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The Minnesota Twins, with their 4-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers last night, have finally moved ahead of the Chicago White Sox for second in the American League Central Division. There are many similarities between the Twins and the Tigers.
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The Twins are 8 1/2 games behind the Tigers, but only 1 1/2 games behind the Yankees in the race for Wild Card. The Tigers still have the best record in all of major league baseball.
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Actually, since the Yankees are in first, they're not "in" the wild card race right now, and the Twins are the current wild card leader.
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Plaid--good point. I forgot about winning the ALEast title. OK, the Twins lead the Red Sox for the Wild Card. But the Yankees, Red Sox, Twins and White Sox are all within a few games of each other. Of those four, it looks like two will be in the playoffs--one the AL East titleist, the other the Wild Card. That is assuming the Tigers do not collapse and their 8 1/2 game lead for the AL Central title evaporates.
There should be some kind of consolation prize for whichever team in the AL West finishes above .500.
[ August 11, 2006, 06:49 PM: Message edited by: Ron Lambert ]
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Some of the Tigers may be feeling the pressure, which they will have to learn to deal with better, if they are going to compete down to the wire and be successful in the playoffs. The errors by Tiger shortstop Carlos Guillen and by third baseman Brandon Inge opened the way for four unearned runs. It is too bad a superb pitching performance by Ken Rogers was wasted. Inge's error was especially astonishing, because he had plenty of time on a routine play, and is normally very accurate in his throws. Instead of throwing the ball to second as he has done hundreds of times to start a double play, he threw the ball 12 feet wide of second, out of the reach of the second baseman, and clear out into right field.
As a result of the previous game where Tiger rookie phenom Justin Verlander was hit all over the place, as he has never been before, despite the fact that he had good stuff and good control, the Tigers' coaching staff has come to believe that the White Sox have spotted something Verlander has been doing that tips off his pitches. Some Chicago batters waited patiently through several fast balls, then were ready and timed it perfectly when Verlander threw a changeup. Their swings changed noticeably when another pitcher came in. Tigers' coaches are going over the video record carefully to try to spot whatever it is Verlander might be doing differently with each type of pitch. The White Sox, of course, deserve credit for spotting whatever it was they spotted. No other team seems to have done it. Verlander is 14-2 against other teams, but 0-3 against Chicago. Other Tiger pitchers have not had this problem with the White Sox.
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The Chicago White Sox succeeded in gaining the three-game sweep over the Tigers that they had built up so much as do or die for them. This is their answer to the fact that the Tigers still have the best record in the majors, so they can claim they are nonetheless a better team than the Tigers.
But the Tigers still lead the White Sox by 5 1/2 games, and have had the best record in the majors for three months now. And the Tigers can point to the fact that they have consistently beaten other teams that have consistently beaten the White Sox. By getting themselves up so single-mindedly for their games with the Tigers, the White Sox may actually be setting themselves up for a let-down in other games. They need to remember two things: (1) Just because they won the World Series last year, that does not mean they are the best team in baseball this year. And (2) only after the final won-lost records for the season are determined, and a final victory in the World Series is posted, is any team really given bragging rights for being the best team in baseball.
Tigers manager Jim Leyland, when asked before the recent series in Chicago, if this would be an all-important series to them, he said no, they still have to play Boston following their series with Chicago, and other teams after that. This demonstrates greater wisdom than White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, who declared that getting a sweep in their series with Detroit was all-important. Jim Leyland is very likely the smartest manager in baseball. He is the Tigers' real secret weapon.
Predictions: Watch the White Sox suffer a let-down, and lose several games now, and watch the Tigers take at least two out of three from the Red Sox, then maybe even sweep their four-game series with Texas. By the end of this week or the beginning of the next, the Tigers will lead the White Sox by 8 1/2 games, again. Then the White Sox will play the Tigers again, in Comerica Park (at home for the Tigers) this time. We will see if harsh reality begins to set in, then. Remember, the last time the Tigers played the White Sox at home (Comerica Park), the Tigers won the series, two out of three games.
[ August 14, 2006, 11:30 AM: Message edited by: Ron Lambert ]
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Where have the White Sox said that they're the best team in baseball?
