The last time a professional Detroit area team won a world championship was in 2008. The Red Wings skated off with the Stanley Cup. Four years prior, the Pistons had upset the Los Angeles Lakers for the NBA crown. The Tigers haven't won the World Series in 30 years (1984), and the Lions, well, their sorry history speaks for itself.
Granted, in this day and age of free agency and salary caps, hence parity, the difference between "really good" teams and "not-so-hot" teams isn't that great. Pretty much anybody can beat anybody else on any given day. Throw 30+ teams into the mix in the four major professional leagues, and winning a championship almost becomes a crapshoot. The supposed "best" teams don't always walk away with the "iron" and have a parade when the season is over, though a wealth of talent certainly helps.
That said, it doesn't appear Detroit will be winning a championship any year soon. Consider the four major teams....
The Tigers.
They started out 6-0, and then 11-2. Since then they've gone 17-23. What was once thought to be a minor injury to Justin Verlander has dragged on for two months. The former ace and Fastball Flakes man was merely a journeyman pitcher last year, and now he has arm problems with no end in sight.
Aging slugger Victor Martinez is on the shelf. The V-man was nothing more than a one dimensional player anyway. He could hit. Period. He couldn't play a defensive position and was slower than molasses on the basepathes.
Miguel Cabrera keeps rolling on with his bat.
J.D. Martinez had an out of his mind year in 2014, but has thudded back to reality this year.
Catcher Alex Avila was never much with the bat, but known for being a pretty good, not great, defensive catcher. He's out too.
Max Scherzer, Rick Porcello, and Doug Fister are gone.
Anabel Sanchez was terrific last year, but is getting lit up this year.
David Price was a great addition, despite being a maddeningly slow worker. Price averages over 25 seconds between pitches. With runners on base, it gets ever longer. One can likely polish off a James Michener novel at the ballpark on the days Price starts and gets into the late innings.
The other starters are basically cast-offs from other teams. They started out OK, but in recent weeks have been rocked and rolled by opposing hitters. There's a reason these guys were available to come to the Tigers.
Anthony Gose, the speedy centerfielder, has spent most of the last 7 years bouncing around in the minor leagues. Draw your own conclusions.
And the bullpen is still an Amtrak train going into a curve WAY too fast. Maybe it hangs on -- or maybe something bad happens.
Given all the above, and more, it's no great surprise the Tigers have fallen several games behind in their own division. Their collective defense is iffy at best, and lately they seem prone to making bone-headed plays, both in the field and on the basepathes.
Could they get healthy, smarten up, go on a run and eventually win the World Series? Sure, it's possible. But the odds are highly against it. The Tigers and their fans can boast of this and that, but they're no more than an average team. It's also possible things could go the other way, with the Tigers being woefully out of contention by Labor Day.
The Tigers came close a couple times, even making it to the World Series. But that's horseshoes and hand grenades. Nobody cares who came in second.
The Red Wings.
Once again, the winged wheelers were quickly bounced out of the playoffs.
Long-time coach Mike Babcock hit the road to take over the Toronto Maple Leafs. Sure, Babcock's a Canadian by birth and the Leafs gave him a mind-boggling long term contract, well more than twice what the Wings had offered, but still -- the Leafs? They're been horrible in recent years and haven't sniffed a Cup since the Viet Nam war was going on. How long ago was that?
But maybe Babs saw the handwriting on the wall. His core of former super-stars like Zettenberg, Datsyuk, and Kronwall are getting old. Future Hall of Famer Nik Lidstrom retired a while back. The Wings have a bunch of kids that maybe or maybe not will turn into good players. Plus, they have an unsettled situation at the goaltender position. If I'm Babcock, I take the money and go back to my native country too. Why not?
Yep, the Red Wings gave the Tampa Bay Lightning a run for their money in the playoffs this year, but there can be no doubt the better team prevailed. After going on to dispatch the Montreal Canadiens and the favored New York Rangers, Stevie Y's boys are going to the Cup Finals, while his counterpart in Detroit, Ken Holland, has a lot of sorting out to do -- and the future for his Wings looks to be trending downward rather than up. Yes, the Wings can rightfully claim to have the longest streak of any pro team making the postseason, some 24 years. But given half the teams qualify for the playoffs, a team has to be pretty bad NOT to make it. Even mediocre gets a team in the playoffs these days. It's called more games, filling more arenas at playoff ticket prices, more TV and ad bucks. Basically, it's a huge cha-ching on several fronts.
Ironically enough, those same 24 years represent how long it's been since the Detroit Lions racked up their one and ONLY playoff victory in the Super Bowl era. George H. W. (read my lips, no new taxes and a thousand points of light) Bush was President when that happened. How long ago was THAT?
A look at the Lions and Detroit Pistons next time out......
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