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You're listening to the Litterbox, a Detroit
Tigers podcast with your hosts, Chet West and
Bill Patterson. Litterbox listeners the Tigers
did exactly what we wanted them to do this past
week or weekend Labor Day weekend. They took
two out of three from the Royals They kept the
distance between them and the Royals in the central
nine and a half games is where it sits right
now Cleveland is ten and a half back Royals in
Cleveland are still a thought for a possible
wild card, but they are that is becoming less
and less attainable By the day at this point.
So we'll see how things kind of shake out here
in the final month of the season We are heading
down the stretch. We have September call -ups
coming pretty soon To discuss once we know what
those names are probably in the next episode
Maybe in our Mets recap, but I wanted to touch
on something real quick bill bill. Are you a
rib fan? Do you enjoy ribs? Yes It's a sometimes
food, though. It's a sometimes food. Is it because
of the you just don't dig them that much or because
your stomach can't handle that type of a rich
barbecue? I just don't think it's really all
that healthy. They're delicious. And, yeah, I
think health being cast aside, who wouldn't want
to eat ribs? There you go. That's every other
day, every third day, but it's just not A, it
might lose its specialness, B, I can't imagine
what your doctor would say if you did eat that
way regarding cholesterol, hypertension, overall
health. Certainly a barbecue dish that you're
not eating every day or any barbecue for that
matter shouldn't be eating every day. No, I don't
get how people in Texas that do eat barbecue
every day or certain areas of the country. have
life expectancies beyond 55. And maybe they don't.
They may not. They may not. I'm not 100 % sure
they do. We had, you know, our typical Labor
Day fair this past weekend, had a friends, uh,
friends had a barbecue and I ran into probably
one of the more perfect home -cooked barbecued
ribs slabs I have run into in my life. A big
hats off to my friend Adam. He cooked some ribs
for us. They were delicious. I mean, I couldn't.
I kind of sat there questioning why I bothered
doing barbecue sometimes when I taste somebody
else's barbecue. It's so good. And I think that,
you know, a way to a man's heart is to compliment
him on his meat. And I give him the highest compliment
on his meat that he produced for us this past
weekend. I haven't had ribs fall off the bone.
Homemade ribs, homemade ribs, not. at the store,
not the restaurant, you know, I got a lot of
good restaurant ribs out there, but homemade
ribs. It takes a lot of time to put something
like that together. They fell off the bone. They
were delicious and they didn't need a ton of
barbecue sauce, which is kind of the key. It's
kind of the key. And were they babybacks or St.
Louis? Yes, they were. I believe they were babybacks.
Somebody did ask that question. They were like
st. Louis style or baby backs and he said yes
So I believe they were baby backs. I believe
that was the method and the cut how did he prepare
them? He grilled them on a big green egg Which
I mean, I've got a green egg too. I do not do
my ribs quite as well. I do a decent rib But
sometimes the consistency with whether they fall
off that bone I'm gonna have to get more direction
and education from him on this I did not pick
his brain on it last night because he was busy
running around and tending to us and whatnot
So I do have fall off the bone Meaning that is
how I do mine as well. You like them that way
because there is a there's a school of thought
around this That some people want to wrestle
with it. They want like a jerky on there and
they want to yank at it. It's like getting your
teeth flossed and everything else by the rib
meat. I don't like rib meat in my teeth. No,
that's an uncomfortable situation and then later
in the evening you find a hunk of it. It's awful.
Yeah, I like it to fall right off. Clean. Clean,
nice and tender, juicy. Sometimes you gotta really
sather them in a barbecue sauce if they're not
that way just to soften them up a little bit.
I didn't find these to be that way at all. They
were delicious. Tasty. But I agree with you on
the health side of it. I now am, in my later
years, I am finding I can have about a quarter
to a half slab and then like two in the morning
I'll wake up just sweating. Just in a full sweat
in bed with me for no reason. Just meat sweats.
I never used to get them and now I'm getting
the meat sweats more often. I'm chalking it up
to age. So did he prep these, Adam, that is,
prep these ribs in any way that we know of outside
of on the green egg? This is what I gotta ask.
Okay, cuz I don't know what he's described it
to me once before a long time ago when we were
talking about this many years back, and it sounded
very simple. Now the key to this whole thing
The real, the braggadocio around this is that
you make it sound simple. Like, I don't do that
much, I just, you know, I got the magic touch.
