NOTES FROM GRANDERSONS ESPN BLOG

curtis pissed!!! ooo

Exciting!

Wow, that's just terrible to say something like that.

It especially "angers me off" (thank you cat) that they said something like that about Raburn.

hopefully this so called "reporter" has been reprimanded....

There has been a lot of talk recently in the baseball world about the dangers of maple bats. Lately, maple bats have been breaking in large numbers. The issue isn't that they are breaking, it's the fact that when they break, large dangerous pieces fly from the bat that could not only hit players or coaches, but possibly land in the stands and hit fans.

Baseball has been trying to come up with different ideas to keep fans safe. Players feel that if we are on the field and can move out of the way of batted balls, we should be able to move out of the way of flying bats -- or we shouldn't be on the field. (Of course, anything is possible). The major concern is with fans. There usually is very little room to escape from flying objects coming into the stands.

One suggestion is to extend the netting from the home plate area down the first- and third-base lines. Some feel that if baseball does this it will take away from the fan experience of the game, the interaction with the players and the closeness to the field. You could argue that if that is the case, then why are the most expensive seats the ones right behind home plate with a net in front of them? Those seats, at most games that I have played in, are usually sold out, and I haven't heard any of those fans complaining about the net right in front of them.

I've been asked what kind of bats I use (maple), and when and why I chose to start using them. I first started using maple bats in 2004 just to try them out to see if there was a difference. I really like maple bats over ash bats mainly because they tend to last a lot longer. This year, I am on my second batting practice bat since spring training. If I were using ash, even if I would tape my bat or bone it (apply pressure using something hard like a sink or an actual bone to eliminate the air and space between the grains to make it harder), it would still break or splinter much quicker than maple.

Some people say, "Well you guys get as many bats as you want!" And we do get a lot of bats, but each bat is slightly different in weight (some have more weight near the barrel, others more in the handle). So once we find a bat that we like, we want to use it until it breaks.

If a rule were put in place to ban maple bats, I don't think players would be extremely upset, but it would force a lot of them to change their bats and their bat companies. Players choose bat companies based on how quickly they get their bats and how accurate their orders are. I've been using an A-bat since 2004, and have been happy with everything they have done, but I have only swung their maple bats. The only ash bats I've ever swung were Louisville Slugger in the minor leagues. So if maple bats are banned, I'm not sure what company I would try.

The movie "Wanted" starring Morgan Freeman, Angelina Jolie, James McAvoy and Common, came out Friday. I really didn't have much going on and wasn't ready to sleep, plus I wanted to see this movie, so I went to check it out nice and late last night -- the 12:05 a.m. showing. I was surprised to see Common in this movie because all the previews focused on Freeman, Jolie, and McAvoy. But I like Common, so it was cool to see him.

I thought the movie started with some good action right away, then it slowed itself down to let you know what was going on. Since it was just after midnight when I saw this movie, I wanted action right away so I wouldn't fall asleep. The movie did explain itself and brought you right back to the action in a timely manner, though.

SPOILER ALERT: I don't want to ruin the movie for those of you who end up going to see it, but there is a scene where the main character (McAvoy) gets hurt and there is this amazing place he goes to help heel and rejuvenate himself. It's very similar to a steam bath/sauna/spa massage and paraffin wax all in one.

I mention the scene because it looks extremely relaxing, and if I had one of those rejuvenation things, I'd love to take advantage of it after a hot game (like Thursday's, which was extremely humid), or after a really long game (like Wednesday's, which featured a rain delay). If someone has one of these or the creator of the movie can find a way to turn this into an actual product, I'd be interested.

Overall, "Wanted" does have some good action, though it is a little tough at times to figure out who is chasing who. The cinematography, however, was pretty good (lots of different angles were used for the fight scenes). The movie also has a nice little plot twist, which is always good. Plus, you get to see Angelina Jolie, who I know both men and women find attractive.

So if you looking to get out of the heat or humidity during the summer, this would be a good movie to check out. You don't have to go at midnight like I did, but if you do, there's a good chance it won't be sold out. So enjoy, and hopefully I can catch a few more movies this summer.

On a different note, I also want to bring to everyone's attention that former Negro League All-Star Art Pennington had his home and his personal memorabilia collection destroyed in the Iowa floods. Mr. Pennington has an amazing story, and I encourage everyone to read up on him, but I also want to encourage people to donate to a fund set up in Mr. Pennington's name:

Art Pennington Fund
5915 4th Street SW, Suite 100
Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 52404

Stealing a base is an art that not everyone in baseball can master. When we play games in Comerica Park, the video screen during the first at-bat for every hitter shows different offensive stats, such as stolen bases. It always amazes me when I see guys such as Willy Taveras with 36 stolen bases already and we aren't even at the halfway point of the season yet.

There are a couple things that are needed to be able to steal a base successfully. First, of course, you need to have some sort of speed. You need to get a good lead off the base consistently on every pitch. The baserunner also needs to pick a good pitch to try to steal on. This is a guessing game. Hopefully, it's not a pitch outside or a high fastball, because those pitches make it easier for the catcher to make a good throw to get you out. The first move you make toward the next base is very important. The last, but not least, thing needed to be able to steal a base is to have your manager either give you, the runner, the green light (meaning the runner can go at any time he wishes) or simply the steal sign. I always seem to hear from different fans, mostly the ones who play fantasy baseball, about why I don't steal more bases. Jim Leyland, our manager, is the man in charge of what happens on our team. If he doesn't want me to run, I won't. If he wants me to run, I will.

People always ask me where I rank in terms of the fastest guys in baseball. I'm not a good time guy (the 60-yard dash is used to compare speed in baseball), and my time is a lot slower than most. I'm also not a good race guy. Guys such as Carl Crawford, Joey Gathright and Jose Reyes would all beat me in a foot race. So considering I don't have the natural speed element like some players, I have to be able to pick the right pitch to run on and get a great lead in order to steal a base.

Last year, I was able to steal 26 out of 27 times successfully. Since I had success last year, pitchers, catchers and managers are paying more attention to me on the bases, which has made it more difficult this season; I've been caught four times already. This is what amazes me about the guys who steal 40 or more bases a year, because the opposing team knows when those guys run and still can't do anything about it. And to think, guys like Rickey Henderson and Vince Coleman, among many others, used to steal 100 bases a year. Former Tigers great Ty Cobb stole 892 bases in his career.

Lately, I've been watching guys like Taveras and have been talking to our first-base coach, Andy Van Slyke, to learn and understand more about stealing bases. So who knows, maybe I will hopefully make some more strides to become more successful in stealing bases.
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Curtis Granderson
is the starting center fielder for the American League champion Detroit
Tigers. During the 2008 season, he will be blogging twice a week for
ESPN.com.

He is the founder of the Grand Kids Foundation, and holds college degrees in business marketing and business management.

For more information on him, please visit his official MySpace page. For questions or comments, e-mail him at grandy@fullathletemarketing.com

The return of Joel Zumaya and Fernando Rodney are a big plus for our team. To have two guys who can come into a game in the role of a set-up man, closer, or just a stopper is huge.

Rodney has a fastball that can touch from the low to mid-90s and a great changeup that can get both righties and lefties out. Zumaya, who has the ability to touch the mid to high 90s and one pitch so far this year at 100 mph, can blow any hitter away, but he can also get a hitter very jumpy and surprised by throwing a big curveball.

