[Tigers owner Mike Ilitch] whipped out his checkbook and, just like that, Damon became the Tigers’ left fielder for 2010.

Luckily for Dombrowski. And for manager Jim Leyland. Both are consummate pros with solid track records, but without Damon they were headed pell-mell for disaster.

Were the Tigers headed for disaster without Damon? No way; they’d have made some other move to steady the offense, but probably not as nifty a move as Damon.

On the other hand, this wire report appearing in the Miami Herald says “not so fast” in anointing Damon as the Tigers’ 2010 elixir:

As far as the Tigers go, I am not quite sure how he makes them better. People are sadly mistaken if they think he will come anywhere near the 24 home runs he hit last season.

The only real advantage I see is that he is an instant upgrade at the top of the lineup, where the Tigers were going into the season with rookies Austin Jackson and Scott Sizemore at the top of the order.

But let’s face it, he is not Torii Hunter in the outfield. He may be an upgrade defensively over Carlos Guillen, but that is really not a compliment.

Not to mention, he is 36 years old

Of course, if Ryan Raburn could hit like Damon, this wouldn’t be an issue. But he can’t. So here we are.

And closer to home, Lynn Henning tells us there’s much to look forward to this season — due to and not in spite of the rookies and newcomers.

During decades of covering spring training, rarely, if ever, has one player so energized a ballclub already at camp as Johnny Damon’s signing this week lifted the Tigers.

- snip -

Damon has changed that outlook sufficiently to make the Tigers a better bet to at least break even in 2010. They have the pitching to be a solid club, and now they’re closer to having just enough offense to surprise some of the fans (and media) who aren’t expecting much in 2010.

I agree with one point in particular that Henning makes in this column: the vast majority of Tigers fans hasn’t seen Jackson, Sizemore, Max Scherzer or Daniel Schlereth perform. Ever.

So why all the angst?

Fans in Detroit have groaned for the better part of a decade about the Twins’ uncanny ability to develop their own talent and, you know, win. The Tigers embark on a similar, though smaller-scale, path and it’s doomsday.

I’m not buying it.

P.S. Happy 51st Birthday, Bryan Kelly.

The Score: Tigers 5 – White Sox 3

The Gist: You couldn’t ask for more than Justin Verlander delivered on Sunday afternoon in the Tigers’ home finale of the as-yet-undecided 2009 season. Ryan Raburn went yard twice and the resurrected Magglio Ordonez went 4 for 4 to power most of the offense. Of course, it wouldn’t be a Tigers game without a wasted inning with a starter, this time John Danks, on the ropes. A win is a win, though this win would’ve been better on, say, Thursday.

The Quote: “I wasn’t sure right away I was going to get there.” – Curtis Granderson, referring to either his diving catch in the eighth which saved the game from looming disaster OR the Tuesday playoff game in Minnesota.

The Stat: 12 and 13 – The Tigers’ record this year on Tuesdays

Magic Digit: 1

Up Next: Tigers @ Twins – Tuesday, 5 p.m. ET on TBS

Rick Porcello (14-9. 4.04 ERA) vs. Scott Baker (15-9, 4.36)

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The Gist: Two things returned to form on Monday night in Cleveland: Edwin Jackson (13-7) pitching deep into the game holding the Indians at bay, and the Tigers’ offense oversleeping as it usually does when Jackson starts. Ryan Raburn flashed leather and lumber with a homer (number 14) and a key assist, nailing Matt LaPorta at the plate. Magglio Ordonez went 3 for 3 raising his September average to .417 — !!

The Quote: “We got a good effort from our starting pitcher. We were one base hit away from that being a different ballgame. We were one play early from that being a different ballgame.” — Indians Manager Eric Wedge, reminding Tigers fans what they feared most as the game stayed 1-0 for too long.

The Stat: 6 – The number of first-pitch strikes Jackson made through the first seven innings, according to MLB.com’s Jason Beck on Twitter.

Magic Number: 10

Up Next: Tigers @ Indians

Rick Porcello (13-9, 4.22 ERA) vs. Justin Masterson (4-8, 4.49 ERA)

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Celebrate Nate! I might be the only person in the Tigers Fan Universe looking forward to Robertson’s return to the rotation. Ian?

