BOSTON (AP) -- Mark Fidrych, an eccentric All-Star pitcher nicknamed "The Bird" whose career was shortened by injuries, was found dead Monday in an apparent accident at his farm. He was 54.
Worcester County district attorney Joseph D. Early Jr. said a family friend found Fidrych about 2:30 p.m. Monday beneath a dump truck at his Northborough, Mass., farm. He appeared to be working on the truck, Early said.
The curly-haired right-hander was the American League Rookie of the Year in 1976 when he went 19-9 with a 2.34 ERA and 24 complete games. He spent all five of his major league seasons with the Detroit Tigers, compiling a 29-19 record and a 3.10 ERA.
One of the amazing things about watching the Tigers last season was their ability to turn things around late. I don't remember how many times I saw this team play like zombies for eight innings, and then in the ninth inning come to life and get a win.
It's one of the biggest factors for their American League pennant, and it returned on Sunday afternoon in Kansas City. From the Detroit News:
Through eight innings of their 3-2 victory Sunday afternoon, the Tigers did so little at the plate against the Kansas City Royals it looked like they were going to leave town with two defeats in a ballpark where they won all nine games last year.
They were dead in the water. Scoreless. Until the ninth.
The Tigers came to the plate in the ninth inning down 2-0 and quickly got to work. Magglio Ordoñez led the inning off with a double, and then David Riske walked Carlos Guillen. Ivan Rodriguez then came to the plate, and Riske made a fatal mistake.
"I thought he was going to bunt, so I threw one right down the middle. I was thinking about fielding a bunt and getting the next guy out instead of making a high-quality pitch."
Yeah, Pudge wasn't looking to bunt. Instead he took that first pitch and re-directed it 420 feet over the fence as the Tigers left Kansas City with a 3-2 win.
It was an all too familiar feeling for the Royals, who went 0-9 against the Tigers at home last season but managed to win one game in this series. It was also a reminder to the American League that if you're going to beat the Tigers, you're going to have to fight them tooth and nail for the victory, because they will never quit on themselves.
By now, almost everyone knows that Joel Zumaya is a huge Guitar Hero guy (by the way, I'll sheepishly admit that that game is awesome). If you hurt yourself playing a video game as Zumaya did, well, you're a hardcore gamer.
A . Right now, I have some All-American Rejects and some Rage Against The Machine. I've got some hard stuff and then the Eagles.
Q . I thought you were old school?
A . When I'm coming to the field, it's mainly hardcore rock. And then when I'm off the field and want to relax, I'll go home and put on the Eagles and all those other guys -- Peter Frampton, and all those guys.
Wait, sorry. I thought you said "rock," Joel. The Eagles and Peter Frampton -- especially Peter Frampton -- absolutely do not classify as rock. Peter Frampton. Pshh.
After delineating his music preferences, Zumaya addresses what professional wrestler he most admires:
A . Undertaker.
Q . Why him?
A . Just because he is crazy, man. He's nuts and he's a phenom of wrestling. All of the tattoos he has and all that stuff and his music and all that, he's crazy. That is something I have inside of me, too. I have that craziness inside of me.
We don't doubt you, Joel, not for a minute. Shine on, you crazy hard-throwing diamond.
It was Mike Maroth's first regular season start since last May when elbow surgery robbed him of a season, even if it wasn't very pretty. In the end Maroth knows it's the win that counts, and that's precisely what Maroth got as Detroit beat Kansas City 6-5.
"[I] did enough to win," Maroth said. "I wouldn't say that I pitched real well, but we scored more runs than they did, and that's what counts."
His teammates spotted Maroth a 4-1 lead early, but he let the Royals tie the game up in the third inning after Reggie Sanders smoked a two-run homer to left field. Fortunately for Maroth, his counterpart Gil Meche wasn't nearly as sharp as he was on Opening Day, and the Tigers offense didn't miss their chances.
After Kansas City tied the game at 4, Ivan Rodriguez led the fourth inning off by lining the first pitch he saw from Mech over the wall in left field. Curtis Granderson would then add a solo shot in the fifth inning to provide the Tigers with all the runs they'd need.
