CONSPIRACY????

ROB SANFORD

MEMO TO MLB UMPIRES....Whenever the Tigers are playing and you're working the game, never give them the benefit of the doubt and DO give them the shaft at every opportunity. Of course...I'm being a smart alec....but first it was the Perfect Game that wasn't..then Saturday the awful, callfrom Gary Cederstrom that would have at least tied the Tigers with the Braves in the 9th inning. Afterwards he admitted he made a lousy call...thanks...but we only take that excuse once. It's tough enough to win games in baseball without having crummy umpiring at every turn.

Why are we seeing so many no-hitters this season??? My only guess is that home plate umpires may have gotten closer to calling the rule book strike (letters to knees) and hitters are used to the old style of pitchers having to throw into a space of a soup can to get a called strike.

After Sunday's win in Atlanta, the Tigers finish with an 11-7 record in interleague play this season. I'm just glad its over so we can stop going back and forth between American League and National League rules

Don't look now, but the Central Division has suddenly become a dog-fight. The White Sox, using incredible pitching, to come out of nowhere to become contenders. The Tigers now move to Target Field to take on the Twins. The Twinkies apparently like playing outside, with a home record of 23-13....while the Tigers are 15 and 23 on the road. Detroit has also had problems winning within the division with a record of 13-14 and this season. One of Minnesota's hottest hitters going into the 3 game series is Delmon Young, who is hitting around .350 in the past 32 games....and their bullpen has an ERA of 2.91. The Tigers on the other hand have Brennan Boesch who is also hitting around .350 with 8 home runs and 21 RBI's in the last 24 games. The road trip to this point is 2-4...I predicted 4 and 5 for the trip so Detroit will have to win 2 of 3 to that point.