The long story short is that Simers approached Thames, who he had never met, and proceeded to bombard the outfielder with criticisms veiled as questions. Thames didn’t take the bait and instead walked away from the columnist. It was a truly disgusting piece that showed the dignity of Thames as much as it showed the obnoxiousness of Simers.

Yesterday, on twitter, former Tigers teammate Curtis Granderson came to Thames’ defense, and echoed what many have said about the slugger.

I don’t like to criticize media. They have a job to do & sometimes have to be the bad guy. But T.J. Simers should be ashamed of himself … Marcus Thames is one of the best teammates/ friends I’ve ever had. He brings 100% to every team he is with. I love him like a brother.

The premise of Simers’ “interview” with Thames was centered on the perception of Thames as a poor defender. It certainly wasn’t phrased as nicely as I just did, however. Showing once again how genuinely good a man Thames is, he approached Simers about the topic yesterday.

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From Across the Country, Curtis Granderson Defends Marcus Thames - Motor City Bengals - Motor City Bengals - A Detroit Tigers Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and More

- Earl Warren

Let the countdown officially begin. With the annual TigerFest over the weekend at Comerica Park, the next time you see your Detroit Tigers, it will be in Lakeland, FL as they report to Spring Training.  I didn’t personally get to attend this year, but I enjoyed watching the online stream. Matt Wallace of Bless You Boys fame ( and Take 75 North before that) was there with his camera, however, and BYB has the photos. The weekend also brought an encore presentation of the late Ernie Harwell’s appearance on MLBNetwork’s “Studio 42 with Bob Costas.” I watched it twice on Friday evening. I know this probably is getting a bit off-track before I really even get into this post, but man how I loved hearing his voice again. It will always never be the same without him.

Of course, Ernie wasn’t the only Tiger to be taken from us this past year. Former manager Sparky Anderson will be honored during the upcoming season with a uniform patch that will be worn by the Tigers all year long. In addition, Dave Dombrowski announced that Sparky’s number 11 will be retired at a ceremony at some point this season.

I was there when the Tigers honored Sparky and his 1984 Tigers with a pre-game ceremony in 2009. It was the last time he was in Detroit. Like many of his players, Sparky was the main reason I made the trip to the game that night. The weather was terrible -it was cold and rainy- so much so that the game itself was postponed. But I got to see my World Champion Tigers again and hey, I even won a few bucks at Greektown once the game was called. A ceremony to retire his number won’t mean quite as much without Sparky in attendance, but I imagine it will be a tough ticket anyhow. An honor long overdue for Captain Hook.

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The Sports Pages: Cleaning up from TigerFest - Motor City Bengals - Motor City Bengals - A Detroit Tigers Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and More

Familiar Faces Return to Lakeland - Motor City Bengals - Motor City Bengals - A Detroit Tigers Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and More