Grand

A lot of these guys, you get the sense their checking off their "community outreach" box. Granderson seems like the real deal.

Celia Bobrowsky, the director of community affairs for Major League Baseball, held the same position with the Tigers during Granderson’s first season, 2004. Her first impression of Granderson was that “the baseball god had arrived for the community of Detroit.”

“On one of his first school visits, he didn’t leave until he spoke with every single kid,” Bobrowsky said. “And I mean every single kid. He got down to their level, spoke eye to eye. They hugged him. He hugged them back.”

Getting traded to the Yankees tugged him from that embrace, from a city that overlooked his flaws as a player — high strikeout totals, struggles against left-handed pitching — and valued his qualities as a person. The Tigers have contended they made the deal as a cost-saving measure — Granderson will make nearly $24 million over the next three seasons — but it has been difficult convincing their fans that there wasn’t some way to retain their most popular player.

“Oh, no, what a mistake,” said Jalen Rose, the former N.B.A. star and a native Detroiter, who played in Granderson’s third annual celebrity basketball game in suburban Detroit last month. “He cared as much about Detroit and the people there as he did about the Tigers.”

In past off-seasons, Granderson has served as an ambassador for Major League Baseball, traveling to Italy, Britain, China and South Africa, but the trade disrupted his schedule. Now, for instance, he wanted to travel to Arizona for a tutorial with the Yankees’ hitting coach, Kevin Long.

But Granderson still found time to visit schools around Chicago and Detroit this winter, participate at sign-up day at his old Little League, run his celebrity basketball game, and host a rally at his old middle school in support of a referendum to restore such extracurricular activities as the science fair. (As an eighth grader, Granderson earned a spot in the state science fair with an experiment on the reaction of peanuts to light.)

Just last week, he stood beside Michelle Obama at the White House as it unveiled a campaign aimed at reducing obesity among children. Afterward, he spoke with Arne Duncan, the secretary of education, for 10 minutes.

“People ask me all the time how I have time to do this, but I’m single and I don’t have any kids,” Granderson said. “I don’t have the responsibilities of teammates who are married. If I can find even an hour here or there to do something, I still have 23 hours to rest or see my friends and family. You look at it that way, it’s easy to find time.”

Granderson said he wanted to settle in New York before deciding how and when to get involved in the community. One potential initiative involves Rosetta Stone, the language-learning software, which Granderson would like to see used in schools. He also said he expected to play a big role in the Yankees’ Hope Week, which was initiated last season.

Ben Shpigel also knows better. Detroit didn't overlook his high K rate and struggles against left-handers because he's such a nice guy. They did so because he compensates for a lot of that with speed and great defense. The Yankees lost, potentially, a lot of offense with the departure of Damon, but they improved their outfield defense immensely.

Oh, and Evan Bayh is an asshole.