The End Of Our Road

 

And just like that, the Detroit Tigers' 2013 season is over, sailing off over the horizon on the good ship Coulda/Woulda/Shoulda. It's a bitter pill to swallow for Tigers fans, especially those among us who were certain that THIS was indeed THE YEAR.

On paper, at least, the Tigers did look better at the beginning of 2013 than they did last season — thanks to the addition of Torii Hunter, and with Anibal Sanchez and Omar Infante on board for full seasons — and seemed primed to make everyone forget their flat-lining performance in the 2012 World Series. But actually watching them play this season was a different story; they got by on sheer enormity of talent, yet were rarely firing on all cylinders. There always seemed to be some component on the fritz, some reason for the Tigers faithful to once again wander out onto the ledge and predict imminent doom and gloom: The unresolved closer situation, which saw Jose Valverde come back more times (and frighten more people) than Michael Myers. The middle/long relief situation, which was never effectively resolved. Justin Verlander not looking quite like himself, at least until October. Prince Fielder's maddening slumps, which of course were magnified in October. Victor Martinez hitting like crap for the first half, before smoking the shit out of the ball in the second. J-Honny Peralta's 50-game suspension for doing business with Biogenesis. The mystery injury that hobbled Miguel Cabrera and sapped his power in September and beyond. The lousy baserunning and situational hitting that saw the American League's best offense waste countless scoring opportunities, and the inexplicable power outages that led to them being shut out in 10 of their 69 defeats.

There's no need to for me to rehash the disaster that was this year's ALCS, except to say that it reminded me a lot of the 1976 World Series. Oh, it was more evenly matched than that showdown between the Big Red Machine and Billy Martin's Yankees, and the Tigers didn't get swept — in fact, the Tigers probably could have swept the Red Sox if so many of the glitches listed above didn't simultaneously come back to haunt them. But the 1976 World Series was the first one I ever watched from the first out to the last, and the lesson I took away from it was that the team that best capitalizes on the other's mistakes is the team that will win it all. The Reds feasted on the Yankees' gaffes that October; and in the few cases where the Reds screwed up, the Yankees were unable to turn it to their advantage. That, in a nutshell, is what happened with the Tigers; we can bitch about lousy umpiring calls, questionable pitching changes and lunk-headed base-running all we like, but ultimately the Detroit squad couldn't capitalize on Boston's mistakes the way Boston capitalized on theirs. And for that, Boston deserves to go to the World Series.

Still, I can't forget all the things I loved about the 2013 Detroit Tigers: Max Scherzer's 21-3 won-loss record, which seemed as freakish as his mismatched eyes until you looked deeper into his stats and realized just how well he pitched this year. Sanchez being even better than we'd hoped, on his way to earning his first ERA title. Joaquin Benoit who, after finally being handed the closer's role, made it through August without giving up a home run or blowing a save. (Benoit's recent meltdowns will inevitably color the perception of his season, but he was pretty damn good most of the time, and I find it hard to believe that anyone else in the bullpen would have handled the closer's gig as well as he did.) Torii Hunter's injection of leadership and humor into a team that needed both — as well as the fact that he had a better season than Josh Hamilton, the guy the Angels dissed Torii to make room for. The cavalcade of stunning fielding plays by mid-season pickup Jose Iglesias. The mindblowing majesty of Cabrera's hot streaks in April, May, June and August. I could go on...

Honestly, with the exception of Valverde and Phil Coke, I can't remember another Tigers team in the last 25 years that I enjoyed watching as much as the 2013 version. Despite the constant tightrope-walking, despite Jim Leyland's often puzzling managerial moves (or puzzling lack of them), I felt a connection with these Tigers that I didn't feel in 2006, or even last year. Even lesser lights like Andy Dirks, Don Kelly (love those socks, Donnie!) and Brayan Pena (I mean, how could I not dig a player who's my height AND weighs at least 40 pounds more than I do?) felt like "my boys"; hell, I even developed a grudging affection for Ramon Santiago, now that he wasn't in the lineup everyday...

So yeah, this sucks, and of course it feels like a great season (and a great team) squandered. There will be fingers pointed (some justifiably so) and changes made (ditto), and hopefully the Tigers can come back next year and win it all. But ultimately, as someone who's lived through a lot of really shitty Tigers seasons, I'll remember the happiness they brought me this year, and remember that — October disappointments aside — the last three years have been a pretty amazing time to be a Tigers fan. Most of all, I'll remember the sheer joy of watching Game 5 of the ALDS at the Joshua Tree Saloon with my lovely fiancee Miss Howerton (a hardcore Tigers convert) and our pals Erik and Robin. Miss Howerton and I were so pumped up from watching Verlander, Miggy and Benoit take down Sonny Gray and the A's to advance to the ALCS, we actually couldn't eat dinner or even sleep that night; it was a magical feeling, and in this messed-up world you've gotta take the magic wherever you find it. Thank you, Tigers, for the magic; here's to even more of it in 2014.