Random thoughts, again

Maybe Gwen Stefani was singing about the AL Central when she eloquently stated: This sh*t is bananas. B-A-N-A-N-A-S.

The Tigers have gone 9-1 in their last 10 and have put no ground between themselves and the White Sox. Or the Twins, for that matter. That’s because the Sox and Twins are also both 9-1 in their last 10.

Detroit has the best record in baseball and is on pace to win 109 games, or so. And yet they lead the Central by a scant game as CWS headed into its Sunday night contest against the Astros. This is no way for the baseball gods to treat fans that have waited more than a decade for a good team.

(Of course, I'm sure the White Sox and Twins fans are lamenting their inability to make up any ground. Shut up, we're due.)

Star-in-the-making update: Curtis Granderson, who Brandon Inge has labeled the Tigers’ “clutch MVP of the first half,” is batting .344-4-24 over his last 31 games. He’s also got 28 runs, 10 doubles and three triples during that span and his OPS is a cool 1.000.

For the year, he’s batting .377 with a 1.206 OPS with runners in scoring position.

Quote of the week: “There's no fluke anymore. There's no, we'll see how they do in the first half, or after 50 games. We are a good team.” – Brandon Inge. By the way, the Tigers are 14-3 since beating the White Sox on June 8 (thank you Gambler) and ending their mini-slump against the Yankees, Red Sox and CWS.

Worth the price of admission: The Tigers drew a three-game Comerica record 125,417 fans for their sweep of the Cardinals. A number of other fans reportedly watched games from the roof of the parking garage beyond the left-field wall.

Hump Day lumps: Detroit has lost its last four Wednesday games. That equals the number of losses the Tigers have had all other days of the week since May 31.

Call him Mr. Thames: Marcus Thames has always had power – and a flair for the dramatic. He hit a grand slam in his first game up with the Tigers in 2005. He homered in his first at-bat with the Rangers in 2003. And, of course, he homered on the first pitch he ever saw in the majors, as a Yankee – off Randy Johnson.

The story is that Leyland’s brother, Larry, sold the manager on Thames. Larry Leyland has been a frequent fan at Triple-A Toledo, where Thames has seen plenty of action the last couple years.

During his career as a Tiger, Thames has 32 homers and 77 RBI in 437 AB. He entered this season a .232 hitter, though. Now he’s batting over .300. If he can bat .280 with the power he has, watch out. As he’s already proven this year, he can be very dangerous.