And say all you want about Detroit beating all the teams that are beating the White Sox, but come playoff time, there's a 33% chance you'll be facing them in the first round, and their 3-9 record versus the Sox will be more telling than their 23-5 record against the Indians and Royals (compared to Chicago's 13-11 record versus the same).
Maybe wait until you win "at least two" in Boston and sweep Texas to start the cockiness. They couldn't take two from Boston in Detroit earlier this year, and now that we've finally been scoring some runs (11 yesterday, with none coming from Ortiz, who sat out, or Manny, who went hitless), we should be coming out of our slump.
And sweeping Texas is a pretty tall order, too, seeing as they're on a tear, scoring 51 runs in their current 5-game winning streak.
Just remember, having the best record doesn't mean you're the best team in baseball.
It would help to beat the good teams.
5-4 v. Oakland 2-3 v. Los Angeles 1-2 v. Boston 1-3 v. NY 3-9 v. Chicago 10-5 v. Minnesota (3-3 A.L. [after Liriano] and after they actually started playing baseball)
Maybe you should cross your fingers that you play the Twins in the first round. Of course, with the loss of Liriano, that seems like a remote possibility.
edit: I think Detroit's a good team, and are going to take the AL Central. All the posts I've made seemingly knocking the Tigers down a notch are...exactly that. I think you've made them out to be some sort of baseball juggernaut though, Ron, and they're just not.
Every year, there's that team that comes out of nowhere and uses that fire in their gut to just plain show up to every game they play. Last year it was the White Sox, so this year it's a little anticlimactic. They don't yet have the drive they did last year, but that doesn't make them better or worse than the Tigers--that makes them someone you don't want to play in the postseason, though.
For the same reason, I think the Yankees are going to pull out the AL East, much as it pains me to say so. The additions of Abreu and Wilson, Bernie's farewell season, and all the new, young blood in their lineup gives them the spark they so badly need. I think it may go sour, though, if both Matsui and Sheffield come back and start at left and first. Sitting Melky and/or Andy Phillips (not to mention turning Bernie into the fifth/sixth outfielder) will take more away from the team more than they could hope to gain in offensive firepower.
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I agree with you, Frisco, about the Yankees coming out ahead of the Red Sox. The loss of Veritek is a major blow that I do not think the Red Sox can overcome. It would be like the Tigers losing Pudge Rodriguez. The Tigers would still have Vance Wilson, who probably is good enough to be the starting catcher on most other teams. But he is not Hall of Fame-bound class like Rodriguez, and the Tigers would lose a vital spark. Veritek was on that level, before having to go on the DL.
The White Sox collapse has not begun yet--but then, they are playing the Royals, who are 41-78 on the season (.345). The Tigers beat the Red Sox last night, one of the six best teams in baseball, and still maintain a 5 1/2 game lead over the White Sox, and an 8 1/2 game lead over the Twins.
Most people would regard having the best won-loss record in all of baseball to being very close to equivalent to being the "best team" in baseball. When you maintain a substantial lead for the past three months, it has to mean something. The Tigers certainly are not going to apologize to the White Sox for having a better won-loss record than they do.
Next Monday, the White Sox will come to Comerica Park for a four-game series against the Tigers at home, surrounded by sellout crowds of Tigers fans. I'm not saying that will be an all-important series for the Tigers, but it could prove very interesting. The last series at Comerica Park the Tigers won the series, two games out of three. Each game, the Tigers become a little more mature, and a little more settled in the belief that they really deserve to be at the head of the pack, which they have since May 21.
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Actually, our problem is bigger than Varitek. Our pitching woes are catching up with us. With four of our starting pitchers on the DL, two for nearly the whole season, the bullpen has been overworked, and it's starting to show.
If I never hear the name Jason Johnson again, it'll be too soon. There's a reason the Indians let him go. He should be a Little League coach in Wyoming.
We're gonna have to stay within a few games of the Yanks until Nixon, Varitek, Foulke and Wakefield get back to even have a chance.
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The Tigers have won the first two games of the series, beating Boston's best pitchers, Beckett and Schilling. Tonight they go for the sweep in Fenway, with rookie phenom Justin Verlander on the mound against Dave Wells, who has spent much of the season on the DL.
