Thoughts on a number of things while I gargle to get rid of that bad taste that was last nights game…

• A couple months ago I complained that the scoreboard at Comerica Park displayed very little information despite it’s size. Fortunately, this has been remedied. During the last homestand I noticed that for each hitter, the scoreboard displayed doubles, triples, stolen bases, and on base percentage – in addition to the traditional at-bats, hits, RBI, homers. Thank you Tigers organization!

  Now for my next request. Back in the old days when I was a kid, it used to be that you could get merchandise from the visiting team. It wasn’t an extensive collection, but the one thing my dad would always buy me was a pennant from the visiting team. The pennant would go on the wall when I got home, and a simple glance around my bedroom would show all the teams I’d seen come to town. Unfortunately that option doesn’t exist anymore, and I’d love to continue the tradition with my son.

• On Terry Foster’s blog he has an interesting piece of information about the Tigers broadcast situation. According to his source, the Tigers offered the rights for free to UPN 50 but UPN didn’t want to broadcast the games. If this is true, than the Tigers organization deserves an apology from everyone who slammed them for missing the boat – including me.

  It does make you wonder if Illitch Holdings would consider their own station/production company. Between the Red Wings and Tigers there would be enough content. While Illitch would bear all the costs associated with television production, he would also get all the ad revenue in addition to the cable licensing.

• Tigers sixth round pick Clete Thomas has made quite the impression. The outfielder from Auburn started off at Oneonta. He had a short stay though due to his performance. In 18 games he posted a 386/488/529 line and was successul in all 9 stolen base attempts. He earned a promotion to West Michigan where in his first 7 games he’s hitting 304/348/500.
• On a related note, if you want to find this year’s minor league statistics – or any minor league information check out Minor League Baseball. And if you want to find anyone’s career minor league numbers head over to the sports cube.
• John Sickels has a retrospective look at Carlos Guillen as a prospect in the minors.
• The Tigers are averaging 25,008 fans per game. That puts them on pace for just a shade over 2 million for the season. The Tigers haven’t drawn more than 2 million since Comerica’s inaugural season.