Both guys returned from the disabled list in mid-June and got off to slow starts, due mainly to having to get their feel back at throwing in big league stadiums and also against big league hitters. Now that both have settled back into their comfort levels, they have done great things. Rodney got the save in our win over the Mariners on Thursday by throwing just one pitch, while Zumaya picked up his first save this season in our win over the Twins last Monday.

The DL has been a crazy thing for us this year, with many of our players being on it at one point or another. Magglio Ordonez is the most recent guy to land there.

A comment that Jim Leyland made a while ago was that teams with the best minor league systems end up winning the most spring training games, because the minor league guys usually are in at the end of spring training games. Well, our minor league prospects that have been called to the big leagues this year have done an excellent job so far at stepping in to replace guys who were placed on the DL.

Matt Joyce and Clete Thomas have played great defense and also done big things with the bat. Joyce most recently got a pinch-hit triple to tie a game against the Twins and also scored the winning run, while Thomas recorded two bases loaded walks (one being a game winning RBI) back during our last homestand. Mike Hollimon has been able to play second base, third base and shortstop since joining the team and also hit his first major league home run in Thursday night's win against Seattle. Rookie right-hander Armando Galarraga has also done big things for us and has emerged as a starter by winning seven games to go along with a 3.27 ERA so far.

Hopefully, guys will remain healthy for the remainder of the season. But if some happen to go down, hopefully the prospects can continue to step up and deliver while those guys are down.

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Curtis Granderson is the starting center fielder for the American League champion Detroit Tigers. During the 2008 season, he will be blogging twice a week for ESPN.com.

He is the founder of the Grand Kids Foundation, and holds college degrees in business marketing and business management.

For more information on him, please visit his official MySpace page. For questions or comments, e-mail him at grandy@fullathletemarketing.com

These next two series are very important for us to as we go into the All-Star break. The first one is a two-game set against the Indians, followed by a four-game series against the Twins, with both series here in Detroit.

I mentioned during an interview on "ESPN First Take" that as we get to the All-Star break, we hope to be right where we want to be. The question is where that is. Both the Twins and the White Sox have played well over the past month, and we have tried to keep pace. We are in third place in the AL Central. Starting the second half of the season either still in third or possibly in second after these two series would be positive for us, especially after our slow start.

CC Sabathia was just traded to the Brewers this week, and I got a lot of text messages and e-mails asking if I am happy to see him go. CC is a very good pitcher; he leads the majors in strikeouts and is coming off a Cy Young season. Of course, I would rather face someone else, but I'll never shy away from him. He has been great, and I hope he will continue to do great, but if I happen to see him later this year in the World Series or in the next few seasons, I'm going to want to battle him just like any other pitcher.

People forget that even though Sabathia is now gone, it doesn't mean Cleveland is going to get pushed over. They still have Cliff Lee (he should start for the AL in the All-Star Game), Fausto Carmona (when he returns from injury) and a lineup that can and will begin to hit in the second half of the season. Everyone thought the Twins weren't going to contend since they lost Johan Santana, but as you can see, they haven't skipped a beat and are in second place -- right behind the White Sox.

The second half of the season should be just as exciting as it has been the past two seasons, when we had down-to-the-wire races in the AL Central.

Also, congratulations to Carlos Guillen for making the All-Star team, and the rest of the players in both the National and American Leagues for being selected.

As a side note, my pick for the last man in the AL would have to be Jermaine Dye, who's hitting .302 with 19 home runs and 52 RBIs. Best of luck to all the players who are on the last-man ballot.

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Curtis Granderson is the starting center fielder for the American League champion Detroit Tigers. During the 2008 season, he will be blogging twice a week for ESPN.com.

He is the founder of the Grand Kids Foundation, and holds college degrees in business marketing and business management.

For more information on him, please visit his official MySpace page. For questions or comments, e-mail him at grandy@fullathletemarketing.com

The All-Star break is coming up Monday through Wednesday. For most players, it will begin on Sunday night, as I have a flight home to Chicago right after our game. Some teams like the Indians are lucky enough to have four days off, which I'm sure they will enjoy. Three days will be plenty for me.

Once the break starts, if I don't already get it by Sunday, I'm going to try to get the new iPhone. But I heard they're already sold out here in the Detroit area. I think the first iPhone came out around this time last year, so maybe the owner of Apple is a baseball fan at heart, releasing the iPhone around the All-Star break for the past two years.

The next thing I have planned when I get home is to continue with my house/condo shopping in the Chicago area. I've been looking for the past three years, and hopefully the ones I check out on this trip will be exactly what I'm looking for.

After going to check out the places with my mom, I'm going to take her to the new restaurant/sports bar I invested in called the Fifty/50, located at 2047 West Division St. in Chicago. That way I can see if my mom approves and likes the investment. I was able to take my sister when we played in Chicago in April and she enjoyed it. Hopefully, mom will think the same.

On Tuesday, the day of the All-Star Game, I'm going to head over to a local community college where one of my friends is the pitching coach for the baseball team, so I can take a few swings in their batting cage. I'm really looking forward to having three days off, but I can't afford not to do anything, so I'll spend about 20-30 minutes just to get -- and hopefully keep -- the feel of my swing.

Finally, I will enjoy Wednesday at home. I'll take a late flight that night to Baltimore, where we open up after the break. I would fly out the day of the first game there, but with the airlines, weather and any possible delays, I don't want to risk being late for the first game back.

It should be a fun, relaxing three days for me, which I'm really looking forward to. It's a great way to clear the head and rest the body up for the second half of the season, where we hope to make a strong push.

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Curtis Granderson is the starting center fielder for the American League champion Detroit Tigers. During the 2008 season, he will be blogging twice a week for ESPN.com.

He is the founder of the Grand Kids Foundation, and holds college degrees in business marketing and business management.

For more information on him, please visit his official MySpace page. For questions or comments, e-mail him at grandy@fullathletemarketing.com

The unofficial start of the second half begins for most teams on Thursday, and we will open up in Baltimore. Some teams (Twins and Indians, for example) had an extra day off for the All-Star break. That's too long for me, but I doubt they are complaining.

We had a slow start to begin the season, but we were able to get a few things going and move into third place in the AL Central to start the second half. A lot of our recent media interviews and comments from fans, have focused on trying to figure out a couple things. First, why did we start off as slowly as we did, and second, what caused us to heat up toward the end of the first half of the season?

I think the slow start was the result of a few things:

First, there wasn't credit given to other teams in our division. When the offseason moves were being made, and we made the moves to get Edgar Renteria, Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis, it was determined that we made all the right moves and the best moves. And the moves other teams made didn't seem big enough, or like they were enough to win. The Twins were supposed to be the team without Johan Santana and they weren't going to do anything great in our division. As you can see, the loss of Santana isn't hurting the Twins so far this season. The White Sox also have a very good team with great hitters, pitching and additions to their bullpen that didn't get much buzz in this offseason. Their moves have helped a lot so far.

The second reason why we had the slow start was due to other teams getting off to great starts. The Royals and White Sox both started strong, and we had to play both of those teams at the beginning of the season. Your success partly depends on when you catch the other team, and in the beginning a lot of teams were playing well.

