Are We Really Talking About This?

"Ilitch Tried But Tigers Are Going Nowhere."

That was the headline. I didn't even read the article because I was so irritated. 

Really? It's May and you're already writing us off? 

I get that people are frustrated. I'm frustrated and discouraged too. But let's put this into perspective: 

 - May 6 was one calendar month into the season

 - May 9 was 31 games in

We are playing baseball and in baseball we play 162 games. So are we really giving up after 31? That seems a little absurd to me. 

Jim Price - one of the Tigers radio announcers - constantly talks about how important starting pitching is to the success of a team. I'm an optimist, but I'll still admit, our starting pitching has been dragging this team down. But it cannot go anywhere but up and it is. Verlander and Sanchez had excellent starts Sunday and Monday. Greene will be back, and though he may have a few rough starts as he gets in his groove, he has all the tools to be a very good starter. 

The point: our starting pitching WILL get better. 

People don't want to accept that though. They want to blame someone and that someone is not the starting pitcher or the player who didn't come through in a key situation. No. That person is the manager, Mr. Brad Ausmus. I wrote at the end of last season about why Brad Ausmus should stay. All those reasons are still true. Our season IS. NOT. HIS. FAULT. 

One of my favorite movies is When The Game Stands Tall. There is a scene where they're playing a game and the head coach says to his assistant coach, "You know they're going to run such-and-such a play." The assistant coach replies, "I can't go out and play for them." 

I can't go out and play for them. 

Coaches and managers can go over things again and again, watch video, practice plays, etc., but at the end of the day, the players are the ones who win or lose the game.

Ausmus can only do so much. If the players don't perform or just have a bad day, there isn't much he can do about it. He can sit players and he has. He can mess with the lineup and he has. He can give advice and pep talks and I'm sure he has. But he can't get in their heads and he can't play for them.

It's too early, WAY too early to be deciding what this team can or cannot do. One month does not a season make and a manager does not make the plays. It's a long season of 162 games. Don't count the Tigers out just yet.