Rodriguez's overdue arrival still a mystery

[CrazyEights]

Sunday, August 14, 2005

Rodriguez's overdue arrival still a mystery

The catcher was a day late returning from his 4-day suspension, which spurred a team meeting.

By Lynn Henning / The Detroit News

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Pudge Rodriguez was back with the Tigers Saturday following a one-day unexcused absence.

The reasons for his extended layoff -- earlier in the week he had served a four-day suspension imposed by Major League Baseball -- remained unclear.

"We're going to keep it in-house," Tigers manager Alan Trammell said after Rodriguez rejoined his team for Saturday night's scheduled game at Kauffman Stadium -- a game postponed for the second straight day because of rain. "It's a team matter."

The Rodriguez episode led to an extended clubhouse meeting Saturday between Trammell, his coaching staff and the Tigers players, including Rodriguez, who wasn't volunteering details about a Colombian getaway.

Rodriguez said he intended to be in Kansas City well ahead of Friday's Royals-Tigers game. Beyond being "very disappointed" in Rodriguez's failure to show Friday, Trammell was irked that Rodriguez didn't play safe with his travel plans and arrange a Thursday arrival in Kansas City.

It is not normal procedure for a player handed a short suspension -- Rodriguez got overheated during a dispute with an umpire at Oakland three weeks ago -- to not remain with his team.


Tight-lipped


The Tigers weren't offering much testimony from Saturday's team meeting. But the prevailing feedback was that Rodriguez wasn't the only issue discussed.

Detroit came into Saturday having lost 10 of its past 13 games, a skid that has, at least for now, dropped the team from playoff contention and forced the Tigers into a scramble to hit the .500 mark.

"Very productive," Tigers pitching coach Bob Cluck said of Saturday's meeting. "Get things out and talk about it is always the best way. We had things other than Pudge to talk about."


Two today


The Tigers will play a doubleheader this afternoon at Kauffman Stadium as a make-up date for Saturday's rainout. They will move Friday's washed-out game to Sept. 20 as part of a day-night doubleheader in Kansas City.

Jason Johnson and Mike Maroth will start for the Tigers. Mike Wood and Jose Lima will go for the Royals.

Runelvys Hernandez, who was supposed to pitch Saturday, will now miss the series because of the adjusted schedule. That means there will be no rematch for the Tigers and the pitcher that helped ignite the brawl on July 17.

[Fishercat]

He's expected to be back Friday. Glad he wasn't beating up on the Sox in a series the Tigers could've swept, the Sox could've swept, or anything in between. Crazy series with Schilling's struggles, Remlingers becoming the worst reliever in a LONG time in Boston, and Papi's heroics.