With all the breaking news over the past 24 hours, Brandon Inge being released by the Detroit Tigers and Delmon Young's arrest for assault and hate speech in New York City, it was time for the news team to assemble and record a special edition of the Bless You Boys Podcast. We discuss the fallout of both rather somber situations.

BYB Podcast 37 runs 49:00 and features Kurt Mensching, Al Beaton and Patrick O'Kennedy.

Topics:

• Delmon Young arrested after a bar fight.
• Hate crime charges?
• Tthe Tigers hands are tied by by the CBA, thus releasing a generic statement filled with legalese.
• Could the Tigers actually cut ties with Young?
• If so, what direction to the Tigers go?
• Do the Tigers have issues with lax player discipline, or are the recent alcohol issues just knuckleheads being knuckleheads?
• Brandon Inge released, Detroit mourns or celebrates, depending upon your point of view.
• Everybody, and I mean everybody, overreacted to Inge's release.
• To their credit, Dave Dombrowski and Inge handled the situation as well as possible.
• It's quite possible Brandon Inge's career is not over, there is interest from other teams.
• Does Inge have a future with the Tigers...be it in the  front office or in personnel?
• What is Brandon Inge's legacy as long-time member of the Detroit Tigers?
• Brad Eldred: What, if anything, can we expect from a 31 year old who has a rep as a 4A player?
• Things happen in threes: Two are down. Do you have a prediction for three?
• Remember, BYB comment threads are not an Mlive-like free-for-all.

We LOVE to hear from you. If you have any questions or comments about the podcast, please email us at BYBPodcast at Gmail.com.

This week, we're in a mood. Which means it's a rant-filled Bless You Boys Podcast.

We take on the Chicken Little-fied Detroit Tigers fanbase, Mike Ilitch's Inge crush, the mainstream media making stories out to be stark black or white, not shades of gray, sabermatricians who fall too much in love with advanced stats, the Tiger Stadium Fan Club and the Madden video game series, amongst other ranty topics.

Bless You Boys Podcast 35 runs 1:18 and features Kurt Mensching, Allison Hagen and Al Beaton.

Topics:

• The Tigers' fan base is revolting...and they aren't happy with the W-L record, either.
• The Brandon Inge saga continues. He remains on the roster, and worse, is playing regularly. 
• We all know how the Inge soap opera will ultimately end. Badly.
• The fan base did get one bone thrown to them, Daniel Schlereth was sent to Toledo.
• The Freep's Drew Sharp has solved the Tigers problems with just one lousy column. They just need to hit more triples.
• Who else freaked out on Twitter when the" Zach Miner was acquired by the Tigers" news broke?
• Media bashing time: Just because Phillip Humber threw a prefect game, it doesn't mean he's figured it out. Armando Galarraga, anyone?
• More media bashing...and some sabermetrics bashing as well: Fangraphs does the Sports Illustrated power rankings, give sabers a bad name by claiming the 3-14 Kansas City Royals are the 7th best team in baseball. There's more to baseball than WAR.
• What one personnel move do we want to see the Tigers make in the next few months?
• Jim Leyland needs to move players around in the order...but it will never happen.
• What the over/under on Jacob Turner starts in 2012?
• Anyone have Roy Oswalt's phone number?
• Does Leyland put players in a position to fail?
• Kurt would rather fight a grizzly bear than deal with Mlivers or Hawk Harrelson.
• BRAD ELDRED BRAD ELDRED. And Ryan Ryan Strieby too.
• We give our thoughts on the 100th anniversary of Tiger Stadium (essentially, we miss it, but it's long past time to MOVE ON) and the most annoying and obnoxious Tigers fans ever, the Tiger Stadium Fan Club.
• Another lightning round from JohnMoz!

Brandon Inge mentions:Lots, but  almost all are in the first 15 minutes.

Blogs mentioned: Walkoff Woodward, Tiger Tales, Fangraphs, Designate Robertson.

Books mentioned: You can buy Lee Panas' highly recommended book on sabermetrics, "Beyond Batting Average", by clicking here!

