In the previous post I said I wasn't going to be able to post until Sunday, however, I guess I was lying.
Also in the last post you will see that I stated I will be performing most of the posting duties at BYB from here on out. With that I figured I should introduce myself to let the readers of this blog know who is putting the words up on the screen.
I'm Mark. I am 22 years old and a student at the University of Florida. I've lived in Florida all of my life, and nowhere else. I've been to the city of Detroit, Michigan twice in my 22 years on this earth. I've been to Tiger Stadium once. I've never been to Comerica Park. I'm just being honest here.
So why/how am I a Tigers fan you ask? Well, it's quite simple: my dad was born and raised in Detroit, I have family there, and there was never a childhood photo of myself where I am not wearing a cap featuring the olde english D. Being a Tigers fan was passed down to me I guess you could say. It's a family heritage type of feeling, and that is what makes me that much more passionate about the Tigers.
While the Tigers have had some rough years lately, I still find a lot of joy watching Detroit baseball (thanks to a little invention called MLB.tv). This is simply because of the fact that all of my memories regarding the Tigers are ones in which the team was not a winner. Seeing that I haven't seen a winning Tigers team since I was 10, I have the feeling that there is only one place to go, and that is up. The great teams of the 80s took place while I was a toddler. I feel that the younger generation of Tigers fans just has a different perspective on things, even though many of the "older" ones are starting to build that perspective as well. It's just been too long since we've had a winner.
That being said, I must say my best memories of the Tigers include Cecil Fielder hitting ridiculous bombs, the emergence of Travis Fryman on the big league club, the great value of the Tony Clark rookie card, Fick hitting a grand slam in the final game at the corner, etc. I'm still fuming over the Juan Gonzales trade. I still can't believe a baseball team could be as bad as the Tigs were in '03. Although the bad has extremely outnumbered the good, they're my team. Always will be.
Hope you stick around, read some posts, post some diaries, and make some comments. I will try my best to keep you coming back. It'll be well worth it in the end.