Don't get me wrong. I think it's really good Tiger fans united and essentially put Brandon Inge into Tuesday's All Star Game.
That's what the process of voting for the final spot is all about - the fans. And I think that's a good thing. Inge had a good enough first half that it is not a stretch in the least he is on the American League squad.
And I like and admire the guy in many ways, too.
But...
I also believe that if Inge didn't get into the All Star Game, it would not have been an injustice. Carlos Pena leads the league in home runs and Ian Kinsler is having a good season, too. They were just as worthy - or more so.
Inge is hitting .264. He is a lifetime .239 hitter. My best guess is his batting average will drop the second half of the season. I also believe he will have trouble matching his power numbers from the first half during the second half.
While he is a very good fielder with solid power, Inge is generally vastly overrated by Detroit fans, who tend to cloud their judgement about Inge's performance based on liking his persona.
Magglio Ordonez has done a lot more for the Tigers down through the years than Inge - and has been shunned by their fans this season. Tigers fans have been indifferent to Curtis Granderson's first all star berth, although he has consistently been a much better player than Inge in his career.
Although Granderson - who like Inge is clearly a "character" guy - is having a comparable season, Inge is considered to be having a "great" year, while Granderson's season has often been labeled "disappointing."
The same Tiger fans who are overly critical of many of their players are quick to rush to Inge's defense the first sign any of his flaws as a player are pointed out.
I can't think of an athlete in this town so many fans have been less objective about than Brandon Inge.
At times, honestly, I think it's absurd.


My column in Saturday's Oakland Press: http://tinyurl.com/kvaz2x

It seems odd Toronto general manager J.P. Riccardi would come out and say Roy Halladay is on the trading block. But Riccardi is one of those "Moneyball" guys who tends to undervalue the meaning of top players in terms of salary.
If there is any player the Blue Jays should pay, it is Halladay. He is the best pitcher - along with Boston’s Josh Beckett - in the strongest division in baseball. The Blue Jays won’t have trouble drawing if they start winning. They sold out every game when they were. Seems like they have become the A’s of the North. It’s sends the wrong message to the fans. And a small market claim by Toronto is ridiculous. Toronto would be the fifth-largest media market if it were located in the United States.
As for all the sports talk radio chatter about the Tigers possibly offering Rick Porcello for Halladay, it is just that: Interesting discussion. It is highly, highly doubtful the Tigers would even consider it.
At this point, a 20-year-old rookie starting pitcher with eight wins by the All Star break and an even brighter future, at much less of a price than Halladay, is baseball’s MVC - Most Valuable Commodity. Strangely, what Porcello has accomplished this season, has surprising been underappreciated by many Tiger fans.
The Phillies and the Dodgers will be the front runners for Halladay because they have the prospects to offer in return.

Random Thoughts

- If Jiri Hudler does, indeed, play in Russia, the Red Wings will be replacing 30 percent of their goal-scoring and 40 percent of their goaltending from last season only with players moving up from the minor leagues. It will be the ultimate test of their vaunted depth. At this stage, though, general manager Ken Holland would be wise to save the team’s remaining cap space for a rainy day. An injury or two - and it will definitely be needed.

- A Lions player few people talk about now, but will a lot in the future is Cliff Avril. He could emerge this season with double digits in sacks. He is a fast, intense player who had an overlooked rookie season (five sacks) because of the Lions’ overall foibles.

You don’t know, really, when a coach like John Kuester is hired whether it is the right decision or the wrong one.
He has been around a long time as an assistant for some of the best coaches. Long ago, he was a pretty good player at North Carolina. He did play in the NBA.
Maybe all Kuester has needed is the opportunity to prove he can be a successful NBA head coach. OK. From that standpoint, maybe the Pistons found something. Lets be fair. Lets give him a chance.
But why not Bill Laimbeer? That is the question a lot of people are asking about this. You get the sense, if given the choice, Joe Dumars would walk down the street and ask the first person he meets if they know anything about basketball. Even if they said, "No," he’d still hire that person as Pistons coach over Laimbeer.
Why?