The big question people want answered is why we started to play better and what or who has been the spark? The answer isn't one special thing. Jim Leyland hasn't yelled at us or given us pep talks and not just one player on the team has played extremely well over the past month. Different guys have stepped up at different times, from the hitters, to the starting pitchers, to the relievers. There really isn't one reason why we are playing better.

In the clubhouse we have joked around that as the weather warms up, so will we. The main thing is throughout a 162-game season too much is made of the first two months of the season. The Yankees last year got off to a horrible start and everyone thought their season was done in May. As the season goes on and you play the rest of the games on your schedule, things will begin to even themselves out. As you saw last season, the Yankees were able to make it to the playoffs again.

Who knows what will happen for the rest of the season, but with just over two months of baseball left to play, anything is possible.

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Curtis Granderson is the starting center fielder for the American League champion Detroit Tigers. During the 2008 season, he will be blogging twice a week for ESPN.com.

He is the founder of the Grand Kids Foundation, and holds college degrees in business marketing and business management.

For more information on him, please visit his official MySpace page. For questions or comments, e-mail him at grandy@fullathletemarketing.com

The hot and humid weather is here, and it seems that no relief is in sight for our next few weeks of games. We started the second half of the season in Baltimore, normally hot and humid in July. This year's trip was extremely hot and humid. The four-game set had highs between 92 and 95 degrees, with high humidity and barely any wind.

After those four games, we came here to Kansas City, where we thought we'd find some relief. Last night's game against the Royals had a high of 97 degrees, and with the humidity it felt like 101.

We players would rather have it warmer during the summer, but once you get to the 95-degree mark or higher, it's just as tough as playing in the extreme cold. Outside of the physical difficulties of trying to stay cool and hydrated, you have the mental side of the game you also have to battle due to the heat.

I was speaking to Royals infielder Mike Aviles during Monday night's game, and we were talking about taking batting practice during the hottest time of the day (3-5 p.m.), and how you want to get your work in (ground balls, fly balls and hitting), but you also have to conserve energy so you don't get worn down before the game starts.

We also have to be careful when we pound fluids, because too much right before the activity can make you cramp up or almost give you that sick feeling. But not enough fluids can also make you cramp up and feel sick. So you can see the battle we face when it is extremely hot.

We also have been faced with playing long games during this heat, adding to the mental difficulty. Playing in three-plus hour games makes it tougher to stay focused all nine -- or more -- innings. I'm not the only one out there. The rest of my team is battling the same elements, and the other team is going through the same stuff, too.

As soon as you give up and let the mental side take over, something bad (error, strikeout, poor at-bat, missed sign from a coach, etc.) can happen at the most important time of the game and put your team in a tough position.

As July comes to an end, the month of August most likely won't be any better as we travel to Texas (which is always hot, so games start at 7:30 p.m.), Cleveland, Chicago, and Kansas City, again. All these Midwest cities can be humid.

We will try our best to stay cool, hydrated and mentally strong to compete. After a win, hopefully we'll be able to relax in the air-conditioned hotel room or apartment.

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Curtis Granderson is the starting center fielder for the American League champion Detroit Tigers. During the 2008 season, he will be blogging twice a week for ESPN.com.

He is the founder of the Grand Kids Foundation, and holds college degrees in business marketing and business management.

For more information on him, please visit his official MySpace page. For questions or comments, e-mail him at grandy@fullathletemarketing.com

Thursday was an off day for us, and I spent my time running errands around Detroit, where I ran into a lot of fans at various restaurants. The main topic among all the fans was our upcoming series with the White Sox. Everyone wants us to sweep them this weekend. Fans are thinking that, for some reason, this series will bring us to the playoffs. I understand the excitement and positive thinking and love the fact that they're eager for us to get back to the playoffs, but remember it is only July.

It's amazing how everyone on the outside gets so excited for the "now," but people forget we have to play 162 games -- and the standings don't matter until that 162nd game is played. Fans of Detroit, please continue the excitement, but understand that there are more than two months of baseball left to play, and if we get swept or sweep the White Sox this weekend, it doesn't mean anything.

Outside of the restaurants and fans I ran into yesterday, I also saw old Tiger Stadium before it is finally demolished. I had been past it and seen it from the street a number of times but had never been in or played in it before. Fans here have fought back and forth about what to do with the stadium. I understand you want to preserve a piece of history, but certain things needs to be considered when making those decisions.

Most major cities can't afford to have such a big item like a stadium vacant without having offers to put something else in its place. I understand that the city of Detroit has been through some hard times economically, but things that are that big and not in the best shape need to have something done to them. I drove around the inside of the field and saw the home dugout and locker room, and you can see that the stadium is old and run down, considering it hasn't been in use, at least for Tigers baseball, since 1999.

Since it is such a major part of history, I'm not saying the whole stadium should be destroyed. But instead of trying to save the whole thing, maybe just try and save some of it and make it into some sort of museum to show the Tigers' history. Maybe even just keep the home plate area as a tourist and fan attraction; the rest is way too big and run down to try and keep up. There are many other uses for that land that could help the city of Detroit.

I am happy that I was able to see it before it was torn down, but after finally getting a chance to go inside, I completely understand why it is being torn down.

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Curtis Granderson is the starting center fielder for the American League champion Detroit Tigers. During the 2008 season, he will be blogging twice a week for ESPN.com.

He is the founder of the Grand Kids Foundation, and holds college degrees in business marketing and business management.

For more information on him, please visit his official MySpace page. For questions or comments, e-mail him at grandy@fullathletemarketing.com

Why can't we beat Paul Byrd?

This is one of those questions that may not have an answer. Paul Byrd is 10-2 in his career against the Tigers. I have played against him since 2005, and the biggest thing that I will always remember is that physically he isn't the biggest or most intimidating pitcher. He is one of those guys that, when reading over scouting reports, people would say all his pitches are very average with a fastball in the high 80s. He is one of those guys where scouting reports don't mean anything. He has figured out what works for him, and has been able to not only get to the big leagues, but stay in the big leagues and also dominate us while he's been here.

There is always a guy either you always struggle with or have success against every time. Bobby Jenks is a pitcher I have struggled against every time I've faced him. I was finally able to get my first hit off him in our last series against the White Sox, but before that, I think I was 0-for-9 with seven strikeouts.

Some guys just can't seem to get out when they face certain pitchers. Mark Grudzielanek seems to get a hit every time he faces Kenny Rogers. When we were playing the Royals in Kansas City, the Royals posted different stats on the scoreboard throughout the game. When Grudzielanek came up against Kenny, I saw that he was batting over .600 in his career against him, and sure enough in that game he got three more hits. I talked to Kenny after the game, and he said, "I don't know what it is with him. Every pitch I make, even if it's a bad pitch, he finds a way to hit it."

I'll never know what there is about guys you always beat, and guys who always beat you, but it's one of the crazy things about baseball. It's the kind of stuff that makes fans go nuts, and the games fun to watch.

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Curtis Granderson is the starting center fielder for the American League champion Detroit Tigers. During the 2008 season, he will be blogging twice a week for ESPN.com.

He is the founder of the Grand Kids Foundation, and holds college degrees in business marketing and business management.

For more information on him, please visit his official MySpace page. For questions or comments, e-mail him at grandy@fullathletemarketing.com

We start a series against the Rays here in Tampa (well, St. Pete) this weekend. I have had the chance to play here every year since 2004, and this time will be different from any other.

