More photos » by Elise Amendola - AP

Detroit Tigers third baseman Brandon Inge underwent successful surgery to correct patellar tendonitis in both of his knees on Tuesday. He's expected to recover in time for Spring Training.

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Tigers third baseman Brandon Inge underwent surgery on both of his injured knees yesterday at the Detroit Medical Center, as scheduled.  And according to the team, the procedures to correct his patellar tendinitis were successful.

Dr. Stephen Lemos of the DMC performed the surgery, which involved the debridement and repair of Inge's left and right patellar tendons.  Inge won't be able to put any weight on his knees for six weeks.  After that, if all goes according to plan, he should be able to begin a strengthening and rehabiliation program.  And from there, Inge should be ready for the beginning of Spring Training in February.

(I don't know about you, but I had to look up what "debridement" was.  It sounds like what might happen to Don Draper on Mad Men, but it actually refers to the removal of dead or damaged tissue.  Thank you, Lynn Henning, for being the one reporter who bothered to explain this for readers.)

As John Lowe pointed out in today's Freep, Inge started 157 games at third base this season, more than any other third baseman.  He also took over as a defensive replacement in four other games.  Only two other players in the American League played in 161 games. 

I know some people think Inge actually hurt the Tigers at times by trying to tough it out when his knees clearly prohibited him (most especially when batting).  And others believe Inge gets too much unwarranted praise from Tigers fans.  Regardless, it's pretty amazing that the guy played in that many games, dealing with that kind of physical difficulty.