Getting Nervous?

What the f****** f*** was the last two days?

Before yesterday and today's games went down, our boys were enjoying a nice, easy breezy 4-game win streak courtesy of the Chi Sox and the Indians. Then we blow a lead in the 9th yesterday (thanks, Papa Grande!) to watch those hapless racist idiots walk off against us. Always fun. Next, we watch a potentially season-determining make-up game against the White Sox go up in smoke thanks to poor managing, shitty defense (ITS A DOUBLE PLAY NOT ROCKET SCIENCE), shaky starting pitching and non-clutch hitting.

Not exactly how you want to play a game that might decide the fate of the 2012 season.

We guess there's no point in really talking about how startlingly disappointing that game was. Yes, we have over two weeks left, but our boys just looked bad out there today, with the only bright spot courtesy of Miguel Cabrera's mini-me, Avisail Garcia. He was exciting! But not much else was.

Can we just talk for a moment about Miguel Cabrera? And how sorry we feel for him that he's stuck with these idiots? And how if he doesn't win the MVP, and the snot-nosed kid out in Los Angeles does, we're probably going to riot? It sickens us how overlooked this guy is. Leading the AL in RBI and average and fourth in homers. What is Trout leading in? Runs. And Stollen Bases, but whatever. Excuse me, but no one currrs about runs, and stolen bases is nice, but it doesn't win games. This kid is definitely winning Rookie of the Year, but no way, no way should he win the MVP over Cabrera, especially if we make the playoffs. The only way we can see Trout winning is if he sparks the Angels to a wild card spot, AND the Tigers don't make the playoffs. Thats. The. Only. Way.

Miguel Cabrera has been too good for too long to not get this award. He's played injured. At times he's carried our entire team offensively. And he still has a legit chance for a TRIPLE CROWN. Miggy is not going to be and should not be denied this time around, folks, no matter how sexy voting for a rookie may be. If we DO make the playoffs, it will be in large part because of him. He is seriously the silver lining to these shitty couple of days  months.

And that brings us back to the topic of the playoffs. Oh my god, we are so nervous. We are so DEVASTATED. We promised ourselves we wouldn't get as emotionally in invested this year, but we failed. We wouldn't be true Tiger fans if we didn't put our entire heart and soul into willing our boys to win the pennant! However, PTSD of Game 163 still flashes in our minds. We're not sure if our psyches can handle another close finish with us on the losing end, and we bet many of you would agree.

It looks like we'll have pretty evenly matched schedules, what with six games against Minnesota remaining for us and six games against the Indians for them. Unfortunately, Oakland and the spoilerific Kansas City Royals will NOT be a cakewalk. And with a mere 16 games left, there's no time to mess around (you hear us, Valverde? You too, Infante. And Christ alive, get Brennan Boesch off the field!). Shit is now REAL.

Buckle up, kids. It's going to be a bumpy (and frightening. And stressful. And maybe, maybe amazing) 2 weeks. We hope you're ready!

Road Warriors

That last home stand was key for our boys. Key. They HAD to win the series against the White Sox, and they did one better--they swept it. Unfortunately, they then went on to miss opportunities left and right and lose 2 out of 3 game to those troll Indians. A 4-2 home stand isn't bad at all, but it is disappointing to see our hitters struggle against one of the MLB's worst teams.

Whatever. Shake it off. 4-2 is still good! A game behind is so manageable! Plus, there are more important things to think about, since clearly our boys want to make September as interesting as possible. We have what can only be described as a difficult road ahead of us for the next ten games. We're not even talking about the players at this point, we're talking about the fans. Staying up to watch a game that ends at 1 is not our cup of tea, but dammit, we'll do it. We'll do it for our team.

The Tigers themselves have an interesting road, too. The Angels and then the Indians again? Talk about a tough six games. Sure, Indians suck, but they have given our boys fits over the course of the season. Plus there is no home-field advantage this time. And the Angels? Any Tigers vs. Angels game is fun to watch post-Guillen, but what we're really interested in is Mike Trout vs. Miguel Cabrera. To us, there is no contest on who should get the MVP, especially if the Tigs make the postseason and the Halos don't, but we guess only time will tell.

And then of course come our good buddies, the White Sox. Obviously we do better at home against them than on the road, but wouldn't it be fantastic if we could at least go 3-1 and move into first place for good? Of course, we first would have to not get beaten soundly by our opponents on the West Coast.

This is without a doubt our hardest road series left, and maybe our most important too. If we lose all three series, I doubt our boys will be able to climb out of that hole. But if we win…well, that would not only put us in a good position to win the pennant, but would also foreshadow a team who could make a significant playoff run.

One last note to the fans: the world is not going to end, the season is not going to shatter if our boys get a few losses. We still have a lot of baseball left. Deep breaths, people. We can do this together.

EDIT: Our dumb butts mixed up the Indians series with the A' series (which will be at Comerica). Look what these Tigers are doing to us!

The Real Reason Why The Tigers Suck in Cleveland

The Tiger's three-game series in Cleveland is over (finally). During that stretch we have seen many, many plays transpire in Progressive Field--most of them not going our way. Aside from Austin Jackson's great catch, Justin Brooks Verlander's 10 K's, and Papa Grande's 33rd save, there wasn't much to be pleased about. It should be noted that the club had been on a 12 game losing streak in Cleveland in addition to a 6-3 season record against them.

First, we sleepily watched as the Indians scraped by with a walk-off HBP that ended at 2 a.m. after 14 innings, a 2-hour rain delay, and nonexistent hitting. Next, our eyes bled as Rick Porcello was used and abused in an extremely lopsided 10-3 loss. Finally, only by the grace of the Baseball Gods and the freakish powers of Verlander were our boys able to crawl out of Cleveland with a win.

It was weird, confusing baseball for the whole series. Our Tigers did not look like the Tigers who had taken the previous two series from KC and Texas. Something was amiss.

Just what was amiss? Take a look after the jump...