Tailspinning Tigers Appear Tired
The grind of the baseball season will take its toll on every team, including the one's that finish with the best record. The Tigers of 2006 need only look at last year's World Series Champs to know this is true.
The White Sox led the American League Central from wire-to-wire last year. They lost only one game in the entire 2005 playoffs. But exactly one year ago today, the south side of Chicago was buzzing about a collapse. It's not unusual, it's just only one month out of the year rhymes with swoon and its not August.
The Tigers start to the season was so incredible, they could click on the cruise control by the All-Star break and still make the playoffs. Cruising is not ideal, but there's a reason why the team with the best regular season record in American League history was ousted in the ALCS in just five games by the New York Yankees (i.e. 2001 Seattle Mariners).
One-hundred and sixty-two games is a tedious grind. The players may tell themselves that every game counts but at some point fatigue becomes a factor.
Detroit looks like a team that needs a jolt...not a 4-game series with the Yankees with little on the line other than the prospect of getting swept and being called over-rated. The jolt will come from a White Sox/Twins September charge that will ultimately prepare the Tigers for a playoff run.
Of course, the White Sox/Twins have to accommodate by helping wipe away a five game Detroit lead that feels wider than Lake Michigan itself. In the meantime, the Tigers will try to rest up until they have something to play for.
