The Detroit Tigers have eclipsed the one million mark for attendance this season...
Four sellouts in a row...
One million fans have now graced the gate at Comerica Park this year in 29 games. The Tigers are just shy of their 1984 pace at this point, but with the weather warming up, they have a great chance of eclipsing that this season. And if they stay in the playoff race through the season's final day, who knows?
Three million?
At this rate, the Tigers are on pace for almost 2.8 million fans. If they can average just over 38,000 until the end of the season, they will hit 3 million. There is only one way to do that, however.
Win.
And keep winning.
Somehow, with the losses of Vance Wilson for likely the entire season, Joel Zumaya for most of it, if not the rest, and Jeremy Bonderman, Nate Robertson and Fernando Rodney for fifteen days apiece, the team keeps winning.
And they are outslugging their opponents. If the Tigers had this kind of offense last year, they would have taken a run at the Mariners' 116-win-record of 2001. Because of all the pitching injuries (including the back-up catcher), this team is not performing at last year's clip, but they are still ten games over .500.
Rabelo has cost them a couple with not settling down pitchers late. Rodney has cost them a couple with tired-arm pitching. Robertson has been nothing like himself his past handful of starts. Not having Zumaya is killing the team. Bonderman missed two starts, and he is 6-0. We haven't even seen Kenny Rogers yet.
This team would have at least 40 wins with no injuries. It is amazing they have 36 to say the least. Heck, they might have 46 if no one had got hurt. Just trying to remember off the top of my head: The Cleveland five-run debacle. Rodney blowing one against Chicago. Robertson not getting anyone out against Texas. Jones' two-inning blown save against Tampa Bay.
There's four right there, and I have yet to mention the 0-3 in extra frames or any game Jose Mesa has pitched in. To "keep it real," the ball isn't going to bounce their way every time, so let's just say the Tigers should have 40 wins. That would have them in first by 3 games. The attendance would be the same, but if they can't get it together and they start losing ground, attendance will drop off four games earlier than it should.
So it comes to this. If the Tigers do not set a team-attendance record this season, there is one reason why: Pitching. If the Tigers do set a team-attendance record this season, there is one reason why: Hitting.
This team can hit. It is reminicent of the "Cecil Years" when the Tigers used to say, "Try and outscore us." Well, unfortunately, in 1993, teams finally did start outscoring them and they lost ten in a row in June and never recovered. The problem with hitting is it goes soft from time to time and you need to win a game 2-1 or 3-2, just like Jim Leyland has been saying.
The Tigers need to stay close to the Indians. They need to keep their lead in the wild card over the Mariners, and they need to get their pitching figured out. Until then, they need 38,000+ at the ballpark each and every night cheering them on to win the game. If we can't get pitching, the crowd can help...
