This much : insert picture of me holding my hands as far apart as possible.

The Tigers are slowing down right when the Twins have decided to become the hottest team in baseball. Hopefully the Greinke hangover sticks around for a couple of days, otherwise this series terrifies me!

…absolutely this beats last season. I know there are no morale victories in sports, but this is 3 out of 4 years where the Tigers will finish with a winning record. For fans that witnessed 119 losses out of this same organization, it’s going to take a lot more than last season to truly dissapoint me.
Obviously I want another World Series title sooner than later, but these are the rarest of titles in sports and some teams go almost a century without them. I was fortunate enought to attend a spring training game for the first time this season, and what I came away with was a feeling that this season was going to be a disaster…they looked aweful! If someone would have told me then that the Tigers are basically starting the playoffs a week before the rest of the league, I would have called you crazy.
So while this will probably be enough stress that I’ll be sick on a nightly basis, you really can’t ask for more exciting regular season baseball. Go Tigers!!!

Let’s hope the Lions didn’t use up all the Brush St. Magic yesterday!

Remember that the Twins won the AL Central in 2006 at the very end of the season. This year there is no wild card conciliation prize.

Move Cabrera to 3rd for a couple of games. He would be as good as Inge is now. There are several good options for covering 1st (Huff, Thames, Giuilen)

Definitely concerned, but reasonably confident.

Gumbercules is here!

Seriously though. This team has held this place to long to lose it now. If they’ve proved anything this season, it’s that they thrive in the most stressful of situation.

Rick, JV, and Jack are all pitching in this series. That is a very good chance to win the series. Next, Detroit is a very good home team (60-13). Minnesota is a bad road team (25-51). Detroit managed to take the last home series against the Twins.

I also know that the twins have the season series lead on us. That’s just what they do. But the tough situations are where the Tigers thrive. The Tigers have won nearly all of the “must wins” they’ve encountered this year and I have no reason to think that this is going to change. This is the most important series for this team so far this season.

Tigers win 3 of 4 they clinch. Tigers split, they need one win in the Chicago series with their top 3 starters pitching. The Twins would need to sweep to force a playoff. Of course there’s the matter of actually winning the games.

36.

Nothing scatological about saying this series scared the 25 out of 10 out of me.

It’s scary, but How many other teams are playing “meaningful” baseball?? On a scale of 1-10, I’d say my scared rate is about 7. But if we bring home ours bats we had on Saturday, (20 hits) we’ll be OK. I gave up on that game, losing 5-0 and Nate looked horrible. But low and behold, the bullpen held it there, and after the 5th inning everyone must have grabbed a “Rockstar”, except for Binge.

Not a lot of Tigers seasons during my lifetime have gotten to the point of being talked about for a long, long time. I was alive for 87 (and 88) but don’t remember any of it.

Hopefully the boys step up like they always do and it’s a positive memory. Each win will awesome, each loss crushing.

I am about a 6. I think they can get the job done for us this week. But I don’t know that they can.

I’m going to be going insane at my television over the next four days, and I expect record-breaking game threads here.

The playoffs don’t start next week. They start today.

in the above photo, it looks like a baseball is flying directly at Kevin Rand’s head. He’s not phased, though. That’s how he rolls.

but I actually took it because I feel like crap in general. anyway, I am fairly worried, but very hopeful we’ll come out ahead and DO THIS THING.

I hear the weather there isn’t so great today. that’d be amusing if tomorrow wound up a double header..

I’m very scared.

Oh, and Granderson’s fine.

On a scale of One to Worried, one being the most worried, i’m about a 7…

But on another note:

I couldn’t post this over the weekend because I was in meetings all day and there was a game at night, but I met a real (former) major league baseball player this weekend. Dave Swartzbaugh, who pitched for the Cubs back in the 90’s and who, according to Wikipedia:

went 0-3 in 39+ innings of work with a 5.72 career ERA. He struck out 22 and walked 24. He was 0 for 10 at the plate.

We started talking baseball because he saw that I was reading the USA Today Sports Section (and he also needed a light). He said once when they played the Pirates when Leyland was manager, he was telling somebody that he really needed a smoke and they told him to go find Jim and he could bum a couple Marlboro Reds. He also talked about how great Wrigley Field was, and how great the fans were there and how if I ever got a chance I should take in a game at there. He also said Milton Bradley is a jerk, because “The guy’s making millions of dollars to play baseball, and it could all be gone tomorrow. Look at me!” He blew out his arm and spend a couple years in the minors, including Winston-Salem.

You could tell he just loved having played the game, even in the minors. He talked about people still coming up to him in restaurants, and how one guy recognized him and could tell him his ERA (“You know that movie Misery? That’s what I was thinking.” ) When he told me his name I acted like I remembered (even though I didn’t) but it really lit up his face when I said that.

Anyway…I just wanted to tell my story and get everybody’s mind off this series for a bit. And remember — win or lose, getting to play the game is glorious.

…but the game is hours away. I equate it to a 3 games to 1 series lead in a best of 7. Sure, we could fall apart and lose the title, but it’s a daunting task for the guys on the other side.
Biggest concern is the bullpen. They’ve come down to earth.

I AM SO PSYCHED FOR THIS SERIES!

I think I was a 6 before I took a few minutes to scribble out the possibilities (see the fanpost I threw up a few minutes ago), and realized that a split against the Twins, and the Tigers are sitting relatively pretty. That dialed the anxiety down a notch.

it goes up or down by another notch depending on the outcome of tonight’s game. A win, and it’s down to defcon4, a loss, and we’re looking at bald patches by midweek.

Maggs in right, batting third. Huff dh. Razor at short. Of course, given the weather, we may not be playing at all tonight.

I don’t know why, but it always seems more nervous to be the team being chased in a playoff race. I guess it’s because the trailing team really has nothing to lose. I’m really up in the air about how I think this series will go, but I’m feeling much more excited than nervous.

In any case, I wanted to stop by to say good luck. The Tigers are a good, competitive team with some awesome pitching, and I’m happy to be in a playoff race with you. You run a solid site here. May the best team win!