Kenny Rogers - Detroit Tigers (2006-2008)

Subject: Tigers' Rogers feeling revitalized Mon Jan 14, 2008 5:11 pm

Monday, January 14, 2008
Offseason has Tigers' Rogers feeling revitalized
Veteran pitcher says players feel same level of excitement as the fans about upcoming season.
Tom Gage / The Detroit News

TOLEDO -- It's enough to make a pitcher feel 39 again.

Did you notice who didn't get much attention at TigerFest this year after getting the bulk of it two years ago?

Did you also notice whose shoulder and elbow weren't talked about much, despite the fact he missed most of last season because of problems with both?

None other than Kenny Rogers, who's back for a third year with the Tigers and feeling so excited about the promise of the upcoming season that it seems to have taken years off.

Not a lot of years, mind you. Not five or 10.

But when you're 43 and feeling as good as during the offseason before you won 17 games, which Rogers did for the Tigers in 2006, that's saying a lot.

"I think there's a different level of excitement for everyone right now, the players as well as the fans," Rogers said. "People have to understand that players get excited, too, when they know their team looks as good as we think it does.

"You still have to go out and do it, though. Nothing's going to be given to us, but without a doubt, I think every player is as excited as they've been for any team, including myself. And I've been on a few teams."

Rogers wasn't on the metro bus of the caravan this year. Nor was he on the west bus or the north bus.

The truth of the matter is that late Saturday, Rogers was wheeling his suitcase away from TigerFest, leaving Comerica Park for a ride to the airport.

He had slipped in and nearly slipped out without being noticed.

He wasn't dodging anyone, but it wasn't until Rogers was nearly gone that reporters asked if he had a few moments.

Two years ago, with TigerFest at Joe Louis Arena, Rogers was mobbed by everyone. Of course, he was entering his first season as a Tiger and was coming off a regrettable altercation with a Texas cameraman, so there were built-in reasons to speak with him

But there were this time, too, because of what he went through last year.

"I wouldn't change anything," Rogers said. "But I tried to come back a lot quicker than I should have and wasn't able to handle it."

It shows, however, just how active the Tigers' offseason has been, and how much they've added and changed in the last two years -- the acquisition of Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis, for instance -- that a pitcher as important as Rogers can be nearly invisible.

"Regardless of the overall talent the rotation has," Nate Robertson said, "Kenny's going to be the leader of the staff. He just is. That's the bottom line."

"He looks good, feels good," manager Jim Leyland said of Rogers. "But only time will tell if he is able to hold up. We'll watch him in spring training real close, at the same time we have to get him ready."

Rogers remains immensely important to the Tigers. He's probably not their so-called ace, but remember, this isn't a team that thinks in terms of aces.

It thinks in terms of depth. That means having a pitcher of Rogers' caliber, if he remains healthy, translates into more starting depth than the Tigers possibly ever have had.

Justin Verlander, Willis, Jeremy Bonderman, Robertson and Rogers? That's nothing if not a deep rotation.

"I remember thinking when I was with the Yankees (in 1996-97) that we were going to have a strong team," Rogers said. "But I'm not sure even they had this kind of lineup. Our lineup definitely looks strong, but it's always about pitching and defense.

"I want to be out there making 35-40 starts for this club. The rotation looks good, but health is the key for everyone. The good thing is that we have four young guys in the rotation.

"Four young guys and me. I bring the average age of the rotation up about 10 years by myself."

Who's counting, though, when you're 43, going on 39?

You can reach Tom Gage at tom.gage@detnews.com.

Subject: Re: Kenny Rogers - Detroit Tigers (2006-2008) Wed Feb 13, 2008 10:23 am

Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Rogers on '08 Tigers: 'Bar has been raised again'
Tom Gage / The Detroit News

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Kenny Rogers expects to be sore when spring training begins for pitchers and catchers with the first workout on Friday.

Don't be alarmed, though. It's not about his elbow that bothered him last year. It's not about his shoulder that required surgery a year ago. It's about the creakiness that comes with being 43 and getting ready for your 20th major-league season.

"I do what I do that I think will benefit me and help me get ready for the season," Rogers said about his workout regimen in these, the final days of the off-season.

