Oy.

Well. We needed to get at least one win in this series, didn't we? Going 1-6 in our own homefield (with a humiliating sweep by the Mariners) and losing a game we should have won to the Yankees was bad enough.The worst, however, came at 3 AM Friday morning when our own Delmon Young was arrested.

This has been a tough week and a half. Losing three series in a row--and going a depressing 2-8 during that stretch--hasn't done much to raise our morale. We know we've been preaching that the Tigers will get it together, it's only April, blah blah blah. All this is still true, and we are 99% confident that our team will eventually figure their shit out and comfortably win the division. And if we win tomorrow, we will technically be above .500 for the month of April. And looking at our ridiculous hard April schedule contrasted with a much-easier May, this can only bode well.

Like we said, however, we've got some major things to figure out. Max Scherzer, for instance. He seems to be reverting back to his old schizophrenic self, and now we're just waiting for that game when it all clicks for him and he starts pitching like Ace #3 again. For now, however, its frustrating watching anyone not named Justin Verlander, Drew Smyly, Octavio Dotel, or Duane Below pitch. Our relief core has been mediocre at best to abysmal at worst.

The hitters, too, need to start picking it up. Though there has been a few positive signs: (Miguel Cabrera coming back from his slump with a vengeance, Prince Fielder's continued production, Austin Jackson proving himself as a capable leadoff man) the lineup is not clicking as a whole. Yet. Just like last year, we predict they will start really coming together pretty soon. You can only keep hitters as talented as these down for a matter of time, though why they are "down" at all is kind of confusing. We should be murdering opposing pitchers, even at this early stage in the season.

This leads us to the most pressing matter--Delmon Young's arrest. We're not going to go too far into what we think about his alleged screaming of hateful Jewish slurs while extremely intoxicated, and that's mostly because we don't know enough information yet. But if everything said in the papers is true (and according to our hero Dave Dombrowski, it's not) then our opinion of Delmon's character is significantly lower.

Some people wonder if this kind of thing can damage a team, and question whether our clubhouse will rebound from it. Hello? Remember last year when our best player was arrested for a DUI, which was his second brush with the law involving alcohol? Yeah, we do too, and guess what? Our team (and the player in question) bounced back just fine. That being said, this situation is pleasant for no one, and it is one of the last things that our boys need right now. But this is something that they can recover from.

Long story short, we still have a lot (and we mean a lot) of confidence in our team. But this shit ain't pretty, and the team needs to rally around one another in this time of need and turn this slump around.

Because Nothing Can Ever Go Perfectly...

So, we're sure you've already heard, but Miguel Cabrera is on the DL.  He took a ground ball to the face yesterday, and apparently was bleeding when he left the field.  Now we're hearing that he broke the bone underneath his eye.

On a pessimistic note, weren't we all thinking something like this was going to happen? Miguel is not exactly the world's best third baseman, despite his commendable effort to lose weight and get in shape.  And although he's super athletic, he was bound to trip up sometime.  It stinks that it had to maim his adorable mug, but, on the bright side, we're sure glad that this is happening during Spring Training, and not when we actually need him, during the regular season.

We here at April in the D felt this storm a'brewin'.  It seemed impossible that the Tigers could win so many Spring Training games without a serious calamity to follow. Let's all just thank our lucky stars that it wasn't his ACL, or his hand, or those freaking obliques that seem to trouble the tigers so much!

So, you feel better Miguel!  Put a big old bandaid on your face and do some sit ups in the meantime.  Use the time to get mentally prepared for the season ahead! We are just so pumped.

Oh The Weather Outside is Frightful...

As the Michigan representative of April in the D, I have some news to report. You probably all know this by now, but Brandon Inge was in a multi-car crash today! It is because Michigan is mean and temperamental, and we already have snow everywhere. Actually, it's way worse than snow because it's just warm enough so that the snow melts during the day and then freezes at night, and now we have a dangerous ice slick. You would think that Brandon would know how to drive in Michigan by now, but apparently he does not.

Now before you all get your panties in a twist, I am glad to report that there were no injuries involved.  So not only is Brandon Inge not hurt, but he's probably not facing any lawsuits either.  We do have to admit that we were still really scared when we heard about it, but we sure are glad that everything is okay!

We've had enough problems with Tigers and cars, and we don't want anymore!

-Megan

ALCS Game Four: Cruz Control

Let us ask this: is there any Tigers fan anywhere who isn't terrified of Nelson Cruz? If you're not terrified, then you loathe him, because in the three losses the Tigers have suffered this series, Nelson Cruz has been the main reason. 

Yes, the Rangers bullpen has been good. Yes, our hitting has been sketchy at best. Yes, Rick Porcello made some mistakes last night. But Nelson Cruz, he of the inconsistent arm, gunned Cabrera down at home on a play that (probably) would have won us the game, and then proceeded to drive another nail in the coffin with a spirit-shattering three-run shot. 

I'm sure this was disheartening and traumatic on television, but let me tell you, it was worse in person. Laura and Megan were there, and holy crap was it brutal to see that ball fly into the Rangers bullpen. Not to mention, we had sat through a two hour rain delay and two hours of more light rain during the game, but it was worth it. But that home run was killer.

Do you still believe? It will be tough. Our offense, beaten and battered as they are, need to give it all they got. Our starting pitching needs to be tremendous, and with Verlander, Scherzer, and Fister, it can be. It would take a lot of luck. But we believe. 