Some of the players are the same, from Carl Crawford to Scott Kazmir, but a few things have changed. First, they now are called the Rays, not the Devil Rays. Second, they are in first place in the American League East. Third -- the one I'm really excited about -- is that there is a chance all three games this weekend will be sold out.

My first time playing here was in 2004, a makeup game in September when both teams were out of playoff contention. It also was doubleheader. And the number of fans was very low. Every other time, the attendance numbers have been better but still not great.

My cousin lives in the Tampa area and has attended a few games so far this season, and he told me the Rays are getting about 25,000 to 30,000 fans per game now. He also mentioned that parking for the games has become more difficult. He said that in the past, you could park really close, a short walk from your car to the stadium. Now, if you get to the St. Pete area a little bit late, you might end up parking at the end of the parking lot.

That conversation and thoughts of possible sellout crowds have me really excited about this weekend's series.

Another reason for excitement is that we have yet to play the Rays this season. We are 100-plus games into the season and haven't played the Rays at our place or here in St. Pete. Now we finally will. It should be an exciting series when it's all said and done. The next time we face off will be at the end of the season in Detroit. Hopefully, the same excitement will be there in Detroit, with both teams fighting for playoff spots.

I also want to wish Pudge Rodriguez the best of luck with the Yankees. As you know, he was traded the other day. He played a vital role in the resurgence of the Tigers' franchise. He is one of the best to ever play his position and was a great teammate. Now, years down the road, I can say I played with possibly the best catcher ever. I am sure I speak for all Tigers fans when I say thank you, Pudge, for what you did for the Tigers.

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Curtis Granderson is the starting center fielder for the American League champion Detroit Tigers. During the 2008 season, he will be blogging twice a week for ESPN.com.

He is the founder of the Grand Kids Foundation, and holds college degrees in business marketing and business management.

For more information on him, please visit his official MySpace page. For questions or comments, e-mail him at grandy@fullathletemarketing.com

People want to know after a tough series -- we got swept in Tampa -- if we would rather have an off day, like we just had Monday, or get right back on the field to try to turn things back around. It's kind of a toss-up.

Being that we were on the road, having some long, exciting games in Cleveland and a tough series at Tampa, an off day, I think, was needed for our team. It helps in a number of ways: Guys can rest up, clear their heads, relax and get a chance to spend some time with family and friends.

I loved the off day, because it was here in Chicago, and I saw a bunch of my friends and got a lot of stuff done around the city. I still haven't seen my parents yet, but I'll see them at the games here this week. Also, finally getting a chance to sleep in and not have anything to get up for is always a plus. I always sleep on the flights no matter how short or how long the trip, but getting a chance to lie down in the hotel with the A/C on full blast is something I look forward to.

Now, hopefully rested and with my head all clear, we can get ready to battle the White Sox. We still have some ground to gain on them, as well as on the Twins, who are tied with the White Sox for first place in the American League Central. This should be another great series, like the previous one in Detroit against the White Sox. Hopefully, this time we will get the series win.

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Curtis Granderson is the starting center fielder for the American League champion Detroit Tigers. During the 2008 season, he will be blogging twice a week for ESPN.com.

He is the founder of the Grand Kids Foundation, and holds college degrees in business marketing and business management.

For more information on him, please visit his official MySpace page. For questions or comments, e-mail him at grandy@fullathletemarketing.com

It's been awhile since I did a Q&A, so I figured this is as good a time as any to do one. Remember to keep sending those questions to me at grandy@fullathletemarketing.com.

Q: I am just wondering how many people come up to you and ask if you are Troy Vincent, the former All-Pro cornerback of the Philadelphia Eagles and Miami Dolphins among other teams? You look so much like him.
-- Mike, Cherry Hill, N.J.

You are the first person to say that, honestly.

Q: Do you get nervous before games or big at-bats (bases loaded, two outs, 9th inning, etc.)? What do you do for that?
-- Amy, Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich.

There are always situations where a little bit of nervousness comes in, but the thing that helps me is that I have already been in most of those situations already. So I just relax and try not to do too much in the situation. The relaxation part is a little tough, but I keep reminding myself that I don't need to do too much here; just let it happen.

Q: I have been watching Tigers' games recently, and I have noticed that Miguel Cabrera and Edgar Renteria have each other's wrist bands on. I was just wondering what the story is behind that.
-- Jake, Owasso, Okla.

I think they switched wrist bands about two months ago, partly because their lockers are right by each others. I don't think there was any big story to it, but they just did it one game and haven't stopped doing it.

Q: What is it that Magglio Ordonez wears on his thumb while he is at bat?
-- Trevor, Parts Unknown

When a hitter gets jammed while hitting (ball really far inside), it usually causes pain in the thumb area. That thumb thing that he wears helps to eliminate that pain if he gets jammed.

Q: An article in Sports Illustrated about the US Olympic soccer goalie, Hope Solo, discussed how women on sports teams deal with being angry at one another in different ways than men, stating that if men on teams get angry with one another, they can have it out and move on. I was wondering how you and your teammates deal with being angry at someone on the team when you have to play together so often. Do players get upset when someone makes a mistake on the field, hold grudges, or do they just have it out and go play baseball?
--Rachel, Ann Arbor, Mich.

We never get upset if a teammate makes a mistake on the field, because we know they didn't do it on purpose. So there isn't a grudge held for things like that. Luckily on our team we haven't really had many issues where guys wanted to get into it with another teammate. But if we did have a situation such as that, we still know that when it comes time to play, we focus on playing.

Q: How do you mentally and physically prepare yourself for a baseball game, particularly before, during, and after an at-bat?
-- Caleb, St. Louis, Mo.

Physically, I'll take warm-up swings in the batting cage before batting practice, then take batting practice, then throw, then take fly balls in the outfield during batting practice. Before the game, I'll do my running warm-up and get stretched. After the game I'll work out depending on what time the game is the next day. For a 7 p.m. game I'll lift. For a 1 p.m. game I won't, since there is less recovery time. Mentally, I just try to keep the game as fun as possible and relax. I never really try to go into a game thinking I have to do something special today. Just have fun and let it happen.

Q: I've noticed lately that you have been putting more balls into the opposite field. Am I imagining things or have you been working on that?
-- Brian, Parts Unknown

I always was an opposite-field hitter as I came up through the minor leagues. Once I made it to the big leagues, teams found that out and started pitching me inside, then I had to adjust and start pulling more balls. Once I started to pull again, then they started pitching me away again, which is now. So now I have to adjust and start back hitting the ball to the other field. So it all depends what the other team is trying to do in their attack on me.

Q: I attend five to 10 games a year at Comerica Park and even I get annoyed at many of the 'adult' fans begging for autographs during batting practice. What is the best way to ask a player for an autograph?
-- Tony, Battle Creek, Mich.

The best way would be not to push over all the people who are in front of you. Let the kids get in front first. Then also don't shove stuff in my face to sign. I usually won't grab those items to sign. I always go to people who say "Please, would you sign this for me" but who aren't yelling at me to sign it. The last tip is to be in the right place at the right time for the autograph.

Q: Being a former basketball star, what was more gratifying to you: a home run or a dunk?
-- AC, New Baltimore, Mich.

