Remember what you thought the Detroit Tigers might look like before Spring Training began?  Remember that buzz of anticipation you had in your chest, waiting to see this team play?  This lineup was going to knock the ball all over the field and out of the park.  And on most nights, quality starting pitching would keep the other team in check before handing it over to a dependable, albeit not spectacular, bullpen. 

Yes, it was just one game and the Tigers still need to prove they can put a consistent streak together.  But tonight, that vision was almost realized.  Any lingering worries about Placido Polanco could be put to rest with his 4-for-5 night.  And maybe we should still worry about Gary Sheffield, but he showed what he's still capable of and why Jim Leyland keeps him in the lineup with a decisive two-run homer.  Curtis Granderson also provided another reminder of just how much this team missed him, batting 2-for-3 and crushing a ball over the center field fence.

But the guy who may have settled the most fears and temporarily shut down the talk that he was toast was Kenny Rogers.  No, he didn't face the regular Yankees lineup, with Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada sitting out.  And with four walks, Rogers wasn't exactly dominant.  But he was certainly good enough, giving up two runs in six innings.  That, combined with the way the Tigers hit tonight, will lead to plenty of wins this season.

Yes, even when Todd Jones closes a game as only he can, allowing the first two hitters he faced to reach base, throwing a wild pitch, giving up a run, and generally making the ninth inning far more anxiety-inducing than it needed to be.  Just bite down on something soft and it goes away soon enough.

Walking the Bases Loaded is No Way to Get Through Life, Son

Not everything was clicking, however, as Denny Bautista did his best to walk the Yankees into tying the game.  After Bobby Seay gave the Tigers a scoreless seventh inning, Bautista walked Shelley Duncan to begin the eighth.  It didn't look like that walk would haunt him when he got the next two batters out, but then Bautista lost control, figuratively and literally.  Suddenly, all of his pitches veered way outside to the left-handers and far inside to the righties.  Bautista walked the next two hitters to load the bases, and then hit Derek Jeter to walk in a run.

Leyland got Bautista out of there before he could completely melt down, bringing in Clay Rapada to do what he apparently does best: get out left-handed batters - in this case, Bobby Abreu. 

It's surely unfair to penalize Bautista for allowing runs in two straight appearances, but that's a way to lose Leyland's confidence fast.  And with Francisco Cruceta almost certain to join the Tigers soon, Bautista might want to start pitching better if he wants to hold onto that eighth inning set-up role.

If you stuck with this game past the fifth inning... man, you are one seriously devoted Detroit Tigers fan.  (Or a certifiable masochist.)  You should probably get a medal if you didn't turn the channel or decide to do something outside of the house after the third inning.

And I don't want to hear anything about not being true fans if we chose not to subject ourselves to the rest of that massacre.  I enjoy going out with women, but if I was on a date with someone who insisted on jamming her knife underneath my fingernails every time I tried to say something, I would find something else to do. (And probably call the police.)  I love pizza, but if I was served road-killed skunk and broken glass for toppings, I would eat someplace else.  (And probably call the police.  And the health department.)

For the second straight Sunday, the White Sox demolished the Tigers.  How does a combined score of 24-2 look to you?  That's the first quarter of a Southern Cal-Eastern Michigan college football game.  That shouldn't be the end result of two major league baseball games.  Never mind that the team expected to be excellent was on the business end of that beatdown. 

(Circle July 27 on your calendar, because you might want to plan on something else besides watching baseball.  That's the next Sunday afternoon the Tigers will face the White Sox.)

Kenny Rogers wasn't getting anyone out from the start.  Three of the first White Sox batters he faced reached base.  In the third inning, he loaded the bases on two walks and a single.  Then Paul Konerko smacked a ball just over the fence in left-center field.  And I imagine that made golf suddenly seem like a preferable diversion on TV for the afternoon. 

But if you thought Rogers was bad, Zach Miner might have redefined the word when he came into the game.  After striking out Konerko, Miner served up a double, an intentional walk, allowed a run to score on a wild pitch, walked one more batter, and then served up the White Sox's second grand slam of the day to Joe Crede.  It was enough to make you wish there was a mercy rule in effect.

