Bumped to the front page! -- Kurt

Amid all the hotstove season debate about the front office's baseball acumen, I thought I'd share a human interest story about the team.

A friend of mine is a police officer in metro Detroit. The week of Thanksgiving, he was involved in a serious crash during a high speed chase of car thieves. He ended up with fairly massive closed head injuries and has been slowly but surely fighting his way back to full strength since. He's been in in-patient care since it happened.

About a month ago, I sent a letter to Dave Dombrowski and cc'd the Community Affairs Department. I told him the story and about what a huge Tigers fan my friend is. I told him that if there was anything the team could do to brighten my friend's road to recovery, it would be hugely appreciated. I mentioned that I wasn't expecting much, but that I knew he and Mr. Illitch did lots of cool things (big and small) for the community.

Last week, Mr. Dombrowski called my friend. Through Mr. Dombrowski and others in management, my buddy has gotten offers to fulfill a variety of Tiger-fan dreams. Community Affairs sent me a waiver so that he could go on the field, watch batting practice and meet the team. Apparently they also talked to him about having him throw out the first pitch, and some other things. I think they sent a Willie Horton memorabilia package recently.

So I just wanted to tell everyone that. Whatever we think of the off-season moves (I mostly like them), we're lucky to root for a first-class organization.