OK. So Detroit is nine games out of first place and Coolstandings.com says the Tigers have less than a one in a hundred chance of making the playoffs. So what?
Ask the 2004 Astros about that one. Their odds on this date were just 0.6 percent. They made the playoffs. Ask the 2007 Rockies. Their odds were just 1.2 percent with about two weeks left to go. They made the playoffs. Ask the 2007 Phillies. They were out seven games Sept. 12, and they made made the playoffs. Ask -- and I hesitate to bring this up to open the wound -- the Minnesota Twins. They were 7 games out on Sept. 6. They made the playoffs.
The point it, sure we acknowledge the odds are long. But thanks to a winning streak by the Tigers and the Twins returning from their scorching 23-7 streak (.767 winning percentage) that ended a few days ago, there is still a last gasp to be had. Each year it seems like a team comes from no where to make the playoffs.
It can be done. Teams have done it before. So why not us?
Unfortunately, Detroit has the unhappy position of needing to leap two teams. Fortunately, the Tigers have a schedule that gives them the opportunity to take their future into their own hands.
Nine games sounds like a lot -- and it is. With six games against the Twins and seven against the White Sox, that can be made up quickly during a winning streak. So he next seven games are key. A four-game set with the Blue Jays tonight opens things up, then Detroit heads to Minnesota for the last time this year for three more.
If the Tigers can conquer their road woes and show the team from the Twin Cities what it feels like to see a September division lead slipping away, things could get mighty fun. If not, they'll just be playing out the final month of the season by next Friday.
So strap in and let's see what happens. We've rooted for a team on the wrong side of a historic comeback. Maybe we'll get to root for one on the right side.
Max Scherzer will try to get it all started tonight.