Last night Tigers manager Jim Leyland's practice of using the team's deep bench strength to rest his starting players one at a time, so they will all be fresh in September, led to a strange situation. Utility infielder Omar Infante started at third, to give regular third baseman Brandon Inge the night off. But when the Tigers took a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning, Leyland put Inge in as a defensive move, and Infante was out of the game. Unfortunately, with two out and the game tied, second baseman Placido Polanco injured himself making a circus catch to save a run and possibly the game. The Tigers did not have anybody left to play second. So Vance Wilson came in to catch, and Pudge Rodiguez moved from catcher to second base. Pudge had never before played this position in his major league career, though he does regularly take infield practice, and has played first base. He used Polanco's glove. No one doubted his ability to catch, but there were real concerns whether he would be able to turn a double play. As it turned out, he was not tested on that. His only putout was a pop fly he caught, calling off the first baseman and right fielder.
Polanco, unfortunately, suffered a separated shoulder, and it is not yet certain how long he will have to be on the disabled list. It is possible he could be out the rest of the season. Utility infielder Ramon Santiago was recalled from the Tigers' AAA affiliate in Toledo, and Omar Infante will be the starting second baseman. Polanco was a .300 hitter and a good hitter in the clutch, so he will be missed.
Meanwhile the White Sox lost to the Royals, 4-2, so they dropped back to 6 1/2 games behind the Tigers.
Here is a question for the ages: Why is the national media still ignoring the Detroit Tigers?
[ August 16, 2006, 05:14 PM: Message edited by: Ron Lambert ]
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Yes, because the national SPORTS media is full of SPORTS liberals . Cute. To say nothing of the fact that Detroit is a Democratic stronghold.
I don't think they are being ignored, though maybe Sports news is sick of hyped up Detroit teams that don't come through in the end?
Most of the people I've talked to in Detroit will be satisfied if Detroit makes it to the first round of the playoffs and loses.
Hell, if the Lions even win five or six games, I'd call Detroit the best city in American major league sports.
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Actually, the answer to the question I asked is obvious. The national media is based in New York. So if you aren't the Yankees, Mets, or maybe Red Sox, then you are chopped liver. It isn't that they are liberals, they're just homers. Maybe they're east coast elitists, too. The national media has also been ignoring the White Sox, and they won the World Series last year.
Last night, the Tigers had to settle for winning two out of three against Boston in Fenway, when Dave Wells pitched well, and Verlander did not have sharp control of any of his pitches--giving up a career high of seven walks. But while the Tigers were losing 6-4, the White Sox were losing to the lowly Kansas City Royals, who beat them for the second game in a row in Chicago, this time 10-4. The White Sox remain 6 1/2 games behind the Tigers.
Magglio Ordonez should have caught a two-run homer hit by Ortiz. But Ordonez was not sufficiently aware of where the wall was (Fenway Park is a very demanding place for an outfielder), and hit it with his shoulder too soon, and was unable to jump when he needed to. Though the ball got over the fence, it was easily within his reach. That was the winning margin.
Tigers' rookie outfielder Brent Clevlen astonished everyone with his power. He was just called up from the minors a few weeks ago, and has been hitting very well and fielding flawlessly, and showing a strong and accurate arm, throwing strikes to home plate from center field to cut down runners. In last night's game, he belted a home run that was not only over the "Green Monster," but far, far, over the stadium wall. One camera angle showed it soaring deep into the night. His first visit, and he belts a homer clear out of Fenway! No one suspected he had that kind of power. Curtis Granderson had better get his act together and pull out of his batting slump, or he may lose the starting center field job to Clevlen.
By the way, Omar Infante did well his first game as starting second baseman, after Placido Polanco went on the DL. He had some good hits, and made some sparkling plays. One he was running out into the outfield grass, his back to the diamond, when he caught a sharp bouncing ball, then jumped up and whirled and threw while still in midair, relying solely on arm strength, his momentum still carrying him away from the diamond. His throw was on target and just in time to retire the runner. It was the kind of play an infielder dreams of making.
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quote:Originally posted by Frisco: I think the Yankees are going to pull out the AL East, much as it pains me to say so.
