Scott Miller

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Slugger Mark Teixeira's bat fits perfectly into Atlanta's lineup behind that of Chipper Jones, he's well-liked by his teammates, he seems to enjoy being an Atlanta Brave ... and yet, he's a free agent following the 2008 season and it isn't as if many Braves are working overtime recruiting him to sign an extension before his probable departure.

"I don't think there's any amount of convincing that can be done," Jones says. "Unfortunately, he's a true believer in Scott Boras' style, and that doesn't bode well for us."

Oh, right. Teixeira's agent is Boras, who consistently directs his clients toward the biggest payday.

"This is his first big payday, and I think he's going to get a lot of money," Jones says.

You don't have to be wearing Boras' loafers or Jones' cleats to figure that.

Teixeira won't elaborate on his personal feelings toward the Braves or on his early thoughts regarding his future.

"We'll talk at the end of the season, me and 30 teams," he says. "I'm just worried about getting this team to the playoffs."

Acquired from Texas last season after he had a falling out with Rangers manager Ron Washington, Teixeira hit in Atlanta just as he did in Texas. He thumped 17 homers and collected 56 RBIs in only 54 games with the Braves. Though Atlanta missed the playoffs for a second consecutive season, the Braves finished only five games behind Philadelphia as Teixeira bashed and made everyone around him better.

"I know having him hit in the lineup behind me last year was great," says Jones, who had 29 homers and 102 RBI in '07. "I'm looking forward to having him hit behind me against this year."

At the very least, even if Teixeira does follow the trail of another Boras client who once played here -- Andruw Jones, now playing center field for the Los Angeles Dodgers -- the Braves figure to benefit from having his bat in the lineup for six months rather than just two.

"I wish we had him for six years," manager Bobby Cox says.

Likes: If you missed it when I flagged it last summer following Teixeira's arrival in Atlanta, you've got to check out the classic tribute song two Auburn kids perform on YouTube. It is outstanding. ... Several Braves -- John Smoltz, Tom Glavine, Chipper Jones, Tim Hudson and Brian McCann among them -- who had stayed behind to practice sitting together in the clubhouse and yukking it up like high schoolers after the bus left for Winter Haven and a Grapefruit League game with the Indians the other morning before they were due on the field. ... Lakeland's Mario's Italian Restaurant. The place has been around so long that former Detroit general manager Jim Campbell and field manager Sparky Anderson regularly dined there back in the day. ... Main Street Creamery and Deli in Lakeland. A quaint old reminder of what things must have looked like in the days of soda fountains. ... Last trip today on the Polk Parkway. Not that I mind the Lakeland area, but the fourth day in a row of driving past this skunk that was smoked who-knows-when and lies there in all of its bloody glory on the side of the road, let's just say it's a daily sight I'm happy to no longer have to view. Doesn't the city or county get rid of those things here?

Dislikes: Pedro Martinez's start in Viera getting rained out Thursday night. It is coming down in buckets. ... Love XM radio, love this year's POTUS channel (acronym for President of the United States, it's all election news all the time, and the '70s channel never fails to crack me up. But I gotta come clean here, when the '70s channel played the Captain and Tennille's Muskrat Love today, I went with the iPod. My God, how did that song ever get written in the first place, let alone recorded?

Sunblock day? Warm -- upper 70s -- but cloudy and overcast all day. If you're looking for sun, the weather this week hasn't been a bargain.

Rock-n-Roll lyric of the day:

"I sat alone in the dark one night
"Tuning in by remote
"I found a preacher who spoke of the light
"But there was brimstone in his throat
"He'd show me the way according to him
"In return for my personal check
"I flipped my channel back to CNN
"And I lit another cigarette"

-- Mary Chapin-Carpenter, I Take My Chances

KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- He may be a candidate for New York mayor in 2009, but Rep. Anthony Weiner should keep his mouth shut.

He wants the FBI to stop investigating Roger Clemens for perjury because the pitcher has been "shamed" enough?

Please. What about Barry Bonds? Hasn't he suffered enough, too? Let's halt that trial.

And Martha Stewart had been humiliated ... why didn't the Feds call things off before going to the mat with her?

I absolutely agree with Weiner on one thing: The FBI has -- or should have -- far more important things to do than spend its hours gumshoeing Clemens.

But here's the deal: Congress got itself into a position where it HAD to ask the Justice Dept. to investigate. Because indications are that Clemens told one bald-faced lie after another to Congress. Under oath. If Congress doesn't follow up, it's a neon invitation for anyone else appearing before Congress to lie.

Look, at this point, we've all got better things to do than continue investing our precious time on megalomaniacal athletes who stick steroids and human growth hormone into themselves. Congress has got a war, looming recession and health care issues to deal with, just for starters. The FBI has national security issues. You and I have cars to wash.

