Mount Virtus

"Happy to come back to Michigan, but I miss the mountains!"

Ben on Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Home
  • About Ben
  • Mount Virtus?
  • Writer / Editor For Hire
  • What I’m Thankful For
  • Colorado Ballot Reviews
    • Colorado Ballot 2008
    • Colorado Ballot 2010
    • Colorado Ballot 2012
  • Archives
  • Passion and Purpose:
    The Rise & Fall of Al Gansee
Home General Opening Day Roar

4/4/2005 By Ben 2 Comments

Opening Day Roar

It’s days like this I miss being a sports editor. Without the broadsheet pages on which to print my thoughts, I hope you will kindly forbear as I indulge in a bit of nostalgia.

We Detroit Tigers’ fans have been in the doghouse for more than a decade. It’s been a long, dry, painful spell for those loyal to the Olde English D – especially long to someone like me who was a junior in high school the last time the Tigs finished a season with more wins than losses, a prepubescent 5th grader the last time they went to the playoffs, and a mere 7 years old during that magical 1984 World Series run that seems like ancient history now.

In 2002, hope that a true turnaround was coming started to take shape as Detroit hired Dave Dombrowski as general manager, then brought my childhood baseball hero Alan Trammell on board to take the helm in the dugout. After the 2003 debacle, when the franchise appeared to hit rock-bottom (an embarrassing 43 victory total), Tigers owner Mike Ilitch made a serious pledge to open up his pocketbook and build a winning team again.

Fan optimism took a giant step forward with a revitalized offensive lineup stepping up in 2004. And now with an improved bullpen and maturing pitching rotation in 2005, Tigertown is believing what not long ago seemed like a distant delusional dream: our boys in blue have a serious chance not only to break .500 but also to play for a pennant. Sure, the Tigers aren’t the favorites in the American League Central (give that justly, but grudgingly, to the Minnesota Twins), but a highly plausible case at last can be made that meaningful late September baseball games could be played this year in Motown.

The Detroit Tigers kicked off the 2005 season this afternoon with a convincing and confident statement: we are for real again, and we are ready to pull this storied franchise out of its pathetic malaise. Sure, it was the lowly Kansas City Royals they defeated. But the Tigers beat them in resounding fashion, 11-2, showing that they aren’t in the Royals’ lowly class any more. Twenty-two year old phenom Jeremy Bonderman looked every bit like the ace and Cy Young contender he will soon become, with seven dominant innings; and Dmitri Young slapped around Royals pitchers, going 4-for-4 with three home runs and five RBIs.

The record Comerica Park crowd was on Cloud 9 today. The baseball season is long, and there will be ups and downs. But that old feeling has started to return: enthusiasm is soaring, and the voices of cynics are lightly regarded.

This could be the most enjoyable summer in The Motor City in many years.

Filed Under: General, My Life, Sports and Leisure

Comments

  1. James C. Hess says

    4/4/2005 at 5:54 pm

    Well, if I may say so: My beloved New York Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox in Game One of the season.

  2. Mark says

    4/5/2005 at 8:11 am

    With all respect to James and Ben may I point out that in real baseball the Cubs, Rockies, Reds, Brewers, Phillies all had wins.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Inside

  • About Ben
  • Archives
  • Colorado Ballot Reviews
    • Colorado Ballot 2008
    • Colorado Ballot 2010
    • Colorado Ballot 2012
    • Colorado Ballot 2014
  • Mount Virtus?
  • Passion and Purpose:
    The Rise & Fall of Al Gansee
  • What I’m Thankful For
  • Writer / Editor For Hire

About Me

Ben DeGrow
Grateful and growing Christian, devoted husband and father of 3, public policy analyst, returned to Michigan by way of Colorado, conservative writer, lifelong learner, Detroit Tigers fan.

Recent Posts

  • Top Books I Read in 2020
  • The All-New Christmas Music Countdown: Bigger, Better and Brighter Than Ever
  • Does the USA Face Future Divorce?
  • Resources for Veterans and their Families Amid the COVID-19 Outbreak
  • How To Keep Your Children Engaged While Learning from Home

Colorado News

  • Colorado Senate News
  • Complete Colorado
  • Independence Institute
  • Loveland Politics
  • The Colorado Observer

National News and Politics

  • Drudge Report
  • Hot Air
  • National Review
  • Politico
  • Real Clear Politics
  • Reason
  • The Washington Times
  • TownHall
  • Wall Street Journal
  • Weekly Standard
  • World Magazine

Blogs Extraordinaire

  • American Thinker
  • David Harsanyi’s Blog
  • E!! The True Conservative Story
  • EIA Intercepts
  • Evangelical Outpost
  • Hugh Hewitt
  • Instapundit
  • LaShawn Barber
  • Lileks
  • Little Green Footballs
  • Michelle Malkin
  • NRO's The Corner
  • Power Line
  • Red State

Completing the Blogroll

  • Alarming News
  • Black Five
  • Blogs of War
  • Eduwonk
  • Flypaper
  • Fraters Libertas
  • Historical Conversations
  • IMAO
  • Jay P. Greene
  • Mike Anderson
  • Mullings
  • Professor Bainbridge
  • Right Thinking
  • Right Wing News
  • Right Wing Nuthouse
  • Shot in the Dark
  • Talking Points Memo
  • Virginia Postrel
  • Volokh Conspiracy

Christian Commentary et al.

  • Kevin Pierpont
  • Sharper Iron

Conservative and GOP Sites

  • Backbone America
  • Cal Thomas
  • Colorado Republican Party
  • Colorado Republican Study Committee
  • Dennis Prager
  • Denver Metro Young Republicans
  • Free Republic
  • Heritage Foundation
  • Jefferson County Republican Party
  • Mackinac Center for Public Policy
  • Mark Steyn
  • Michael Medved
  • Rush Limbaugh

Colorado Blogs

  • American Kestrel
  • Bob Agard
  • Colorado Charter Schools
  • Colorado Peak Politics
  • Colorado Pols
  • Colorado Right
  • Conservative Libertarian Outpost
  • Coyote Gulch
  • Ed Is Watching
  • Free Colorado
  • Jeff Crank Show
  • Mark Hillman
  • Patient Power
  • PirateBallerina
  • Protein Wisdom
  • Reagan Girl
  • Rocky Mountain Alliance 1.0 (Archive)
  • Rocky Mountain Alliance 2.0 (Archive)
  • Rossputin
  • Stop the ACLU Blog
  • The Spot (Denver Post)
  • We Stand Firm

Other Sites

  • Technorati
  • Word Press

Rocky Mountain Alliance 2.0

  • Reclaim the Blue
  • The Business Word
  • The Daily Blogster
  • View from a Height

To Contact Me:
bendegrow-at-gmail.com

Copyright © 2021 RSS Feed · WordPress · Log in