Chipper Jones: One of the last

Chipper Jones announced his intentions to retire at 2012 season's end. And it appears likely he's going out on his own terms, which is the graceful way to do it.

What a player he has turned out to be. He has been there from the very beginning of the Braves dynasty. This was when I was rooting for the Braves only because of their loveable loser mantra they had at the time. Chipper Jones was basically "Plan C" rushed to the big leagues at shortstop because two incumbent shortstops couldn't handle the duty.

But Jones has more than held his own at multiple defensive positions, and was an absolute anchor in Bobby Cox's lineup thru all those years.

Chipper is the last of two eras in my opinion: He is the last vestige of the last great mini-dynasty in baseball (non-Yankee portion). More than a dozen post-season appearances in a row, and Chipper was there for all of them.

But more importantly, Chipper, along with Yankee Derek Jeter, are among the last of the players to spend their entire career with one team. Chipper did not have the fanfare or constant adoration of the baseball public like Jeter has had. And it appeared at times that he was overshadowed by his own teammates (Maddux, Smoltz, Glavine, Avery... names ring a bell?)

But Jones has never been disrespected; he has had his exposure on baseball's grand stage, and rightfully so.

When you ask me to describe Braves Baseball, these names come to mind: Skip (or Chip) Caray, Dale Murphy, Hank Aaron, Rick Mahler. Chipper Jones goes on the absolute top of the list. As much as Tommy Lasorda bled Dodger Blue, Chipper bled Braves Red.

A sure-fire Hall Of Famer for a Hall Of Fame-type person.

Inge can't complain (for two weeks)

There may be no bigger polarizing figure during the baseball season in Detroit than Brandon Inge.

A small vocal group of people say he's saved countless runs and errors by his ability in the field. I have never denied that. Inge came into the Tigers system as a shortstop, and he has been able to transfer those talents to third base (in-between duties behind the plate, of course).

He's been eating hitting coaches alive, however, ever since he came up to the parent club, topped by last year's embarassing .197 average. What drove most people batty (sorry for the pun) is that he opined no one was giving him a chance to succeed.

Well, he is the most seasoned Tigers player, going into his 11th year with the club, and except for maybe 1 1/2 seasons, has never hit well. Inge currently leads the all-time Tiger list in strikeouts, meaning a lot of rallies were short-circuited.

Inge has been willing to try second base in an effort to continue his Tiger career. I give him kudos for that, and have noted that, defensively, he's taken to second base quite well. "If he hits, if he hits," they say.

Now I'm assuming he'll get a chance to redeem himself at third for the next couple weeks, with Miguel Cabrera being held out of the lineup until about Opening Day.

It makes me glad in a way that they kept Inge, and that he elected to stay with the club last year when they demoted him to AAA Toledo. Any hot-shot 3B prospects in camp are not likely to go north with the club come April. So the Tigers now have a 2-week window where it can be business as usual at third base.

And hopefully, no complaints (or pressure) from the incumbent.

Is Dunn primed to win Comeback?

One quick hit about White Sox DH/OF Adam Dunn... which is one more quick hit than he seemed to have last year:

The key to the White Sox chances in the AL Central this year lie with Dunn. I have to believe his .159 batting average of last year was an abberation. He won't hit .300, but the Sox will take that along with the 38-40 homers per year he's used to generating (in other words, I don't think the ballpark played a huge role.)

I have to admit that I like the Tigers dominating the conversation in this division, and they'll likely run away with things. But I believe Chicago to be the second-best team in the division, and if Dunn returns to his old ways... combining him with the always-consistent Paul Konerko and other younger, rising stars... they may make the Central more of a challenge than a foregone conclusion.

Comebacks are just "ducky"

Finally found the old passwords, reactivated the old accounts, and... after a half-decade hiatus, will be posting in these hallowed halls again prior to the conclusion of spring training.

I for one can't wait.

Cork's not likely the problem...

Here's probably my first instance of seeking input from fellow bloggers here and on mlbbloggers.com...

Can anyone explain why we are seeing so many more broken bats this year? On games I've watched it seems as if they've had two or three instances of broken bats per game.

We went through a phase a year or two ago where the bats would go flying out of the hitter's hands and into the stands on a semi-regular basis. I am wondering if, to cut costs, they are actually cutting into the bats' longevity and using cheaper material that doesn't hold as well together.

