Friday, June 16, 2006

SeriesPreview: Tigers @ Cubs June 16-18


The "old English D" is coming to town. The Detroit Tigers who have found new hope and life with Jim Leyland and Dave Dombrowski are gonna show off their arms to the Chicago Cubs this weekend. But before we talk about the present let's take a quick look at the past. The Tigers are an AL team that actually has some history with the Cubs that's worth talking about.

The teams played each other in the 1907 World Series. The Cubs won that series four games to none (and there was a tie). '07 marked the Cubs first World Series title. Both squads would defend their pennants in a fiercely contested 1908 season. They would meet again in the 1908 World Series. The series would again take 5 games and the Cubs would take it 4 games to 1. As all of you know, 1908 would be the Cubs last World Series title.

The Cubs had great teams in the late 20's and throughout the 30's. In 1935 the Cubs won the NL Pennants, as they did every 3 seasons back in those days. This Cub team featured an 18 year old first baseman from Chicago named Phil Cavaretta. The Cubs again met the Tigers in the 1935 World Series. That year the Tigers would prevail 4 games to 2.

With World War II coming to an end, the 1945 season saw many players return from military service. One of the players the Tigers saw come back was Hall of Famer Hank Greenberg. In the 1945 World Series Hammerin' Hank led the Tigers offense. He hit 2 homeruns and had an OPS od 1.163. Still, the Cubs had a chance. Due to the war restrictions the series went 3 games at Tiger Stadium, 4 games at Wrigley Field. The Cubs actually took 2 of 3 in Detroit. They simply had to win 2 games in Chicago to close it out. Well, you know the rest.

In 1984 many of us were dreaming that we would see the Cubs and the Tigers battle in their fifth World Series. Steve Garvey and Leon Durham made sure that wouldn't be possible. Still for just a moment it seemed like the two historic franchises were bound to face each other again.

So in 2006 the Cubs and Tigers meet in interleague play. For some reason it lacks the luster of the four meetings discussed above. Here are the matchups and all the other stuff:

Pitching matchups and media info:
Friday 1:20 ct
Glendo Rusch(2-6, 7.29) vs. Nate Robertson(6-3, 3.50)
TV-WGN
Radio- WGN Radio-720 AM; XM-180

Saturday 3:05 ct
Carlos Marmol(1-0, 0.90) vs. Justin Verlander(7-4, 3.32)
TV-CSN Chicago
Radio- WGN Radio-720-AM; XM-180

Sunday 1:20 ct
Sean Marshall(3-5, 4.82) or maybe the guy on the White Horse(0-0, 0.00) vs. Kenny Rogers(9-3, 3.25)
TV-WGN
Radio- WGN Radio-720 AM; XM-180



BTW: Z's arm feels heavy, according to Bruce Miles.

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