The Mitchell Report and the subsequent Congressional hearings involving would-be Hall of Famer Roger Clemens, fitness trainer Brian McNamee, and pitcher Andy Pettitte has struck fear in the heart of Major League Baseball.
        Everybody is looking over their shoulders.
        If players of the stature of Clemens and Barry Bonds can be publicly pilloried, no one is immune.
        On my second day in training camp, I was temporarily denied access to the Tigers’ Marchant Stadium clubhouse.
        “I don’t know if the media is allowed in,” clubhouse manager Jim Schmakel said. “Give me a minute and let me check. Everything has changed in baseball. I don’t want to get into trouble.”
        When Magglio Ordonez went to the bench during batting practice to get a blister on his hand taped, two photographers rushed to focus on the utterly routine procedure.
        “Can I get your name?” one of the photographers asked Tigers’ assistant trainer Doug Teter when he finished taping.    
        “No,” Teter replied. “I don’t need my name in the paper.”
        As a group, baseball trainers are concerned that their profession is being tainted by the conduct of personal trainers such as McNamee, who focus solely on conditioning and fitness rather than on medical issues.
        They have asked that they henceforth be referred to as “athletic trainers.”
        OK. Make that, assistant athletic trainer Teter.
       
        

        One of the annual perks for fans coming to spring training _ in addition to getting to see their favorite players up close and personal, of course _ is the opportunity to relive past glories with former Tiger stars such as Al Kaline, Willie Horton, and Lou Whitaker, who are all in camp as instructors.
        “There’s Al Kaline!” one of those fans shouted when he spotted the Tigers Hall of Famer, in uniform, monitoring a drill involving the outfielders at Marchant Stadium
        “Hey, Al! Hey, Al!”
        “Thanks for the memories!” chimed in a woman.
        “I don’t think he heard you,” the man standing behind her said.
        “He’s not supposed to hear good. He’s 70 years old,” interjected another.
        “He sure looks good for 70,” said a fourth gent, summing up.
        Actually, Kaline is 73.
        But, as the Tigers prepare to celebrate the 40th anniversary of their 1968 world championship, who’s counting?
        On Tuesday, Kaline’s grandson, Colin, will play against his grandpa’s team when the Tigers open the exhibition season with their annual outing against Florida Southern College, which is located here in Lakeland.
        Colin Kaline, who starred at Birmingham Groves, is the Florida Southern Moccasin’s second baseman.
        The Tigers selected young Kaline in the 25th round of last summer’s amateur draft, but he chose to go to school.
        Suffice to say, grandpa could not be prouder.
       

        Back in the day , on the first full day of spring training, the door of the Marchant Stadium clubhouse would burst open and the players would charge out to take a ceremonial lap around the field.
        Then all 40 or 50 of them would spend the next week standing around on one diamond with one pitching mound and one batter’s box, wasting time watching one another work.
        On Wednesday, the Tigers used all six diamonds and eight bullpen mounds in their adjacent minor league training complex to get a lot more work done in a much more timely and efficient manner.
        Why nobody ever thought of doing that back in the 1960s or ‘70s is mind boggling to me.
        That isn’t the only thing about spring training that has changed over the years.
        Players used to show up out of shape after the winter layoff and use the first few weeks to sweat off added pounds. That, in fact, was why spring training was first created more than a century ago.
        Now players work out all winter, many with their personal trainers, and report to camp ready to compete.
        When Sparky Anderson managed the Tigers, he regularly dined at Mario’s, the nicest Italian restaurant in Lakeland. Sparky had his own corner table where his photo, and those of other Tiger dignitaries, adorned the nearby walls.
        Now Jim Leyland sometimes eats at Olive Garden and nobody even knows he is there.
 

        A behind-the-scenes look at the first week of spring training:
        Joel Zumaya has been one of the first Tigers to arrive at Marchant Stadium each morning. But when the rest of the players finish their 30 minutes of stretching exercises and adjourn to the adjacent diamonds, Zumaya heads back to the clubhouse. He is still not allowed to throw or participate in the pitching drills.
        “I feel bad for him,” Jim Leyland admits.
        Vance Wilson, who hopes to resume catching by March 20  and be ready to play  on Opening Day, isn’t even allowed to throw the ball back to the pitchers  in the bullpen.
        “They don’t want to put any unnecessary strain on my elbow,” he explains. “(Bullpen catcher Scott) Pickens is my ‘thrower-backer.’ ”
        More good news on Gary Shefield: Leyland says hitting coach Lloyd McClendon reports that the Tigers’ designated hitter “is swinging the bat unbelievable.”
        Rookie pitcher Rick Porcello is 19. Leyland’s son, Patrick, is 16. The gap is narrowing.
        “That’s when you know you’re getting old,” Leyland says.
        A few eyebrows were raised when Curtis Granderson walked into the Marchant stadium clubhouse the other day with a Burger King bag in hand, rather than his customary McDonald’s.
        “I mix and match,” explained the Tigers’ budget-minded 20-20-20-20 centerfielder, who recently signed a new $30 million contract.
        To which Leyland quipped: “If Curtis Granderson is going to McDonald’s he’s probably talking to the guy about buying a McDonald’s.”
        How starved are Tiger fans for baseball?
        I spied one fellow snapping photos of the sign that marks Tigers’ owner Mike Ilitch’s empty parking space, and a elderly woman leaning halfway out of the window of her husband’s moving pick-up truck to  take a picture of Hall of Famer Al Kaline _ who was driving away in his own car at the time.