"But I can't go into the weight room and just throw around a lot of weights because I'd be in so much pain I couldn't function when we have to play. At my age, I don't have that luxury."

Getting ready at his own pace will be what it's all about for Rogers this spring because he's focused on one thing: Being ready to contribute when the bell rings.

"With this caliber of team," he said on Wednesday about the Tigers, "the bar has been raised once again. Expectations are high, but that doesn't mean you're guaranteed of anything. However, I do feel that if this team stays healthy, we have as good a chance as anybody and better than most."

Subject: Re: Kenny Rogers - Detroit Tigers (2006-2008) Thu Feb 14, 2008 10:29 am

43? He's still just a baby!!

Subject: Re: Kenny Rogers - Detroit Tigers (2006-2008) Thu Feb 14, 2008 10:45 pm

Still great to see somebody in our age range makin' good in baseball! (and not as a coach!)
_________________
There are three things in my life which I really love: God, my family, and baseball. The only problem - once baseball season starts, I change the order around a bit. ~Al Gallagher, 1971

Subject: Re: Kenny Rogers - Detroit Tigers (2006-2008) Sat May 10, 2008 4:19 am

Saturday, May 10, 2008
Q&A with Kenny Rogers
Rogers, 43, can handle the 'grandpa' jokes: 'I'm fair game'
Tim Twentyman / The Detroit News

In the bullpen with Tigers pitcher Kenny Rogers:

Q . You're the elder statesman on the team (43). Have you gotten any banter from being the oldest guy on the team?

A . They wear me out constantly, but I don't mind.

Q . Has there been any Ensure in your locker or grandpa jokes, things like that?

A . Every day.

Q . The Ensure or the grandpa jokes?

A . The grandpa jokes. But that's OK. I don't mind it and they know that. I'm fair game in every aspect and they usually take liberties on that.

Q . But they're fair game too, right? When rookies come in, there has to be some hazing there from you.

A . I'm pretty easy on them. I figure they are going to do enough things to themselves that I don't need to hurt them that much. They are good here. Every one of them is respectful, kind of and in a fun-loving way they are disrespectful to me when they joke with me, but I understand and we have a good group here.

Q . What's the best thing about this rookie group.

A . They are smart enough to ask questions. The worst thing that young people, or anybody, can do is, don't ask questions. I ask questions of anybody if it means I'm going to get better. Heck, I ask Bondo (Jeremy Bonderman), and he's 25, how to do certain things or about a pitch I don't do very well. Talking to him has helped me out a little bit. Those things you have to do.

Q . Bonderman and some of the young guys have attributed a lot of their success on you coming to Detroit and mentoring. What do you say to that?

A . I've been around and been through quite a bit so anything that I've learned or been through that helps them, they know they can ask me anything they want. There is never anything off-limits. If I have any valid input, I give it to them. These guys are good. They are more talented than I am, for sure, at this stage -- and maybe anytime -- in my career. (But) experience is tough to come by and to have someone that's been through it all that might shorten your slumps or shorten your bad times ... it's the mental part of this game that is hard to overcome. Sometimes it works, sometimes it probably doesn't help them a whole lot because sometimes you just have to work through it.

Q . You recently pitched at Yankee Stadium. What were your feelings being there for possibly the last time?

A . There is a lot of history there. Sad is maybe not the word. Everything has to change to a degree, but you reminisce a little bit. I played there quite a few times. It was nice to win the last one (6-4 victory April 29), first and foremost, being probably the last time for me. It just makes you think about the history of the Yankees in that ballpark.

Q . You've pitched in a lot of parks. What's your favorite?

A . I got to go to Wrigley Field and pitch once in my career (June 18, 2006, his 200th career victory) and there is no type of place that recreates that type of atmosphere. It's just the place. Even outside the park and the things that go on are so unique.

