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Welcome back to the Litterbox. Detroit Tigers
podcast. We really appreciate you guys listening
along with us We're approaching episode 50 here
somewhere in the next week or two probably right
before the season ends So stick with us. We got
some fun stuff coming up bill for today's topic
To kick things off Tigers played the Mets they
Lost two out of three Mets are a surging team
right now a playoff team But I want to cross
a bridge that one of our listeners approached
me with in our comment section over the past
couple weeks. He asked me what my favorite nacho
topping was. And this is a tough one for me.
It's typically, I mean, the topping for me that
makes the most difference on a nacho is the cheese
and how you do the cheese. So I sat there and
I started thinking through kind of all the different
nachos I've had in my life, and I've had many,
many acquaintances with the dish. One that I
kept going back to in my head and kept referring
back to in regard to the cheese was the 7 -Eleven
Nacho. Bill, what do you think of when you think
of the 7 -Eleven Nacho, or the Sevi Nacho, as
we called it? I don't think of 7 -Eleven as a
place to eat ever. Did you not go to college?
And did you not have a 7 -Eleven nearby? Yes,
I did go to college, and yes, we had a multiple
7 -elevens but no loyal listener Reeve knows
this he turned me on to the ultimate hangover
helper at 7 -eleven which is getting a big gulp
with every flavor of Gatorade they have on tap
mixed together extra ice is this a midday delight
No, this is the morning after. This is a morning
after. Yeah. Yeah. So the semi -nacho was the
end of the evening for me. Yeah. Okay. You're
right. Listener Brett brings this question, by
the way. We should call that out. Brett, thanks
for the question. It's a great question, but
hold on. I have questions within the question.
So we got to go ahead and sidetracked on this.
Yeah. Just because I haven't had a 7 -Eleven
nacho should not derail. Okay. I have two questions
on this. One, are we talking only ballpark nachos?
And then number two, Well, this is where this
goes. So stick with us here. OK, well, so as
far as toppings go, the nacho is the sum of its
parts. There is no greater food than all of it
coming together at one. I am a more - Are you
a believer that one topping can mess up the whole
dish? A believer that one topping is not enough
and that doesn't - I strongly, vehemently will
not order ballpark nachos. The helmet nacho isn't
a thing for you. I'll do it only if kids want
me to buy them the hell novelty Yeah, and fortunately
we've outgrown that my son Grady and nephew Cooper
I did a helmet nacho at the cell before the shower.
Yeah a few seasons back but outside of that I
haven't Ironically, he's not a keepsake type
of kid and he still he still has the white socks
helmet on his helmet Yeah, I have dried cheese
on it and everything on the inside That's what
the shower's for, baby. That's what the shower's
for. That's how you got it cleaned up. So I,
you know, I sat and thought about this. For me,
the cheese can mess up the whole thing. Either
the cheese or there just being like too much
awful meats on it or something like that. But
I love the meat. I love the cheese. There's a
balance and the type of cheese matters. The Sevi
Nacho for what it was, which was a late night
cure -all. For me, it was the ride home, you're
done with the bars, you're done with the night.
Out, it's 2 .30 in the morning, you're looking
for something to satiate your hunger, as it were,
after a few too many. And I think that, at the
time, that was what we had. We didn't have burrito
places on campus. So all we had was 7 -Eleven
and like a... Euro stop or something down the
road and I didn't never went to that wait euros
don't ring 2 30 in the morning to me But that's
7 -eleven nacho kept calling me no one euros.
Yes on 7 -eleven. Yes. Yes, they kept calling
me It was like on the way home from everything.
It was there was a line in there I mean people
were getting these things Sometimes if you felt
a little extra you'd get them to sprinkle some
of that beautiful meat on there Okay, that was
orange. It was orange meat by the way because
that is disgusting. Yep Probably not chorizo.
Hey, you're you're you're flashing back to something
right now. Yeah locked up So when you got to
Chicago, I don't want to say you had an issue,
but you definitely had a burrito habit I mean
it was paradise. Yeah, I had three burrito joints
within a block where I lived for many years So
I'm now guessing that the seven or SEVY nachos
were your training wheels or gateway drugs to
your burritos. They're very much were. Well,
we ended up getting a burrito place, two burrito
places on our college campus toward the end of,
so I got time to refine my late night eating
palette. But the SEVY nacho is kind of the gateway
drug to the late night eating. I mean, there
was nothing else open it to during the morning.
