The Pride of Detroit

Swag.

24 wins. 250 strikeouts. Cy Young Award. American League MVP.

Just another day for Justin Verlander, right?

Not quite. With his shiny new MVP trophy came the knowledge that  JV is the first pitcher to win the award in 19 (!) years. That is pretty amazing, not only for Justin, who must be on cloud nine right now, but also for the Tigers organization and the city of Detroit.

Despite Cleveland writer's best efforts, JV has successfully bucked the trend of Tigers being shafted during awards season. And it's no wonder. With his absolutely dominating season, even ESPN realized there was baseball outside of New York or Boston. So suck on that, Curtis Granderson and Jacoby Ellsbury! Actually, New York fans from what we could tell have been pretty gracious. It's the whiny, still-hurting Sawx fans that are really upset. Not like we care. Not like Justin cares.

Obviously this means a lot to Justin. He himself said that "not even in his wildest dreams" did he think this could happen. We hope Tigers fans everywhere appreciate that not only is he one of the best pitchers  that will ever come through the organization, but also that he is one of the most humble and generous. As soon as the award was announced he thanked the city of Detroit, his teammates, and the fans, and also said he was never prouder to "represent Detroit--city of resilience and pride." He then got #DetroitPride trending on Twitter in the United States in ten minutes.

Who else does this? How many athletes do you see these days putting the city and the fans, especially a city as down-on-its-luck as Detroit, before themselves, especially when they and they alone have accomplished so much? Most pros would not do that. In a sports world that has been bombarded lately with scandals and fines and crappy sportsmanship, it is refreshing and heartwarming to see one who, despite all his success, plays with his city and teammates in mind, not himself. It's even better to know that this man is a Tiger, and will be for a while.

It's so important that we fans appreciate his greatness, and never take it for granted. Players like Justin Verlander only come around every so often. Seasons like the one he just had are even rarer. 

Congrats, Justin Verlander, 2011 MVP and Cy Young Award winner. You make Detroit proud.

Offseason Blues

Withdrawal. It's a bitch, isn't it?

Seriously, though. Sorry we haven't been updating very often, but when you'e busy counting down the days until Spring Training and whiling away the hours moaning and being jealous of stupid football and hockey fans, you lose track of time.

WE JUST WANT BASEBALL BACK. Good thing we have about three and a half months to go, which doesn't seem like a long time, until you think about the fact that the offseason has been going on for only about three weeks. It also seems longer when you think about the snow and the cold and indoor sports and no sun or warmth or baseball.

So, what does one do when faced with the endless and dreaded winter/offseason two-for-one special from Hell? We have a few ideas.

April in the D's Official Offseason To-Do List
1) Check Bless You Boys (www.blessyouboys.com) often. They have the best/most interesting Tigers coverage in the offseason, if not year round.
2) Stare at this picture of Verlander and the Italian Stallion from their recent jaunt to a Jets game. Studs. Note the grammar.
3) Come up with a dream offseason wish-list that includes Martin Prado, Roy Oswalt, and Amaris Ramirez. Then send to Tigers' front office. Thats all we want for Christmas, Santa Dave Dombrowski!
4) Watch replays of ALDS Game 5. A sweet, sweet victory that includes bragging rights until next year against the d-bags in New Yawk. SUCK IT.
5) Pray on a nightly basis that Gene Lamont is going the Red Sox. Killing two birds with one stone, as far as we're concerned…
6) Beat the cold by snuggling with a loved one in a cozy Detroit Tigers Snuggie. Yes, they exist. Yes, we want one!
7) Read this hilarious new blog by Phil Coke's Brain of Twitter fame. The perfect way to cheer you up during frequent bouts of offseason depression!
8) Pray that the FSD Girls are gone by next year (we're sure we're in the minority on this one).
9) If the FSD girls are NOT gone, pray that certain Tigers players make sexy, distracting appearances on FSD commercials too. Equal opportunity, people, equal opportunity.
10) Make a pilgrimage to Comerica Park. Try to break in and, if successful, go roll around on the field. It will likely be snowing, but it don't matter!!!
11) Go to TigerFest! We really hope the three of us can go this year…
12) Send Nicotine patches to Jim Leyland as a Christmas/Hanukkah gift.
13) Produce endorphins by running in the cold. To get your lazy winter butt out of the house, tell yourself that this is what Doug Fister is doing (he's a runner, if you didn't know)
14) Attempt to see and photograph Doug Fister actually running.
15) Watch football and comment on how much Joe Buck sucks at commentating on any sport.

