Fan News

1. Tigers, Tigers, not burning so bright

Just when Motown was grooving on David Price, CLANK! Detroit’s assembly line of victories and good fortune suddenly came screeching to a halt.

Not that the past 48 hours have been a Tabby Nightmare, but it’s as if that giant statue of Joe Louis’ fist downtown suddenly clocked the Tigers in the chops. The Kansas City Royals, winners of eight in a row and 16 of 19, seized first place Monday night. Really? Are you kidding?

While it will be several years until most of the 2014 draft picks are ready for the major leagues, that doesn't mean we can’t get excited about the early returns from some of baseball’s brightest young players.

Thanks to an accelerated signing deadline in mid-July that was ushered in in 2012 as part of the new collective bargaining agreement—it used to be mid-August—draft picks are now encouraged to quickly begin their professional careers.

Baseball has changed in all sorts of ways since the MLB strike in 1994. 

The game is now an absurdly lucrative business both for the players and the owners. Over the past two decades, a number of teams have moved to new stadiums, and new technologies have transformed the way that fans follow their favorite clubs.

On the diamond, it's still the same game, but nobody has come close to accomplishing what Tony Gwynn did in the summer of 1994. 

Now that the MLB season has hit the post-trading deadline stretch, all eyes are on division races, wild-card spots and the excitement of marching toward the postseason.

The Baltimore Orioles are one of the teams that are positioned nicely, currently holding the largest division lead in the league at six games. If the O's just keep doing what they're doing, they shouldn't have to worry about losing their spot atop the AL East.

Clayton Kershaw can do it all. Witness his most recent start on August 10 against the National League Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers.

Sure, Kershaw's line was typically dominant: 8 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 6 SO, 2 BB. But his contributions extended beyond the mound.

The Kansas City Royals haven't played October baseball since 1985, when they won the World Series.

The fact that this team pulled into first place all by itself in the American League Central with a dramatic 3-2 win over the Oakland Athletics on Monday night is kind of a big deal. And, frankly, an unexpected one.

The 2014 baseball season hasn’t been the kindest to Ron Washington and his Texas Rangers.

After all, they have led the big leagues in trips to the disabled list, and at one point, they had 16 players on it for one injury or another. And with 13 players currently on the DL and sitting 26 games under .500, the club is just hoping to finish the rest of the season unscathed.

In baseball, managers are often placed in an unenviable position. They are usually the first targets of blame if anything goes wrong with their team over the course of the season.

But, if the team ends up doing well, managers rarely get the credit that they deserve.

A crafty Chicago Cubs fan not only managed a dangerously impressive grab in the last row of the bleachers at Wrigley Field, but he apparently pulled a switcheroo when he threw it back. 

Updates from Tuesday, Aug. 12

Chris Iott of MLive.com reported on Justin Verlander following Tuesday's MRI: