OT: Al Kaline
"This is the best I've seen," he said. "The best talent."
This is a pretty big statement, comparing to his '68 team, or the teams of the 80s. If he's right, then the Tigers are in for a special year.
http://detnews.com/article/20100306/SPORTS0104/3060332
Articles like this pop up all the time in the spring. I've stopped counting the "Zumaya feels healthy" and "Willis regains confidence" references and articles already and these don't seem to be much different. The only thing I would say is that this team is a lot younger than most Detroit teams in the past so it's hard not to get excited about the possibilities.
When the "greatest Tiger team ever" according to the paper finished dead last. I give credit to Kaline for still being Mr. Tiger, but he needs to have his eyes checked if he truely believes what he said.
The 1984 Tigers were the pinnacle of Detroit pro sports, and no one will make me think otherwise.
Anyone old enough to remember the '84 "Ti-gahs" remembers Al Ackerman and "Bless You Boys!", the 35-5 start, Trammell's hitting streak, and on, and on. What a magical summer. We may never see the likes of it again.
I was a little kid, so I don't remember the details, but I loved that team more than any other team in my lifetime.
I was 13 in 1984, and I remember the season as pure magic. There was no doubt that the 84' Tigers were not only going to win the World Series, but that they were one of the best teams of alltime. I completely agree that the 84' Tigers were the pinnacle of pro sports in Detroit.
I was 13 too in 1984. That's just about the perfect age to have your favorite team win it all (baseball was my first love--Michigan football was a close second then). I hope my son gets to experience that with one of his teams (preferably Michigan football).
I vividly remember being in the car driving home from Up North listening to Ernie Harwell calling the last couple of innings. IIRC, Tony Gwynn popped out to Larry Herndon down the left field line to end it. Great day.
Spring training articles are like Fred Jackson comments on running backs
Set positive hyperbole to overdrive!
Perhaps, but Kaline doesn't seem like the kind to sugarcoat. I put some actual stock in this.
To me all I really care about is winning the division, or at least being in a race into the late summer. That makes the MLB season a lot of fun when I'm watching/listenning to games and checking the scores of other teams that we're in a race with. Itd be great if Kaline was right, but I'm not counting on it, and it doesn't have to be true for me to enjoy the season.
it started out as a sarcastic, snide comment about the Tigers' yearly failures by the ever-acidic Ackerman. It was only after the Tigers continued their early-season success in '84 that it turned into a positive refrain.
I just hope Kaline's assessment isn't a result of him spending a little too much time in the sun.
As great at '84 was, it will never come close to matching the magic of '68 for me.
...cathartic for a city in desparate need for a Champion. Post-'67 riot and in the middle of some very hard years for the auto industry in the early '80s, both teams helped Detroiters to lift their heads up high.
True, and the city is in need again. Maybe it's time for another miracle season.
a. Is Barry Sanders coming out of retirement?
b. Has Super Bowl I been played?
If the answer to both (a) and (b) is "no," then the overall answer is no. I said Miracle, not Act of Zoltan.
when I was about 7 at a Value City Grand Opening. He was a super nice guy and signed a baseball for me. Good times, Go Tigers!