Episode 55: Farewell, Mr. Ilitch

The Tigers family was saddened this past week to hear of the death of Tigers owner Mike Ilitch. Fans of the team will remember his legacy for a long time to come, and on this week's show, HookSlide and Rob talk about a few memories of "Mr. I," as well as discuss what his passing means for the future of the franchise.

The Tigers are now only one week away from starting spring training games, so there is plenty to discuss: what will spring training look like with several members of the team leaving in March to play in the World Baseball Classic? What are people (already) saying about Joe Jimenez? Is the AL Central the weakest division in baseball now? Hookslide and Rob also take on the all-important question: if you made your own IPA and named it after a player, what would it be called?

The show concludes with a visit from Steve Mikkelson, sportsbook director at Atlantis Casino in Reno, Nevada. Steve is always the first to publish MLB team win totals for the public to wager on, and he spends some time explaining for us how he arrives at those totals, and what he thinks the Tigers 2017 season will end up looking like.

Topics in this week's episode include:
- Mike Ilitch was a great owner
- No, really, we were very, very lucky to have him
- Is Drew VerHagen going to be a starter this year?
- Joe Jimenez is already raising some eyebrows
- The one "Tigers" thing you have to do at some point in your life
- The AL Central race is really just Tigers vs Indians
- Atlantis Casino and the Tigers' 85.5 win total

Contents:
2:32 - Rounding the Bases: are we there yet?
34:55 - Warming in the Pen: the weakest division?
48:58 - Into the Mob Scene at Home: beer and tourism
1:01:40 - The 7th Inning Kvetch: betting on the Tigers (with Atlantis Casino's sportsbook director)