Much as it pains me to say so, I'm not totally confident that the Yankees WILL end up in first. Their starting pitching is uneven -- Mussini and Wang are doing great, but Johnson's been so-so, and they haven't been able to find reliable 4th and 5th starters...
5-game Yankees-Red Sox series starts tomorrow! Yeah!!
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quote:Here is a question for the ages: Why is the national media still ignoring the Detroit Tigers?
I'm not sure what planet you're living on, but on Earth, ESPN, considered by some to be a large sports body, is in love with Detroit. They're not all that big of a story at the moment, though, since their hold on the central is pretty firm. The big stories in the AL are Chicago holding off Minnesota, Boston, and NY for the wild card and Boston fighting NY for the AL East.
I have to give Detroit respect for actually taking two in Boston, much as we've been reeling. But 16-17 since the ASB, and we're only 1 and a half behind the Yanks.
Hopefully we can take at least 3 of 5 this weekend. Our bullpen is pretty well rested, and David Wells isn't pitching like he spent the first half of the season in a slow-pitch softball league anymore.
quote:Much as it pains me to say so, I'm not totally confident that the Yankees WILL end up in first. Their starting pitching is uneven -- Mussini and Wang are doing great, but Johnson's been so-so, and they haven't been able to find reliable 4th and 5th starters...
Replace Mussina and Wang with Schilling and Beckett and Johnson with Lester, and you've got the Red Sox, too.
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Whoever makes it into the playoffs, I think all the excitement will be on the AL side. It is nearly a foregone conclusion that whoever winds up with the AL pennant will defeat any NL opponent in the World Series, considering how thoroughly the AL dominated the NL in interleague play this year.
The White Sox barely managed to pull out a split of their series with the Royals, holding on for a 5-4 win. The Tigers defeated the Rangers, with Ken Rogers finally getting the victory he has deserved for his last two starts. With the bases loaded and none out in the sixth inning, Leyland brought in Joel Zumaya. He walked the first batter, forcing in a run. Then he got three straight batters on strikeouts or popups, on fastball after fastball 100, 101, and even 102 mph, with a few 88 mph changeups and breaking balls mixed in for shock value. That is what a manager loves to have, a pitcher he knows he can turn to who will stop the opposition cold, getting strikeouts or popups or weak grounders. Then Fernando Rodney pitched a scoreless inning, and Todd Jones closed it out. The Tigers won 4-2. In the dugout after finishing the seventh inning and helping to preserve Rogers' win, Zumaya reportedly said to Rogers, "I've got your back, Buddy!" Then Rogers gave Zumaya's leg a friendly swipe with his glove and said "Thanks."
This is what has really distinguished the Tigers this year, their excellent pitching staff, both starting and relief. Meanwhile, Mike Maroth is close to returning to the starting lineup. He was winning virtually every start early in the year, until he had to have surgery to remove bone chips in his elbow. Zach Miner was called up from the minors to take his place in the rotation, and responded with a win streak of his own. Leyand has said that when Maroth returns to the lineup, he will probably go to a six-man rotation, so everyone will be plenty rested for September and October.
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Yow. The Yankees and Red Sox pitching staffs are going to be in shreds by the end of this series...
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On the bright side, now Yankees fans might stop whining about how their outfield injuries are worse than our entire pitching staff (Clement, Wells, DiNardo, Wakefield, Timlin, Foulke) getting beat up.
Lester, Declarmen, and Hansen might be ready to come up next year, but now is not the time to have three 22-year-olds (or a bunch of 40-year-olds or a bunch of waiver players from basement teams for that matter) leading our staff.
Luckily for the Tigers, the White Sox are getting beat up by the Twins, so losing three straight to Texas didn't hurt all that much.
If Boston can maybe pull out two victories this weekend, we might only be two or three games out of the WC at the end of this fiasco. Though I don't see things getting any better without live arms in the bullpen.
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Yeah, well Frisco, losing three straight to the Rangers may not have been a disaster, but it did not feel good to us fans. And it would have been better if the Tigers could have gone into their four-game series starting tomorrow against the White Sox after a victory so they could feel better about themselves. Alas.
Both teams have been in a bit of a slump. In today's game, it looked like the Tigers were coming out of their slump when they scored six runs in the second inning. But they did not score any more in the game, and Tigers' starter Jeremy Bonderman, usually dominating, had a bad outing and was unable to hold the lead, and had to be removed in the fifth inning.
