If you weren't already sick of "The Smudge"...

The New York Times' "Bats" blog would like to bring you... "The Cap."

Rob Mackey's post cites Paul Luka's "Uni Watch" column at ESPN.com, which points out that Kenny Rogers' cap is worthy of some scrutiny, as well. Why's that?

Rogers prefers the batting practice cap, rather than the standard issue "5950" New Era version that everyone else wears. Normally, you'd be able to tell because of the bill of the cap has a white brim, which wouldn't be allowed in regular game-play. But Rogers apparently colors that in with magic marker. Why would this be any sort of issue?

The BP cap has a black underbill, instead of the Tigers' usual light gray. Now ask yourself, if you wanted to take a foreign substance out to the mound with you, wouldn't it be easier to hide it against a black background than a gray one? Far be it from Uni Watch to accuse the Gambler of taking cards from the bottom of the deck, but you have to admit it's an interesting coincidence at the very least. Uni Watch's suggestion: Make Rogers wear a 5950 like everyone else, and then let's see who holds 'em and who folds 'em.

(Besides the stuff about Rogers' cap, the rest of the column has an interesting analysis of the slight differences between the Olde English D on that cap and the one on the Tigers' jerseys. Did you know they were different? I sure as hell didn't. Of course, I haven't had a jersey in my hands to examine, either.)

If there's a Game 6, Rogers might want to plan on getting to Comerica Park early. I have a feeling he'll be inspected like a bag of luggage at the airport. Oh, and probably steam cleaned.

So are you ready for Game 3 to start already? I'm not sure I can take another day of this stuff. By tomorrow, we'll probably find out if Rogers has any allergies or a cold that might result in a runny nose while on the mound. And why were his eyes so moist following the game when he was interviewed by Chris Myers? What is he putting in his eyes that makes them tear up like that? Emotion? Bah! What happens if you put those tears on the ball?!

Ooooh, that smudge!

Kind of a shame for the post-game chatter to focus on that "big clump of dirt" on Kenny Rogers' pitching hand during the first inning, eh?

Considering Rogers' pitched seven amazing innings after that with clean hands, the mysterious "discoloration" on his left hand would seem to be a moot point. I had kind of a sick feeling in my stomach, however, when ESPN showed clips from Rogers' other post-season starts, in which he also appeared to have something on his left hand.

But hey, if the umpires didn't think the smudge was suspicious enough to examine Rogers' hand, glove, hat, or anything else on his uniform, and if the Cardinals weren't demanding that kind of examination - or his immediate ejection from the game - then I guess it's not an issue, and Rogers isn't the real-life version of Major League's Eddie Harris.

If La Russa says "it's not important to talk about," Aaron Miles doesn't think Rogers was cheating, and Albert Pujols didn't notice anything, then that's it. No accusations. No excuses.

Or, as the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Bryan Burwell (welcome back to Detroit, Bryan) speculates, Tony La Russa just didn't want to pursue that route. He wants his team to win because of their play on the field, not from pointing at the rule book.

As you might imagine, however, Cardinal Nation doesn't agree with that and is more than a bit upset about the smudge. Viva El Birdos cites the exact rule and calls Rogers a "cheat." Go Crazy, Folks! thinks Rogers was busted, should've been tossed, and may have still been cheating later in the game. (I'm eager to see what Mr. Leitch might have to say on the matter later today.)

Who can blame them? If Jeff Weaver had something on his hand last night, and the Tigers lost, I'd probably be writing about it right now, too. I'd like to think I'd let it go if Weaver pitched even better after washing his hands, but who knows?

But if Rogers ends up pitching Game 6 of this series back at Comerica Park, I'll bet he receives some much closer scrutiny, whether it's from the umpires, the FOX television cameras, or the Cardinals' dugout. Hey, if the series is on the line, that rule book could suddenly become quite a handy weapon.

So this is how the other team feels...

Dinner wasn't tasting quite as good after watching Kenny Rogers get slapped around by the Indians like Glass Joe. As Rod Allen might say, Cleveland beat the Tigers' elder pitching statesman "like he stole something."

Dude didn't even make it out of the first inning. It took him eight batters to record his first out. Check out this box score: 2/3 of an inning, five hits, seven runs (all seven earned), three walks.

U-G-L-Y! Kenny's got no alibi.

Not that I'm complaining. The Tigers have been doing this to the opposition for the last three games.

... And after checking Mack Avenue Tigers (yes, I had to walk away from the TV to finish dinner), I see that a three-run homer by Brandon Inge has made the score 7-3. Maybe this'll be an interesting game, after all.

This is surely why the Indians are 12 games under .500, yes? It certainly can't be because of their offense. That's a seriously potent lineup.

Winter wonderland in Dallas? Bah, humbug in Detroit?

Please tell me Kenny Rogers isn't the only free agent starting pitcher the Detroit Tigers are going to sign. Please tell me they're not opting for Rogers over guys like Matt Morris and Kevin Millwood, and that there's still a spot open in the rotation for one of them.

The Tigers also signed their former closer, Todd Jones. Like Out of Bounds, the Sports Dude, and the Detroit Tigers Weblog, I like this move. It's not as Whoo-Hoo! Exciting! as signing B.J. Ryan, Billy Wagner, Kyle Farnsworth, or Tom Gordon may have been, but I think those guys received bat$#!+ crazy contracts that blew the market for free agent relievers out of control. Want some evidence of that? Jones reportedly signed a two-year deal worth $11 million.

Though I think the price tag was a bit high, the Tigers needed someone dependable to pitch in the ninth inning - not just to save games, but also to buy time while they figure out whether Fernando Rodney is capable of being the future closer. Based on past impressions, Jones also seems like the sort of guy who would be willing to tutor Rodney toward eventually assuming that role. Maybe he'd even agree to step aside for the good of the team if Rodney was ready to take over.

And if they were paying $10 million a year for a closer, that would never happen. He'd still be pitching - even if he stunk like soft European cheese.

But the hot stove league is making me sweat. Baseball's winter meetings have been busy, with teams making all sorts of deals and signings. And the activity is getting even more frenzied. The Red Sox traded Edgar Renteria to Atlanta, just a year after signing him. The Rangers traded Alfonso Soriano to the Nationals for Brad Wilkinson and Terrmel Sledge. The Blue Jays added Lyle Overbay (whose swing is made for Comerica Park) to their offseason shopping cart, joining A.J. Burnett and the aforementioned Ryan.

Did Javier Vasquez turn down a trade to Detroit? If the price was Curtis Granderson and Joel Zumaya, Vasquez probably did the Tigers a favor. Yet Dave Dombrowski says such a deal was never in the works. The Mets say the Tigers were asking for too much in return for Pudge Rodriguez, which strikes me as curious. Is this an indication that they don't really want to deal him? Are they hoping his attitude will improve under a new manager? Me, I would've settled for that big apple that pops up after a Mets home run. That thing is cool. But maybe that's why I'm not the Tigers' GM.

And am I being a total Tigers slappy for looking at the deals the Red Sox and Mets made with the Marlins for Josh Beckett and Carlos Delgado, respectively, and thinking that Detroit could've made similar offers? Should I wipe the stripes off my glasses?

But maybe I shouldn't panic. Beyond Boxscores came up with a shopping list more loaded and more ambitious than my Amazon wish list, and there are still plenty of items left among the 20 choices. (Brian also wonderfully explains the two-sided coin that is offseason Tigers fandom in this post.)

Can we get at least one of them, Dave? Another general manager is getting all the heat in this town right now. Maybe you've heard about that? So you might be lurking under the radar a bit. But you don't want it to get to that point, do you? Dave?