Upon further review…
After watching Uggie Urbina struggle in the early part of April, many Tigers fans were hoping the ball club could trade him to anyone…for anything…even a bag of balls or a pine tar rag. Really, who could blame them. Uggie gave up seven runs in his first six outings out of the pen. With the addition of Troy Percival to the team, it was easy to cast aside Urbina as a washed up former closer. Not so fast. Uggie slammed the door on the Angels in the nightcap of the doubleheader, earning his team a split. With Percival on the DL, this whole scenario is proof positive of how you have to exhibit some patience when early season struggles hit. Especially with veterans who have done it before.
Speaking of the Tigers pen, how about Franklyn German? Every time I say Franklyn, it reminds me of the kids TV show starring that green turtle.
Pretty fitting considering German had a tendency to retreat into his shell every time he pitched in a big league game. He is finally starting to show a ton of confidence at the big league level. Twice today he had to get Vlad Guerrero. Twice he did the job, getting him to fly out to right field. Franklyn has allowed just one run in his last seven innings out of the pen. With Percy out for a while, German becomes a big piece to the puzzle if he continues to shine. The bullpen is starting to pitch the way the Tigers had hoped coming out of camp.
Last Call 
I like what your doing here, the wife and i enjoy on Tiger Broadcasts, to see you write a blog is great. I write a fanblog about the tigers i enjoy it. (journals.aol.com/too2normal/DetroitTigersWeekly)
Look forward to reading your posts throughout the season.
Thanks Frank, Dearborn Heights
ooops forgot a letter.
http://journals.aol.com/too2normal/DetroitTigersWeekly
I enjoy watching you and Rod on FSN Detroit for all the Tigers games. Hope to see you back in the booth soon.
Urbina would be a great closer for any club. With the addition of Troy I feel that we have been blessed with two terrific closers. Thank goodness we kept Urbina because we need him now.
Nice blog. I enjoy seeing you on FSN. Speaking of Franklyn German, I showed my mom who he was, and she says he pitches like Bob Gibson of the Cardinals back in the old days when he was pitching against the Tigers in the “68” world series. The turtle reminds me of Computer class back in the 10th grade back in the 1999-2000 year for some odd reason, maybe it was the fact that we used to sneak on the internet during class time and not get caught.
Finally, a weblog from an announcer! I am disappointed when on MLBTV and you are not the play by play man. Ditto for Carlos Pena and those with slow starts this year. The season is long & grueling and nobody is perfect! German has been outstanding. The seeming jpegs in the order will become part of the larger performance picture as the season matures. Patience and hard work. Go Tigers!
Nice blog. I also enjoy you on FSN. I think the Tigers entire pitching staff is starting to poke its head out of their shell. Especially Bonderman. He has gone above and beyond what I think most people would ever expect from him. Good work!
I am surprised how quickly our pen has gone from getting blown up every night early in the year to a strength of the team the last couple of weeks. It’s strange that now that UU has some confidence, tonight he hit 96 mph on the gun, when he was barely hitting 90 a month ago. German is also throwing strikes much more consistently and Walker has been pretty good too. Farnsworth also looked good – that bender is nasty, plus he throws 100 mph. I think our pen gives us an advantage over teams like Cleveland and Chicago and keeps us competetive with MN.