The American Freedom Network

Pennant Race – Stretch Run Report

For those of us in Tigers Nation, Labor Day finds the Bengals up by seven games over the Minnesota Twins, who never give up, and eight above the Chicago White Sox, who appearantly did when they traded slugger Jim Thome, a future Hall of Famer, to the Los Angeles Dodgers at the end of August.
It’s been over 100 days since the Tigers moved into first place. Despite playing only .500 ball from mid-May until the start of last week, they shared first for a single day (with Chicago) and never gave up the top spot in the A.L. Central. Over the past week, the Tigers found their groove, as they reeled off six wins, including three in Tampa Bay, all come-from-behind efforts in the late innings. Yesterday’s ninth-inning grand slam by Brandon Inge was typical of the week; after striking out three times, behind 1-2 with Tampa Bay ahead, he hits HR number 27 this year, and puts Detroit ahead to stay. (Inge credits former Tigers star Kirk Gibson with instilling in him the understanding that three bad at-bats can be reased by one good one when the game is on the line, something Gibby learned from Sparky Anderson when he was a young, struggling prospect in danger of failing to live up to his potential.)
Twenty-five games remain. Minnesota and Chicago no doubt regret not taking advantage of over a half-season’s worth of opportunities to catch Detroit; with a widening gap to close, their chances of doing so now are dwindling fast The Tigers finish the season playing Chicage, Minnesota and then Chicago again. They race could be decided by then, or, if experience is any guide, the Twins, who seem to come back from the dead more times than a bad horror movie’s villan, will make those final series meaningful. As a baseball fam, I hope that they do, and that the big crowds in Detroit (fourth in the league in attendance, despite Depression-level unemployment) have something to cheer about until the last game is over, and then deep into October.
The Tigers have always won it all when it meant something special to Detroit. The first champions were the Tigers of 1935 – deep in the Depression, Gheringer, greenberg and Goose Goslin – “The G-Men,” beat “The Gashouse Gang” St. Louis Cardinals in a classic World Series. (That same year the Lions and Wings also won it all, and detroit was known as, “The City of Champions.”) The 1945 Tigers went to the postseason after Hank Greenberg, back for the last five games of the season after serving in World War II, powered them there, and then on to a seven-game win over the Chicago Cubs, in that franchise’s last trip to the October Classic. In 1968, a seven-game win over the heavily-favored Cardinals helped heal a city torn by race riots the year before. 1984′s champions picked up a city suffering double-didit unemployment during the aftermath of a deep recession that saw the first of the auto company bailouts. Perhaps 2009 is destined to be the franchise’s fifth world championship; like the others, it would come as a triumph against a backdrop of strife, struggle and tragedy.
Bring on the Yankees. Detroit could use some good news, and some excitement not born of catastrophe.

P.S. This one could be all the more special, as the most beloved Tiger of them all, retired Hall of Fame broadcaster Ernie Harwell, announced recently that he has incurable cancer. Legions of us grew up falling asleep with radios under our pillows, listening to his golden voice call the games. He remains positive and cheerful about what he calls, ‘his next adventure,’ and is an example to all of grace, class and faith in action.