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The Detroit Tigers
Current mood:  calm
Category: Sports
How the Roar has been officially Restored
By J.E.Ola
The All Star break signifies the approximate midway point for the Boys of Summer. As a Tiger fan for the last twenty plus years, this time of year generally passes by with little more than the obligatory fireworks display, hot dogs, and occasional weekend trip to the park to watch our beloved team battle to keep their whiskers above the water line, or .500 for the statistically minded. The eyes just always seem to gravitate toward the bottom half of the standings, accompanied by a deep sigh and a reminiscent tear of glory gone the way of the dodo.
The official demise of the Detroit Tigers started shortly after the fifth game of the 1984 World Series. Only hours after Tony Gwynn flew out to Herndon down the left field line to end the game, unsavory images of flipped over cars, set ablaze by chemically enhanced revelers littered every publication carrying the would-be inspirational story. Did the fans take the coachs nickname Sparky literally? The legendary season of pure will growling in the face of all challengers was thus lost to the nation amidst panic in the streets, but the roar still echoed for the Tigers faithful.
Carrying this torch, however, for twenty-two years seldom helped light the way between seasons. The mid-to-late eighties saw a respectable team, battling every game out of pride, but the world was against them. After all, who wants to see another riot? Even the most dedicated fans, the Bless You Boys singing throngs, had to be weary of another victorious October. Insurance companies knew the statistics, unemployment had reached the point of population decline in the Motor City, tensions were riding a hair trigger, alcohol sales were at an all time high, and the hometown boys brought the trophy back for the first time since 1968. What was supposed to happen?
After Johnny Carson and the rest of the media brutes that the tax paying world has to offer saw fit to degrade our championship on the grounds of a savage minority of car flippers and arsonists (doesnt every city have those?), we could only lower the brow and carry on.
So in 1987, with the best record in baseball, they eventually lost to the Minnesota Twins in the ALCS after a dramatic series with the Jays. But was it just a little bit to soon to test the battered citys enthusiastic fans? Were still cinders locked under a concrete parking lot on Michigan Avenue waiting for another fanatic gust to guide them into a vault of fuel? Perhaps, but did they have to wait 22 years to make sure the coast was clear?
The nineties saw the torch growing increasingly heavy. The Tigers last winning season was in 1993, and the strike of 1994 served as the perfect excuse for many to drop their flames down the nearest sewer drain. Steinbrenner seemed to be buying players out of the hands of any contender, and Tigers just got progressively worse only finishing twice within five games of .500 since 93, including the 109 game loss season of 1996. After many questionable trades and contracts that lead nowhere, executive orders finally came down, changing personnel in the front office, leaving Tiger Stadium, and hiring 1984 hero, Alan Trammell to manage. At least hell fill some seats? Maybe?
Then it came. The 2003 debacle that took masochism to new level, making the self-mutilation practices of certain bands of knife wielding mystical Dervishes look benign. I sat dumbfounded, watching every game out of sheer bewilderment, like some kind of sick joke was being played, and ramming an ice pick through my cheek. 119 games! Only narrowly escaping the 1962 expansion-team Mets record for losses in the final week after a remarkable comeback, and the Twins resting half their team for the impending playoffs.
So how different had the road been for the 1984 Tigers than for the 2006 Tigers? The several seasons leading up the 1984 championship saw the Tigers get progressively better, with a winning record each year. The 2006 Tigers, well, its pretty tough not to improve over 2003, but they still havent had a winning record for over a decade. Four of the same starters, Wilcox, Morris, Rozema and Petry, and much of the line-up remained the same for several seasons before the 1984 season as well. Three of the starters go into 2006 from several years back: Bonderman, Maroth, and Robertson, but the line-up is quite different, and remarkably better with the addition of Curty-Baseball, and regular appearances by Mags, and a healthy Guillen. The 84 Tigers gained help in the bullpen, with Guillermo Hernandez. 06 saw the addition of the Rollercoaster, as well as gold-glover and all-star Kenny Rogers, and two very impressive rookies, Justin Verlander and Joel Zumaya. Too many similarities? Lets look at the numbers.
Statistically the 06 Tigers are batting .275, OBP of .330, and have an ERA of 3.52. The 1984 Tigers ended the season with a .271 average, OBP of .342, and an ERA of 3.49. The 84 team ended with 104 wins, and the 06 Tigers are projected to win in the area of 110.
The Tiger Roar follows every run scored at Comerica Park. Thats a lot of roaring on the way to 110 wins. That growl rallies the spirit of 1984, and is again the sound of success.
But how does the competition shape up compared to 1984? The Royals had an average of .268, OBP of .318, and an ERA of 3.92, which was good enough to challenge the Tigers in the ALCS. The Padres came into the World Series batting .259, a .317 OBP, and an ERA of 3.48. Now in 2006, the stats are shaping up with Toronto hitting .293 on top, but lets be honest with ourselves. How do New York, Chicago, and the Red Sox compare? All three have higher batting averages than the Tigers, but all have an ERA that is almost a full point higher as well.
The Tigers currently rank 8th in the American League in batting, (although better than in 1984) and first in pitching. They are 6th in runs, and 3rd in homers. In 1984 they ranked 4th in batting, and 1st in pitching. They also ended the season 1st in runs, and 1st in home runs.
So when we make it past the obviously dominant American league on the arms of our stellar pitching staff, then who stands a chance for world domination?
In the National league, the Dodgers have the best bats, although the power numbers reside with the playoff bound Mets, and San Diego owns the best pitching. So are we looking at a 1984 rematch with the Padres? Or maybe a battle between the teams with the worst two records in baseball history?
This is getting spooky, and whats more, Detroit is in its worst shape socially since the mid-eighties. People are again moving out of state to work, and half of my neighbors are laid off or working for peanuts just to skim by. The population is still declining, Ford is moving to Mexico, and the alcohol sales are again through the roof. Hopefully all of this doesnt warrant a National Guard presence downtown as the Tigers enter the second half of the season with all the will of the 1984 team with every intention of once again bringing the World Series home, and restoring the roar.
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