The Boys Are Back in Town!

Well, we can honestly say that this first series against the Red Sox was one of the most exciting that the three of us have seen as Tigers fans.  It had everything...dominant pitching, powerful slugging, and comeback wins that made all true fans want to weep with joy.  All this against a not-too-shabby Boston Red Sox team.  There have only been three games this season, and we don't want to make predictions too early, but we thought we'd point out a few of things that we saw in these first three games that we hope continue for the season (and some things that we hope are changed immediately!)

Good Thing 1: Justin Verlander
To be honest, throughout this offseason we were kind of worried about our ace JV.  Not that he was slacking, but the talk from all of our news sources showed him making commercials and playing golf as opposed to throwing and practicing like he did last offseason.  However, if its possible, Justin looks even better than the beginning of last season. He seems to have finally found a sort of solution to his April woes, and we just hope that the trend continues.  He deserved the win, yes, but what's most important is that he gets off to a good start.  He wasn't MVP for nothing. When Justin does well, the team tends to do well too.

Good Thing 2: Big Bats
Our offense seems to be as powerful and dominant as it was in Spring Training.  We put up big numbers in games two and three of this series, thanks most notably to Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder, but to all the other players as well. It was truly a team effort to win, especially in game 3, when every player who came up to bat had at least one hit.  At this point, there is no obvious weak link in the Tigers lineup, and Prince Fielder seems to have settled many people's fears about being able to hit home runs in the expansive fields of Comerica Park, blasting two home runs in game two.  Even when our pitching struggles, it seems like we will have our bats and clutch players (@Miguel!!!) to bail us out.

Good Thing 3: Team Chemistry
Was it just us or did it look like they were just having fun out there?  From the good natured jokes at Miguel's ungainly foul territory catch to Prince talking about how he loves his new club, it just seems like our boys are on a mission.  Many people think that Chemistry doesn't matter in baseball, but we really believe it does.  It also makes for a much more entertaining game when players are rooting for one another, and we're looking foward to a fun season!

Best Thing: Austin Jackson
Rod has often stated that Austin (and Curtis before him) is the "Straw that Sitrs the Drink."  We're not entirely sure what that means, but from context clues, we gather that when Austin is playing well, the team plays well. Austin Jackson has been freaking amazing this week.  In the game on Sunday, he was 4-6 with a double and three singles, and he had the hit that one the game in walk-off fashion on Thursday.  He's been coming up clutch, and he seems determined to shut up the haters by having has few Ks as possible. We hope he keeps doing well!

Concern 1: Dougy F.
We don't want Doug to be injured, mainly because we don't want Andy Oliver or any of the other no-name shmucks who got beat out for the starting job to come up to the big leagues.  They are not reliable, and its conerning to have the player we were most excited about at this blog be injured. Thankfully, it's the beginning of the season, and we can deal without him for a little bit, but we hope he recovers ASAP.

Concern 2: Max Scherzer
Max will be one of the keys to the Tiger's success this year, but judging by his performance on Easter, we're going to need a different key.  We really like Maz Scherzer... if you don't follow him to Twitter then you should because he's crazy hilarious... but he needs to get his act together to help out the team.  We think he can; this was just his first game of the season afterall. Max has good stuff, and we really just want to see him use it.

Concern 3: Brennan Boesch
Brennan played pretty poorly.  Everyone else in our lineup was hitting like a champ all weekend, but Brennan was the lone weak spot in the lineup. He has the power and he has the skills, but it just didn't work against the Red Sox. Once Brennan gets hitting (and we belive he will) we will have a pretty much unstopable lineup.  Its also a hard place to be hitting, but that's why he has to do a good job and get on base for Miguel and Prince.  Its times like this when we miss the best 2nd man the Tigers have had in a long while in Placido Polanco!  Brennan can do it though...we have faith!

Anyway...it was kind of a crazy first series, but we were glad to sweep the Sox and and show those clueless FOX commentators a thing or two.  What are they going to do now that both the Sox and the Yanks are 0-3? 

Here's to a fantastic rest of the season!

ALDS Game Three: We Heart Comerica (And Justin, And Ramon, And Delmon…)

Wow. Wow. Wow.