Oh, by the way, the Tigers were also shut out for the second straight day.  They've totaled eight hits over the last two games.  Any hopes this lineup was starting to pull itself together was crushed like that Miner meatball Crede sent into the left field seats. 

Bright side?  Clay Rapada and his loopy lefty delivery pitched two hitless innings.  Of course, he was essentially pitching to a B squad of White Sox hitters.  Your glass is more than half full if you want to point to that as a positive.  It would be, that is, if the Tigers hadn't essentially crushed that glass while your hand was still holding it.

You are hereby excused if you ended up watching gymnastics on NBC instead.  The Man Card Committee has already issued waivers for Tigers fans.  They know you need your strength to come back and watch this team tomorrow.

Last week, the Tigers only managed two hits against Brian Bannister, and today, all they could muster was four hits off Daisuke Matsuzaka.  Kenny Rogers, Detroit's starting pitcher in both of those games, might now be wondering whether or not he puts his lineup to sleep. 

Maybe he has that grandfatherly effect on his teammates, like how your eyelids might get heavy when your grandpa tells you the story of how he came to choose the particular pickled bologna he just sliced for you.  He used to like to go to that grocery store closer to the condo, but their deli just doesn't have that much selection.  All they have is turkey.  Why all the turkey?  The only time he really eats turkey is on Thanksgiving.  And even then, he prefers to get it from that one farm up north because their birds are free-range, so they taste better.  But anyway, he found a place on the west side of town that has a great deli.  All kinds of bologna.  Mortadella.  The German stuff with the garlic.  And pickled!  They had four different kinds, and the butcher was nice enough to let him try each one, until he finally found the one he liked.  A good, strong one that can stand up to a spicy mustard and that rye bread your grandmother found at the farmer's market.  Say, are you getting enough sleep?  Because you look kind of tired...

To me, the Tigers looked lethargic out there today.  Maybe it was the after-effects of sitting through the Red Sox's World Series ring ceremony, one in which Boston championship teams from other sports also participated.  Or perhaps that creeping feeling of resignation sunk in once it became clear that Rogers really didn't have his good stuff today, giving up four hits and two walks in his first two innings. 

Detroit had that same listlessness in the field, too.  Or was it that the Tigers were trying too hard to make a play once they fell behind?  In the third inning, Placido Polanco made his first error in 186 games when he tried to throw out Manny Ramirez (who should've been out after gazing admiringly at his long drive to center field) at third base, but skipped the ball in the dirt.  One inning later,  Miguel Cabrera committed an error of his own.  And once again, Carlos Guillen looked as if he'd just been moved over from shortstop to first base, standing in the baseline and straddling the bag, putting himself in a position where the runner may have prevented him from scooping up a low throw.  Had Guillen ever looked this lost in the previous games he'd played at first base?  I certainly don't recall it. 

Unfortunately, going on the road doesn't seem to have changed a thing.  This team is still in the same malaise they slogged through last week at Comerica Park.  Maybe Jim Leyland should consider locking his players in the visiting clubhouse with the fearsome, mouse-devouring Fenway hawk.  If that hasn't crossed his mind yet, it probably should.

As a footnote to yesterday's interview with the Kansas City Star's Sam Mellinger, he only agreed to be interviewed by me if I would answer a few questions for him, as well.  Sam really had to twist my arm, as you know how I prefer not to talk about myself.  That's why I got into blogging, to keep my thoughts private.

So my answers to Sam's questions about this year's Detroit Tigers have now been posted at Ball Star for your viewing pleasure.  Topics of conversation ranged from the generous spending of Mike Ilitch to the possibility of the Tigers scoring 1,000 runs to concerns over Dontrelle Willis and the bullpen.  Oh, and if you ever wanted to know what my favorite restaurant is, that curiosity can now be satisfied.

Click on over there to give it a read, if you're so inclined.  And thanks once again to Sam for being so gracious with his time over the past week.