I was wondering when Kenny Rodgers would turn into the gutless pitcher he was for the Yankees and Mets during this post season for Detroit because we all know what a spectacular job he did for NY. We were all shocked with his twenty three scoreless innings in this post season and I figured this was his swan song. All things forgiven and he rides off into the sunset, but a funny thing happened on the way to his coronation. He got caught with his hand covered in pine tar in game two (And as ESPN discovered--against the Yanks and A's also) that shamed the game of baseball and caused a huge controversy which was something the Tigers weren't prepared to deal with.
Another cheater is something MLB couldn't afford after all the steroid usage and Tony LaRussa decided that the game of baseball was more important that his own team. A decision that I thought was pigheaded and could have cost the Cardinals the World Series. However, what the pine tar episode did do was keep Leyland from pitching him in the most important game of the season for Detroit (giving him the benefit of the doubt to his past post season performances) and ended any chance they had at the title. There is no game six unless you win game five. Way to go Kenny, I knew you wouldn't let us down.
Is Kenny Rogers scared? Are the Tigers choking?
Do you get it? The Tigers are on the brink of elimination, but they just refuse to start the supposed best starter of the postseason. No wonder Jim Leyland got testy on Wednesday when he was asked if he'd start Kenny Rogers in Game 5.
Because of the rainout Wednesday, Rogers could start Game 5 on normal rest Friday. But, Leyland admitted that they don't want to start Rogers in St. Louis. Rogers is the softest ace in baseball, which is why he failed so miserably in the big stage of New York and why he snapped and assaulted two photographers in Arlington. Yes, he excelled with the Texas Rangers, but that's a football market where the pressure and expectations aren't very high for guys who don't play for the Dallas Cowboys.
"I'm not going to pitch him in this atmosphere," Leyland said. " We have to win three ballgames. So I think that pretty much sums it up. If we had to win one game, if it was the seventh game, I'd pitch him. We have to win three games."
Atmosphere? Wow, Leyland doesn't want the 41-year-old Rogers to pitch at Busch Stadium. The weather, as everybody knows by now, is going to be the same or worse if the series moves to Detroit. The Tigers are going to throw rookie Justin Verlander, who can use an extra day of rest, but the Tigers would rather take their shot with Verlander than Rogers in St. Louis.
It's quite simple. You cannot win three in a row now unless you win the first one. If you were manager, wouldn't you take your shot with Rogers tonight and hope for more rain in Detroit so you can get as much rest for him in case you needed him out of the bullpen in Game 7 if you're lucky enough to extend it?
Rogers pitched with an unidentified substance on his hand in the first inning of his Game 2 win over the Cardinals. Based on the furor that episode has raised among Cardinals fans, Rogers no doubt would be booed and jeered incessantly during any start in St. Louis.
"I'm not going to pitch Kenny Rogers in this environment," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said Thursday at Busch Stadium. "I'm not going to do it."
Leyland refused to pitch Kenny Boy tonight because of the laughable excuse of "media attention" and the Tigers went down in flames.