But I don't know what he did, so I'll have to
pick his brain a little more and get his true
process down. Can I share mine? Go! I'd love
to hear yours. So, if there's a key, it's getting
good aluminum foil. Not the thin... cheap stuff
for the thick stuff made for grilling. Yes. Okay.
That's step one. All right. Step two, dry rub.
I'm a salt pepper and a little bit of brown sugar
guy, but only for ribs. I wouldn't do that for
brisket or anything like that. Yeah. And then
I put it in the oven if I need to at 200. Okay.
And let it sit for a few hours. So you're an
oven first. Well, preferred method. Okay. Okay.
And what I'm looking for is baby backs, never
St. Louis style. I just don't prefer that cut.
It's just too, it gets too much in your teeth,
too grisly, too much fat. And what I'm looking
for is an inch to an inch and a half of bone
exposed away from the meat. And that was on his,
he had that perfectly done. I noticed it when
he went to pull them off. I was like, Oh, look
at the bones in there. The bone is exposed. Yeah.
So I'm looking for an inch to maybe even two
inches. And then I finish them on the grill.
Okay. And then I sauce some. I don't sauce them
all. And sorry, there's one other thing I do.
I cut up an onion into big wedges and put it
in with the ribs to keep them moist. Artsy. I
just, it doesn't really add anything other than
it just keeps them moist so you don't have to
like spray and all that. Okay. I've heard other
people, like, do some other stuff like... It
was cider, whatever, apple juice mix, whatever,
yeah. So, I enjoyed it. I enjoy a good slab of
ribs more than any, probably any other barbecued
meat. And, you know, I'm a Twin Anchors fan in
Chicago. You can't go wrong with a Twin Anchors
slab of ribs. We need to pod from Twin Anchors
at some point. Do a podcast from Twin Anchors
and just talk about ribs and meats the whole
time? Yeah, we can cover, I don't know, a sport,
but yeah. That would be incredible. I wonder
if they would allow that. I don't know. You think
they would allow that? Yes. Okay. We'll have
to have our people get out, get in touch with
their people. I'm already covered. I've got it
covered. We just can't do it at 7 30 p .m. when
their rush is happening. And now that you mentioned
this chat. Mrs. Billy P has work trips upcoming,
so I think I'm going to fire up a couple different
styles of ribs here for Grady, my son, and myself.
Why not? Some father -son meets. Yeah, we can
be carnivores. That's great. When he finishes
crew every evening and gets home around 6 .30,
he devours whatever's in front of him. He needs
calories and he needs them quick. All right.
Let's talk about this Tigers do exactly what
they want what we wanted them to do and that
was they took the series and I think my only
frustration is that the sweep was there for them
They won 5 -3 Friday night and then Saturday
was where I was really focused I know they lost
3 -1 but there were moments in that game Saturday
night where it was there for the taking and it
just didn't happen and then Yesterday was master
class yet again Tarek Schubel, doing what Tarek
does. Yeah, I mean, he's back. Five -nothing
win. And outside of Dylan Dingler and his usual
amazing production, I do have to give a shout
out to Riley Green being the first Detroit Tiger
to eclipse 100 RBI's. And he did it, you know,
fairly early in the season, too. Got a whole
month left. Yeah. And did it with 500 at -bats,
you know, ish. And he was the last or the...
The previous last Tiger to do this was Nick Castellanos
in 2017. So that's a blast from the past. So
I feel good about everything. Saturday left me
a little bit frustrated just because we were
with neighbors all day watching college football
and it just would have been a great, let's call
it the icing on the cake. Which is what baseball
becomes to a degree on Saturdays. early fall,
late summer. It's like you watch your college
football, you get what you want from that, and
you're like, oh, let's just cap it off with a
little baseball here and see what happens. Now,
I do have to say, I don't think he listens to
the pod, but somebody got to Jonathan India because
his hair did not look nearly as gelled, moust,
whatever this weekend series. He looked like
it was blown dry. Like he's putting a conditioner
in there and just leaving it or something. He
looked like he, you know how they have like blow
-dried bars where... Yeah. Yeah. Got a blowout?
You think he got a blowout? I don't know, but
he did not look as sweaty. Either that or maybe
the weather's cooled in Kansas City. You know,
maybe Kauffman these night games. I don't know.