Today’s Walewanders are fueled by Almighty Blend coffee from Ann Arbor’s Mighty Good Coffee Roasting Co., sent along by the aforementioned Mr. Casselberry.

• Confession: When the Tigers lose, I don’t read the game stories, I don’t listen to The Baseball Today podcast, I don’t seek out game highlights. Frees up a lot of time and I recommend it.
• Today’s game marks the last time the Tigers face the Angels in the regular season. That means you’ll have to wait until next year to hear Rod Allen gush over Torii Hunter.
• While we wait for Aubrey Huff’s bat to arrive from Baltimore, let’s review the performance of Tigers players that have worn #19 this decade:
  • 2009: Huff, .083, one RBI
  • 2008-09: Jeff Larish, .242, 6 HR, 23 RBI
  • 2005: Exavier Prente Nook Logan, .264, 31 stolen bases
  • 2003-04: Alex Sanchez .304, 63 stolen bases
  • 2002: Worn by hitting coach (and Flint native) Merv Rettenmund
  • 2001: Roger Cedeno, .293, 11 triples, 55 stolen bases
  • 2000: Juan Gonzalez, .289, 22 HR, 67 RBI.
• Brandon Inge’s tattoos. Methinks he’ll regret that decision when he’s 65. If not sooner.
• I don’t care that Ramon Santiago and Adam Everett are hitting a combined .247. Give me their defense and occasional base hit (or homer, as Everett showed today) over Edgar Renteria.
• Two homers in Oakland or not, I don’t want to see Ryan Raburn batting third ever again. Ever.
• Enough of the Magglio Ordonez bashing already. The Tigers had to overpay players to come to Detroit in 2004 and ‘05 and this is the (steep) cost of doing business. Live and learn. Though, the overpaying of Dontrelle Willis makes one believe the “learn” part of the equation needs more attention.
• Speaking of The Baseball Today, on this morning’s episode, host Eric Karabell says he can’t see the Tigers beating the Yankees or Angels in first-round series. It’s beginning to sound a lot like 2006…
• Marcus Thames isn’t on the 2010 Tigers, is he?
• As for the postseason, I’m dreaming of a Tigers/Rockies World Series – my two favorite teams, baby. Well, Tigers/Dodgers would be sweet, too. In fact, even sweeter. Never mind.
• The Porcello/Youkilis Summit seems like a distant memory and for that we should all be thankful. Here are the results of our recent Fungo Pulse Check poll in which readers ranked the brawls. The question: Tale of the Tape: Which Tigers Brawl Ranks as Your Most Memorable?
  • 1982: Dave Rozema’s Kung-Foolery (37%, 10 Votes)
  • 2000: Sixteen Ejected at Comiskey (37%, 10 Votes)
  • 1980: Al Cowens’ Payback to Ed Farmer (19%, 5 Votes)
  • 2009: Porcello v. Youkilis (7%, 2 Votes)

  Reader Ed reminded me in the comments here about the fight in Kansas City (was it 2001?) in which Jeff Weaver plunked Mike Sweeney. That’s when we all realized how much Weav’s teammates loved him…very little.

Finally, Happy 45th Birthday to Chad Kreuter — who also wore #19 (and hit .263 for Detroit from 1992 through ‘94).

• He won’t be here for long, so here’s a crash course on Jarrod Washburn, who will wear number 53 for your Tigers. Specifically, let’s look at how he’s fared this season against his new division rivals:
  • Indians: 1-0, 1.35 ERA in one start
  • Royals: 0-1, 1.29, one start
  • Twins: 1-0, 0.64, two starts
  • White Sox: No Appearances (yet)

• I really want to be excited about this trade. I do. In fact, Michael Rosenberg says I’m required to like it. But…but…the Tigers traded for a guy who will help them once a week. What about the other six games — assuming the offense shows up when Washburn pitches?

• On the other hand, in two years when some of the prospects Washington, Baltimore, etc., wanted for their hitters are playing for the Tigers, I think we’ll all be glad that Dave Dombrowski held firm.

• But I still would’ve liked Luke Scott.

• Jake Peavy does not scare me.

• The Red Sox have become one of my least-favorite teams. This after years of them not even being on my radar.

