by Tyler Cronin

Created on: March 02, 2007   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

The smell of roasted peanuts filled the air as random vendors tossed peanuts to fans in the seats. The pitcher wound up and the ball hit his bat at an amazing 97 mph! The ball sailed through the warm air and just tucked itself between the foul pole and the seats. The crowd cheered as various people spilled their drinks in excitement. Hats were thrown onto the field, and all of Detroit watched. In a game on May 20th, Mario Impemba said, "this is the loudest I have ever heard [the] Detroit [fans.] This is exciting!" He said this after Curtis Granderson hit a solo homerun to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth. Craig Monroe ended up hitting a ground ball to the short stop to score Carlos Guillen and to take the win (FSN). These are the finishes that werecommon in this 2006 season, and are the finishes that are eerily similar to the finishes of the 1984 Detroit Tigers team, who ended up winning the World Series. And, with the new talent, the new coach and a brand new season, the Detroit Tigers are off to a great start this season and have the best chance to win the pennant in 13 years.

The Tigers' addition of a new manager after Alan Trammel was fired has proved to be a great one. Jim Leyland has said that he wants the season to be about the players and not him, but I don't think that he is going to get that wish. The Tigers were off to a 33-14 start and are only getting better, and most of that credit is to be given to the skipper (ESPN.com). "We're not bad. We're out there playing with a little fire. I think they're having fun. The atmosphere is getting better on a daily basis" (mlb.com). This is what the Tigers needed. They needed a little fire and a little prep in their step, which will hopefully, boost them to the ALCS. Like Jim Leyland said, the atmosphere's getting better and that's what the Tigers need. One of the best performing players on the team, Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez, had some problems with Alan Trammel and those problems really showed up on the stats. But, with a new manager, Pudge has come out of his cage and is becoming one of the leading offensive forces on this ball club. Pudge still needs to work on his me first' attitude though, if the Tigers hope to spin into the postseason (cbs.sportsline.com).
So you may ask yourself what Jim Leyland can do for this team, right? Well he is a proven winner, and offers great skill. Before winning the World Series in Florida, he grew the Pittsburgh Pirates into a great team, and into perennial contenders.

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