The Pressbox

Marcus Thames of the Detroit Tigers got ejected from a game the other day.

That’s not all that newsworthy. It happens all the time in the big leagues.

But how Thames handled his ejection was noteworthy. Thames made a point of apologizing later to the umpire who ejected him and then made a public apology through the media. “Too many kids were watching,” Thames said. “I don’t like that kind of stuff.”

Kudos, Marcus, for being man enough to admit your mistake. Your apology taught a lot to those kids who were watching.

Clete Thomas became a hero for the Detroit Tigers today without swinging the bat.

Thomas drove in two of the Tigers’ three runs by drawing bases-loaded walks. It was great discipline by a young player, especially after he fell behind in the count 1-2 in the bottom of the 10th inning.

It was a questionable move by St. Louis manager Tony LaRussa to intentionally walk Miguel Cabrera to load the bases in the 10th. Sure, Cabrera has earned far more respect as a hitter than Thomas probably ever will, but he put a ton of pressure on his pitcher by doing that.

But the Tigers are not complaining. Now they are just two games under .500 and have won five straight series.

Mickey Lolich, star of the 1968 World Series for the Detroit Tigers, spent a half-inning in the TV booth Tuesday night and said some very interesting things when asked if he watched many Tiger games.

Lolich admitted he had never been a huge fan of watching games, even as a kid. He said he watches many of the Tiger games now, but often flips channels. The pace of the game is too slow for him. “You have to remember,” he said. “I used to pitch a nine-inning game in two hours and 15 minutes.”

He hit on one of the biggest problems with today’s games. There are too many pitching changes, too many delays for batters to adjust hitting gloves, too many trips to the mound, too many long at-bats…. just too much time wasted.

Did you ever notice how often get-away games (the last game of a series when the teams have to move on to the next city) are played in less than three hours.

The players can pick up the pace when they want to.