Month: September 2012

What Version of History Will Tigers Write Starting Tonight?

Among the many advantages of getting older are the comparisons one can make to provide context to current events. This also counts as a disadvantage. Too much context can set a person (i.e., me) into a downward spiral into doom and superstition.

I don’t know about you, but when I think about the Tigers’ predicament – a mere one game behind the White Sox with 10 games to go – my immediate reflex is to size it up against 2006, 2007 and 2009. Problem is, it rarely applies. At least not neatly.

Of course I’m doing this to make myself feel better about things when every instinct tells me the Tigers will lose two of three to the Royals starting tonight and collapse entirely next weekend in Minneapolis. See? If I say that, then the reverse psychology plays into it. I’ve lowered my own expectations, and if this plays out as I predict I won’t be disappointed.

Who am I kidding? I’ll be in a state of despair.

But then again, the Tigers know what’s at stake. They have 10 games to show that the previous 152 were just them messing with us, their manager and everyone who predicted them to run away with the A.L. Central.

This is legitimate reasoning, right? Right?

Okay, let’s look back on 2009. After 152 games, the Tigers were 82-70 (two games better than today’s club). They played .500 ball over the last 10 games, lost a three-game lead and were forced to play Game 163. The Tigers’ opponents in those 10 games were not powerhouses:

  • Indians: 61-90 – .404
  • White Sox: 74-80 – .481
  • Twins: 79-73 – .516

These were the clubs’ records when the Tigers entered series against them. Let’s look ahead to this week. Here are the records of the Tigers’ final 2012 opponents:

  • Royals: 70-82 – .461
  • Twins: 64-89 – .418

Clearly two winnable, borderline sweepable series. (Though sweeping a home doubleheader appears to be beyond the Tigers’ capabilities these days so, one win at a time, boys.)

Whatever happens in the next week and a half, the Tigers will be crafting a narrative that we will refer to again in the future, when another underachieving team is an eyelash from the playoffs and falls short wins with a flourish.

Just like 1987.

Is Detroit Still a Great Baseball Town?

With the Tigers marching toward three million in attendance for 2012, this might seem more than borderline preposterous. But stick with me.

I lobbed a tweet last week about how Tigers fans are coming unglued online and on the air. I could even take it a step further and suggest the faithful are assuming the personality traits – obsession, paranoia, rage – of Yankees fans.

Last Thursday morning, listening to Power Alley on MLB Network Radio, a Tigers fan called in to rail on Joaquin Benoit and how he just can’t be trusted, Leyland shouldn’t use him in the 8th inning anymore. Why? Well, he allowed four runs to score in an 8-6 win over the White Sox. And, well, because.

Hosts Mike Ferrin and Jim Duquette politely disagreed that Benoit was a problem – much less the problem, as the caller also suggested – and that in fact he’d been quite good of late and for the majority of the season. They acknowledged his stretch of surrendering home runs (looking at you, Taylor Teagarden) but that he’s certainly not someone about whom Tigers fans should waste energy.

This is just one example. Since April, Tigers fans have been scorching Brandon Inge, Ryan Raburn, Jose Valverde and, of course, Jim Leyland*.

*Recently Reds GM Walt Jocketty was on Power Alley and he answered a question from the hosts about Dusty Baker‘s approach to resting players throughout the season, even into September. Jocketty defended his manager and talked about how the great managers know who needs a rest and when – and how this can payoff late in the season. He mentioned Leyland by name as another skipper who knows when to give his players a day off. Then he said something like, “I heard on this show a Tigers fan was complaining about Jim Leyland resting players. Jim’s one of the best in the game at this and I can’t believe they’re complaining about it.”

How did this happen? Is it all because of pre-season expectations and the season drawing to a close? Is it the number of outlets fans have to air even the flimsiest arguments? Yes to both, I think.

I acknowledge this is likely coming across as Old Man Thinking and to some degree it is. What’s really puzzling to me is that Detroit has a reputation as being a great baseball town. And it is.

Or it was. Right now, I’m not so sure.

I’ve never witnessed such vitriol being sprayed in so many places against a manager and his players – ever. Fans are treating Leyland like they do their political villain of choice. (Two years ago I wrote my case for Leyland and stand by it today.) It wasn’t long ago that the Tigers had managers the likes of Buddy Bell, Larry Parrish and, inexplicably, Luis Pujols. People: Luis Pujols.

Granted, you could argue (and I’d have a hard time disagreeing with you) that the days of Bell, Parrish and Pujols were dreadful seasons in which most Tigers fans were apathetic at best. But people still went to the games, followed the team and called into the sports talk shows to complain about Bobby Higginson. Some people cared … but not many, and not much. But still.

Does all the moaning and groaning mean Tigers fans are as engaged as ever? Or does it mean Detroit has lost its collective mind when it comes to baseball and the expectations of a team that, for an enternity, was an embarrassment?

What do you think?

It’s Just One Win, Right?

It’s kind of sad to think that one early-ish September win can pull a population of baseball fans, or at least a couple dozen, back from the brink of major-league despair.

Sad, but true.

If you suddenly feel a smidge more confident or optimistic —  however guarded — I’m with you. And to say it’s a delicate balance between “we’re back in this” and “don’t forget the weekend set in Cleveland”, well … yeah.

With the exception of 10-game lead, the Tigers are in the best possible circumstances: two-games back and facing the White Sox with Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander in consecutive games.

I’ll try to enjoy these last two in Chicago — and try not to think about the Indians.