Well, there you have it! 15 ways to waste time until pitchers and catchers report. In all seriousness, it will be interesting to see what happens next week when the MVP winners are announced. We would say that tomorrow's Cy Young announcement would be interesting, but lets face it: this has been Verlander's award since July. Wrap it up, JV. Wrap it up.

An Ode to Ordonez

Magglio Ordonez. Magglio. Maggs.                                                                                           

He’s been a playoff hero, a batting-title winner, everyone's favorite Tiger. He's had the best hair in the leagues, and he’s been the not-so-secret crush of many of of our friend’s mothers.  He was perfect.        

He was never more perfect than in 2006, when delivered The Home Run--that beautiful walk off homer against Oakland in the ALCS that seemed to stay in the air for years. He earned then eternal love and adoration of Tigers fans everywhere after that one, no matter how many times we suffered short term memory loss whenever Maggs was in an occasional rut.  And whenever he got in said rut, he would bounce back in full, fantastic Magglio fashion.

 In 2007 he had a phenomenal year, with a .363 (WOW) batting average, 139 RBI, 28 HRs, and was runner up for the AL MVP behind ARod. (One of the many MORE reasons to hate that guy.)  His numbers have since trickled down, and some traitors fair-weather fans losers people didn’t think he had it in him this year.

Well, he showed them.  The second half of his season was great, and he was a clutch badass against the Yankees. He was phenomenal, even in his old age. It was like the Magglio of old had graced us with his presence, showing all the haters of the world exactly just who had helped bring the D back to prominence.                                                                                                                               

Unfortunately, it was not to last. Now that he has re-broken his ankle, hope is officially GONE. He will not come back to play with us next year.  Dombrowski has rightfully ended his (and Carlos') time with the Tigers, and as much as we agree with this decision, it hurts our hearts to know we won't see his Antonio Banderas-esque face in the Tigers dugout. We hope Magglio can settle down and retire with his wife and kids (who's names bear the proof of Magglio's humility) and re-grow his mane of curly locks.

 The spirit of Magglio, and that magical 2006 team,  will always be with us.  He never gave up.  He embodies the fighting spirit of our Tigers.  They don’t stop until they are physically incapable of doing so.  We saw it with Delmon, with Alex, with V-Mart, and even Inge in this year. But no one more so than sweet Magglio. He is a man of inspiration.  Inspiration to his team, to his fans, and to the WORLD.  We know we are getting sappy and melodramatic, but only because he deserves it.  And only because we know its all true. 

We love you, Magglio Ordonez. Thank you for all you have given us.

How to Cope with Heartbreak

Is it really the end? Is this season really over?

We have to admit, we've been pretty devastated over the past week. Not because we're disappointed with our boys. No. They put in a phenomenal effort against the crazy-talented Rangers. That series could have swung either way, which is perhaps one of the greatest contributing factors to our woe. But we'll take that loss. It was well-deserved by the Rangers, and, except for the last game, the Tigers proved to be no pushover.

The worst feeling, though--the emotion that you are all feeling--is heartbreak. What a beautiful season, with a lovable cast of characters that made up the best team we've seen in a while. And its over. It's done. We're not going to see our boys for five months. Five. Months. It's like a dear friend or loved one just leaves you and won't come back for months and months and months and you have to suffer through the long and lonely winter yourself and you miss them already and it has rained everyday since they've been gone or at least it feels like it and you LOVE them and--

Okay. You get the picture. You feel the pain.

And isn't such a huge freaking tease to see the Rangers and Cardinals duke it out, looking all happy and excited because, har har har, they're still in it? We tried to watch Game One of the series, but that involved a feeling akin to having our chests beaten with a spiked club. How dare they feel so happy! They're taking their season for granted! STOP! Enjoy every moment, you fools!

Oh my gosh. We're just going to miss them so. Much.

But, like any relationship "on a break", it's healthier to look back on the good instead of the bad. Hey, remember that time we came back seven runs down on the White Sox? That's when we knew. That's when we, the fans of Detroit, knew we were in love with those crazy kids. Really, truly in love.

