To The Pain

If you're reading this blog you're likely familiar with The Princess Bride. And if you're familiar with the movie, you'll hopefully recall the duel Westley proposes with Humperdinck:

Humperdinck: First things first, to the death.

Westley: No. To the pain.

Humperdinck: I don't think I'm quite familiar with that phrase.

Westley: I'll explain and I'll use small words so that you'll be sure to understand, you warthog-faced buffoon.

Humperdinck: That may be the first time in my life a man has dared insult me.

Westley: It won't be the last. "To the pain" means the first thing you lose will be your feet, below the ankles, then your hands at the wrists. Next, your nose.

Humperdinck: [losing his patience] And then my tongue, I suppose. I killed you too quickly the last time, a mistake I don't mean to duplicate tonight.

Westley: I wasn't finished! The next thing you lose will be your left eye, followed by your right —

Humperdinck: [exasperated] And then my ears. I understand! Let's get on with it —

Westley: WRONG! Your ears you keep, and I'll tell you why. So that every shriek of every child at seeing your hideousness will be yours to cherish. Every babe that weeps at your approach, every woman who cries out, "Dear God, what is that thing?" will echo in your perfect ears. That is what "to the pain" means. It means I leave you in anguish, wallowing in freakish misery forever.

Nelson Cruz and the Rangers have cut the Tigers to the pain. Not a simple death thrust sweep where fans of our beloved Tigers never get their hopes up. No, this series has been close - agonizingly close, yet the Tigers are down 3 games to 1 with a completely dejected fan base. They're slowly, methodically ripping away hope.

The Comerica Park faithful endured nearly 3 hours of rain delay to watch what was supposed to be an afternoon game end near midnight. And as payment for waiting, cheering, hoping, rooting, putting on rally caps, and believing, they saw the home team come tantalizing close to a win, only to erupt in flames and give the game (and the series?) to the Rangers.

Part of me wants to rail on Leyland for continuing to bring Valverde in in non-save situations, I could go on and on about his failures there, but quite frankly, I don't have the energy. Likewise, I don't have the energy to discuss Gene Lamont's failings as a base coach, or the Tigers' collective baserunning faults, we could go there, but that's not the point.

Going into this series, Mr. NFMT and I discussed the relative strengths of the Rangers and the Tigers, and with the exception of Verlander, it appeared that the Rangers were simply a stronger team. Yet, even with Justin losing game 1, the Tigers appeared to have some life in this series. Every game has been close (even if the final scores of the extra inning games belie that). Yet, the closeness feels simply like the Rangers are dueling the Tigers to the pain.

"Dear God, what is that thing?!"

That, my dear, is a Tiger fan. With his heart ripped out, left in anguish, wallowing in what-ifs forever (or at least a winter).