Opening Day Was Wonderful for Tigers Fans
"Baseball is not a conventional industry. It belong neither to the players nor management, but to all of us. It is our national pastime, our national symbol, and our national treasure."
-- John Thorn, Baseball: Our Game.
It doesn't matter how a team finished last year, or for that matter the last 10 years, when opening day arrives every spring, baseball fans get downright giddy and excited about the return of the national pastime.
Whether it is the Tigers, Twins, Royals, Yankees, Phillies, Cardinals or whatever team, the feeling is the same. The return of baseball brings hope for a winning campaign and maybe, just maybe, a World Series championship.
"You look forward to it like a birthday party when you're a kid. You think something wonderful is going to happen," said Yankees Hall of Fame outfielder Joe DiMaggio of opening day.
'Joltin' Joe got it right, mostly.
I believe wonderful things happen in this game, every time it is played, especially on those magical opening days every April. To me, though, the wonder of baseball is in its mysterious nature. The only predictable part of the game is that it is unpredictable.
I cherish the start (and sometimes the end) of every baseball season and have since I was playing baseball with my brothers and cousins on a make-shift baseball field between a barn, chicken coop and a large storage shed on a ranch in central South Dakota. From those early playing days on the plains, to watching my first major league game in old Met Stadium, to coaching a little, my passion for baseball has continued to grow.
Writer George V. Higgins wrote in The Progress of the Seasons: "The seductiveness of baseball is that almost everyone with an abiding interest in it knows exactly how it should be played. And secretly believes that he could do it, if only God had seen fit to make him just a little bit less clumsy."
Clumsy or not when I see a baseball laying in a field or in a plastic bucket or wherever, I want to grab it and go out and play some catch. I want to hear the pop of the glove, the crack of the bat and a few hoots about one's playing ability.
So, when baseball opened this week (I don't include the games in Japan), I felt an adrenaline rush several days (actually weeks) prior to Thursday, April 5. For me, "Opening Day" at Comerica Park had the right conclusion as the Tigers had a rousing time with 45,027 fans going nuts in a 3-2 walk-off win over the Red Sox. It was Detroit's first walk-off win since the 1921 season when the great Harry Heilman had the game-winning hit.
As the day began, it was fitting that Detroit's Hall of Fame outfielder Al Kaline threw out the first pitch on his 60th anniversary with the Tigers. Kaline, who is referred to as Mr. Tiger, is Detroit's most beloved Tiger. The classy Kaline, who played his entire career in the Motor City, still works as a special assistant to Tigers GM Dave Dombroski and mentors outfielders every spring training.
One of my dreams is to someday meet Kaline, perhaps while attending opening day at Comerica. Maybe it will happen, who knows what happen. I mean, I did spend a week at old Tiger Stadium before it was put to bed.
Until then I will continue to watch the opening show of baseball on the tube, on the Internet, or by listening to the sweet sound of broadcasts over the radio.
Opening day was indeed a big hit for Tigers' fans, who watched ace Justin Verlander unleash a dominating performance against one of the most feared lineups in baseball. Verlander, who threw a strike on his first three pitches, tossed 105 pitches with 66 strikes in eight innings of work. Against Boston, he recorded seven strikeouts with just one walk. Verlander could have easily finished the game and earned another win; but closer Jose Valverde, who was perfect a year ago in saves opportunities, was ready and raring to go. Well, he was ready, maybe too ready. His pitches weren't sharp and the flamboyant Valverde's perfect run of saves ended in the first outing of 2012.
Regardless, the Tigers picked up Valverde with a ninth-inning tally and the world was able to witness Verlander at the top of his game. He is one of those pitchers like Philadelphia's Roy Halladay and Los Angeles' Clayton Kershaw, who are a joy to behold. While the lanky righthander from Old Dominion University (Virgina) had his fifth straight opening day start without a win, he remains one of the game's best (I think the best).
