For a little while there, the author almost had a Detroit Tigers
tattoo. A Michigan boy who grew up with his team wallowing in the second division and emulating Mickey Tettleton's
stance, he sort of uhh...didn't know how to react to success. So he did what everyone else would have in his situation: he vowed to get the old English "D" inked on his flesh if they won the World Series. A dismantling of the New York Yankees that included a family trip to
Game 3 and a sweep of the Oakland A's later, all that stood in the way of a permanent reminder of the 2006 season were the St. Louis Cardinals.
So it's with ill-placed notions of revenge that the author watches tonight's game in Detroit. After a
two-hour, 25 minute rain delay it's close to midnight in the 313 and we're only in the sixth inning. But something bigger than tonight's game is weighing on his mind.
The Tigers are probably going to win the AL Central.
The standings show them six games back of the White Sox, but there's still half a season of ball to play. They have an unbelievably deep lineup, a
manager who's been there before and --this is the most important part-- they're in a division in which no team is playing well enough to claim
Divine right to that first-place position.
The White Sox have exceeded expectations, but ever since Carlos Quentin came back to earth and
Paul Konerko started acting his age, their lead is starting to wither. Gavin Floyd is better than most people give him credit for and the rest of the
pitching staff is getting it done, but they don't have all the pieces it takes to persevere in a tight division come September.
No one has any idea why the Twins are playing so well, except for the fact that they're the Twins. Just when you count them out and laugh at the acquisition of
Livan Hernandez, they step up and play their brand of baseball to perfection. But do you really think that Nick Punto-ing people to death and relying on Justin Morneau to hit the three-run homer at the right moment is going to produce the 90 wins it's going to take to win the Central? Maybe. Most likely not.
Let's call the Tigers what they are. They're an underachieving team that has a ridiculously
bloated payroll. There's been times this season where it's been downright brutal. Gary Sheffield is playing like
Mr. Sheffield from the "The Nanny." Miguel Cabrera is hitting close to 30 points below his lifetime average. Heck, they're depending on Brandon Inge to split the catching duties with Ivan Rodriguez. He doesn't even want to catch.
But there's been steady progress the last two weeks.
Joel Zumaya is on to throw now with the bases loaded in the seventh. His return, coupled with that of Fernando Rodney solidifies what had been a shaky bullpen.
Armando Galarraga is pitching better than Jeremy Bonderman has the last two seasons. Carlos Guillen, Magglio Ordonez and Placido Polanco are all hitting over .300. They've won 11 of 14.
Most importantly, their worst ball is behind them. With half of a season to go, six games to make up in the standings is not that tall of an order. They've got 10 games left with the White Sox, whom they swept last time they played. Those will be crucial.
The point is that this team isn't inspiring ridiculous claims of future tattoos or
captivating an entire state like the 2006 Tigers did. But what better reminder than these games against the 83-79 team that crushed their World Series dreams that it's not how you start, but rather how you finish.
It's hard to think about anything else when there's a crucial AL Central contest featuring baseball's two hottest teams going on, but the author sure tries. That's why he feels compelled to point out that if you wanted to watch "Like Mike 2: Streetball" without paying the three bucks a video store might charge you, BET can make that happen. There were just so many unresolved issues in the first "Like Mike."
