2009 Detroit Tigers Collapse

I have continually been a proud tigers fan through thick and thin just like the next door neighbors the Detroit Lions. The Tigers have been good in the past unlike the lions but for some reason this year just really put me on the verge of officially giving up on the tigers.

First and foremost we have a great team even with all the shortcomings of certain players. Our payroll is well above most other teams. We have a great core group of players on both offense and defense. The tigers overall team defense is easily one of the best in the league. Unfortunately the downside of the team is the offense. Yes, we do have some of the most exciting young players in the game in Curtis Granderson and Miguel Cabrera; and there are a few vets on this team with an outstanding bat, mainly Placido Polonco.

My problem for this year’s team was the rest of the group. Brandon Inge scorched the first half of the season and one could possibly say it was the best half season of his career. Unfortunately he couldn’t finish out the season and reverted back to his usual mess of a swing and either struck out or hit the ever so elusive home run in the second half.

Magglio Ordonez actually turned his season around after a dismal start and was actually benched for some games on a frequent basis. A few years ago he was in the top five in every batting category that exists. It’s sad to think that he was being benched when he was such a powerful player just a short time ago.

One of the biggest quips I have with this team is Mr. Dave Dombrowski. He was the lord and savior of this team when he signed Pudge and brought this great baseball city back onto the map. Unfortunately we became worse than the Yankees. Now yes I know that the Yanks are a great franchise but I absolutely hate when teams just straight up buy talent. This passed off season was the worst of all time in Yankee spending in my opinion but they did bring in three outrageously great talents in Sabathia, Texiera, and Burnett. In my opinion the Tigers tried to go out and somewhat mimic the Yanks spending sprees, except we went in the wrong direction and obtained older, declining talent.

Before we made the trade for Cabrera and Willis the Tigers organization had an outstanding farm system. Cameron Maybin was the next Willie Mays and we had a great young talented pitcher in Andrew Miller. In turn for that trade we got an amazing talent in Cabrera but also added one of the biggest contracts in an unstable pitcher in Dontrelle.

I was completely embarrassed by this teams performance in the waning weeks of this season. With three weeks left they were seven games up on the twins. This collapse mimicked the Mets collapse of a few years ago but this hit much closer to home. I couldn’t believe with three games left they could not accomplish two victories. And then the whole debacle that happened with Cabrera really damaged my perception of this teams drive and determination. Mr. Cabrera if you ever read this- and I know you probably won’t- for crying out loud why would you go drinking with the White Sox? I mean come on, that’s just straight embarrassing to not only yourself but the franchise in its entirety. I really hope that you get some sort of help this off season and get your head back on track after such an insurmountable collapse.

I truly hope the front office does something quickly in order to get this team back on the horse before a majority of fans stop going to games again. The Tigers have good building blocks so far, but seriously need to consider dropping dead salary quickly before it hurts them even more in the years to come.