In a way, and maybe it’s only wishful thinking, this might play to Detroit’s advantage. No one here is giving the Tigers any kind of chance. I heard a clip of Leyland on WFAN in NY and he sounded a little annoyed as he stated that this is a good team and pointed out the AL Central had three teams win at least 90 games.

The Tigers come in, no doubt, feeling like they’ve accomplished nothing. There’s no chance they’ll rest on their laurels. They should have a chip on their shoulders and I’m sure Leyland will be in their ears constantly about how no one is giving them the least bit of respect despite winning 95 games, which according to the standings shown in my newspaper were only 2 fewer than the Yanks.

Yes, NY has a potentially potent lineup. But Wang is as unproven as any Tiger starter and Randy Johnson’s achy back looms. And the only thing I’ve learned about this group of Detroiters is that I never know what to expect from them. There were several times I was ready to write them off this season, and they scuffled back. As poorly as the last five games went, I think they had been 14-13 in the previous 27 — not great, but hardly what I would label a collapse.

Let the games begin. And enjoy! The Tigers are one of four AL teams with a chance to go to the World Series. How bad is that?

I agree with you. The Tigers can beat the Yankees. The pitchers can hold opposing offensives…but the key word is “if” they can turn in on. Everybody says, “if” this happens, and “if” that happens, then we can win. YES! And if all those things came to pass, we would have won 112 games and steam-rolled the Yankees.

I just haven’t seen it. And believe me, if I am forced to eat my words, it’ll be a dish served sweet.

One squeeze bunt out of Inge in the 12th inning, or one fly ball to the outfield, and we’d be playing Oakland Tuesday at CoAmerica and not so demoralized. Hey, it may even be to our advantage to play the Yankees in 5. Maybe losing out was the best path to the WS. But this team is absolutely bereft of confidence because of it. That’s the key. This team has been through an emotional ringer. Other teams feed off it, take advantage of it, and it shows in clutch situations. Except for Guillen, Pudge, Maggs, and Polly, the other guys don’t look like they’re handling the pressure at all. They’re uncomfortable in their own skin. What’s more, that must foster some tacit resentment from the four who are getting on base, who are starting rallys, only to leave the job up to teammates who continually fail to get the job done. I’m just calling it like I see it. I’m not losing faith–I still have it. It’s just reason–like a cold slap in the face–has taken a firm grasp on my senses to keep me from jumping out the window.

If this team turns it around at Yankee Stadium, I’ll be the first to rethink what is actually going on with the baseball Gods. I’ll be the first to rethink the reality of the Tigers incredible feet of defying all odds to blow the division. I’ll be the first to rethink the pressure that’s been getting into the Tiger’s heads and affecting their preformances.

I’ll be watching the games, and I may even be going to the game on Wednesday night. I want the Tigers to surprise me. I want to rethink my conclusions. I despirately want that intellectual assignment.

Steve.

PS If we win the World Series and Neifi is MVP, I heard Pete will supply all of us with #8 MVP t-shirts in Tiger colors and Ken from Cinci will suppy a months supply of oatmeal pies.

This team has good pitching depth, thanks to DD. If these guys can trun it on for the postseason, we have just as good a shot as anybody. The only guy who consistently underperforms in this role on the staff is Rodney. He’s not clutch enough for the eighth inning. I’ve said this all year.

We have three solid hitters, corrected for their position, in Guillen, Maggs (the 2nd half), and Pudge. Everyone else has significant flaws, but with a little luck can provide enough offense for this pitching staff when they are on.

The coaching has changed alot of the bad attitude that plagued this club the past few years. We were better in 04 and 05 than what was played out on the field. And with a little personel help, we’ve turned the corner (I hope 06 isn’t a blip). However, there have been some colossal management mistakes, esp. down the stretch. Truly, absolutely baffling. I’ll take it because of the overall result, but the coaches, incl. Leyland have just as many errors to reflect on as the rest of the club.

In reality, this club overacheived much of the year. They have had problems winning big games on a regular basis, but won enough of them to make the playoffs. I am anxious to see if we can overachieve a little more before the winter arrives.

Go Tigs.

Until the final out is recorded on this wonderful 2006 Tigers season I will not lose faith. I will not worry about next year until this year is over. I will enjoy some Detroit Tigers October baseball and savor the moments and the memories.

I will listen to Fox’s Tim McCarver ridicule my Tigers late season funk and chuckle when our boys take one of the games in New York.

I will be shocked to some degree (due to their play of late) to see how well the Tigers perform in the playoffs and continue to wear the English D with pride.

I will root for the home team and if they don’t win it just might be a shame, but it isn’t the end of the world.

Go Tigers!

To quote a former Yankee, Yogi Berra – “It ain’t over, ’til it’s over.”

Please upset the Yankees so the Twins do not have to play them in a best of 7 series. You are much more managable.

Love,

Twins fan.

I wish you all the best against the Yankees. Frankly, I was a bit ambivalent about winning the divison, because, frankly, playing a 3 of 5 vs. the Yanks instead of a 4 of 7 just seems so much more managable. There are just too many intangibles that favor the Yankees in a seven game series. Anyhow, all the best, again.

Sometime during late August I came to terms with the fact that this wasn’t a “great” team. But I still maintained the opinion that this was a very good team that could certainly beat the Mets, or any National League team out there, and moreover, that this was a very solid team that had just as good of a shot as any other AL team to make it to the World Series.

