The Tigers Draw Even

Yesterday was an interesting day for me. The morning was ruined by knowledge that Fedex has lost an important package that had to be in England my Monday. Not my fault, but I'm the kind of person who takes any slip-ups hard, somehow thinking they reflect badly on me.

In the afternoon, from my computer, I followed the progress of Game Two of the ALDS between my beloved Tigers and the hated Yankees. The Tigers lost game 1, their sixth loss in a row overall, and the entire baseball nation seemed to think (including me) that they would roll over and get swept. Things started badly when Mike Mussina struck out the side in the first, and Justin Verlander loaded the bases in the Yankee half. But he struck out Alex Rodriguez, and wriggled out of a few more jams, and the Tigers got a 1-0 lead.

I was following this on Gameday, a wonderful program on mlb.com, which tracks every pitch and has a plethora of graphics. There is no audio or video, but I was sitting there, waiting for the results of each pitch to be put on screen, almost like I was watching the game.

Johnny Damon hit a 3-run dinger to put the Yankees ahead, and my spirits sank, but only temporarily, as the Tigers clawed back. A home-run by Carlos Guillen tied it, and a triple by Curtis Granderson scored Marcus Thames to give them a 4-3 lead in the seventh. The Tiger bullpen, so dreadful in the season-ending Kansas City series, was sterling, especially Joel Zumaya, who struck out Jeter, Giambi and A-Rod, with 100 mph gas.

Todd Jones got the save in the ninth and the entire complexion of the series has changed, as the Tigers have snatched home-field advantage. Tonight is game three, with two men over forty, Kenny Rogers and Randy Johnson, on the hill. I'm not so optimistic as to say the Tigers will now win this series, but I feel a helluva lot better than before yesterday's game.

Perhaps the most pleasurable part of the day came when I got home and put on the local sports radio show, Mike and the Mad Dog. Mike is an arrogant Yankee fan (is there another kind) who was not showing any respect for Detroit. It was nice to see him squirm a little bit (he was dumping all over A-Rod). The Mad Dog is a shrill Yankee-hater, so the banter was music to my ears.

Funny how grown men playing a game with a stick and a ball miles away from me can affect my emotions like that.