Completely Believable

Well, this is a new one for me. I don't know how to explain the feeling I have when faced with an historical achievement, for futility in the face of success. The 2009 Detroit Tigers are the first team in Major League Baseball history to remain in first place from May 10 till the final week of the season -- and not win their Division. They're the first team to ever blow a three game lead with 4 games left. They were too bad to be that good. Or something.

I can't believe there were many Detroit fans that actually believed this team would win game 163, in Minnesota. But, to be honest, that prospect was more likely than actually winning two of three from the White Sox. The only reason I held out a thread of hope, was the fact that the Tigers were finally the underdogs. It seemed like that would be the only way they could win a game. Turns out, that wasn't even enough. Those magically, lovable, everyman's team, heart of America, super kids, those scrappy Twins pulled off the impossible (yet totally plausible) come back.

Mr. Thatballdontlie has a large amount of vitriol for the Twins, and that's completely understandable. However, as much as I really want to hate them, and have hated them in the past (trust me, I had Dan Gladden nightmares for years), they are not a team that is easy to hate. They're the team of Kirby Puckett. They play in an outdated piece of stool that they embrace. I have hated hearing about the "Metrodome Magic" and "Miracles" and "Mystique," but when it comes down to it, they're not the Yankees. Or the Red Sox. Or the White Sox. Their fans talk funny and know more about hockey than any other "baseball" city in America. (Well, tie them with Detroit -- we have great hockey fans, but take a look at youth hockey in this country and you'll realize that them Minnesotans are pretty dern knowledgeable, eh.) As far as I know they haven't stolen a ball from a player, or run on to the field to assault an opposing team's coach, or refer to themselves as "the nation."

This game played directly into the story line about those gritty, never-say-die Twins who just don't know that they're supposed to be done playing. Come to think of it, if Disney didn't already own the Angels, there'd be a story line there. The Tigers played about as well as I could have expected. They played great defense got some clutch hits (albeit not in the 11th inning, but they did load the bases...), and their pitching was, with the exception of Miner who had been pretty solid since August, as good as you could have hoped for -- especially given the tear that the Twins have been on. All that said, I was left feeling completely dejected.

Have you ever tried to explain that feeling of deflation to a child? My 8 year old daughter wanted to know why I was so upset about the Tigers losing, and why I barely get upset at all when her soccer team loses -- and she's "way more important than those guys!" It's a very daunting task. Why is it that a) we care about these teams we support, b) allow their success or failure to impact our emotions, and c) we maintain ties to teams that are in cities we don't even live in? I'll leave the answering of that question to someone smarter than me, I just know that it's tough to explain to your daughter that even though she needs to change her attitude and just be happy when she's feeling down, it's harder when you're a dad and the Tigers just blew a 7 game lead over the final 3 weeks of the season.