Nice feature on Kirk Gibson in today’s Arizona Republic. He’ll be on Bruce Bochy‘s staff for the All-Star Game in Phoenix next Tuesday and it will be the first time Gibby appears at an All-Start Game in uniform. Back in 1985 and ’88, Gibson had better things to do. He politely turned down offers from [...]

Tonight Alex Avila is the Tigers’ starting third baseman in the opener of a three-game series in Denver against the Rockies. Avila’s never played third in the majors but he’s not the first Tigers player to be pressed into action there. Did you know that Al Kaline appeared in two games at third during his career? In 1961, he [...]

The Tigers make their first visit of the year to Chicago which typically means nothing but anguish. Not this weekend. Detroit’s recent good fortune against the Sox continues. (Right?) Here’s a terrific piece about Sparky Anderson from someone who knew him in his southern California community for 40 years. Out here in Phoenix, there’s some [...]

Every year someone (usually Tom Gage) rolls out the time-worn Sparky Anderson truism about not judging a team until after it’s played 40 games. I suppose it’s my turn. On Saturday against the Royals the Tigers will play game number 40 and, at worst, will finish that game at an even 20 and 20. So [...]

I love “where-are-they-now” pieces as much — and probably more — than the next guy. So, when I saw Tom Gage’s piece about Enos Cabell over the weekend, I was interested to read why Cabell, who hit .311 for the 1983 Tigers, moved on after that season. He wanted to stay a Tiger, and they [...]

The next best thing to Kirk Gibson being the Tigers’ manager is watching him lead my local team, the Diamondbacks. He’s getting lots of attention as the Dbacks arrive in camp as 2011 marks his first full season as the club’s skipper. The focus seems to be on how he and his staff, which includes bench coach [...]

I suppose it was inevitable that the Tigers would retire Sparky Anderson. The only question, at least in my mind, was whether it would happen before or after owner Mike Ilitch moved on to the next life. Two months after Sparky’s death, todaythe Tigers announced they’ll retire his number 11 and wear a patch with [...]