Detroit Tigers Links: Jim Leyland is 'only' 67 & Brad Penny is available

Jim Leyland is apparently "only" 67 years old, a consistent lineup could help the Tigers break out of an early slump, and Brad Penny could be returning to the big leagues very soon. These stories and an "EdHardyNickelbackCrocs" mention in today's Morning Prowl.

Tigers links:

Jim Leyland Is Only 67: America Reacts -- NotGraphs Baseball, Matt Klaassen
My favorite reaction was: "Did you convert to Marlboro years?"

Detroit Tigers' Alex Avila says there is no serious damage to knee, expects to return to lineup soon -- MLive.com, Chris Iott
So the titanium catcher is human after all?

Jim Leyland thinks Cole Hamels’ five-game suspension "is way too light" -- HardballTalk, Aaron Gleeman
"Lost in Cole Hamels saying his decision to intentionally hit Bryce Harper was 'old school' is that someone who's actually old school thinks he should have been suspended for longer than five games."

Consistent lineup from Jim Leyland would help Detroit Tigers break out of early funk -- MLive.com, Bill Simonson
Correction: Consistent hitting with runners in scoring position would help the Detroit Tigers break out of this early funk.

The Wholly Unsurprising Detroit Tigers -- Baseball Nation, Jeff Sullivan
Who would have thought that at this time in the season, the Tigers infield defense would actually be the least of their problems?

Tigers' steady starters provide lift as lumber slumbers -- The Detroit News, Bob Wojnowski
"In fits and starts, it's coming around. Not quickly, not easily, not the way most people expected. But the Tigers can survive the hitting fits if their pitching starts turn out like this."

Awful photoshopping round-up -- Brain Matters
It had been almost three weeks since Phil Coke's Brain updated his blog. Fortunately, it was worth the wait.

Bullpen Usage -- Walkoff Woodward, Josh Worn
Josh put together a nice little reference post (to be updated daily), which tracks the Tigers relievers and their usage in the bullpen. Rather helpful, if I do say so myself.

Around the AL Central:

Twins 5, Angels 0: Twins Actually Manage to Not Look Totally Inept -- Twinkie Town
"Twins 5, Angels 0: Twins Actually Manage to Not Look Totally Inept."

Game 29: White Sox 5, Indians 3 (10 Innings) -- Let's Go Tribe
"The Indians finally dropped a close game, losing in extra innings to the White Sox 5-3. A full recap of the action."

Royals Win Late on Butler's Late Blast -- Royals Review, Jeff Zimmerman
"This game looked to be similar to several other games the Royals have experienced this season."

White Sox 5, Indians 3: Revenge for Rios -- South Side Sox, Jim Margalus
"After the White Sox blew a three-run lead in the eighth inning, Alex Rios provided the extra-inning heroics with a game-winning triple off Chris Perez."

The state of the AL Central -- The Hardball Times, Chris Jaffe
"With one-sixth of the year in the books, what do we know about the American League Central? Well, first off, it isn’t that strong a division." Hard-hitting analysis there.

Elsewhere in baseball:

Ex-Tigers pitcher Brad Penny released by Japanese team, could return to majors -- MLive.com, James Schmehl
Step right up: Slightly used, considerably boring pitcher for sale. The bidding starts at .... oh nevermind, you can have him for free.

The five least old-school players in baseball -- SweetSpot Blog, David Schoenfield
"Any starting pitcher other than Justin Verlander." Yep.

Castrodale: Love him or hate him, Bryce is here -- NBC Sports, Jelisa Castrodale
"EdHardyNickelbackCrocs" will henceforth be used to describe anything I detest. And Merriam Webster should probably consider adding it to the dictionary.