So you'd just go in there and you'd grab this
paper boat if you will of nachos that have been
sitting in the in the little chip rotunda thing
there forever and they Just take a scooper of
this cheese and just slop it on there Maybe sprinkle
some of that orange meat, but when the burritos
came, oh boy I mean the burrito late -night eating
was something to look forward to So your 7 -eleven
didn't even trust you enough to dispense your
own cheese. I thought that was like common practice
at most 7 -eleven It sat at the register. I think
people would just sit back there and house the
stuff if it was sitting off to the side or something.
Get a big gulp cup and just fill it with cheese.
Just fill it with cheese and start dipping chips
in the back aisle there. I think it would have
been gotten unruly. But we ended up, you know,
like I said, I graduated. You brought up the
burritos. And the funny thing is at the burrito
place, they had nachos and I rarely ever ordered
them. I would get a burrito with this massive
cup of greasy fries. I'm gonna put all of this
in my book called How to Gain 25 Pounds Overnight,
because that's pretty much what I was able to
do. I might have gained 50 overnight, to be dead
honest with you. You knew me back then, you know.
Metabolism isn't what it once was. And you did
love your burritos. So going back to it, the
cheese is the - The cheese is the topping, Brett.
Yeah. That makes it all happen. For listener
Brett, the cheese is my topping. And then - It
sounds ridiculous, but it is what it is. So you
have a nacho without it. I like to do as many
additional toppings as possible. Most ballparks
only offer jalapenos. Fortunately, here in Chicago,
we do have seven toppings that go on a Chicago
-style hot dog. And so the smart move, in my
opinion, is to order your nachos. You know, just
your round tostito -style chip and your cheese
and then your jalapenos. And then make a quick
beeline over to where there are additional toppings
for the Chicago -style dog. Hopefully you can
grab some tomatoes. Hopefully you can grab some
- You're borrowing. You're borrowing. Hey, you
know what? I paid my - You paid your fare. I
paid my admission and I bought my food. If I
can get some diced onions, if I can ever get
black olives, but that's not a Chicago topping.
Yeah. That black olive is a sneaky topping on
a nacho. Oh, so sneaky. Yeah, so sneaky. Yeah,
it does add something I will say a runner -up
might be like a good black onion or a black olive
Yeah, followed by maybe some decent onions that
aren't too That aren't aren't too not too much.
You don't have to be terribly voluminous I feel
like the peppers are there because they provide
additional acidity and crunch honestly if I had
to say this Nachos are a food that I don't necessarily
need meat on. Meaning that give me guacamole,
give me sour cream, give me salsa, give me onions,
peppers, olives, anything. The soft spreads and
whatnot work on there really well. So I will
say one of the more dangerous things you can
do with toppings to a Seve Nacho, a 7 -Eleven
Nacho is to put jalapenos on there. Okay. That
is like Hurricane Katrina in your lower GI the
next morning. If you go with that cheese, that
meat and the jalapenos, it's not going to do
well for you. You need that Big Gulp resuscitation
drink that you and our other listener Reeve specialized
in. Yeah. It's the RB. It's the RB. It's not
the RX. It's the RB. The RB. All right, enough
on nachos. Everybody's stomachs should feel great
now. Let's get into the game, Bill. What did
you see? What did you see in this series? A lot
of frustration because the Tigers led in all
three games, but couldn't hold the lead. And
this is going to be my big volley to you as well
as we kind of wrap up. The pitching is really
becoming a problem. The bats did not let us down
this series. Runs were scored. Plentiful, plentiful.
But we could not we the Tigers could not stop
the Mets offense. So game one was ten to eight
and Loss for the Tigers game two was a twelve
to five loss and then things rebounded and The
Tigers won which is good. My prediction was they'd
win one out of three I never thought this was
going to be a great series for us It's a good
measuring stick because it's a good team In game
three, though, Chad, Casey Mai's got the win.
