Rob Parker: In bullpen, Tigers choose low price over production

DETROIT – In honor of the late, great Joe Falls, it's a Fish Fry Friday.

Tigers' president and GM Dave Dombrowski just can't turn down a bargain. That has to be the reason he brought back reliever Joba Chamberlain.

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It has to be the one-year, $1 million deal, and not his lousy numbers in the second half of the season, that compelled Dombrowski to bring Chamberlain back to the Tigers' bullpen.

The shame of it all is that the bullpen is still a mess, a huge question mark. Despite its failures, the same cast of characters were brought back.

There's a lot of wishing and hoping that that players who performed poorly last year will do better this season, including Joe Nathan and Joakim Soria.

In 2014, Chamberlain was 2-5 with a 3.57 ERA. In the eighth-inning role, however, he was terrible after the All-Star break with a bloated 4.97 ERA.

"We stayed in contact," Dombrowski said of Joba. "He wanted to come back. He liked it here."

And he was cheap. Don't leave that out.

Earl Lloyd was pioneer

Detroit lost a pioneer on Thursday with the death of Early Lloyd, the first African American player in the NBA.

Now, it seems crazy that the NBA was once all-white. But it was until Lloyd showed up in 1950 and played for the Washington Capitals.

Yes, Lloyd, who was 86, followed Jackie Robinson, who broke the color barrier in MLB in 1947.

Lloyd and teammate Jim Tucker helped the Syracuse Nationals win the NBA title in 1955, becoming the first black players to play on a championship team.

Lloyd wound up playing and coaching with the Pistons. He coached the team from 1971-1973.

In 2003, Lloyd was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor.

"That's the greatest honor that's ever been bestowed on me," Lloyd said in an interview about that moment.

I had the honor to talk with Lloyd a few times. He was a nice man who loved basketball.

Fans, not MLB, Get it

Clearly, fans aren't as mad about the Steroid Era as MLB and the media.

You saw it played out at a ballpark near you.

After both the New York Yankees and the media beat up Alex Rodriguez leading up to the start of spring training, the fans had a different reaction when he appeared in a Yankee uniform for the first time in 17 months.

Fans cheered A-Rod at the team's first full-squad workout in Tampa. The reaction is only fitting.

Not for using performance enhancing drugs, which led to his 2014 season ban from the game, but because that's what fans have been doing around Baseball America with other players who have been caught in this scandal.

Fans seem to forgive pretty easily. You apologize and get back to playing ball.

Fans don't want the players stoned or condemned for life. It's so logical.

No one is saying A-Rod doesn't deserve some grief and blame for the PED mess that derailed his once-stellar career. He definitely does.

But A-Rod doesn't carry any bigger burden because he was a big star.

A nervous A-Rod was delighted at the response from fans.

"It was pretty awesome," Rodriguez told the media in Tampa. "I think sometimes you can take for granted being a major league baseball player. Just being able to go out there and stuff that I did when I was 10 years old. At the very least, I hope I get to finish my career up really appreciating the game."

In that workout at Steinbrenner Field, A-Rod hit three home runs with the 36 swings he took. The ball, according to reporters there, jumped off his bat.

The fans' reaction shouldn't be a total shock. After all, Ryan Braun - who was suspended for 65 games for his PED use - was greeted with a standing ovation on Opening Day 2014 by Brewers fans in Milwaukee.

And Nelson Cruz - who served a 50-game suspension with the Texas Rangers - came back in time for the tie-breaking game against the Tampa Bay Rays. Cruz was greeted by a standing ovation. And there weren't boos, but a rousing "Cruz" chant.

Clearly, given the cheers for A-Rod, many fans have gotten over it.