I was very excited to see in the Free Press yesterday reporting on the rumor of the Tigers having a potential interest in Mike Lowell. This makes sense on a lot of levels. The Tigers are certainly without a definite incumbent at the position and Dombrowski originally acquired Lowell for the Marlins. For the Marlins, moving Lowell makes sense because on Nov. 1, Lowell can opt for free agency, if he so desires, due to a clause in his contract that allows him the opportunity to declare free agency if the Marlins don’t have a stadium deal in place. The catch is that any player who is traded with more than a year on their contract can demand a trade after one season. Lowell could also choose to file a grievance and possibly be traded sooner. At 3 yrs, $25.5 million, Lowell would be a bargain as one of the top 5-10 third basemen in all of baseball. Even should this trade not occur, I want to wax euphoric on what may have been!

I agree it is nice to finally see the Tigers signed Justin Verlander. I hope they are better able to utilize his services than they have with other recently drafted first round pitchers. It would have also been nice if he had obtained a partial season of experience in the meantime.

The World Series has thus far been a dud. All the intrigue and excitement has faded for me in the first two games. I really hope the Cardinal pitching staff can regroup and the Cardinal bats come alive so that this series takes on a different hue. Everybody seems to be catching “Idiot Mania” and getting behind the Sox. It is a nice story, but to be truthful I am a little tired of it. The bottom line is the Sox inhabit the same realm as the Yankees and a few other
privileged clubs and the competitive imbalance of baseball remains intact.

Things I would like to see and hear more of:

1.I would like to see and hear from Whitey Herzog and Don Zimmer and relative perspectives on the two teams.
2. Rather than being relegated to thirty seconds of empty chatter why couldn’t
have Fox regaled us with several minutes with Red Schoendiest and Johnny Pesky. I would gladly take that over repeated obnoxious bombardments of “Obnoxious Boss” and “Rebel Billionaire” commercials.
3. Am I only surprised that Tim McCarver and Joe Buck have yet to betray any Cardinal bias? With McCarver playing most of his career in St. Louis and Buck’s father being the legendary voice of the club, how could they not have at least some interest in Cardinal victories?
4. The Dropkick Murphys are a streetpunk band from Boston who proclaim their Irish heritage and often feature bagpipes in their songs. They have an Ep out that features Johnny Damon, Lenny DiNardo and Bronson Arroyo singing backups on a song. The song, “Tessie”, which used to be sung by the famed Royal Rooters who were Sox loyalists who used the song to stir their team to victory. I have heard it played in the background on the stadium PA but am quite surprised it hasn’t been used as “bumper” music during the broadcasts.

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