Justin Verlander crushes dreams (well, before this year.) Miguel Cabrera crushes baseballs into mangled twine and smoke. The Detroit Tigers are a juggernaut built to feast upon the entrails of scrappy underdog stories like the Oakland Athletics, spitting out platoon players and 22 year old rookies like a sprig of parsley that gets in the way of meat, meat, and more meat.
The 2006 Tigers and 2012 Tigers were built entirely differently, yet each team was built in such a way as to take a giant deuce on the dreams of the Bay Area baseball fans not scalping tickets for Giants games. The consistent production of the 2006 Tigers lineup, led by Ivan Rodriguez and Magglio Ordonez, culminated in a 22-9 beat down of the Athletics in game 4 of the American League Championship Series, basically forcing Oakland Athletics' General Manager Billy Beane's hand in igniting another slash and burn rebuilding process.
In the next six years, Billy Beane began to pawn off the A's second wave of 2000's-era marquee pitching, dealing Trevor Cahill and Dan Haren for current mainstays Ryan Cook, Jarrod Parker, and Brett Anderson's injuries. A brief fetish for aging and/or overpriced sluggers (here's looking at you, Hideki Matsui and Matt Holliday) failed to generate either the revenue required to pay marquee free agents to consider Oakland as a destination or the buzz to legitimately fight with the Giants for a share of Bay Area sports fans' wallets.
However, Billy Beane wears wizard robes around the house.
2012 was a black magic special, punctuated by rookie pitchers hurling like veterans in their prime, clutch hitting up and down the lineup (a nice way to say the offense couldn't hit for their next meal unless the game was on the line,) and lots of pie. The amazing come-from-behind-and-drag-the-Texas-Rangers'-season-into-the-trash-compactor A.L. West Championship. The amazing game 4 comeback which Jose Valverde still hasn't come back from.
And then, nothing. Game 5 + cyber-Verlander + a better lineup = a fan base who started to come back to the Coliseum, forced to again "wait til' next year." Those damn Tigers. Responsible for killing the last two legitimate chances the A's had for postseason glory.
And here's next year. The A's are slumping, losing 14 of their past 23, and are hitting an Adam Dunn-like .200 with runners in scoring position over that time frame. However, despite their best efforts to the contrary, the A's still cling to the second wild-card spot by 1 1/2 games, and only trail the juggernaut Rangers by 2 1/2.
33 games left. After losing the rubber game to the Orioles on Sunday, the A's are facing their absolute biggest series of the year. Let's look at how this stacks up on paper--
Game 1: (8/26 at 7:08 PM EST) OAK: A.J Griffin and his league leading 30 home runs given up vs. DET: Anibal Sanchez
Game 2: (8/27 at 7:08 PM EST) OAK: The artist formerly known as Tommy Milone vs. DET: The artist formerly known as the best pitcher in the world, Justin Verlander
Game 3: (8/28 at 7:08 PM EST) OAK: Dan Straily vs. DET: One of the best porn star names in the game, Doug Fister
Game 4: (8/29 at 1:08 PM EST) OAK: Jarrod Parker vs. DET: Max Scherzer (TiVo this game! Jarrod Parker has not lost a decision since May 22, going 8-0 in sixteen starts. Max Scherzer is, well, your primary candidate for the A.L. Cy Young. This game goes 2 hours and 20 minutes tops.)
Overall, this series looks to spell trouble. But, in reality, that is how it ALWAYS stacks up on paper against teams with double and/or triple the payroll of the Green and Gold.
Best Case: Oakland, banged up as they are, get production from Cespedes and Crisp at key moments. The rest of the lineup does just enough, and the A's get a miniscule taste of revenge, winning 3 of 4.
Worst Case: Verlander realizes he's pitching against the A's again in a pressure situation. The Detroit offense makes Comerica look like a corn silo. The A's go 2-for-the-series with runners in scoring position. The Tigers sweep the A's out of positioning for the second wild-card spot.
I will be checking in with updates throughout the series. Most likely in the fetal position.
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