Some players are superstars on the field.  Brandon Inge is not one of those players.  Inge is a phenomenal defense player, but as a career .236 hitter with just 122 career home runs he is borderline putrid at the plate.

But life isn’t all about on-field success.  When it comes to giving back to the community and especially helping  the less fortunate Inge is a superstar.  Inge is LeBron James of charity.  Last season he and his wife, donated $100,000 to help fund a pediatric infusion center at C.S. Mott Childrens Hospital in Ann Arbor, Mich.  He is also well-known for giving back to the Detroit community and being one of the most amiable professional athletes, in any sport.

I have been as critical  as anyone of Inge’s poor plate performance.  His Kit Keller impersonations at the plate frustrate the hell out of me to the point I end up shouting advice to the opposing pitcher through the television, a la Dottie Henson, “High fast balls. He can’t hit’em and he can’t lay off ‘em.”

He is fun to watch at third base, especially when he goes diving into the stands for balls and makes barehanded plays, but for $6.3 million I’d like more consistency at the plate.  He had one of his best seasons in 2006 when the bottom of the Tigers’ lineup helped fuel their run to the World Series.  This season he got off to a hot start, but injuries and a reversion to his wild hacking at the plate have cooled his bat.  His inconsistency was  evident in Sunday’s game where he stuck out three times and then hit a grand slam that led to the Tigers to their first road sweep of the Tampa Bay Rays.

For all my complaints I can’t say enough about what Inge does off the field.  In a time when most of the off-field issues in sports are negative, from dog fighting rings, to DUIs, to steroids controversies, Inge reminds us that with great power comes great responsibility.

Not only has Inge given back to kids at Mott, he has become a sort of Babe Ruth for the sick children.

Twice this season Inge has hit home runs after meeting with ill kids.  In June Inge hit the eventual game winning home run after meeting with Tommy Schomaker, an 8-year-old who had just undergone heart surgery.  Inge had Tommy sign his arm before the game.  The home run brought a positive vibe to everyone in the hospital, from the recovering young boy to the overworked hospital staff.

Then in August, Inge visited another sick boy named Noah.  After spending the day playing and building a fort in Noah’s room, the 5-year-old asked Inge if he could hit him a home run in the next game.  Not wanting to disappoint the youngster, Inge said he would try.  Little did he know that he would launch another home run into the Comerica bullpen.

After he hit the home run Inge returned to the Tigers’ dugout and broke down.  “I lost it,” he said. “I was crying. That’s never happened to me during a game before.”

It is one thing for a player to say he is going to hit a home run for a sick kid, it’s even cooler to actually do it, but it’s another thing all together to breakdown after.

I’m sure there are hundreds of promised home runs every year to children all over the country, and even if some players keep them surly it was mere coincidence than effort.  But for Inge to break down in the dugout–normally the center of a jocks’ mandom–illustrates that his work with these young kids isn’t just a token PR move.  It shows that he truly cares and wants to make a difference in every one of their lives.  If hitting a home run for them brings even a modicum of happiness to a dreary situation Inge understands it’s importance.

This is one time where Jimmy Dugan was wrong, there is crying in baseball.

***************************

Kevin Patra lives by the adage: Those who can’t do, teach, and those who can’t do or teach, write.  Currently, he is a graduate student at the University of Southern California studying Online Journalism, after spending four years at the University of Michigan obtaining a bachelors degree from the school of Language, Science & Fun.  Patra grew up watching the terrible Tigers teams of the 90s–Travis Fryman was his favorite player–and considers 2006 one the greatest summers of his life so far.

Related posts:

1. ⊚  Michigan Mondays*: Tigers Best Turd on Crap Heap
2. ⊚  10 Athletes I’d Rather Be In Business With
3. ⊚  PODCAST: April 13, 2009