Papa Grande

I know, José Valverde is 35 years old, right about the age when professional athletics could be making plans for retirement. I know he had not done so well the last couple seasons and that he had spent most of this season in the Triple A League. He was called up for a stint with the Tigers when the closer they assigned to replace him couldn’t get the job done, but then they sent him back down when it later turned out that he didn’t have what they wanted.

But here’s the thing, I think they need him. I think they’ve needed him ever since they sent him down to work on his pitching. This is just my opinion and I’m far from being an expert, but it seems to me that every other closer Jim Leyland put on the mound had not done as well as Valverde had. Today Leyland went through three different pitchers in the ninth inning and all of them damn near blew the game. They’re lucky those fly balls didn’t leave the field. The White Sox might have caught up otherwise.

Valverde might never get his top game back, but I think he’s the best man for the job. I think they need to call him back up and keep him on until he either retires or they find a worthy replacement.