Not Since '87

I mentioned in a this post several weeks ago that my oldest daughter was born in October 1984, and the next day in the hospital room I took a picture of her in a miniature Tiger helmet with the series playing on the TV behind her. The Tigers won that year. Then in '87, the year our second daughter was born, the Tigers took the East Division. Each year we added to our family, Detroit went to the play-offs. I was beginning to think we should be put on their payroll. That was the last year the Tigers took the East Division [a feat not yet accomplished this year].

(Sidebar: That '87 season was a tight finish with Toronto back when their current bench manager, Ernie Whitt, was a catcher. Whitt was a local hero in my home town. He had graduated from my high school (Brablec) in ’72. He was also a member of my church youth group, and dated my pastor’s daughter. She has a funny story about a plumbing malfunction at Ernie’s house when she was having dinner with his family, but I’d better not tell it without her permission.)

Anyway, Detroit took the East Division in '87, and who were the winners of the West Division that they had to face?—none other than the Minnesota Twins. (Obviously this was back before the “wild card,” when there were only two divisions in each league.) I don’t even want to tell you what happened in that post season. I will tell you that I was in the Twin Cities at an ACSI convention the day game five ended and the news of the pennant was shared to a thousand of Minnesota fans. What are the odds that this boy from Detroit would be in Minneapolis/St. Paul at that moment?

Here’s the irony of today's news that the Tigers have clinched at least the wild card slot of the play-offs: The '87 World Series Champions are the only team still nipping at our heels for the division title now that the White Sox are out of the running.

As Rod Allen said in the champagne drenched locker room after today's 11-4 victory over Kansas City, “These boys bring their lunch pails to work every day.” The comment made Manager Jim Leyland choke all up and pay tribute to his friend and former Tiger, Alan Trammel. I don't know much about Leyland, but seeing that moment, he's a class act in my book.

The week ahead still holds plenty of excitement (and celebration?) for these lunch-pail guys who are fun to watch not only because of their skill but because of their renewed love of the game.