ARLINGTON, Texas -- After greeting teammates, doing a round of interviews and stowing his bats in his locker, Mikie Mahtook sat down at a table in the middle of the Detroit Tigers clubhouse and, like he's done so many times before, started working on a crossword puzzle.
It's almost like he never left.
But the month at Triple-A Toledo between his surprise demotion on April 11 and his return on Wednesday wasn't always easy for Mahtook.
"This year, never in my wildest dreams did I anticipate being sent down," he said before Wednesday's game. "You learn that you never take this game for granted.