The Detroit Tigers are set to tangle with the New York Yankees starting Friday night in New York. The game 1 pitching matchup is off the chain as Justin Verlander (24-5) will oppose CC Sabathia (19-8).
Initial market research indicates that Yankee fans think their team will win the series simply because they’re the Yankees. Tiger fans have the luxury of falling back on a team that is not only playing better, but stacks up favorably in every aspect.
I will take some choice comments from my initial ALDS preview posted last night (click here) and use them as my paragraph headers:
From Guest – 10 hours ago “Dear Joe White, GO HOME.”
First of all, very creative, and second of all, I was already home when I wrote it so sorry but I can’t help you out there.
Speaking of home, the Tigers are heading to New York with unwavering confidence. Not only can the Tigers fall back on their ALDS success from 2006, when they started off in New York, split games 1 and 2, and then returned home and closed it out, but Detroit has also been dynamite on the road in 2011.
The one thing above all else that kept Detroit from contending in 2010 was their paltry 29-52 road record. In ’11, the Tigers are tied for 2nd with 3 other teams (including the Yankees) with a 45-36 road record. The environment of an entitled Yankee Stadium audience will do little to intimidate the Tigers.
So, to Guest, I say it will ultimately be your Yankees who are going home empty-handed, once more, at the collective hands of the Detroit Tigers.
From Bertch – 10 hours ago “Wow. hahaha you must be kidding Joe White.”
Again, very creative, and with a sound backing for why his Yankees might be victorious…The good news is that night classes are still open if you are looking to grab up that GED.
And no, I’m actually not kidding. Oddly enough, I believe that the team with the 2 hottest pitchers in all of baseball has a legitimate chance to come into your house and not only win 1 game, but possibly both. I know, craziness right?
In case you missed the news flash, Justin Verlander just won the pitcher’s version of the Triple Crown. He was tops in the AL in ERA (2.40), strikeouts (250), and wins (25). JV also set the pace in WHIP with a 0.92 mark. He has won 12 of his last 13 starts and is the exact kind of horse that can take his team straight through to the World Series.
Oh, and then there’s that unknown commodity, Doug Fister. You know, the guy who has gone 8-1 with a 1.79 ERA since escaping purgatory in Seattle. The liberated Fister gives the Tigers the deadliest 1-2 punch this side of Philadelphia.
Sorry Bertch, you wish I was kidding.
From Mabm113 – 10 hours ago “are you kidding me with this?”
I thought we’ve been over this? But seriously, thank you for backing up your stance with concrete data and reason. I’m beginning to notice a trend in these Yankee fans.
But if you must know, I do take some comfort in knowing that the Tigers have the 2 best clutch hitters in all of baseball. On the off chance that you’ve been sleeping for the past 162 games, Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez have formed an untouchable dynamic duo in the middle of Jim Leyland’s lineup.
Not only is Cabrera a top 5 MVP candidate and the American League batting champion (.344), but he hit .393 with runners in scoring position this year. And if that doesn’t provide you with enough evidence that I’m not kidding, then maybe the fact that he hit .390 in August and .425 in September will do the trick.
VMart was 4th in the AL with his .330 average but, like Cabrera, does his best work when the pressure is on. Martinez hit .394 with runners in scoring position, driving in 87 of his 103 RBI’s in such situations.
So in the playoffs, when the lights shine brightest, and the collar grips tightest, the Tigers have the best this game has to offer.
Mabm113 will have to join the ranks of the disappointed. I’m just not in a kidding mood right now.
From Jmralph1 – 10 hours ago “Does this guy actually believe what he writes lol 27 time
World champions, biggest hitting machine on the planet and he’s making them sound like they are the orioles. What happens of verlander loses game 1??? Lol”
At least this guy had something to say, the only problem is it was the same blabber that every Yankee fan spews without equivocation.
History is something that happened in the past and will remain there. Did the Marlins and Diamondbacks fall back on history when they won championships shortly after coming into the league as expansion teams? 27 World Series titles is utterly awesome, and it means absolutely nothing in the 2011 playoffs.
Proclaiming the Yankees as the “biggest hitting machine on the planet” is equally irrelevant and uninformed. The Yankees finished 2nd in the AL in runs scored, the Tigers 4th. Since August 1st, when the Tigers were close to becoming the team they are now after the trade deadline and prior to their waiver-wire acquisition of Delmon Young, New York has outscored Detroit 303 runs to 301.
If Verlander loses game 1 to CC, which is entirely possible, then I guess Detroit will end up winning 3 of the final 4. Fister goes in game 2 against the rookie Ivan Nova and Verlander again in a potential game 5, also against Nova. I like the Tigers’ chances in both of these matchups.
Game 3 is a toss-up with Max Scherzer and Freddy Garcia scheduled to face off. Both are as likely to pitch a 1-run gem as they are to cough up 5 or 6. On paper, game 4 is a clear advantage for New York as Sabathia will go against Rick Porcello. Don’t sleep on Porcello though. In game 163 back in 2009, he pitched arguably his best game ever. I’m anxious to see what he does this time around.
I hate to say it Jmralph1, but overall, the starting pitching, if that’s what we’re quarreling over, favors the Tigers.
From donnybaseball03 – 3 hours ago “Verlander and Fister are both unproven in post season play. I wouldn’t get too excited just yet. I’m a Yankees fan and fear this match up but to count out Nova because he has no post season experience in favor of two studs that have little to no post season experience is a bit premature. I hope for a 5 game series either way… Go Yanks!”
Finally! A Yankee fan who can string a sentence together. The problem with this argument is that it assumes Sabathia’s dominance against the Tigers.
In 7 starts against Detroit over the past 4 years (a fairly substantial sampling that encompasses all 3 of his years as a pinstriper), CC is just 2-4 with an ERA right around 5.00. Dating back to his days with Cleveland, the Tigers have never had much trouble with the powerful lefty. In fact, ask any Tiger fan worth their weight in Old English D’s and they’ll tell you it’s Garcia who we fear the most, not Sabathia.
In fact, the aforementioned Cabrera and Martinez fare quite well against Sabathia. Cabrera is 9 for 16 with 2 homers and VMart is 6 for 25 with 2 bombs. That’s a .366 combined average with 4 homers in just 41 at-bats.
I’ll tell you this donnybaseball03, Detroit hits power pitching with the best of them.
All of this banter is good for the moments leading up to game 1’s first pitch at 8:37 on Friday night. As I’ve said recently, the playoffs are a crapshoot, anything can happen. It’s easy to say one thing or another will happen, but until it unfolds, we are all just innocent bystanders (unless you’re Jonathan Papelbon, who isn’t so innocent).
Let it be clear that Tiger fans have every reason to believe that their team can not only hang with the Yankees, but can and should beat them. And we’re not kidding!
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