Whether or not the material is cheaper, the sawed-off bats are as much a threat to the infielders and pitcher as ever. Tiger P Andrew Miller had to dance out of the way of a sawed-off end that nearly clipped him on the legs on Sunday.

Remember in the year of the "rabbit ball" (1987), much was made as to the manufacture of baseballs. Could the same hold true in 2007 for bats?

Opinions on this are welcome.

1984: Clemens' relief appearance

Finally, I got a 20-year old trivia question answered.

As of this date, Roger Clemens (NYY) has made 692 regular-season appearances. All but one has been as a starter. I had always wanted to see what Clemens' only regular-season relief line looked like.

I finally found out. For those interested, here's some tidbits from that day: July 18, 1984 (thanks to baseballreference.com for the insight; geez, they're as detailed as you want them to be)...

Before 16,470 fans in Oakland on July 18, 1984, Clemens made his only relief appearance in the regular season in his career.

* He was the fourth of six pitchers Boston used in a 7-2 loss to Oakland at the Coliseum. The loss dropped Boston to 45-46 on the year.

* Boston starting pitcher was Oil Can Boyd, knocked out in the first inning having given up five runs. Also preceding Clemens were relievers Rich Gale & Steve Crawford. Following Clemens were pitchers Mark Clear & John Henry Johnson.

* Clemens pitched the fifth & sixth innings, allowing doubles to Carney Lansford & Rickey Henderson, but not allowing them to score.

* The line: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K.

* Dave Kingman of the A's hit his 26th homer of the season that day; he was in a homer race with Boston's Tony Armas Sr. at the time.

* Henderson stole his 45th base.

* The Red Sox were limited to four hits: singles by Mike Easler & Jackie Gutierrez, double by Wade Boggs, and homer by Armas Sr., his 25th.

* Oakland's winning pitcher was Ray Burris, going the distance.
LINE: 9 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 K.

You can obviously tell this was an emergency relief appearance for Clemens. This was just before the Red Sox made their July & August push for the AL East lead, dominated at the time by Detroit and Toronto.

Hope this satisfies the curiousities of people like me!

A dead horse was beaten

I just got finished watching the FOX Saturday Game Of The Week with the Mets vs. the Tigers. This was my first chance to hear former Dodger 1B Eric Karros do analysis. I came away less than impressed.

Close followers of the Tigers know that the bullpen has been having its struggles. The pitching staff as a whole has not been as effective, mostly due to injury. And fans like me are well too aware about blowing a bullpen out when starters cannot make it to the seventh inning.

In the course of one inning of play, did Karros have to make mention of Tiger starter Jeremy Bonderman not making it too far into the seventh FIVE times?

This honestly is not a rant about announcer bias. Detroit has had its share in recent years, but I would think with a magical season like 2006 behind them, they would at least garner a little respect. Why did Karros have to constantly harp on the point of the starters getting a little further into the game? I am so well aware of it. Watchers of FOX this afternoon are now a little too aware of it.

Take away the injuries to Joel Zumaya and Fernando Rodney, and take away Todd Jones' recent ineffectiveness. Place their bullpen on a par with 2006's. Would Karros be saying those things? He'd be saying it was good for Bonderman to get as far as he did, and now look out below, here come the bad guys. Even if Zumaya didn't throw 100 MPH bullets or Rodney didn't have that devastating changeup... the point about Bonderman may have been mentioned once.

Instead, we hear it all through the seventh and eighth innings. Wasn't there any other action going on in the field?

Blatant biasness is one thing... second-guessing what a manager is forced to do (sometimes beyond his control) comes a very close second.

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Okay okay, so Roger Clemens is a success his first time out (6 IP, 7K), and look out, the Yankees have won five straight. One man does not a starting rotation make. We will judge the results over the long haul, not over just one start.

And how long is the Alex Rodriguez curse going to haunt Texas? They have been playing some ugly baseball lately. Three starters with an ERA over six? Their farm system must be barren and devoid of prospects who might lower the team ERA a bit. And star 1B Mark Texiera has made no bones about leaving after the season.

Sloppy results, bad P.R. It's an acid mixture down in Arlington.