We LOVE to hear from you. If you have any questions or comments about the podcast, please email us at BYBPodcast at Gmail.com.

I ran into a problem putting together this week's Bless You Boys Podcast. Donner's manservant and myself have no lives, so we were available. But Allison had tickets to a game, Rob has to study for finals non-stop, Melissa had work commitments and Patrick is out on the west coast, which means we'd still be recording at midnight eastern time.

So what to do? Get a couple of special guests!

Special guest 1: Grey, best known for his @Spacemnkymafia and @Baseballin140 Twitter accounts, also a contributor to Walkoff Woodward and Detroit Tigers Scorecard.

Special guest 2: Former Bless You Boys Managing Editor Ian Casselberry (@IanCass), now blogging full time for Bleacher Report as a lead MLB writer at Horsehide Chronicles. And please, please, please like Casselbloggy on Facebook!

BYB Podcast 35 has a running time of 1:28 and features Kurt Mensching, Al Beaton, Ian Casselberry and Grey. Why so much longer than normal? We were having too much fun!

Topics:

• The Detroit Tigers are in 1st place, just as planned.
• Justin Verlander needs 131 pitches to beat the Kansas City Royals, fans have a conniption fit.
• Certain Detroit columnists play the "Mark my words, this will come back to bite the Tigers in September" card after Verlander's 131 pitch outing.
• Rick Porcello has been good.
• Max Scherzer has been bipolar.
• The Tigers' offense has been average so far. Why?
• Miguel Cabrera has been slumping, that's why.
• First half Ryan Raburn is in full effect. Live with it, because second half Ryan Raburn rakes. And he's not going to be DFA'ed.
• Brandon Inge returns, civil war breaks out in the Tigers fan base.
• Clete Thomas is claimed by the Minnesota Twins, hits a home run, fans blame Inge.
• First Jim Leyland lineup controversy involves, you guessed it, Inge. Fans blame Leyland and Inge.
• Doug Fister has a setback during injury rehab, the original timetable for a return seems to have been optimistic.
• Adam Wilk and Drew Smyly have been holding their own in Fister's absence.
• Over/under on Prince Fielder stolen bases.
• Thoughts on Pudge Rodriguez's Detroit legacy on the day he announces his retirement from baseball.
• As Ian is writing about the National League, we tell him how much we prefer the American League style of baseball. Though Ian does agree the double switch is not all that.
• @PhilCokesBrain releases his Spring 2012 Tiger Twitter Power Rankings, Tigers Twittersphere goes nuts.
• Last week we gave our favorite journalist Twitter feeds. This week we recommend our favorite baseball related (but not media related) Twitter feeds.
• Letters from listeners included a trivia question and we are asked about our favorite baseball books.

Brandon Inge mentions: There's too much Inge this week. Oh, Lord, there's too much Inge.

Blogs mentioned: Brain Matters, Horsehide Chronicles, Sweaty Men Endeavors.

Baseball related Twitter feeds recommended: @PhilCokesBrain, @AlmostHenning, @TrippingOlney, @FakeLeyland, @OldHossRadbourn, @Spacemnkymafia

Baseball books recommended: "National Pastime: Sports, Politics, and the Return of Baseball to Washington, D.C." by Barry Svrluga, "You Gotta Have Wa" by Robert Whiting, "Bless You Boys: Diary of the Detroit Tigers' 1984 Season" by Sparky Anderson and Dan Ewald, "'84: The Last of the Great Tigers--Untold Stories From an Amazing Season" by Eli Zaret,  "The Natural" by Bernard Malamud,  "Ball Four" by Jim Bouton

We LOVE to hear from you. If you have any questions or comments about the podcast, please email us at BYBPodcast at Gmail.com.

Kurt, Allison and Al revel in what was a hugely successful season opening home stand for the Detroit Tigers in the latest Bless You Boys Podcast!

BYB Podcast 34 has a running time of 1:11 and features Kurt Mensching, Allison Hagen and Al Beaton.

Topics:

• Another BYB Meetup reminder!
  
