Restoring the Roar — Tigers take 2 out of 3 from the M's

Globally, 1984 is probably best known as the title of George Orwell’s classic novel. But the year has a different significance in everyone’s heart. For the history buff it was the year Reagan won the presidential election by a landslide over Walter Mondale. In 1984 the music lover saw Bruce Springsteen release Born in the USA, Prince release Purple Rain, and Michael Jackson win 8 Grammys. For the weird-useless-trivial knowledge guru, 1984 was the year John DeLorean was acquitted of cocaine charges. And, most importantly for this site, sports fans saw Los Angeles host the Summer Olympics, the first 64 team Men’s NCAA Basketball Tournament, and… drum-roll please… The Detroit Tigers win the 1984 World Series.

So what better do 3 guys who grew up in the Detroit area have to do but write about and discuss the current Tigers squad in hopes that they can bring the Glory Days back to Motown. Here’s to this year’s team Restoring the Roar of 1984!

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Tigers take 2 out of 3 from the M’s - This roadtrip: 2-1

With only one bad inning in a 3 game series, the Tigers took 2 out of 3 from the Seattle Mariners, the first series of this year’s first roadtrip, and the Tigers go into Anaheim on Tuesday with a 7-5 record.

The starting pitching and bullpen pitching were going on all cylinders. Rick Porcello and Edwin Jackson looked great in the second and third games respectively, with the Tigers giving up a combined total of two runs in those final two games. Verlander looked lights out in the first game, until they decided to play the 5th inning where SEA scored 5 runs - a couple of which were not Verlander’s fault or just flukes - an errand throw by Inge, a great sqeeze play by SEA, a rare wild pitch by JV.

The hitting was impressive, as usual - the Tigers have yet to have a game in which they get fewer than 8 hits. During the Seattle series, it seemed that everyone from Cabrerra to Santiago to Guillen to Inge were getting hits when and where they counted. Yes, Inge is hitting out of his mind this year - I will admit it - but let’s see where he’s at come July or August before I start retracting any previous slams against him.

Sidenote: Before things get out of hand - it’s useful to know I am one of 3 contributors to this page and the other 2 Tigers fans harbor no ill feelings toward B. Inge. And, in all honesty, I don’t either - I simply think Tigers fans give him too much credit for too few results. This season is looking like Inge may have turned a corner with his new batting stance and so far decent offensive numbers. Let’s wait and see where he is in July before we start calling for my retraction of jabs against Brandon Inge of seasons past.

All in all, the Tigers had an impressive showing against the M’s who had the best record in the AL coming into this series. Granted the M’s are not a superpower in the AL, play in one of the traditionally weakest divisions, and are relying on an aging Ken Griffey Jr. to fill the seats of SafeCo Field. But lets give credit to the Tigers for stellar pitching and great offense and hope that this carries into Anaheim and beyond.