Meche lasted seven innings, but allowed all six Tigers runs that included the solo homers to Rodriguez, Granderson, and Gary Sheffield. Afterwards Meche talked about not having the same command of his pitches that he had when he beat the Red Sox earlier this week.
"I never felt like the weather was bothering me," Meche said. "I just couldn't find a rhythm on the mound with my offspeed pitches, and I kept falling behind. The other day, it seemed that everything that came out of my hand was a strike, and today, it seemed like I was trying to find it pretty much every inning. I couldn't get it to where I wanted to be."
The two teams will meet again in the rubber match on Sunday afternoon as the Tigers send Jeremy Bonderman to the mound against Brandon Duckworth.
Fifteen members of the St. Louis police department were disciplined Wednesday, after officers seized World Series tickets from scalpers last year and gave them to friends and family.
St. Louis Police Chief Joe Mokwa suspended eight officers without pay for two weeks for giving away the Cardinals tickets, which should have been stored as evidence. He recommended their rank be reduced for at least a year. They could lose up to $20,000 each in pay.
In my estimation, this wasn't the worse offense in the world. Sure, the tickets should have been put into evidence, but it's not like the cops were handing out free blow and guns to their friends. There are far worse things cops could be doing. But, violating policy is violating policy and the suspension is surely warranted.
And dang, they each stand to lose up to $20,000 each? I'm assuming that means they'll be getting less pay because of their demotion in rank, not for missing two weeks without pay. Because if it's the latter, I'm in the wrong profession.
Actually, I'll be a blogging cop when I grow up. That'll be the life.
It's going to be a long year for the Washington Nationals. They're off to an 0-2 start already, and really, who knows if they'll get a win this month. They're just that bad.
How bad are they?
Well during the offseason the Detroit Tigers sent Nook Logan (pictured to the right warding off evil spirits) to the Nationals for the infamous "players to be named." The way these deals work is that the Tigers would receive a list of players of several minor leaguers in the Nationals system. They then get to go through the names and pick anyone that they want.
Well, the Tigers went through that list, and after looking long and hard they made their decision. They decided just to take $75,000 in cash from the Nationals rather than subject themselves to a Nats minor leaguer. When asked about the Nationals and their list of players, Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski laughed so hard he cried.
"Oh my God! They suck so freaking bad! I think I saw Harmon Killebrew's name on there."**
Logan is the Nationals starting center fielder, and so far this season he's 1-for-1 and has already earned himself a trip to the disabled list. Go, Nats!
**Not an actual statement, though I'm sure he thought it.
Joel Zumaya became one of my favorite baseball players last season, and not just because of his 1,000MPH fastball. Nope, any pitcher that has to miss time during a season because he's spent too much time playing Guitar Hero on his PS2 is cool in my book.
Detroit Tigers Curtis Granderson and Joel Zumaya were giddy when they got to their ringside seats at Sunday's WrestleMania 23 at Ford Field in downtown Detroit. "Pay for the pay-per-view," Zumaya yelled in his cell phone to his mother. "We're going to be on TV!"
Sure, they were amped about their last practice before Opening Day -- Granderson says it went extremely well -- but they were more juiced about how they'd be able to see the Undertaker, their favorite wrestler. "He's crazy like I am," Zumaya said of the Undertaker. "No, actually, I'm crazy like he is."
The guy is on television just about every other day, and last year the entire country saw him in the World Series, but he still calls his mom and makes her drop $60 so she can see him sitting at ringside of Wrestlemania. Awesome.
Over the last few years, Carlos Guillen has quietly emerged as one of the elite shortstops in the entire game. Don't believe me? See for yourself: he's hit .318, .320 and .320 the past three seasons, and in the playoffs last year he hit .361.
So how come he's not yet a household name? Because as well as he can hit, he often has trouble staying on the field: he averaged just 111 games his first two years before playing in a career-high 153 games last year.
That was enough to convince the Tigers that he's worth holding onto, so after negotiating through spring training the team inked Guillen to a four-year, $48 million extension earlier today. For Tigers fans, this is a big deal, especially considering the team wasn't forced to completely break the bank in an otherwise crazy market.
