WTFchris
04-01-2008, 11:01 AM
Since we don't know how long he'll be here, I thought I'd start a thread tracking whatever remaining days he has here. This opening day article is a nice place to start:
DETROIT -- The last player to be introduced to the sold-out Comerica Park crowd Monday afternoon probably was the last player many Detroit Tigers fans -- and the organization -- expected would be in a Tigers uniform on opening day.
But there was Brandon Inge, jogging out from the dugout to the receiving line to shake hands with his teammates after being introduced to one of the loudest ovations of the day as the starting center fielder.
How long Inge is a starter may depend on how fast Curtis Granderson recovers from a broken finger on his throwing hand. How long Inge will be a Tiger could depend on when the organization receives a trade offer it simply cannot refuse.
But on this day, there was no trade talk concerning Inge. Only talk about his performance at the plate and especially in the field in the Tigers' 5-4 11-inning loss to the Kansas City Royals.
The play many in the record crowd of 44,934 left talking about was Inge's perfect throw from shallow center field to catcher Ivan Rodriguez to gun down Kansas City's Mark Teahen. He attempted to score from second base on a single by John Buck in the top of the 11th inning.
There were other bright spots for Inge, including a walk on four consecutive pitches in the second inning, a 1-for-3 effort at the plate and a perfect sacrifice bunt in the bottom of the 11th that allowed Clete Thomas to advance to third after a leadoff double. It was Thomas' first major league hit.
"Inge is a quality major league player," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "He made a great throw, and for somebody who hasn't played out there for a while, he did fine."
The last time Inge could remember playing in the outfield was 2004, the season Rodriguez signed with the Tigers and became the team's starting catcher.
"I had a good time on that one," Inge said, smiling about the throw to the plate in the 11th inning. "As soon as the hitter made contact and I saw the ball coming in my direction, I knew I was going home with the throw."
The Royals scored, however, when Tony Pena Jr., the next batter, hit a bloop single to center that dropped in front of Inge, who had no play.
"It was a well-rounded game -- extra innings -- and everyone got what they paid for except for the win," Inge said.
His tendencies of playing third base showed up a few times in the outfield.
"I can't tell you the number of times a guy squared around to bunt and I came charging," Inge said. "Then I looked around to see who saw me do it."
While not many may have noticed those times, many voiced their appreciation this day for Inge, and that did not go unnoticed.
"It was great, similar to spring training, and you get kind of touched by something like that," Inge said. "You wish you could go around to every fan that gave you applause and shake their hand, tell them how much you appreciate it. Of course you can't do that, you'll be there for a couple of years with as many people as we had there today.
"I greatly appreciated it. It was one of the coolest things ever."
DETROIT -- The last player to be introduced to the sold-out Comerica Park crowd Monday afternoon probably was the last player many Detroit Tigers fans -- and the organization -- expected would be in a Tigers uniform on opening day.
But there was Brandon Inge, jogging out from the dugout to the receiving line to shake hands with his teammates after being introduced to one of the loudest ovations of the day as the starting center fielder.
How long Inge is a starter may depend on how fast Curtis Granderson recovers from a broken finger on his throwing hand. How long Inge will be a Tiger could depend on when the organization receives a trade offer it simply cannot refuse.
But on this day, there was no trade talk concerning Inge. Only talk about his performance at the plate and especially in the field in the Tigers' 5-4 11-inning loss to the Kansas City Royals.
The play many in the record crowd of 44,934 left talking about was Inge's perfect throw from shallow center field to catcher Ivan Rodriguez to gun down Kansas City's Mark Teahen. He attempted to score from second base on a single by John Buck in the top of the 11th inning.
There were other bright spots for Inge, including a walk on four consecutive pitches in the second inning, a 1-for-3 effort at the plate and a perfect sacrifice bunt in the bottom of the 11th that allowed Clete Thomas to advance to third after a leadoff double. It was Thomas' first major league hit.
"Inge is a quality major league player," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "He made a great throw, and for somebody who hasn't played out there for a while, he did fine."
The last time Inge could remember playing in the outfield was 2004, the season Rodriguez signed with the Tigers and became the team's starting catcher.
"I had a good time on that one," Inge said, smiling about the throw to the plate in the 11th inning. "As soon as the hitter made contact and I saw the ball coming in my direction, I knew I was going home with the throw."
The Royals scored, however, when Tony Pena Jr., the next batter, hit a bloop single to center that dropped in front of Inge, who had no play.
"It was a well-rounded game -- extra innings -- and everyone got what they paid for except for the win," Inge said.
His tendencies of playing third base showed up a few times in the outfield.
"I can't tell you the number of times a guy squared around to bunt and I came charging," Inge said. "Then I looked around to see who saw me do it."
While not many may have noticed those times, many voiced their appreciation this day for Inge, and that did not go unnoticed.
"It was great, similar to spring training, and you get kind of touched by something like that," Inge said. "You wish you could go around to every fan that gave you applause and shake their hand, tell them how much you appreciate it. Of course you can't do that, you'll be there for a couple of years with as many people as we had there today.
"I greatly appreciated it. It was one of the coolest things ever."