It pains me to write this as I’ve just watched my beloved Tigers go down 2-0 to the Giants. My prediction is already wrong and I couldn’t care less about that. I want nothing more than for the Tigers to win it for the team, city, fans and Mr I.

There were two main reasons that I decided to revive this blog: the struggles of MSU football and Tigers baseball. I kept waiting as the season went on for the right time for my Tigers-bashing to hit the blog. Every time I was ready to give up and rant about them, they would win a couple big games and be back in the division chase – the problem is their division never should have been as close as it was.

Going into the season, they looked to have a high-powered offense with a questionable defense. Everyone should have felt pretty good about the rotation and bullpen based on their performance in the 2011 campaign. Then, the season began…the bats were inconsistent, injuries hobbled the rotation and the bullpen was a mess. Leyland also decided this was the season to completely over-manage the squad. Yes, Miggy won the Triple Crown, but our offense wasn’t nearly as good as people expected it to be.

Regardless, they made it to the postseason and looked like some of my questions about them had been answered. Although they didn’t light the world on fire versus Oakland or New York, the bats found a way to score enough. The starting pitching was on fire, which helped hide the deficiencies of the bullpen. Papa Grande had totally lost it though after 50 saves last season to be a total liability. I almost felt like I was watching the second coming of the crazy D-train! I really don’t understand why he’s even on the World Series roster after getting banged up against guys from the minors.

Tonight, they were only able to cobble together 2 hits against a starting pitcher with a postseason ERA of nearly 12. Fister had a great outing and gets labeled with the loss. Detroit had only been shut out 2 times all season and managed to have it happen on the biggest stage. The team looked borderline uninterested in the first 2 games, not sure if they were trying so hard to be “all business” that they forgot to have any fun. Maybe it was the long layoff (we may never know), but something just seems off with these guys. All the concerns from earlier this season seem to be coming back now.

Now, they come back to Detroit with a big hill to climb. Do they have any fight left in them though? Game 3 should answer this quickly. They need to dig deep here. Sanchez and Scherzer have to get the best of the Giants’ best 2 pitchers this postseason in order for Detroit just to get back to even.  I have the privilege of getting to go to the World Series and couldn’t be more excited. I just hope the guys who have a look of wanting to win show up and not the deflated team I’ve watched play the past 2 days.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been a Tigers fan all my life and that will never change…just hope they give us all something to cheer for this weekend!