By The Heckler
Baseball Big Mouth
baseball blog 

I’ve heard all I can stands, and I can’t stands no more . . . The Heckler wishes Brandon Inge would just his mouth. Maybe work on his average. Making better contact at the plate. Cutting down on a few errors. You know, baseball-related stuff, things that will make him better on the field. God knows he puts in enough effort to getting off a good quote or two. Who’s your Tiger? In the case of The Heckler, it will never be this flake.

Long-rumored to be the “source” inside the Tigers’ clubhouse that regularly rats out inside information to Detroit News columnist and WXYT personality Terry Foster, Inge holds himself with an air that defies someone hitting under .250 (actually right on par given his lifetime .240 BA) and yet never misses a chance to let his opinions known on whatever the topic may be at that particular moment. Take the Tigers’ recent waiver wire pick-up of veteran Matt Stairs, a man who with more than 200 career home runs, 700 RBI’s and 500 BB. Pretty nice career, all in all. Hit 38 home runs one year even. Two 100+ RBI seasons. What normal people refer to as a “professional hitter.” What Brandon Inge refers to as a “beer-league softball player.” Ugh.

“For every guy in here who’s worried about his swing, and worried about his hands, I can’t wait till they watch him hit. There’s nothing mechanical about him. He’s just, ‘Grip it and rip it,’ ” Inge told the local Detroit media after the pick-up was announced. “I want him to get me even further away from being mechanical.” Now, before anyone start thinking that The Heckler may be overreacting a tad on this one, you have to understand – ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I implore – this guy is the baseball equivalent of a know-it-all, who first drew my ire immediately after the hiring of Jim Leyland early in this calendar year.

While defending Alan Trammel was noble, adding that he, meaning Inge himself, was not part of any attitude problem that had infected the club (of course you weren’t, Brandon) let alone be part of the problem from a performance standpoint when deflecting questions about new hitting coach Don Slaught getting ready to help a few players with their swings (nah, not you Brandon) Inge continually puts himself on an imaginary pedestal that smacks of someone beyond borderline cocky. He sounds like an smart-aleck, arrogant jerk. Oh, to have those exact quotes on hand to prove my point. Alas, you will have to trust me on this. I don’t make it a habit of collecting quotes for possible use on my site months down the road. Believe me, The Heckler (outside of an infamous confrontation with Sergei Fedorov during the Red Wings’ shoot-around at the Joe Louis Arena way back when) am not one to turn on the hometown boys – unless they rightfully deserve it. Inge has definitely drawn my ire, flat-out, and it is not without just cause.

Apparently Inge pays no attention to the fact that he has already had more 100K seasons in just six years than Stairs has had in 13. Or perhaps he forgets that he failed to hit over the mighty .203 mark until his fourth Major League Baseball season. Or how, after seeing his strikeouts rise to 140 from 72 during the 2005 to 2004 seasons, he maybe could have accepted the suggestion that he may need some help obtaining more-consistent contact. Talk about having no mechanics to your swing at all. Who’s really the candidate for a beer league softball team? Outside of Craig Monore, does anyone have a longer swing on the team than Inge? And he wants to “grip it and rip it” even more? What a joke. It sure looks like he is a man of his word, though – he’s already K’ed 115 more times this year, obviously not taking much of Slaught’s advice to heart. Add these points into the fact that, through process of elimination conducted by those better informed than I as far in tracing the first controversial quotes emanating inside the clubhouse to Terry Foster, it is pretty much assumed that Inge has lots to say – even when the record isn’t on. On the Dmitri Young release, here is what this “source” had to say:

”In DY’s case, you did not honestly believe that DY would be accepted back with open arms, all the welcome back was all for PR. The guy’s playing time was severely limited; letting him hit third was to get the heat off of Pudge, and of course let’s not forget Magglio’s inability to play a decent game consistently since all star break. Magglio is not carrying his weight. Most of the guys feel that Magglio is only going to get worse as time goes on. That knee is not as good as they want people to believe. That is getting to be a sore spot in the club house.”

Now, if this isn’t coming from Inge, I hereby offer my apologies. Sincerely. But it sure sounds like him. And what kind of Prince of a teammate throws another under the bus – namely Magglio – for playing hurt and not complaining about it? No, not good enough for this “source”. I guess the “source” feels like something should always be said, about everything, even when you aren’t man enough to put your name to everything.

Brandon Inge is a talented athlete. He is a versatile baseball player. He has athletic talents that extend beyond the world of the diamond. All these things are true. He is also a world-class big mouth that needs to learn his place. God knows we already have enough of those around here.

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This entry was posted on Sunday, September 17th, 2006 at 12:09 am and is filed under Heckles All Around. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.