Without any tears or spoken regrets, the newly released Brandon Inge told reporters this afternoon that he still loves having played for the Detroit Tigers and their fans and that he hopes to continue his career with another team.
“I could kind of see how things were going,” Inge said. “But there are no hard feelings whatsoever. This is my family. This is where I’ve been my whole career. I’ll miss the guys -- I will.”
Inge, 34, was released after today’s game and the spotty-hitting Tigers called up hot-hitting minor leaguer Brad Eldred to take his roster spot. Eldred is a first baseman and outfielder who belted 13 homers in the season’s first 20 games for Triple-A Toledo.
"We just feel at this point, we’re trying to add some offense," general manager Dave Dombrowski said. "Eldred has been as hot as can be, and it’s a situation where we wanted to make a move to get him on the ballclub and see if he can get us some offense, primarily from the DH position."
The Tigers will have to pay Inge the remainder of his $5.5-million contract for this season, plus a $500,000 buyout for his 2013 option.
“The chance to go play maybe somewhere else might be good for me, personally,” Inge said.
“But my heart will always be in Detroit 100% forever. I appreciate everything that’s happened here and every opportunity that I’ve been given. But it’s a business when you come down to it. I hope the team does well. I hope they go on to win it all.”
Inge is batting .100 (2-for-20) with a home run and two RBIs this season. He is a career .234 hitter, with 140 homers and 589 RBIs.
"Brandon Inge has done a tremendous job for the organization for a very long time," Dombrowski said. "I realize that he’s been, for some people, a very controversial player, but from our perspective, I personally want to thank him for everything he’s done for us. He’s been a true soldier throughout the years. He’s been a Tiger; he will always be a Tiger."
On whether Inge could have been traded, Dombrowski said: "There’s not a trade market at this point. There’s not a trade, and I think when you look at the numbers and the contract, you’ll understand."
After hitting .197 last year, Inge made this year’s club as a part-time second baseman.
He has been starting at second base against left-handed pitching. But he took it as a bad sign that he had be lifted from games when a right-handed reliever came in.
Inge has been booed by many fans at Comerica Park last season and this season. Yet after being released, he raved anew about Detroit as a sports city and about the passion of Tigers fans.
“I know that for every one person that may boo, there are another 10 that are applauding,” Inge said. “There’s no reason to badmouth any of them. I’d rather be the bigger person and thank the people who are cheering than lump people into the negative category when that’s not necessarily the case.
“Deep down, people are fans. They’re not haters.”
At another point he said, “This is an emotional city. This is a city that will back you. They want their teams to do well. If they’re not, they’ll let you know, and there’s nothing wrong with that. That shows they are fans. A fan that dislikes someone or that likes someone is still a fan. I respect them all; I really do. There’s nothing that anyone can ever do that will ever change my opinion of Detroit or this organization. It’s been a class act through and through, and I’ve been very proud to be part of it.”
Inge was the senior Tiger. He broke into the majors as the Tigers’ starting catcher on Opening Day in 2001.
His final Tigers homer was a game winner for Justin Verlander last week in Kansas City. Like Alan Trammell, he had one homer in his final Tigers season. Trammell’s final homer came on Opening Day at Tiger Stadium in 1996.
"What I have had, 20 at-bats?" Inge said today. "I showed power. But average and consistency isn’t going to be there unless I’m in there every day. I wish I could have gotten about two weeks where I had been there every day for every inning -- see what you can do.”
Eldred has 15 career home runs in 85 major league games with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Colorado Rockies. He was batting an astounding .388 with 13 home runs and 35 RBIs in 20 games for the Mud Hens this season.
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