What, Tigers Fans Worry?
To preface: This World Series is a competition between two very good baseball teams. The Giants had been severely underestimated coming into this series by analysts, talking heads, columnists, etc. They earned their way to this title series, and the fact they’re only two years removed from a World Series title of their own should only serve to reinforce the notion.
Having said that, this game seemed like a fluke, didn’t it?
The Giants had 31 homers at home in the regular season. The Padres had more (47).
Oct 24, 2012; San Francisco, CA, USA; Detroit Tigers outfielder Delmon Young (21) is tagged out by San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey (28) during the fourth inning of game one of the 2012 World Series at AT
Pablo Sandoval had 12 homers in the regular season (injury-plagued though it was) and three in the playoffs.
Justin Verlander has been the best pitcher on Earth for the last two seasons.
Gregor Blanco had a collective TZ of -10 in left field prior to ’12, and a 0.3 UZR this season.
And what happened? Pablo Sandoval turned into Babe Ruth thanks to a couple line drives out of the park (which would not have been homers at Comerica), Justin Verlander looked like a rookie again, and Blanco made two fantastic diving catches in left. Not to mention the uber-crazy bounce double Angel Pagan got and the freakish Delmon Young/Prince Fielder double play.
These things don’t seem to happen. Ever. And yet, all of them happened tonight. This is a confluence of bad baseball joojoo the likes of which has never been seen before (yes, yes, hyperbole). Tigers fans should take some solace in the fact that this game honestly seems like it could be an aberration – this kind of crap luck can’t last more than one game.
Honestly, the Tigers are a streaky team. They are a team that burned the overrated Yankees, sure, but they also beat the Athletics, who ended up being one of the best teams in the majors – a team that rode momentum like a monkey riding a greyhound (seriously: Google that). That series was not without its tense moments, nor was it without its absolutely frustrating moments, but the Tigers ended in triumph. The moral: be patient with this team.
This is a Murphy’s Law game, folks.
Tigers fans are the best fans, and if anyone jumps off the bandwagon because of this one stinky, fluky game, make sure they can’t climb back on when the Tigers start mashing and throwing fire.