The humidity in his hair. His hair is responding
to less humidity right now. I'm not sure. Or,
I think the most likely answer is he listens
to the litter box. It's possible. Tiger's podcasting.
He's like, I gotta stop putting motor oil in
my cloth here. He's like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,
these guys. These guys are on to me. Yeah, they're
totally on to me. Maybe it doesn't look like
I'm showering. Maybe it doesn't look like I wash
it. Maybe you let it get in his head one way
or the other. So I'll get let me give it let
me just give a couple thoughts on the series
and we'll move along here Okay, so one thing
that happened in this series game one I thought
we were dead to write that we're dead like I
just we give up three runs in the first inning
paddock had a Rather pedestrian out he did settle
down and get us into the fourth But he 3 .2 innings
three runs five hits. I was like, oh here we
go again another pitcher blowing the game early
your favorite is the three run first or second
Or the four -run second. You get excited to see
a game, and your pitcher goes out there and just,
you know, messes the bed. But the offense, to
their credit, came right back in the second inning,
grabbed two runs, added two more in the fourth,
and our bullpen, I mean, we went through the
whole crew here, Holton, Melton, Finnegan, Vest,
which, by the way, those are probably your top
four relievers at this point. If you're a tiger
and that would be a law firm that would Melton
Finnegan invest. Yeah, they would win you. Yeah,
whatever a lot of cases one. Yeah, right there.
Yeah, that group of names. I so they they closed
it out. They did a great job. They closed out
the final five plus innings and that's kind of
what you want to see going down the stretch because
I know what you're going to ask me about here
in a couple minutes and we're going to need a
bullpen with this starting staff game to You
know game two is just one of these. I just you're
not gonna sweep every time Okay, and a sweep
would have been incredible and it would have
been quite a statement. We had no offense We
just couldn't get a run across Jack Flaherty
goes actually does a decent job Kolek flummoxed
us this time Stephen Kolek and their bullpen
shut us down Tommy Canley siding though Bill
Thoughts on that. He actually put in one and
a third and only gave up a hit struck out three
The changeup was working. If the changeup's working,
Tommy Canalee is lethal. And when it's not, we
know what it is. I had too soon to say if he's
fixed, but let's knock on wood and say, let's
hope so. Tyler Holton, not so much, but pitching
on back to back days again, I think he's just
overworked. Tyler Holton is absolutely overworked.
That'll go to my question in just a few. Can
I talk about the lineup Saturday and how lackluster
I felt it was. Colt Keith has been somewhat a
revelation batting lead off. He was DH, but he
went 0 for 4. So that's never good. And he wasn't
seeing a lot of pitches. Here's where I really
questioned this lineup. And it's not so much
now it's. What's going to happen 30 days from
now? You cannot have your bottom three beat Dylan
Dingler, who was three for four and unreal. He
is not part of the problem. It's Trey Sweeney
after him, who actually had a decent game for
Trey Sweeney, but he's still batting 2 -0 -9
with a 5 -83 OPS. It's just not enough right
now from your shortstop. No, and then Andy Abanez,
who has had his moments, goes 0 for 2 in his
pinch hit for ZMAC, and neither of them delivered
anything. Combined, they were 0 for 3. I just,
I really, really get concerned. You know, I love
Keith and Glebar Torres and Kerry Carpenter and
Torque and Green, and I even really think the
world of Wensil Perez and Dingler. After that,
we do not have Guess bias would be your next
best batter. Is that fair to say? I think I mean,
I think so you mentioned Wenzel Perez in there
and I would like to say he gets a little bit
of an honorable mention for kind of You know,
like the quiet contributor if you will he just
he keeps plugging away and keeps getting hits.
He Has graduated in my mind from being a utility
like nice to have guy that is now someone that
should be one of the eight position players.
I mean, the sample size at this is, it is what
it is chat. Matt Verling is scheduled to come
back within the next week. So is Parker Meadows.
We will see on that. All things. What does that
do? What does that do for the September run?
