FERNANDO RODNEY CAREER TRACKER

catbox_9 wrote:

I'll bet if Miller went out there naked you'd think it's cute.

Actually, I know you would

:shock:

tigersaint wrote:

You guys don't get it, do you??

It's not the hat.....'Nando's freakin' HEAD is crooked!!

Get rid of the cap! GO RODNEY!

We need Rodney to have an awesome year in 08!

GO TIGERS!

WE ROCK IN 2008

We are gonna be great

SoulRat wrote:

catbox_9 wrote:

I'll bet if Miller went out there naked you'd think it's cute.

Actually, I know you would

:shock:

LOL!

Not going there! LOL! GO TIGERS!

We rule in 08

gs78 wrote:

Not going there! LOL! GO TIGERS!

LOL!

GO TIGERS!

TIGERS ROCK!

Can't wait for next season

GO RODNEY!!

TIGERS ROCK!!

TIGERS ROLL!!

GO TIGERS IN 2008!!

THUGNEY'S thread is getting long!!

Because of all these useless posts!!

tigersaint wrote:

Because of all these useless posts!!

Bored much? :Shrug:

lmao.

SoulRat wrote:

tigersaint wrote:

Because of all these useless posts!!

Bored much? :Shrug:

BORED OFTEN. LIFE DOES NOT CHALLENGE ME.....

Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Tigers spring training
A Tigers' delivery that SINGS: Rodney's tuneful ways are weird, but wonderful
Tom Gage / The Detroit News

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Early spring training, the sun, the warmth. What a great time for pitchers to get their arm in shape -- and, if necessary, their voice.

Fernando Rodney sings. But don't we all from time to time?

"You don't understand," closer Todd Jones said. "Sometimes he sings the entire game out in the bullpen. How about every day, innings at a time?"

To some, the crooning is melodious.

"Spanish ballads," reliever Jason Grilli said. "I think that's what they are. Love songs. I wish I could understand the words."

To others, it's not. "I'd rather listen to my son beating on pots and pans in the kitchen," Brandon Inge said.

Pavarotti or not, though, here we come: To one of the truly unusual, but most popular characters on the Tigers the man to whom they will again entrust the crucial eighth inning.

Our knowledge of Rodney doesn't extend much past what his numbers tell us. He has had some good games over the years, days on which his change-up didn't just look unhittable, but was.

He has also had some bad games. It usually comes down to this: There has always been something or someone more compelling to talk about, write about and, yes, learn about.

But you learn more about Rodney, you're venturing into uncharted waters. He dances to a different drummer, that's for sure. Sometimes he just dances.

"He'll do a little of that, too, out there," said Jones. "Just a little truffle shuffle, but it's part of his repertoire."

The first clue Rodney is different is the way he wears his cap -- over to the side as he ambles in with the menacing look of an Earp brother at the O.K. Corral.

"Everybody wants to have a Johnny Tough-Guy look about him," reliever Zach Miner said, "but Rodney pulls it off. He really does look menacing when he takes the mound. He also has some pretty menacing stuff.

"That just goes with the territory of what relief pitchers need to do, though. You can't be out there looking like you don't even believe in yourself."

The routine

What we haven't always known, however, for the five years Rodney has been with the Tigers is what he's like before he enters a game. Some pitchers mentally wind up, some try to wind down.

"Jamie Walker," Miner said. "Now there was a guy who from the first batter on, was totally into every pitch. You wouldn't have thought it because Jamie was a laid-back guy, but not after the game had started."

Rodney takes the opposite approach.

"He's also out there talking in funny voices," Miner said. "He's got this Kermit the Frog voice that cracks everyone up."

Singing is Rodney's trademark, though. Those who don't want to hear it simply move away. But most of those in the Tigers' bullpen understand it because they understand the man.

"I wouldn't say he's crazy, just unusual," said Jones. "But the problem is, if you ask him to stop, he just sings louder. That makes it worse."

Sing away

Manager Jim Leyland doesn't mind the singing at all. Then again, notes from more than one tune have been known to emanate from his office.

"I find Rodney amusing," said Leyland. "He's just a carefree spirit, a witty guy. Because of that, I doubt people give him credit for being as smart as he is."

Grilli likes the way one persona easily mixes with the other.

"He sort of drifts off into a different world. He'll be real serious. If you don't know him, he's kind of intimidating, But he won't knock your head off unless you give him reason to.

"He has a hard shell, but inside he's a good dude, fun to be around. If singing keeps him at peace, and helps him to get people out, I'm all for it. It's not annoying. That's just his way."

Rodney smiled when asked about "his way."

"I invent words for songs," he said. "I get creative. That helps, too."

It helps because it's a form of coping with the pressure of never knowing when the next bullpen call will be.

"He does his own thing out there, that's for sure," reliever Tim Byrdak said. "Whatever pops in his mind that day, that's what he sings. Whatever he's in the mood for, you get. But that's exactly the way you need to be in the bullpen."

Even so, when asked if Rodney is unique, Byrdak answered "God, yes."

Some are fans; others

"It drives me crazy," said Jones, "but when I don't hear him doing it, I have to ask him what's wrong, 'Are you singing today?' You don't want hear it, but you miss it when you don't hear it.

"As long he's not getting distracted or distracting anyone else, it's fine. That's how he stays loose, how he alleviates anxiety. But if you're getting distracted, that's when you can run into problems.

"I'm at the other end of the spectrum. I probably don't play around enough because I just can't. I spend three hours preparing to pitch. It's just awful.

"I like him," Jones said of Rodney, "because he has substance, meaning heart. When you do well, you should feel good. When you give it up, it should hurt."

That's another ingredient of Rodney being a good teammate, his passion for contributing. His friends know that.

"This guy is borderline loony bin," said Inge. "He looks like he wants to be a mass murderer, but talk to him and he's one of the nicest guys ever."

Don't try to naming that tune, though. It often can't be done.

truffle shuffle?

laprimamirala wrote:

truffle shuffle?

Yup, don't you know the "truffle shuffle?" It must be all the rave in Detroit.....bullpen!


I also like Inge's possitive take on Rodney"

Quote :

To others, it's not. "I'd rather listen to my son beating on pots and pans in the kitchen," Brandon Inge said.

and

Quote :

"This guy is borderline loony
bin," said Inge. "He looks like he wants to be a mass murderer, but
talk to him and he's one of the nicest guys ever."

Sometimes I wonder about our friend Brandon!

The truffle shuffle is the dance they made the fat kid do in The Goonies. I knew that the 80 or so times I watched that when I was 12 would eventually pay off.

As for Rodney, I hope that this shoulder tendinitis isn't an early sign that he's going to continue to be his very Jekyll and Hyde self again this year. I can't help but think it is likely to be more of the same from him though. But I hope not!

That is what I worry about also. Rodney's arm is not too healthy. Hasn't been for a long time. I think they better be looking closer at his mechanics. He is doing something wrong, or he is not really cut out to be a pitcher.

he'd better concentrate on his arm instead of singing!