The Tigers take on the Yankees in a pivotal game four this afternoon...
This game is huge.
Of course, all playoff games are huge, but relatively, this is the biggest Tiger game of the year. Win or lose last night, it would be bigger than game three, but because of the win, the Tigers have the chance to advance to the ALCS to face the Oakland Athletics with a win today.
If they lose, they are in trouble. Not to say Nate Robertson is a bad pitcher, or the Tigers can't beat Wang on Sunday night if they have to, but it will be much easier to take the series in front of a home crowd that's exuberance cannot even begin to be described.
Comerica Park was rocking so hard it's hard to believe that Tiger Stadium off in the distance didn't crumble to the ground. Everyone thought the ghosts of past Yankees put together with one of the best lineups ever assembled would be too much for the reeling Detroit Tigers. Interestingly enough, however, it was the Tiger ghosts that did all the work last night.
With Ernie Harwell in the booth, the Tigers and Kenny Rogers took control of the game and the series. With the Temptations singing the national anthem and Al Kaline throwing out the first pitch, and the current Tigers circling the bases sixt times brought Detroit heroes past and present full circle.
This was a game Detroit needed to have. This was a game of which the Tigers would not let go. This is a game the Tigers would win.
And the crowd made sure of it.
Today is a new day, Yankee fans will tell you. Today is the day the Yankee bats wake up and knock 23-year-old, still wet-behind-the-ears Jeremy Bonderman up, down and out of the game. Today is the day the Yankees put a stranglehold on the series and put the Tigers backs to the wall.
But if the Detroit ghosts got their sleep last night and reawaken for just three more hours, they might not have a chance. Bonderman is said to have the best stuff of all the Tiger starters. If he is even half as good as Rogers was last night, the Yankees don't stand a chance. He has the ability to pitch this game into the eighth inning and then Jim Leyland can pick and choose from his bullpen of which everyone is available.
If the ghosts come out today, it will be the ghosts of Cobb, Gehringer and Greenberg, not Gehrig, Ruth and Mantle. The Tiger ghosts are like the Tigers bullpen, well rested and ready to pounce.
The Yankee ghosts are overworked and underpaid. They'll have to wait for A-Rod to become a ghost to have someone overpaid. Heck, it might be his only chance to get a hit...
