Late Breaking News: Melissa Gilbert to run for Congress in Michigan

The Detroit News is reporting this afternoon that actress Melissa Gilbert has announced she is running for the Democratic nomination for Congress, against Freshman Congressman Mike Bishop  in Michigan's 8th District. This is the seat previously held by Mike Rogers, and is considered a pretty safe Republican district.

Gilbert, and her husband, actor Tim Busfield, live in Howell.

I promise, no "an actor - really?" comments, as Ronald Reagan was certainly an actor, and he was successful both as Governor of California and President.  But of course, Gilbert is no Ronald Reagan.

Predictably, she says she is for "families", a "new economy", and "helping people who have fallen through the cracks."  Or in other words, the same old Democrat Socialist Redistributionist hogwash we have been hearing for the last 70 years.

If Bishop has any political chutzpah he should be able to deal with Gilbert and her tired rhetoric easily.  Her name recognition will help her, certainly.  I've never heard her speak as herself, so I have no idea how she carries and presents herself.  We shall see. 

Wow! Big changes for the Tigers

If you've read my blog much you know I'm a big Detroit Tigers fan, and I do occasional commentary on them. And there is a lot to comment on this week!

To say that this season has been disappointing would be an understatement. But not necessarily unexpected, as a lot of stars would have to have aligned in order for them to have any success. Key injuries (Justin Verlander, Victor Martinez, Miguel Cabrera), a chronically bad bullpen, and other players who have not lived up to their billing, and you have a recipe for a flop. Which led to a selloff of their top talent to aquire prospects. 

Really, this needed to happen. This team was not the juggernaut they have been in the past, and they weren't going to win anything as currently constructed. All reports indicate the prospects they got were top-notch. 

The unexpected move was yesterday's firing of team President and General Manager Dave Dombrowski. 

Many fans have called for him to be fired over the last couple of years because for all the money spent on star players the team has not won a World Series.  Still, this was a bit of a surprise at this point in the season. Some had even thought that the deals he made in the selloff meant that ownership was going to let him continue the makeover. 

So now Al Avila, longtime assistant GM takes over, and apparently not as an interim. He has long been speculated as Dombrowski's replacement, especially last year when there was talk of him wanting the Commissioners job when Bud Selig retired. 

I expect there are more changes to come, especially in the offseason. Manager Brad Ausmus is on shaky ground, and probably some or all of his coaching staff. 

Whatever happens, they have to fix the bullpen. They score a lot of runs, but they give up a lot of late runs and cough up late leads at an astounding rate. That needs to be fixed first. After that, they need a solid starter to shore up the rotation, as Simon and Green are not getting it done. Green still has potential but Simon does not. After that they probably need some outfield help, unless Tyler Collins really impresses through the remainder of this season.  

We'll see.