Rod Allen Knows Baseball

Seriously.

It's too bad Phil Coke doesn't have an earpiece on the mound, with a direct line to Rod's color commentary. If Coke had listened to Rod, Coke may have avoided some major mistakes last night.

For those unfamiliar with Rod Allen, he was a fringe MLBer with just 31 career games. After a handful of appearances with the '84 Tigers, Rod spent the next few years back in the minors. In the late 80s, Rod signed with a Japanese team. Thankfully for us, Rod introduced the Japanese to the wonderful art of charging the mound:

What I like about Rod is that he has no delusions of grandeur about his playing career (unlike, ahem, this guy). An All-star career is no prerequisite for success in the booth. Rod's 30 years experience in the game and calm delivery make him a top-notch color analyst. Last night, he showed he might have a future in coaching as well.

Phil Coke was facing off against Felix Hernandez - perhaps the best pitcher in the American League. So he had his work cut out for him. The last thing he needed was this gaffe by Ryan Raburn:

By the way, Raburn is quickly becoming the absolute star of this blog. Perhaps I should rename it RyRa.com? RaburnRugburn.com? Ryanshope.com? I'll think about it.

Strangely, that fly ball was ruled a home run for Miguel Olivo. Not an error. Raburn's agent loves that. In Raburn's defense, the ball flew right into the sun. Despite his poor fielding history, I have no doubt Raburn makes that catch under normal circumstances. It was just Raburn's bad luck that Olivo hit the ball right into the one patch of sunlight on the field. That "home run" tied the game at 1.

In the 4th, with Coke seemingly in control, Olivo notched a legitimate double with two outs. Rod Allen commented that Coke may want to walk the right-handed Justin Smoak (.288 BA), since 1st base was open and the next batter was left-handed Jack Cust (.176 BA). As Rod spoke his wisdom, Coke threw a fastball right down the middle which Smoak blistered down the left field line. The ball fell inches foul. Apparently, that blistered shot was not enough to convince Coke to pitch around this guy. Now, Coke didn't need to intentionally walk Smoak. But there was no reason Coke needed to give him anything good to hit. Coke threw two balls to Smoak, but Coke apparently didn't want to concede anything. Coke challenged Smoak with his next pitch, and apparently Smoak accepted the challenge. He sent the ball deep into the seats for a 2-run home run.

Coke got the next batter out with a weak grounder to first.

Now, there's no way to know if Rod Allen's suggestion of walking Smoak would've prevented the runs. It's possible the next batter would've hit differently with runners on base. Regardless, Coke gambled and lost. It was a key point in the game too. The Tigers did tie the game, but the Mariners scored 4 for a commanding 7-3 lead. If Coke had avoided those 2 runs by walking Smoak, perhaps the Tigers have a bit more confidence down 5-3 instead of 7-3. Who knows. The bottom line is that Coke must be smarter. He's new as a starting pitcher in the majors. He needs to play to his strength. He's not Felix Hernandez or Tim Lincecum, who can trust their stuff against any player in the league. He's got to, as Rod Allen said, "choose his outs."

Lefties are hitting .182 against Coke. He should know that, and use it to his - and the Tigers - advantage. And if Coke is too keyed-up to understand the situation, Jim Leyland or Alex Avila should help him out. Jim Leyland gets paid big bucks to manage this team, and he should not be upstaged by Rod Allen in the booth. Last night, he was.

The good news is that the Tigers get Felix Hernandez out of the way. If the team was to lose a game in this series, last night would be it. Tonight, the Tigers bring back Verlander.

For the record, the Tigers' #1 and #2 batters - Jackson and Will Rhymes - combined for zero hits (one walk). With Scott Sizemore hitting .411 (!!!) in Toledo, it's time for a change. I'm no expert, but .411 tells me the kid is hungry for another chance. I backed Rhymes up at the beginning of the season, but, if the dude ain't hitting (.185 BA), he ain't helping the team.