Bless you boys, redux...

What has gotten into my beloved Tigers? All of the sudden the 'D' is alive again; and, who would have ever thought that the breath of life would have come from the nostrils of the Motor City Kitties?

Certainly not me.

Tonight, in front of a capacity crowd at the COPA, the Tigers defeated the evil empire in convincing fashion, 8-3, to win the five game American League Divisional Series series in four. Not since the days of Kirk Gibson and Jack Morris has this organization so captivated a city.

I remember as a kid having an old poster of the Detroit Free Press with an exuberant Kirk Gibson, arms raised, under the headline: Bless You Boys. Well, the boys are back in town; only this time, you've never heard of them.

The Tigers' roster reads like a B-movie filmography. Who? From where? What?

Players like Marcus Thames, Curtis Granderson and Craig Monroe all came from relative obscurity only to find themselves starring on what now must be considered America's team--this is the moniker given to the latest team to beat the hated New York Yankees.

No one, including me, believed the Tigers had a chance of beating the Yankees in a five game series and we were dead wrong. As much as I hate to admit it, money truly cannot buy championships. With that in mind, I may have to find another reason to hate the Yankees. (Oh wait, they have a 200 million dollar payroll, more than twice that of the hometown boys. That should hold me over.)

The Tigers advance to the American League Championship Series where they will face the hard-charging Oakland A's who most recently swept the Minnesota Twins in their divisional series.

I won't bet against the Tigers again, I promise.

See you at the Series.