Now back to our regularly scheduled program

With the World Cup simmering down, it's time to return our focus to Detroit sports. A lot has happened. The Pistons drafted a big man. The Tigers beat up some bad teams, lost to some good ones, and then lost Zumaya indefinitely. The Red Wings signed Eaves. Okay, maybe it wasn't all big news. But not every sports story warrants a 1-hour ESPN special titled "The Decision."

I'll start with the Tigers. They just wrapped up a three game sweep of the Orioles. Other than the middle game, the Tigers were fairly dominant. That middle game was quite sad, with the Orioles doing everything right... except winning the game. They reminded me of the Tiger teams of a decade ago. The Tigers find themselves in first place with a series against Minnesota about to start tonight. This month, the Tigers feasted on last-place teams. When they went on the road to face decent competition, they went a meager 3-6. So, I still don't think they're a playoff team, but they may squeak in if Minnesota doesn't heat up in August (big IF).

With that said, I've enjoyed this Tiger season much more than the past few. The reason is relatively simple - they've got hope for the future. We all thought they'd be screwed without Granderson. I know I fell prey to the Granderson love. Yet, Dombrowski was wiser than us all by acquiring younger and cheaper parts. Austin Jackson filled the Granderson hole quite well in centerfield, and he's maintained a .300 average all season (while Curtis is below .250 but hits with power). Scherzer also settled into a solid arm in the rotation since his stint in Toledo. But the biggest reason is Brennen Boesch. The kid is exactly what the doctor ordered. The Tigers have been looking for a power hitting lefty since Darrell Evans retired. In recent years, they've trotted out a parade of lefties... hoping one would stick... Aubrey Huff, Jeff Larish, Sean Casey, Matt Stairs, Carlos Pena, Eric Munson, etc. It seemed every other team in the Central had their left-handed bomber - Morneau, Jim Thome, Victor Martinez, Travis Hafner, Carlos Quentin - they all had their time feasting on Detroit pitching. But the big lefty bat continued to elude the Tigers. Until 2010. Like Jenny McCarthy on Singled Out, Brennen Boesch made an immediate impression. Tiger fans keep waiting for the other shoe to drop, for Brennen to hit an Inge-like dryspell. So far, he's stayed hot. He's hitting .341, with 12 HR, and 47 RBI.

Apparently, he was the 25th-rated Tiger prospect entering this season. I found this scouting report from the end of last season, that didn't even list Boesch among the top 30! Yet, if I look at his stats from Double-A Erie last season, it makes no sense why he was ignored. While he didn't have a killer batting average (.275), he did hit 28 HRs with an impressive 93 RBIs. Those are solid numbers in any league. In many ways, Boesch is just continuing what he did last year in Erie. He started this year at Toledo, and, in 15 games, hit .379 with 17 RBIs. So, it's more a case of the media just missing the boat on this kid than Boesch actually doing anything out of the ordinary. The stats and power numbers were there for anyone to see.

We should also be thankful that Boesch didn't make the All-star team. The kid has never played 162 games and could use the break. Besides, we've all seen how an All-star appearance can curtail an otherwise excellent season (thank you, Brandon Inge).