That's More Like It

It's about damn time.


This past week has really seen our boys go from the middle-of-the-road level of play they have been exhibiting all year to the kind of play of which we know they're all capable.

Five straight wins, including for games in a row with homers from Delmon Young, a man who has freaking struggled this year. He has, in fact, struggled so hard that he was named Jayson Stark's Least Valuable Player of the first half. Yikes. Although now we can totally imagine Delmon seeing what Stark wrote and getting the wake-up call he so desperately needed, and thank goodness for that. If Delmon can continue his hot hitting after the All Star break, then Tigers fans are in for a treat!

Speaking of All-Stars, a belated congrats to Prince Fielder, Miguel Cabrera, and the American League starting pitcher, Justin "God" Verlander! All three of these fine players were justly and unsurprisingly elected to the team, and while we believe all three should be starting, two out of three ain't bad. Prince is also competing in his fourth Home Run Derby tonight, and we will of course be watching and rooting for our boy. Go Prince go (and puh-lease let your cute little sons be there to root you on)!!!!

Though we are very proud of these three, we do think that our boy Austin Jackson was snubbed. He has been, in our minds, the most valuable player of the first have for the Tigers, and had he not been injured for a few weeks, he might not have been denied. At least Ron Washington could have given him the courtesy of being on the Final Vote roster, but whatever. Ajax hasn't let it get him down, so we're just gonna let it slide.

We're more excited to see what comes after the break, though. We finished on such an unexpected high note, and now it seems like this team is finally rolling. But they're are obviously a lot of questions that need to be answered if our team is going to win anything.

Will Ryan Raburn continue his campaign of suck? Will Doug Fister overcome his injuries/shakiness to have a good second half like last year? Will Max Scherzer continue his always-solid/sometimes-great year? Will Quintin Berry slow down after his hot rookie campaign? Will Brennan Boesch get his shit together actually pick up his sluggish pace, or will the return of Andy Dirks doom him to Triple A?

All valid questions, we think. But this is an exciting time. Our boys are at a crossroads. They can either take the momentum they have and use it to claim what is rightfully theirs (the AL Central) or they can scuffle and underachieve like they used to. That is up to them.