EVERYBODY PANIC!!! - I was damn close to pushing the button edition
It's amazing how much your feelings about a team, and a season, can change on 1 swing of the bat.
As much as I've been ragging on the Chicken Little fans and the Tiger panic brigade, I'm going to tell you something. I was closer than I care to admit to pushing the damn panic button tonight. I was this close.
I'm watching tonight's game, and all sort of bad things are running through this long time Tiger fan's tortured mind. This is a flawed team. They'll never get another big hit. Wouldn't Alfonso Soriano look 10 times better in the cleanup spot than Magglio Ordonez? Why didn't Dave Donmbrowski pull the trigger for Soriano? He knew the Tigers were lacking that one big bat. What if the Twins and Sox both win? A double header sweep? To the damn Yankees, of all teams? GOD NO! It can't be happening! This is harshing my mellow! Are we going to be witnesses of a collaspe of biblical porportions?
Like I said, all kind of ugly thoughts were running through my brain, and not all were logical...
I'm sitting there, stewing in those thoughts, waiting for the final out, looking for the panic button. I then realize that all is not lost, no Rivera for the Yankees. But...Leading off the top of the 9th was the Tigers' own black hole of suck, the rally killer known as Neifi Perez. And he continued to suck the life out of all Tiger fans, striking out. Brandon Inge kept hope alive, walking on a nice, tough at bat. Pudge was Pudge, hacking away and flying out.
2 out, Curtis Granderson up. Granderson takes it to 3-2, barely fouls off strike 3. The camera shows the on deck batter. There's hope! It's the only Tiger who has shown any kind of clutch tendencies over the past few weeks, Craig Monroe. But Granderson needs to get on. Ball damn 4! Thank you sir, the Tigers are still alive. Craig Monroe, pretty much the ONLY Tiger I want to see at the plate in this situation, comes to the plate. And what happens?
I don't know if the Tigers will make the playoffs. But you know what? Wins like tonight's are the sort that can carry a team, change the mood of both the clubhouse and the fanbase. The kind of game that playoff teams, teams of destiny, win.
Thank you Craig Monroe, thank you so much. Your game winning home run kept me from turning into Chicken Little.
I don't want to put the jinx on, that is why I am not saying they will or will not make the playoffs, all I am saying is in order for us to miss both the Twins and the White Sox have to pass us by. The Wild Card will come out of the Central for the first time this season.
ReplyDeleteTo me it seems less likely for two teams to pass the Tigers than one but hey, it is the Tigers, we are used to torture, so that is why I am not making any guarantees... just pointing some things out.
Could someone please put Infante in there somewhere for a game or two, I agree, Neifi Perez is about as good a hitter as I am and that is not a compliment!
I remember thinking as soon as he swung at the first pitch - DAMN IT, TAKE YOUR TIME - because it looked more like a flyout than a HR and even Monroe didn't have that instant swagger and then the rest is history! I hope you are right and I do agree that sometimes something like this could be that one thing that gets a team out of that slump and helps them finish strong.
Like I told Ian I think a new phrase for pitchers is in order:
"You've just been Monroed".
Later.