Today’s best articles feature many former star infielders! Check ‘em out!

• Former Mariners’ second baseman Harold Reynolds is back in the broadcast booth two years after being abruptly fired by ESPN.
• The Mets’ former star and current broadcaster, Keith Hernandez, made comments recently during a broadcast that upset the team’s shortstop Jose Reyes.
• Check out this cool article where former Tigers’ shortstop Alan Trammell reflects on his legendary career.
• Brian Daubach, who earned a World Championship ring with the Red Sox in 2004, has been named the hitting coach of the minor league Nashua Pride.

Check out the following links to find today’s most interesting news featuring our former heroes!      

• The Columbus Dispatch has a brand new interview with Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench!
• Former Brooklyn Dodgers’ 21 game winner Ralph Branca thinks his son-in-law, Bobby Valentine, should say sayonara to his managerial career in Japan and manage the Mets.
• The New York Times has a very interesting story about how former All-Star infielders Barry Larkin and Jim Lefebvre are working to prepare the Chinese National Baseball team for the Beijing Olympics.
• TwinsBaseballl.com catches up with 1991 World Series’ hero Scott Leius.
• The Valley Independent has some recent info on Stan Musial and Ken Griffey Sr. 

The Tigers honored the 40th anniversary of their 1968 team before their June 24th game against the Cardinals at Comerica Park with a 15-minute pregame ceremony. Eighteen formers members of the team (including Dick Tracewski, Dick McAuliffe, and Mickey Stanley, seen to the left) were in attendance.

The 1968 Tigers was truly an amazing ball club, winning a 103 regular season games and taking the World Series from the Cardinals in game seven thanks to a gutsy pitching performance by Mickey Lolich who was pitching on only two days rest. In addition to Series’ MVP Lolich, the ‘68 Tigers also included Denny McClain (winner of 31 games), leftfielder Willie Horton (who smashed 36 homers), and Hall of Famer Al Kaline in his only World Series appearance.

The stadium was packed for the tribute, and Tigers’ fans gave the eighteen surviving members a huge ovation, a sign that the 1968 club is still dear to their hearts.

Said Al Kaline at the event: “The reason why they like the ‘68 team is because many of us stayed here and lived here. Now, and in other years, guys go back to wherever they’re from. Or most of them now go to warm weather places because they make so much money. The ‘68 team, we had a lot of guys who lived in town, that were available, accessible, going to the market, going to outings. So they would see us around.”

The large ovation likely was not merely because of the accessibility of the ’68 team, but also because their winning ways played an important role in unifying Detroit following the city’s 12th Street Riot the previous year. Michigan’s then Governor, George Romney, credited the Tigers with helping calm the city. He wrote:

“The deepest meaning of this victory extends beyond the sports pages, radio broadcasts, and the telecasts that have consumed our attention for several months. This championship occurred when all of us in Detroit and Michigan needed a great lift. At a time of unusual tensions, when many good men lost their perspective toward others, the Tigers set an example of what human relations should really be.”