Quote of the Day
I was just browsing Roar of the Tigers and they posted a quote from Baseball Tonight that just gave me a great big warm fuzzy:
“We’re gonna stop showing WebGems, and just start showing IngeGems.”
That’s in reference to Tigers 3rd baseman, Brandon Inge who has made at least three utterly phenomenal defensive plays in the last two games.
Inge was drafted as an infielder and converted to catcher in the minors because he has a rocket of an arm (no pun intended re: the Tigers facing Clemens tonight), and in 2001 he made his debute for a severely undermanned Tigers club. He was good behind the plate, but he was an awful hitter, struggling to hit .200 in his first three seasons. When Detroit signed Pudge, however, he was used as a super-sub all over the field and then finally converted to 3rd base full time in 2005. He struggled a bit (as one would expect), but lately he’s really putting his entire game together. (Leyland has called him the best athlete on the team, making him the second Tigers manager to say that.)
In addition to his growing defensive prowess the guy has 16 home runs (ties his career high) and 45 RBI. No he’s not an offensive wizard, hitting just .231 this year, but I think most teams would take this kind of offensive and defensive production from a guy hitting ninth in their lineup.
Oh yeah, and the Tigers are now 9-1 in this round of Interleague Play, having swept the Cubs and Cardinals. Is it the sign of the end of times that three of the four hottest teams in baseball are in the AL Central? (The Tigers, White Sox, Twins and Red Sox are all 9-1 in their last ten games.)