One thing is certain: With Phil Coke and Jim Leyland giving quotes this season, the media and fans won't be bored.
The two seemed to be dueling quipsters on Tuesday.
Coke already strikes me as some off-the-field combination of Todd Jones and Jason Grilli. Well, mostly Jones but for some reason I was picturing one of Conan's "If they mated" sketches and Grilli was the other half of the equation. Well, anyway, maybe it's the facial hair and mullet. But I think it's just because I can already picture him making the same joke Jones did in 2006: "I slept like a baby -- I woke up crying every two hours."
The Detroit News' Tom Gage wrote on his blog today: This Coke's for you!
Classic.
Gage wrote that Coke's postgame interview included this gem:
"For it being my first outing and not getting shelled, I'm pretty excited."
We are, too. Those Division 2 players can be pretty frightening to face!
Steve Kornacki of MLive added more to the story of a guy who is already wearing orange and blue shoes because he's so happy to be a Tiger.
Leyland, meanwhile, is getting ... well, I'll let him tell you.
"Old."
Thank you, Jim. I love Leyland for his one-liners alone.
Leyland was telling MLB.com's Jason Beck his feelings on the fact the Tigers will face Kyle Drabek in one of the games against the Blue Jays. The pitcher is the son of Doug Drabek, one of his best pitchers when he managed the Pirates.
Beck writes:
Leyland vaguely remembers Kyle Drabek around the Pirates' clubhouse during those years, but he wasn't even school age during those years. Kyle Drabek was born in December 1987; Doug Drabek pitched with the Pirates from '87-92.
It's starting to look like the Tigers are producing the Breakfast Club. They've got a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess and a criminal*.
*Apologies to him, but I couldn't mess up the quote! It's all in good fun!
-
Alex Eisenberg of Baseball-Intellect wrote about the Tigers' farm system. This piece was free, but he has some insider content (at a reasonable price) that takes closer looks at the top prospects.
- Beck's Blog: Bobby Seay starts throwing again. Obviously good news.
-
Stephen Strasburg to make highly anticipated debut against Tigers. So what's the over-under on how many times Tigers batters will be asked just exactly how great is Strasburg? Greatest Thing EVAH or just Greatest Thing Ever?
- John Lowe has a nice feature on Rick Porcello
- Brandon Inge talked about his knees with FS Detroit.
- Finally, via the Freep, we get this Michigan quiz given by CBS Sports' Scott Miller to Johnny Damon.
* Yes that's Rick Porcello in the pink dress.
So what's your Tigers' breakfast club?