You just knew the hot photo from the first official day of workouts for the Detroit Tigers was going to capture Brandon Inge once again donning the so-called tools of ignorance. And those who brought their long lenses and tripods to Lakeland - men such as John T. Greilick of the Detroit News and Julian H. Gonzalez of the Detroit Free Press - did not disappoint.
Well, we should cut the guy some slack. It's been four years or so since Inge had to play with all that gear on. It's why they call it Spring Training, right?
Danny Knobler also had a funny photo accompanying his blog post from today. The expression on Inge's face reminded me of how I often looked when I had to wear a suit to church as a kid.
Meanwhile, the Tigers handled the Inge situation exactly as expected. Right after that first workout, Jim Leyland and his newest utility player met with the media to address the big pink elephant that accompanied the team to Lakeland. And that was the only time they were going to talk about Inge's new role with the Tigers.
Didn't we know this was exactly how Leyland was going to handle the matter? It's what made the "He won't talk to us!" reaction of some local reporters so silly and embarrassing.
While talking about Inge reacquainting himself with the catcher position, Leyland also shared what he likely said to his player when workouts began.
And that was really the message of the day. Leyland knows Inge doesn't like these circumstances, but he's a professional, so he's expected to deal with them. In the meantime, the Tigers will see what we can do about accommodating Inge's wish to find a team that has a third base job for him, even though they're a better team with him on the roster.
Roll with the changes.
(Photo by Julian H. Gonzalez/Detroit Free Press)