• As I mentioned on Twitter, the Tigers could still land a decent hitter in August…it just won’t be easy. And it definitely won’t be as easy as the Neifi Perez trade in 2006.

• I’m no fan of Ryan Raburn these days so I’m wondering why the Tigers don’t send him down to Toledo and recall Jeff Larish. I’d rather have Larish’s chance of a home run every so often than the guarantee of a daily defensive butchering from Raburn.

• In case you were wondering about Washburn’s post-season record, it’s 1-3 with a 4.91 ERA in eight appearances (seven starts) for the Angels in 2002, ‘04 and ‘05.

• So were the Tigers winners or losers at the deadline? Jayson Stark apparently thinks they’re neither. (And Rob Neyer seems to like this deal from the Mariners’ perspective. At least I think he does.)

Happy Birthday to former Tigers Andy Van Hekken (30) and Howard Bailey (52), as well as to Toledo Mud Hens’ hitting coach Leon Durham (52).

Have a great weekend.

The Score: Tigers 7 – Rockies 6

The Gist: Ryan Raburn hit his first career grand slam and Miguel Cabrera’s bottom-of-the-ninth laser to right center drove in the tying and winning runs to save Todd Jones’s neck. Saved, that is, from the choking hands of Justin Verlander or, quite possibly, Jim Leyland. Verlander allowed two runs and five hits in 5 2-3 innings. He walked four batters and fanned six, and was poised to earn his fifth win until…

The Quote: “Ouch.” — Magglio Ordonez as he pulled the most popular sports muscle of 2008, the cursed oblique — a.k.a. latissimus dorsi — muscle. He left Saturday night’s game in the third inning.

The Stat: 6. The number of series the Tigers have won in a row since that ugly sweep by the A’s in Oakland.

Up Next: Rockies @ Tigers

Kenny Rogers (5-5, 4.60) vs. Greg Reynolds (2-5, 5.68)

That was my first thought as my Frontier Airlines jet touched down at Phoenix’s Sky Harbor International Airport early Thursday evening. It seems as though for we Michiganians glimpses of the sun outside the months of July, August, and – maybe – early October are random and fleeting.

Warmth!

That was my second thought. Despite the best efforts of the aircraft’s cooling system it was quite evident I was no longer in Michigan.

This fact was made even clearer later that evening when a call home elicited this comment from my soon-to-be 7-year-old son Jake: “Dad, will you please bring back some warm air. Every baseball game I have it’s always cold and wet.” (Included in my luggage home was a one Zip Lock baggie filled with 85-degree Arizona evening warmth!)

Friendship!

That was my third thought as I spotted Mike’s red Infiniti easing onto the North Curb outside baggage claim; Mike and I go back to my sophomore year of high school when I was the 13th man on the Lakeview High junior varsity basketball team and Mike – younger brother of Husky great Tom – was a freshman trying to make a name for himself.

How else – beside friendship – can you explain someone leaving his family near dinner time to drive 45 minutes one way to pick you up at the airport? And then put you up in his guest house for a long weekend.

Uninspired and inconsistent!

Is there any other way to categorize the Tigers’ performance of late? The two nights I saw in the desert only served to verify this description. The list of transgressions on Friday was lengthy:

• Magglio not running hard out of the box on that second-inning double-turned-single-and-throw-out;
• Cabrera lollygagging (cue Robert Wuhl) after the pop up back of first;
• The lack of communication between Renteria and Guillen in the seventh;
• Guillen’s total aim job of a throwing error (also in the seventh); and,
• Leyland’s decision not to insert Brandon Inge for defensive purposes with a three-run lead and Guillen not due up for three more innings.

Of course Saturday came along and there was Raburn’s dropped double-play ball; Cabrera running for that very same pop up; Pudge’s savvy dropped pop up bunt in the eighth; and Leyland making the necessary defensive substitutions in the ninth.

Fellowship!

Could there be a better place for men to be men than at a baseball game on a warm summer evening? That’s what I thought of as I sat there under the stars and slowly cooling evening air with John, Mike, and Tom.

Just talking baseball, reminiscing about glory days (cue Bruce), and quoting guy stuff like Fletch, The In-Laws, Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Slapshot, Bull Durham, and the like.

