It's darn near 4 AM and I'm still up

by ahtrap on Oct 7, 2009 9:50 AM EDT Comment 4 comments

Despite not being around these here parts, I did watch most all the game...it was on MLB network, and I'm hoping/fearing that they do the same thing tomorrow, pull in the FSD feed. (It wasn't until the 4th inning that I realized I was watching Mario and Rod, that's how infrequently I've got to see them call a game. I then immediately told my friend whose house I was at to look up the Rod Allen in Japan video, he got a kick out of that.)

But man, again, that was brutal. I was ready to give up in the 8th, but I stuck around to watch, because he had to put the finishing touches on hooking up his new home theater stuff. One runner on, two runners on, no out, a RUN a freaking RUN, Curtis barely escaping getting doubled up on a hard hit liner from Magglio, surely that was a sign, an escape of another sort was at hand, with our big dog at the plate, the tying run just begging to be scored. And instead, a GIDP, the bane of the season. Just brutal, heart renderingly brutal.

Click on through to the other side, if you can deal with some rather morose rambling.

I think I've been into this Tigers team more than any since about 1998, a year that I lived in Detroit, within walking distance of Tigers stadium. That includes the 06 team, which I also followed vicariously, pitch by pitch on yahoo's game cast or whatever. But I wasn't there at the start of that year, and it wasn't until about July or so that I started getting really into it, getting the sense that something was really happening. And even then, I was in freakin' Wisconsin, counting on ESPN to throw me a frickin' bone now and again, or spend another 10-15 bucks to grab dinner and watch at a bar, back when I was a poor grad student. And besides, I had a girlfriend, who wasn't much into baseball at all.

So what I'm trying to say, between all that, and the fact that it was this year that I really jumped whole hog into following along on byb, the fact that it was this year that BYB really came into its own, etc, that I've felt connected with this year's Tigers, and with a group of Tigers fans, in a way that I haven't in at least a decade, and frankly, probably not since 1984, when I was a kid, and we were all jumping up and down on couches celebrating Tigers victories.

And I'm totally rambling, but all that was prelude to this thought: I don't expect the Tigers to win tomorrow, and I don't except Minnesota to lose. But if by some chance either or both of those things happen, I'll be damn glad that the ride is continuing, even if it is only to go to go to the chamber of horrors that is the Metrodome. And, if by some minor miracle, the ride continues beyond that....

Been a heck of a ride, people. Here's to a few more weeks....even as the heart prepares to break yet again....

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Bless You Boys writing staff. However, it does reflect the views of this particular fan, which is as important as anything else written here at BYB.

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Not since 67

In 06 we always had the wild card to fall back on. And in 87, you just felt that Trammell and the boys would take out Toronto on the final weekend. This is different. To me it’s more like 1967 when the Tiges crashed and burned with Dick MacAuliffe hitting into a season ending double play.

I was at Thursdays game, with the best seats I’ve ever had, 18 rows behind home plate, lower level. While it was a fantastic view, what I saw was disturbing. I watched a team that was pressing and looked defeated when they took the field.

We didn’t lose the season Thursday andymore than we will lose it today.
We lost it when Nate Robertson, Jeremy Binderman and Dontrelle Willis went on the disabled list for most of the season.
We lost it when Jarrod Washburn’s knee ruined what I thought was a fabulous trade.
We lost it when with Brandon Inge’s knee crunched, and we had NO replacement, even a rookie, to play third base.
We lost it with two aging corner outfielders were forced to play everyday the last week of the season.
We losit it when Joel Zumaya;s shoulder exploded AGAIN.
We lost it bats went cold for weeks at a time.
We lost it when the once reliable lead off man couldn’t hit lefthanders.
And finally
We lost it when our MVP Miguel Cabrera went into a five game slump at the end.

It was a blast to watch the Tigers claw and fight all seaso.

It’s my fear yet feeling that it will end today like it did in 1967, when I was 11 year old that watched or listened to every game. But if that does indeed happen and we “blow it” remember that last year we couldn’t wait for the season to end. Remember the Verlander pitchibg gems and the dramatic walk off wins. It’s been a fun ride. Until now.

by Michigan Jim on Oct 4, 2009 8:37 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs