In my imagination, the Detroit Tigers already won the World Series. They played such amazingly flawless baseball, Cardinals hotshot, Alberto Pujols suggested conceding the last game and hinted at his secret desire to wear his own blue script “D” someday. I’ve actually had so much pretend success charting the Tigers’ wins, I’m sure you’ll be happy to know they’re taking the series again next year. Yes, in my imagination there is such a thing as flawless baseball. In reality, however there are errors, strikes, missed catches, and worst of all, there are humans.
The Tigers actually just lost game three of the World Series to the Cardinals leaving the game count at one and two respectively. Needless to say, the Tigers were not playing their finest ball last night as their post season 10 game home run streak came to a crashing halt, their pitching staff literally lined up for a chance on the mound and Zumaya’s wild throw to Inge alone gave the Cardinals two runs. The Tigers did screw up, they played an irritating nine innings, but amidst our feelings of disappointment and frustration we need to acknowledge the most important fact, they tried.
I’ve never turned on my radio to discover the Tigers decided not to show up, that they weren’t so sure about the game, they’ve had a hard day and there’s a possibility they might lose. The Tigers keep trying. They keep making errors, missing catches and striking out, but most importantly they remain human. They wave to their kids in the stands, they skip around the bases after a particularly good homerun, and they show no reserve when celebrating big victories. So, even though my imaginary Tigers may be flawless winners, the real Detroit Tigers will always rank higher, World Series win or not.
Go Tigers Go!