What does that do for the playoff roster? What
does that do? Outside of maybe moving Sweeney
down, it doesn't do anything. You know, unless
we get the Meadows that was good the last Sweeney
out is what ends up happening eventually. Yeah,
so that's the plus, but... I don't know how excited
I am about Matt Farrelly coming back in any way,
shape, or form. It's games like that where we
don't play to run and you start asking these
questions. And then you go into the next day,
Scubal lights it up, game three, we played five
runs, all systems firing. I will say Kerry Carpenter
has fallen off quite a bit. I am worried. I need
him to start sparking back up here in September,
especially for the playoff run. He has been in
a little bit of a drought. Yes, he has. He's
down to 258 on the average. Still has that OPS
up above 800 though. That's like the calling
card on this team. That's the important part.
High OPS middling average, so that's good. Scubal
went seven, four hits, two walks, four Ks. I
mean, he's got a 2 .1 ADRA at this point. I think
he is the Cy Young leader for the AL. He has
some competition. He has to be. But I believe
he is the front runner at the moment by all accounts.
And you got... When suppressed two for four in
that game Jake Rogers had a head and I was gonna
say there was a mustache side a mustache Showed
up went two for four triple double. Do you triple
from Jake Rogers? Do you am I reading that right
my favorite playing baseball? Yeah To RBI's I
mean gas to if you saw oh, there's got I could
just see the sweat coming down his brow and dribbling
off his mustache. The stash probably just contained
that like a sauna. And a Rafael Montero sighting.
Thank you for bringing that up. Wow, that's just
fantastic. Fascinating cast of characters contributing
in this series. Yeah. But good to see. And we
do have so many players outside of Rodgers and
Abanez. The only other tiger that's playing with
any regularity and doesn't have an OPS well above
700 happens to be trace weenie. So I don't want
to. There you go. I mean, pouring kerosene on
this fire, but the proof is the numbers don't
lie. You know what I'm saying? Rogers is what
he is. He is a veteran catcher that, and my question
to you is, do you think scoops asked for him?
Like do you think it could be he could have said
I'd like Rogers out there for me today and I'm
okay if those are the days of Dingler because
Unfortunately, we probably don't need Dingler's
bat when scubal goes because of his ERA true,
etc True. You got a question to ask me that was
a good series. We got two out of three I'm happy
with it. What was your question? Now we have
the New York Mets coming to Detroit And we will
get off this pod here in a minute so we can both
go watch a couple innings. Yeah, that'd be great.
It's glorious weather here in Chicago. Yeah,
how about you? It's good. We're mid 70s here.
Late, late August, early September is a secret
time of year for weather here. I love it. It's
everything just mellows out and it gets real,
real nice, especially in the evening hours. So
my question for you is, is as follows. Outside
of Tarrick Scoobel, I don't trust another arm.
two through five or six in the starting rotation.
What are your thoughts? Am I being harsh? Am
I being reactionary? Or have I seen enough to
justify my fears come October baseball that the
Tigers don't have a true go -to second starter?
You know, the go -to concept. Let's think about
this the other night like if I go to the bar
in the summertime and I order a drink I have
a go -to if they don't do what I want Well, what
do I go to next and then the wheels fall off
for the evening if things don't work great, right?
So you vodka soda with a lime is your go -to.
Tequila soda with a lime is my go -to in the
summer these days Yeah, either Tito's or vodka
soda probably now we're on to a tequila soda.
Yeah with a lime. And then what happens is I
have to go to that number two. I have to go to
that vodka soda. So who is your Jack Flaherty
of drinks? And then I've got to deal with, you
know, the bartender throws a lime in there, but
I want a lemon. Then I got to take it back and
be like, can I get a lemon? And the bartender
looks at me like, oh, you're killing me, dude.
So it's the wheels start coming off. This tiger's
starting rotation here. Scoobble, we are blessed
with this. OK, Cy Youngguy. back -to -back years.
After him, I don't know. I mean, do you roll
Flaherty out there and go with that inconsistency?
Do you play matchups at that point with the other
team and figure out who's going to have the leverage
based on their pitch mix? Casey Mize is consistent
to a degree, but he's like an automatic three
runs. Chet, that is his ERA over the year. Since
the All -Star break, he's the worst pitcher.
starting pitcher in the American League, and
his ERA is closer to eight. But Flaherty and
Paddock are prone to explosions. Mize at least
keeps things kind of steady and you're going
to get through a game. He's going to give up
three to four runs, maybe more because he's had
a couple of bad games, you're right, since the
All -Star break. But I don't know. Who do we
throw out there? You may ask that quite like,
I look at this staff and I think you're getting
your answer. I don't know. We don't have a starting
rotation built for the playoffs. Against good
teams. No, we do not. We're gonna get tested
against the Mets this week. Is Melton worth moving
to a starters role? Yeah, I would like to see
that. I think that has to happen. And I don't
mean like an overtaxing role. He's not expected
to go six, seven innings every time. No, we get
four or five good ones on him to start the game
off right. And then I know you have been up on
him, but more down so recently. And that's fair.
