A Few Days in Tampa Bay

First off, we must say: What an amazing, exciting, confidence-boosting turnaround by our team. Although tonight's loss was a little disheartening thanks to Brandon Inge, Defensive Replacement, it's still heartening to know that by the end of the night we will be at least 5.5 games up on the competition for the AL Central crown. After that horrible series against Minnesota, we sweep Cleveland in dramatic fashion and win two very good and close games against the Rays. Last night's win in particular was outstanding, as Brad Penny out-dueled David Price. That was a sentence we never thought we would write, but things seem to really be going the Tigers way lately.

Secondly, we're sorry we haven't posted in a while. Because we have pretty busy schedules lately, including one of us going back to school for the fall, we needed to take a break. And it just so happened that Laura and Megan took that break....

In Tampa. The Tampa Bay Area. Yes, with the Tigers. 


You reader(s) may remember that about a month back Sam from Roar of the Tigers accidentally stayed in the team hotel in Minnesota. For us, it was not so much of an accident. At all. Don't worry, we're not as crazy as we sound, and we didn't harass (or even approach) any Tigers, but it was very fun and entertaining and STRANGE to see the Tigers dressed in normal clothes, walking around doing normal(ish) things.

We all have seen the Tigers up close and personal at games (obviously) and we're sure a lot of you have seen them at events or promotions or randomly on the street or wherever. But to see all these Tigers in such a small space in such a short amount of time was a little more than we could take. Meeting Curtis Granderson alone in 2009 made us almost pass out. So you can only imagine our euphoria when we were in the same hotel as all of them. At once.


Oh yeah, there was a game too, and a good one. Jump with us to read in detail about all of the Tampa Bay Fun...

No Haters Allowed

Four games up in the Central. One of the best winning percentages we've had all year. Clutch, gritty wins with good pitching and hitting. Victor Martinez is going to be fine. With all of these good things, what could we possibly be annoyed about? Well, we'll tell you.

After witnessing one of the best catches we have ever seen on Saturday by one of our most exciting young players, the three of us have something we would like to get off our chests. And by something, we mean A Rant. Bear with us, please...

It's no secret that the three of us are big Austin Jackson fans. If you've read even a few of our blog posts, you know this to be true. So it is always a sure way to boil our blood when Tigers "fans" post comments about how A-Jax sucks or how he should have been traded to Seattle or how he should be in Triple-A.

Well to the Haters, we say: suck it.  This is why he's on our team. Not because he is a stellar hitter (yet). But because he is far and away the best defender the Tigers have, and the best center fielder we've seen wear the Old English D. Yes. Better than Curtis Granderson.

Does Jackson strike out too much? Hell yes. Is he doing somewhat poorly at the plate this year? Absolutely. Is it fair to compare him to Granderson, his predecessor? Of course. But before "Tiger Nation" makes him their whipping boy in the vein of Brandon Inge or Ryan Raburn, remember what he is capable of doing offensively (hitting .293 last year). Remember that he is only 24 years old. And most importantly, remember that his defense literally wins games for us.

So before you "loyal fans" out there start to type an uninformed, misspelled comment slamming A-Jax for not living up to your lofty expectations about what a 24 year old center fielder in his sophomore season should be doing, think about what he has done, and think about what he has the potential to do.

Also, just look at this. Someone this sexy can't be in Triple-A. Please. 


On a happier, less preachy note, the Tigers are still four games ahead of Cleveland as we head into a pivotal  three game series. We're dying to see Verlander/Jimenez--as in, we're dying to see Jimenez torched by American League bats again. Welcome to the Central, buddy.

Before we go we should mention one last thing: Megan and Laura are road-tripping to Tampa in a few weeks to watch our boys take on the rays. So exciting!!! Especially since we haven't been to many games this year. Expect a crazy recap afterwards. You know how ridiculous we can be...