I never had a dunk in front of 40,000 people, so I would have to say a home run. Dunking in high school was a thrill too because it didn't happen all the time.

Q: Do you follow sports other than baseball? If so, do you root for your hometown team or the Detroit teams?
-- Patrick, Baltimore, Md.

I like watching all sports, but I'm not really a Chicago sports fan or a Detroit sports fan. All the teams I grew up liking are from different cities. I was a Braves fan in baseball, Bills fan in football, and a Kansas fan in college basketball. If a Chicago team is playing against a Detroit team, I won't root for either team, and if asked who I think will win, I will answer based on my honest opinion. People have said that since we are playing for the Tigers we need to be Lions, Pistons, Red Wings, and Shock fans. I support all the teams, but if I were a big fan of any of their opponents, I would cheer for that team I grew up being a fan of.

Q: What goes through your mind after you just made a big-time play or catch, like the one last year against the Red Sox? Honestly, does the thought of watching Baseball Tonight's Web Gem segment come to mind?
-- Ramiro, Detroit, Mich.

Usually right after a play like that, there isn't much time to think about it. Because it happens during the game, I have to stay focused on the next play. The Web Gem thoughts usually come from text messages and voice mails from friends and family that have either seen the play or seen the highlight on ESPN.

Q: What advice or tips do you have for when you feel like you're giving your all at a sport and trying your hardest but you can't seem to get back in the game? How do you handle frustration?
-- Hayleigh, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Think about all positive memories, and what you did to have those positive results, and try to repeat those steps. Sometimes that helps out, but never think negatively. If you start thinking negatively, you are already defeated.

Q: I was watching a post-game interview with you that took place in front of your locker. I noticed that there were at least 15 pairs of batting gloves in your locker. Why so many gloves, Grandy?
-- Nick, Plymouth, Mich.

We get a lot from our battling glove companies. Louisville Slugger provides my batting gloves, and as they get worn down I get a new pair. Plus, I have ones for home games and ones for road games. So as they are too worn down, I just place them in my locker where you saw them.

Q: How do players determine the color of their baseball bats (black, tan, orange, two-toned, etc.)?
-- Jenny, Minneapolis, Minn.

I always wanted to use a black bat when I was growing up, but really for no reason other than I liked how it looked. I'm not sure why other guys pick the color of their bats, but I have stayed with black since 2003 or 2004.

Q: Do you or have you ever considered any of your teammates as mentors?
-- Kevin, St. Louis, Mo.

There are different guys on the team I have gone to about different things throughout my career, and that includes coaches as well. I'll talk to pitchers, older players, and also younger players about information that can help me out. That's the good thing about our team; everyone is very approachable at any time about any situation.

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Curtis Granderson is the starting center fielder for the American League champion Detroit Tigers. During the 2008 season, he will be blogging twice a week for ESPN.com.

He is the founder of the Grand Kids Foundation, and holds college degrees in business marketing and business management.

For more information on him, please visit his official MySpace page. For questions or comments, e-mail him at grandy@fullathletemarketing.com

The 16th annual RBI (Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities) World Series was held recently, and for the third consecutive season the team from Detroit won the boys championship in the Junior Division (ages 13-15).

The RBI program gives kids in inner cities the chance to participate in baseball and also helps them with important life skills. This year's tournament was held at several venues throughout the Los Angeles area, including Angel Stadium. I remember as a kid having tournaments and getting a chance to play all over the country, but I never had the opportunity to play in a major league stadium. Most kids who are lucky enough to play baseball don't get a chance to travel outside of their own cities or towns, let alone across the country. The RBI program has afforded nearly 100,000 kids annually a chance to not only experience this great game of baseball, but also to travel while doing it.

The RBI program also helps young girls out as well. RBI has a 19-and-under softball league that also competes throughout the United States and gives girls the same experiences as the boys. The softball World Series is coming up later this week.

Programs like these are a must. They help expose kids to teamwork and teach them about leadership, and also help kids to stay out of trouble while being faced with some of the challenges of being a kid.

The Rays' Carl Crawford began playing in the RBI program and has mentioned that the program helped pave the way for him to get to where he is today. All the kids that play RBI baseball or softball won't grow up to be the next Carl Crawford. But not even having the option to play baseball is tough for kids, and the RBI program helps kids throughout the U.S. get that chance.

Once again, congratulations to the RBI junior team from Detroit for their third consecutive championship, and I want to wish all the competitors continued success.

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Curtis Granderson is the starting center fielder for the American League champion Detroit Tigers. During the 2008 season, he will be blogging twice a week for ESPN.com.

He is the founder of the Grand Kids Foundation, and holds college degrees in business marketing and business management.

For more information on him, please visit his official MySpace page. For questions or comments, e-mail him at grandy@fullathletemarketing.com
_________________
"We're
playing just good enough to get beat," Leyland said. "That's not good
at all. You got to do the things it takes to win, and obviously, we're
falling a little short right now."

When I watch Little League World Series games, I remember playing when I was younger -- hoping and wishing for a chance to play on national TV. I remember watching different kids come up to bat, and when they would show their names and some of their favorites (shows, players, actors, movies, etc.), that was an experience I always wanted to have.

I wanted everyone to know my favorite movie was "A Christmas Story", my favorite player was Ken Griffey Jr. and my favorite TV show was "Martin." To me, this was the most exciting thing about playing in the Little League World Series, not to mention getting a chance to win it, too.

Watching LLWS games reminds me of how fun the game of baseball is at such a young age, and for kids all over the world. It is and always has been a very fun game for me, but how long will it continue to be fun?

Now that I'm 27 years old and play professional baseball and get paid to do it (which is every Little Leaguer's dream), can it be as fun as it was when I was 12 years old? I feel very blessed to be able to play this game at the highest level, and no matter what, it's still just a game, just with a few more fans and a larger field.

People come up to me and say, "You play the game like you are having fun out there all the time." For nine innings, I can give my all -- and if I'm tired or mentally drained, I'll get some rest when the game is over. This, of course, is a lot easier said than done.

There are so many things that are thrown at a major league player that can easily take the fun out of the game. Most of it comes with the territory (hecklers from the crowd, negative media, pressure to win, etc.), but I can understand why a player might look like he isn't having as much fun out there, or why a player gets tossed out of a game, slams a bat or breaks something in the dugout. The game itself is tough enough. But when you add in all the outside demands, it's really easy for a player to snap, explode and not keep the game fun.

I try my best to keep it as fun as possible every day, but there are times when I get frustrated, times when I feel I need a break, times when I feel like not answering a question from the media. I try to remember that it's just baseball -- and at the end of the day, it's the same game that I played when I was 12. Plus, I also get paid to do it. For me and the rest of players currently playing, hopefully that fun little boy can remain with us for a long time to come.

------------------------------------------------------------

Curtis Granderson is the starting center fielder for the American League champion Detroit Tigers. During the 2008 season, he will be blogging twice a week for ESPN.com.

He is the founder of the Grand Kids Foundation, and holds college degrees in business marketing and business management.

For more information on him, please visit his official MySpace page. For questions or comments, e-mail him at grandy@fullathletemarketing.com

Monday night's game against the Rangers was a game that had its ups and downs from both an offensive and defensive standpoint for me.