Sometime during the first week of September I came to terms with the fact that the Tigers were really just a Cinderella team, but one that could nonetheless finish off the story–with a combination of luck, determination, and some breaks along the way.

Sometime during the second week of September I came to terms with the fact that the Tigers vastly overachieved up through the first week of August, that Jim Leyland wasn’t in actuality a baseball guru, and that at least two other teams in the Central Division were better than the Tigers and actually deserved to win the Division, despite the records. The Tigers were bonified third place team.

Sometime during the third week of September, I came to terms with the fact that Tigers were, at best, a .500-caliber team, and in reality, closer in talent and caliber to teams like the Indians & Orioles, and that there were a whole host of teams out there (playoff bound or not) who were better than the Tigers. The Tigers were a fourth place team, mascarading as a contender, fortunate to win a key series here and there and emmensely lucky for three-quarters of the season–and actually a phenomenon in their own right for having won a spot in the playoffs.

Now, after today’s game, I have to come to terms with this team yet again. What is this team? So many magical moments that make you yearn to believe, so much emotion, and yet, in the end, the season slips away on the very last day by giving up the division lead for the first time since May, to a team that just lost two of three. Is this just a very bad team, or a pretty good team that choked? But wait, I thought good teams don’t choke…isn’t that part of being a good team?

While Gullien, Pudge, and Ordonez stepped up like champs during the slide, we simply can’t contend with three clutch players. Three clutch players also do not make a good team. A lot of the other players clearly do not believe in themselves nor in the team. While they were all part of the magic that created a varying degree of illusions for all of us, in the end, they just couldn’t deliver. Apparently, a majority of the Tigers came to the same terms with themselves as I have over the course the last seven weeks. I’ve seen the same players over and over again choke and fail to put the ball in play to finish off the job (and I’m not talking about delivering a key hit–I’m talking about simply putting the ball in play to come through). Likewise, so many of the starting pitchers do no believe that they are truly the best rotation, if not among the best rotations, in baseball. Ditto goes for collective psyche of the bullpen.

I am not “jumping off the bandwagon” or refusing to support the Tigers due to my anxiety-ridden disappointment. I will not desert the Tigers as they limp vunerably into Yankee Statium. I’ll continue to eat, think, and breath Tiger baseball all this week. In the end, I’ll endure the losses to the Yanks and hope, beyond reason and delusion, that they can actually pull off the upset. No, I’m not handing in my fans’ rights. Rather, I believe I’m calling a spade a spade. The sooner I start to see this team for what it is, the sooner I will be able to come to terms not only with the 2006 Detroit Tigers, but with my heart-broken disappointment.

Your wiseguys can save their chuckles for NL fans. Consider: only one team in the whole league won more than 88 games.

And then there’re the Cardinals. A team that is the biggest joke of the ’06 season. Can you imagine a team that can manage only 83 wins and go to post-season–as division champion? Pathetic.

Last year, San Diego went with 82.

Granted, for almost two months (mid-June through mid-August) the Tigers projected to 108-109 wins. So from that perspective 95 and a wildcard are real disappointments.

Me, I’d rather go as the wildcard in the toughest division of the toughest league than as division champion in the “senior circuit”.

Suddenly, I’m feeling better.

I think that’s part of the reason a few of us are putting so much on THIS year. Once it became a real possibility that this year’s Tigers would make the playoffs and have a chance to bring home a championship, our hopes kinda got pinned to this season. It’s so hard to make the playoffs. It’s so hard to build a team that has a chance to win a championship. Look at the Cubs? I mean there are 100 year old cub fans who have never seen a championship! That’s an extreme example, but a championship calibre club is a rare thing, and we may not see one here again for another long while. I got to a point with the 2006 Tigers where I started thinking they could get it done this year. And they still may. But their performance down the stretch leaves me feeling pretty skeptical. And I think that’s part of what’s fueling my extreme disappointment with the outcome of this series against the Royals.

And I don’t think this team is embarassing or a joke on the whole. But they way they played this weekend was embarrassing, and they did look like a joke. They looked like a team that is leading the whole country to say, “I knew Detroit wasn’t any good. I knew Detroit would fall apart.” That crap stings. I’m sick of telling people I’m a Tiger fan and getting that chuckle. Tomorrow I’ll be getting that chuckle.

It had nothing to do with you, or with your complaining. I’m all for complaining about a team and pointing out flaws. That’s kind of a big part of being a real fan.

Really, my gripe is with the people who’ve all of a sudden given up on these guys after a bad stretch. It’s a whole new season and last time I checked the Yankees didn’t go 162-0 this year. They can be beat.

As far as wanting them to win the division of course I wanted them to. But really it’s the end result that counts. The division would have been nice but it’s already past us. It’s time to win the WS.

As far as my “resume of fandom”? That was awfully childish and had me laughing. I’m not going to engage into a pissing contest with you.

The good news for me and I as well saw a few games in Lakeland (home of the absolute worst hot dogs at any ball park anywhere) is that they are over 500 and a competitive team. I remember sitting on the big D in the outfield with my 8 year old in Florida and thinking winning every other game should not be that hard this year. So while they certainly did that and I am thrilled with the season, it is a bit disapointing on how they finished.

Lets see how it goes and lets take opne game at a time. Many thanks to Billfer for the blog, I really like coming here to talk Tigers ball with all of you guys.

Steve