Verlander, 29, has a 100 MPH-plus fastball and a devastating curve. He was named the Cy Young Award winner and MVP a year ago, following his 24-5 campaign, which included a 2.40 ERA in 34 starts with four complete games and two shutouts. He recorded 250 strikeouts in 251 innings, finishing with a 0.920 WHIP. In the last three seasons, he has had 61 wins, 19 losses and 809 combined strikeouts. Verlander, who seems on his way to the Hall of Fame, has rolled up a 107-57 career record with 1,222 strikeouts and four all-star berths.
While he may not win 24 games this year (but 22 likely), he will be dominate and will catch my eye every time he toes the rubber. Know this, as important as he is to the Tigers, this Detroit team is much more than Justin V. They have a solid starting staff and a tough bullpen. And, they have a powerful lineup led by arguably the game's best hitter in Miguel Cabrera (.344 BA, 30 HRs, 105 RBI, 108 BB, a year ago) and Prince Fielder, who simply cashes in 30 HRs and 100 RBIs year in and year out.
Yet on Thursday, the game's exciting conclusion wasn't about Cabrera or Fielder, or even Verlander. Instead, center fielder Austin Jackson, who had a shaky sophomore season in 2011, had the game-winning walk-off single in a 3-of-5 day that included a triple. He had hits on the first and last pitch of the game, which hasn't been done by a Tigers player since Gary Pettis on July 29, 1989. Also, steady shortstop Jhonny Peralta was 3-of-3 with a run scored and catcher Alex Avila had two hits, including a double and one RBI. All-in-all, it was a nice win.
You see, that is the thing about opening day, winning is paramount. A victory on opening day continues the belief, for the thousands upon thousands of fans, that this "will be the year."
I sincerely hope Jayson Stark of ESPN is right about the Tigers winning it all. All this preseason hype about how they will dominate the Central is fun reading but now the work begins and reality is sometimes a tough cookie to digest.
Detroit will be tested. I think the Tigers win 94 and meet the Yanks in the playoffs again, this time for a berth in the World Series.
Who advances? Let's unveil that in another blog on another day.
Hint: the World Series won't be played in the Big Apple.
-- John Thorn, Baseball: Our Game.
It doesn't matter how a team finished last year, or for that matter the last 10 years, when opening day arrives every spring, baseball fans get downright giddy and excited about the return of the national pastime.
Whether it is the Tigers, Twins, Royals, Yankees, Phillies, Cardinals or whatever team, the feeling is the same. The return of baseball brings hope for a winning campaign and maybe, just maybe, a World Series championship.
"You look forward to it like a birthday party when you're a kid. You think something wonderful is going to happen," said Yankees Hall of Fame outfielder Joe DiMaggio of opening day.
'Joltin' Joe got it right, mostly.
I believe wonderful things happen in this game, every time it is played, especially on those magical opening days every April. To me, though, the wonder of baseball is in its mysterious nature. The only predictable part of the game is that it is unpredictable.
I cherish the start (and sometimes the end) of every baseball season and have since I was playing baseball with my brothers and cousins on a make-shift baseball field between a barn, chicken coop and a large storage shed on a ranch in central South Dakota. From those early playing days on the plains, to watching my first major league game in old Met Stadium, to coaching a little, my passion for baseball has continued to grow.
Writer George V. Higgins wrote in The Progress of the Seasons: "The seductiveness of baseball is that almost everyone with an abiding interest in it knows exactly how it should be played. And secretly believes that he could do it, if only God had seen fit to make him just a little bit less clumsy."
Clumsy or not when I see a baseball laying in a field or in a plastic bucket or wherever, I want to grab it and go out and play some catch. I want to hear the pop of the glove, the crack of the bat and a few hoots about one's playing ability.
So, when baseball opened this week (I don't include the games in Japan), I felt an adrenaline rush several days (actually weeks) prior to Thursday, April 5. For me, "Opening Day" at Comerica Park had the right conclusion as the Tigers had a rousing time with 45,027 fans going nuts in a 3-2 walk-off win over the Red Sox. It was Detroit's first walk-off win since the 1921 season when the great Harry Heilman had the game-winning hit.
