In honor of the late, great Joe Falls, it's a Fish Fry Friday.
The Tigers won Thursday night in Chicago, but the offense is still missing in action. Without question, this is one of the most disappointing $200 million teams in MLB. First, the pitching was bad. Now, it's the offense.
Sure, they got the 2-1 win over the White Sox in a rain-shortened game.
But, it's still hard to believe what has happened to this potent offense that was supposed to lead this team back to the postseason.
Both of the Tigers' runs came on solo homers - Ian Kinsler and Miguel Cabrera. That was it.
In the three-game series against the Minnesota Twins before Thursday, the Tigers scored just four runs in three games at home against the team that has given up the most runs in the American League.
It's definitely something Tigers fans should be worried about. Both Cabrera and Victor Martinez have struggled in July.
With the Tigers' rotation thin, the offense is needed.
That brings us to one question: Is there help on the way? Will the Tigers add hitting or pitching come the trade deadline on July 31?
It's hard to imagine that the Tigers will add payroll. Usually, when you spend like the Tigers have already, this is the team you will have - win or lose.
Plus, what the Tigers need - pitching, starting pitching - so many other teams need as well. It will be hard to get a quality starter. And if you do get one, the price will be steep. Stay tuned.
NBA does right thing
It's one thing to make a threat. It's another thing to follow through. NBA commissioner Adam Silver kept his word on Thursday, pulling the plug on the 2017 NBA All-Star Game that was scheduled for Charlotte.
Plain and simple. The NBA objects to a North Carolina law that limits anti-discrimination protections for lesbian, gay and transgender people.
The NBA didn't like when the law, known as HB2, when it was enacted in March. It informed North Carolina lawmakers that the league opposed it and could take away the money-making event from the state it wasn't changed to protect all.
A month ago, state legislators revisited the law and chose to leave it largely unchanged. Enter the NBA.
"While we recognize that the NBA cannot choose the law in every city, state and country in which we do business, we do not believe we can successfully host our All-Star festivities in Charlotte in the climate created by HB2," the league said in a statement.
The NBA did the right thing. The league is about inclusion. And while it's hard to pull the team out of North Carolina all together because of laws that go against the beliefs of the league, the NBA has the right not to reward an area with a cash bonanza.
It's what we should expect from our sports leagues. It shouldn't just be about making money and turning the other way.
Sports has made an incredible impact on social issues in this country, dating back to 1947 when Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball.
And don't forget that the NFL pulled Super Bowl 27 from Arizona in 1993 when that state failed to adopt the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
Bravo to the NBA.
WNBA does wrong thing
This makes no sense. Not at all. The WNBA fined the organizations and players of the New York Liberty, Indiana Fever and Phoenix Mercury on Thursday. It was for wearing black warmup shirts to express their concerns over recent violence by and against police.
The league is sending mixed messages. The league applauded its players' response after the mass shooting in Orlando - even gave out T-shirts for players to wear.
Here, the league isn't having it. It's not fair. Players should have the right to express themselves on social issues that affect them and their loved ones.
"We won't be silenced," said Fever forward Devereaux Peters said in an Instagram post on Thursday.
WNBA league president Lisa Borders, however, came up lame. "We are proud of WNBA players' engagement and passionate advocacy for non-violent solutions to difficult social issues but expect them to comply with the league's uniform guidelines," she told AP.
Please.