I lost a ball in the twilight early in the game. Then a ball that I should have caught up against the wall in the later part of the game, I just couldn't get myself into position to catch it. At the plate, I struggled to pick up the starting pitcher, Scott Feldman, early in the game. I was swinging at a lot of balls out of the zone, and was also in between wanting to swing and not wanting to swing throughout a majority of my at-bats.

The one thing that I have always talked about is that your defense can never take a day off, no matter how good or bad you are at the plate. I don't think my defense terrible -- as I didn't make any errors -- but the balls I misplayed were crucial plays in the game. The ball that I didn't see ended up giving the Rangers a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning, and the ball up against the wall allowed two runs to score in the bottom of the eighth.

I'm always most frustrated when I can't seem to be at my best in the field. At the plate, it's the pitcher's job to get hitters out. And from time to time, you will run into a pitcher you just have no chance against. But in those times, you just tip your hat and wait for your next at-bat. If you misplay one ball defensively in the outfield (because that might be the only ball I get throughout an entire game) you may not get another opportunity to make up for it in the field, until maybe the next game or next couple of games.

After all the ups and downs from Monday's game, we were still able to walk away with a very ugly win. In reality, that's all that matters.

------------------------------------------------------------

Curtis Granderson is the starting center fielder for the American League champion Detroit Tigers. During the 2008 season, he will be blogging twice a week for ESPN.com.

He is the founder of the Grand Kids Foundation, and holds college degrees in business marketing and business management.

For more information on him, please visit his official MySpace page. For questions or comments, e-mail him at grandy@fullathletemarketing.com

When I started my foundation (Grand Kids) last year, the main purpose was to raise awareness about the importance of education and to raise money. The foundation is off to a great start. We have been able to raise money from a lot of different events, including my charity basketball game last January; we've received donations not only from around Detroit, but the entire country.

The thing that amazes me most about the foundation is how many people have been willing to help without me even having to ask them. Last year, a girl who attended my charity basketball game, Rebekah Page, decided to raise money ($1,000) while running in the Detroit Marathon; again, she did it without me even having to ask her to do so. This September, students at the University of Michigan-Dearborn are having a 5K run to raise money for my foundation. I have yet to meet any of the students who will be running in this race, but these students still chose to raise money to help my foundation. If you want to join in the run, you can sign up here.

Rebekah and the college students have chosen to do this out of the kindness of their hearts; others have sent donations for as little as $25 and as much as $10,000. I want to thank all the people who have made these great gestures to help improve education. I know we can't make the school systems perfect, but little by little, over time, things can continue to improve. The Grand Kids foundation has teamed up with the Detroit and Flint public school systems with plans to help the learning environment, eventually providing books, book bags, school supplies and scholarships to future college students.

Hopefully, Grand Kids Foundation will be able to show kids that education is very important and comes in so many aspects (reading, math, science, cooking, singing, drawing, etc.) that they'll be excited and eager to learn about the things that most interest them.

------------------------------------------------------------

Curtis Granderson is the starting center fielder for the American League champion Detroit Tigers. During the 2008 season, he will be blogging twice a week for ESPN.com.

He is the founder of the Grand Kids Foundation, and holds college degrees in business marketing and business management.

For more information on him, please visit his official MySpace page. For questions or comments, e-mail him at grandy@fullathletemarketing.com

Grady Sizemore put on a great display of power in our game against the Indians on Monday, much like he has been doing all season long. Every time we play Cleveland, there are always comparisons made between Grady and myself -- about our games and styles of play.

He has had a great career up to this point and has excelled even more this season by increasing his home runs (31) and RBIs (81), not to mention he is still stealing bases left and right (34 in 37 attempts). After Monday's game when Sizemore hit two home runs, he joined the 30/30 club (30 homers, 30 stolen bases) for the first time in his career. He is also on pace to become the second leadoff batter in history to drive in 100 runs.

As you can see, Grady has and is continuing to play great and his numbers continue to improve. I take it as an honor to be able to even be mentioned in comparison with him. The thing I like most about watching him play and hearing about his numbers is that he plays everyday. To to be in the lineup every day, against lefties and righties, only makes your team better and also helps him as a player.

The ability Grady has to display speed, power and defense is also great to watch. He is one of those guys that I'm always worried about when he comes up to the plate.

When he gets to play at home in Cleveland he seems to feed off the adrenaline of all the fans. He even has his own fan club (it's called Grady's Ladies).

I wish him continued success and improvement, and hopefully I can maintain the comparison to him by stepping up my game. Hopefully, he'll continue to have success against other opponents, but not when he plays against our team.

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Curtis Granderson is the starting center fielder for the American League champion Detroit Tigers. During the 2008 season, he will be blogging twice a week for ESPN.com.

He is the founder of the Grand Kids Foundation, and holds college degrees in business marketing and business management.

For more information on him, please visit his official MySpace page. For questions or comments, e-mail him at grandy@fullathletemarketing.com

Autographs are part of being a professional athlete; that is no secret. But the interesting questions are these: When is the acceptable time and place for an autograph, and what is an acceptable item to get autographed?

On our off day Thursday I had a free autograph signing at a car dealership I endorse. To receive an autograph, people had to come to the dealership between the hours of 3-5 p.m. (the more people who came, the longer you had to wait), and you would get an autographed color photo of me with the dealership's name and logos on it. For the most part, people really enjoyed getting a chance to get a photo with me, getting an autograph (some even grabbing a few more for people who couldn't come with them), and asking me questions. Some even brought me gifts; one lady donated baseball equipment for the "Gloves for Kids" program the Tigers have.

There were a few people who were upset that I wouldn't sign anything other than the free photo. Some wanted bats, balls, and jerseys signed. I have no problem signing that stuff if the place and time are right. This was a free signing where people received a free photo, and it was also promoted that way in advance. If the person had paid to get my autograph, I could completely understand having to sign different items for people. But the question is, should people get mad when they don't have to pay anything, and they just waited in line to get a free autograph?

I mentioned that there are certain places and times to sign certain things. A paid autograph signing is one, and at a baseball game is another one. If a person pays for a ticket to the game, I think that person can come up to me and ask me to sign any item, because that person paid to see us perform. If the option presents itself to obtain an autograph, then they are lucky enough to get something signed (ticket, ball, jersey, baseball card, etc.).

Now also understand, though, that even though a person may come up to me and ask me to sign something, I'm not obligated to sign it. I understand that some people are diehard fans, and getting an autograph is the ultimate moment. There are certain things I'm not going to sign or just can't sign (anything alcohol related, certain body parts, and certain items that my memorabilia company won't let me). For the most part, people understand when I can't sign certain things, but there are a few people who get really mad because they intend to sell the item. It is amazing how much stuff I see on eBay right after I sign it. I give the benefit of the doubt that most stuff won't be sold. Even when stuff is personalized, people well erase the name on it so they can still sell the item.

It's different things like this that make most athletes not want to sign for people, because most of it is just going to be sold. It is so bad that I even have to be careful about kids who ask me to sign certain things, because adults sometimes use the kids get an autograph that they can sell, which is sad.

So to conclude, I have no problem signing and I take it as honor that people actually want my autograph. I just don't understand why so many people get mad when they can still get an autograph, photo, handshake, etc., even if it isn't the exact item they want signed.

