Binge Redeems Himself

I don't think I'm making an overstatement when I say that Spring Training is perhaps the most important part of the season. With that in mind, imagine my excitement when I saw that Binge went 2-for-2 today, thus vindicating himself vis-a-vis the last post.

The pinnacle of greatness

Then I read the rest of the box score. Binge's throwing error, the only Tigers' error of the game, led to three unearned runs.

Jackass

This may come as a surprise to some, but Binge is only on the team because of his fielding. I know, it's shocking. But when you hit .205/11/51, you better be a damn good fielder. In fact, you better be Rey Fucking Ordonez. There's two major differences between Rey Ordonez and Inge, however.

1. Rey Ordonez's lifetime BA was .246 to Inge's .237
2. Ordonez was a shortstop.

I can't for the life of me figure out why Inge is an option at third base. His numbers were acceptable when he was catcher, but barely. But there's a reason why some the greatest hitters in recent history (e.g., Brett, Schmidt, Boggs, Jones) have played third base: it's the easiest position to play except for first base. Even left field requires you to be able run fast. The Tigers need to bring up Mike Hessman. He can't hit for average, but neither can Inge. Plus, Hessman will put up 25+ homers per year. He's nowhere near the fielder Inge is, but who cares. We're talking about third base.