The Tigers announced today that they picked up Neifi Perez from the Chicago Cubs in a trade for minor league (single "A") catcher Chris Robinson. Trades are still allowed, they just have to pass waivers now. This one did. Perez is a second baseman who can also play short and third. He is intended to fill in for the injured Placido Polanco, who is expected to be out 4-6 weeks. When Polanco returns, Perez will be used as a utility infielder, who will play mainly when manager Jim Leyland wants to rest one of the starting infielders.
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Yow, I totally didn't see a sweep happening. Wow.
It's probably no consolation, Frisco, but I don't feel safe about the Yankees in first unless they have a FIFTEEN-game lead over the Red Sox. (And even then, I'd still hope that the Red Sox would get the wild card, so that there can be another Yankees-Red Sox matchup in the postseason...)
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The five-game sweep by the Yankees of the Red Sox is just unbelievable. The Red Sox have just lost too many vital players to the DL. Even the pitchers who are still healthy, do not have the benefit of Veritek calling the pitches. Remember, it is usually the catcher that does this.
Well, last night the real Tigers and the real Justin Verlander showed up, the ones we have been following and cheering all season long. The Tigers scored early and often on Contreras, who gave them so much trouble when the teams met in Chicago. Verlander used his new big glove, which presumably made it harder for some White Sox to pick up when he changed his grip. He normally starts with a grip for a changeup, then changes it in his glove to throw a fastball or something else. It was suspected that some White Sox batters were picking up on this. He allowed only one run on five hits, going seven full innings. Then the manager apparently decided he had thrown enough pitches, and started the eighth inning with fireballer Joel Zumaya. Todd Jones closed out the ninth, to preserve the 7-1 victory, and Verlander's 15th win. Verlander's ERA dropped to 3.05. The Tigers made it look easy.
Tigers' ace Ken Rogers is the starter tonight (Tuesday), and will try for his 13th win. The Tigers currently have four starting pitchers with 11 or more wins, and if you add Mike Maroth's six wins to Zach Miner's seven wins he has gotten since filling in for Maroth when he had to have surgery to remove bone chips in his elbow, that makes five starters with 11 or more wins.
[ August 22, 2006, 11:03 AM: Message edited by: Ron Lambert ]
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Ken Rogers got his well-deserved 13th win as the Tigers won their 81st game by a score of 4-0, their 14th shutout, most in the majors. The team's pitching staff's ERA is below 4.00 as well. Rogers went seven innings, as did Verlander the previous day.
White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen got ejected early in the game for getting on the home plate umpire for his inconsistent strike zone. Watching from home, it certainly looked like he had a legitimate beef, but arguing ball and strike calls is not allowed. I imagine a lip reader would have had quite an exciting time as Guillen and the umpire went jaw to jaw there for a while.
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Heh. That's pretty much always the case with Ozzie. I still prefer the old-fashioned staredown you get from Frank Robinson, though.
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Rookie pitcher Zach Miner had to be taken out of the game in the second inning last night, after giving up three runs in the first inning followed by three runs in the second inning. After that, the White Sox only scored one more run, but the Tigers only managed to score five runs total, so lost 7-5. The same two teams have another game this afternoon, if the rain in the area allows it.
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When the Detroit sportscaster said he had highlights of the Tigers' Thursday afternoon game, another newscaster asked, "Are you sure there WERE highlights?" Chisox won, 10-0. There were highlights for Sox fans, of course.
Most notable for the Tigers was Sean Casey's 5-7-3 out. He hit a line drive that skipped off the third baseman's upraised glove. Casey thought the third baseman had caught it, and stopped. By the time he responded to everyone yelling at him to run, the left fielder had scooped up the ball and pegged it into first base for the putout. I mean, Sean Casey is slow of foot, but not that slow, to be thrown out at first from left field! It will be years before he lives that one down!
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Still very sad about the Red Sox. Without them being close, this has been a pretty dull month... I mean, sure I'm looking forward to the Yankees being in the postseason, but cruising in their last month takes a lot of the fun out of it. (Whereas last year's was great when the division race came down to the last weekend's games...)
