When you think about it, the Tigers are really hard to figure out. Before the 2013 season even started the general consensus, particularly amongst Detroit fans, was the Tigers would easily win the woefully weak AL Central Division -- perhaps by as much as 15-20 games. Fast forward to the present and yes, they have indeed won it, but it took them until the last week of the regular season to finally sew it up. It appears they will finish around 4 games ahead of those pesky Cleveland Indians, who themselves are very much in the wild card race.
Idle thought: At last look, Cleveland had won something like 11-12 games in a row, but they'll fall short of the Division title. The next time you read some "expert" telling you that games in the first few months of the season don't matter -- send them an email and tell them they obviously don't know what the hell they're talking about. It doesn't take a genius to understand every game throughout the season counts the same. At the end, total wins and losses are tallied, and some teams make the playoffs while others don't. This is not rocket science, or even trying to get a Kardashian to go "dutch" on a date.
Yet the Tigers remain mystifying. Many of their local pundits have said the Tigers have the best starting pitching rotation in all of baseball. A quick look at their numbers would seem to bear that out -- but....
Nobody could have foreseen Max Scherzer going an incredible 21-3. He's been a pretty good pitcher for the last few years -- but nowhere near THAT good. Then again, Justin Verlander, the reigning Cy Young winner (who had a breakfast cereal named after him, and signed a long-term contract worth just a little more than your average country's gross national product), has struggled just to post a .500 record. Nobody saw that coming either, so perhaps those two cancel each other out in the whole scheme of things.
Other Tiger starting pitchers, that would normally be considered mediocre, have stepped it up as well. Doug Fister is 14-9. Anabel Sanchez 14-8. Rick Porcello 13-8.
And then there's the hitters. According to the same local scribes -- it's a regular murderer's row. They have a point there, as well.
Miguel Cabrera, last year's Triple Crown winner, hasn't slacked off much. He won't win the home run title, but he's batting a whopping .345, even after a recent slump.
Omar Infante, known to be a slick-fielding 2nd baseman, is pulling a Scherzer while hitting .318.
Recently acquired free agent and aging Torii Hunter checks in at .304.
Victor Martinez came back from a serious injury and was hitting .302.
Even Jhonny Peralta, after serving his 50 game drug-related suspension, has returned to the roster, and was batting .305.
Prince Fielder is batting a very respectable .281, and is always a home run threat and big-time RBI guy.
Throw in a Bryan Pena here (.302) and an Austin Jackson there (.273), and the Tigers' line-up appears to be formidable indeed.
So if they've got the best starting pitching rotation and such a murderer's row batting line-up, then one is left to wonder a couple things.....
Why are they 3 games behind the Red Sox, who have played in a much tougher division all year?
For that matter, why is it that the Tigers, with a team payroll that might have made the late George Steinbrenner choke on his caviar, are a game behind the small-market and fiscally minded Oakland A's?
It wasn't that long ago that the A's came to Tiger Stadium, where Jim Leyland's boys have a very impressive home record, and swatted the puddy-tats aside for the first 3 games in a 4 game series. Save for a last second miracle rally in the finale, the Tigers should have been broomed. Don't think that's been forgotten -- by either team. The A's KNOW they can not only match up with their much higher paid counterparts, but beat them in their own backyard. The same could be said of the Bosox.
Though the Tigers seemed to have their number in recent postseason play, the Yankees have been eliminated. They won't get to kick the Bronx Bombers around this year.
It will be interesting to see how the match-ups unfold when the play-offs start.
And no matter what kind of koolaid your home town scribes try to get you to swig -- know one thing.
Once they start, the playoffs are a crap shoot. Anybody can beat anybody else in a short series. I know it, you know it, and they know it. Which team is better "on paper" becomes about as relevant as waking up to a pair of aces in a game of Texas hold-em. Yep, you've got the best hand going in, but 5 more cards still have to hit the table, and a lot of things can happen.
And sometimes do.
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