Tigers '09

It doesn't seem long ago that we were watching Tigers '83 and things were looking brighter for the future. It's even harder to believe that the upcoming season will mark 25 years since the Tigers were the '84 World Champions. Just a bit of a reminder, that team was built on pitching and defense, with complimentary hitters. Darrell Evans was brought in as a free agent to add some pop. He came in as both a first and third basemen. I suppose that frustrated Tommy Brookens, but everything Sparky Anderson did was aimed at frustrating Tommy. Heck, does anyone remember which Tiger played third base in the Series? It wasn't Howard Johnson and it wasn't Brookens.

Whitaker, 2B
Trammell, SS
Gibson, RF
Parrish, C
Evans, DH
Lemon, CF
Herndon, LF
Bergman, 1B
Castillo, 3B

It's crazy that 25 years later, I can recite the line–up with little to no problem. Sure, some days it was different, but that alignment was used frequently.

The '09 Tiger Nine is shaping up to be a team that focuses on defense, some pitching, and quality hitters. I question Carlos Guillen as an outfielder, but ...

Granderson, CF
Polanco, 2B
Ordonez, RF
Cabrera, 1B
Guillen, LF
Sheffield, DH
Laird, C
Inge, 3B
Everett, SS

We'll see what happens.

• Nice to see some teams showing fiscal restraint. In an era when mega stars get the trillions ... ah, never mind. This happened six years ago, too. The owners suddenly treat the mid–tier players like second class citizens for two years, then forget that restraint. Time to bring in some bargains, though.

•Did the Phillies really win the World Series? What a strange season ...

• Can the Rays sustain their improvement?

• AJ Burnett? $80+ million. Are YOU kidding ME? One name: Carl Pavano and $40 millions. HELLO!

• Let's play some ball ...