Detroit is Heaven for Kenny Rogers [J. Mark English]

If heaven ain't a lot like Detroit, I don't wanna go. If heaven ain't a lot like Detroit, I'd just a soon stay home. If they ain't got no 8 mile, like they do in the D...Just send me to hell or Salt Lake City, it would be about the same to me... - Uncle Kracker

Heaven was not New York for Kenny Rogers. Neither was Texas. In fact, both places were hell, or at least Salt Lake City.

Lets go back in time and remember a certain game in which Mr. Rogers was pitching for the Yankees in the mid 90's. He took a no-hitter...a perfect game...into the 8th inningand then lost the game.

Lets skip a bit further ahead where he came in as a reliever for the New York Mets in the NLCS, game 6, 1999. With the bases loaded in the bottom of the 11th, he walked in the winning run, letting the Atlanta Braves advance to the World Series at the expense of a walk from Kenny Rogers.

And then look towards just recently when a camera man got in the way of Kenny Rogers, and he shoved him to the ground along with the camera.

Now tonight, the 40 year old Rogers, faced another 40 year old...Randy Johnson. Until tonight, the only thing these two pitchers had in common was their shared history of shoving camera men aside.

Randy Johnson, although 40, was the bull pitcher...the go-to guy. The Ace. Sure he was not pitching like it as of late...but this is the guy who ran all over hitters for the past decade.

Kenny Rogers came into tonight with nothing but contempt from Yankee fans...and he had not had the best of them for sometime.

But if we learned anything from 2004...when the Red Sox finally bested the Yankees...its that you cannot keep a guy down forever. Tonight, Kenny Rogers, as a Tiger, roared back, and now all of New York can hear just how good this 40 year old has become.

The Yankees were shut out tonight, 6-0, in front of a raucous Detroit crowd. Detroit must be heaven...at least for tonight...at least for Kenny Rogers.

Also, congratulations are in store for the Oakland Athletics, who took care of business today, and swept the Minnesota Twins. They will await to play the winner of the Yankees/Tigers series.