DOWN THE LINE

Three Days in ... Motown

It’s not happening in New York or Boston, so ESPN hasn’t noticed, but the Detroit Tigers are enjoying a summer for the ages.

The Tigers of Alan Trammell, Lou Whitaker and Kirk Gibson won 104 games and the World Series in 1984. The Tigers of Denny McLain and Mickey Lolich won 103 games and the World Series in 1968.

Yet the Tigers of Justin Verlander, Jeremy Bonderman and Joel Zumaya could set the standard for excellence for one of baseball’s proudest franchises. The Tigers are on pace to win 109 games, the most since the club set up shop in 1901.

The Tigers are winning two of every three games, a rate unprecedented in Detroit and rare anywhere. The Angels never have done it. The Dodgers last did it in Brooklyn. The almighty New York Yankees did it three times with Joe DiMaggio, once with Babe Ruth, once with Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle, once with Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera.

The Minnesota Twins, with Johan Santana and Francisco Liriano at the front of the rotation and Joe Nathan in the bullpen, could stop any team from advancing in the playoffs, if they get there. So a preview, perhaps:

The probables: Monday -- Liriano vs. Zach Miner; Tuesday -- Brad Radke vs. Nate Robertson; Wednesday -- Santana vs. Bonderman.

**

The Team to Be Named Later

The Angels made the name “Anaheim” vanish at Angel Stadium, so the city of Anaheim retaliated in kind.

In soliciting development proposals for the Angel Stadium parking lot, a city document touts a thriving tourist district highlighted by Disneyland, the Arrowhead Pond and the stadium. The document calls the Pond “home of the Anaheim Ducks” and the stadium the “home of the 2002 World Champion baseball team.”

Ladies and gentlemen: Your Los Angeles Angels of ... oh, never mind.

**

The City to Be Named Later

The A’s could make the name “Oakland” vanish from their uniforms, but they would actually move. They’re looking at Fremont for now, at a site about 25 miles south of Oakland’s McAfee Coliseum.

If they don’t have a deal for a new ballpark in the Bay Area by the start of next season, owner Lew Wolff says he’ll ask Commissioner Bud Selig to allow the A’s to explore out-of-town options.

“We’d ask for permission at that point,” Wolff said.

The San Francisco Giants would help the A’s pack and throw them a going-away party too. As Barry Bonds sulks off into the sunset, nothing could help keep the Giants’ turnstiles clicking more than the A’s leaving -- and leaving the Giants as the only team around.

But permission is a far cry from departure. The Florida Marlins, just as frustrated as the A’s at playing second fiddle to an NFL team in an oversized football stadium, got permission last fall to check out other cities. They did, and they’re taking another run at a new ballpark in the Miami area.

**

One More Thing From ... Ty Wigginton

The Dodgers soured on Joel Guzman after he sulked when Matt Kemp was promoted ahead of him. They traded Guzman last week to Tampa Bay, where he can hang among kindred spirits, where “top prospect” and “malcontent” are synonymous.

Delmon Young has served a 50-game suspension for throwing a bat at an umpire, Elijah Dukes has been suspended twice, and B.J. Upton has been arrested and charged with driving under the influence -- all this season. Nonetheless, in a USA Today story, the trio ripped the Devil Rays for not promoting them all to the majors.

“Those guys up there shower in Evian,” Dukes said. “Here, we use sewer water.”

Wigginton, an actual major leaguer, begged to differ.

“Actually, we get individual scrubs from the trainers,” he joked to Tampa Bay reporters. “I go back there and sit in a big Jacuzzi, and [trainers Paul] Harker and Ronnie Porterfield give me a sponge bath.”

-- Bill Shaikin