By Ken De Laat Photo by Randy Kuzawa In an early June column I tempered the pessimism expressed a month earlier about our beloved Tigers. After that dreadful start the team seemed to find itself a bit and has continued to play some pretty good ball since. Pretty good. They’re not there yet by any means. 2 months ago we opined that the team would not be playing in October and that has proven accurate. Once the hole is as deep as the one they dug to open the season the climb out is too far to elicit any expectations of a miracle finish. Even if the team were to go on an improbable streak like the 35-5 record they began ‘84 with, they would likely fall short of even a wild card spot. The recent 7 game win streak was fun and stirred memories of when the team would regularly produce similar runs but it was sandwiched by a pair of 4 game skids and good teams rarely endure such slides. Good teams flat out know how to win and deliver the goods more often than not. In summary, the hitting is sporadic and prone to a plethora of strikeouts, the bullpen remains suspect most days, the young starters are still learning while they watch baseballs clearing the fences behind them, and the best infield glove can look dreadful at the plate. But as we said in June they’re gritty gamers, a team more fun to watch than they have been for years. And the players who earlier had even die hard Tiger fans frequently look at the names on the back of their unis and say “Who?” have begun to establish themselves. Haase, Baddoo, Schoop, Grossman, the Castros and others have developed fan bases though only one name continues to produce instantaneous recognition as well as the clear majority of replica shirts found in the stands. A .500 season would be impressive and a second place finish might not be out of the question given the clear sign that Cleveland has cashed it in (when you trade your leadoff guy to the team you’re chasing...well…). Many current Tigers are not the names that will produce a championship caliber team in the coming years. There are younger, more talented players being seasoned to take their place. Many on this team will be wearing other uniforms or relegated to a backup role as Torkleson, Greene, Dingler, and others arrive to claim their spots in the lineup. In the meantime I’ll look forward to the next 2 months. Particularly September when the callups give us all a sneak preview of coming attractions. Go Tig’s!
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
April 2024
Categories |