He hasn't pitched as well. I do think his arms...
Melton? No, Holton. I think his arms exhausted
and I would really like to see his utilization
conserved for October because he did Yeoman's
work last season and I feel like he has it in
him, but he cannot continue at this pace on innings
pitched. We need to find our Beau Briskey for
the stretch run. We need to find our old players
in the pen that are going to... They're going
to perk up and do it for us when we need it.
Cause I don't think the starting staff is going
to keep guys at bay. I just don't see it happening.
I hope, you know, we'll just be fortunate, right?
If they can come out and execute, we'll be fortunate
in my eyes. It's not going to be an expectation
type like shizer. Well, no, no 88 how, you know,
he was automatic for the Dodgers. So a funny
quote, can we put this to bed and then I'll give
you my quote? X Tiger legend Justin Verlander
JV got his first win at Oracle Park this year
recently Wow, and took that long It took a real
long time. Okay, and storied career He pitched
over a hundred and ten pitches the other day
as well. So like he's still going strong. The
guys just don't know he's still gone His quote
was amazing though when asked did it feel good
relief? What have you to finally get the monkey
off your back and win at Oracle field? He goes,
you know, I really would have preferred to have
won here in 2012 when the Tigers were in the
World Series against the Dodgers Yeah, we would
have to Justin. Yeah, it would have been great
But I just I thought like the guys going into
the Hall of Fame with a Tigers D on his hat I
mean that English D, excuse me And I just thought
that was just a fun one to include with our listeners.
Do you think, so you are sold on the fact that
he will go into the hall with the old English
D and his hat? Is there an option for that? Does
he have a choice at this point? If you play the
moat, I think it's only if it's like an either
or with your career. And then I think the hall
has some influence. Like, isn't Carlton Fisk
one of the bigger examples? We might have to
look that up and figure that out. Yeah, there's
been a couple guys. But you think about him waving
the homerun is a red sock in the fad it Yeah,
I mean he was I believe rookie of the year that
year and bigger moments in a red sock Yeah, he
played more for the White Sox, but his moments
were so that's what the Red Sox I think that's
why he's in is a red sock not a white sock Well,
I hope JV goes in with the old English D. We
could certainly use it Representation there.
Um, you know outside Miguel will go in with the
old English D When is his when will that be in
a year or two? Don't know. I mean he's gotta
be a first ballot There's no way Cabrera is not
a first ballot Hall of Famer. Yeah, he's got
to be first, right? I think it's a year or two
from now. It's four years after retirement. I
think yeah, so Yeah, yeah. All right with that.
We will let you all go. Enjoy the game today.
Uncle Charlie's on the mound uncle Charlie Morton
So, fingers crossed, hoping for the best. This
series, Chet, I'm gonna tamper or temper expectations
and say if they can just not get swept, I will
be okay with that, despite being a bump. Really?
Okay. I mean, two out of three would be great,
but the Mets have been... I think it's a good
barometer for the postseason. The Mets have been
red hot, and they're fighting for their playoff.
I shouldn't say life. They're in the playoffs,
but they, like the Tigers, really want... to
not only win the division, but get one of the
buys, which it seems like the Dodgers, it's a
foregone conclusion that they and the Brewers
will have that. So that's what the Mets are playing
for is to probably avoid playing the Cubs or
Padres in a three game series. So. Well, I would
like us to shock the world then and get two out
of three. That would be lovely. All right. Go
Charlie Morton. All right, that's gonna do it
for this episode of the Litterbox, a Detroit
Tigers podcast. Thanks for hanging out with us.
We're Bill and Chet. We'll be back soon with
more Tigers Talk. If you're enjoying the show,
be sure to follow or subscribe on Spotify, Apple
Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
And hey, if you got a minute, leave us a quick
review. Till next time, go Tigers.