I don’t know if Samara has seen this, but Brandon Inge is the second Tiger to have a card at The Hardball Times. Click the card or link and you’ll get a couple different sizes with both fronts and backs.

And now I need some sort of filler to make this post fit.

Hmm.

Well you can check out all THT cards here!

That still didn’t fit.

Geez, this is hard.

Doubtlessly, you are familiar with Baseball-Reference.com. During the season, it’s a valuable source I visit several times a week. Maybe you’ve noticed that there’s a small text advertisement that goes on every manager, player and team page on the site. In the past you probably would have noticed those frequently empty for Tigers, and frequently low priced. That is no longer the case. I was thinking about sponsoring a favorite Tiger and hadn’t been there for awhile. Well, let me tell you, Tigers bloggers and fans all caught on to that idea before I had. Here’s a sampling.

Samara sponsors Brandon Inge. (Go figure!)

Bilfer? He sponsors Jeremy Bonderman and Fernando Rodney.

Baseball by Paul sponsored Curtis Granderson. My top pick, darn you Paul!

Not a blogger, but attorney Dave Merwin, a big Tigers fan whomever he is, sponsors Andrew Miller, Justin Verlander and Magglio Ordonez.

The others are mostly taken by random companies, but this Baseball Evolution has Marcus Thames and has a nice article.

Who is available for those Tigers fans with money burning a hole in their pocket? Choices are limited and mostly outside the realm of play money. There’s Zach Miner ($10) (I may just have to do that one!), Todd Jones ($35), Kenny Rogers ($165), Christopher Bob Shelton ($20), Ramon Santiago and Omar Infante ($15). There may be a few bit players I didn’t check.

As for the 2006 team? Nobody has ponied up $95 yet.

I just may have to step down to the minors, where Cameron Maybin is a tidy $15.

If you had told me this morning Jim Leyland would win American League manager of the year… I’d have … okay, this is a surprise to absolutely no one.

Rod Gardenhire was second. The deposed Ken Macha was third. And Joe Torre was fourth.

So let me get this straight. Tigers fans hated the winner for playing Neifi Perez and starting a strange playoff rotation order. Minnesota fans hated (from when I read a blog or two) Gardenhire because he probably kept them from being a 100-win team with a poor selection of April starters. Macha placed third, and his center fielder whom he started was happy when he was fired. And Joe Torre somehow — gasp! he’s a genius — managed a $200M team through injuries.

Yeah, this is a rather strange award. Nonetheless, I am glad Leyland won it and really couldn’t see any other manager getting it.

From time to time, I like to check with the Arizona Fall League. For instance, I learned Brent Clevlen is on a nice hitting string lately. Well, that’s well and good.

But Virgil Vasquez is fricken awesome. Which is why I was a bit confused over all the hand wringing of the trading of a kid in West Michigan whose name approximately 0% of Tigers fans and probably 5% of Tigers minor league watchers had ever mentioned. That wasn’t the one to fret over.

But back to Vasquez. In Arizona, you may remember, the right-handed starter was rocked for 8 runs in his first start. He hasn’t given up a run since. So that’s 24 consecutive scoreless innings. He’s given up eight hits and five walks during that time, while striking out 17. But it isn’t just in the AFL he’s successful. In Erie this year, he had 129 strikeouts and 50 walks in 173 innings. He also gave up just more than one home run per 9 innings.

So what have we got here? A pitcher with good control, decent indicators, and with a good amount of innings on his arm. He’s 24. He’s definitely not perfect. But if I had to bet on a guy who’s going to get his shot in the majors, I’d peg Vasquez as one of them.

Lakeland Tigers take to the air

In other minors news, the Lakeland Tigers have taken flight. Or changed their name and logo anyway.

The name “Flying Tigers” refers to Tigertown’s roots as a World War II training site for American and British pilots. Between 1940 and 1945, the Lakeland School of Aeronautics graduated more 8,000 aspiring airmen, many of whom went on to complete dangerous missions in the skies of Europe and Asia.

Accordingly, the team’s new logo features the head of a fang-baring Tiger surrounded by a pilot’s wings. The uniforms include a patch featuring a P-40 fighter jet and the words “Tigertown USA,” and the color of the road uniform has been switched from the traditional gray to a military tan.

The article reports the Flying Tigers are really getting into the theme, the manager will wear commander’s wings and there will be changers at Joker Marchant Stadium.

In what we hoped at times, expected at others, didn’t expect for some, and ultimately realized was a sure thing, Justin Verlander was named American League Rookie of the Year today.

MLB.com: In so doing, Verlander becomes the first starting pitcher to win AL Rookie of the Year since New York’s Dave Righetti in 1981. Dontrelle Willis won the NL honor in 2003.

He was also the first Tiger to win the pitchers honor since “The Bird” did so in 1976. Lou Whitaker was ROY in 1978. So, yeah, it’s been awhile, huh?

The voting wasn’t even close. Following Verlander (26 first place votes, 133 points) was Boston’s Jonathan Papelbon with 63. Francisco Liriano of Minnesota was third with 30.

Baseball Prospectus featured Carlos Guillen today. Subscription required, of course. Guillen was also featured in a short piece in this week’s Sports Illustrated. It’s great he at last gets the recognition he deserves. Suffice it to say, the BP article is a bit, er, numbery, but the conclusion is a familiar refrain.

