I like Brandon Inge a lot. I have liked Inge ever since he bursted into the MLB scene in 2001 with a .180 BA in a little over 100 at-bats. I didn’t care then and I didn’t care that he hit .202 and .203 the next two seasons, respectively. Inge’s cannon for an arm, dazzling flashes of the leather, and personality made him a tough guy to dislike. I started to like him even more when my college coach told me in 2004 that while Inge was at VCU he would come in from third base without warming up and throw 96 MPH fastballs past hitters with ease. As the story goes, he struck out the side against my alma mater on 9 pitches.
Inge gets a lot of slack, deservedly so, as he hasn’t been the greatest hitter during his tenure with the Detroit Tigers. No matter what his career batting average is though (.239), he’s still an incredible athlete and, believe it or not, has the talent to be (gulp) an All-Star. Enter this season. Thus far, he has 12 HR which ranks third amongst all third basemen and his .277 BA is top half. He’s also on pace to have his best year at third base in terms of fielding percentage where he was a candidate to win the Gold Glove in 2006 and 2007.
Today, Brandon Inge provided a huge two-out RBI single in the top of the 9th to give the Tigers a 5-4 lead they would eventually hold on to against the White Sox in the first game of a doubleheader.
So in honor of Inge’s big hit today, his overall season thus far, and just my general man crush on this versatile Tiger4lyfe, I’m going to the archives and pulling out an old New York radio show segment featuring Mike Francesa who creepily admits how much he likes Inge. A lot. I mean, he likes Inge a lot.
Well, I like Brandon Inge a lot, too.
(Huge Hat Tip to Hugging Harold Reynolds for showing me this clip and inspiring me to post it)
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