He's now 13 -5 with a 3 .87 ERA. Is there ever
been, in recent memory, a Tigers pitcher that
is less exciting, has less swing -and -miss stuff,
that somehow has 13 wins? Or, you know, I mean,
he should finish the season with... I think he's
just been very, you know, outside of his... Since
the All -Star break, you've called this out,
that he's struggled a little bit. Okay, and that's
totally and completely just a bit just a titch.
Okay. I know I know you're doing the little bite
He struggled a little bit, but then we get an
outing like, you know, he was the stopper in
this deal here. He played the stopper. He got
out there. He gave us a chance to win. I think
if he comes out for the sixth inning, he gets
absolutely rolled. And I think it was a really
good decision by Hinch to bring him back and
sit him down after five. I mean, give him a good
outing under his belt, going down through the
stretch run here. A very good managerial decision
there. Of course. Tyler Holton came out and did
his best to try to throw the game away, walked
one, gave up a hit, gave up a run immediately
and got yanked after a third of an inning. Just
walked people. He just walked people just walked
now. He's just walking guys with a change -up
which woof Tommy we need Tommy to figure it out
because guys like Holton They're starting to
regress quite a bit as the season goes on Interestingly
enough will vest had minor struggles in that
game, too And he gave up a walk, which is a rare
vesty thing to do in some senses But lately has
become somewhat regular I'm still holding a 2
.7 ERA. Got out of the inning in a third. Got
out of the inning in a third. They, you know,
I like Vest for an inning. When he has to go
out and come back, I'm not a huge fan of that.
But we saw Rafael Montero. Another sighting.
At the end of the game. He seems to be like the,
if Will Vest doesn't work, we just throw Rafi
out there and see what blows loose here. Well,
there's a reason behind that as well, and that
was that Finnegan was warming up in the pen.
and experience groin tightness. I've been checking
for updates and I think they're just going to
treat it with kid gloves. And I don't know that
we're going to see Kyle Finnegan this weekend
against the upcoming opponent, the Chicago White
Sox. Yeah, this is, and I don't mean to preview
too much, but if there's ever been a good or
get -right situation, White Sox at Comerica call
-ups are expanded, meaning the roster's now,
you know, expanded by two spots. Bring some guys
up, play musical chairs with the pen, do what
you have to do, just get out of here with two
out of three or a sweep. Yeah. We gotta catch
some pen magic down the stretch here somewhere,
and if it's gotta be a call -up, it's gotta be
a call -up. So I want to this is my big question
for you I mean we can recap the games but I think
really what's on most of our listeners minds
and really what's on our minds is What do you
do with this pitching staff chat? I had the pleasure
of visiting the Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer
president I guess office a few years back and
He had a big dry erase board in his office and
it said find more pitching Sure. He wrote it
in Sharpie on a dry erase board, meaning so that
it could never be erased. And that was his mantra
and his belief every day. And I have to feel
that Scott Harris and others feel the same way.
I know we called it dumpster diving, but Scott,
I guess, given we don't know what parameters
he was given by the Illich family or Chris Illich.
We also don't know what's going to happen. Major
League Baseball's labor going forward, you know,
maybe the Tigers do make a best effort to re
-sign Tarek Schubel. I mean, these are all X
factors and questions we don't know. We still
need more pitching. I'm always gonna need it.
It's it's like the commodity that you can never
have enough of Yeah, I feel like there isn't
a single team if you think back over the last
couple trade deadlines Do you remember anyone
being like, you know, it's gonna be a light deadline
for pitching. It's never a light day It's always
now looking for starters looking for back end
rotation guys looking for relievers looking for
guys to close games out I mean this this trade
deadline was like the the you know the peak of
This but I look at our games. I'm not even gonna
cover the hitters like game one You got Morton
going 3 .2, which is what we sort of expected
from Uncle Charlie We sort of just expected he
wasn't going to be that great and he gave us
some good starts. So in the end, I think the
signing of Morton worked. We got a couple of
wins out of him, but he goes 3 .2, gives up six
runs, walks four guys. Montero comes out, pitches
two thirds, does okay, walks his token batter.
Montero is always going to put somebody on base.
You don't want to bring Montero in with the bases
loaded because I think automatically a run is
going to score at some point. Drew Summers. Drew,
Seve Nacho Summers. went out there and gave up
three runs. I don't know if Drew is the solution.
