Tie in favor of the rookie. When it came time for Manager Buddy Bell to make the lineup decision about second base and shortstop for Thursday night's game, it was virtually a toss-up. He is like the late-night news on television. Whenever you see him, something is going wrong. Why he even visits pitchers on the mound is a mystery.
Nothing ever works.
But this is what they pay him for, and he goes out there again and again, looking for some secret message to steady his pitcher down. Either way, in two games the Tigers already have put themselves through the wringer. Tigers owner Mike Ilitch did not make it to spring training to see his Tigers. He would have seen the development of some of his younger players. If he looked in at Wednesday night's 7-6 loss to the Minnesota Twins, he probably could see all the way to the end of the century when his team moves into a new stadium in downtown Detroit.