We've already heard from Jason Beck on the Grand Kids Foundation celebrity basketball fund-raiser on Sunday, but here are a few more stories in the media, in case you missed them.
Granderson responded to charges in the media -- OK, in the Detroit News courtesy of Lynn Henning would probably be more accurate, as I'm not sure I remember reading them elsewhere -- that Grandy spent too much time doing things outside the game of baseball. Granderson had remained quiet on the subject, but opened up a bit. Beck wrote more about it on his blog.
"It's amazing how, you know, so much is talked about players not doing something [to give back]," Granderson said after Sunday's game. "Then I do something, and now that's the reason why everyone thought I was playing bad. But yet, my involvement with so many different things -- from my book, to my foundation, to education, the RBI program -- is very minimal.
- The fans are going to miss Granderson, the Free Press reports.
That much is obvious of course. The Freep spoke to several fans about their feelings for that story.
- Michael Rosenberg wrote that things will never be the same for Granderson, either.
This is not all bad. It is just different. In New York, Granderson will probably never have a day like he did at Birmingham Seaholm High School on Sunday, when his charity basketball game turned into a Farewell-to-Curtis extravaganza. It was a down-to-earth Midwestern day all around, from the packed high school gym to the former local heroes who still get big cheers (Mateen Cleaves, Jalen Rose, T.J. Duckett, Lloyd Carr).
They'll miss his smile, his skills, his work on behalf of educating our kids -- but they'll also miss the traits that made him seem so genuine.
Such as his affinity for fast-food value meals.
And knowing where the cheapest gas is on his drive from his home in Chicago to Detroit.
"As always," he said, "I waited until I got into Indiana before I filled up."
Of course, you've got to wait before you're outside of Gary, too, unless you've brought a gas mask. But Granderson knows that, I'm sure.