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Printer-Friendly ModeDespite World Series collapse fans should not feel disappointed
October 30, 2006 —
The inherent misery of being a 24-year-old lifelong Detroit Tigers fan is that you can't remember the team ever being good. You can remember Cecil Fielder, you can remember Tony Clark and Damion Easley, and you can even remember Randall Simon and Robert Fick. But you can't remember excellence.
That's why this season was so special for me. I was two the last time the Tigers made it to the World Series, five the last time they sniffed the playoffs, and 11 the last time the team finished with more wins than losses. This means the majority of my baseball youth was spent following a bad team and that I, like many others I know, began to get used to failure.
So to say 2006 was a pleasant surprise is the understatement of the decade. No one saw it coming and no one should be disappointed the team lost in the World Series; you can be upset - we all are - but you can't be disappointed.
On paper, the Tigers were the fourth best team in the division. Behind last year's World Series champions the Chicago White Sox, perennial playoff hopeful Minnesota, and a young and talented Cleveland Indians team, the Tigers would have been lucky to finish above .500 and stay ahead of Kansas City and out of the basement in the Central. Instead, they were the best team in baseball for most of the year, won 95 games, upset an experienced and superior Yankees team, steamrolled passed the Athletics, and landed in the World Series. Disappointment? I think not.
The 2006 Detroit Tigers had no business being as good as they were. Filled with overpaid underachievers and underpaid overachievers, they somehow put it all together to win the American League Pennant.
The key cogs in the lineup all had question marks coming in, whether it was from injuries (Magglio Ordonez and Carlos Guillen), age (Pudge Rodriguez and Kenny Rogers), inexperience (Curtis Granderson and Justin Verlander), or just plain questionable talent (Brandon Inge and Craig Monroe).
Yet they did it the right way, played team baseball for most of the year, gave us all one hell of a ride, and were three wins from greatness. In my opinion, Detroit should still throw a parade for them this week just to say thank you.
To me, the only disappointment will be if this team stands pat during the off season and goes into Spring Training with essentially the same lineup as last year. While another season under the belt for young players like Granderson and Joel Zumaya will only help, another year for veterans like Rodriguez and Ordonez could mean slower bats, more injuries, and less production.
And since we all know World Series victories are often few and far between (just ask the Cubs or Red Sox) the Tigers should jump all over this chance to get better and try to win it all next year. The team has a ton of young pitching talent on the big league roster and in the minors and would be wise to trade some away for a big bat - something they could have used while only managing a paltry 11 runs in five World Series Games.
So while it could be easy to jump off the bandwagon (and shame on those of you who just decided to jump on this year) those of us who were born on it and will die on it will continue to root for the old English D.
Be proud of the Tigers for what they accomplished this season and be hopeful for next because losing in the World Series sure beats never getting there to begin with.