These Tigers defined by opportunity wasted
DETROIT - The eighth inning came Sunday without any participation from the Tigers' bullpen — much to the delight of an emotionally brittle baseball town still enraged at the abomination in Baltimore. David Price did his job in Game 3, keeping manager Brad Ausmus from walking out of the dugout and motioning to the bullpen.
But momentarily filling one hole exposed another.
That's how history will critique the 2014 Tigers.
Opportunity wasted.
The Tigers' season ended in a 2-1 whimper. Until the Martinez boys ripped back-to-back doubles in the bottom of the ninth, their last hit came in the third inning. The end proved indicative of the entire season. A good though genuinely flawed team never attained the consistency necessary for winning it all because they were constantly attempting to plug gaps.
"This season physically burned me out," Torii Hunter said. "I don't think that I've gone through another season like this. The comparison I used was that a car that's running smoothly uses all of its cylinders in precision. But with us, we couldn't get that precision. One cylinder would be firing but the other two wouldn't. And then it would flip to the other side. And you know what happens then? The engine burns out."
Perhaps the perfect metaphor for what will be remembered as the Motor City Meltdown.
"That's a fair analysis," said Max Scherzer. "I know what you're saying, and it's true. But this is a talented team and it was our responsibility to make sure we played with that consistency. It stinks that we couldn't do that."
GALLERY: AL Division Series
Just a week ago, they sprayed champagne in the Tigers' clubhouse in celebration of a hard-fought fourth straight American League Central Division championship. That just a week later they would be eliminated and giving each other good-bye hugs was unfathomable — despite the flaws.
"You feel like you let the fans down," Ausmus said. "You feel like you let the organization down. You feel like you let the Ilitches down. So it's disappointing, no question. But there's nothing we can do about it now."
It won't make Tigers fans feel any better, but the teams with the best regular season records in both the American and National League didn't win one of the opening two games of their divisional series at home. The Los Angeles Angels and Washington Nationals both entered Game 3 on the road on the verge of being swept themselves.
"There's nothing about this that makes any sense when you consider all the talent that's in this clubhouse," said Alex Avila. "But that's what makes this a crazy game. We can offer all the explanations we want, but it doesn't change the fact that we didn't get it done."
Anything short of a pennant was a failed season.
"But the truth is that the resiliency was always there," said Ausmus. "Ultimately, we did win the division, and that was the first goal. That was the first goal. The second goal was to win the World Series, and clearly we're not going to reach that one."
Not even close.
What next?
The Tigers' advantage — aside from some shrewd deals that brought Miguel Cabrera and Max Scherzer — was the understanding that Mike Ilitch would spend whatever was necessary without blanching. There's no reason the Tigers' payroll won't stay in the neighborhood of $150 million, considering the bushels upon bushels of millions teams receive annually from the new eight-year $12.4-billion national television revenue package from Fox, ESPN and TBS.
Plus, what the Tigers get from their local package with Fox Sports Detroit.
There's nothing wrong with wanting stars — especially when they're the best in their field, such as Miguel Cabrera. But there also must be an improved development of younger (i.e. cheaper) productive players. There will be dramatic change this off-season.
The problem is that nobody thought the off-season would start so soon.
Sharp writes for The Detroit Free Press, a Gannett property
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