Cat Fight!  Former Tiger vs. Former Tiger

I'm going to presume that if you ask most Detroit Tigers fans who their favorite player was while growing up, chances are many of them would name Alan Trammell or Kirk Gibson.  And once both former Tigers were dismissed as a precursor to the Jim Leyland managerial regime, they were left to find work in other cities.  Trammell found himself on Lou Pinella's staff in Chicago, while Gibson joined up with Bob Melvin in Arizona; both of them serving as bench coaches.  So maybe - just maybe - when you took a moment to follow a team other than the Tigers this season, you were interested in the fortunes of the Cubs and Diamondbacks.

And isn't it a delightful twist that both teams employing former Tigers as bench coaches oppose each other in the National League Divisional Playoffs?  (Both the News and Free Press thought so.)  What happens when former Tigers face off?  Well, you have a good, ol' fashioned cat fight.  Who ya got?  Tram or Gibby?

If it's just too tough a decision for you, like trying to choose between your children (personally, that'd be no problem for me - I'd just choose the one I liked more), you can look to each team's roster for some former Tiger flavor.  Tony Clark (sort of an older version of Carlos Pena) is starting (!) at first base tonight for the D-Backs, while Craig Monroe... well, there will be no C-Mo.  It seems Lou Pinella didn't include him on the Cubs' NLDS roster.  (And really, that's only fair, since the player Detroit got for Monroe, Clay Rapada, turned out to kind of suck.)  Further tipping the scales in Arizona's favor is Gibby's boss.  Bob Melvin's first year in the majors was with the Tigers, back in 1985.  He was also on Phil Garner's Detroit coaching staff in 2000.  Just something to consider, if you're siding with the numbers.

So just for the fun of it, let's consider this an Open Thread for Game 1 of the NLDS.  Cubs vs. Diamondbacks.  Trammell vs. Gibson (and Melvin).

Let's have a good, clean fight.  No eye-gouging or clawing, Gibby.

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