TIME IS RUNNING OUT
ROB SANFORD
Even the most optimistic among us have to say after losing 3 of 4 to the White Sox the chances of a division title for the Tigers are now on life support. As the club plays the Angels in a week end series, they are now 9 games out of first place. I'm not ready to say it's impossible however. If you remember back to September of last season, the Tigers were 7 games out in front and the Twins were still able to mount a comeback to win. So to say they are now dead ducks would be wrong, especially with 2 months left in the season.
So...Brennan Boesch has found out the big leagues isn't as easy as he may have made it look. There have been many players who have started out like phenoms...only to find out the league eventually catches up to you. Does the name Chris Shelton mean anything to you?? If Boesch is the "real deal" he will now have to make an adjustment of his own to answer how he's now being pitched to, or face the same fate of Mr Shelton, and thousands like him in the past.
Ok...I know I've said this in the past....but what's the deal with "Papa Grande?" Is he hurt but is trying to play through it?? Jose Valverde has been largely ineffective and can't seem to close out games anymore. I'm no pitching coach, so I can't tell if he's doing anything differently, but if he can't regain his form then you can really write the Tigers off.
I went back home (Oceana County) recently for vacation. We annually rent a cottage for a week. I always take a little time to drive past a field where I spent countless hours playing "home run derby" or "500." The hot, summer days when the troubles of the world didn't exist and the only thing that mattered was catching the next fly ball. We would often play until dark, or until a line drive whizzed past your head and didn't see it until the last second. I grew up in the small town...less than 1,700 people...and while we had to drive 30 miles to see a movie or go bowling...it was a childhood everyone should have experienced. And it's the first place where I learned to fall in love with the game of baseball.