But once we started going down this path, there's no going back. Argue all you want over whether Congress should have held the hearing with Clemens and trainer Brian McNamee. It did.

Now, there is no choice.

Drop things with Clemens, and you're sending a very public signal that oaths are not to be taken seriously, and that Congress can be lied to.

Likes: A biopsy showing no new brain tumors for Yankees broadcaster Bobby Murcer. ... Dalton Cash Wedge, the name of Cleveland manager Eric Wedge's new son. Wedge is an avid Johnny Cash fan, thus Dalton's middle name. ... Houston catcher J.R. Towles' at-bat music last season at Double-A Corpus Christi, Alabama's If You're Gonna Play in Texas (You've Gotta Have a Fiddle in the Band." or at least somebody to pitch behind Roy Oswalt, eh? ... Sunroofs. ... The Drive-By Truckers' Marry Me, with the classic lyric "Rock and roll means well but it can't help telling young boys lies". ... Atlanta manager Bobby Cox. Walking out of Atlanta's clubhouse toward the bus Wednesday morning, he called out to no one in particular, "All right boys, let's go get those Indians." Atlanta was shoving off toward Winter Haven for that afternoon's game.

Dislikes: Tuesday night's election returns coming in so late I was already in Z-land and didn't get them until Wednesday morning. These early morning spring training alarm clocks wreak havoc with late-night television viewing. I haven't seen Letterman, Jon Stewart or Steven Colbert in weeks (and yes, I know Stewart and Colbert are on earlier, too, but I miss those because life on the road means working late and then going out to eat more often than not, too.

Sunblock day? In the morning, yes, as temps soared into the 80s. But overcast skies took hold of Central Florida by Wednesday afternoon. Still, as the legendary Willie Horton was watching Detroit play Philadelphia in Lakeland, dozens of schools were closed because of more snow in Michigan, so nobody's complaining.

Rock-n-Roll lyric of the day:

"I'm goin' to Dallas, see my pony run
"Goin' to Dallas, see my pony run
"I'm goin' to Dallas, just to see my pony run
"She wins every race and I can't see how it's done"

-- Lightnin’ Hopkins, Goin’ to Dallas to See My Pony Run

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Michigan's 7.5 percent unemployment rate this winter is the highest in the country. Since 2006, more than 70,000 homes have been foreclosed in Detroit alone. And property values are down nearly 20 percent.

Yet after the Detroit Tigers traded for shortstop Edgar Renteria, third baseman Miguel Cabrera and pitcher Dontrelle Willis this winter, they sold so many season tickets that they eventually halted sales to make sure last year's season ticketholders didn't get shut out.

And, incredibly, when the Tigers put 2008 individual game tickets on sale Saturday, they sold 80,000 in the first two hours, 176,000 over the first eight hours and 192,000 by noon Sunday.
 
Baseball is back in Detroit, maybe just when folks needed it most.

And the Tigers themselves absolutely have noticed.

"It's one of the best sports towns I've ever been in," slugger Gary Sheffield says. "I didn't know that much about it. But they're the most passionate fans I've ever seen."

Center fielder Curtis Granderson, beginning his third full season with the Tigers, shakes his head in awe at the number of tickets that are flying off of the shelves for '08.

He knows it's because these Tigers are loaded, and he believes there's another reason, too.

"I think it's the fact that we play hard," he says. "It's a hard-working area, and I think people are like, 'Hey, I'm working hard, and I want to enjoy watching others work hard, too.'"

Whatever, as the auto industry sags, concern over job security grows and homes sit unsold, maybe Tigers rounding the bases will at least ease the suffering for some.

"I have no idea how many runs we scored last year," Granderson says, chuckling. "I know it was a lot.

"It's a good buzz for the city of Detroit. They want to be excited, and they should be."

Likes: There are few finer people in the game than Curtis Granderson. ... The paw prints in the carpet in the Tigers' Lakeland clubhouse. ... Thunderstorms, like the one that just rolled in following the Tigers-Astros game this afternoon over in Kissimmee. ... Even without Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell, the Astros have as loose a clubhouse as you'll find. ... Watching election returns. ... The prospect of a couple of days at home this weekend before landing in Arizona and the Cactus League next week. ... Astros broadcaster Jim Deshaies. ... Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour on XM. And Dylan's Modern Times disc.

 Dislikes: Orlando traffic. ... Kissimmee traffic. ... Route 192.

Sunblock day? Not really. Warm, but very overcast. Dry, but thunderstorms expected later this afternoon and evening. Check that. The T-storms are here. It's dry no longer. I'm going to get absolutely soaked walking to my car.

Rock-n-Roll lyric of the day:

"Have you seen the flags of freedom?
"What color are they now?
"Do you think that you believe in yours
"More than they do theirs somehow?

-- Neil Young, Flags of Freedom