Random Thoughts

- Good move by the Tigers bringing up Clete Thomas. He had slumped, but found his hitting stroke at Toledo. Get him back up and ship Donald Kelly, who lost his hitting stroke lately, back down. Keep riding the hot hand. The Tigers have done a good job of that with their fringe players. Thomas has more upside than Kelly, too.

- Trying to figure out who Fernando Rodney - 18-of-18 in save situations and jobbed when it comes down getting an All-Star berth - reminds more of: Goose Gossage or Rollie Fingers.

- And to think I can’t stand sarcastic people.

You get the feeling sometimes the Tigers are being held together by paste and glue. Particularly their bullpen.
It sure appeared that way as they blew a lead during the late innings in a loss to the Royals Monday.
Bad pitch selection in the eighth by Joel Zumaya, and the ninth by Fernando Rodney, led to the defeat. Don’t know why Zumaya and catcher Gerald Laird felt compelled to select a breaking ball as a first pitch to Willie Bloomquist. - after Zumaya walked the previous hitter. It setup an 1-0 count - and everyone knowing a fastball was coming over the heart of the plate. No shock Bloomquist drilled it into the gap for a two-run triple. Jacobs clearly is struggling. Rodney does throw in the mid-to-high 90s. Why the hanging changeup on a 1-1 pitch? The Tigers had their chances to break the game open in the early innings. Gil Meche was not at his best for the Royals. The Tigers didn’t do it. A second inning double play Adam Everett hit into was especially painful.
If the Tigers are going to win the American League Central, they must clean up against Cleveland and Kansas City - especially at home. You know the Twins and the White Sox are going to do just that. Monday was an opportunity wasted. It was probably the Tigers’ worst loss of the season in terms of impact. The Twins are just 1.5 games behind the Tigers, and the White Sox two games. Huge start for Justin Verlander tonight, especially with the Zack Greinke-Luke French matchup looming Wednesday.

Random Thoughts

- The Maple Leafs did particularly well in free agency, getting defensemen Mike Komisarek and Francois Beauchemin. They also added tough guy Colton Orr. Obviously Brian Burke is trying to shed the Leafs "soft" image.

- Three of the first six calls I took on my radio show last night following the Tigers' loss blamed the defeat on Magglio Ordonez. Tell he hasn’t become a scapegoat in this town.

- Food for thought for those who think Brandon Inge deserves an all star bid over Curtis Granderson. Who is the better player? Granderson by far. Considering they are having comparable seasons, why shouldn’t Granderson get the all star nod ahead of Inge? Look at the numbers. They aren't that much different. Inge is having his best year and Granderson an off year - and they are about equal. Career-wise, it's not even close. And Granderson is at least as good a fielder as Inge.

Steve McNair was a retired player, and albieit the timing was coincidental, but his murder is a reminder that this is the time of the year NFL teams fear most.
It is between the end of the off season programs and the start of training camp. It usually about a six-week break when players tend to cut loose with what amounts to be about their only true free time of the off season.
Thought McNair was a great player, but obviously there were some other issues there. I strongly feel this: Too many players associated with the NFL are dying young. Sean Taylor and Durrent Williams were murdered. Others were victims of extreme violence. Javon Walker was beaten and apparently left for dead on the Las Vegas strip. Richard Collier was paralyzed for life after a shooting.
I thought it was laughable last year when the NFL started making budget cuts. How much profit is enough? So they only make billions instead of zillions. Greed knows no level like that of NFL owners.
How about investing in the players in two important ways?
One is to protect them from random violence. Find better ways - and spend the money. The other is to pay much more attention - and funds - to players as they get older and face debilitating injuries suffered from playing the most rugged of professional team sports.
There is too much of a "discarded cattle" feel to the NFL. I’d call it the league’s dirty little secret.
Except it is no secret.

Random Thoughts

- Absolutely Brandon Inge belongs in the All Star game. Absolutely, Tiger fans should stuff the ballot box to get him in. Isn’t that part of the fun of the All Star game?