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I don't think my White Sox are going to make it this year. Well, at least they won last year and the Cubs aren't even close. Somehow that makes me feel better. Posts: 511 | Registered: Mar 2006
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The Detroit Tigers must be living a charmed life. They lead the Twins by 1/2 game, then lose a game to the Orioles inwhich they had the lead going into the 8th inning, then lo and behold, the Twins and White Sox lose too!
The newscasters are saying the "magic number" for the Tigers to get into the post season is now four. They have nine more games to play (six against KC and three against Toronto. Basically all they have to do is beat out the White Sox, whom they lead by six games. Of course Tigers fans would all prefer that the Tigers win the division title, since they have lead the division for almost four months. But the pesky Twins are nipping at their heels.
Incredible what the Twins have accomplished, considering they are operating on a bargain basement budget! Their manager and coaching staff deserve real credit.
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Holy crap, I just noticed that the Astros are still in this playoff hunt.
The Cards have dropped three in a row to the 'stros, and they face Clemens tonight. If they lose, their lead is cut to 3 1/2.
St. Louis has 3 games left against the streaking 1st place Padres and the suddenly surging Brew Crew, who took the series from them last week and are on the verge of sweeping 4 from the Giants who, before this week, entertained Wild Card dreams.
Houston gets to go to Atlanta and Pittsburgh. Both are playing decent ball, relatively, yet still remain in second to last in their respective divisions. They also have one makeup game vs. Philly.
And with Philly currently in the WC lead, do the Mets really want to face Oswalt, Petitte, and Clemens in a five-game series?
posted
Due to the Tigers' recent win streak (after sweeping KC), they now once again have the best won-lost record in all of Major League Baseball. It kind of tells you how much the Tigers want to win, by their scoring ten runs in the first inning of Saturday's game, then scoring nine runs in the second inning of Sunday's game. They kept on scoring more runs throughout both games, as well.
They have clinched a place in the playoffs, at least as Wild Card. But they lead the Twins by a game and a half, and still have it in their reach to win the Central Division title outright.
It is a real contest down to the wire for the division title. The Tigers are 7-3 in their last ten games, and the Twins are 7-3 in their last ten games. Six more games to go! If the Tigers can win all of their remaining games, they will have 100 wins for the season.
If the Tigers win the division title, they will play the Oakland A's in the first round of the playoffs. If they only win the Wild Card, then they will play the New York Yankees in the first round of the playoffs.
I think the Yankees are the most dangerous opponent. I would rather let the Twins take on the Yankees in the first round, and hope that the Twins pull an upset and beat them. The Tigers have had an easier time beating the Twins this year.
Looking at how the AL dominated the NL teams this year in the interleague games, as well as in the All-Star game, I think it is likely the AL team will defeat the NL team in the World Series. Of course, anything can happen in any given seven game series.
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I'm betting the Tigers pull off a Central win.
3 of those six games are against KC again, as are 3 of Minnesota's.
But our other 3 games are against Toronto, whereas theirs are againt the ChiSox. To be frank, if we assume all those KC games are a win for both of us, then it comes down to our games against Toronto against their games against the ChiSox. And we being 1 and a half games up, we actually have a one game cushion in there in case we lose.
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I heard that a couple of days ago, Tigers' manager Jim Leyland walked into the clubhouse and said, "I have an announcement to make. Maggs' barber has died."
Magglio Ordonez, for those who don't know, said back in Spring Training that he was not going to cut his hair during the baseball season--and now his curly hair is getting pretty big and bushy. This is quite a contrast to the likes of Jeremy Bonderman and Placido Polanco, who have their hair shaven as close as billiard balls.
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I'm not sure why I'm rooting for the Tigers and the Astros to win their divisions, but I am.
And I love how people were saying two months ago that the Yankees wouldn't even make the postseason, and now they have the best record in baseball. (Something Mets fans don't seem to have noticed, yet.)
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Well, the Tigers had every chance to win the division, but at the end had to settle for the wild card. I don't give them much chance against the Yankees, who won their division going away, even without two key players--who have now returned to the lineup.