We didn't know what to do when Papa Grande got that final strikeout on The Captain. Scream? Laugh? Cry? Throw up? All were valid and understandable options, so if you did any of these (especially the last one), do not be ashamed. If you had a heart condition/panic disorder and you were watching this game, we send our condolences, because you are probably in the hospital right about now. But it was worth it. So, so worth it.

Where do we start? With Justin giving up those two early, early runs? With the Little Guys--Ramon Santiago, Brandon Inge, Don Kelly--coming up where our big sluggers fell short? With Justin coming back to completely dominate in the middle of the game? With Delmon Young hitting that go-ahead home-run? With the Big Potato walking two, then striking out Jeter for the final out?

Yeah. It was one of those kinds of games that so much exciting, scary, and thrilling stuff happens it leaves us curled in a little ball on the floor, rocking back and forth. Too much for our hearts to take!

You know what was the best part of that game though? Watching all of those Yankee fly balls that would have been homers in Yankee Stadium land harmlessly in the gloves of Tiger outfielders. Thank god the Tigers play in a REAL ballpark. Our outfield wall isn't 30 feet from home plate, unlike some stadiums we could mention! We know this has been said a lot, but seriously--Cabrera would be hitting 70 homers a year if he played in New York (GOD FORBID).

And we have to say it one more time: screw these goddamn TBS announcers. It's not just them sucking up to the Yankees anymore. It's the way they are insulting our team and then later looking like fools. Example: the three "professional" announcers light into Austin Jackson for not sac bunting. Next thing they know, he draws a walk. They then do the same to Ramon Santiago. What does he do? Oh, nothing, just hits an RBI single. I mean, please. Way to insult our player's poor decisions until after the at-bat. Our brains are bleeding just thinking about these jackasses.

Well! Tomorrow's the big day. Can we clinch it? Can Rick Porcello put on his Dr. Jekyll face and completely have his way with the Yankee lineup? Will we do as much damage off of A.J. Burnett as everyone says we will? I guess we'll find out.

Keep believing, Tiger Faithful. We can do this.

ALDS Game Two: And the Series is Tied!

We won!  We won! We won!

We three are going  to ignore the fact the Jose Valverde literally blew up in the ninth inning. We're going to overlook the fact that the hated Nick Swisher hit a home run in the ninth inning.  We're even going to pretend we didn't hear the TBS announcers verbally blow the Yankees.  Do you want to know why?  It is because we won. And unlike no-hitters, or statistics, or history, or Derek Jeter, or anything else, winning is the only thing that matters in the post-season.

Hell yeah!

So let's look at the positives for now!  Firstly, and most importantly, is Max Scherzer's performance.  Right before the post-season, Rogo from DesigNate Roberston wrote a wonderful post on the importance of Max Scherzer. We couldn't have agreed more with him, and boy did Max deliver!  He took a no-hitter into the sixth and had zero earned runs on the day.  Our boy Benoit (or Ben-OYT as the boys at TBS would say) pitched very well today as well, despite giving up a solo home run to Curtis Granderson, as he got out of no-out two-men-on jam that Max left him.

The two spot also delivered today.  Magglio went 3-3, and good ol' Don Kelly laced a very important RBI single in the top of the 9th to give the Tigers a four run lead. If the Tigers are going to get to the World Series, they're going to need production from every part of the line-up, not just Latino Row, so great work DK! We commend you! We also congratulate Miguel Cabrera for providing us with three runs today and for stealing a base. Miguel Cabrera stole a base everyone! That is how badly he wants to move on to the ALCS.

More positives:  The Tigers head back to CoPa tomorrow, so the Yankees don't get to keep hitting pathetic fly balls that are home runs in the Yankee's itty bitty park. Also, the heavyweights are pitching tomorrow!  Justin Verlander, the probable AL Cy Young winner, and CC Sabathia, 6'7" and about 500 lbs. We feel very optimistic about the Tigers chances at home, and hopefully JV can deliver for us.

So yeah, that game was a little bit scary there at the end, but the end result is a tied ALDS. There's so much to look forward to in the next couple of days, and we can't wait for some more post-season baseball.  Get the defibrillators folks! This series looks to be a wild ride!

Sorry. But Not Too Sorry.

So!
Sorry we haven't posted in a while. We are now all back to college, and the work is kicking our collective you-know-whats.  But something has been getting us through the madness that is school. What is it? 


CLINCHING THE FREAKING AMERICAN LEAGUE CENTRAL CHAMPIONSHIP!!!!!!!


