Posted on 10/07/2006 5:11:50 PM PDT by saganite
DETROIT (AP) -- Three years ago, they lost 119 games and were a punchline. You know, the Detroit Tigers ... ha, ha, ha.
Funny game, baseball.
The Tigers are the ones laughing loudest now -- and dancing their way to the AL championship series.
And the New York Yankees? Well, they're the joke.
Jeremy Bonderman was perfect for five innings and sublime for 8 1-3 in leading Detroit to an 8-3 victory in Game 4 on Saturday to win the AL playoff series and eliminate A-Rod, Jeter and the other high-priced, high-profile Yankees.
Days removed from being swept by Kansas City on the final weekend of the regular season, manager Jim Leyland and his band of wild-card Tigers clawed their way back from an 0-1 deficit to win a series many thought would be severely lopsided.
Those predictions were correct: The Yankees didn't have a chance.
These man-eating Tigers simply devoured the AL East champions, outplaying New York in every phase to advance to their first ALCS since 1987. On Tuesday, they'll play at Oakland in Game 1, the first postseason meeting between the clubs since 1972.
Bonderman allowed just five singles, walking off to a thunderous ovation with an 8-1. Reliever Jamie Walker gave up Jorge Posada's two-run homer.
Magglio Ordonez and Craig Monroe each homered off Jaret Wright as the Tigers built an 8-0 after six innings and coasted through the final three.
The Yankees are heading home -- eliminated in the opening round for the second straight year -- to face owner George Steinbrenner's wrath and what could be the coldest New York baseball winter in years. Steinbrenner may have big changes in store for his $200 million ballclub and galaxy of All-Stars, who haven't won a World Series since 2000.
One of his moves could be trading third baseman Alex Rodriguez, who capped another forgettable October by going 1-for-14 (.071) and failing to drive in a run for the second straight postseason.
Bernie Williams, Gary Sheffield and Mike Mussina may also bolt the Bronx.
And, New York manager Joe Torre is sure to feel some extra heat from the demanding Boss. After all, the Yankees are just 3-10 in the postseason since 2004.
Blanked in Game 3 by Kenny Rogers, the Yankees and their reputed Murderer's Row didn't score off Bonderman until the seventh, snapping a scoreless streak of a season-high 20 2-3 innings. This from a team which scored 930 runs during the regular season but managed just 14 in the series, getting drubbed 14-3 in the final two games.
Feeding off a frenzied crowd, Bonderman retired the first 15 Yankees in order before Robinson Cano dribbled a single through the middle for New York's first hit. Bonderman, though, wasn't about to let a big lead slip away like he did last Sunday when the Royals overcame a 6-0 deficit to beat the Tigers, a loss that cost Detroit an AL Central title and home-field advantage in Round 1.
As it turns out, the Tigers didn't need any such luxuries.
Bonderman pitched in shadows for the first three innings as the October sun helped hide his fastball, and the approaching darkness only seemed to make the Yankees more impatient. The right-hander needed just 31 pitches to get through the first four innings.
In the fifth, Sheffield pulled an 0-1 pitch deep to left field that missed being a home run by a couple feet. Bonderman wasn't rattled and struck out New York's hardest swinger on the next pitch. After fanning Posada for the third out, Bonderman spun around and pumped his fist.
Desperate for a win, Torre dropped Rodriguez to eighth in the batting order. It was the first time he hit that low since May 7, 1996, when he was a 20-year-old shortstop for the Seattle Mariners.
Rodriguez may wish he was back in Washington state.
His demotion dominated the pregame buzz around the batting cage and it surprised Sheffield, who after learning he was back in the order and at first, didn't bother looking at the posted lineup in the clubhouse.
"Wow!" he said. "There's a first for everything."
And if things weren't bad enough for Rodriguez, the $25 million man's error in the third allowed the Tigers to open a 4-0 lead.
With two outs, Ordonez hit a routine grounder at Rodriguez, who didn't field it cleanly and then rushed his throw to first. Sheffield came off the bag but couldn't flag down Rodriguez's bullet.
Immediately, the "A-Rod" chants cascaded down on baseball's most critiqued player, who patted the infield dirt with his left cleat and twice removed his cap while waiting for the next pitch.
Carlos Guillen then dropped a single over Cano's head at second, sending Ordonez to third. And when Ivan Rodriguez followed with an RBI single to center, the Tigers were up by four and could start planning their trip to California.
Wright won three playoff games -- two over the Yankees -- as a 21-year-old rookie for Cleveland in 1997. But nearly a decade and a couple shoulder surgeries later, the right-hander couldn't get past the third.
He allowed three earned runs and five hits in 2 2-3 innings.
If the Yankees weren't already feeling the pressure, the Tigers tightened their noose around New York's necks by scoring three runs in their second at-bat.
Ordonez led off with a 422-foot shot to the deepest part of expansive Comerica Park, where doubles turn to triples and deep flys become easy outs. Ivan Rodriguez drew a one-out walk and Monroe, who hit two dramatic homers during the regular season, hit his second of these playoffs.
Waving orange towels that were handed out at the ballpark's gates, Tigers fans roared every chance they could. While Friday's crowd seemed skeptical about the home team's chances, this group came for a celebration.
They had wanted to party last Sunday, but Detroit's final-weekend flop against the Royals wrecked those plans. And when the Tigers lost Game 1 in New York, it seemed this feel-good ride through the summer of '06 was about over.
But the Tigers, who led the AL Central from May 15 until the final day of the regular season, got back into the series and eventually won it going away.
Notes
Rogers, as much as anyone can sympathize with Rodriguez's plight. "I've been there," said the left-hander, whose win in Game 3 was his first in 10 postseason outings. "I get criticized as much as anybody. ... If he's taking abuse for the whole team, I think that's unfair. But that's the way it is." ... Sheffield didn't sense the Yankees being tense. "I don't see it," he said. "We believe we can win." ... Former Tigers slugger Willie Horton threw out the ceremonial first pitch.
Good for you. The Tigers deserve to win it all this year.
Very good news. I'm not particularly a Yankee-hater but I am a Bobby Abreu hater.
Abreu refused to bat leadoff for the Phillies--the team that was paying him $13 million a year--cause it would have hurt his stats, but he happily batted leadoff for the Venezuelan national team, which paid him nothing. HATE.
Shows what $230 Mil can by you. Golfing Lessons.
ah crap! by = buy
The Yankees can buy as many players as they want, but they can never buy a team!
We did, when he played for the Rangers. He sucked during April, when the season still mattered.
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