Baseball In The D

Part 2: Here Come The Tigers

The Tigers had been a mediocre team for so long up to 2006, and since then, they’ve been a whole new ball club, and thus, my passion for baseball began.

It was October 14th, 2006. I was only about 9 years old, almost 10 at the time. My family and I were at a motel in Arcadia, Michigan, and we were coming back for dinner after walking down the sandy shore of Lake Michigan. My dad knew that game 4 of the ALCS (American League Championship Series) was on that night, so we decided to watch that. I started liking baseball around that time, but I wasn't big on it. But this game was exciting. This was the first time the Tigers had made the playoffs since 1987. They came in as the Wild Card, meaning they were the best second place team record-wise in the American League. It was definitely a start, considering their long playoff drought. The Tigers had gone through and defeated the New York Yankees 3 games to 1 in the ALDS (American League Division Series), and then won the first 3 of the ALCS against the Oakland Athletics. That’s when things got exciting.

It was all tied up in the bottom of the 9th, 3-3. If they scored, they would make it to the world series for the first time in 22 years. Despite a tied score, the A’s brought in the closer Huston Street. First up was Marcus Thames, pinch hitting for Ramon Santiago. He flies out. I’m just crossing my fingers, hoping we can score. Then Curtis Granderson comes up to plate, but he lines out to right field. With two outs, it seemed likely that they would go into extra innings. But you couldn’t count out these Tigers. 

With back-to-back singles by Craig Monroe and Placido Polanco, they finally had something cooking. Then Magglio Ordoñez came up to plate. This was the moment of the game, considering that he had a homer earlier in the game. First pitch was a ball. The crowd was going wild, and I was too, hoping that Magglio could do something. The next pitch, he takes a swing, and he blasted that ball deep to left field, Jay Payton going back, at the track, at the wall, GONE! The crowd went crazy, my family went crazy, and the Tigers went crazy. A three-run homer finally sent them to the World Series, and thus, brought me to liking baseball. It was the probably the most amazing ending to a game I’ve ever seen, even to this day. 

Despite the fact that they were on fire going in to the World Series, they weren’t so hot when they got there. They lost Game 1 to the St. Louis Cardinals, 7-2. But in Game 2, Kenny Rogers pitched very well for the Tigers, and they won 3-1. Unfortunately, that’s all they had left. From then on, pitching, hitting, and defense were a problem for them, as they eventually lost the World Series in Game 5, 4-2. I was obviously very disappointed about that. However, I was excited for their next season. Since they had finally made it to the postseason that year, who knew how well they would play in 2007, and the next season, and the season after that, and so on. 

Now that it’s 2014, I know how their seasons have been, and I will analyze how their seasons were from 2007 to now.

Works Cited

“Tigers Postseason Results.” 27 Mar. 2014. http://detroit.tigers.mlb.com/det/history/postseason_results.jsp

“Game HQ.” 14 Oct. 2006. http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/playbyplay?gameId=261014106

Leach, Matthew. 22 Oct. 2006. “Rookie Reyes Delivers Game 1 Victory.” http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061021&content_id=1720173&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=stl

Baseball In The D

                                Part 1: The Beginning Of The Detroit Tigers

                   This magnificent ball club has a large, rich history, and it all started in the 1900s.

Being a native suburban Detroiter, I grew up around many Detroit Tigers fans. Especially my dad, who got me interested in baseball in the first place. After seeing probably hundreds and hundreds of tigers games with him on TV, it made me wonder about how this ball club got started. 

The Detroit Tigers first became a team in 1901. Their first game ever was on April 25, 1901, against the Milwaukee Brewers. At first it seemed like a blowout, but then they showed some life in the bottom of the ninth. Down 13-4, a series of hits helped them bring the score to 13-12, then a two-run double from Frank “Pop” Dillon sealed the deal of the comeback, and sent 10,000 tigers fans home happy with the 14-13 win. Their first season as a ball club was surprisingly decent, as they finished in third place with a 74-62 record. Unfortunately, the next three seasons were not as good, as they finished with records under .500. Although when one of the greatest tigers of all time debuted in 1905, they suddenly became a much better team.

Tyrus Raymond Cobb, or better known as Ty Cobb, made his Tigers debut on August 30, 1905. He would be one of the best hitters from 1907 until the end of his career in 1928. Not only was he known for his superb hitting skills, but he was also known as a troublemaker as well. He was constantly getting in fights with teammates and opponents, and he was narcissistic as well, calling himself “the greatest baseball player of all time.” While watching the motion picture Cobb, it helped me understand more of how he was really like on and off the baseball diamond. Tommy Lee Jones was the role of Ty Cobb, and he portrayed him as a fantastic athlete, yet a ruthless man. And the real Ty Cobb definitely showed why, as he ended up winning 9 straight batting titles. His superb play on the field helped the Tigers reach their first pennant in 1907.

After finishing at 92-58, and winning the pennant, the Tigers were going up against the Chicago Cubs in their first world series. It was expected to be a close series, but was ultimately not even close. The Cubs ended up sweeping the Tigers 4-0, with a disappointing performance by Ty Cobb, hitting only .200. The next two years they won the pennant, facing the Cubs once again, then the Pittsburgh Pirates, though they did not win the world series either of those years. It wasn’t until 1935 when they finally won a world series. This was after Ty Cobb had retired, though they had the 1935 MVP Hank Greenberg, who was just as good, if not better. Their first world champion came, ironically, against the Chicago Cubs. 

The Tigers would go on to win three more world series after that, in 1945, 1968, and 1984. After their last world series win, they just couldn’t seem to get back to the world series, despite having great players such as Jack Morris, Alan Trammell, Lou Whitaker, Kirk Gibson, and so on. Time went on, and through most of the 90’s they became a mediocre ball club. Through the early 2000’s, still, they didn’t seem to be contenders ever. Even moving into Comerica Park in 2000 didn’t help. I wasn’t even interested in baseball yet. And it wouldn’t help in 2003 when they ended up with a 43-119 record, the worst year for a team ever. Though after a few years of rebuilding, acquiring high draft picks, signing free agents, they gradually got better. In 2006, my interest in baseball skyrocketed after watching maybe one of the most memorable Tigers games ever. 

Works Cited

Creamer, Chris. “Historical Moments.” 12 Oct. 2013. http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/al/detroit/tigers.html

“Tigers Timeline.” http://detroit.tigers.mlb.com/det/history/timeline.jsp

Ebert, Roger. “Cobb.” 2 Dec. 1994. http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/cobb-1994

World Series Image. http://www.legendaryauctions.com/ItemImages/000117/121191a_lg.jpeg