On a special episode of the Bless You Boys Podcast, former managing editor of BYB and current lead MLB blogger for Bleacher Report, Ian Casselberry, covers for Kurt and Allison. Ian takes a break from covering all things MLB to focus in on his favorite team, the Detroit Tigers.

You can find Ian's thoughts on baseball at Bleacher Report's MLB blog, Horsehide Chronicles and on Twitter at @IanCass.

BYB Podcast 58 runs 1:24 and features Ian Casselberry and Al Beaton.

Topics:

• We have a pennant race...even if the White Sox are fading in a big, big way.
• Did we write the Tigers off too soon? Of course we did.
• Max Scherzer's deltoid injury has put the remainder of his season in question.
• Anibal Sanchez has proved the old baseball platitude true: You can never have enough pitching. 
• To think the Tigers could have had Ubaldo Jimenez instead of Doug Fister...
• Right field is a train wreck.
• Triple Crown and MVP talk ensues, including our listener email. Ian is in the Wonderboy camp, by the way.
• Is Miguel Cabrera pressing?
• Sabermetics vs. traditional stats from Ian's national perspective.
• The MVP is a full season award, should Mike Trout's missing April and slow finish be taken into account?
• Should Cabrera's moving to 3rd base voluntarily be taken into account, considering the move to a tougher position arguably made him more valuable to his team?
• In the week in media head/desk, we shockingly learn Hawk Harrelson is the most biased announcer in baseball.
• Manny Acta gets a raw deal in getting fired by the Indians, while their low-rent ownership make an Alan Trammell circa 2002 out of Sandy Alomar Jr.
• The lightning round includes Chris Perez, dancing on the grave of the Metrodome and revoking man-cards.
• Final thoughts implore you to don't be that guy.

We LOVE to hear from you. If you have any questions or comments about the podcast, please email us at BYBPodcast at Gmail.com. You can also contact us via Twitter and Facebook!

On this week's XXL sized Bless You Boys Podcast, Kurt, Allison and Al discuss changes at BYB, the misery that has been September Detroit Tigers baseball and the war between traditional and sabermetric stats in determining the AL MVP race.

BYB Podcast 57 has a running time of 90 minutes and features Kurt Mensching, Allison Hagen and Al Beaton.

Topics:

• There's editorial changes afoot at BYB. Meet the new boss (Al), same as the old boss (Kurt). 
• Be prepared. SBNation United is coming!
• The Tigers are 2 back of the White Sox with 13 games left. .600 ball isn’t good enough. The Tigers are treading water when they need to be sweeping series.
• There's a distinct feeling of ennui with the Tigers' fan base. Not because they are losing...but how they are losing.  A 2 game deficit feels insurmountable when the Tigers are unable to field and throw.
• The defense has gone from bad to ridiculous to sublime, reaching the peak of futility in failing to turn 4 double plays in one inning during a 1 run loss to the Indians on Sunday. A game which will go down in infamy.
• Max Scherzer is likely going to miss his next turn in the rotation due to a fatigued shoulder. Being there's only 2 weeks left the season, have we seen the last of Scherzer until 2013?
• Alex Avila suffered a concussion last Sunday, but will be back in the lineup on Friday. If this were the NFL, Avila wouldn't be back on the active roster this soon.
• Lynn Henning writes another piece speculating about Jim Leyland's status, inferring he's done as Tigers manager if they miss the post season. The Tigers would target Terry Francona as his replacement.
• Henning has pounded on topics in the past, most notably predicting the trade of Curtis Granderson well ahead of time. Which is why he should be taken seriously when writing about Leyland's status. 2 articles on the tenuous status of Leyland = Henning knows something.
• Can Miguel Cabrera win the  Triple Crown? I believe.
• The AL MVP discussion is turning into Mac vs PC, Democrats vs the GOP, religion vs atheism over the top arguing, where heels have been dug in and no one is going to change their mind.
• Miguel Cabrera vs. Mike Trout has 2 warring factions -- old school stats vs. advanced sabermetrics.
• Should Cabrera’s insane 2nd half trump Trout’s insane 1st half? 
• When did the flawed WAR metric suddenly become the be all, end all stat tin deciding MVP awards?
• Is there a bias from ESPN and other media entities toward Trout, due to having a more compelling "story."
• Sabermetric types in the baseball media are completely dismissing Cabrera's MVP candidacy in a very condescending way. For example, Cabrera is not a great defender, but he's not the butcher many of those in sabermetrics make him out to be. I’m looking at you, Fangraphs.
• Listener email reminds us the Tigers have suffered some pitching hard luck over the decades. The Tigers are the only team to have 2 players on this "Near Misses" list.
• The lightning round includes an empty Comerica, Cabrera and Prince Fielder colliding and having to interact with your family because the Tigers miss the playoffs.

Twitter accounts mentioned: @Baroque97

We LOVE to hear from you. If you have any questions or comments about the podcast, please email us at BYBPodcast at Gmail.com. You can also contact us via Twitter and Facebook!

