Refuse To Lose
August 15th, 2009 | by jelletlambie |There is a difference between trying to win and refusing to lose. It’s more complex than it sounds at first. I’m not talking about a quote to a beat writer, a motivational poster or simply a catchy turn-a-phrase. The difference between trying to win and refusing to lose is deeper than all of that. It is not a desire to be victorious, but a need to win. It is a fatal allergic reaction to losing. It is a matter of such steadfast importance that it becomes a deep rooted mantra without ever having to be said out loud. Over the last two ballgames I’ve seen a Tigers team that has flat out refused to lose.
In the last 18 innings of Tigers baseball the boys in the old english D have scored a total of three runs. Without context it would be a near certainty that at least one, if not both of those games would have ended in a loss. However, the Tigers opponents in these two contests have tallied a total of zero runs. When you look beyond the numbers and focus on the effort, the act of playing the game, the hardcore nature of how the Tigers played the last two ball games, you could expect nothing less than two wins, and no losses.
Thursday afternoon it was Justin Verlander and his right arm that banished the Boston Red Sox, as if he were defending a mythical castle by breathing fire. Over eight innings of work Verlander allowed four hits, seven total baserunners, while striking out eight Red Sox with a flurry of fastballs that simply blew the boys from Boston away.
In the first inning Verlander threw six fastballs at 99 MPH or faster. This is unusual. Ordinarily it takes a couple of innings for Justin to dial up the top shelf heat. Not Thursday. From his first pitch the message was plain and simple – Your ass is mine today.
Holding the Sox scoreless for eight innings in Fenway Park is not an easy task. Propping up your team on the heels of three straight losses is not easy. Doing both, in the midst of a tight division race, while tossing 123 pitches is a man sized effort to say the very least. For good measure Justin even went out with a bang. He again threw six fastballs of 99 MPH or faster in the eighth inning, including back to back rockets of 100 MPH on his final two pitches to strike out Jason Bay for the third time. In total he threw 85 fastballs, the average speed of which was 97 MPH. I think Wow is the word you’re looking for.
Yesterday evening the Tigers welcomed the Royals to Comerica Park, returning home with a scant 2.5 game lead in the AL Central. It was newcomer Jarrod Washburn who took the hill for the Tigers. His first two starts in a Tigers uniform were less than memorable, last night he changed that headline.
Washburn punished the Royals for eight solid innings, allowing only three hits and five total baserunners in a classic pitchers duel. Just as Clay Bucholz was impressive for the Red Sox on Thursday, Zack Greinke stifled the Tigers for seven shutout innings of his own Friday evening. He mixed his fastball and breaking pitches well, just as Washburn did. Both men left the mound to tips of the hat knowing they had given their ballclub enough to claim victory, although the game was yet to be decided.
Then in the bottom of the ninth inning, with the scoreboard rolling zero’s, Brandon Inge stepped to the plate. The improbable hero of the 2009 season cemented his status as a clutch hitter when he tomahawked a hanging breaking ball from Roman Colon into the night for a 1-0 Tigers victory.
Refuse to lose. I could almost hear the words in the air as Inge circled the bases before a crowd gone wild.
There are still some 47 games remaining in this 2009 regular season, more than enough time to see the story of the 2009 Detroit Tigers be written in a variety of ways, but….
If this ballclub can muster the spirit that hovered in their dugout the last two days, there isn’t a team out there that can touch them.
Again, plenty of baseball left to be played, so let’s not hang the playoff bunting just yet, but at least we have more reason to believe it’s possible. We have reason to believe this team is not simply trying to win, they are refusing to lose. That my friends, is a symptom of a special team.
Have a question or a comment? Leave your thoughts below or drop me a line at jelletlambie@gmail.com
Tags: AL Central, Boston Red Sox, Brandon Inge, Detroit Tigers, Jarrod Washburn, Justin Verlander, Kansas City Royals, Tigers toss back to back shutouts
By Duffy Dyer on Aug 15, 2009
You are out of your freaking mind.
By Matt on Aug 17, 2009
I’d say Verlander refused to lose, but i think offense is just lucky that both days the pitching kept them in it. If the offense refused to lose, I’d think a few slumping hitters would step up take the team on their shoulders as a thank-you for the pitching staff keeping the team in it this long.