all photos by Samara Pearlstein
I know that Zach Putnam has been up with Cleveland for a bit now, but this was the first time I had been able to watch him pitch live. Zach Putnam! An Ann Arbor kid who went to U of M at the same time as me!
Zach Putnam! A pitcher who was always able to hit, at least at the college level!
Zach Putnam!! I have so many photos of him as a (relatively) wee collegiate ballplayer! I hung out at the field with Mr. Casselberry and we watched him generate so many Wolverine wins! He remains the only college player I have ever seen break his aluminum bat!
The circumstances were perfect. The Tigers were already winning, so nobody had any reason for concern if Putnam threw well. He pitched a perfect inning, striking out Brandon Inge, inducing a Delmon Young groundout, and getting himself a harmless Miguel Cabrera fly ball. The fact that he looked good was fine because of the whole aforementioned ‘already winning’ thing. And the whole ‘already in the playoffs’ thing. Let me tell you, it is weird to be feeling so good about baseball when the entire city of Boston is imploding in baseball-related agony.
Of course it is a little sad that such a Michigan person should have to play for an Ohio team. But Zach Putnam will make the best of it. For him, we can ignore the hat temporarily and applaud.
So excited to get to use all these photos. So excited to watch Zach Putnam get into a game and play some ball.
Roar of the Tigers 