Well, it is the day after the Tigers shocked the world and defeated the almighty New York Yankees in the best-of-five American League Divisional Series. I can't tell you how thrilled and excited I am right now at seeing the Tigers in this position. It has truly been a long time coming. The last time the Tigers won a playoff series was 1984; their last world series championship. Hopefully we are heading in the same direction as we did in 1984. It would really put an exclamation point on the magical season that the 2006 season has been.
The Tigers entered the postseason with a five-game losing streak against the Toronto Blue Jays and the Kansas City Royals. Nobody expected the Tigers to lose one game against Kansas City in their final homestand of the season, let alone the entire series! With Minnesota losing, the Tigers had a plethora of chances to win their first AL Central Division title. But it just wasn't meant to be. They ended up winning the AL Wild Card and were poised to face the New York Yankees in New York to start the ALDS. If they had become AL Central Champs, they'd start the ALDS at home against the Oakland A's. Needless to say, it did not work out that way. However, the A's ended up sweeping the Minnesota Twins and we beat the Tigers. Maybe this was how things were supposed to end up.
I must admit, I was not very confident of our chances coming into the series with the Yankees. How could you not feel this way, especially after losing the final five games of the season and seeing how horrendous the pitching looked during those games. I was content with winning one game against the Yankees. Let's be honest, the national media amped up the Yankees as being the "best line-up ever assembled." They also have a $200 million payroll, the highest in all of major sports. It was pretty easy to see why nobody gave the Tigers much of a chance. Unfortunately I let myself believe all of the hype that the national media gave the Yankees and figured we were doomed. Many of the so-called baseball experts predicted a sweep. So when we won game two in New York 4-3, I was thrilled. I remember thinking to myself, "well, we won a game. That's pretty good." Then came game three in Detroit where Kenny Rogers would end up facing Randy Johnson. The national media were at it again, putting a microscope on Kenny Rogers and his difficulties against pitching in the playoffs and the Yankees. He once pitched for the Yankees during the mid-1990's when the Yankees won a bunch of World Series titles. They one those titles without Kenny, as he did not pitch well in any of his performances. The national media pounced on this fact and basically figured the Tigers would have no chance because of it. They thought Kenny would fail and the Tigers would end up losing. Ohhh, were they ever wrong. Kenny pitched a gem; some would say he pitched the game of his career. Nearly eight innings and zero earned runs. His teammates put up six runs to support his cause, and the Tigers won game three 6-0. It was truly a special night and one to remember.
Then came game four, and slowly but surely, some of the baseball experts began to consider the Yankees vulnerable. The Comerica Park crowd during game three was absolutely nuts in supporting the Tigers, which really helped to motivate the team. In fact, all of the momentum seemed to be with the Tigers. The Yankees star-studded line-up was flailing and not producing the big hits when they needed it. Game four proved to be just as magical for Detroit. Tigers' ace Jeremy Bonderman pitched a gem, upon the heels of Rogers' stellar game. Bonderman retired the first 15 New York batters and had a no-hitter going into the top of the six. Jeremy would later give up a run on four hits, but he went into the top of the ninth with a seven run cushion on the way to another Tigers victory. The Tigers would win game four 8-3 and send the Yankees back home to New York and another failed attempt at a world series championship. The victory celebration after the game was truly something special. Instead of the team celebrating their series victory amongst themselves in the clubhouse, they brought the celebration onto the field with the fans. Many of the players brought out champaigne bottles and ran around the stadium in a victory lap, spraying the crowd. During a moment after the game, Tigers manager Jim Leyland went to kiss members of his family, and then kissed the brim of a fan's cap on his way back towards the dugout. Kenny Rogers climbed to the top of the Tigers dugout and sprayed fans with champaigne, and then poured some on a state police trooper who was there for security. It is something I had never seen in my life and a moment I will never forget. The victory in game four against the vaunted Yankees ranks as one of the biggest Detroit sports thrills in my life, and is probably one of the most significant moment in Detroit Tigers baseball history! Yes, it is that huge, especially for a team that hasn't been to the post season in 19 years. A new generation of fans now know what it's like to see a winning baseball team represent the city of Detroit and the state of Michigan. Seeing last night's celebration really made me want to be there live and in person. Too bad I live eight hours away.
After the Tigers stunning series victory against the Yankees, many people are left to eat crow, including all of ESPN's baseball analysts. I love it when the "experts" are proven wrong - and this time, quite badly. Many even had the Yankees winning the world series! Oh how wrong they are. The Tigers move to the American League Championship Series to face the Oakland Athletics. The Tigers and A's pretty much split the regular season series against each other as both teams are fairly similar. The Tigers head out to Oakland and play game one Tuesday night at 8:00 PM (EDT). This is such a special season for the Tigers and after beating the Yankees, I think nothing can stop them on their way to the world series. Yes, the A's will put up a fight, but with the pitching staff stepping up, I think the Tigers will shut the A's down. My prediction is the Tigers winning the ALCS in six games and head to the world series, their first since 1984. It would be fitting, especially after a magical season that 2006 has been.
More blog postings later on the Tigers improbable run in the 2006 playoffs!
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