HUGE AUDIO: DETROIT TIGER JORDY MERCER INTERVIEW
Today on the show we were joined by Detroit Tigers shortstop and second baseman Jordy Mercer. He and Huge discussed...
Today on the show we were joined by Detroit Tigers shortstop and second baseman Jordy Mercer. He and Huge discussed...
Detroit is going HUGE. The HUGE Show, heard on 21 MSN affiliate Michigan radio stations, has added WXYT-AM 1270 of...
Jon Morosi from Fox Sports and the MLB Network joined Huge to talk about if baseball is ready to start...
Superfly Hayes here. Today we were joined by the TV voice of the Detroit Tigers, Matt Shepard. Matt and Huge...
Superfly Hayes here. The Voice of the Tigers Class-A Farm Affiliate the West Michigan Whitecaps, Dan Hasty was on the...
Brett "Superfly" Hayes here. To open the show, Huge discussed the fantastic news from the MLB that baseball WILL be...
Brett "Superfly" Hayes here. Following the rigorous back and forth between the MLB owners and players, Baseball is finally BACK!...
Matt Shepard talks about what he misses on Father's Day, which includes his late father and the game they shared...
Shep likes what the Detroit Tigers managed to do in the MLB Draft the last two nights. He points out...
Huge thinks baseball has taken a huge swing and a miss. Major League Baseball had a chance to be the...
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Usually, I spend my Father's Day at the ballpark or in-studio covering a Tigers game for Fox Sports Detroit. It's one of those holidays that many workers want off to spend with their family, so I gladly take the shift.
It's not that I don't want to spend time at home, it's just that baseball brings me closer to my father even though he hasn't been on this earth since 1985, when I was 19.
Baseball provided a special bond between me and my Dad.
Tiger Stadium was Mecca for us and cheering on the Tigers brought us unified joy.
He coached me and took me to games and we spoke a universal language that included phrases like, \"watch the ball hit the bat,\" and \"watch the ball all the way into your glove,\" and \"a walk's as good as a hit.\"
I miss him.<\/p>\r\n
I miss his stern suggestions and his patriotic views toward his country, family and baseball. His death left me void of needed advice, and it forced me to figure out things on my own. But I always had baseball to bring back fond memories of our time together.
I miss baseball.
I miss the game that provided that comfort and familiarity and that closeness that no other sport created between us.
I tried to pass that on to my boys, but only my oldest, Chad, truly appreciated and embraced the game the way I did. My other kids gravitated toward lacrosse.
I coached Chad when he was little like my Dad did for me when I was young.
Chad was much better than me and I paled in comparison to my father as a coach, but the game helped bring us together. We talk about it all the time.
Like most every Father's Day, I visited my father and talked to him.<\/p>\r\n
<\/p>\r\n
Today, I bragged about his 15 grand children and told him how much pride he would have going to their events and watching them grow.
I also apologized for the state of baseball and how much I miss it, especially on this holiday.
I think my dad would be proud that I help represent our favorite team, but I know he'd be emotionally hurt to hear and see what the leaders on both sides of the sport are doing to it and its fan base right now.
I hope the people (Rob Manfred and Tony Clark) who run the game quickly realize how much of a fabric the sport is for people like me. I hope they recognize the purity of the sport and how it creates ever-lasting memories-not always about the play on the field, but the conversations it provides between kids and their fathers. I hope they have not forgotten the lessons the game teaches all of us.