Ridiculous!

That’s what I thought most of Saturday about the sizeable group of 20-somethings that tried to be Tigers’ fans sitting in front of us. Drink flowed from the moment they arrived and they thought nothing of getting up and changing seats – or leaving – during game play.

It’s a pet peeve of mine, but I was brought up to respect the game and its fans. That meant you didn’t leave your seat until between innings or pitching changes; the same was true of your return. If you want to socialize and not watch the game, then do everyone a favor and do it on the concourse.

Trust me when I say no one wants to see you – no matter how much you paid for your new chest or how nattily attired you may be; we all paid decent money to watch the game.

Lucky!

As I pen this on an old-fashioned steno pad at 38,000-feet, I realize how lucky I am to have a wife and two children who allow me to do something foolhardy like traveling 2,000 miles across the country to watch a pathetically underachieving baseball team and hand with the fellas for a few days. To them I say thank you!

The Gist: Magglio Ordonez goes deep twice, Jeremy Bonderman continues to frustrate and Jacque Jones is added to the injury list, yet the Tigers finally reach double digits in wins, defeating the Rangers 8-2. What else?

• Curtis Granderson led off the Tigers half of the first with a home run
• Zach Miner continues his Jekyll and Hyde act with a solid 3.1 hitless innings pitched, one walk and three strikeouts
• Ryan Raburn sort of slammed his first homer of the year (replays show that it could very well have been touched by a fan in right)
• Placido Polanco returns but still struggles at the plate, going 0 for 3 with a walk. He’s hitting .140 on the year.

The Quote: “I felt like I owed the starters at least one game like that.” — Zach Miner

The Stat: 111. The number of pitches thrown by Bonderman in a mere 4.1 innings pitched.

Up Next: Angels at Tigers

Nate Robertson (0-2, 7.48) vs. Ervin Santana (3-0, 2.67)

The Gist: While he wasn’t as sharp as his Tigers debut in Cleveland last week, Armando Galarraga gave the Tigers another solid outing in the finale at SkyDome — or whatever — 5-1, to earn a split against the Blue Jays. The bullpen was superb though Todd Jones allowed a ninth-inning home run, of course, to spoil the shutout. Ryan Raburn knocked in two runs in the Tigers’ three-run second, and Edgar Renteria hit another homer, a solo shot in the sixth.

The Quote: “If we were really going good like we thought we would be at this time and went to Cleveland and Toronto and came home [3-3], we’d be pretty happy. But with our record the way it is, it doesn’t look too good.” — Jim Leyland, in the Tigers.com game story.

The Stat: .667 – Pudge Rodriguez’s average in the four-gamer in Toronto. Here’s his line: Friday, 3 for 3; Saturday: 3 for 3; Sunday: 0 for 4; Today: 4 for 5. And what do you know? Pudge is now hitting .271 for the season.

Up Next: Rangers at Tigers

Justin Verlander (0-3, 7.03) vs. Vicente Padilla (2-1, 3.12)

A bevy of Tigers historical items occurred on this date in history. Here they are courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com:

1955 – Al Kaline hits three home runs in Briggs Stadium, including a pair in the sixth inning, to drive in six runs. The Tigers rout the A’s 16-0, behind Steve Gromek’s strong pitching.

1960 - Cleveland Indians general manager Frank Lane, notorious for his multiple transactions, send American League home run king, Rocky Colavito, to the Detroit Tigers for the league’s defending batting champion, Harvey Kuenn. The trade is especially unpopular with Indians fans, who regard Colavito as their most popular player and best hitter.

1993 – The Detroit Tigers score 20 runs in a game for the second time this week, beating the Seattle Mariners, 20 – 3. Rob Deer is 1-for-2 and scores four runs, while Travis Fryman has four hits and scores five times. Chad Kreuter adds four hits and three runs and Gary Thurman paces the Tigers with four RBI. [Editor's note: Gary Thurman?!]

2006 – Detroit’s Chris Shelton and St. Louis’ Albert Pujols hit their major league-leading ninth home runs, joining Mike Schmidt (1976), Larry Walker (1997) and Luis Gonzalez (2001) as the only players in MLB history with at least nine home runs in his team’s first 13 games.

