Fractured Month May Lead to Broken Season for Detroit Tigers

Going into the All-Star break the Detroit Tigers were a surprise team to many in the sports world. They went into the break taking two out of three against their nemesis the Minnesota Twins and were a season high 11 games over .500. During the All-Star break many experts on national television thought the Tigers needed to make a move or two to bolster their bullpen and sure up the starting pitching.

Two weeks into the unofficial second half and the Tigers have hit the skids.

Many Tigers’ fans turned away from their television when they saw Joel Zumaya lying on the ground screaming in pain. Zumaya has been oft hurt and many wonder if he can ever throw a complete season like he did in 2006. Zumaya’s injury did two things for Tigers’ fans: one, it completely blew up the back end of the bullpen and left a sizable hole; and two, it reminded fans how fragile many of our everyday players are. Unfortunately, the Tigers’ fragility has recently shattered.

Brandon Inge, coming off of two knee surgeries, started the season slow offensively but had picked it up considerably over his last 40 games. The Tigers never expect Inge to hit .300 with 30-plus homers; instead they expect him to solidify the left side of the field. When he broke his wrist after being hit by a pitch, even his biggest haters understood he left a gaping hole at third. To fill his spot the Tigers brought up Scott Sizemore and although neither player is going to win any batting crowns, no one expects Sizemore to be able to fill his shoes defensively either.

After stomaching a Zumaya injury, a sluggish sweep against the lowly Indians, Inge breaking his wrist, many in Tigerstown had to believe the worst was over. But last weekend’s series against the Toronto Blue Jays proved the worst had just begun.

I was in attendance Saturday night at beautiful Comerica Park and felt the crowd’s contentious vibe. Many fans were upset by the Tigers post-break play, others openly spouted their love for Leyland but their confusion in how he handles Johnny Damon and why the bunt has all but been eliminated from the Tigers’ arsenal, the older woman in front of me said the Tigers needed to land Adam Dunn to provide protection for Magglio Ordonez and Miguel Cabrera because Brennan Boesch has been slumping. By the end of the night, those formerly mentioned frustrations were all but silenced.

Magglio Ordonez missed Thursday’s game because he was nursing a sore ankle but was inserted into the lineup Saturday night as DH. Ordonez is a vital piece to the Tigers' success because he consistently provides protection for Cabrera and is the main table-setter.

In the third inning, with Austin Jackson on second and Ordonez on first, Cabrera stroked a one out double to left. Gene Lamont, the Tigers' third base coach, made the most costly error of the season.  Lamont waved Magglio around third (Ordonez’s speed has never been confused with Usain Bolt, especially when nursing a sore ankle) and was meat at the plate. Ordonez slide into home, but his weak ankle rolled underneath his leg and will cost him 6-8 weeks on the DL.

Ordonez has done everything right in Detroit. Many thought his contract was insane to take on in 2005, but he has turned out to be everything and more for the Tigers. But now, there is little likelihood the Tigers will pick up his option after this season. On the same night the Tigers may have said goodbye to the 2010 postseason, they may have said goodbye to Magglio Ordonez as well.

Fast forward to the fifth inning, Carlos Guillen made a tremendous behind the back toss to second to nearly turn a double-play. The next inning, Danny Worth took the field at second base and the buzz in the stadium grew from upset to angry. “What the hell happened to Carlos now?” said the man behind me. Less than five minutes later, it was learned Guillen had pulled his right calf muscle and would probably hit the DL.

The Tigers lost Saturday night’s game 3-2, but the game meant nothing compared to what was really lost. Unless the Tigers make several moves in the next couple weeks, they can all but kiss 2010 goodbye.

The Tigers can spin this however they want, but the Detroit Tigers have become the Detroit Mud Hens. With Joel Zumuya becoming Robbie Weinhardt, Brandon Inge becoming Scott Sizemore, Adam Everett (he was part of this too) becoming Will Rhymes, Carlos Guillen becoming Danny Worth, Magglio Ordonez becoming Jeff Larish, and the Tigers can hardly say they have any true hitters behind Austin Jackson, Johnny Damon, Miguel Cabrera, and Brennan Boesch. They have gone from contenders a couple pieces away from a postseason run, to a team with question marks on the back of their jerseys.

The Tigers will look completely different next year as they shed the massive contracts of Robertson, Willis, Bonderman, Ordonez, Sheffield, Damon, and others. Although the future looks bright, it is hard to go from in-the-mix two weeks ago to all will be better in 2011.

Sometimes injuries rally a team and force players to play larger roles than what their used to (remember what happened last year when the Twins lost Justin Morneau) and everything turns out greater than expected. Other times injuries fracture team solidarity and break players’ dreams of a postseason.

Although I’ll hope for the united greatness, realistically I’m expecting the latter.