If I May Talk About The Non-Golf Tigers For A Second

So it took until the middle of June for the Tigers to win five games in a row, and it just happened when most of the fans were on the precipice of giving up on the team. There were even trade rumors surrounding Magglio Ordoñez — a thought which is a mere two degrees less blasphemous than heliocentrism. But, man. Five in a row. Could this be the turnaround the Tigers have finally, finally waited for?

While a lot of people have focused on the unusually high number of times they've been shut out, hitting hasn't been their problem, although it has definitely underwhelmed. (Miguel Cabera, I'm looking your way.) It's been that daggum starting pitching. And usually starting pitching isn't the kind of baseball service that just immediately corrects itself. The hope of Joel Zumaya and Fernando Rodney's return was mildly promising, but before that has even happened, that pitching staff held the White Sox, coming off 40 runs in four games, to just six runs in three games.

(As I write this, Marcus Thames and Brandon Inge just hit back-to-back home runs while Nate Robertson is boasting a shutout through six. Admittedly, they were hit off Chan Ho Park, who I don't think has thrown a fastball for a strike since 1996.)

Keeping the optimism strong right now might be a bad idea for us Tigers fans because this win streak could all go south if they get swept by Toronto or someone goofy. But even if that happens, later on when they put together a mini-win streak, I get to write another naive post about "this could be the turnaround we're looking for." And so on, until the year 2011, when Todd Jones is still the closer.