• Thanks to Baroque being unable to sleep, there is now a FanPost for ALL of your fantasy rosterbation needs. If you do so in the game threads, we will mock you mercilessly in the next podcast!
• Everyone on the Tigers is off to a fast start...save for a few of the usual suspects.
• There's lots to like and very little of concern after a 5-1 home stand.
• Who is the Tigers' week 1 MVP?
• Ohhhh, Jackson! Austin Jackson, that is...
• The fact there are no wins from Justin Verlander, or anyone else in the starting rotation, during the 5-1 start is as fluky as it comes.
• Doug Fister to the DL, Adam Wilk joins Drew Smyly in the rotation.
• Daniel Schlereth is the new BYB whipping boy. Is it deserved? Allison says yes, Kurt says no.
• The Cult is no more. Clete Thomas designated for assignment.
• Victor Martinez is still not ruled out for a late season return from knee surgery..but don't count on it, either.
• As expected, there are more John Lannan rumors. Expect nothing to come of them.
• The Tigers seem to be doing just fine despite the baseball hipsters decrying the dire straits of the minor league system for the past several years.
• Time for Boston Red Sox fans to panic? We sure hope so!
• The small market Cincinnati Reds give long-term, mega-dollars contracts to Joey Votto and Brandon Phillips. Crazy smart...or  crazy insane?
• Ozzie Guillen says he loves him some Fidel Castro, gets suspended 5 games. Chicago White Sox fans point toward the Miami Marlins...and laugh.
• Letters from listeners, where we recommend a few Twitter accounts from journalists we think are worth following.
• Red Wings fan Al and Sharks Kurt both think Brendan Shanahan is an idiot. It needed to be said.

Brandon Inge mentions: We are on an a hiatus from from all things Inge.

Blogs mentioned: Hardball Times

Twitter feeds recommended: Micheal Rosenberg, Bob Wojnowski, Joe Posnanski, Tony Paul, Matthew B. Mowrey.

We LOVE to hear from you. If you have any questions or comments about the podcast, please email us at BYBPodcast at Gmail.com.

Opening day is a holiday for the city of Detroit, the state of Michigan and Detroit Tigers fans across the globe. But the Bless You Boys Podcast doesn't take this holiday off!

BYB Podcast 33 has a running time of 1:19 and features Kurt Mensching, Allison Hagen and Al Beaton.

Topics:

All things opening day! 

Brandon Inge was...booed? On opening day? I'm not kidding!

Opening day Justin Verlander was mid-season Justin Verlander, not the struggling in April Justin Verlander.

Brennan Boesch doesn't like to take pitches, does he?

The Tigers are on track to hit into 486 double plays in 2012.

Prince Fielder flashes the leather at 1st, but Miguel Cabrera has an adventure at 3rd.

The streak is over, Jose Valverde blows a save. Some might say it's actually a good thing.

Why did the Big Potato blow the save? He was jinxed by Detroit Lions QB Matthew Stafford!

It's a walkoff win, thanks to the bats of Jhonny Peralta, Alex Avila and Austin Jackson!

One thing we've learned from using Twitter on a daily basis: Follow the beat writers, do not follow columnists.

The 25 man roster is more like a 28 man.

Meet Drew Smyly!

ALL THINGS INGE!

To think there is a trade market for Inge is laughable...but some local writers keep spewing the idea, anyway.

What's more surprising? All 50 ESPN baseball writers pick the Tigers to win the AL Central, ESPN actually has 50 baseball writers or ESPN has 50 smart people?

17 Tigers make the ESPN Top 500 MLB Players list.

Almost all power rankings are silly.

There's a lightning round in which we come up with a new rule when it comes to discussing your fantasy teams in comment threads.

Brandon Inge mentions: Too many...but there will be a ban on Inge talk until he comes off the DL. We all need the break. Seriously.

Blogs mentioned: Baseball Nation, Hardball Talk, Hustle Belt, Walkoff Woodward

We LOVE to hear from you. If you have any questions or comments about the podcast, please email us at BYBPodcast at Gmail.com.