It appears Brandon Inge's baseball career is approaching it's end. To which I say -- it's about time.
How that guy ever lasted for 10 years on the Detroit Tigers doing what he did, and raking in tens of millions of dollars, is mind-boggling. Let's count the ways.
Yep, a few years ago, he hit over 30 home runs, then signed a long-term contract for a ridiculous amount of guaranteed money. Yet he never came anywhere close to driving in 100 RBIs, and it's been diwnhill ever since.
He was a slow runner and always struck out a lot.
His career batting average is about .230. Sorry, but major-league 3rd basemen are expected to generate more offense. There's PITCHERS in the National League that hit better than that.
Detroit Tiger fans will say he was a fantastic defensive player with his glove and arm. Really? He never won a "Gold Glove", so evidently others were better than he was. Besides, Inge is the guy Tiger fans saw on TV everyday. What they don't seem to realize is all the other major league 3rd basemen were making the same plays, but they seldom saw them. And those guys could hit.
A few years ago, the Tigers made Inge a catcher, which was his original position, BTW. He hated it, and whined, whimpered and cried his way back into playing 3rd base. I thought it was incredible that he was still in the major leagues at all, yet the club gave in and let him have his way. I began to wonder if maybe Inge had a video of the manager or somebody in the front office doing something they shouldn't have been doing.
A fan favorite? That was likely due to the fact Inge appointed himself as a spokesman to the press. He always had something to say, while the good players quietly went about their business. Hell, these days, a lizard, a duck, cavemen, and osme goofy lady selling insurance out of shoeboxes at a sanitarium are spokespeople. Maybe the Tigers should sign them too. If they went up to the plate and swung hard 3 times, they probably hit as good as Inge. For that matter, Ronald McDonald was a fan favorite as well, at Mickey D's, and they sure as hell draw a lot more people every year than the Tigers. That didn't mean he could hit, though. Inge is like Santa Claus. He has maybe one good day a year when he shines, but other than that, what good s he?
Mercifully, Brandon's back in the minor leagues. Yet he's still guaranteed almost $12 million bucks over the next 2 years. That's crazy.
Here's what I know. I don't want to hear any more whining coming out of Inge. To put that in perspective, 6 million bucks a year comes to a little over $16,000 a day -- EVERT DAY -- 365. For that kind of money, I'd go play Tee-Ball with the Taliban. I'd only have to last a couple months, and I'm good for life. I might even consider asking my ex-wife out to a fancy dinner for old times sake. Hmmm. Nah, probably not. They'd have to pay me A-Rod money for that.
About 70 years ago, Lou Gehrig, after having been stricken with ALS, made his famous speech at Yankee Stadium saying he was, "the luckiest man alive". It was a tear-jerker.
These days, that dubious honor may have passed to one Brandon Inge, for vastly different reasons.
I don't see anybody crying about this.
And why is it every time I see his mug I think of an old VW beetle with the doors open? I dunno, but back in the day they had flowers on them -- not tats. Most of them stunk too, but again, for different reasons.
Must have been the incense. Right.
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