Baseball

 

Pudge wasn't happy being platooned with Brandon Inge.  Official word was that they were doing it in order to give Pudge's old bones more rest so he would be fresher when he did play.  Quite frankly it seemed to work since his batting average improved pretty significantly after they started the platooning.  Inge went on the DL and Pudge was doing most of the catching and playing pretty well, so I think that he was kind of upset over being platooned again when Inge came off the DL.  I'm sure that he was feeling dissed being that he is probably a hall-of-famer (assuming he doesn't go down the McGwire/Bonds path away from the Hall).  I think the ulterior motive of the platoon however, was to determine whether or not Inge could go back to being an effective catcher so that the Tigers wouldn't have to submit to Pudge's demands for a long-term contract. 

 

Given that this team was penciled into the World Series before the season even began and the fact that they are in 3rd place and struggling to stay above .500 I am sure there is probably much conflict and bickering behind the scenes too.  And of course, the Yankees are the Yankees.  It may not be easy to play in New York but I am sure that it has to be quite a thrill to don the pinstripes.  Oh well.  I was never that big of a Pudge fan, but he did mean a lot to the city of Detroit for his part in helping bring the team back to respectability.