Rookies answer the opening bell
DETROIT -- Jim Leyland had a far different problem than Tony La Russa.
Leyland has too many choices to pitch Game 1 of the World Series tonight against the St. Louis Cardinals and La Russa has virtually no choice.
In the end, both managers chose rookies -- Justin Verlander for the Tigers and Anthony Reyes for the Cardinals.
La Russa, whose team is coming off a grueling seven-game series with the Mets, had the choice of going with Reyes or Jason Marquis, who wasn't even on the Cardinals' roster for the National League Championship Series and now isn't likely to be on the Series roster either, though that won't be officially revealed until tonight.
"It's not an easy call," La Russa said. "We wrestled with this. Jason was on the first roster. Just a couple of edges we thought Anthony has, and there's not really anything clearly against Jason Marquis, he's really helped get us here. But the way he ended the season, it was a tough assignment to give. He hadn't pitched for a while. Anthony took the assignment in the NLCS, I think he handled himself well. The experience will be helpful."
Leyland said Kenny Rogers, Nate Robertson, and Jeremy Bonderman will follow for the Tigers. La Russa will go with Jeff Weaver, Chris Carpenter, and Jeff Suppan.
"Before anybody wants an explanation about it, basically we wanted Kenny to pitch two games at home, 2 and 6, if it goes, obviously, that far," Leyland said. "So that's why that decision was made. And we were waiting on obviously who was going to be our opponent. It would have been different."
If it was the Mets, Leyland said he would have gone with the left handed Rogers in the opener.
"It was a situation where I wasn't going to be in Game 1 if it was the Mets," Verlander said. "I don't know why that is, but when [the Cardinals] won last night I was pretty excited. I couldn't go to bed for a little while. I stayed up thinking about it."
Reyes found out he was starting yesterday.
"I'm just trying to not think about it right now, just trying to relax and just get rested up and get ready for tomorrow," Reyes said.
"It helps a lot," Reyes said of his NLCS start, when he gave up two runs over four innings in Game 4. "It helps to gather yourself before you go out there and not try to do too much, just the whole dealing with the crowds and all the pressure that goes with it, just stuff that I can use in this game."
Reyes, 5-8 with a 5.06 ERA in 17 regular-season starts, has the fewest wins of any Game 1 starter in World Series history and is the first in 33 years with a losing regular-season record. The previous low for wins by a Game 1 starter was set by Howard Ehmke for the 1929 Philadelphia Athletics, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. He went 7-2 during the regular season, then beat the Cubs, 3-1, in Game 1. Not since Jon Matlack opened the 1973 World Series for the Mets against Oakland after going 14-16 had a pitcher with a losing record started Game 1, according to Elias. The A's won that one, 2-1.
Leyland said first baseman Sean Casey will likely be the DH the first two games so his partially torn left calf muscle can continue to heal. Casey ran for Leyland yesterday and moved fairly well. Carlos Guillen is expected to remain at first base . . . Flamethrowing Tigers reliever Joel Zumaya doesn't plan on holding back because of a sore right wrist. "Everything is going great," he said. "I threw 15 pitches [Wednesday] and I'm 100 percent." . . . La Russa gave no hints as to who might DH in the opener. Chris Duncan is the best fastball hitter on the bench, but Scott Spiezio has been a sparkplug . . . If he had his druthers, La Russa would get rid of the DH. "I was in the American League for 16, 17 years and I think it's a really tough league to compete in," he said. "I've loved the game since I was a kid, there's no doubt in my mind that the game of baseball and in all its beauty and entirety is the National League game. I would kick the DH out so quick it would make your head spin." . . . The Tigers contemplated placing No. 1 draft pick Andrew Miller on the active roster, but it appears they will keep righty Zach Miner, a St. Louis native, on the roster . . . La Russa said left field was also in question. "I have not decided partly because the Tiger manager was so secretive about his rotation that I just found out that it's Verlander, so I really haven't thought about it very much," La Russa said. "The candidates would be [Preston ] Wilson, Spiezio, Duncan, and [So] Taguchi. Like I told So in the outfield, I had a call from the Emperor . . . I promised the Emperor [Taguchi] would get a starting assignment sooner rather than later." . . . Randy Marsh will be the plate umpire for Game 1 and will serve as the crew chief. The crew will include Tim McClelland, John Hirschbeck, Mike Winters, Wally Bell, and Alfonso Marquez . . . The Cardinals and Tigers have met twice before in the World Series. In 1934, Dizzy Dean and the Gas House Gang beat Detroit in seven games; in 1968, Mickey Lolich and Al Kaline led the Tigers past Bob Gibson and the Cardinals in seven.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report. 