Unfortunately, we're all learning a tough lesson about life and baseball right now. Most of which we would all disagree with.<\/p>\r\n
I know my dad would.<\/p>\r\n
Tiger Stadium photo: fathead.com<\/em><\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\n","post_title":"SHEP: MISSING A LOT ON FATHER'S DAY","post_excerpt":"Matt Shepard talks about what he misses on Father's Day, which includes his late father and the game they shared together in special ways. They bonded over baseball, and he has baseball bonded with his son, Chad, too.","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"huge-missing-a-lot-on-fathers-day","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2020-06-21 21:50:39","post_modified_gmt":"2020-06-22 01:50:39","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.michigansportsnetwork.com\/?p=3614","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":3013,"post_author":"8","post_date":"2020-06-11 22:26:14","post_date_gmt":"2020-06-12 02:26:14","post_content":"\r\n It was a hell of a couple of nights for Al Avila and the Detroit Tigers. In the second round, with the 38th overall pick, the Tigers took Ohio State catcher Dillon Dingler and then LSU outfielder Daniel Cabrera with pick 63. Many projected Cabrera, a left-handed corner outfielder to go as high as 38. The Tigers rolled the dice and got him at 63 any way. Dingler was believed to be a first-round choice all along. He has a good feel for hitting with decent power. He's rated as a strong defender with a really good arm. He's also an athlete, leading Jackson High School to state titles in both baseball and basketball. He was a two-time captain with the Buckeyes and was named all-conference freshman team and all-conference second team as a sophomore.<\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\n Cabrera is a smooth-hitting lefty who is more of a contact guy, but he doesn't swing and miss much. He was an all-SEC freshman honoree; spent the summer as a member of the USA college national team and was an all-star in the Cape Cod Baseball League.<\/p>\r\n Love the pick. To kick start the fourth round, they selected ASU third baseman Gage Workman. He is a power bat who strikes out too much. He's the reason Torkelson shifted to first base with the Sun Devils. \u00a0In 2019 Workman was second on the team with 20 two-out RBI and successfully advanced runners 63 times on 125 chances (.504). <\/p>\r\n Photos from: <\/em>1920 \u00d7 1080<\/a>\u00a0 brproud.com, <\/em>540 \u00d7 304<\/a> Detroit News, and CBS Sports<\/em><\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\n","post_title":"SHEP GIVES TIGERS HIGH DRAFT GRADES","post_excerpt":"Shep likes what the Detroit Tigers managed to do in the MLB Draft the last two nights. He points out the Tigers showed confidence in their young pitchers and recognized they needed position players.","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"shep-gives-tigers-high-draft-grades","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2020-06-11 22:26:14","post_modified_gmt":"2020-06-12 02:26:14","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.michigansportsnetwork.com\/?p=3013","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":3010,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2020-06-08 17:25:00","post_date_gmt":"2020-06-08 21:25:00","post_content":"This morning I noticed the syndicated Michigan Sports Network's X\u2019s and Bro\u2019s radio show tweeted out a poll question on what baseball could do to win the fans back.\r\n\r\nMy initial reaction was just play this year. It seems like a pretty simple first step. Then I went into a little deeper thinking mode on the lack of trust I have in the game today courtesy of the Astros, Red Sox, Rob Manfred, the MLB Commissioner, and even my beloved Detroit Tigers.\r\n\r\nMy first huge opinion question is: Why didn't baseball have an agreed-to-plan a month ago? The open stubbornness and greed of both sides is an embarrassment to the league.\r\n\r\nBaseball could have and should have been the first big sport to return to playing in America. How hard is it to know both sides had a chance to be the sports leader on helping America dig out of a pandemic?\r\n\r\nThey could have owned TV and the majority of fan interest the entire month of July.\u00a0 Think about it; 3-to-4 games a day broadcast nationally Noon to Midnight. With no fans in the stands and different time zones, the ability to adjust the TV schedule to almost non-stop baseball is exactly what the sport needed.\r\n\r\nInstead, the back-and-forth rhetoric makes it feel like neither side wants to play this year. Ridiculous schedule offers, over-inflated salary demands, and no good medical reason put out publicly on why they shouldn\u2019t play, have dominated the headlines.\r\n
They get high marks for their six 2020 MLB draft selections.
It started Wednesday night with taking Arizona State stud Spencer Torkelson number one overall. His work ethic, athleticism and production is special. He is all about the team and has a desire to be great. Torkelson's college coach, Tracy Smith, said: \"He's a generational player who could play first, third or corner outfield in the majors.\" Alan Trammell said: \"He's a special kid who handles himself well and has all the tools.\"<\/p>\r\n
A lot is made of Torkelson's ASU freshman record 25 home runs and that he led the PAC 12 in homers in each of his three seasons, but more needs to be made of the fact he had more walks than strikeouts. He's also a very good base runner and he put up really impressive numbers with Chatham in the Cape Cod Baseball League in two seasons.<\/p>\r\nLOVE TIGERS DRAFTING CABRERA AT 63<\/h3>\r\n
In the third round, at number 73 overall, the Tigers grabbed Rice University shortstop Trei Cruz, who made a ton of gains offensively this year. He can play three different infield positions and might be best suited for second base in the pros. His grandfather is Jose Cruz and his father is Jose Cruz Jr., who together combined to play 31 major league seasons. Cruz was a freshman All-American; named conference all-second team as a sophomore and draws a lot of walks.<\/p>\r\nTIGERS CONFIDENT IN YOUNG PITCHERS<\/h3>\r\n
The Tigers wrapped up their night by drafting Biloxi High School third baseman Colt Keith, an ASU commit. He can play infield and pitch.