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Curtis Granderson is the starting center fielder for the American League champion Detroit Tigers. During the 2008 season, he will be blogging twice a week for ESPN.com.

He is the founder of the Grand Kids Foundation, and holds college degrees in business marketing and business management.

For more information on him, please visit his official MySpace page. For questions or comments, e-mail him at grandy@fullathletemarketing.com

Instant replay has been instituted into the game, at least in an experimental stage for the remainder of the season. There were a lot of debates on whether or not baseball should adopt instant replay. In my opinion, every other major sport has some sort of instant replay (hockey, basketball, football and tennis) -- so why not baseball?

I even think that some forms of replay are already in use during games; for example, whenever it's needed to determine if a ball should be ruled a hit or an error. I know it's supposed to be the official scorer's ruling, but players watch the scoreboard in stadiums waiting for the ruling and sometimes it will take until after the next at-bat to make a decision. So I assume official scorers must view something that causes them to take so much time, and aren't just relying on their discretion.

I understand that people think baseball is such a traditional sport and that we need to keep it that way. That if we start with this experiment of instant replay for home run calls, it will open up the door for all other forms of instant replay to be used during games. I think there is a risk, but with all the technological advances from the creation of baseball to today, why not take advantage of things that can help get the calls right?

Remember, this is still just an experiment and may not even be around in the 2009 season, and hopefully we can have a few cases the rest of this season to see if it's even worth it. We almost had one against the Royals a few games ago when Placido Polanco hit a home run foul, which on TV looked fair. I thought our game would have been the game to break history and be able to use instant replay, but the umpires on the field ruled the ball was foul and there was no need to go and view it again.

Some people feel that instant replay will make the game even slower than it already is. For sure the game would slow down if the umpires have to go off the field to view a home run call from different angles to make a decision. That's why I suggest having the umps meet in the middle of the field, and having the video staff at the stadium play all of the different replay angles on the stadium's giant video screen (Wrigley Field is the only stadium in the majors that doesn't have one). This way, not only will the umps see it, but both teams and fans will see it and the decision -- either home run or not -- can be made. I know this will never happen, but I think it's a good idea.

Of course, this would cause some drama if a home run went against the home team, but it would be a fun idea to get everyone in on the viewing. This idea isn't that far off, either, because all of the suites and concourses in stadiums have TVs and those TVs show all the replays. So maybe, just maybe, this might work.

------------------------------------------------------------

Curtis Granderson is the starting center fielder for the American League champion Detroit Tigers. During the 2008 season, he will be blogging twice a week for ESPN.com.

He is the founder of the Grand Kids Foundation, and holds college degrees in business marketing and business management.

For more information on him, please visit his official MySpace page. For questions or comments, e-mail him at grandy@fullathletemarketing.com

We just finished a tough series with the Angels, and after this three-game set, they proved why they share the major league lead in wins.

When I think of the key components to winning a baseball game (and to winning a lot of them), I think of pitching, hitting, defense, the bullpen and being able to manufacture a run when needed. I thought the Angels did all of that against us. We did take one game, though. I'll break down the key components to show why they are playing as well as they have been.

1. Starting pitching

We faced Joe Saunders, Jon Garland and Ervin Santana (John Lackey and Jered Weaver are the other starters in the Angels' rotation). Saunders is one of the best left-handed starting pitchers in the game, and Santana has a fastball that touches 98 mph (he did this several times on Thursday). All five starters can get you a win in a big game.

2. Hitting

At the top of the lineup you have the speedy Chone Figgins, who does a great job of getting on base; he can also steal a base if needed. Following Figgins, the next four guys -- Torii Hunter, Vladimir Guerrero, Garret Anderson and Mark Teixeira -- can cause a lot of damage at any time. Gary Matthews Jr. is still a part of this crew, too. Even though he isn't having the best year, Matthews can still get lots of hits; he proved this on Thursday, when he went 4-for-5 with two runs.

3. Defense

In the outfield, the Angels have a Gold Glove center fielder in Hunter and one of the best arms in any outfield in Guerrero. In the infield, they can shift around with Figgins playing third base or second base; they also have a Gold Glover at first in Teixeira. The Angels have committed only 78 errors (sixth-fewest in the AL) this season, a good total for this time of year.

4. Bullpen

Scot Shields and Jose Arredondo are two of the best setup guys I have faced this season, and if they are pitching like they have all season and pass the ball on to K-Rod (Francisco Rodriguez), the game is pretty much over. K-Rod is looking to break the MLB record for single-season saves. The bullpen puts K-Rod in position to get the save, and he closes it out. Enough said.

5. Manufacturing runs

In our Tuesday night game, we were tied heading into the top of the ninth inning. Figgins was leading off, and he got a single. Figgins then stole second on the first pitch. Anderson followed by hitting the ball to the second basemen to get Figgins over to third, and Teixeira hit a sac fly to give them the go-ahead run. They have been doing this all season long, and it's a big reason this team has 85 wins. The Angels rank 17th in the majors in runs scored, yet they are tied with the Cubs and Rays for the most wins.

These are the five factors that have made the Angels the team they have been for this 2008 season, and the reason why their magic number is already down to six with almost a full month of baseball left to play.

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Curtis Granderson is the starting center fielder for the American League champion Detroit Tigers. During the 2008 season, he will be blogging twice a week for ESPN.com.

He is the founder of the Grand Kids Foundation, and holds college degrees in business marketing and business management.

For more information on him, please visit his official MySpace page. For questions or comments, e-mail him at grandy@fullathletemarketing.com

In our game on Monday night, Gary Sheffield hit two home runs, the second of which was a grand slam. The grand slam not only gave us a big 8-2 lead but also was a very historic home run. The grand slam became the 250,000th home run ever hit in Major League Baseball history.

It's amazing that in Sheffield's chase for his 500th career home run (he presently has 496 in his career), he hit such a milestone homer in baseball history.

When I was younger, Sheffield was one of my favorite players. He's always been so strong with his swing, and when he hits the ball everything seems to be such a hard line drive. I remember when he was in a home run contest during the All-Star break one year, he didn't advance past the first round because every ball he hit was a line drive into the fence instead of high-arching fly balls. Even the two home runs he hit on Monday were line drives that left the yard in a hurry.

Getting a chance to be his teammate has been a privilege and an honor. I have learned so much just by being around him. He is one of those guys who, when he talks, all I have to do is listen and I feel I grow as a baseball player because he has so much knowledge. When I sit back and look at his stats, it is so crazy to see what he has accomplished.

Once he hits his 500th career homer, he will become the 25th player to do so and just the 10th among those 25 players to have more walks than strikeouts in his career.

Being only four home runs shy of the 500 mark, I hope that Gary will accomplish the feat this season, and hopefully he'll do it here in Detroit and with me as his teammate. If he does it, it will be the third big accomplishment that I have been able to be part of, along with Kenny Rogers' 200th career win in 2006 and Justin Verlander's no-hitter last season.

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Curtis Granderson is the starting center fielder for the American League champion Detroit Tigers. During the 2008 season, he will be blogging twice a week for ESPN.com.

He is the founder of the Grand Kids Foundation, and holds college degrees in business marketing and business management.

For more information on him, please visit his official MySpace page. For questions or comments, e-mail him at grandy@fullathletemarketing.com

The Cy Young and MVP awards are two of the biggest individual awards a player can get in baseball. And when you start to look at the stats, this argument always comes up: Which numbers are most important?

