Inge gives away, gets back ball from Perry's first save

Brandon Inge is an airhead.

MLB.com's Jason Beck told this story Sunday, though radio play-by-play man Dan Dickerson told the same story in four parts on Twitter. It's one that is worth repeating.

After Ryan Perry completed his first major league save on Saturday, Inge's first thought was to find a young fan to give the ball to. That's what you have to like about Inge, right?

He's got a baseball, and he finds a kid to hand it to. Well, the first kid already had one, and told Inge he didn't need a second so feel free to find someone else to give the ball to. (Parents of that kid should be quite proud!) Inge did find a girl to give it to.

And Perry wondered what happened to the ball from his first save.

Whoops!

Well, Inge managed to trade a bat to get the ball back, and Perry gave it to his dad. So the story had a nice ending.

"I'm going to tell Perry, 'This kid didn't even want your ball,'" Inge joked.

In other news:

• DesigNate Robertson: Opening Day in Detroit with Your Party Host.
  Rogo shares his opening day thoughts as only Rogo can.
  

• MLB Trade Rumors: Assessing Elijah Dukes' Value
  I know some people around BYB wanted to see Dukes become a Tiger at some point. I find it interesting that after Dukes was released by the Nationals, no team has yet signed him. He's like Milton Bradley without the track record, but with plenty of potential.

• Tigers.com: Bonine OK after cramp under rib cage
  Bonine apparently is fine, but will rest for a few days. Of course he'd have had to rest anyway.
  
  "I threw a pitch and it kind of knotted up on me," Bonine said. "I've never cramped up underneath my rib before, so I don't really know what that was. I just cramped up and I just needed to take a big breath, and I was fine. I tried to catch my breath and they came out."

• Beck's Blog: Why Santiago hit with game on the line
  I never even thought of pinch-hitting for Santiago, who I trust (more or less) as much as anyone else. But in case you wonder why Damon stayed on the bench, here's more.
• Scott Warheit writes his thanks to Tigers owner Mike Ilitch for being so free spending and giving Tigers fans a team that competes for the division year-in-and-year-old.
• Some batting stats after one week of baseball: 
• Miguel Cabrera has a 1.403 OPS to lead the team.
• Magglio Ordonez has a .462 average.
• Austin Jackson is batting .296 with .367 OBP and 3.23 pitches per plate appearance. Also, 2 stolen bases.
  
• Alex Avila has 5.00 P/PA and Johnny Damon 4.23.
  
• Adam Everett has as many hits as he had all of spring training (4).

8 AM update: The Tigers don't sound too concerned over pitching prospect Casey Crosby, who they say has a bone bruise in his throwing elbow, Lynn Henning reports.