If you've managed to survive the turmoil that was the past week of Detroit Tigers baseball, you can survive another Bless You Boys Podcast! Suck it up and listen!

BYB Podcast 56 has a running time of 55 minutes and features Kurt Mensching, Allison Hagen and Al Beaton.

Topics:

• Since we last spoke, the Tigers have put their fans through an emotional wringer.The past week has been the equivalent of riding a roller coaster through the gates of Hell, otherwise known as September baseball.
• The Tigers were both left for dead and have risen from the grave. After sweeps both good and bad, walk-off losses, crazy wins...here we are, pretty much back to where we were a week ago.
• What happened against the Angels? Oh, yeah. The offense disappeared...forever. Or so we thought.
• Tigers vs. White Sox, Doug Fister and Max Scherzer come to the rescue...though it helps the offense rose from the dead!
• Bunting, yay or nay?
• What was Robin Ventura thinking when he asked Kevin Youkilis to bunt? We should send him a thank you card.
• Kurt’s column - Lineup questions prove fans care about Tigers: There is a fine line between legit questions and being annoying and repetitive (RAYBURN IS STARTING? FIRE LAYLAND!1!!).
• Ryan Raburn is back on the DL. Is this the last of "2nd Half Raburn" as a Detroit Tiger?
• The new schedule is here, the new schedule is here! Wait a sec...what the Hell? The Tigers' 2013 season ends in...Miami?
• Has the post season awards train derailed for the Tigers’ MVP and Cy Young candidates?
• What is September expanded roster abuse? It's Robin Ventura using hundreds of pitchers, making us sit through 4 pitching changes in an inning.
• Brandon McCarthy had the tweet of the season, but he's lucky to be alive to do so after suffering a skull fracture. Is there some way to protect pitchers that won't change how the game is played?
• The week in media idiocy features Denny McClain, baseball pundit. Why has he been given a soapbox?
• The lightning round includes being overexcited by Avisail Garcia, playoff tickets, Terry Francona's bags and hating on some catcher in Chicago.

Twitter accounts mentioned: @BMcCarthy32

We LOVE to hear from you. If you have any questions or comments about the podcast, please email us at BYBPodcast at Gmail.com. You can also contact us via Twitter and Facebook!

This week, the Bless You Boys Podcast covers the gamut, from Jim Leyland's future with the team to hating on Chris Perez...even if he makes an excellent point, praising the Tigers in the process. We also declare Detroit Tigers fans won't be happy unless this team plays 1.000 baseball. Because playing at a .600 clip just isn't good enough.

BYB Podcast 55 has a running time of 1:07 and features Kurt Mensching, Allison Hagen and Al Beaton.

Topics:

• Tigers sweep the White Sox, but lose 2 of 3 to the Indians, are 1 game back of the Sox as they leave on a 10 game road trip.
• The Tigers can't win the division on this coming road trip...but a disastrous one could lose it.
• No one wants Delmon Young to sit. 6 weeks ago the fans wanted him DFAed. Make up your minds!
• Jim Leyland thinks we spend too much time analyzing his lineups.
• Fans apparently want fire and brimstone from their manager. Leyland calls that sort of act phony, cosmetic and "eye wash."
• Lynn Henning believes this could be Leyland's last season. Not because Leyland will be fired, but due to his being a 68 year old man with nothing to prove who is tired of the BS. Henning might be on to something...
• Kurt's column: Pitching should push Tigers to Central title.
• Why can't Tigers fans have nice things? The team is playing .600 ball in the 2nd half, yet fans are still upset.
• Max Scherzer won't win the Cy Young, but he will get votes as he pursues 20 wins.
• Miguel Cabrera has a legit shot at the Triple Crown, yet is still considered to be runner up to a slumping Mike Trout in the AL MVP race.
• Rosters expand, the usual suspects get the call. The only real surprise was the trade of Jeff Baker and making Avisail Garcia playoff eligible.
• Garcia will play for the Tigers in 2013. The question is, will be it on opening day or later in the season?
• This week in media idiocy was going to feature Mitch Albom's latest Tigers piece, but it was incomprehensible, so we just moved on to more important subjects.
• Indians' closer Chris Perez rips ownership for being cheap and the front office for not making trades, considers the Tigers Gallant to the Tribe's Goofus.
• The Nationals will shut down Stephen Strasburg for the season next week, use Rick Porcello’s 2009 as part of their case study.
• Seems the only people defensing the Nationals benching of Strasburg are their fans and Washington DC  media, as the rest of  baseball ridicules them..
• The return of the lightning round features Delmon-staches, Hannibal Lecter and a Rogo shout-out.

Twitter accounts mentioned: @DNR_Rogo

We LOVE to hear from you. If you have any questions or comments about the podcast, please email us at BYBPodcast at Gmail.com. You can also contact us via Twitter and Facebook!