Tim Twentyman

Subject: Re: Kenny Rogers - Detroit Tigers (2006-2008) Sat May 10, 2008 5:58 am

You gotta see the Kenny show! He is quite a looker, 20 years ago and today!
_________________
There are three things in my life which I really love: God, my family, and baseball. The only problem - once baseball season starts, I change the order around a bit. ~Al Gallagher, 1971

Subject: Re: Kenny Rogers - Detroit Tigers (2006-2008) Tue Aug 19, 2008 6:58 pm

08/19/2008 9:55 PM ET
Rogers doesn't miss Texas humidity
Monday's start a reminder how conditions wear hurlers down
By Jason Beck / MLB.com

ARLINGTON -- Not only do Kenny Rogers' 54 wins at Rangers Ballpark top the record list, they're going to top the list for a while, considering no one else has more than 37. That doesn't mean Rogers always enjoyed this ballpark as a pitcher.

After getting through six innings Monday with a quality start before the Tigers rallied to reward him with a victory, Rogers remarked on how tough it can be to pitch here.

"This park is not a place where pitchers want to come and stay too long," Rogers said. "I was a glutton for punishment for how long I stayed, but it was home."

Rogers spent the first seven seasons of his career with the Rangers, including the opening of this ballpark in 1994. He returned there from 2000-02, then came back in 2004-05 before signing with the Tigers as a free agent. He has twice as many wins as losses here, including a 17-4 record combined in '04 and '05, but he said it was a challenge for him.

It wasn't so much the dimensions he discussed, but the conditions. They can favor offense, but they can also wear down a pitcher. On Monday, it was the humidity that wore on him after it rained virtually all day.

Between the humidity on some days and the extreme heat more often in the summers, Rogers made the case that this park is tougher on pitchers than any other in the Majors, including Coors Field in recent years once the humidor dampened the effect of thin air on fly balls.

"The heat and the humidity are extremely difficult," Rogers said, "and anybody that doesn't understand it hasn't pitched here. They don't deal with that kind of humidity, where you walk out of the bullpen thinking how tired you are and how fatigued you already are, and then try to pitch in a game. People don't understand how difficult it is.

"I stayed here a long time. It is a combination that is difficult for any type of pitcher. You could be a finesse guy or a power guy, and the difficulty of pitching deep into ballgames and consistently giving your team a chance to win, it's very hard."

That, he argued, has an effect on the Rangers' struggle to find consistent pitching seemingly every offseason.

"It's a mental grind every time you're out here," Rogers said. "Pitchers that pitch here understand that and I think that's the lot of the reason that when they have an opportunity to go somewhere else, they do."

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Subject: Re: Kenny Rogers - Detroit Tigers (2006-2008) Mon Sep 15, 2008 4:10 pm

09/15/2008 8:07 PM ET
Tigers shut down Rogers for season
Lefty to miss rest of year after being hit hard Sunday
By Drew Davison / Special to MLB.com

ARLINGTON -- The Detroit Tigers have decided to shut down left-hander Kenny Rogers for the rest of the season.

Detroit manager Jim Leyland came to that decision after meeting with Rogers on Sunday night in Chicago. Rogers gave up seven runs, all earned, over 4 2/3 innings as the Tigers fell to the White Sox in the second game of Sunday's doubleheader.

"We're not going to pitch Kenny any more this season," Leyland said. "We're just shutting him down. We had a nice talk after the game and we're just going to shut him down."

Leyland didn't go into any specific reason to shut down the 43-year-old Rogers, although he did say that Rogers was fine physically.

Rogers, who resides in the Dallas-Fort Worth suburb of Westlake, showed up at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington at 6:15 p.m. CT on Monday with food for some of his teammates, but declined an interview request, citing that it was past the media availability time.

In 30 starts this season, Rogers is 9-13 with a 5.70 ERA with 82 strikeouts in 173 2/3 innings pitched. In his last five starts, Rogers has particularly struggled, going 1-3 with a 10.22 ERA in 24 2/3 innings.

With Rogers out for the remainder of the season, the Tigers rotation will also change. Detroit will start right-hander Zach Miner and right-hander Freddy Garcia in the final two games against the Rangers. For the Cleveland series this weekend, Leyland said the tentative rotation is right-hander Armando Galarraga for the first game, followed by right-hander Justin Verlander and left-hander Dontrelle Willis.

Drew Davison is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.