Running Man

In an interview during TigerFest, Phil Coke reveals his reason for sprinting to the mound from the bullpen. It's not to make us all laugh. It's not to burn a few extra calories. It's not because he can't stand the other Tigers relievers.

Coke explains that it's because "I don't want anything to enter my mind, except for 'Get to the hill, get the job done'."

I guess he doesn't want the adoring, but frequently brain-dead fans (people who reach over and interfere with balls still in play, people who try to start the wave in the 7th inning of Justin Verlander's no-hitter, people who boo Todd Jones' first blown save in 20 opportunities) to mess with his game mindset. I can't say I blame him there.

When asked whether there was an advantage to him being the only lefty in the starting rotation, Coke shrugged his shoulders up to his ears and quipped, ""I don't know, I'm just a baseball player, man." This echoes the sentiments of many ball players who probably think that zealous fans, media and bloggers overanalyze everything. Curtis Granderson said that he doesn't even know what the stat WAR (wins above replacement player) is. During the celebration for the 40th anniversary of the 1968 World Series, Rod and Mario had various players from the '68 team in the booth during the game. I remember one of them saying that he doesn't really watch baseball and never has. He just enjoyed playing it. Yes, I realize this means that many of us are attached to baseball in a way that could be perceived as "Fatal Attraction." So what? I've come to terms with it. I hope you have too.

If you want to see the Coke interview in its entirety, here's a link, but you'll have to go to the "TicketTube" section on the right side bar and then scroll through the video options until you see Phil Coke in a light blue dress shirt.

These are the things that have to get us through until there is baseball again.

FreezeFest 2011

Did you know that certain extremities refuse to be warmed when exposed to icy temperatures? My nose was frozen and red all day at TigerFest yesterday. That didn't stop me from enjoying myself. I was armed with foot and hand warmers, and the Tigers were also passing out free hand warmers to the hardy fans who defied the weather.

Although I had several failures yesterday, my friend Nicole triumphed in a way I hadn't imagined possible. I had brought my scorecard from the no-hitter in hopes of meeting Justin Verlander in the autograph lines. NO. Of course, I wanted to see Mi Magglio. Well, I saw him, all right. I got to the photo booth area in time to see him LEAVING! I would have liked to meet Max Scherzer. He did walk by my friend and I, and she gasped audibly, but I was busy digging in my bag, so I barely glimpsed him. Sigh.

Now, allow me to regale you with my friend's tale of victory. Nicole follows both Will Rhymes and Casper Wells on Twitter. We were standing in an autograph line, when Will Rhymes walked by us. Nicole told him she followed him on Twitter and he high-fived her. She tweeted it, with a shout out to Wells to top it, and Rhymes proceeded to retweet it. That was quite exciting, needless to say. Well, a while later, we get to the front of an autograph line, and who is there, but Casper Wells himself. Nicole shows him the tweet and the challenge. You could see the wheels turning in his mind for a moment as he signed her hat. Then, he slowly stood up and enveloped her in a big, genuine hug! Then he told her she better tweet THAT to Will. Holy cow, a twitter war had broken out! Nicole's feet didn't touch ground for while after that. I was happy for her, despite my epic failures.

We attended one of the panel discussions, which featured Justin Verlander, Joaquin Benoit, and an empty chair for a tardy Phil Coke. Rod and Mario were allowing audience members to pose questions, and people kept asking Justin the most pointed questions. He took it all in good grace, laughing at how Jim Thome owns him, talking about how he has ZERO major league hits, and discussing his April woes. Funny stuff. Then Phil Coke finally walks in the room and flashes an expression that put the whole room in stitches. You just had to be there, I can't describe it. Then he says the reason he was late is because he was down in the team store trying to find out why there were no Coke shirts in there. He's priceless. Really.

I did get to tell Austin Jackson he was robbed for ROY, and how much we appreciated his season here. He is very humble, trying to deflect all that praise coming his way. Here are a few snaps from the frozen tundra.

TigerFreeze 2009

Here are a couple snaps from TigerFest yesterday.  To say it was cold does not express the depths of frozen-ness we endured.  We got to the stadium at about 10:20, and had to wait outside the gates in an ever lengthening line for at least 30 minutes.  Inside, they did have sheeting up and portable heaters blowing in some warmth, so those areas were fine.  You did have to walk through various unheated concourses and stairways at times.  Those areas were frigid.  

Lines were very long-about 1.5 to 2 hours.  We only waited in one of the autograph lines.  As you can see, we got Carlos Guillen, and Clete Thomas.   I got in one other autograph line at the end of our time there, but didn't have the heart to put my son through it after learning it would be over 1.5 hours.

My son enjoyed the whiffle ball home run derby--he hit at least 3 "home runs."

If my son hadn't been there, I would've gone to the clinics/panels/interviews with players.  I heard those were good. 

All in all, it was just OK.  The cold diminished the fun, and the lines did also, but both were to be expected.

There wasn't quite as much kid stuff as I thought there would be.  It was just a few things in the concourse behind right field.

Touring the clubhouse was ok.  There wasn't much in it, so it seemed kind of sterile.  I'm not sure if they were letting people in the dugouts this year.  We didn't do that if they were.

Anyone else have stories to share?