Kicked in the balls (A 2009 Detroit Tigers Rant)

I feel like the dude in the strip club who thinks he's actually going to get with the stripper after making it thunderstorm in the club. I feel hoodwinked, bamboozled, hustled. Why? Because of my investment in the 2009 Detroit Tigers.

This perfectly flawed team was dominant for 160+ days this baseball season. Fans of the Tigers got complacent -- almost too complacent. People always said, "Oh it's in the bag", "The AL Central is brutal. The Tigers will make the playoffs with no problems."

Meanwhile the elephant in the room was starting to take up more space and become more prevalent. In my opinion things started to go downhill when they lost 5 of six to the Kansas City Royals in September (aka crunch time). The Royals had nothing to play for, the Tigers were home for 3 of those games. They still proceed to lose 5 of 6. UNACCEPTABLE.

Then comes the 7 game stretch between the surging Twins and the spiteful White Sox (who at the start of last week had nothing to play for). All 7 games were once again at Comerica park and at the time the magic number to clinch a spot was 2. All the Tigers had to do was win 2 games. Once again the Tigers played Russian Roulette with their playoff entry chances. The result? Splitting two with the Twins and only picking up one win against the Sox.

At the same time as the Sox Series the Twins (who were playing .800 ball when it mattered most) had a series with the same Kansas City Royals. On Saturday the 3rd, the Twins faced the almighty Greinke -- and took it to him, forcing him out of the game and not letting him factor into the decision. One clutch hit by Michael Cuddyer later and the Twins have their second biggest win of the week. The tigers lost to the Sox that night, partially due to Miguel Cabrera's drunken excursion the night before.

SIDE NOTE: WHO THE HELL DRINKS WITH THE OPPOSING TEAM DURING A PLAYOFF CHASE?

Sunday arrived with both teams essentially in must-win situations. With a Tigers win and a Twins loss, The Tigers would be in. With a Tigers loss and a Twins win, the Tigers would be out. In the event that both teams won or both teams lost, there would be a tiebreaker game (unlikely at this point but possible). The franchise arm for the Tigers, Justin Verlander winds up taking the entire team on his back and pitches a very solid game for the 2nd time in 6 days (Verlander for Cy Young, I don't care what you say.)

With the tiebreaker scenario actually coming through -- You would think that the Tigers would show some motivation. This is partly true and partly false. True because of the performance put on by Rick Porcello. 8Ks over 5 2/3 innings. I'm glad the Tigers kept him instead of pulling the trigger on a Roy Halladay trade. Miguel Cabrera actually showed up, as well as Magglio Ordonez. Also Fernando Rodney put in work (an excessive amount of it for a closer).

On to the negative aspects of the Tigers performance today: Ryan Raburn thinking he was superman by attempting a sliding catch. I honestly believe the field grew larger when the ball rolled away from Raburn. Laird swinging at a ball more suited towards a cricket match was a low point of the game. Jimmy "Mushmouth" Leyland was also apathetic when he just let Fernando go for 3+ innings. News flash Jimmy: Warm up another pitcher if your closer goes 1+.

The result: The Twins beat the Tigers in an intense game and sealed the 2009 collapse for the Tigers. I can't help but feel let down by this because of the amount I invested into this year's squad after believing the hype. This one hurts just as much as the title.