It was photo day in Lakeland. I always find the Tigers photos to be pretty boring compared to some other places. Of course, there's only so many things you can do. Point bat at camera. Extend arm with the ball if you're a pitcher. Maybe a bit of strange lighting or focus if that's your thing. Or maybe get in your stance with an interesting background.
I don't know if it's the team itself, or if the photographers assigned to it are not creative. But some teams -- like Oakland -- always seem to have funny and entertaining photos. I mean, just look at these from a few years ago. You've got Bobby Kielty spitting out sunflower seeds and Mike Piazza looking dazed and confused.
Instant classics!
Getty Images has all the photos from this year's Tigers shoot up in their gallery. I can't post any of them here, but you can cruise on over to their gallery and check them out. I think this year is better than in the past for Detroit, but there's nothing memorable, either.
Getty has about half the teams' shoots online right now. (Maybe more by the time you find this link.) In one, the photographer gave a saintly halo to Evan Longoria of the Rays, as well as several Yankees. (Don't look if you're afraid of seeing Curtis Granderson in a Yankees' uniform.)
Meanwhile, Heath Bell seemed to have had a pretty good time during San Diego's photo day.
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Jerry Green writes the Tigers are less talented than a year ago -- I think in some ways, they are, at least in 2010. You can't just replace Placido Polanco and Granderson with rookies and not miss a step. Yet I'm feeling a strange feeling of optimism about these guys. A rite of spring, I suppose. What are your thoughts about Green's column?
- Steve Kornacki: Figuring out final two rotation spots is prime job for Tigers manager Jim Leyland
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The question of camp so far: "The luge. What is it?" Tom Gage asked several players and coaches what their favorite Olympic sport was and wrote about it on his blog. Ryan Raburn has the best answer. Tom Brookens had a pretty good one, too.
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Gage: Olympics got me thinkin': Where have ya gone, Tigers-Jays rivalry? -- Kind of what I was saying as well recently. Detroit used to have some good rivalries with Toronto. A couple of league reorganizations later, they're both gone. Kinda miss them, too. Any rivalries you miss?
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Beck: Knapp leaving his stamp on Tigers' staff -- Beck writes that after the results Tigers pitching coach Rick Knapp helped achieve in his first season, players are pretty optimistic about what might happen this year.
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Lynn Henning: Cerebral Max Scherzer out to make Tigers' brass look genius. I like that Scherzer is such a smart guy. That's definitely a good thing for a pitcher. Next maybe he can tell Justin Verlander why ERA isn't as important as he thinks.