It's probably fair to say that many baseball fans, myself included, share a common dream: visiting all 30 MLB ballparks. Maybe it's the search for the wide open field of dreams and freshly cut grass you remember as a kid, maybe it's just to meet baseball fans across the country. I don't really know if I can pin it down to either of those ideas, but my visit to Texas last year is when my dream was fueled. It might not have been the greatest game to see as a Tigers fan, but it was near the greatest of occasions. You might remember this occasion as Game 6 of the 2011 ALCS.

The result wasn't exactly ideal, but I at least got a moment to be excited after 2 solo shots gave the Tigers a quick 2-0 lead. After that... well, you know what happened. Still, it was a great opportunity to talk to some fairly intelligent fans, including one of the few who still liked C.J. Wilson, and to experience an absolutely electric crowd. Even though it was painful to see my team fall short of a World Series birth, by the 9th inning I was nearly over the loss and begun to simply enjoy the atmosphere. Being able to see a team celebrate a World Series birth was a sight, even at the expense of my own team. I may be a Tigers fan in my mind, but I am a baseball fan at heart, and it was a baseball moment I'll remember for both good and bad.

Since that moment, my baseball dream of visiting every ballpark has been fueled, and I plan to turn every traveling opportunity I get into a baseball opportunity. And as soon as I accepted a research position in Massachusetts earlier this year, I began thinking of how many ballparks I could visit along the way. After much planning (and seeing which of my friends on the east coast will let me borrow their floor for the night), I've scheduled four days of baseball games.

• Wednesday, June 6th: Dodgers @ Phillies
• Thursday, June 7th: Mets @ Nationals
• Friday, June 8th: Phillies @ Orioles
• Saturday, June 9th: Mets @ Yankees

I'd like to be able to share my journey with fellow BYB readers, and if anyone knows anything useful or fun about the ballparks, I'd love to know that as well. I know that journeying to every MLB park is lofty, and maybe unattainable, but hopefully these experiences can be a small inspiration to enjoy a baseball game in unfamiliar territory sometime, simply for the love of the game.

It's impossible to predict when a player will go down. In Victor Martinez's case, it was essentially a freak ACL injury that put him out for the season, and brought Prince Fielder to the Tigers for the next nine seasons. It was clear that Illitch and Dombrowski were looking to add an impact bat that could truly replace Victor's spot in the lineup. But of course, at the time of Victor's injury, Fielder was essentially the only big free agent left that could replace him. But how would the Tigers handled free agency if we had known that there was going to be a vacancy at DH this year?

In terms of total money, it could be said that that adding Jose Reyes and C.J. Wilson would have had a bigger impact on our team together for less money. Reyes is set to receive $106 million over 6 years with an option and Wilson will receive $77.5 million over five years. This would have caused a change in our infield defense, with Peralta moving to either 2B or 3B, but this seems like a smoother transition than Cabrera making the move to 3B, and doesn't create a logjam in 2013 when Victor returns. The main problem I have with this is the backloading on the deals, with Reyes receiving $22 million on his final three years of the deal, and Wilson receiving $18 and $20 million on his final two years. This would push the yearly salaries up for 2014 and 2015 dramatically, and would make holding onto current players much more difficult. But I imagine the Tigers would avoid this sort of backloading if they were to hypothetically sign these players, but nothing is certain. Players tend to like backloading as it acts as a sort of no-trade clause. Maybe sign Mark Buehrle at $58 million for four years instead?

As fun as it is to consider these possibilities, it's really nothing more than an exercise in hindsight. But if you were the all-knowing GM and foresaw Victor's injury, what would you do with $214 million and a hole in the DH spot?

Recently, Tigers fans have been fuming with some of the recent sacrifice bunts ordered by their fearless leader Jim Leyland. One very curious bunting incident occurred on August 3, when our savior Alex Avila was ordered to lay down a bunt in the fourth inning to move up Jhonny Peralta and Ryan Raburn to 2nd and 3rd. Was this the correct move? When are there situations when it is appropriate to bunt?

As a man of baseball tradition who plays by the books, Leyland may not put much thought into the numbers, but we sure will here! This may not be as fancy as charts and graphs, but will hopefully provide some insight and entertainment. We will examine when it is an appropriate situation to bunt, and how bunting has affected the Tigers recently.

When is it appropriate to bunt?

We will first look at bunting from the perspective of win probability. It is fairly safe to make a conclusion that bunting in a close game becomes relatively more effective as the game progresses, as the possibility of future runs scoring is gone, giving the possible run scored by moving up the runner more value. We will thus examine the prospect of bunting in the 9th inning with the score tied.  

We use this WPA Calculator from the Hardball Times to make these calculations. Note that this calculator essentially assumes a homogenous lineup of batters, so bunting may be more effective than this calculation yields if a weak batter attempts a bunt.  

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Jhonny Peralta or Brandon Inge?

At first, I would say Brandon Inge in a heartbeat, but the decision isn't as easy as it looks.  Injuries have plagued Brandon Inge's past two years as a Tiger, and it's clear that it affects his play.  Batting .221/.289/.383 in his first 44 games this season, appearing to be bothered by his knee surgery during the offseason, he recovered in his next 44 games before his injury with a .310/.407/.465.  We saw a much greater drop in 2009, where he went from All-Star to a .220 hitter on the season.  Much of this can also be attributed to Inge's history of streakiness as well, but the fact that he has a history of injuries also makes his future somewhat scarier than Peralta's who has been injury free.

While Jhonny Peralta hasn't been tearing it up the past couple of years with Cleveland, who has exactly?  Maybe a change of scenery and hitting alongside Miguel Cabrera will give him a bit of a boost he needs.  While I realize this is a stretch and also terribly hard to judge considering he hasn't played a game for us yet, it makes a great discussion piece now.  So, what do you think?  

Poll

If you could only have ONE of the two as your 3B (can't move the other to SS or other position), who would you take?

39%

Jhonny Peralta

89 votes

60%

Brandon Inge

135 votes

224 votes | Poll has closed

The Mud Hens made what will most likely be their most inconsequential signing; that is, in terms of the Detroit Tigers' roster.  32-year-old outfielder John Weber has been a career AAA player since 2004, and doesn't look to be changing this by signing with the Detroit Tigers organization this past Thursday, with a Detroit outfield as crowded as a Tokyo subway. 

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