The Improbable Run Of The Detroit Tigers
On July 4, the Detroit Tigers were 10 games under .500. A month later, after trading all but two of their veteran players for prospects and career minor leaguers, the Motor City Cats were still mired in fourth place in the American League Central, seemingly doomed for a 70–75 win season.
Cleveland, Kansas City and Minnesota seemed to be fighting it out and the White Sox were worse than the 1962 Mets or the 2003 or ’19 Tigers. The team was scuffling along in fourth place, well behind the Central Division pacesetters.
Since August 6, the Tigers are 29–14 and have clinched their first winning season since 2016. They have come home from a 5–1 road trip where they swept the Royals and took two-of-three from Baltimore in Camden Yards. In so doing, Detroit passed Minnesota and tied KC for the second wild card spot.
From being ten games under .500 and ten teams ahead of you to a position of a clinching number of six with six games left is astonishing and joyful to watch after a decade without a playoff experience. This is a complete surprise to most baseball observers and fans, but most assuredly the Tigers themselves. As much as a week ago, they were five games behind both the Royals and Twins and had Seattle to leap frog as well.