The President Loves Joel Zumaya

During a recent interview with ESPN's Karl Ravech, President George Bush talked about baseball. During that interview he was asked for his thoughts on the World Series, and the President said he believed in the Tigers, and even mentioned Joel Zumaya by name, sort of.

This pleased Zumaya.

"I guess he likes guys who throw hard," Zumaya said before the Tigers' 1-0 victory over the Twins on Tuesday night. "That's pretty cool the president knows who I am. Hopefully, I'll get to meet him, but I can't be focusing on that. I have to focus on getting back. "

Not so fast, Joel. Yes, he was kind enough to refer to you as a flamethrower, but he actually didn't single you out by name at first. In fact, he called you Joel Zumala.

THE PRESIDENT: I think Detroit will be in the World Series. I think they'll nose out Boston. I know that may be counterintuitive, but their young pitching is great, and they've got the flamethrower Zumala back.

KR: [Joel] Zumaya.

THE PRESIDENT: Zumaya ... Zumala, Zumaya. I think they'll be pretty tough.

Of course the only things Tigers fans or Zumaya care about is when he'll be pitching for the Tigers again. At this point in his rehab, Zumaya isn't having any trouble with his finger, but is just working on building his arm strength back. He's still on pace to be back by mid-August.