While we were generous to let the A's back into the ALDS, this picture summed up how the majority of Tiger fans felt as we headed into game 5.
Beating the Yankees in the playoffs for the third time in seven years was also a joy. This year was extra special as we not only swept the overpaid, entitled, cry-baby-filled pin stripers, but arguably made a final blow to the deconstruction of their lame attempt at building another empire. The only problem was, of course, that we were left with 7 days off due to the blue pill popping, injury filled performance of America's most over-priced team.
The World Series was tough to watch. No getting around it. Its parallel to 2006 made it even harder. In 2006 the theme was "Tigers in 3", and this year was not all that different, except for the fact that we knew not to say "Tigers in 3".
After lots of analysis and reading boat loads of articles about the fall of Detroit in the World Series, we at Detroit Tigers Storyline feel as if baseball still comes down to two simple realities.
Good pitching.
Timely hitting.
Detroit had good pitching all throughout the post-seasons, including the world series, giving up a grand total of 16 runs in 4 games, including 8 in the first game. The pitching was not the problem. It was the hitting.
Timely hitting is about getting hits with runners on base. Doubles, when there is a man on first, singles when there is a man on second, beating out an infield hit with a runner on third, and so on. The easiest way to gauge timely hitting is through observing batting averages with runners in scoring position. (RISP) Here are the numbers from the four game set at the end of October.
GAME 1
Giants RISP: 4-6 (B Posey 1-1, H Pence 0-1, M Scutaro 2-2, B Zito 1-1, B Belt 0-1)
Tigers RISP: 1-5 (P Fielder 0-1, O Infante 0-1, M Cabrera 1-1, D Young 0-1, J Peralta 0-1)
GAME 2
Giants RISP: 1-5 (M Bumgarner 0-1, G Blanco 1-1, B Crawford 0-1, R Theriot 0-1, B Belt 0-1)
Tigers RISP: 0-2 (A Garcia 0-1, J Peralta 0-1)
GAME 3
Giants RISP: 2-7 (A Pagan 0-2, B Posey 0-1, H Pence 0-1, H Sanchez 0-1, G Blanco 1-1, B Crawford 1-1)
Tigers RISP: 0-4 (P Fielder 0-1, M Cabrera 0-1, Q Berry 0-2)
GAME 4
Giants RISP: 2-9 (A Pagan 0-2, B Posey 0-1, M Scutaro 1-1, G Blanco 0-1, B Crawford 0-1, R Theriot 0-1, B Belt 1-1, P Sandoval 0-1)
Tigers RISP: 1-1 (M Cabrera 1-1)
There are two outstanding problems with what happened to the Detroit Tigers ability to score runs.
Firstly, their average with RISP was poor compared to the Giants. The Giants hit a giant-like .333 with RISP while the Tigers hit a meager .154. This is problematic, especially when we consider the few opportunities that were actually created to score runs. This leads us into our second observation.
Secondly, and just as importantly, the Tigers showed an astounding inability to even get to second and third base throughout the series. The Giants had at-bats with RISP 27 times during the series. The Tigers only had at-bats with RISP 12 times. A lower average with RISP would be more acceptable if we advanced many runners into that position. Unfortunately, we combined a lack of production to second and third base with a low batting average. The results were inevitable.
The cause? They were numerous, but it seems that the most problematic cause was the break between the ALCS and the WS. According to mlb.com when only one team has swept in the LCS, they have won the world series five times in twelve attempts.
Baseball is a game of pattern and rhythm and this was broken in our work of destroying the Yankees. Practice is just not the same, and the Tigers were bit by this reality in 2006 and 2012. Hopefully 2013 will include an arduous 7 game win over the Angels and a 2013 World Series Championship!
