Congratulations to the Michigan State Baseball team.  Today they were selected to play in the NCAA baseball tournament.  It’s the fifth time in school history and the first since 1979. 

Go green and go white!

The first Saturday in May is Free Comic Book Day.  Because of that I decide that I’d head to my local card and comic book store for the event.  I planned on grabbing a couple free comics, despite my lack of comic book knowledge.  You know the saying, “If it’s free then I’ll take three”.  I own the all of the Scott Pilgrim graphic novels and a few Star Wars comics and that’s about it.  It’s a pretty small store, and when I got there it was very busy.  I grabbed my free comics, purchased some baseball related items, and was getting ready to go.  I brought my camera with me because there’s superheroes all over the place, and getting some photos of them is cool.  I awkwardly got a couple of photos.  It feels weird to ask people if I could take their picture.  After a brief time all of the superheroes gathered for some photo ops.  The owner of the store, who was dressed as a superhero as well, asked a friend of his to get a couple of shots, but he had trouble with the camera.  I showed him how to use it, and he decided that I should take the photo.

I ended up offering to help take some photos and the owner took me up on it.  I thought it would be nice to help for a little bit.  I ended helping for two hours!  Every time a kid or an adult wanted to be in a photo I’d hear, “Where’s photo guy?”, and I’d be there. The funny thing is that I didn’t get to use my gear for this, despite me wearing my camera bag.  I even fixed a lens on somebody else’s camera and then grabbed a shot for them.  In between photo ops I got some shots of stuff for myself with my gear.  It was kind of weird, but was really cool.

The owner and the superheroes were awesome.  They were cool to talk too and were kind people.  I’ve been shopping at that store off and on for years so I felt like I kind of knew the owner.  I also recognized one of the superheroes as well.  It was somebody that I worked with years ago, and they still remembered my name.  I did feel a little out of place. It seemed that everybody knew each other because of all of the comic and superhero stuff, but all in all it was an awesome time.

Yesterday the Brandon Inge era in Detroit came to an end yesterday.  The Tigers finally released him.  There was really no place for him on the team.  His hitting and defense was poor.

There’s no doubt that he was a polarizing player.  While many people despised Inge, others loved him.  To me his career as a Tiger was filled with peaks and valleys.  Most people will choose to reside in one or the other. I was somewhere in the middle. Because I don’t have a favorite ballplayer, I try to see things objectively.  There are times I love a player and times I don’t.  Inge was one of those for me.

Over the years he played all over the field.  He had a canon for a catcher, and played a quality third base.  In my opinion his athleticism kept him on the team and on the field.  For the most part his defense was pretty solid.  His hitting was iffy.  I could go on about the hitting and strike outs and whatnot, but I won’t.  The numbers speak for themselves.

Here’s just a couple of memories from me.

In April 2001 I got my very first baseball autograph, and it came from Brandon Inge.  It was the day after opening day.  My Dad and I went to Comerica Park early and caught the end of BP.  After that Inge came out and posed for a professional photographer.  I remember people saying, “Who’s that guy”?  I knew who he was, but many didn’t.  After that was over he came over into the camera well and signed for many people, including me.  This was just before his second-ever Major League game.  That was awesome for me.  I still have that ball.

I voted for the whole “Bran-Torino” thing in 2009 to get Inge in the All-Star game in 2009.  It was a bummer that he whiffed in the Home Run Derby.  Afterward I bought an Inge All-Star game t-shirt to commemorate all of my hard work in voting.

In 2010 the Whitecaps had a Brandon Inge bobblehead giveaway on a wet rainy night in April.  I remember that well because I made a lady mad when I tried to cut in line.

I was also at Fifth Third Ballpark in 2010 when he came back “home” and made a rehab start with the Whitecaps.  He’s a was a ‘Cap in 1999 and people still speak of him fondly.

All in all it was a move that the Tigers had to make.  It is a business.  Nearly every baseball player will have deal with such a day.  It’s rare to go out on top.

Good luck Brandon.  Thank you for all you’ve done for the Tigers.