The Tigers' season is all but over. Should the Yankees beat the awful Devil Rays tonight, they'll clinch the AL wild card birth leaving the Tigers out of the post season. The Tigers had the best record at the All-Star Break. Then they sputtered, gave up leads, let lesser teams beat them down the stretch. In a way it's a blessing they aren't joining the post season because they aren't playing like the team that won the AL pennant last year. Instead they're playing like the team that gave the World Series to the Cardinals.
After years of losing seasons and awful performances, you'd think I'd be happy with the fact that the Tigers put together a winning season and are a team that could still contend for a post season birth next year.
While there is some consolation in those facts, I'd have an easier time living with their failure to make the playoffs if they hadn't given that spot to the Yankees.