IT’S A MADD MADD WORLD...
What is turning out to be one of the worst seasons in Tigers’ history hit another low last Wednesday when they were clobbered 13-0 by Tony La Russa’s floundering White Sox and in the process had to resort to not one but three position players to get them through the game including Roger Clemens’ son Kody, a rookie utilityman who surrendered three hits, a walk and an unearned run in his pitching debut. Without question the most disappointing team in baseball, the Tigers were projected to contend in the AL Central after five years of tanking and having signed Javy Baez to that splashy six-year/$140M contract to play shortstop. Instead, the Tigers went into the weekend 24-39 ranked last in the majors in runs, homers, RBI, OPS, walks and stolen bases. Their entire infield, including Baez (.188) is hitting under .200, and that sigh of relief you just heard was Steve Cohen thankful his baseball people ignored the pleas of Francisco Lindor to sign his pal for second base.
Not sure who you blame for this Tigers pratfall but have to wonder if the
bloom is off A.J. Hinch’s rose. …
New Baseball Book of the Week: It’s been 19 years since Rickey Henderson stole his last base or scored his last run, which means there’s a whole new generation of fans that never saw him play. Say what you will about him — and there’s been a lot from both sides — Henderson, the all-time leader in runs scored and stolen bases, is one of the greatest players of all time. He was also one of the most complicated, but we can now thank the esteemed sports journalist Howard Bryant for delivering the definitive biography “Rickey: The Life and Legend of an American Original” (Mariner) to sort it all out on this both dazzling and mercurial star. Make no mistake, even though Rickey cooperated with Bryant (for a while) this is no sugarcoat book. As exemplified by two of his previous books on baseball “Shut Out” (on race in Boston) and “Juicing the Game” (the expose on steroids in baseball), Bryant is not afraid of tackling difficult subjects.