The Gist: Powered by four home runs — solo shots from Gary Sheffield, Carlos Guillen and Magglio Ordonez and a two-run dinger from Miguel Cabrera — the Tigers defeated the Twins 6-5 and swept the mini-series. Nate Robertson appears to be working his way back into form with 6.1 innings pitched, four runs (all earned), five strike outs and a walk. Clay Rapada earned his first major-league win. And, in another sign the offense is thawing, the Tigers’ 3-5 hitters went a combine four for 12 with five RBI.

The Quote: “I saw the ball coming out and said ‘Stop,’ but it didn’t.” — Ryan Raburn on his near-catch of Delmon Young’s near-home run/near-flyout turned triple in the top of the ninth.

The Stat: 0. The number of times the Tigers had to face Joe Nathan in this series. Wonder how this all would have worked out for the Twins if Nathan were brought in during the eighth inning on either or both nights?

Up Next: Tigers at Indians

Armando Galarraga (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. C.C. Sabathia (0-2, 11.57)

Wha-? How did this happen!?

It was eerily reminiscent of last year when, at the end of Spring Training, we were suddenly hit with news that Kenny Rogers would start the season the disabled list and would have surgery on his throwing arm and would miss the first half of the season.

The Freep story lists Brandon Inge, Ryan Raburn and Freddy Guzman as options for replacing Granderson. But is there any doubt that we’ll see Inge roaming the pasture for most of April? For a split-second I thought to myself that maybe Inge will see the long-term benefits — and opportunities — of the super-sub role.

But on second thought, I doubt it.

• Call me naive, but I thought the Kenny Rogers thing would be a slam dunk, even with The Scott Boras Factor. Now that Rogers, who turned 43 on Saturday, is testing the market — the market for a mid-40s pitcher coming off a season virtually lost to serious injury that is — one has to wonder if the Tigers have used up the patience they reserve for dealing with Boras. From everything I’ve read, most still expect a deal to get hammered out. And I tend to think so too if only because Dave Dombrowski doesn’t seem to be a cut-off-the-nose-to-spite-the-face kind of guy.Speaking of Rogers, I thought I’d stumbled upon major news over at Yahoo! Sports when I read in this Tigers rumor:
  

  According to the Detroit Free Press, the Detroit Tigers and free agent lefty Kenny Rogers have parted ways.  

  If you read to the story referenced in the piece you’ll see that nowhere does it say Rogers isn’t coming back. Perhaps a little fact checking would help.I’m intrigued by the Dontrelle Willis thing but can’t fathom what it would take to acquire him (for starters, Brandon Inge, perhaps?). Sure seems like a drastic change of course going from re-signing Rogers to dealing for Willis.Ah, but you gotta love the smell of hickory on the Hot Stove.

• Our man Ian Casselberry notified me of the Omar Infante-for-Jacque Jones trade this afternoon. I think it’s safe to say Ian and I were both underwhelmed by the move. As Jon Paul Morosi suggests, this is likely a stop-gap solution until Cameron Maybin is ready for prime time, all the time. If that’s the case, I supposed I can live with it.

Still, you have to believe that somewhere in the Dominican Republic, Timo Perez is wondering what he has to do to become more than a September call up.But probably not in those words.

• If you missed it, Joel Zumaya turned 23 on Friday. Here’s hoping his birthday wish was for health and wellness. And, while the Lions were stinking up University of Phoenix Stadium yesterday, Jason Grilli and Chuck Hernandez were celebrating birthdays. A belated #31 to Grilli and #47 to Hernandez. To help you plan your card and gift shopping, here are the upcoming Tigers birthdays of note: Nov. 18 – Gary Sheffield (39); Nov. 19 – Preston Larrison (27); Nov. 29 – Tony Giarratano (25); Nov. 30 – Ivan Rodriguez (36). 
• Mr. Casselberry and I also wondered aloud who the Tigers backup catcher would be on Opening Day. Vance Wilson should be ready to come back and reclaim his job, but Mike Rabelo certainly made a case for himself in 2007. Too bad one of them can’t play another position — or that Ryan Raburn can’t catch. Ian thinks Rabelo comes North. I’m undecided but tend to think Wilson will rejoin the team if he has anything that resembles a decent spring.