The best of Bless You Boys in 2017

Every year, we publish hundreds of stories here at Bless You Boys. If our count is correct, this is our 1,500th article of 2017. Some of them are great, others... not so much. We put our best effort into everything we write, but some posts just work a little easier than others.

Here are our favorite stories of 2017.

2/6/17: Texts with Avila: Offseason version

I suspected Al Avila was an Android man at first. Guess I was wrong.

2/14/17: For Ryan Castellanos, baseball is a family game

The younger Castellanos brother shares his favorite baseball memory and what baseball means to their family.

3/20/17: Could the Red Sox look to acquire Anibal Sanchez or Mike Pelfrey to improve pitching depth?

I worked hard on this one, okay?

4/1/17: 5 bold predictions for the Tigers 2017 season

This is one of my favorite articles to write every year, and this season’s was surprisingly accurate.

4/10/17:

4/26/17: The Tigers handled baseball’s unwritten rules well... but MLB did not

MLB screwed something up? Nooo...

5/4/17: Game of Thrones is coming to Comerica Park

The BYB staff picked which GoT characters certain Tigers players would be.

5/30/17: Justin Verlander’s adjustments may be messing with a good thing

Turns out we were right.

5/30/17: The Detroit Tigers are unlucky with umpires

They need to do their f***ing job better.

6/19/17: It’s time for the Tigers to start tanking

They did, and it resulted in the No. 1 pick in the 2018 MLB draft.

6/22/17: Mariners 7, Tigers 5: Nothing is perfect

A stream-of-consciousness recap for a very bad West Coast game.

7/8/17: Miguel Cabrera’s poignant Instagram post gave us feelings

7/25/17: Tigers in a reflective mood after Justin Verlander’s outing

The writing was on the wall then. It just took a little while to get a deal done.

8/26/17: MLB went light on the Yankees and it will only fuel the fire

Gary Sanchez is still a punk.

9/1/17: The Tigers did well in the Justin Verlander trade, but it still hurts

This article was certainly one of the toughest we had to write this year.

9/1/17: The Tigers had no choice but to trade Justin Verlander

It was time.

9/4/17: Scouting the strong prospect return in the Justin Verlander trade

In which we got excited about Franklin Perez, Daz Cameron, and Jake Rogers.

10/10/17: People stopped watching the Tigers this year and we have no idea why

This one didn’t go over so well on Facebook.

11/6/17: Lou Whitaker got snubbed for the Hall of Fame again and it’s f***ing inexcusable

It’s still bulls***.

11/10/17: Tigers prospect Grayson Long believes his slider is key

Jay interviewed new Tigers prospect Grayson Long shortly after he was acquired from the Angels.

12/6/17: The Tigers made a mistake in signing Derek Norris

We’re still not all that happy about it.

12/15/17: The 2018 Tigers will be bad, but not as bad as the 2003 team

A little hope to hold onto as we enter the new year.

FanPosts!

We also picked out a few of our favorite FanPosts of the year. Thanks to everyone who contributed!

1/13/17: Free agency is not the solution in center field

1/28/17: An analysis of peoples’ team rankings

2/6/17: Ode to spring training

2/13/17: A love letter to the Tigers

4/24/17: The search for Beer City, USA

4/25/17: A game recap, 30 years late

4/28/17: Nick Castellanos is absolutely murdering baseballs

5/2/17: Why I love Ryan Raburn and the essence of revers-atility

6/5/17: The Galarraga game from a random fan

6/20/17: The “fire sale” you want isn’t happening

6/22/17: Brad Ausmus has the hottest of seats

7/14/17: Breaking down the Tigers roster for the trade deadline

8/6/17: Michael Fulmer trade makes sense for the Tigers

8/20/17: Tanking is stupid, Part 1: So you think you can draft

9/1/17: Mortality, immortality, and Justin Verlander

9/1/17: The end of an era: Goodbye to the 2006-2016 Tigers

9/10/17: Michael Fulmer’s future

10/6/17: Mapping the tangled web of Tigers trades

10/9/17: Dear Tigers fans

10/19/17: The 2017 “Turn the Page” Tigers awards

11/6/17: Justin Verlander’s Hall of Fame credentials

11/9/17: Kody Eaves impressing in the Arizona Fall League

11/24/17: The Sunshine’s Funtime Pokemon baseball team

12/5/17: A Letter to Santa Paws

12/15/17: Mr. Van Horn, the Milner, & Nostalgia