Only two years removed from setting the American League record for losses with 119, the Detroit Tigers are going to the World Series! It's their first trip to the game's largest stage since 1984, following their first winning record since 1993!
Guess what? I don't care.
Everybody is falling in love with the Tigers, saying they are the feel-good story of the 2006 season. Well, like Shooter McGavin, I'm not coming around.
Why, you ask?
Let's run through the reasons why I, your average baseball fan, should be happy that the Tigers are in the World Series.
They're two years removed from the second-worst 162-game season in baseball history.
Are you going to honestly sit there and tell me that a team that doesn't have a winning record for 13 years won't be able to get the top draft picks in baseball and find some players capable of turning a team around? It's about time this happened.
Remember, too, that the claim that Detroit is a small-market team not having the means to compete with big-market clubs is bull. If anything, this team should have already won something by now.
They entered the playoffs with the 14th-highest payroll in baseball, above San Diego, Minnesota and Oakland.
They have a stadium that is only six years old, and while the city of Detroit may not be the economic driver it was in the first half of the 20th century, the state of Michigan is bustling along with one of the highest per capita incomes in the country. It's not like the stadium is relying on the actual residents of Detroit to fill its stands and provide revenue; those residents were priced out of affording baseball years ago.
This is simply a poorly managed team. Despite having his hands tied financially, General Manager Dave Dombrowski presided over some awful Marlins teams before taking his position with the Tigers. Now in Detroit, he has money to work with and managed to put together a team that stayed healthy and won consistently after four years on the job. Hooray.
If anything, they've made some pretty poor baseball moves, paying Dmitri Young $8 million, while sending $6 million to Troy Percival. Like any team that gets to the World Series, they've been lucky to overcome what could have been damaging mistakes.
They have an old-school manager and exciting young players.
I'm not impressed with the Tigers' players. Magglio Ordonez, Carlos Guillen and Pudge Rodriguez didn't accomplish much other than staying healthy for a full season, and Curtis Granderson, Marcus Thames and Craig Monroe don't really do it for me. The pitching staff has been terrific, and I like that they have so many fireballers (Verlander, Bonderman and Zumaya can all hit 100 on the radar gun), but that's not enough to win me over.
The Mets have great young players who look like they're a lot of fun, like Jose Reyes, David Wright and Carlos Beltran. The Cardinals have Albert Pujols and Jim Edmonds, neither of whom have titles. I'm not enticed by them either.
Show me a Sal Fasano, and I'll cheer for that team. Sean Casey comes close, but "The Mayor" will have to do more than suck at running bases. He needs a Fu Manchu.
I do like Leyland. The guy is a grizzled, chain-smoking old man who simply gets it done wherever he goes. I also found it funny that he is one of the few managers who wear cleats. Score one for the Tigers.
They beat the Yankees.
How tired is this act? Come on, Red Sox fans. Grow up.
Detroit hasn't won a title since 1984 and hasn't had a winning record since 1993.
Get off your pedestal. The Tigers used to be the class of baseball. Before 1994, they were one of the most consistent winners around. It's not like this is the Red Sox or White Sox, who hadn't won titles since World War I. This is a franchise that had some very bad years and has managed to resurface.
Detroit, as a good baseball town, deserves an opportunity to see its team win.
Detroit is by no means championship-starved; the Pistons and the Red Wings have been incredibly consistent winners. And while the Lions suck, at least Detroit fans had Barry Sanders.
Philadelphia sports teams haven't won a title since 1983. The Cleveland Indians haven't won a title since 1948, while the city hasn't had one since the Browns won the NFL Championship in 1964. The Milwaukee Brewers, Seattle Mariners, San Diego Padres and Texas Rangers all have never won a World Series.
But Detroit needs another championship?
Give me a break, national media. I don't care about the Tigers, and you're not going to sell me on their cute storylines anytime soon.