As the day began, it was fitting that Detroit's Hall of Fame outfielder Al Kaline threw out the first pitch on his 60th anniversary with the Tigers. Kaline, who is referred to as Mr. Tiger, is Detroit's most beloved Tiger. The classy Kaline, who played his entire career in the Motor City, still works as a special assistant to Tigers GM Dave Dombroski and mentors outfielders every spring training.
One of my dreams is to someday meet Kaline, perhaps while attending opening day at Comerica. Maybe it will happen, who knows what happen. I mean, I did spend a week at old Tiger Stadium before it was put to bed.
Until then I will continue to watch the opening show of baseball on the tube, on the Internet, or by listening to the sweet sound of broadcasts over the radio.
Opening day was indeed a big hit for Tigers' fans, who watched ace Justin Verlander unleash a dominating performance against one of the most feared lineups in baseball. Verlander, who threw a strike on his first three pitches, tossed 105 pitches with 66 strikes in eight innings of work. Against Boston, he recorded seven strikeouts with just one walk. Verlander could have easily finished the game and earned another win; but closer Jose Valverde, who was perfect a year ago in saves opportunities, was ready and raring to go. Well, he was ready, maybe too ready. His pitches weren't sharp and the flamboyant Valverde's perfect run of saves ended in the first outing of 2012.
Regardless, the Tigers picked up Valverde with a ninth-inning tally and the world was able to witness Verlander at the top of his game. He is one of those pitchers like Philadelphia's Roy Halladay and Los Angeles' Clayton Kershaw, who are a joy to behold. While the lanky righthander from Old Dominion University (Virgina) had his fifth straight opening day start without a win, he remains one of the game's best (I think the best).
Verlander, 29, has a 100 MPH-plus fastball and a devastating curve. He was named the Cy Young Award winner and MVP a year ago, following his 24-5 campaign, which included a 2.40 ERA in 34 starts with four complete games and two shutouts. He recorded 250 strikeouts in 251 innings, finishing with a 0.920 WHIP. In the last three seasons, he has had 61 wins, 19 losses and 809 combined strikeouts. Verlander, who seems on his way to the Hall of Fame, has rolled up a 107-57 career record with 1,222 strikeouts and four all-star berths.
While he may not win 24 games this year (but 22 likely), he will be dominate and will catch my eye every time he toes the rubber. Know this, as important as he is to the Tigers, this Detroit team is much more than Justin V. They have a solid starting staff and a tough bullpen. And, they have a powerful lineup led by arguably the game's best hitter in Miguel Cabrera (.344 BA, 30 HRs, 105 RBI, 108 BB, a year ago) and Prince Fielder, who simply cashes in 30 HRs and 100 RBIs year in and year out.
Yet on Thursday, the game's exciting conclusion wasn't about Cabrera or Fielder, or even Verlander. Instead, center fielder Austin Jackson, who had a shaky sophomore season in 2011, had the game-winning walk-off single in a 3-of-5 day that included a triple. He had hits on the first and last pitch of the game, which hasn't been done by a Tigers player since Gary Pettis on July 29, 1989. Also, steady shortstop Jhonny Peralta was 3-of-3 with a run scored and catcher Alex Avila had two hits, including a double and one RBI. All-in-all, it was a nice win.
You see, that is the thing about opening day, winning is paramount. A victory on opening day continues the belief, for the thousands upon thousands of fans, that this "will be the year."
I sincerely hope Jayson Stark of ESPN is right about the Tigers winning it all. All this preseason hype about how they will dominate the Central is fun reading but now the work begins and reality is sometimes a tough cookie to digest.
Detroit will be tested. I think the Tigers win 94 and meet the Yanks in the playoffs again, this time for a berth in the World Series.
Who advances? Let's unveil that in another blog on another day.
Hint: the World Series won't be played in the Big Apple.
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