No Lead Is Safe
Ah, it's another baseball season, and fans of the Detroit Tigers, of which I am among their legion, have high hopes. The Tigers, after years of languishing in or near the cellar, finally got proactive two years ago and won a pennant, and last year were competitive until near the end. Over the off-season, the Tigers were major players in the trade market, picking up a seasoned shortstop, Edgar Renteria, and then made perhaps the biggest trade of all of baseball, swapping a parcel of prospects to the Marlins for pitcher Dontrelle Willis and third-baseman Miguel Cabrera. The latter player, who hits for high average and power and is only 24, gives the Tigers one of the best lineups in either league.But I'm not sold, especially after they dropped their opening game today against the Royals, 5-4 in 11 innings. Cabrera hit a home run, as did Carlos Guillen (who has found a new home at first base), and Jason Verlander was strong for six innings, but the glaring weakness of this team is the bullpen, and the Royals, not exactly the '27 Yankees, exploited it.
The Tigers had a shaky bullpen to begin with, but injuries have shelved Joel Zumaya and Fernando Rodney and Todd Jones is old (to his credit, he pitched today and sat down the side in order in his one inning). But Jason Grilli? Aquilino Lopez? Bobby Seay? Danny Bautista? Forgive me if I'm not convinced. As I mentioned to my father yesterday (he's been a Tiger fan for close to sixty years), "No lead is safe."
It's a long season, though, and it's easy to be discouraged after one game, but this team will slug its way to a fair share of victories. But the Indians will be a tough team to beat, and the pitching will have to improve to win the division.
Ah yes, it's the start of another baseball season.
I hear you, man. Did you see what the Cubs did today? Scoreless going into the ninth, they give up three to Milwaukee in the top of the inning. Then Kosuke Fukudome stunningly ties it up with a three-run homer off of Eric Gagne in the bottom half. Then the Cubs give up another run in the 10th to lose.
ReplyDeleteHard to describe how awesome the Fukudome homer was (no, I wasn't there, just watching on TV). He was already 2-2 with a double and a walk on the day, so he had made quite an impression in his US debut. The crowd's chanting his name, excited as all hell to have this guy on the team ... and then he delivers with the homer. Like something out of the damned Natural. Crowd's going berserk, the full fury of a crowd fully conscious of the 100 year anniversary of the last World Series title thinking that this must absolutely FINALLY be their year.
But of course they lose anyway. They're the Cubs, right? A dramatic comeback win would have just made the inevitable defeat down the road that much more difficult to take.
Never been a baseball fan (geographical reasons, mostly), though we've had some softball tournaments at work which were fun. Never been a big sports fan, period.
ReplyDeleteHave found aspects of it fascinating, though (and I realize this sounds condescending, but it's not), due to how much some guys are willing to invest in some people bouncing a ball around a playing field.
Which is why I wish could read books like Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, or understand what the big deal is about The Natural, but I have no clue about what on-base percentage or ground outs mean, much less their importance, or if I'm supposed to cheer, feel sorry for or hate the Cubs.
It's like a whole American cultural aspect I'm missing out on, and I'm pretty sure will never understand.
Nick, I'm no psychologist, so I have no idea why certain people get so wrapped up in grown men running around on a field, and sometimes I wish I didn't care. But the feeling you get when your team wins is great, and is almost worth the misery.
ReplyDeleteThis certainly isn't an American thing--I think in some countries the following for soccer is far more rabid than anything here. What's the most popular sport in Svensk? Soccer? Ice hockey?
Soccer, definitely. People go just as nuts for it here as many Americans do for American Football.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't making any judgment, or saying that Americans are worse than any other country in this aspect. The English are notorious for their devotion to their national soccer league. I just keep finding the absorption odd, no matter the country or sport.
Understood. I wasn't suggesting you were making a judgement, just was curious about the sports situation in your country.
ReplyDeletePeople are weird all over.
... if I'm supposed to cheer, feel sorry for or hate the Cubs.
ReplyDeleteAll three, actually.