remindmeofthe | (no subject)

Wait I am so confused.

Okay, so Pudge is dropping his appeal and is going to serve his suspension during the four-game series in Toronto. Which is yay for me, since it means that I will get TV-sized Pudge during both series against the Red Sox, which will be the only thing about both series that will not cause agonizing conflict.

But anyway. Pudge not catching in Toronto. Here is what the Detroit News has to say about it:

Trammell has plans for a back-up catcher when Rodriguez begins serving his four-game suspension this week at Toronto. Rodriguez's layoff was handed down Friday in the wake of Rodriguez's temper tantrum at Oakland last week.
"We have two back-up catchers," Trammell said, "Chris Shelton and Brandon Inge. Which one would I use? That's top secret. But it's going to be one of those two."
The betting line is heavy on Inge. The Tigers have options at third base (Polanco, Omar Infante, Young, John McDonald) and more confidence in Inge's ability behind the plate compared with Shelton's.

WTF? Have we forgotten that Vance Wilson exists or what? I mean, I'd sure as hell rather have Inge or Shelty's bats in the lineup than Wilson and his .153 BA, but isn't subbing for Pudge, like, his job? Or does he only get to play during doubleheaders?

This is kind of exciting. I bet Inge catches, since he's had actual experience catching in the majors. (I had to look that up to be sure I wasn't making shit up, and in the process learned that way back when, he also did some pitching. Damn, he really has played every position.) But who will play third? The defense and the lineup are both going to look interesting.

But what of the Vance Wilson Mystery? Did they kill him and eat him or something?

Edited because

beckla30 has pointed out that it's been made clear that Vance will be catching. Okay. Now I'm not sure if the above blurb is badly written (it would kill them to mention Vance's name specifically?) or if my reading comprehension skills need brushing up (because of course with Vance catching, the term "back-up" does not really include him).

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

No, Vance Wilson is definitely catching all four games. There was an article yesterday that basically said Pudge walked in, high fived Vance and congratulated him for getting four straight starts. This blurb is referring to who will back up Vance in case of an emergency. You know like an injury or Vance sucking hardcore at the plate.

Ah. Unclear sports writing attacks again. You'd think if that's what they're talking about, they'd stick Vance's name in there somewhere. That's just bad reporting.

Yeah, it was rather vague. They probably just assumed people would think that. I personally wouldn't mind seeing Inge catch one of the games, especially if Vance can't hit, but I know how much catching messes with Brandon's head. I mean because, and I can't remember where I read this, but Brandon has better catching skillz than preweightloss!Pudge

*edits entry accordingly*

I think that they should draw names out of a hat, with Vance, Brandon, and Shelty in there, plus a couple random guys to make it interesting.

". . . Alan, I need a do-over -"

"NO DO-OVERS."

"But -"

"NO."

"But I don't think we have catcher's equipment that will fit Dmitri!"

Ahem. But seriously, I am with you on the Inge-if-Vance-sucks idea, but if it messes with his head, maybe that is not such a good idea while he's trying to de-slump. Even though I would really love to watch him catch.

Ha! Someone on one of the messageboards I read said they should have Dmitri catch, maybe it'll help him lose some weight.

Brandon hates catching too. I remember when there was an outside possibility that Pudge wouldn't go to the All Star game, people approached Brandon asking him if he would go as Pudge's replacement (so you know there was a tiger and all) and he flat out said no. I just don't know too much about Shelty's catching abilities to have him be the backup to Vance.

they mean backup to vance. heh. it's just bad writing *G*