Come on, Tigers. Let's make it a good fight.

ALDS Game Four: Ew.

You guys know that feeling you get when the Tigers win a playoff game? After the initial sensation of terror over a Papa Grande save wear off, you feel like you're on top of the world.   Like you would passionately kiss the next person you saw (preferably Austin Jackson Rick Porcello Brennan Boesch Ryan Perry Alex Avila Magglio Ordonez a Tiger). Like if someone mugged you on the street, you'd just smile and say "That's alright! Take my wallet, you look like you're a little down on your luck! Please don't hit me to hard! Have a nice daaayyyyy!!! (Okay, maybe a little extreme. But after we won the world series perhaps)

Now we know all too well the feeling after the Tigers lose a playoff game. Like you want to get into a bloody, violent fistfight with the next schmuck you see (preferably a Yankee. Any Yankee). Like turning off the lights in your bedroom, lighting twenty candles,  eating cartons of Ben and Jerry's and sobbing in your room to the Brian's Song (no? Not you? Just us? Okay then).


We don't really want to venture to far into the disgusting and gruesome details of tonights game. We only have a few things to say here.

1) Curtis Granderson…WHY????????
    Seriously, though. That first catch he made was not that impressive, it just looked impressive because he   read it wrong. That second catch, though…that was the death blow. Without those two catches, that might have been a completely different game. BETRAYAL. He reeks of it.

2) We knew A.J. was going to pitch well.
    Everyone--ESPECIALLY Yankee fans--were bitching about how Burnett was going to suck. Hello? Never, ever, ever say that too much, because then, due to a little something called karma, the guy is going to get all pumped and completely rock our shit. Maybe that was the Yankees plan all along. Brilliant…

3) Looking For Hitters
    When the player who looks best with the bat is Don Kelly, you know it's not a good day. But seriously, nothing was going our way. Nothing.

So, that being said, Game Five is almost upon us. On Thursday night, Tigers fans will anxiously be watching as our team takes on the Yankees in their sandbox of a ballpark, facing the man who three-hit us only a few nights ago.

You know what? Our boys can do this. They absolutely can. We at April in the D don't have a doubt in our minds that if Fister pitches as well as he's capable of--which is very, very well--then we will win. Our offense may have been shut down, but our team has a knack for bouncing back. You think Miggy and V-Mart aren't going to get fired up? You thought wrong. You reasoned that Fister was going to have a repeat performance of "Game 1"? Try again. This team has been thwarting the haters all season, and there is no way they're going to stop now.

Is Nova going to be good? Yes. Are we going to have better defense and offense against him? Hell yes. As tough as this loss was, our boys have a day to focus in and get ready for the biggest game of the season. Thus far. It's time to put up or shut up--may the best team win.

The Yankees are good. We have to prove that we're better.

Make It or Break It

So. That was a fun series, right guys?

Tigers vs. Twins. 1st place vs. 4th place. In Detroit. Tigers acquired a very good player from the Twins in Delmon Young. The Tigers should have been completely dominant for the whole series. They certainly were when Verlander was on the mound. As per usual, Justin was amazing. But this fairly dramatic blog post isn't going to be dwelling on the shiny happy points of the series so much.

No, this post is going to be focused on the fact that, after tonight's soul-crushing, heartbreaking loss with the Cleveland Idiots breathing down our necks once again, it is now officially time for our boys to show up or go home.

What exactly do we mean by this? Well, we'll tell you AFTER THE JUMP...

Brandon Inge, Je T'aime

DISCLAIMER: Yes, we know we spelled Je T'aime wrong in the title earlier...we fixed it now. We're emotional, okay?! Two out of three of us took high school French. We should know better.

So. We all know the news. We all surely have our own reactions about it. And ours was a mixture of, "It's about damn time" followed immediately by a feeling akin to the death of a lifelong pet who annoyed us often, but was loved most of the time.

Okay, that was overdramatic. But that was how we felt!




Jump with us as we walk down memory lane with Brandon...

Whole Lotta Trouble

Happier Times....

Really, Gods of Baseball?
Someone up there has a very sick sense of humor. Catching Miguel Cabrera drunk and driving in Florida is bad enough--letting him then be busted by cops while clearly in blackout mode is even worse. Why couldn't it be Joe Mauer???

All kidding aside, this is really bad. Miguel had supposedly sobered up since his last binge right before our key playoff game with the Twins. Now its happened again, putting question marks up for our already questionable team before Spring Training games start. Who else will play first base if Miggy's out? Don Kelly? Miggy could play better completely smashed than Don Kelly could sober (sorry Don, its true).

And I know we have V-Mart now, and he can play first base, but the idea behind that was that Miggy and V-Mart would play at the same time! Total ass-kicking can commence. Without Miguel, there will not be total ass-kicking. There will be no ass-kicking. Wins would be more of the come-from-behind or win-by-a-fluke variety.

Ok, I over-exaggerate...none of that is important at all. Obviously, the most important thing here is that Miguel gets better, even if that means he takes some time off. And it's very unlikely that the Tigers organization turns their back on him... no, it's actually impossible. And, as a bleak, faintly glimmering silver lining, at least this is happening before the season happens. He can take the time to get better and hopefully be ready by April. His health is always the most important thing. We hate fair weather fans here at April in the D, and Tiger Nation should be behind Miguel 110%. This is the kind of challenge that the team can overcome and that will make them better in the long run.
Still, with all that being said...
Why couldn't this happen to Minnesota?!