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Tag Archives: Baseball
Here comes the pizza!
April 16, 2007, the greatest moment that has ever—or could ever—grace the Red Sox’s annual Patriots’ Day morning game. If you haven’t seen the entire Pizza Affair before, rectify that now. And if you have, let’s give thanks for this perfect moment of baseball history.
Swing and a fly ball…
Sports Loyalty
“Loyalty to any one sports team is pretty hard to justify. Because the players are always changing, the team can move to another city, you’re actually rooting for the clothes when you get right down to it. You know what I mean, you are standing and cheering and yelling for your clothes to beat the clothes from another city. Fans will be so in love with a player but if he goes to another team, they boo him. This is the same human being in a different shirt, they hate him now. Boo! Different shirt! Boo!” – Jerry Seinfeld, The Label Maker
This routine by Jerry Seinfeld has always stood out in my mind. My whole life I’ve been a die hard fan of the Detroit Tigers. It doesn’t matter who wears the Old English D if the player is a Tiger I root for them. Kenny Rogers, for example, was not a popular player when he was on the Texas Rangers. Most thought negatively when his name was mentioned, however when the game to the Tigers, he instantly became a hero to the city, (especially after his magical postseason in 2006).
It also brings up a separate question: When is it okay to boo your players or your team? If your loyalty belongs to the team and not the player, is it okay to boo an individual athlete when they screw up? I think so because, in this situation, they are personally disgracing the uniform they wear.
Jason Grilli is the perfect example. He was a horrible player, I knew for sure he would give up a lead whenever he came in the game to pitch. When the fans booed him, he got what he deserved. On a personal level, I never boo (except extreme cases, i.e. Grilli), because it’s because I’m too optimistic with the Tigers. I always feel the team can pull out of whatever funk they are in.
A Tigers Resume?
I got a nasty comment back on my old WordPress blog when I posted something about the 2006 Tigers. It called me something like a fake johnny-come-lately Detroit Tigers fan. He asked me to post where I was in 2003 (the year we lost 119 games). He also wanted to know my Tigers Resume, whatever that means. I’ve never thought about putting a “tigers resume” together, but I’ll bite on his stupid comment and give you my resume.
I have been a Tigers fan for as long I can remember. I still remember walking through the tunnel of Tiger Stadium when I was young and seeing the bright green grass shine off of the hot summer sun. Baseball has always been the sport of my heart and the Tigers have always been my team. I’ve held season tickets many times over, including 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2003. I was one of the first fans ever to enter the gates of Comerica Park, we got there on opening day at 7am and were the first in line!
Favorite Players
- Alan Trammell
- Kirk Gibson
- Mickey Tettleton
- Travis Fryman
- Bobby Higginson
- Gabe Kapler
- Brad Ausmus
- Jose Macias
- Gregg Jefferies
- Dean Palmer
- Todd Jones
- Jeff Weaver
- Brandon Inge
- Justin Verlander
- Ivan Rodriguez
- Curtis Granderson
- Kenny Rogers
- Magglio Ordonez
- Placido Polanco
- Armando Galarraga
- Austin Jackson
My sister and her boyfriend when we went to see the Tigers play the Cubbies in Chicago in 2000. We won the game that day and some drunk Cubs fan grabbed our Tigers flag right after I took this photo (yes, we got our flag back).
The science of the rally cap
It’s midnight and the Tigers and Indians are still playing baseball. The game has been tied for some time now and both teams look solid. Entering the top of the ninth, the Tigers were down 10-11. Two Tiger pitchers busted out the good ol’ rally caps, which lead to us tying the game at 11!
We don’t know how or why it works, but it does. And since there are no rules or guidelines as to when it’s appropriate don the rally cap… I decided to make a few.
- You may not wear a rally cap until the 8th inning. – If you are trailing in the second inning, you best not show your rally cap. All you’ll do is jinx your team. The game just started you putz, fix your hat.
- Runs – The rally cap only really works when you are down by a couple runs. If you are down by ten, entering the 9th inning, you can but your rally cap on, but good luck – you may need more power then the rally cap can offer.
- How to wear your rally cap? – The preferred method is simply turning your hat inside out (picture on the right). But many major leagues use push the hat in and wearing it on half your head (like the boys are on top).
History of the rally cap from Wikipedia
The first appearance of the Rally Cap was during the 1942 baseball season, when fans of the Detroit Tigers, while in attendance at Tiger Stadium, occasionally would wear their baseball caps inside-out as a makeshift talisman to generate a come-from-behind victory in the late innings of a baseball game.
The superstition spread from the fans to the Tigers players themselves and rose to national awareness during the 1945 World Series when the Detroit Tigers were playing the Chicago Cubs. The Tigers were tied in Game 5 with the series tied at 2-2. In the 6th inning of that game, the radio announcer mentioned certain members of the Tigers in the dugout wearing their caps inside out. Subsequently, in that inning of that game, the Tigers scored 4 runs after a ball rolled between the legs of Chicago first baseman Phil Cavarretta.
The Tigers then went on to win the game 8-4. The historic rally led to a Game 7 win, allegedly with the prominent assistance of their “Rally Caps” allowing them to become the 1945 World Series Champions. The Rally Cap subsequently was adopted by baseball fans internationally, being used to give their team a little extra mojo and come from behind.
The Rally Cap was later seen and made popular to this day in 1986 when the New York Mets wore them in their come from behind World Series victory over the Boston Red Sox.
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