In trying to catch up with the world after a week of vacation, (it was great, thanks for asking,) I have a few Detroit Tiger news and notes.  First of all, following a win over the San Francisco Giants, the Tigers got rid of pitching Rick Knapp and replaced him with bullpen coach Jeff Jones.  From a fan perspective, it wasnt exactly a shocking move, but I feel the timing was a little odd.  For starters, it was after a 6-3 win but the pitching hadn’t been doing well in the week or so before.  I believe this move was going to take place sooner or later but you can decide for yourself if Jones is more qualified for the spot or not.

In another pitching related move, the Tigers placed former starter Phil Coke in to the bullpen.  Charlie Furbush will take his spot in the rotation.  Now I wouldn’t say that Coke has pitched that bad this season, but I believe the lack of run support has not given him the confidence he needs to get the job down every five days.   He did have a 4.94 ERA but compare that to Max Scherzer’s 4.69 ERA.  Coke has one win and Scherezer has an even 10.

The Tigers also got four all-stars voted in by the fans this past week. The first batch included Alex Avila, Miguel Cabrera, Justin Verlander, and Jose Valverde.  The next was to include Victor Martinez to get in via the last chance ballot.  But “V-Mart” lost out to Chicago White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko.  However, shortstop Jhonny Peralta   made it five all-stars tonight by replacing New York Yankee Derek Jeter on this year’s all-star roster because Jeter pulled out from the game.

On the lighter side of things, Jim Leyland has said that he will not throw baseballs into the stands anymore in light of last night’s terrible accident in Arlington.  A 39 year-old-man reached to receive a ball from Ranger’s star Josh Hamilton, and fell over the edge.  He later passed away on the way to the hospital.  This is a horrible incident and my prayers go out to the family.  However, another sad part to the story is that kids and fans will not get as many baseballs tossed in the stands anymore.  Kids that go to games dream about receiving a baseball from a favorite player.  But now they will not get as many opportunities because a tragedy that should have never happened.  Players always have the choice to throw the ball in the stands but I feel they should.  This just goes to show that you must always pay attention when at a sporting event, especially baseball games. Still, my prayers go out to the family and everyone involved at the park. However,  please players don’t be afraid to throw the ball to a little kid whose dream will come true with that baseball.  Hopefully, this was a one-time tragedy.