In the late 70's growing up in the Midwest the summers seem to last forever. More often than not, they actually did. The one underlying theme of those summers was baseball. Baseball all day long until dusk, with breaks only for lunch or the occasional toy army man fight. Playing ball all day long, with the sounds of Ernie Harwell and Paul Carey through the neighborhoods was music to our ears. We had friends who would grow their hair long like that of Tiger shortstop Tommy Vereyzer. Another friend would keep a baseball card of Aurielo Chi Chi Rodgriquez in his wallet. He didn't have any money, but he had Chi Chi with him all the time. What did I do? I painted my baseball bat black and put black make up under my eyes to be like Steve Kemp. If only I batted left I thought, I could knock in 90 rbi's like him. Others had t-shirts that had a picture of The Bird on them, because he was all the rage. Champ Summers, Rusty Staub, Ron Leflore, Jason Thompson...these were our heroes. We looked up to them and wanted to be like them.
Yes, we rooted for the Reds, the A's, Orioles, Red Sox, and the Yankees, because at the time they were the powerhouse teams, and that's all you saw on TV. We never really wondered why the Tigers weren't that good, we just knew it was our team. We didn't expect them to win, it didn't seem to matter. Yet we wanted them to win, we just didn't know why. It didn't matter because it was baseball. And playing baseball was everything win or lose. My father would take my brother and I down to Michigan and Trumball to see the Tigers play several times every summer. To this day, I do not think there was a better treat then having peanuts and a hot dog sitting with my glove watching a young Jack Morris walk batters after another in his rookie year. Again, we didn't expect them to win, we just wanted them to. I didn't know any better, didn't know what it was like to have a winning baseball team.
I was only one when they won in 1968, so I didn't really identify with that team. I was in awe at how my uncles would constantly talk about Denny McClain's high kick, or the whirlwind swing of Willie Horton. That 68 team was special to them. As I got older, I rode the wave that was 1984. Wow what a magnificent season. I had watched them develop a team of Lance Parrish, Lou Whitaker, Alan Trammel, Kirk Gibson and Morris. They became our heroes. The late 70's bad teams were washed away by this determined bunch of hard working ball players. A team that truly identified with the hard working class of the Motor City. Yes, those 70's when inflation and unemployment was high, and morale was low in Detroit, those Tigers really helped spur our hopes. Just as 1968 came at a time to calm the riots that plagued the city in the previous years, the 84 team gave us hope for a new turn.
Now these 2006 Tigers face a similar fate. Michigan's unemployment rate is at an all time high, the car companies are struggling to get by, and the state is ranked 50th or so in the economy. Can it get any worse? They say often that art imitates life, but in Detroit more often than not sports imitate life. When Detroit suffers, their sports teams pick them up. There's a reason Detroit is one of the best sports cities in the world, it because we need our teams probably more than most. We need this team to unite us, to spur some hope, some positive cheer and perhaps give us some economic growth no matter how small the effect. When Detroit sports teams are bad, they are bad. When they are good, they rise to the occasion - Red Wings, Pistons, and now the Tigers. We won't even talk about the football team. If they won, the roar of the fanbase would be heard for years throughout outer space. We need these Tigers to succeed. They represent more than just our baseball team. Our hopes, our dreams, our demeanor relies on them. This is the cross we carry by being born in this area. We live, we breathe, we die for our teams.
The game starts soon, I need to go find some eye black.
Yes, we rooted for the Reds, the A's, Orioles, Red Sox, and the Yankees, because at the time they were the powerhouse teams, and that's all you saw on TV. We never really wondered why the Tigers weren't that good, we just knew it was our team. We didn't expect them to win, it didn't seem to matter. Yet we wanted them to win, we just didn't know why. It didn't matter because it was baseball. And playing baseball was everything win or lose. My father would take my brother and I down to Michigan and Trumball to see the Tigers play several times every summer. To this day, I do not think there was a better treat then having peanuts and a hot dog sitting with my glove watching a young Jack Morris walk batters after another in his rookie year. Again, we didn't expect them to win, we just wanted them to. I didn't know any better, didn't know what it was like to have a winning baseball team.
I was only one when they won in 1968, so I didn't really identify with that team. I was in awe at how my uncles would constantly talk about Denny McClain's high kick, or the whirlwind swing of Willie Horton. That 68 team was special to them. As I got older, I rode the wave that was 1984. Wow what a magnificent season. I had watched them develop a team of Lance Parrish, Lou Whitaker, Alan Trammel, Kirk Gibson and Morris. They became our heroes. The late 70's bad teams were washed away by this determined bunch of hard working ball players. A team that truly identified with the hard working class of the Motor City. Yes, those 70's when inflation and unemployment was high, and morale was low in Detroit, those Tigers really helped spur our hopes. Just as 1968 came at a time to calm the riots that plagued the city in the previous years, the 84 team gave us hope for a new turn.
Now these 2006 Tigers face a similar fate. Michigan's unemployment rate is at an all time high, the car companies are struggling to get by, and the state is ranked 50th or so in the economy. Can it get any worse? They say often that art imitates life, but in Detroit more often than not sports imitate life. When Detroit suffers, their sports teams pick them up. There's a reason Detroit is one of the best sports cities in the world, it because we need our teams probably more than most. We need this team to unite us, to spur some hope, some positive cheer and perhaps give us some economic growth no matter how small the effect. When Detroit sports teams are bad, they are bad. When they are good, they rise to the occasion - Red Wings, Pistons, and now the Tigers. We won't even talk about the football team. If they won, the roar of the fanbase would be heard for years throughout outer space. We need these Tigers to succeed. They represent more than just our baseball team. Our hopes, our dreams, our demeanor relies on them. This is the cross we carry by being born in this area. We live, we breathe, we die for our teams.
The game starts soon, I need to go find some eye black.
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