Drew's ERA at the end of game one ballooned to
18. You heard me right. 18 .00. He has been sent
back down to Toledo. Yeah. And I think he might...
He wasn't the answer. He might just need a little
more seasoning, let's say. A little more seasoning
on those nachos. Troy Melton, two and two thirds,
he... Yeah, you know, give up a run, give up
two walks, struck out three. You know, over two
and two thirds, Melton gets asked to do these
long relief spots, because I think they're gonna,
I think he's gonna end up back in the rotation.
He's gonna be in the rotation. Yeah, they did
bring up Kyder Montero. They brought him back
up, so we'll see how he fits the mold, but I
think Melton's gonna get put into this rotation
at some point. He does, if he went five and...
Let's just suppose he went five and two -thirds
for us and gave up two runs. Totally fine. I
think we'd be ecstatic. Ecstatic. We'd be ecstatic.
You'll get to see my cartwheel, which is ugly
to say the least. Hey, can I have... I have a
jersey idea and it's a terrible one. Okay. You're
gonna hate it. Perfect. Good. Love terrible ideas.
Now that we've got two Monteros out of the pen,
you and I need to get matching Montero jerseys.
Wow. You get Raphael and I get Peter. I don't
know. I don't know if that's a good investment.
I don't know if that's a good investment. I'm
not a Jesse guy per se, but I don't know if that's
a good investment either way. Chet, I can't think
of money more well wasted than that move right
there. That is throwing money away. Good money
that could be spent on Seve Nachos. Many Seve
Nachos that I don't need anymore, by the way.
Those are not, they don't go into the stomach.
The stomach is, it's not, it's made of, you know,
Thinning tissue paper at this point. I know you
got a vegan bratwurst last time you were at a
Twins game. Did you also get like the basic nachos
at that Twins game? Yeah, I got a nacho. So what
I got was that vegan bratwurst and then I had
to counter it with something that tasted good.
So I went with a regular old ballpark dog and
then I had my, I believe I had a nacho of some
sort while I sat and watched. But not a helmet?
Not a helmet. I can't eat nachos out of plastic.
It's a weird deal. I can't eat the plastic with
my food. It's just gross. You haven't put the
wax paper down. Oh, I don't think they do that.
Oh yeah, they do that. Target, do they? You gotta
ask. Is that a special request? Yeah. Wow. I
didn't even know you could do - I thought the
idea was like, you get the helmet, you get the
cheese, and you put it on your head if you have
too many drinks. You don't know where that helmet's
been. I don't know where it's been. That's why
I don't want my nachos in it. Alright, so game
two, Sawyer Gypsum Long. Also, probably not the
solution, Bill. Four innings pitch, six runs.
Now it's become like, our starters blow up, they
give up six runs within three or four innings.
It's just the number, I think. Very odd to me.
Bailey horn he did a decent job gave up two hits
but no runs over naming a third and he hasn't
been Recalled yet either. So he's still up with
the big league club now paddock one and a third
six runs. I don't like this move. Oh Hi, yeah
more Chris paddock I'm not 100 % sure I'm on
board with him as a reliever either. I don't
know what we'd do with him. I'm another guy that
just seems so broken and so hittable. Tommy Canley
did come out and pitch a third of an inning,
one third of an inning, four pitches, nothing
across. Good job, Tommy. That's a great spot
for Tommy. Come out and get out of the inning.
That's what we need. Guess what all four pitches
were? I'm going to bet they were change -ups.
Sliders. Were they sliders? No. Were they two
seamers? No, no. Change -ups. Change -ups. Hanofi
came out and pitched another good inning of ball,
another clean inning. That's two games in a row.
They brought him out for an inning and he pitched
clean. So maybe we get a Brennan Hanofi resurrection
here toward the end of the season. That would
be excellent. And then we got, yeah, then we,
sorry, finish your thought. I got so excited
to talk about this next one, but please. I was
just going to say he is someone that... we need
coming back. I've already mentioned that Tyler
Holtons had his issues, but I also think Tyler
Holtons issues are, if you look at their XY axis
or relationship, it's directly correspondence
or corresponding with overutilization. Yeah,
probably. And I'm a Holton fan, and I also think
he's done Yeoman's work and done everything that
has been asked of him as a Detroit Tiger this
season. I'm not making excuses. He's not pitching
his best right now. And Hannafee's gone through
a similar process. It seems that overutilization
leads to least or less effectiveness. That's
why I think this weekend's so important to bring
up the Bailey Horns. I would recall Chase Lee.