- If they have the opportunity, the Pistons should trade Richard Hamilton to Utah in a heartbeat for Carlos Boozier. They couldn’t get a better deal. And make no mistake, they must trade Hamilton. His fate with the Pistons was sealed the moment they signed Ben Gordon.

- In today’s market, is Jiri Hudler worth more than $3 million per season? If I were Ken Holland, I’d pass on Hudler and save that money for a rainy day.


My column in Monday's Oakland Press about how improbable it is the Tigers are in first place at the halfway point of the season: http://tinyurl.com/ly437q

The Tigers are 2.5 games up on the White Sox and three games ahead of the Minnesota Twins.
This is an absolutely huge series from the standpoint the Tigers must not leave Minnesota after three games no longer in first place in the American League Central.
If they do lose the lead, there will be a momentum shift that will be difficult to reverse. The best chance is obviously Saturday with Edwin Jackson going against Francisco Liriano.
The White Sox have won six in a row and are making a strong move. They are the one team in the division that is winning on the road.
Lefty Luke French is starting tonight for the Tigers and is not overpowering. A lot has been made about the Twins’ left-handed hitters Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau, but French isn’t going to overpower them. He is a sinker-ball type, who hasn’t had that much more success against left-handers than right-handed hitters during his minor league career. Mauer is "only" hitting .351 with an OPS approaching 1,000 against left-handers, Morneau is hitting .359 with an OPS above 1,000 against lefties.
French was called up because he was the only starter at Triple-A or Double-A who was pitching reasonably well in the Tigers’ system. And Alfredo Figaro clearly wasn’t good enough. Period.

Random Thoughts

- To me it’s a no-brainer Avery Johnson for as the Pistons’ next coach. Not sure if Joe Dumars and Company feel the same way, however.

- Too bad Scott Sizemore isn’t an outfielder or catcher. He’d be in the major leagues by now. The Tigers don’t need a middle infielder, though.

- I think Rasheed Wallace would be a great fit for the Celtics. He can still play. That’s not been the issue. The bigger issue has been whether he wants to play. He needs a change of scenery. Boston would be perfect for him.

- The Dodgers sure have missed Manny Ramirez. Hah.

"Caputo and His Boss" video from Friday about Tigers http://tinyurl.com/n5uync

My column in Friday's Oakland Press about Pistons: http://tinyurl.com/m5mmz5

Anyway you look at it, the Pistons are a much better team now than before they agreed to terms with free agents Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva.
Gordon is a hot and cold player. He is either exceptional or exceptionally mediocre. Little in-between. But you know those nights when he is really hot, Gordon is literally going to carry you to victory. The Pistons haven’t had a great streak scorer like that in awhile. It’s a good thing.
Villanueva isn’t very scrappy and doesn’t address the Pistons’ inside needs - unless he develops more of a toughness in the paint and on the boards.
The key with him isn’t skill - he can do it inside. The question is whether he wants to. He has a good outside touch, but the Pistons don’t need him firing up 3s too often like Rasheed Wallace.
The good part about Villanueva is there is an upside. There is a chance he could develop into a much better player.
I don’t know what they’ll do with Richard Hamilton. Three guards isn’t going to work. We saw that last year. Gordon shouldn’t be an $11 million per season "super sub" as some have suggested. Can Hamilton be traded for more size? Seems doubtful. Will be interesting how it plays out.

Random Thoughts

- No truth to the rumors the Lions are bringing back Bobby Ross, the Tigers Buddy Bell and the Red Wings Bryan Murray. Where is the love for George Irvine? Sorry, hate cynical people. And here I am being one.

- The Tigers better not look behind them, the Twins and White Sox are gaining on them. If Justin Verlander is going to be all that he can be, he has to do it on the road. How is that for a couple cliches.

- Red Wings’ worst value for a contract next season: Tomas Holmstrom at $2.25 million.

- Marian Hossa will be a fine fit for the Blackhawks, but they lost more than they gained in free agency Wednesday when Martin Havlat signed with Minnesota and Nikolai Khabibulin with Edmonton.

- Sign of the times: Just how much salaries were down for NHL free agents.