Let's Get Bold

Around this time each year, I feel like this blog turns into a baseball-centric blog.  I get that itch to watch this sport that I love.  Today is Opening Day across the board.  Well, mostly.  The Tigers game has been postponed due to rain, but there are still plenty of games to watch.  The Twins game is on later this afternoon, so I'll still hear the crack of the bat and the thump of the glove.  We all know the Tigers are rebuilding, but that doesn't mean we can't be excited about the team.  There is less pressure to win a lot for the team.  Most everyone has come to terms with what the Tigers are doing.  So I get to have a little fun with some predictions for the Tigers.  I no longer have to wonder if they're going to win the division or make it past the first round.  For now anyway.  So here we go.

10 Bold Predictions for the 2018 Tigers season:

• The Tigers will go 72-90
• They'll finish fourth in the division ahead of Kansas City
• Jeimer Candelario will hit .270 for the season 
• James McCann will hit 20 home runs
• The Tigers will send two players (Castellanos, Fulmer) to the All Star game
• Joe Jimenez will end the season as the team closer and save 15 games
• Dawel Lugo will end the season as the every day second baseman with Dixon Machado moving to shortstop
• Both of those predictions will happen because the Tigers will trade Shane Greene and Jose Iglesias before the trade deadline
•  Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez will both hit 25 home runs
• Ron Gardenhire will be ejected 7 times

 

So Your Team Is Terrible. Now What?

As a way to cope with the fact that the Detroit Tigers are going to be terrible for the next few years, I have been looking for reasons to be excited about the team.  This is something that the fan base hasn't had to deal with in over a decade, and I'm sure that other fans have dealt with this.  When we lived in Kansas, Royals fans were desperate for something resembling a winning team.  That didn't happen until we moved, but I remember some co-workers being excited about the minor leaguers that they had in the farm system.  Those minor leaguers are the ones that led the team to the World Series.  So that was cool.  

• Find a different team to watch for a couple of years.  Here in Minnesota, the Twins are starting to become relevant.  At least within the division and in the Wild Card.  They won't go much further than that, but at the very least they'll be playing meaningful games throughout most of the season.  It is difficult to deal with the fact this team is within the same division as the Tigers, but they're going to be on my television.  

• Dive into the farm system.  The farm system is the future.  There is still a ways to go for the fans to be excited about the players in the system, but it's the future.

• Relive the glory days.  This is a dangerous practice because when you actually see the record that the Tigers are going to have this year, it'll cause brain hemorrhages.  If you want to live in a nice little bubble, go nuts.  Only for those who are not ready for the fact that your favorite team is going to be struggling through the year.  

• Just suck it up and deal with it.  Embrace the pain and self hate you will deal with when watching a team struggle.  It'll make you bitter and angry, but you'd come out just fine.  It'll make the future, when they win more than seventy games, that much brighter.  

• Go watch a game in person.  Whether it is at the major league level, AAA, or some random independent league go to the ballpark.  Embrace the experience.  Get outside and enjoy the weather.  The sounds of the game, the smell of the ballpark, the warmth of the sun on your face can make you forget about how your favorite team is sitting in the basement of the division.