The Tigers will have to ask themselves a few questions, and hopefully by next season will come up with some answers for how they can be just a little bit better and pull out those games that hang in the balance a little more often. The Tigers can say that adversity is character-building. So now they should be a team of characters!
Despite the fact that the Tigers' pitching staff is so often praised--and indeed it does have the lowest ERA of pitching staffs in the American League--still, I think the main thing the Tigers need is to improve their pitching, since that is what let them down most often in the crucial games toward the end of the season.
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Camus, what the Twins have done (so far) is made all the more notable by the fact that they have been operating on a limited budget. Tigers' owner, pizza billionaire mike Illitch, has been very generous with his checkbook the past few years, signing the likes of Pudge Rodriguez, Magglio Ordonez, etc. And nobody outspends the Yankees' William Steinbrenner, who year after year fields the best team money can buy. And yet here are the Twins, in the playoffs with the big spenders.
As for the KC Royals, I guess they figured they had nothing to lose, all the pressure was off, and they were able to play like there was no tomorrow with wild abandon. They made some very bad plays now and then in the field, but they certainly scored a ton of runs, enough to make up for all the miscues.
That suggests something concerning the Tigers as they take on the Yankees. Pretty much everyone regards the Yankees as the best team in baseball, the one with the greatest depth. Lots of people expect the young, inexperienced, and choke-prone Tigers to get swept. But they may be in a position somewhat like the Royals, and can play loose and maybe even over their heads at times, and could surprise the Yankees just as the Royals surprised the Tigers.
Then with a surprise Tigers' series victory over the Yankees, and assuming that the Twins can put away the "A's" in short order, then the showdown for the AL pennant would be decided in a series between the Tigers and Twins. Somehow, that seems to be the way it should be. Most fitting.
Fans of the pinstripes can console themselves on how decisively they trounced their perennial foe, the Boston Red Sox, this season. But the real action is back where it was all season long, in the American League Central, where both the division title and the AL wild card came from, and where last year's World Series victors, the Chicago White Sox, finished a respectable third.
Posts: 3742 | Registered: Dec 2001
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Will the Tigers beat the Yankees? Probably not, but I think they'll give them a bloody nose, and I think head to head they would have beaten the Twins or Oakland.
But who cares? The Tigs made the playoffs! All bets are off now. No one expects anything from us, there's no pressure as far as I'm concerned. Play hard, we'll be back next year. Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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Tigers take one in Brooklyn, and the series is 1-1! Now it's a best of three, with two in Detroit. Like I said before, we probably aren't going to win, but we're going to have a blast losing with style!
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It's fun watching commentators predict who's going to win the playoffs, and then seeing just how wrong they are. Like the A's and the Cards were both supposed to be underdogs... and they're both winning 2-0...
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The Tigers-Yankees game two was a great demonstration by the Tigers of how good a team they can be--with a starter (rookie Justin Verlander) who threw 101 mph fastballs, followed by rookie Joel Zumaya in relief who threw 103 mph fastballs one after the other to plain blow away the Yankee batters. His final pitch for his final strikeout was 101 mph. I guess that was his "changeup."
Verlander's only mistake was an inside pitch that got hit out for a three-run homer. But for that one mistake, he and the relief staff would have gotten a shutout. The Tigers hit Mussina reasonably well, and fielded well. Great game by the underdog, against a team with a lineup consisting entirely of All-Stars. And in Yankee Stadium, no less. This was Verlander's first start in Yankee Stadium.
As Manager Jim Leyland said after the game, they proved that they really were a good enough team to be in the playoffs, which some people had questioned.
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Yankee Stadium shmadium. As Leyland said, the only reason people are afraid of Yankee stadium is because the Yankees play there. There's nothing inherently scary or difficult about it.
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They couldn't take two from Boston in Detroit earlier this year, and now that we've finally been scoring some runs (11 yesterday, with none coming from Ortiz, who sat out, or Manny, who went hitless), we should be coming out of our slump.![[Smile]](smile.gif)
. Cute. To say nothing of the fact that Detroit is a Democratic stronghold.![[Grumble]](graemlins/grumble.gif)
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I don't think my White Sox are going to make it this year. Well, at least they won last year and the Cubs aren't even close. Somehow that makes me feel better. ![[Evil]](graemlins/evil.gif)
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