Impending Sense of Doom

Throughout this entire season, there's been this impending sense of doom surrounding the Tigers. Tiger fans have zero confidence in their team. It's made for entertaining radio over the summer, as the sports talk personalities remind the callers that the Tigers are (or were) a first place team. Not many first place teams were treated with such disrespect. Nobody felt the team had a chance of finishing in first place, let alone make a dent in the playoffs. Why?

It may have nothing to do with the Tigers at all. It may just be the culture of the city. Or, it may be the lingering bitter aftertaste of the Lions' 0-16 season. Either way, the fans were angry. I was no exception. Back in March, my wife and I were driving home one day listening to a spring training game on the radio. The Tigers were losing, and I recall actually yelling at the radio. I caught myself and said, "Wow, I'm already in midseason form!" It was a friggin' spring training game, but the team still drove me bonkers.

From a baseball standpoint, the Tigers statistically were dreadful on offense. Just last Saturday, in a must-win game, only three hitters in the entire lineup were over .250. Contrast that with the Twins: seven of the nine hitters on Saturday were over .250. In fact, those seven were all hitting above .275. The pitching was not much better. Somehow, the Tigers went the entire season with only three legitimate starting pitchers. Yet, Verlander, Jackson, and Porcello were just good enough to keep the Tigers in contention. And, to be fair, the bullpen was suprisingly effective. When the Tigers trailed, the bullpen usually caved in, allowing numerous tack-on runs. But, when the Tigers had the lead, the 'pen was shockingly stingy.

Despite the impressive, workmanlike bullpen, it was still difficult to enjoy the Tigers late in games. It was that impending sense of doom, within each game. In the 9th, Rodney would trot on. He'd walk the bases loaded and then strike the next three out. He would do just enough to get the job done. It drove all of us crazy! But the Tigers won.

Rodney would give up homeruns... he'd hit batters... he'd throw the ball into the backstop (and sometimes into the stands), but he miraculously saved 37 games in 38 chances. He was a walking contrast, and he personified the team. I regularly complained about the total lack of clutch hitting. But, right now, as I sit typing this Monday morning, I can rattle off dramatic walk off home runs by Inge, Clete Thomas, and Ryan Raburn. And then there was that astounding three-run home run by Aubrey Huff just a few weeks ago. In many ways, the Tigers were tremendously clutch. But they would also load the bases with no outs and fail to score a single run. Perhaps that's just baseball. Perhaps that's just the 2009 Detroit Tigers.

Sixteen games ago, I felt the impending sense of doom. I wrote that the Twins would overtake the Tigers on the last day. I was wrong. The Tigers bested my prediction by one game and managed to finish in a tie for first. The Tigers were up 2 games with only 3 to play. From an outsider's perspective, that's a massive choke. I beg to differ. Teams choke when they have an opportunity to win and then play far below their ability. The Tigers finished the final three games the same exact way they played the previous 159. It's more of an indictment on the rest of the Central that the Tigers were in first place for so long. The Tigers played to their ability, but the Twins and White Sox clearly underachieved.

The Twins at least caught fire at the end. They finished by winning 16 of the final 20 games, destroying a KC Royal team that manhandled the Tigers a few weeks before. And the Twins did it without their best power hitter (and former AL MVP) Justin Morneau.

So now, after playing 162 games, the Tigers and Twins must play one more. With the game at the Metrodome, the advantage is clearly with Minnesota. If their form holds, Minnesota will win with relative ease. The Curse of Senor Smoke will live on. Yet, we know the Tigers are a team of contrasts. They may rise to the challenge, or they may rise at 7am for a Wednesday morning tee-time.