Tigers' Shelton joins elite group

DETROIT — Chris Shelton is hotter than his hair color.

Plucked off baseball's scrap heap a couple of years ago, Detroit's redheaded first baseman is now more than a curiosity or cute, opening-week story.

Instead, Shelton, who played at Cottonwood High School, Salt Lake Community College and the University of Utah, is proving he has staying power with nine home runs through 13 games, putting him in an elite group in baseball history.

Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals hit the same impressive mark Monday night. He and Shelton lead the majors and are just the fourth and fifth players to homer at least nine times in their team's first 13 games.

Mike Schmidt hit 11 home runs during the first 13 games of 1976; Larry Walker (1997) and Luis Gonzalez (2001) also had nine homers in their first 13 games, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

"I'm not going to lie. I've paid attention to that a little bit," Shelton said. "When you turn on the TV, that's all you see. It feels unreal to put me with all those names.

"This past week has been a little tougher to enjoy the success I'm having because we're not winning."

The Tigers won their first five games, the last AL team to lose a game, then dropped six of their next eight.

Heading into Tuesday night's game at Oakland, Shelton was among baseball's leaders with a .471 batting average, 17 RBIs, 24 hits, including five doubles and three triples — an impressive total for the 6-foot, 215-pounder.

"He's a real good young hitter who has the potential to be an outstanding old hitter," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "He's the real deal.

"He'll have times when he struggles, but right now, he's hitting pretty much everything."

Shelton has been batting sixth in Detroit's lineup, and Leyland said he would be a "blooming idiot" to move him. Leyland also said he isn't thinking about resting him soon.

"He's a young fella," Leyland said.

Shelton turns 26 in June, giving Detroit hope it might finally have a player to count on in the years to come.

The Tigers have made countless moves that haven't worked out while going 12 straight seasons without a winning record. But they found a gem off the scrap heap on Dec. 15, 2003, when the Pittsburgh Pirates left Shelton unprotected at the winter meetings in the Rule 5 draft.