NoTORIIous

Well!

So, it's been a while. Fifteen days, to be exact. We don't know about you guys, but the three of us needed to take a breather from baseball. There is still too much pain after that World Series From Hell, and we needed to to remove ourselves from that situation.

But, as per usual, the game we love sucks us back in, in none other than the form of a notorious, card-carrying Tiger Killer, Torii Hunter. When we first read about the Tigers showing interest in the slick-fielding outfielder, our interest was piqued, but we didn't pay too much attention to it. We knew other teams were interested in him, and we figured Torii would need to take some time to weigh his options.

We were so, so wrong.

Torii Hunter doesn't wait for you to contact him, HE goes out and contacts YOU. We have never heard of a player pitch himself so strongly and confidently to a team, let alone our own Tigers. Remember when Dombrowski & Co. had to beg people to play in the D? Those days are clearly long, long gone. Now we have All-Star Gold Glove winners banging on our door, demanding to be let on the American League Championship team.

Times, they have a'changed. To put it crudely, the Tigers are suddenly the hottest bitches on the block, and everyone wants a go. Best part is, everyones on the same page: Hunter wants a WS ring. So does Illitch. The time is now.

Do people even realize what has happened? We have gone from Delmon Young and Brennan Boesch to Victor Martinez and Torii Hunter. In what world does this happen? Yankee Land, maybe, but not in Detroit. This is absolutely crazy.

So we guess it's time to cross Mr. Hunter of our hate list and nestle him in our hearts, because he is now One Of Us. It only makes it that much sweeter that Torii wanted to play in the Old English D. What can we say? We're an appealing club.

We will address the issue of JV's Cy Young loss and Miggy's impending MVP decision (gulp!) soon. Right now, let us bask in the glow of another already successful offseason.

Let's Get This Party Started

He Means Business.
(We don't know who this should be credited to, but it is too awesome not to use).

It's that time of year again, folks: the fantastical month of April, and as everyone who has access to the television station FSDetroit knows, that means it's also April in the D time! Loathe it if you must, but the three of us personally love all the songs, commercials, and fanfare (except the FSDetroit Girls, who, by the way, have added another girl to their ranks). It just signifies that the most glorious of sports has returned to us: Major League Baseball.

Just typing those words are exciting. Seriously. In two (long, interminable, excruciating) days we will see Justin Verlander, Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder take the field together for the first time. The incredible lineup we have been looking forward to seeing since January will be smashing baseballs out of the park. Our park, with it's enormous, brand new big screen. Be honest: how excited are you that we will soon hear the melodic  "RAWWRARARAWRARR" of our feline mascot when we score our first run?

The roster is "set", but not really;  Drew Smyly (!!!) is making his first start in AAA, so as soon as he is called up for his first big league start on April 12th, either Clete Thomas, Andy Dirks, or Danny Worth will go down to the minors in his place. Even more annoyingly, Brandon Inge is on the DL, so it will be about two weeks, so poor Danny gets a tease of Major League action before he has to go back down. So our 25-man roster is really a 27-man roster. Fun. Our money is on Dirks, not Clete, to make the final cut. But we shall see. Tigers management has surprised us before…

Our pitching IS set, however, and we couldn't be more pumped about it. Our starting rotation is one of the best in the majors, and definitely the best in our division, and it will be exciting to see what the three-headed monster of Valverde, Benoit, and Dotel can put together in the bullpen, which says nothing of other strong additions "Insane" Phil Coke, Luis Marte (replaced by our sweet Bumble Below due to an unfortunate injury), and Collin Balester. Daniel Schlereth is the one guy we're still on the fence about, but there's one of those guys in every group, right?

Last year we had surprises, and a lot of them, from Alex Avila to Doug Fister. This year we already have some surprises (V-Mart, anyone?), but mostly we have expectations-a lot of them. It seems like a given that we'll take the Central, and if we don't, heads will roll. But we, like most Tiger fans, want more than just another pennant. We can see the potential glory this year,  with our powerful bats and solid bullpen and ace starters. Sure, there are some question marks, but this is going to be a crazy fun year. We can just tell.

In celebration of the beginning of one of the most exciting seasons in a while (and our 100th blog post!), the three of us decided we need to do something besides grinning stupidly and breaking out into excited, hysterical giggles. So, with trepidation, we made the executive decision to start…a Twitter page. Though social media scares us a little (stupid, since we're bloggers for chrissakes, but whatevah), we'd be thrilled if you guys could give us a follow. Now you get to hear our ridiculous ramblings all the time. How exciting is that?!?!?!!?!? Oh, you are so welcome.


Happy April everyone! Be sure to follow us @April_in_the_D if you can stand it. And seriously, thanks for everyone who's been reading for over a year. This little blog has turned into so much fun for us.


See everyone on Opening Day!!!! Who else just cannot WAIT for Rod and Mario???