My Summer Love Affair is drawing to an end

It is amazing how quickly sports can play with your emotions. For me it was over in 7 days; the first 7 days of the season. 0-7. How? There was so much promise. So many new exciting faces to compliment the foundation that was already built. So many young players "ready" to take that next step to greatness or simply getting the chance to it on the grand stage. Hopes were sky high in Tigertown, but before I even returned from Florida it was spiraling down the drain...7 straight losses took what was such a promising season and crushed it right before my eyes. Finally a summer where I would have enough free time to actually get back into the game and it was over after the first blink.

Do not get me wrong, I love a good chase but this season has felt like chasing a moving object...each time we (yes I refer to myself as part of the team) draw to within striking distance, the wheels come off and we end up further back then we started. Verlander turns it around, Rogers goes in the tank. Dontrelle has been a bust, so was Jacques Jones, Shef looks 225. Mags has been hurt, Polanco has been solid, Guillen had been an all star until injuries seem to have gotten the best of him. Cabrera and Granderson have been two of the lone bright spots, but the most troubling areas of the season have been the bullpen and the D. How can you win if you cannot field the ball? Conversely how can you win if you cannot hold a lead or at least stop the bleeding??

I am not one to point fingers, but I am hoping that some valuable lessons have been learned and that next year will be the year that this should have been...

All that being said, I am a very lucky guy for having rediscovered my love of this amazing game. The grace, the beauty, the power, the speed and most of all the familiarity and consistency. No matter how my day went, no matter what the weather was like I could count on my Tigers 162 out of 175 consecutive days (with a few rainouts sprinkled in...). They never give me attitude, they never complain about how I do things, they do not question my loyalty, they just are. Bless you Boys!