Mammoth Blog

The sobering words were spoken at a World Series. They also apply to today's trading deadline in major league baseball.

Before Game 7 of the 1982 World Series, St. Louis manager Whitey Herzog was about to go to the field for batting practice. As he did, a few journalists in his office told him the many factors his team had in its favor that night in the one-game showdown with Milwaukee for the title.

Herzog responded to all their evaluations as he walked toward his office door, his fists jabbed into his Cardinals windbreaker. "It doesn't mean anything if we don't execute," he said.

Soon after the trade deadline passes at 4 p.m. today, you'll be able to hear "winners" and "losers" declared. But no playoff berths will have been clinched. Even the teams that appear to have done the best in this year's trade market must still go out and play well in the big-game glare to reach the World Series.

As many years of baseball have shown us, if a team has an abundance of talent but doesn't execute -- doesn't play the game properly -- it puts itself in jeopardy of losing to a team with inferior talent.

Conversely, a team that doesn't have the most talent but that does executes consistently -- hits the cutoff man, makes double plays and takes the extra base -- gives itself a chance to beat a team with a more dazzling roster.

In that Game 7 in '82, the Cardinals executed beautifully at a key moment. They threw out a Milwaukee runner who tried to go from first to third on a single to right. They wound up winning, 6-3.

TIGERS' INTERESTS: As the trading deadline approaches, it's clear the Tigers could use a boost in four areas (in no particular order of priority): starting pitching (they didn't plan to have two rookies in the rotation, as they do now), left-handed hitting (Carlos Guillen can alleviate their imbalance there), relief pitching (with Joel Zumaya headed for shoulder surgery) and backup catcher (an experienced big-leaguer who has shown run-production ability). The Tigers' chances at acquiring any of those?

They could change hour-by-hour today, or minute-by-minute as the deadline approaches.

OUTSIDE INFLUENCE: For Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski, as for any general manager of a contender, two potential last-minute factors can loom at the trade deadline beyond the trade offers themselves: recent struggles by his team and deals by his competitors.

Until their 13-run outburst Wednesday night, the Tigers ranked last in the American League in runs in the few weeks since the All-Star break. Asked how that slowdown affects his interest in getting a hitter, Dombrowski said, "It doesn't affect it at all. It was our interest before, and it continues to be an interest."

Dombrowski said that he's not swayed by any trades fellow contenders might make: "I think you have to take care of your own situation first and foremost and not react to what other people do. That would continue to be what our plans are." source>>>