If Guillen's health does become an issue down the road, the Tigers will always have the option of shifting him over to first base, as the team doesn't have a long-term solution at that position, with Sean Casey returning this year on a one-year deal and Chris Shelton's future with the team undecided.
As was just reported on ESPN's television broadcast of today's Tigers/Yankees game, Kenny Rogers had surgery on his left shoulder this morning to remove a blood clot and repair a couple of arteries.
It's expected that Rogers will miss at least three months of the season, and won't be able to resume throwing a baseball for 6-8 weeks. This news comes as a big blow for the defending American League champions, and will no doubt have a huge effect on which team will win the division.
Rogers went 17-8 with a 3.84 ERA for the Tigers last season, and shined even brighter in the postseason starting three games and pitching 23 innings without surrendering a single run. While they haven't made an official announcement yet, it's expected that the Tigers will replace Rogers in the rotation with Chad Durbin.
Ivan Rodriguez is closing in on a few milestones in his career. He's 17 games shy of Tony Peña's record of 1,950 games caught by a Latin catcher, and he's only 66 games shy of being only the fourth catcher in history to catch 2,000 games. He's also a hat size or two shy of having the biggest head ever attached to a human body.
Those records are achievements that Pudge is within reach of this season, but he's already began thinking of a couple he may reach in the coming seasons. He's 292 games shy of breaking the original Pudge's, Carlton Fisk, record of games caught by a catcher, and most importantly 646 hits shy of 3,000.
While the other milestones would be nice, there is something about 3,000 hits that would be truly special, and Rodriguez knows what it is.
"I've been thinking that no catcher has had 3,000 hits," he said Thursday. "I'm not that far from there. I can get it done. If my body feels strong enough to play that long, and if I take care of myself, I can make that."
Pudge is a Hall of Famer with or without 3,000 hits, in my opinion anyway, but at his current pace he'd need about four more years to reach it. Seeing as how he's 35 years old, and a catcher, I'm not sure he can continue at such a pace. He disagrees.
"I don't feel old in this game," he said. "Thirty-five is not old. It's the prime of the career. If you take care of yourself, your prime is from 30 to 40.
"In your 30s, your mind and your physical ability both work for you. You are more mentally mature in your 30s. The longer you play, the more you learn."
What's truly amazing to me about Pudge is that he's been so durable playing the toughest position in the sport, and for the majority of his career he did it playing in the Texas heat. If he could do that, than I don't really think I can doubt him when he says he's capable of reaching 3,000.
BOSTON (AP) -- Mark Fidrych, an eccentric All-Star pitcher nicknamed "The Bird" whose career was shortened by injuries, was found dead Monday in an apparent accident at his farm. He was 54.
One of the amazing things about watching the Tigers last season was their ability to turn things around late. I don't remember how many times I saw this team play like zombies for eight innings, and then in the ninth inning come to life and get a win.
By now, almost everyone knows that 
It was Mike Maroth's first regular season start since last May when elbow surgery robbed him of a season, even if it wasn't very pretty. In the end Maroth knows it's the win that counts, and that's precisely what Maroth got as 
Remember a few weeks ago when some cops in St. Louis 
It's going to be a long year for the Washington Nationals. They're off to an 0-2 start already, and really, who knows if they'll get a win this month. They're just that bad.
Joel Zumaya became one of my favorite baseball players last season, and not just because of his 1,000MPH fastball. Nope, any pitcher that has to miss time during a season because he's spent too much time playing Guitar Hero on his PS2 is cool in my book.
Over the last few years, Carlos Guillen has quietly emerged as one of the elite shortstops in the entire game. Don't believe me? 
As was just reported on ESPN's television broadcast of today's Tigers/Yankees game, Kenny Rogers had surgery on his left shoulder this morning to 
Ivan Rodriguez is closing in on a few milestones in his career. He's 17 games shy of Tony Peña's record of 1,950 games caught by a Latin catcher, and he's only 66 games shy of being only the fourth catcher in history to catch 2,000 games. He's also a hat size or two shy of having the biggest head ever attached to a human body.
