The Game of the Ages...

It is Friday and my voice is just getting back to normal. That was, without question, one of the best baseball games I have ever watched (and I was only able to watch the last 4 innings on TV).

I missed seeing the Magglio home run in the 8th, but I was yelling and screaming in the car as Dan and Jim called the play. I missed seeing Rick Porcello strike out 8 men in under 7 innings, but thanks to Mike's text updates I knew he was doing it. My response was- "Kid Rick thinks he is JV jr!" and the now traditional "KKKKKKKK!"

By the time I got home it was the Twins' half of the 8th and Lyon was doing his thing. When Minnesota brought in Joe Nathan in the 8th and sent him out in the 9th I really thought we had it. For crying out loud, when the bases were loaded and Brandon Inge got hit by the pitch I thought we had it (wow did the ump blow that call)! For what it's worth, I really though Granderson was safe when he was doubled off 1st base on Magglio's bullet to short.

That game was not played. That game was fought. I know of people who don't even like baseball who could not turn off that game. That was a battle to the death. When the Twins finally pushed that winning run across home plate I could at least know that the Tigers did not give up. I could see that they tenaciously and ferociously battled back and forth with a team that was their equal in almost all ways. If you have to play an extra game then it should be balanced. If you watch a rookie make a blunder that sets up the tying run, then at least he should do it by trying to end the game on a difficult catch (yes, Raburn- that is you).

In the end, what cost the Tigers this game was the same thing that cost them the division- when they had men on base they could not get them home. Laird left 10 men on base, Inge left 8 and Polanco left 5. If you can't score then the great pitching and defense won't matter.

And I must give credit to Fernando Rodney! He faced 15 men before it was over. Leyland just sent him out there over and over again. I'm not impressed with Leyland there, but I am impressed with Rodney. He may never pitch for Detroit again, but that was an amazing performance.

I will be looking at the season in the days to come and as off season news happens I'll be putting my 2 cents worth in, but for now I will let my throat rest and relish the season that just ended.

Thank you Detroit Tigers for a crazy ride.

There can be only One...

I love the movie Highlander (the first one). An epic battle as our hero eliminates his opponents one by one until there is only the final battle to be completed, because there can be only one.

That is what this last month has felt like as I watch the Tigers slog their way through the American League Central. They started strong, fell flat and then picked themselves up and battled on. They could never quite put the Twins away though, and there is no script writer making sure our heroes prevail.

As today started the Magic # was 2. The Tigers, with Verlander on the mound and Granderson everywhere else, held the White Sox to 3 runs while scoring 5 themselves (Ryan Raburn with 2 home runs and Magglio Ordonez showing us that he can pull homers to left too). So the Tigers finally got a win in October and had to sit and wait to see if the Royals could overcome the Twins to end the race.

But that was not to be. The Twins beat the Royals 13-4.

So now there will be a one game, sudden death, winner take all, play off game. There can be only one. That game will be played in the HHH Dome. A truly horrible place to play a high pressure game if you are not a Minnesota Twin. (And we thought we were done with that place.)

The Tigers are 7 and 11 against the Twins this year. From what I can make out at Baseball-Reference.com the Tigers are 2-7 in the Dome this year. Rick Porcello will pitch for Detroit (according to Leyland after today's game). Rick is 1-2 in 4 starts against the Twins this year with a 3.09 ERA in 23 1/3 innings (according to my numbers). He did not win in the Dome.

But the Tigers have scored an average of 4.89 runs/ game off of the Twins this year so this should be a fight.

No matter what this has been a great ride. After 162 games the Tigers finished 86-76 in 1st place (tied of course)! I hoped that they would not embarrass themselves this year and that Dombrowski could make 2010 competitive, so to have 2009 be so competitive was great (and frustrating at times to be sure).

It all comes down to Tuesday night. The game is on TV on TBS.

There can be only one!

Week 26 Games back Elimination # Tigers -- -- Twins -- -- W. Sox 7 E Indians 21 E Royals 21 E

The End is Near?

It is 12:30 on October 4th. In 35 minutes the Tigers start their last regular season game of the year. Last night they lost to the White Sox and the Twins beat the Royals, so there is a tie between the Twins and Tigers for 1st place in the AL Central. The magic number is still 2. It hasn't moved all week. It was 2 after the Tigers and Twins split their four game series.

Going into the month of September the wisdom was that if the Tigers played .500 baseball they would win, unless the Twins played incredible baseball. Well, in the month of September the Twins have played solid baseball (16- 11) .591 and the Tigers played .571 baseball (16-12). Part of the problem is that the Twins have not had a losing streak of more than 3 games. The Tigers were very streaky at the beginning of September (6 W's followed by 5 L's). During that time the Twins went 4-7. Since then the Twins have played 15-5 (.750). The Tigers have played 8-10.

The point at the end of this proverbial stick is that we are not seeing a collapse on the part of the Tigers, this is the baseball they have played all year (actually September was their 2nd best month of the year). The Twins are playing way above their previous ability. I don't know if it's their manager or their system or the closing of the Dome. Regardless of the reason, the whole season comes down to today (and possibly Tuesday, but let's hope it doesn't get to that).

I am now going to get ready to watch The Game. Justin Verlander goes for his 19th win today, and a chance to win the pennant. Remember, nothing has changed all week- if the Tigers win and the Twins lose the Tigers clinch the AL Central crown.