Tigers begin trek to title - Inge gets ovation from crowd

JOHN LOWE'S BLOG
Tigers begin trek to title
Pitchers, catchers report to spring training

February 15, 2008

By JOHN LOWE

FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Baseball begins in the sunshine of a February morning. It ends in a packed stadium under the artificial light of a late October evening when one team takes possession of the world championship.

It’s the journey the Tigers aim to make this season and that many observers think they can make.

They began this aspired trek at about 9:45 this morning when their pitchers and catchers exited the clubhouse and walked to the practice fields for the first official workout of spring training.

Upwards of 100 fans watched from behind a partition as the Tigers walked by in the home white uniforms with the venerable Olde English D. The fans watched quietly as the players walked past, their spikes clanking on the hard path to the field -- the early metaphor for the hard path to the world title.

The sun was out, a slight breeze went through the palm trees, and crows cawed overhead. The weather was so nice it was hard to notice there was weather. You did need your sunscreen.

It was as far as possible from the combination of exhaustion and exhilaration that overtakes the new world champion on that special annual coronation night in late October.

The scene was as quiet and peaceful as the World Series is loud and jangling.

If the Tigers are the one team that gets to hold this year’s world-title trophy-- if that feat becomes the mouth of a roaring river of a season -- we can remember this peaceful morning as the origin of that mighty stream.

Three people in uniform got ovations: former Tiger and current instructor Lou Whitaker, manager Jim Leyland, and the still untraded Brandon Inge.

Updated at 2:47 p.m.

Tigers manager Jim Leyland and Brandon Inge hold a press conference in Leyland's office after Friday's workout to discuss Inge's status with the team and the chances that he will be traded soon, now that he has lost his third-base job to newcomer Miguel Cabrera. Leyland loves having Inge on the team, but also wants him to have a chance to play full-time in the big leagues, an option not available with the Tigers now. "I don't want to lose Brandon Inge, but I want to lose Brandon Inge," Leyland said.