Taking that many position players shows us a couple of things: The organization has great confidence in it's young pitchers and that it recognized the need for more positional depth.<\/p>\r\nBASEBALL SWINGS AND MISSES<\/h3>\r\nThe chance for Major League Baseball to capture the moment and the fans is gone. They can\u2019t now just rush into a deal and expect to have that national rush of love for the game. The damage is already done. Nobody has liked anything either side has said publicly since they started talking of playing again.\r\n\r\nThe media and fan trust in the game is suspect. The off-season blind eye by MLB to what the Astros and Red Sox players did in cheating to win has put the game at an all-time low with the majority of fans I talk with. There is no wide trust or loyalty to Major League Baseball in America. They had their chance to get all sports fans excited about the game when people were desperate for live sports on TV. MLB missed their chance to reconnect with fans and the media just like they had the opportunity to put character before cheating with the Astros and Red Sox off-season scandals.\r\n\r\nBaseball had better wake up. They need to understand the reality of not playing this season when health officials said it could be done. No baseball this year will be catastrophic to the game\u2019s future.\r\n\r\nFor us Tigers fans, we are almost to the point of who cares if they don\u2019t play this year. There were no expectations for this team in 2020 and fans weren\u2019t showing up at the ballpark to watch them play.\r\n
TIGERS TAKING TOO LONG TO REBUILD<\/h3>\r\nTigers GM Al Avila has a ton of minor league pitching but is still thin on any big major league-type hitters outside of Riley Greene. I assume Wednesday\u2019s five-round MLB draft will feature the Tigers taking all hitters.\r\n\r\nThe rebuilding of the Tigers shouldn\u2019t have taken this long. The constant back-and-forth with fans on be patient with building a farm system first is partially correct. The Tigers' minor league talent is now in the top five in baseball. This Huge question remains though: Will those minor league arms make the Tigers relevant again? Nobody knows. Waiting on a kid a year out of high school like Greene to be a star will take time.\r\n\r\nI don\u2019t think Avila or the Tigers franchise can wait much longer. Forget this year, whether they play or not. In 2021 the Tigers have to be competitive for the AL Central crown to win back the trust of the fan base. We\u2019ve all waited too long.\r\n\r\nIt is hard to watch Major League Baseball swing and miss on an easy pitch to hit when they could\u2019ve created this tidal wave of emotion to be the first big sport back on TV. Even if they get a deal done now, both sides have lost the fan and media mojo that would have been there.\r\n\r\nIf baseball wants to earn the trust back from fans, it starts with quickly finding a way to play the 2020 season. Then punish players who cheat.\r\n\r\nThen all I need is for the Tigers minor league players to become quality major league players.\r\n\r\nThat\u2019s how baseball gets me to go all-in again.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThe Huge Show is heard Statewide in Michigan Weekday afternoons 3-6pm. To get the podcast and to listen live:\u00a0thehugeshow.net<\/a><\/em>\r\n\r\nPhoto from ESPN.com <\/em>","post_title":"HUGE: BASEBALL NEEDS TO GET ITS ACT TOGETHER","post_excerpt":"Huge thinks baseball has taken a huge swing and a miss. Major League Baseball had a chance to be the first major sport to play again. Instead they are striking out. He is also thinking the Detroit Tigers are taking too long with this rebuild.","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"huge-baseball-needs-to-get-its-act-together","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2020-06-08 17:25:00","post_modified_gmt":"2020-06-08 21:25:00","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.michigansportsnetwork.com\/?p=3010","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":true,"total_page":2},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"epic_block_3"};