Keep doubting us. We'll just continue to prove you wrong.

[I originally wrote this back in 2006 after the Tigers eliminated the Yankees in th ALDS. I had noticed a lot of similarities with the Tigers of '06 and the Pistons of '04.]

In 2004, the Detroit Pistons met the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA finals. No one gave the scrappy, underdog Pistons a snowball's chance in hell against the heavily, heavily favored Lakers. Pundits the world over pontificated that the Lakers would close the Pistons out in an easy four game sweep. The Lakers had Shaq and Kobe, as well as a supporting cast that belonged in the NBA Hall of Fame. They had the zenmaster, Phil Jackson. The Lakers had the glitz and glamor of Los Angeles, and the celebrity fans on their side. Detroit had a group of castoffs from other teams and good-but-not-great role players. Detroit had to contend with an inferiority complex and a reputation as a "bad" city. Everyone expected the Pistons to be a mere roadblock on the Lakers' path to yet another Larry O'Brien trophy.

The Pistons shocked the world of sports by beating the Lakers in five games; they could have swept the series, were it not for a Kobe Bryant hail mary three with seconds to go in game two. Once the series was over, the pundits refused to admit that they'd been wrong. The Lakers' loss (or Pistons' victory, even though few acknowledged it as so) was blamed on tension in the Lakers' clubhouse. The mighty Lakers lineup just didn't show up. The Pistons were getting favorable calls. It wasn't anything the Pistons did; it was a Lakers' collapse, not a Pistons' victory. Pundits immediately began wondering what would happen to the Lakers' lineup: would Shaq and Kobe return? What would happen to the supporting players? Would they be jettisoned? Would Phil Jackson come back?

In 2006, the Detroit Tigers met the New York Yankees in the ALDS. No one gave the scrappy, hard-nosed Tigers a snowball's chance in hell against the star-studded Yankees' lineup. "Murderer's Row and Cano" boasted thirteen All Stars, several future Hall of Famers, and a potential MVP in Derek Jeter and the previous year's MVP in Alex Rodriguez. They were quickly annointed the best lineup in the history of baseball after their 8-4 victory in game one. Pundits once again wondered if the Yankees could be stopped, or even slowed down. The Detroit Tigers were viewed as a mere roadside attraction on the path to the World Series, for the Yankees. The Yankees had Joe Torre at the helm, a one-two punch of leadoff man Johnny Damon and number two hitter, Derek Jeter. Their ninth place hitter was a candidate for the batting average title going to the final game of the season. Even beleaguered Alex Rodriguez had an exceptional season, although by his lofty standards, his season was considered merely "human." The Tigers boasted no thirty homerun hitters, and had only one player with one hundred RBIs. They struck out too much and walked too little. Their leadoff man led the league in strikeouts with 174. They wouldn't be as patient as the Yankees' loaded lineup; during the regular season, the Yankees saw the second most pitches per at bat. The Tigers ranked twenty-two out of thirty teams in that regard.

The Yankees' lineup did tear through the Tigers' starting pitching in game one. Nate Robertson was jumped upon early, giving up five runs. The Tigers did mount a respectable comeback before the Yankees pressed their collective foot down on the Tigers' jugular, and put the game away. Experts began to wonder about a sweep.

And by the middle of game two, it looked like it might go the Yankees' way. The Tigers were down 3-1 to the Yankees, with arguably the second best Yankees pitcher on the mound. Yet the Tigers kept fighting back. All season, their mantra was, "Nine innings." A game was never over until all nine innings had been played. The Tigers were a perfect example of this. Down 6-0 to the Kansas City Royals after one inning, the Tigers tore through the Royals' relief pitching corps, and eventually won the game 13-6. Players could be heard chanting, "Nine innings, nine innings," in the dugout, even while they were down by six runs in the early going. This is a team that refused to quit.

