What happened to the Detroit Tigers this year?

Question

They seemed like the best team to get to World Series but they could not even win to start and they could never get a good streak going. Also a few of the players looked like they couldn't get acclimated and choked away games, I was at a game(Orioles-Tigers) where they had a lead but they choked it away and the Orioled beat them.

Answer 1

As most people have noted, their pitching has been a problem. Yet if you have watched them all year as I have, you would see other problems. They cannot get a runner home from third to save their lives.

Guillen at third is a disgrace. Renteria has been a HUGE mistake. Leyland cannot be without fault also. His misuse of Miner, his complete lack of judgement concerning the ENTIRE bullpen. Todd Jones is getting a lot of heat, yet before he was hurt, he was 14 of 15 in save opps. Sheffield is eating up a roster space, just plain sucking, and Leyland runs him out there everyday. AMAZING!!!

Overall, expect the same next year, as all our underachievers are under contract. A few bright spots have emerged. Gallaraga, Miner back in the rotation where he belongs. Cabrera has had a solid year and will even get better. Joyce, Thomas, and a few other rookies look promising.  

Answer 2

Sports media hyped them.  Nobody thought to question it even though they lacked the dominant pitching required to have sustained success.  An all-star lineup of batters looks good on paper but you also need team chemistry, hard workers, and good pitching.  You also need to win games on the field.  They aren't won on paper.  Pre-season predictions mean nothing.  It is way too hard to predict what will happen in a 162 game season.  You normaly can tell who will be competitive but beyond that it is pointless to try.

Answer 3

They were so hyped up by the sports media to be so unbeatable but even with all that they just didn't live up to the hype but their pitching has been a major disappointment to them & their fans

Answer 4

Sports media hyped them. Nobody thought to question it even though they lacked the dominant pitching required to have sustained success. An all-star lineup of batters looks good on paper but you also need team chemistry, hard workers, and good pitching. You also need to win games on the field. They aren't won on paper. Pre-season predictions mean nothing. It is way too hard to predict what will happen in a 162 game season. You normaly can tell who will be competitive but beyond that it is pointless to try.

Answer 5

ummm well their pitcher obviously is what took them down and their bats aren't swinging  i mean com on go from a 2.69 to an 11.5 that's just ridiculous they need to work hard in training because they can do better than what they are doing.

Answer 6

Injuries to Zumaya and Inge hurt a lot, and those injuries were pretty rediculous:

http://www.bofads.com/stories/injuries.h...

Answer 7

so did the yankees, but we didnt exactly live up to expectations.  

Answer 8

Their pitching was thier achilles heel even prior to the season.

You arent going to go to the World Series with solely hitting.  Jeremy Bonderman, Nate Robertson, Dontrelle Willis, Justin Verlander, thats not enough to carry them.  Willis was way overrated as the fixture to their starting rotation.  He's been a very steady decline over the last few seasons.

Then we have their poor bullpen and for some reason they dont realize that Todd Jones just aint a reliable closer now.

Answer 9

It's really pretty simple - the players were (and still are) underperforming, and they had injuries going at them left and right.

Answer 10

Their pitching faltered (Dontrelle Willis where are you???) and their offense was not nearly as good as expected.

Add that to bad attitudes and poor leadership in the clubhouse (Gary Sheffield) and you have recipe for failure.

Answer 11

Their pitching is horrible.