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Remember those first three games of the season for the Detroit Tigers? They
won the season opener against the Red Sox with a run in the bottom of the
ninth. They belted Josh Beckett the next game, hitting five home runs off him
and winning 10-0. Then came a 13-12 victory when they tied it with three runs
in the bottom of the ninth and won it with three in the 11th, capped by Alex
Avila's walk-off two-run home run.
A few days later they were 9-3 and looking like the unstoppable force many
predicted during spring training.
In the end, the Tigers did win the American League Central, finally clinching
with Monday's 6-3 win over the Royals. But the road was hardly as easy as it
looked back in April. The White Sox held first place for 104 days, and the
Tigers survived as they won seven of their past eight and the White Sox
collapsed. That's the beauty of 162 games: It's a long, tough grind. For the
Tigers, they won't care that they'll likely end up with just the seventh-best
record in the AL. They're in the postseason, and that's all that matters.
How did they go there? Let's begin with Miguel Cabrera, of course. His Triple
Crown chase received a big boost as he went 4-for-5 with a home run, with
three hits going to right field. Whether or not you think Cabrera deserves
the MVP Award, the Triple Crown chase is a fun event to watch. You should be
rooting for him to achieve it.
The major argument to disagree with regarding Cabrera's MVP résumé is this
notion that he's carried the Tigers on a back as wide as Lake Michigan. Of
course he's had help; he's had help from other stars, not a roster of
nobodies. Prince Fielder