~Tigers’ start, more than anything else, “puzzling”~
-By Mike Moore-
For months we heard how great they would be, how many wins they would seemingly pile up, how many hundreds, maybe even a thousand runs, they would score.
So here we sit, with the NHL playoffs set to begin, the NBA regular season just weeks from being complete and many Tigers’ fans already looking toward next year.
There are so many different ways to look at the start to the 2008 baseball season here in the Motor City, so many questions with so few answers.
The Tigers entered the year with expectations, quite reasonable considering the lineup, to be the best in the majors. They had an offense that would score tons of runs and a starting pitching staff that would allow so few. The only question was the bullpen.Well, seven games in, the Tigers look more like the team that plays next door to Comerica Park than a team that will play for a World Series. (In all fairness to our beloved Lions, they were 5-2 seven games into the season).
That offense has already been shutout twice, scoring just 15 runs, that starting pitching staff has been anything but impressive and the bullpen, well, that’s been about the only thing that has played as expected.
It’s time like these where fans seem to need someone, or something to blame. In most instances similar to this it would start at the top. But the resounding approval for Dave Dombrowski and the moves he’s made sent shock waves through the city. And we can’t dare challenge the job Jim Lelyand has done, can we? After all, this is a guy who took a team just a few years removed from 119 losses to just three wins from a World Series title.
Then again, maybe it was that series that led to the mindset players and fans alike have held onto, a flawed mindset at that.
Since game five ended in St. Louis that fall, many have believed a World Series title was a rite the Tigers were entitled to. It was a mindset reinforced by the start of 2007, when Leyland’s bunch had the best record in the Majors at the All-Star break. But since that time, as the Indians went from the rearview mirror to the Central Division title, the Tigers have been, well, very minor leagueish.
Through seven games that entitlement still seems to remain. Opening Day saw lazy swings leave 10 runners on base in a 3-0 game that eventually turned into an 11-inning loss. Since then, it’s only gotten worse. Games have been over midway through, with an effort seemingly dying sooner than that.
It’s certainly not time to panic (even though no team in history has made the World Series starting 0-5 or worse), but what’s so frustrating is how few answers, how puzzling everything is. Keep in mind, baseball, unlike any other sport, is a game of numbers, and the players put together on this team have put up some serious numbers in their careers. That alone gives hope that things can’t help but turn around.Leyland has yet to have a public outburst similar to the one in 2006 (which coincidently was the turning point of that season), though it’s hard to believe he hasn’t or won’t soon, say or do something behind closed doors.
Something must change, however. Whether it’s a move in the lineup, a change in the batting order, or just maybe, a mindset that says we have to fight and claw for everything we earn.
Although some may not have believed it just a week or so ago, the Tigers were going to lose seven games this season. They were going to go through losing streaks, get beat up here and there and leave fans scratching their collective heads. We just didn’t expect all of it before win No. 1.
Keep in mind, there are 155 games yet to be played. The weather will warm, the bats will come alive and, we hope, the wins will appear.
Let’s just hope all of that comes sooner, say before a Wings’ playoff panic sets in, than later, when the possibility of two teams (Lions and Tigers) playing equally poorly becomes a reality. (Oh my!)
Send questions or comments to mjm12@albion.edu
