Friday Fungoes

Happy 33rd Birthday to Jacque Jones. Let’s hope he’s recuperating nicely from his collision with an unruly guard rail on Thursday.

• Speaking of birthdays, Feliz Cumpleaños to former Tigers Tony Phillips (49) and Larry Pashnick (52).

• The Tigers moved up seven slots on ESPN.com’s Baseball Power Rankings this week: from 27 to 20.

• On today’s Baseball Today podcast, another ESPN deal, co-host Eric Karabell spoke about how bad the Giants were. He said that only one player on the Giants would even be able to make the Tigers roster: Aaron Rowand. “You could put Rowand in center and move Curtis Granderson in left.” Hmm…

• Lately I’ve been wondering about the 30-year contract between the Tigers and Comerica Bank for the naming rights to the Tigers’ home ballpark. With Comerica moving to Dallas, does it make sense to have a Texas company on the marquee? I’m sure this deal will go the distance, but personally, I’d prefer to see Faygo Field.

• Looking for something to do this weekend in Detroit? The Detroit chapter of SABR is presenting a symposium on race and integration at the major league level, with a focus on Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox, the final teams to integrate in the late 1950s. Events will be held Saturday and Sunday, including a bus tour of historic sites, a Sunday brunch at the Marriott Hotel, and two panel discussions featuring notable figures representing the Tigers and Red Sox.

Among the scheduled participants are keynote speaker Deacon Jones, and former Tiger greats Willie Horton and Gates Brown. For more info visit SABR-Detroit Online.

• Finally, how are you feeling about Kenny Rogers these days? SportingGurus.com think he’s through.