I hit the “Acceptance” phase of the 5 steps after game 4. I hadn’t given up all hope, but it just seemed that it wasn’t our Series. It’s a shame they played so poorly in the WS, but I am proud as I can be of this bunch. They made baseball fun again.

Looking forward to next year (damn, I haven’t said that in about 20 years)!

Oh and I forgot one more, Craig Paquette!! Ahh! he was TERRible!

I have been a huge Tigers fan even in the years when we were bad. In fact, I bet I could name the starting lineup when they lost 119. I have been there through the bad players:

Melvin Nieves (the worst!), Ruben Sierra, Andujar Cedeno, Brian Williams, Doug Brocail (opening day starter!?, Are you f’in serious), Bob Hamelin, Matt Walbeck (good minor league manager though, from what I hear), Milt Cuyler, Tony Clark (he just struck out again), Juan Encarnacion (he sucked here), Deivi Cruz, Gregg Jeffries (he was 60 when the Tigers got him) and there’s so many more.

I have been there through the utterly atrocious Juan Gonzalez deal, in which we traded great prospects for a roided up monster, who hated it here, and couldnt hit in the clutch anyway.

And worst of all, was Randy Smith. He was the absolute worst, I have never seen such an acccumulation of horrible talent. Randy Smith was the spurge of hopelessness. I wouldn’t let him GM my kids little league team. In fact if he was at my kids little league game, I would probably kick his butt. There is a worse GM than Isiah Thomas, and his name is Randy Smith

But this year seeing veterans like Rogers and Pudge and Mags and seeing young players like Miner and Inge and Zumaya working together and making each other better. This was inspiring. THis is what every baseball fan dreams up. A team where everyone gets along and they are exceeding expectations. Seeing a guy like Bonderman who lost 19 games his rookie year, and probably thought being drafted by the Tigers meant that he was being punished for something that he did in a past life, to winning game 4 against the Yankees and just utterly dominating that Yankees lineup. Jeter looked like he was swatting flies.

Getting Jim Leyland was utterly brilliant. His hard nosed old man style was exactly what this team of snot nosed punks needed. And Dave Dombrowski is a sheer genius. There’s a reason the Marlins payroll is 90 dollars and they still win 80 games. He drafted most of those guys.

Overall, Its funny, but I really do think the Cardinals wanted it more, and thats why they won. The Tigers were totally exceeding expectations since the beginning of the season, and I think they were almost stunned that they just went through the American League like nothing. And as a Tigers fan, I followed it all, and it made my day seeing the Tigers winning all the time. In fact I went to a couple white sox games in Chicago (where I live) and I was loud as all hell cheerin for the Tigs!

Thank you for an amazing season, you gave this Tigers fan, a summer he will remember.

I just wanna say that… I love baseball and I love the Detroit Tigers and this season was mind blowing.

As I sat on the edge of my chair watching Ramon S. take his led off third and Placido take his lead off first… and watch Inge swing and miss…

I can say that I had tears in my eyes… I just couldn’t believe it was over…

I just wanna thank Bilfer again, also the Tigers for the memories and most of all the fans of Detroit that felt the same pain and joy i did this season…

Go Tigers!!!

Big thanks to the Tigers, who were supposed to finish with the Royals this year and ended up AL royalty instead. I would take this year’s team against anyone, anyday. All heart.

Best of all, this was my son’s first full year of baseball. He’s already got his high-five down and seeing him run screaming like a madman around the house when Ordonez polished off the A’s was hilarious (’cause I was doing the same thing). This truly is the start of a new generation of Tigers and Tiger’s fans. Here’s hoping the years to come will be just as enjoyable.

Go Tigers!

Thank you for this website. It has been a part of my day for the past year and I will continue to visit read the great insight you and the other fans post. It’s been a tough year personally and the Tigers gave me so much joy and hope throughout the season. It’s almost a relief to get back to the rest of my life for the winter but I already miss Tiger baseball! I also want to add my thanks to Dan and Jim on the radio. As one of the many fans without cable, I was unable to watch the bulk of the regular season games. I came to prefer the wonderful broadcasts that those two hardworking gents made every night. I absolutely cannot wait for next season… let’s do it all again, but even better!

Cheers!
Timothy Monger
Britton, MI

To those calling for Leyland’s head, I’m hoping this subsides as soon as the anger and frustration turns to appreciation. One of the most rewarding parts of watching the Tigers beat the Yankees in the ALDS was the disappointment for Yankees fans. The reason the rest of the league’s fans delight in the Yankees’ misfortunes is the organization’s (and their fan base’s) sense of entitlement. I can deal with Steinbrenner treating the rest of MLB like his farm system, but I cannot come to grips with their sense of entitlement. Sure, they’re successful year-in and year-out, but they’re also spoiled. Given what happened this season, the most deplorable thing we, as Tigers fans, can do is complain about managerial decisions in the World Series. The World Series. The. World. Series. The last time the Tigers were there, I was 2 years old.

Something happened this year between the end of the NBA/NHL playoffs and the start of the football season. Please, can we not take it for granted…?