Watching this World Series was rough. I was sick the entire time, and I kept hoping that the Tigers would win a game for me and I'd be healed, just like in the movies. But instead the team entered Operation Shutdown. I endured inning after inning of ineptitude. The bats were cold and, by extension, so was I. I felt, at least a little, that my fortunes were mirroring the Tigers. They couldn't connect, and neither could I. I didn't know what ailed me, and I couldn't cure it if I did. And neither could the Tigers...
I was so frustrated. There was no scoring. The pitching was splendid, but they couldn't do anything. It was a mess up. It was painful to watch. What was the problem? The six-day layoff? Probably - baseball is a game played everyday. When you take breaks, the momentum gets skewed. The Tigers were hitting in the early rounds of the playoffs - or at least hitting enough. And when it came time for the World Series, the big stage, they couldn't cut it. Shut out twice, and a total of six runs in four games. Just an atrocious performance. And the Tigers didn't even have the big boppers anyway. Their lineup was built around one semi-decent table-setter and the most fearsome 3-4 duo in the game. That's it. But when you've only got 3 guys hitting the ball, the rest of the lineup, designed to pick up slack, becomes an abyss. That's problem number one - too much reliance on Fielder and Cabrera. How to fix that? Hard to say. I mean, they got the Tigers to the Series. But it isn't enough. What will be? There's really no more money to throw around. Delmon is a free agent, as is Peralta. How to fill those gaps? In house? Or on the market? There are a lot of questions for the Tigers to answer in the next few months. One thing is certain - the offense, even with the MVP and Triple Crown winner, even with Prince Fielder, even with a healthy V-Mart, just is not good enough. Only four more months until Spring Training.
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