A game that elicited much screaming and merriment from us.  Yay!  Now, we can be slightly annoyed, but not outraged, when Brad Penny decides he can't remember how to pitch (like he did a few days ago). When one of our infielders makes an error, no longer do we scream in horror, but instead smile and shake our heads ("Oh, that crazy Inge!"). Now we can rub our championship status in the faces of the Tiger-haters that surround us at our respective schools (Laura goes to school in Ohio. Indians fans aren't so loud and proud now, huh??). 


Although we've had a few losses thrown in there, everybody's been doing pretty good work. The pitchers have been doing a stellar job (including the pen) and when they don't, our hitters back them up. And when we're just not getting the job done--like tonight, for example--we are comforted in knowing that WE'RE THE AL CENTRAL CHAMPIONS. 


Even though the championship merchandise is really, really lacking in style factor, we're not sorry. 


It's not time to rest on our laurels, though (like it ever is??), because we wan't that home field advantage. We are currently tied with Texas, and it is now time for us to make that final push into playing the ALDS at home. With Verlander and Fister pitching like Ace #1 and Ace #1.5, if we get the advantage it practically guarantees us the win. 


And hopefully, with that advantage, we will be playing Boston. Not to put our boys down or anything, but there is no way we want to see Tampa (or L.A., for that matter) in the first round. Or ever. Their pitching staff scares us.


Still. It's a little hard to get us nervous or unhappy these days. Our boys have made the playoffs. It's going to be pretty fun to see how far they go.

Welcome to the Bigs, Andy!

It'd really be something if it was a girl!

When we heard that Andy Dirks was called up to replace the oft-injured Magglio, we couldn't help but smile. Dirks had a monster Spring Training, so huge that he almost beat out Casper Wells for the last roster spot. And yes, while he might appear to be another Generic White Outfielder, he actually could be a very reliable asset for our team.

First of all, Andy is 25, a "baby" as Jim Leyland affectionately called him, and has been a beast who can actually hit for power in triple A.  He had six home runs with the Mud Hens, and had a SLG of .527 in 145 plate appearances..  It wouldn't hurt to have another outfielder who can hit for power, especially since  he is replacing the battered and broken Magglio Ordonez, who has hit for basically nothing this year. As much as we love Maggs, it was time for him to go to the DL, and hopefully, Andy can amaze us, as Brennan did last year,  by hitting and fielding like a real big-leaguer.

Although he wasn't anything spectacular in his first game, it was great to watch him run around and giggle and smile and be generally adorable.  It's pretty fun to watch people play their first game in the bigs, and Andy was no exception, smiling and laughing whenever he caught a fly ball.  It must have been a real treat for his parents and girlfriend (sigh) since they were all at the park today, which is just the cutest most happy thing ever. He's a "country boy," which means that Ryan Raburn will finally have a friend! Not only that, but he had one of the four tigers hits of the day. It's nice to see that he got his first big league hit in his first big league game because now that he's gotten it out of the way, he can continue hitting in the games to come!

In terms of his future with the Tigers, we here at April in the D actually think he has one. Laura watched him belt a walk-off in Spring Training, so we know the kind of power he has. The only question is whether he can hit big league pitching, which remains to be seen. If he can, then we think he could most definitely contribute. Maybe he's not a Miguel Cabrera (okay, yeah, definitely he's not a Miguel Cabrera), but it is definitely within his potential to be a solid Ryan Raburn or Brennan Boesch in the outfield (with better fielding skills), and he could be more than that too. Then again, you can never tell with these rookies, and the three of us also are in love with Clete Thomas (a perennial minor-leaguer). All we know is, with Maggs hitting the way he was hitting, Andy has nowhere to go but up!

 Let's ignore the ugliness of our loss, and the supreme ugliness of Benoit's pitching, and just bask in the warm happy glow of a 25-year-old kid who just had his childhood dreams come true.  Also, we're actually not going to worry to much about this loss (even those blasted Indians won again, too bad they haven't played anyone legit yet) because of the ridiculous win streak we've been on. Hopefully we turn it around tomorrow and get some offense going!  Keep your eyes on Andy Dirks, because we actually see big things from him.

P.S. VOTE AVILA (and Verlander and Cabrera, obviously) FOR THE ALL-STAR GAME!