Tigers May Soon Catch Themselves by the Tail
DETROIT - These are the glory days for the Detroit Tigers, with healthy superstars in their prime and fans filling Comerica Park every season, three million strong. It will not be like this forever.
The Tigers need to win a championship soon to validate their successful run and satisfy a fan base starving for a title since 1984. If not, these Tigers would be regarded with teams like the Cleveland Indians and the Seattle Mariners of the 1990s - full of elite players who could not win the big one.
Manager Jim Leyland understands the urgency of the moment. Trailing two games to one in the American League Championship Series, he shuffled his lineup for Game 4 on Wednesday, bumping Torii Hunter to the leadoff spot, Miguel Cabrera to second and Prince Fielder to third.
'I really thought about this long and hard last night,' Leyland said before the game, adding later, 'I think it makes a lot of sense, I really do. I mean, we scored one run and no runs in two of the games. It certainly can't hurt. We're going to take a shot.
'If nothing else, when guys look at the lineup card, they kind of look at it a little bit, and maybe it wakes you up a little bit. Not that they've been sleeping; they've been great games. Just a little something to, you know, churn up the butter a little bit.'
Churn up the butter? In a series where half the opposition looks Amish, it only makes sense.
The bearded Red Sox have not hit much either, with a .133 average across the first three games. But Boston's top sluggers, David Ortiz and Mike Napoli, have hit pivotal home runs - Ortiz a grand slam to tie Game 2, Napoli a homer for the only run of Game 3. The Tigers need comparable game-changing blows from their best run producers.
Cabrera, dealing with an abdominal injury, was hitting .226 with two extra-base hits (both home runs, including a big one in the first-round clincher) this postseason. Fielder was hitting .276 with one extra-base hit, a double, and he had not driven in a run in the postseason since the first game of last year's A.L.C.S. at Yankee Stadium.
'Just hasn't hit a ball out of the ballpark,' Leyland said of Fielder. 'That happens. That's just part of it. Like I've always said, when he stands in the batter's box, you think something big could happen at any time, and I still feel that way. Will it happen? I don't know.
'Big Papi came up with a huge one, Napoli came up with a huge one. Who knows? But I don't want to put any pressure on anybody, say you have to go up and hit a home run.'
Cabrera struck out with two runners on in the eighth inning of Game 3, chasing an outside fastball by Junichi Tazawa. Then Koji Uehara struck out Fielder on a splitter to end the inning, and finished off the Tigers in the ninth.
'It's frustrating,' Fielder said after Game 3. 'But our team has done it to people. It can happen to us too. Just got to shake it off.'
Fielder said he was not pressing and would keep his usual approach.
'No, no, because if they throw a mistake, I'll hit it,' Fielder said. 'If not, I won't. It's that simple.'
Fielder has had fewer chances to drive in runners in because of the struggles of Austin Jackson. Leyland said the new lineup was mostly a way of helping Jackson, who was shifted to eighth after batting leadoff in all 32 of the Tigers' postseason games over the last three Octobers. He was 3 for 33 with 18 strikeouts this postseason, but stayed in the lineup for his defense in center field.
Hunter batted leadoff for the first time since July 4, 1999, with the Twins. Cabrera batted second for the first time since June 28, 2004, with the Marlins. Jackson had never hit eighth. Including the postseason, he had batted leadoff in 574 of his 576 career starts. He declined an interview request before batting practice.
Hunter said Jackson was a major part of the Tigers' success. 'He wants to be on base, he wants to get it done,' he said. 'He's kind of upset about it. All you can do is just talk positive and be positive to him and encourage him. This guy has all the athletic ability in world. God has blessed him tremendously and all he has to do is trust it.'
Jackson has never become a top base stealer - he had just eight steals this season - but he has reduced his strikeout rate over four years in Detroit, with a solid .278 average. His acquisition from the Yankees in Dec. 2009, with Max Scherzer and Phil Coke in a three-way deal, was a crucial trade that has helped the Tigers reach this round three years in a row.
They lost to the Texas Rangers in 2011 and beat the Yankees last fall before being swept by the San Francisco Giants in the World Series. If they are going to make a return trip, they will have to punch their ticket this weekend at Fenway Park. Their legacy as a team is on the line.
As players age, their production tends to decline and, in the case of the Tigers, their salaries rise. Fielder, who made $23 million this season, will earn $24 million in each of the next five years. Justin Verlander makes $20 million this year and next, and $28 million in each of the four years after that.
Max Scherzer, the likely A.L. Cy Young Award winner, is eligible for free agency after the 2014 season. Cabrera, the likely A.L. most valuable player, is up after 2015.
The Tigers will face hard decisions and sobering realities soon enough. They need to cash in with a championship before then, and on Wednesday, their manager gave them their best shot.
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