Hand up. I seriously dropped the ball with WTSBaseball this summer. With moving, finding a new job, and just plain forgetfulness, I did not do a great job of recapping the Tigers season this summer. I apologize. To be honest, the motivation kind of left my body after the month of June. We were bad. Again. We were stale. Again. We were borderline unwatchable at times. Again. We were on pace for our 8th straight losing season. Again. Surely, this year would be another one of “those” years, again, right? 

WRONG

I am not kidding when I tell you that this season is right there with 2006. For different reasons, obviously, but it is neck-and-neck with that magical season when I was 16 years old. Yes, we had good seasons from 2011-2014, but we were expected to win. It was a given. This year, much like 2006, we were laughed at, forgotten about, and left for dead. On absolutely no one’s radar, and nowhere near playoff consideration. A joke of a baseball team (here’s looking at you White Sox). But, a Triple Crown-winning CY Young pitcher in Tarik Skubal, an influx of young talent, a pitching coach that might as well be the Pope for all I am concerned, and a manager that is playing 3D chess while everyone else is still trying to find the checkerboard, has propelled this team into the Postseason. Not only the postseason, but the ALDS for the first time since 2014. Also, notice how we got infinitely better after Javy was out of the line up permanently. Hm. Weird. 

Before we get to my ALDS let's take a look at my pre-season bold predictions, shall we.

Overall record: 86-74 (I was close)

1. Colt Keith-He was, indeed, fun

2. Javy-I hope I never see your dumb face ever again in a Tigers uniform you fraud. (Good defense tho)

3. Tork-I was close! Only 32 off! 

4. Skubal did a lot more than lead the AL in strikeouts, but I was technically correct.

5. Parker stole 9 bags lmao

6. Colt was amazing but will not win ROY.

Not bad, all things considered. Tarik Skubal and Riley Greene were All-Stars, Tarik Skubal will win the Cy Young, and we have an actually good, young core. Future is bright. Take notes, Orioles.

TO THE ALDS:

TIGERS vs. GUARDIANS

TIGERS SWEPT THE HOUSTON ASTERISKS AND WE ARE ALDS BOUND!! FUCK YOU ALTUVE YOU ANGRY SOUTH POLE ELF

I still can’t believe that we are here, man. This team really is unbelievable. Just running on  champagne and good vibes. The bullpen and pitching has been unreal. The youth on this team has really given us a boost. We have twelve, TWELVE rookies on the 26-man roster. The most in the major leagues. We also don't have a player with 150 hits. No one has 75+ RBIs. No one has 25+ homers. No one has 25+ stolen bases. We are the first team in major league history to make the postseason without these types of numbers. Truly flabbergasting. But here we are nonetheless. Sunglasses emoji.  We are the lower seed, so out of the 5 games, 3 will be in Cleveland, but if we take care of business the first couple games, we can clinch at Comerica. I am so fucking excited to be able to watch playoff baseball in the Comerica Park atmosphere. It is going to be fucking bananas. 

Here is what we can expect when ti comes to pitching in the ALDS: 

Tarik Skubal
who knows
Fuck it, We ball
Brieske throws 100 now 
Tarik Skubal 
Bulletproof Vest

The ALDS roster can change from the WIldcard roster, but I don’t know if Hinch will mess with it or not. There is one thing I have learned about him:  if you think you know what AJ Hinch is going to do, no you don’t. 

ALDS game one is this Saturday at 1:08pm. The Guardians are an excellent team and will be a tough challenge. However, as many of us veteran Tiger fans know, there is a catch to being one of the best in the postseason: multiple days off. By Game 1 on Saturday, it will be a whole week off for the guardians. Can you say cold? The Tigers know this first hand from 2006 and 2012. They swept the ALCS both times and had to wait four days to play again while their opponent continued to play and stayed hot. We lost both times (spoiler). I think this week off for Cleveland might give us an advantage, but we will see. Riley and Carp please break out of whatever y'all are going through. Dingers only.

I will also say that, no matter what happens from here, I am so proud of this team. This is the most fun I have had watching Tigers baseball in almost a decade. 

Soak it all in boys; these are the good ole days.