This is a team that refused to bow to expectations - the expectation that they would lay down for the unbeatable Yankees. They did not accept that they were to be New York's welcoming mat to the ALCS. Experts told them, "You aren't supposed to be here. You don't belong here. You are only here because the White Sox faded down the stretch. You choked the division away." Jim Leyland would not allow his players to buy into that. While declaring his team an underdog to the baseball world, Leyland went behind the scenes, instilling confidence in his players that they could get the job done. While everyone counted the Tigers out, the Tigers were the only ones who believed, and that is what counted in the end.

Kenny Rogers grabbed the ball in game three and dazzled the Comerica crowd, drawing comparisons to Mark Fidrych as he talked to himself on the mound, shutting down the Yankees' heavy hitters in 7 2/3 innings, before turning it over to Joel Zumaya, and Todd Jones. Kenny Rogers then passed the ball to young Jeremy Bonderman, the oft overlooked member of Detroit's stable of young pitching talent. Rogers couldn't win the big game. He couldn't beat the Yankees, and hadn't in thirteen years. He'd lost his last seven decisions to them. Boasted an ERA of almost nine in the postseason. Kenny Rogers shut the experts up, if only for one night, and then it was Bonderman's turn.

Bonderman, in 2003, lost 19 games. Like Kenny Rogers, many doubted Bonderman. They doubted his mental makeup; some wondered if he had what it took, wondered if he had that killer instinct. Some wondered about the inconsistency he displayed during the season. Some wondered about his problem holding a large lead in the final game of the season, and whether or not that would carry over.

Bonderman carried a perfect game into six innings, the longest a Yankees team had ever been no-hit in the postseason. Bonderman rarely missed a spot, and at one point, had a 5-to-1 strikes to balls ratio. Bonderman set the tone, and the Tigers' offense jumped on Jaret Wright, and never looked back.

As they did back in 2004, when the workhorse, workmanlike Pistons beat the shiny, glitzy Lakers, experts are asking, "What's wrong with the Yankees? Maybe we vastly overestimated their lineup. Maybe they're not the best lineup in the history of the game."

Maybe you underestimated the Tigers. Maybe you underestimated their guts, grit, fortitude and skill as you underestimated the Pistons. The Tigers won't get the credit they deserve, as the Pistons didn't in 2004. The series will be labeled a Yankees' loss, not a Tigers' victory. The tension in the clubhouse, described by Alex Rodriguez, will be to blame. Alex Rodriguez' own inability to get key hits when it mattered the most will be put under the microscope. Torre's lineup shuffling will be blamed. The Yankees' inability to get runners on base and move them along will be targeted as the reason they lost the series. No one will give the Tigers the credit they deserve for dismantling the "best team in the history of baseball." And these Detroit Tigers could care less. They thrive on the "us against the world" mentality, just as the '04 Pistons did. Like the Pistons of '04, these Tigers are perpetual underdogs. Oakland has homefield, Oakland embarrassed the Division champion Twins, Oakland has Barry Zito - and so on and so forth. These Tigers are, to some, still the underdogs, but they wouldn't have it any other way.

"We shocked the world."

"Nobody gave us a shot."

"We came out with everything we had."

"I hope in my heart everybody realizes we are a playoff team. I'm not sure everybody believed that."

Do you believe now?

Inaugural post, part deux.

Welp, looks like this is my new blog home. Looking For October, I suppose, is no more. I'll kick this off with a brief recap of last night's game as I'm tired.

Maroth was shaky. Four runs in 5 2/3 with three Ks. Pudge had three hits. Polanco had a homer and a triple. Sheffield had an RBI double. Evening was capped off with Magglio's impressive catch and Granderson sealing the come from behind win with a deep fly to center field. Overall a decent game. A moment of silence was observed before the game for the victims of the Virginia Tech shootings.

More later, once I get my pictures from the game back. Also coming: Alex brushes elbows with Vance Wilson - again! and makes eye contact with Justin Verlander!