Yeah. Reports are that he's unlocked something
in the minors, apparently. So maybe we'll see
something there. Yeah. But you were, please,
sorry, you were talking about Hannafee and going
through the list. This guy to close that one
out because the game had gotten out of hand a
little bit was Jake Rogers. And Jake Rogers has
one of the lowest ERAs of any of our pitchers
right now. Oh, by the way, he's our catcher with
the mustache. How is that possible? The fifth
lowest ERA on the team. He's a 245 ERA for Jake
Rogers and he pitched a clean inning. Do we need
to convert him to a pitcher? I... Love that would
be incredible. I mean, that's yeah, we're teaching
my knuckleball and just let him throw it out
there So the last game we did kind of cover this
already Mize was brilliant for five innings Tyler
Holton not so much Canley came out gave up two
walks not great But didn't give up any runs over
an inning a third vest and then Montero We discussed
this seeing a Montero sighting at the tail end
of the game again, Bill What are you looking
for for the weekend series here? What excites
you for the Sox? Hopefully a three game sweep.
Definitely taking two out of three. Flaherty's
on the bump this evening. And what I'm going
to say now is some good news, bad news on Jack
Flaherty. I read a couple articles on baseball
prospectus that said that his option for next
year is 20 million. It's a team option and that
the market will be So the good news is he probably
won't be a tiger next year for those of you that
are over the Jack Flaherty roller coaster. The
bad news is Jack Flaherty is 20 million. Bad
news is he's desirable. He is going to get a
lot more money than $20 million. And how is that
possible? And then how do you replace a, you
know, that slot Saturday is going to be really
exciting. You've got Perez up against Tarek Scoble
and then Sunday. Martin against Uncle Charlie
Morton. The Tigers have to win tonight. They
have to win tomorrow because the game that I
have the least amount of confidence in is Sunday.
It is time though for the Tigers just to put
the division somewhat out of reach. Not saying
the White Sox have been in contention since the
second week of the season. Sure, sure. But right
now, the Tigers are 81 and 60. They're three
and seven for their last 10. They're on a one
game win streak. The Kansas City Royals are nine
and a half back. They're five and five in their
last 10. They've won one. The Cleveland Guardians,
or Indians, as you like to so fondly refer to
them, 69 and 70. They're 11 back. Five and five
in their last 10. They've lost one. This weekend,
if the Tigers were to sweep, and Fortune happened
with the other two clubs that are somewhat chasing.
Mm -hmm. The season, you know, I don't want to
say it's old. It's not mathematical yet. No,
no, no, no, no. We don't have an elimination
game yet, but. Well, it's down to 13. It's down
to three. Yeah, yeah. So, but if you picked up,
let's just say the Royals are going to the, your
city, well, excuse me, your team, the Twins,
I'm joking, is going to Kaufman and the Guardians.
I have to go down to the minor league band box
that is George Steinbrenner Field. Let's just
say they both lose two out of three, Tigers win
two out of three, pretty comfortable with three
weeks left in the season. How are you feeling
on that? I feel fine. I think it's great. We've
covered this nauseam now. We just need to win
some games. That's all it comes down to. One
thing I want to worry about sooner than then
is Shane Smith. Shane Smith is a pitcher that...
This guy's been pretty good. His win loss doesn't
tell it, but his overall metrics do. He could
give us fits tonight. I'm going to be watching
this one pretty closely. If Jack Flaherty's not
in his game and spots Shane Smith a couple runs
out of the gate, we don't want to start a series
like this off like that. We need good Jack Flaherty
more than ever tonight. Yeah, we do. We need
to start this series off strong and get two out
of three minimum from the White Sox this weekend.
I think we've beat this one to death. We're going
to finish up this series here. Bill, any closing
thoughts? No closing thoughts? Go Tigers. Go
Tigers. All right. That's going to 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
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next time, Go Tigers!