It’s safe to say that without the Guillen deal, neither franchise [Detroit & Seattle] might be in the position they currently find themselves in. Sadly for the Mariners, Carlos Guillen is playing in a World Series as you read this.

A quick uncompensated endorsement for BP, by the way. If you enjoy baseball or play fantasy baseball, do yourself a big favor and subscribe to a year of BP. You will be glad you did. I’ve gotten more enjoyment and use out of my subscription in a couple months than any magazine I subscribed to. (Did the people in my keeper league think I actually knew about a AA player for the D-backs on my own?) You could probably tell that from all the links I send over there!

Baseball Prospectus’ Jim Baker added to the discussion on Alan Trammell today. (sub req). Baker wonders if Trammell was a victim of fate.

Had Trammell been able to stay around, they’d very likely be right where they are today. They reversed course to the tune of about 200 runs this year, picking up 100 on offense and losing over 100 on the other side. Can we really attribute that kind of swing to a manager?

With the same personnel, I think Trammell would have at least been .500, but I just didn’t see anything to make me think he’s a good clubhouse manager. The bigger question is, would Trammell have taken Joel Zumaya and Justin Verlander to Detroit in the first place? Would he have given Marcus Thames an entire season in the MLB? Given the decisions he made in 2004 and 2005 — cough Higginson — I’m not so sure he would have. Those guys help account for the swing. I’m sure Trammell’s teaching went a long way toward making these Tigers the players they are today, so I certainly endorse his coaching job today and think he’ll be a success there. But I’m just not sure I agree a Trammell-managed team would be in the World Series today.

I thought about posting more on The Kenny Rogers Mystery. Apparently so did everyone else. (Quick hat-tip to Bilfer’s headline!) I thought about doing a roundup type thing. But the gist of it is, The Cutoff Man did a great job on that. (I’m sure some Cardinals blogs did a nice job too, feel free to leave a link in the comments).

There’s a lot of sanctimonious garbage out there. (By the way, this Deadspin link sums it up. Baseball is in dire danger of losing its soul every controversy, while nothing sticks to football). There’s a very intriguing article about Rogers’ use of a different hat. (I’m interested to know if he did this in Texas, as well. Uni watch only did half its job). And there’s a column by former ESPN.com-er Dan Shanoff speculating this is nothing but a made-for-tv hoo-ha. (hat-tip Big Al on the Shanoff column).

Tony La Russa opined.

He said he brought the smudge to the umpires’ attention, but did not demand they search Rogers. They didn’t. La Russa also said the Cardinals were aware Rogers had a similar spot earlier in the postseason.

“I said, ‘I don’t like this stuff, let’s get it fixed.’ If it gets fixed let’s play the game. It got fixed, in my opinion,” he said.

“If he didn’t get rid of it, I would have challenged it. But I do think it’s a little bit part of the game at times and don’t go crazy,” he said.

The problem is, we don’t have any concrete evidence of a thing. Speculation is lovely and all, but what’s it get you? Nothing. The people on the field did nothing, and they were aware of the situation. They have the most stake in the outcome of the World Series. It’s the “experts” who are driving this thing. Experts are a dime a dozen. Everyone knows one. Everyone is one. And suddenly everyone is an expert at interpreting an image flashed on the screen by Fox. I’m not going to buy into any of it.

UPDATE: An anonymous bullpen coach who spoke to SI’s Jon Heyman thinks Rogers used pine tar, but La Russa’s own pitchers would be mad if this opened up the door to greater scrutiny.

“I bet Tony La Russa’s pitchers are mad at him for saying anything, because a lot of guys do it, and I’d be surprise if there’s a whole staff of guys who don’t do it. In fact, I’d say a majority of guys use one of the three — shaving cream, suntan lotion or pine tar. They can’t like him ratting out the other team when everyone does it. Maybe he had to say something because it’s the World Series, it’s on TV and he probably has to answer to his owner.

“But you’ll notice he didn’t continue to talk about it, and he instructed his guys not to talk about it. They probably have no interest in catching Rogers because if they do then the umpire is looking at everyone.’

It also touches on how the MLB will be tarred and the NFL’s steroids problem will be swept under the rug.

Unless this story develops into one where something ACTUALLY happens, I’m not going to post about it again. La Russa said “don’t go crazy,” that’s good enough for me.

Although you could make an argument for Magglio Ordonez if you so desired, Placido Polanco won the most valuable player trophy for the ALCS. He’s one of many key Tigers.

(AP Photo/Duane Burleson)

If you don’t check the Tigers’ homepage religiously, you might have missed out on the fact Placido Polanco and Carlos Guillen have stories today.

First, Carlos. In a diary entry, he writes about his adventures at first base, his experience playing there at the World Baseball Classic for Venezuela, and the differences of the position.

Of course, the difference between the positions is the angles. At first base, it’s important to be on time to the base when the hitter hits a ground ball somewhere in the infield. To me, it’s easy. I don’t feel it’s too hard. My regular position, shortstop, is hard. When you play shortstop, you can play everywhere.

And Polly has a feature story written about him.

“Tough at-bats,” Polanco said, trying to explain his remarkable success against a tough pitching staff. “Not giving up any at-bats, you know, except that last one, no, I’m just kidding. If you have tough at-bats, you can make it hard on any pitcher.”