I made it out to the Macomb County Library to meet Tom Stanton yesterday. Tom’s a great and was very personable and his wife, Beth, was charming as well. Tom gave a great presentation on his latest work, The Detroit Tigers Reader (which I highly recommend), and he was also nice enough to sign a copy for me. He also gave everyone the news on his next project which also sounds like a great read. The book will be about Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth’s initial animosity and then eventual friendship later in life.

I got my shipment of 2006 Topps Series 1 cards today and I’m going through packs and sorting the cards. I made sure I didn’t make the same mistake I made last time around. I should have plenty of extras but the goal is still get a set together for my son.

This year there’s a tribute to Mickey Mantle and I got a couple of the cards, including on which appears to be part of the regular set. They also have an insert set showing the individuals who signed the Declaration of Independence, which I thought was odd for a baseball set.

I probably don’t do a good enough job promoting my work over at the Hardball Times, but this week’s edition, which will be up tomorrow, has a book review that I highly recommend you check out. Sam Walker grew up in the Detroit area and he now writes for the Wall Street Journal. He recently published a book called Fantasyland, which details his season in an expert fantasy league. He had no prior experience with fantasy baseball, and he pulls out every stop he can to try to win the thing. It’s a really fun read, and I highly recommend it.

Kenny Rogers was chosen as the opening day starter by Jim Leyland today. Not sure if I agree with this. I think it should have gone to Bonderman or even Maroth. Someone who’s been with the team a little longer.

Permalink | Posted in 2006 Tigers