Our infatuation started much earlier than that, though. Justin Brooks Verlander and his no-hitter, for instance. That's when sports media decided to turn their collective eye from the east coast and finally realize that this Verlander kid was pretty good.

Yes, this team defied everyone (even us Tiger faithful) from the beginning, what with Big Mig getting arrested for a DUI. The media crucified him, saying that his wayward ways would have extremely negative affects on his baseball career. What did Miggy do then? Oh, nothing much, just put together an MVP caliber season with a batting title thrown in for kicks. Up yours, naysayers!

And what about Victor? What a great mentor and leader he was for the team. What a great dad. What a clutch hitter. He was practically in pieces by the end of the season, but he still had enough in him to motivate our team. He gave everything tonight! (Thanks, Pitbull).

Alex Avila. One of the most unexpected turnarounds we've ever seen. From anyone. And Juh-honny too. He got in great shape and had a career year. Papa Grande….he was the perfect closer. He was scary at times (really, really scary). But he never failed us in a save situation. Not once. We can't ask any more from him.

And of course, our late acquisitions Doug Fister and Delmon Young (and for most of the regular season, before he got injured, Wilson Betemit) really, really helped us out. Without Fister especially, we probably wouldn't have gotten past New York. We might not even have gone to the playoffs!

Speaking of New York, too…what a series. To beat them in their own park? Unreal. Beating the Yankees when not many thought we could really showed that the Detroit Tigers are a seriously good team, and will remain so for the next few years. And come on, how amazing was it to take it to those stupid, puffed up arrogant sons of bitches?! The best feeling in the world.

And of course…Magglio. But we will not go on about him here. Soon we will do our Ode to Ordonez post, where we will revel in his glory. We miss you already, Maggs. The D is not the same without you.

Looking back on the good really did ease some of the pain. And five (or is it four? Can't count in our haze of depression) months is not forever. Our boys will come back rested, beautiful, glowing, and (hopefully) healed, ready to take the AL Central again. We really can't wait. Until then, we will look back on a truly amazing season. See you soon, boys. And thank you.

Oh, and for all of the people who have so very kindly read our blog and linked us and commented and emailed? Thank you very much as well! We had no idea how this would go or if people would like it, so your support means so much. We've had a lot of fun doing this so far, and don't plan on stopping anytime soon. What a fun first season for blogging!

Now, back to our Lifetime movies, Ben and Jerry's ice cream, and Coldplay music. There's only so much reflection we can take...

Coming Soon

For all two of you who were wondering when we're going to update this thing, don't worry! The next post will be coming either today or tomorrow. We've just been really busy wallowing in the despair of our loss with school and stuff, but never fear. The post is on its way!

ALCS Game Five: True Grit

Ever heard the saying, "It's better to be lucky than be good?" Well, you should have, because Rod Allen says it all the time. We think this quote directly applies to Game Five, because of what will now be known as The Bounce.

Honestly, it's about damn time some luck came Detroit's way! Half the team has some kind of injury/fatigue problem, and the other half are AAA players. Kind of. And all of the games in this past series could have been won by the Tigers too. But Fate (and Nelson Cruz) intervened in the Rangers' favor.

Not this time though.

Luck aside, this has to be the proudest the three of us (and Jim Leyland, and the rest of Tiger Nation too, we bet) have been of Our Boys. Delmon Young blasting two homers with a strained oblique? V-Mart tripling with his myriad of injuries? Zombie Avila rising from the dead to back up his starter? You've got to love the effort.

And speaking of our starter, holy hell, Justin! Some may say that the amount of runs (4) wasn't good. Those people are idiots. JV did exactly what he had to do, and he threw 133 pitches. If it was a normal day, and our bullpen wasn't so worn down, Justin would have exited the game giving up 2 runs over seven innings of do-or-die ball. Those are Doug Fister-like numbers.

Also, Phil Coke? We're now in love with you. We've never seen him so pumped up or clutch, and he had the first 4+ out save since Willie Hernandez. Well done, Phil.

Now we head back to Texas. Scary, but with Scherzer and Fister (who have been as good, if not better, than Verlander in the playoffs) on the mound, we have A Chance. If we can get through Game Six, Game Seven would be slightly to our advantage, seeing as how dominant Fister has been. It's a lot of pressure, and we're still (typically) the underdogs. But we can do it. It's been done before. 1968, anyone?

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.