Tiger fans in a nutshell - Tuesday: EVERYBODY PANIC! Wednesday: Things couldn't be better!
Kenny Rogers gets shelled, to put it mildly, on Tuesday, and you'd have thought it was the end of the baseball season as we know it. You heard the cries all over town... "Here comes Kenny Rogers' annual swoon." "We need to trade for (Big name player)!" "Chris Shelton sucks, send him to Toledo!" "OH MY GOD, THE TWINS WON AGAIN!"
Today, Justin Verlander does his Cy Young imitation. Tigers win and now have an 8.5 game lead. All is again well. "Dmitri Young is the bat that we needed!" Justin Verlander for MVP, Rookie of the Year, and Cy Young!" Chris Shelton got a hit, he's back in form!" Hey, the Twins won, but they are still 8.5 games back."
Calm down people! Take a deep breath, get yourself a cold compress, have a stiff drink. And then think about what you're saying.
You can tell it's been a long ass time since we've cared about baseball this late in the season. Many Tiger fans are having a hard time remembering a few important things about a baseball season...
1. The Tigers won't win every game.
2. They sometimes won't play well.
3. Sometimes the other team just plays better that day.
4. The Tigers will win some games that they shouldn't.
5. Conversely, they'll lose some games that they shouldn't.
6. That a win, or a loss for that matter, is only 1 game of 162.
7. 1 loss is not a trend.
8. A player does not suddenly suck, blow, and need to be sent to AAA, because he has 1 bad game.
9. Jim Leyland does not have to ream out the players after every loss.
10. As that wise man Sparky Anderson once said, (paraphrasing) "No matter what, you'll win 60, you'll lose 60, it's what you do with the other 40 that makes all the difference."
Hell, even I sometimes need to remind myself that a loss is...well, just a loss. No more, no less. The sky is not falling.
Keep in mind that odds are Tigers won't play .700 ball for the rest of the season. But neither will the Twins, the White Sox, the Yankees, or the BoSox. The Tigers are in great shape going into August. Christ almighty, they are 35 games over .500!
Then again, ask me again about the Tigers chances after the Twins series this weekend. Will I be a levelheaded and rational if the Tigers don't play well? If they don't make a move at the trading deadline? Your guess is as good as mine. Hey, I'm only human...
Guilty as charged.
ReplyDeleteIn my defense, the last time the Tigers were in a pennant race I was 14.