LAKELAND, Fla. _ Judging by the unprecedented number of people I have seen at Tigertown the past two days, more folks than ever will be turning out to watch the Tigers get into shape for the 2008 season.

If you are one of thousands planning to make the trip south, here are a few things you need to know:
1. Formal workouts for pitchers and catchers begin on Friday. The first full-squad workout will be Feb. 20. Until the exhibition games begin on Feb. 26, the daily practice sessions will take place at the Tigertown minor league complex, across the old airport runway from Marchant Stadium.
2. Plan to arrive early. The players take the field about 10 a.m. Workouts generally last until noon or 1 p.m. Don’t show up in the late afternoon (as many fans do) and expect to see your favorites.
Admission is free and there are some small bleachers set up near the practice fields. There are also plenty of autograph and photo opportunities as the players walk from the major league clubhouse to the minor league fields.
3. Once the exhibition games begin, things become more structured although there are usually some players working out at Tigertown even when the Tigers are on the road.
4. If you are feeling really adventurous, the Tigers will conduct a tryout camp at Marchant Stadium on March 4.
No pre-registration or participation fee is required, although you must be at least 18.
Don’t get your hopes up, but if nothing else, it would be a chance to play on the same field where the Tigers do during spring training.
See you soon!

        The suddenly free-spending Tigers will make their big league exhibition season debut on Feb. 27 against the New York Mets _ a practice game that, on paper, looks like a preview of the 2008 World Series.
        But don’t start counting your pennants before they are hoisted up the flagpole.
        Just ask the Mets. They were the best team in the National League last year _ and they didn’t even make the playoffs.
        And there is no doubt in my mind that the Tigers, on paper, had the best team in the American League Central last summer. There is also no doubt that the Cleveland Indians were the best team on the ball field.
        OK, everybody knows the Tigers’ offense is going to be awesome this year. It will be runs, runs, runs galore.
        It is the Tigers’ pitching staff that has people, including manager Jim Leyland, concerned.
        Still, with that lineup, I’ll take my chances with the starting rotation of Justin Verlander, Jeremy Bonderman, Dontrelle Willis, Kenny Rogers and Nate Robertson _ a rotation that won 51 games last year.
        Cautiously conceding first-place in the rugged A.L. Central to the new and improved Tigers _ it will be their first division title since 1987 _ here’s how the rest of the division stacks up:
        2. Cleveland _ The Indians, who tied the Boston Red Sox for most regular-season wins last year, chose to rest on their laurels and continue to try to build from within, adding only reliever Masahide Kobayashi and infielder Jamey Carroll _ both of whom are unheralded and 33.
        Thanks to the addition of Kobayashi, the Indians will at least be the odds-on favorites in any hot-dog eating contests that may come up this summer.
        But can Fausto Carmona (19-8) and Joe Borowski (45 saves) do it again? I don’t think so.
        3. Chicago _ The Chisox added slugger Nick Swisher and shortstop Orlando Cabrera, improving what was baseball’s worst offense in terms of runs scored and on-base percentage last year. But in doing so they had to part with  proven pitcher Jon Garland, leaving them with just two solid starters  _ Mark Buehrle and Javier Vasquez.
        The Sox believe their bullpen will be better this year, thanks to the addition of Octavio Dotel and Scott Linebrink. They’ll need it.
        4. Minnesota _ While the Tigers have been busy swapping prize prospects (Andrew Miller, Cameron Maybin, Jair Jurrjens, Gorkys Hernandez) for pricey, proven stars  Miguel Cabrera, Dontrelle Willis and Edgar Renteria, the budget-minded Twins were paring payroll (Johan Santana, Torii Hunter, Carlos Silva).
        Any lineup that includes Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau is formidable _ more so now that the Twins have picked up Dmitri Young’s not-so-little brother, Delmon. But the Twins’ homefield edge in the noisy Metrodome won’t be enough to offset their losses elsewhere, not to mention the lack of experience in their starting rotation.
        5. Kansas City _ Leyland loves to expound about how the Royals are on the right track. But the Royals still have a long road ahead of them, especially in this division.