"For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land."
-Song of Solomon, as read every year on Opening Day by Ernie Harwell (RIP, we miss you Ernie)
Opening Day. Rebirth. Happiness. Summer Shandy. Skipping class. The Detroit Tigers. Warmer weather. God Bless America. Baseball is back. All of these thoughts come to mind when I think of Opening Day. It truly is absolutely magical, even if you don't go to the actual game. There is no happier day of the year for me, including Christmas, my birthday, Halloween, New Years, etc. I'm happier on Opening Day than I am on any other day (except if the Tigers win the World Series).
Anyways, our Tigers took on the Boston Red Sox yesterday down at Comerica Park. On display to the world via ESPN 2 was the best pitcher in baseball (Justin Verlander), the best hitter in baseball (Miguel Cabrera), the Tiger's shiny new toy (Prince Fielder), and the rest of the defending 2011 AL Central Champions. Verlander v. Lester was the matchup of Ace's, and they did not disappoint.
Rather than do a play by play type thing, I figured I would just do a random thoughts/observations list.
-Austin Jackson looked really good. He went 3-5 with 2 single, a triple, a lineout, and 0 K's. He also had his first career walk off hit in the bottom of the 9th to win the game. Jackson is absolutely crucial to the Tiger's success. If he can cut the strikeouts down and get on base more often, this could be a really fun season.
-The changes in Jackson's approach were very evident from a hitting perspective. His big leg kick is gone, and you can tell he worked his ass off to get his hands quicker to the ball. Hitting a baseball perfectly is the single hardest thing to do in any sport, as it takes so many intricate movements, hand-eye coordination, etc. Jackson looked great.
-Verlander was Verlander. What else is there to say? His curveball was the best I've ever seen it, making good hitters like Youkilis and Ortiz look absolutely stupid. He was very efficient also, throwing just 105 pitches through 8 innings. Fastball velo was from 91 all the way up to 98, where he sat comfortably for a while. That's the great thing about JV, is he can sit at any velo he would like and still dominate.
-Cabrera made an error OH MY GOD SOUND THE DAMNED ALARMS!!! People, chill. Cabby is going to make errors. So is Prince at 1st. Probably more than they should. Seriously though, its cool. I have great faith in Cabby and Prince to field their positions adequately.
-Cabby walked 3 times. You won't see that very often, because Prince Fielder hits behind him.
-Prince singled in his Tiger's debut, and also put on an absolute clinic at first base in how to scoop low throws. If there are any players, coaches, parents of players, etc, reading this, make them watch the replays of Prince scooping the uncharacteristically bad throws from Peralta. His fundamentals are absolutely perfect, 100% spot on.
-Peralta and Avile combined to go 5-7 with a BB, an RBI, and a run scored. Oh, and THEY BATTED 7-8 IN THE LINEUP. Outstanding.
-Delmon Young played LF and Raburn DH'd. Sigh
-Raburn got a hit. Nobody tell him it's April
-Valverde blew a save for the first time since 2010. Yeah, I would have left Verlander in. But I'm not going to question Leyland here. You have a closer who was perfect last season in your bullpen, and your pitcher is over 100 pitches in his first start. It was completely understandable to go to the pen for the 9th inning.
-Saves are a stupid stat anyways, much like wins and RBI
A programming note: I will not be doing these recaps for every game, because that would be ridiculous, and I don't get paid for this. Also, forget Peace, Love, & Tigers baseball as a quirky way to sign off. Beer, Broads, and Tigers baseball to you all
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