For MVP, you've got to have a high batting average; that's the first stat that gets noticed. The next important stat seems to be home runs; you can change a game with one swing of the bat, and it is the only hit for which your team is assured of scoring at least one run. Since runs are the name of the game, I think the next important stat is a toss-up between runs and RBIs. While there are other variables that go into runs and RBIs -- if runners are on base when you get hits, if guys are getting hits behind you in the order, etc. -- these two stats can show offensive production. And here's the last factor: The "without this player, the team wouldn't be where they are" argument. I don't particularly like this one. I understand that a good player helps a team, which is what Manny Ramirez is doing with the Dodgers, but shouldn't the Rangers' Josh Hamilton be considered, too?

The Cy Young award is different than the MVP award. The Cy Young goes to the best pitcher, period. There are important stats (wins, strikeouts and ERA), but if his team isn't playing well this season, he won't be overlooked, which is why I think Cliff Lee is a lock for the Cy Young in the AL (he leads all of baseball in wins and ERA). You can make a case for K-Rod, who just tied the single-season saves record Thursday night (and hopefully will break it before the season ends), but the only thing that will keep him out of it, I think, is the fact that Lee has been so good for so many more innings.

But back to my original point: Simply put, I think the Cy Young should go to the best pitcher and the MVP to the best player, regardless of a team's record. With so many other factors that can affect a team's win total, all players need to be given equal consideration for these awards.

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Curtis Granderson is the starting center fielder for the American League champion Detroit Tigers. During the 2008 season, he will be blogging twice a week for ESPN.com.

He is the founder of the Grand Kids Foundation, and holds college degrees in business marketing and business management.

For more information on him, please visit his official MySpace page. For questions or comments, e-mail him at grandy@fullathletemarketing.com

Dontrelle Willis made his return to our starting rotation Monday night, and he pitched really well. After walking the first batter he faced, everything settled into place and he looked really good. He went on to get a no-decision after pitching five solid innings, giving up three runs and striking out four.

One thing that people don't realize is that any player's first time back either from an injury or from being sent down to the minor leagues is almost like making his very first appearance in the big leagues. The speed of a game in the big leagues, along with the talent of the players, can't be simulated at any other level of the minor leagues. That first time back, there are jitters and a lot of nervousness. It stays that way until you make your first pitch, first out, swing at your first pitch, catch your first ball or get your first hit. You can try your knowledge when you are down in the minors to get your mind as close to the intensity of the big leagues, but when you finally step into a big league stadium, everything is different.

Willis' return adds a bit of confidence, not only for himself but also for the rest of the pitching staff and for our manager, Jim Leyland, to know that another starter is ready to help finish the season.

Freddy Garcia will make his first start since June of last year Wednesday and will go through a lot of the same feelings that Willis went through on Monday. If Garcia is able to come out and also have a strong performance, it will add to the big picture of things that we as a franchise will be able to do moving forward.

The main focus is to get Garcia through his start on Wednesday, then to get Willis at least one more start before the season ends. We can then build from that into next year's spring training and the start of the 2009 season.

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Curtis Granderson is the starting center fielder for the American League champion Detroit Tigers. During the 2008 season, he will be blogging twice a week for ESPN.com.

He is the founder of the Grand Kids Foundation, and holds college degrees in business marketing and business management.

For more information on him, please visit his official MySpace page. For questions or comments, e-mail him at grandy@fullathletemarketing.com

We are on our last road series of the season, finishing up in Cleveland. There is a possibility we will have to make one game up in Chicago at the end of the season, but that won't be determined for a while still.

The last road series usually means a few things: The season is wrapping up, we get to head home to finish up the season, we get to pack up all our stuff in Detroit for the offseason and, last but not least, rookie initiation.

Rookie initiation is one of the best times of the year for us, because we get to make the rookies dress up in very small Halloween outfits and parade around a city. I was forced to wear a Pocahontas outfit in 2005 when we headed to Minneapolis to start a road trip. I had to fly on the plane wearing the outfit, then had to walk through downtown Minneapolis around 6 p.m. to the hotel. I can't even say it was embarrassing because we were too busy laughing about the whole thing.

This year we have eight new guys who will all have to go through a similar initiation. I was in charge of buying the outfits this year, and after tonight's game they will be wearing them.

Here is what each player will be wearing:

Freddy Dolsi -- French maid
Armando Galarraga -- Cha Cha girl
Chris Lambert -- Bridezilla
Clay Rapada -- Female cop
Dusty Ryan -- Caveman with a club
Dane Sardinha -- Hercules
Jeff Larrish -- She-devil
Matt Joyce -- Neverland fairy

The best part about the outfits is watching everyone try to put them on. Remember, these costumes are made to fit females, and most of the guys are over 200 pounds, so stretching and pulling to make an outfit actually fit is great to watch. Then watching them try to actually move in the outfits is always fun too.

So for the fans who happen to make it to Cleveland this weekend and are looking for something fun to watch, stick around after the game. It should be a fun day.

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Curtis Granderson is the starting center fielder for the American League champion Detroit Tigers. During the 2008 season, he will be blogging twice a week for ESPN.com.

He is the founder of the Grand Kids Foundation, and holds college degrees in business marketing and business management.

For more information on him, please visit his official MySpace page. For questions or comments, e-mail him at grandy@fullathletemarketing.com

On Friday night against the Indians, we got into a nice little brawl that made all the highlights. Gary Sheffield was hit by a pitch. He then walked over to first base and received a pickoff throw from the pitcher, Fausto Carmona. That's when some words were exchanged and the brawl started.

The benches cleared really fast, and both teams were in the middle of the field, trying to restore order. Luckily, no one was really hurt. I know a few people, including me, who have cleat marks on their toes and ankles. This now marks six bench-clearing fights in my pro baseball career (three in Oneonta; one in Erie; one in Toledo; and now this one Friday night).

After seeing or hearing about a fight, friends and family members always ask if I threw any punches. The answer has always been no, and for a couple of reasons: First, the fight usually has nothing to do with me, so there is no reason to just start hitting people; Second, as soon as you throw a punch -- and it is either caught on camera or seen by an ump -- it's an automatic suspension without pay; Third, and most important, is that I could hurt myself and end up being out for a few weeks -- or even months -- with a broken finger, hand or something like that. So unless someone comes charging at me, I'm just going to hold people back and try to break things up.

Fights are always a crazy part of all sports, and I know the fans love the chance to get to see one, but when they actually do happen, it's a crazy burst of adrenaline that could end with some players getting really hurt. From a fan's standpoint, it is great to watch (and I'm sure our fight had lots of views on the Internet over the weekend), but you never hope for one or want to be in one.

Also, a lot of you have asked in the comments section of my previous blog to see the photo from last weekend's rookie initiation. So here are the rookies, in all their glory. I hope you laugh as hard as we did.

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Curtis Granderson is the starting center fielder for the American League champion Detroit Tigers. During the 2008 season, he will be blogging twice a week for ESPN.com.

He is the founder of the Grand Kids Foundation, and holds college degrees in business marketing and business management.

For more information on him, please visit his official MySpace page. For questions or comments, e-mail him at grandy@fullathletemarketing.com