when reached by phone.

Asked if there had been positives, Dombrowski cited the professionalism by undaunted Manager Alan Trammell and his staff, and the development of several young hitters, in particular, who were asked to carry more of the load than they should have in a lineup without much veteran production.

“There’s a guy like Eric Munson, who made the transition [from catcher] to third base and has hit 18 home runs and would have more than 20 if he hadn’t [broken a thumb],” Dombrowski said. “You look at a guy like Craig Monroe, who has 19 home runs as a rookie, and a Carlos Pena with 17 in his first full season. They’ve shown ability, but they’re counted on to do more than should be expected at this stage of their careers.”

So where do the Tigers go from here?

Dombrowski said there were arms in the system, talent at the lower levels and that he would be freed of some unproductive contracts this winter and next.

“I think all of us knew it would be a difficult year,” he said. “We didn’t know it would be quite this difficult, but we were breaking in a lot of young players and we knew it would be tough.

“I think the important thing is that Tram and his staff have set a foundation, and that was pivotal for us going forward.”

Veteran Dmitri Young has said that the Tiger clubhouse is not the “psychiatric ward” some have portrayed it to be, but the depth of that pivotal foundation is difficult to measure under the siege of losses.

The Mets were an expansion team in 1962. The Tigers have a proud history that continues to be soiled.

However, Web author Tremp might remember what Casey Stengel theorized about that ’62 season as the Met manager.

“Without losers,” Casey said, “where would the winners be?”

The Spice Boys

Florida Marlin Manager Jack McKeon and Philadelphia Phillie Manager Larry Bowa have a history. McKeon was the San Diego Padre general manager when Bowa was fired as the team’s manager in 1988 and replaced by ... McKeon. The latter has always pointed out that he was the man who hired Bowa in the first place and that it was decided by then-club president Chub Feeney to fire him.

Whether any of that played into a bit of verbal byplay between McKeon and Bowa the other day isn’t clear, but the rhetoric probably will enliven what was already going to be an emotional three-game series involving the wild-card contenders starting Tuesday in Philadelphia.

The exchange started with McKeon talking about the pressure of the title race and then, in apparent reference to Bowa’s explosive personality and recent outbursts, suggesting to a reporter from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel that a manager can’t let himself panic as Bowa does.

“This is when you have to temper it,” McKeon said. “You can’t get excited ... you can’t panic. That’s what you see when you get in a situation like this, it’s the thing you see in Philadelphia, Bowa panicking.”

Responded Bowa, clearly agitated, despite insisting that he wasn’t, “It’s not important. I don’t worry about it. I know what I’m about, and [GM] Ed Wade knows what I’m about. I don’t care about the Florida Marlins.... If they’re worried about other teams, they have problems.”

Say What?

If Clint Hurdle wasn’t suggesting to Larry Walker that he should think about retiring, as the Colorado manager insisted he wasn’t during their private meeting Wednesday night, he certainly was suggesting to the National League’s MVP of 1997 that he was at a crossroads and should think about what direction he wanted to head.

“Larry needs to go to a quiet place and reflect and decide what he wants to do with his athletic career and the rest of his life,” Hurdle told Denver reporters. “He holds himself accountable to a high playing level, and when he doesn’t perform at that level, he is frustrated.

“That being said, if he is not able to get himself to that level, he has to decide if it is worth it to get himself in shape. Once he makes the decision, he needs to stick to it and commit to it.”

In a development underscoring how the inmates tend to run the asylum, Walker and Matt Williams each rejected an off-season trade that would have provided them with a change of venue.

The unproductive Williams was ultimately released by the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Walker, at 36 and owed $25 million through 2005, has had his most disappointing season. He began the weekend with 13 homers and 69 RBIs, playing half his games in Coors Field, and Hurdle seemed to point to his off-season conditioning.

“If he comes back to play, he needs to be in shape and, hopefully, revisit some of the years he’s had in the past,” Hurdle said.

If he comes back to play?

“That didn’t come from me,” Walker said. “I’ve got no idea why that would even be brought up.”

Tony Award

His gamesmanship and sometimes haughty persona -- the lawyer who knows a little more than his counterpart in the other dugout -- has been known at times to irritate his counterparts, but there is no diminishing Tony La Russa’s accomplishments.

The St. Louis Cardinal manager has won four manager-of-the-year awards, eight division titles with three teams and the 1989 World Series with the Oakland A’s. On Wednesday night, he became only the eighth manager to have won 2,000 games.

That’s a level not reached by Miller Huggins, Tom Lasorda, Dick Williams, Gene Mauch, Danny Murtaugh and Al Lopez, among others. Of La Russa’s current peers, only Bobby Cox and Joe Torre realistically project to 2,000.

There is speculation that La Russa’s welcome mat in St. Louis is wearing thin, but he probably will return in 2004 for the last year of his contract.

With 2,000 wins and counting, the losses hit even harder.

“As you have more years, you feel the performances a little deeper,” he said. “After knowing what it feels like to win, the losing is tougher to accept. The bottom line in this league, you either get it done or you don’t.”