5 posts tagged “detroit tigers”
Well, the Detroit Tigers are World Series bound! I have to admit my heart was in my throat when Magglio Ordonez stepped up to bat in the bottom of the ninth inning. I'm a Tiger fan from back in the 70's, so I try very hard to believe in the team, no matter what. The problem is, I tend to be a skeptical person at heart. I believed the Tigers are a very good team, they could get to the posteseason level, but I didn't believe they would get to the World Series.
The game was tied 3-3. I was sure the game would go into extra innings and the A's would win. After all, Tiger pitcher Jason Grilli had just loaded the bases with A's batters on twelve straight balls at the top of the 9th. Twelve straight balls! In a postseason game? Why should I believe the Tigers could pull a win out of thin air?
About ten minutes later, tears were streaming down my face as I watched my tv screen and saw Ordonez's three-run home run and saw the players hugging each other and jumping up and down. I was stunned that the home run came at the last possible moment, as if someone had written a movie script and Ordonez was just an actor and the ball hadn't really gone into the stands. I sat on my bed staring at the screen in stunned, happy silence. This was a moment to soak in. It was several minutes before my mind fully realized that I had, in fact, witnessed a home run and that the Tigers are the American League Champs.
It was simply one of the most awesome things I've ever seen on TV. To see the players so happy after 22 years of losing seasons was almost too much to bear. After several minutes of watching replays, I decided I had to calm down. By the time the game was over it was 8 p.m. and I hadn't eaten dinner. So I went downstairs to fix a plate of food. As I spooned the food onto my plate, I realized I was shaking. Shaking from the excitement of the fairy-tale ending.
I was glad I was not at the game. It was a satisfying experience to see the game on TV, in my warm home, to be able to get up and move around as I wished, instead of being squashed by the mass of people. As much as it may have been great to be a part of 'history' by being at the ballpark, I'm not a happy person when I have to be outside in cold weather for more than 15 minutes. After talking with Mike about the game and laughing about our predictions (he predicted the team would go to the World Series, I predicted they wouldn't.) I went back upstairs to watch continued local coverage from the ballpark. I was no longer shaking but had the satisfied feeling of watching a team that very possibly could be World Series winners soon.
I'm not skeptical about the Tigers anymore.
What are your weekend plans?
Saturday's almost over as I type this, but I did have the extreme pleasure of watching the Detroit Tigers win Game 4 of the American League Division Series, beating the New York Yankees 8-3 in Detroit. I got to watch the stunned Yankee players as they realized their season is over. I watched as the Tigers went into the clubhouse, grabbed bottles of champange and went back onto the field, to shake hands with fans in the front rows, and spray many of the fans with celebratory champagne. I sat with tears running down my face as I watched the fans in the stadium partying and refusing to leave.
Jeremy Bonderman, the Tigers pitcher that many said would fall apart against the Yankees, pitched 8 1/3 innings, allowed 2 runs on 5 hits, struck out 4 and walked 1. Bonderman threw 90 pitches, 70 of which were strikes.
**Also, last night's blowout game, which the Tigers won 6-0, was brilliantly pitched by Kenny Rogers. Rogers allowed 5 hits and 0 runs in 7 1/3 innings, walking 2 and striking out 8. Rogers was thought by the media and baseball 'experts' to be unable to pitch against the strong Yankee lineup, due to previous disasterous starts against them. The Yankees looked like kittens at the plate last night and tonight. Collaspe is not the word. The Tigers simply neutered the Yankees.
It's happiness in Detroit tonight, let me tell you.
It's now on to the American League Series with the Oakland A's. Game 1 is Tuesday. If we are lucky (and I mean that, as the A's are tough) the Tigers will advance to the World Series.
Sunday will be a quiet day, as usual. I'll do a little housework, maybe watch a movie on DVD. I hope to get back to a cross-stitch project as there won't be a baseball game to watch.
For the first time in 19 years, the Detroit Tigers are in the playoffs. They won over the Kansas City Royals today, 11-4. I've become a baseball freak, spending time on MLB.com and the Tigers website. It's great to see the team advance to the playoffs. They're in 1st place with baselball's best record, one game better than the Yankees. The Tigers were picked to place 4th this year in the Central Division. In 2003, they had the worst season ever, losing 119 games, a team record. No Tiger fan or even the sports people in Detroit--the ones who report on the Tigers year in and year out--could imagine that the Tigers would go as far as they have this year.
The Tigers come home tonight for the last six games of the season starting Tuesday. It's going to be crazy at Comerica Park this week! If the Tigers win the Central Division Title at the end of the week, which is what they really want, it will be really sweet. The Central Division, then the League Championship, then the World Series! Maybe we'll make it!
Well, we went to Comerica Park yesterday and had a great time. We arrived downtown around 11:15 a.m., two hours before game time. We were shocked to see the long line of cars on the freeway exit ramp leading to the stadium. We were also shocked to see the throngs of people making their way to the stadium. Even though the Tigers are in first place with baseball's best record, we thought there would be only a small crowd of people going early to see batting practice. The attendance for the game was 32,949 and it looked as though everyone arrived early. We had a tough time finding parking, because we forgot that Detroit has a Labor Day parade every year. The parade marches down the main street, Woodward, which also runs in front of Comerica Park. The police had the roads around the stadium blocked off for the marchers.
After driving around
Before the game Mike and I had fun watching the little kids, teens and twenty-somethings crowd around the dugout hoping to get autographs. Joel Zumaya (pitcher) (nicknamed Zoom because his fastball is around 99-102 mph) stopped to autograph some items and stood for pictures with a few young ladies. Brandon Inge (3rd base) and Mike Maroth (pitcher on disabled list) also stopped to autograph some items. The crowd tried to get Pudge (Ivan) Rodriguez to stop too, but he didn't. He did get a ball from the dugout, autograph it and throw it into the crowd, which was cool. Before he went back into the dugout, he waved and smiled at ME...(there was no one sitting near me or behind me.) We had decided not to take our camera so unfortunately, I couldn't take Pudge's picture. (middle photo
After about 45 minutes of fans seeking attention from the players, the police and employees shooed the fans away from the dugout and the Tigers went to their clubhouse to prepare. The game was a quick one, played in 2:06. We won 6-2 on a rally in the seventh inning. In all, we had a great time and will go back next year.
