With the thermometer rocketing all the way up to 7 degrees this morning, and spring training a few weeks away here are some items to try and keep you warm on a Friday. No heavy analysis here, just some diversions.

The Tunes

I was surfing around the WDFN website and came across some great audio. They have a compilation of the Tigers walk-up music. I parsed out a couple of my favorites.

Omar Infante: I know he’s gone now, but I’ll miss his music the most.
Download audio file (infante.mp3)

Placido Polanco:
Download audio file (polanco.mp3)

I don’t think I picked those two because of particular fondness for salsa music. It’s just that those two are specific to nights at the ballpark. Comerica Park is the only place I hear those songs and so they help to take me to my happy place.

The Words

I’ve been reading Inside Pitch: Roger Craig’s ’84 Tiger Journal and it’s been great. I was 10 during that season, so while I remember all the winning and the players, I don’t remember the details.

Craig offers a number of insights and anecdotes that add a lot of flavor to the season. I didn’t know that Jack Morris went on a media boycott for a big chunk of the season. I knew Willie Hernandez won the MVP, but didn’t realize just how remarkable his season was (coincidentally Mop Up Duty just wrote an article highlighting that season). And I had no idea that a police officer stopped Craig and Sparky Anderson while they were walking in Baltimore – because they were shirtless.

It’s out of publication, but used copies can be picked up for as little as a penny at Amazon.

The sights

Roger DeWitt (aka Huey Taxi) continues to hang out at Tiger Town in Lakeland and has been snapping photos as the players start to migrate down there. Also, fantasy camps are now running so he has some shots of old time Tigers as well. Catch it on Flickr.