Under New Management

Some of you may have noticed that things have been quiet around these parts for some time now, but that is about to change.  You may remember me from a guest post in the fall, but many of you may not.  Don’t worry, I’m not going to hold that against you.  I’m Paul Sporer and I’m the new guy here at Eye of the Tigers, but I can assure you that I plan to vigorously defend the title of Best MLB Blog in the Fanball Network again in 2010.  Frankly, the best blog awards should be going to the blog about the best teams in baseball so it is quite fitting that the Tigers won in 2009! 

A little about me: I was born & raised in a suburb of Detroit (Allen Park to be specific) where I lived until I was 14.  My family moved to deep south Texas at that point (Harlingen for those wanting to keep track) which I found far too small to stay in for too long so I left for Austin as soon as I graduated high school and enrolled at the University of Texas.  I’ve lived in Austin for 10+ years now and don’t plan on leaving anytime soon.  The MLB Extra Innings Package, MLB.tv and the MLB At-Bat iPhone app have kept me connected to the Tigers and baseball as a whole better than I ever could’ve imagined when I used to sit on my bedroom floor and listen to Ernie Harwell bring the game to life in my imagination.  Anyone that knows me even a little bit knows I absolutely love baseball and specifically, the Detroit Tigers.

I estimate that I watched at least 120 full games of the disastrous 2003 season in which we almost set the record for the most losses in MLB history.  I realize that is more sad than impressive, but it shows a particular level of commitment to the team that only a select group of fans show.  Last year I either watched or listened to at least 145 games including plenty I would DVR while doing something that evening only to watch later when I got home.  Usually I could avoid the score in the interim, but sometimes it would reach me through someone texting me or my eye would catch it on ESPN in a bar.  Ya, I still watched a game of which I knew the outcome.  I don’t cut off the “real” world in favor of the Tigers, but most weeknights are spent watching the game live.  Weekends (including Friday) are a different story, but I still get my fix.

As you just saw, I’m a “we” guy.  I call my favorite teams “we”.  No, I’m not on the payroll.  No, I’ve never suited up for them.  But if you are one of those people who gets that bent when someone refers to their favorite team as “we”, you have far bigger problems than the person you’re chastising.  I feel like 22 years (out of 28) of loyalty allows you to freely refer to your team as “we” when discussing them.  That doesn’t mean there is a set time limit, if you adopt a team and want to call ‘em “we” right out of the gate, be my guest.  I won’t be the one lecturing you about it.

My favorite Tiger growing up was Alan Trammell and he stood the test of the time as my favorite All-Time until Curtis Granderson came around.  Granderson is without question my favorite baseball player ever and I was pretty devastated when I found out he was traded to the Yankees.  It didn’t bring me to tears or anything absurd like that, but I hated to see him go.  After all, I named my dog after him.

Curtis the beagle

After some time passed, I realized that the returns from the Granderson trade were actually substantial and so as I was invariably asked by everyone close to me what I thought about the trade, I began reciting a similar refrain, “my heart hated it because that was my favorite player, but my brain was OK with it because it made the team better in the long run.”  I also had to constantly answer questions about whether or not I would change my dog’s name.  I don’t have any delusions about him actually knowing his name, but changing it never was an option.

Far more devastating than Granderson being traded was game 163.  Again, I wasn’t driven to tears or anything terribly drastic like that, but it was a gutpunch of epic proportions.  I sat somberly in my chair for a good 30 minutes staring at a turned off TV trying to make sense of what had just taken place both in terms of that season as a whole and in that game itself, which was truly a classic.  What made it especially painful was the fact that I had tickets to two games and a non-refundable plane ticket to Detroit.  I had planned to my grandmother, a lifelong Detroit fan for 80 years, to the games.  Alas it was not meant to be in 2009.  Thankfully I didn’t eat the ticket entirely as I was still planning a trip up for Thanksgiving for the aforementioned grandmother’s 80th birthday party.

My outlook for the 2010 season, which you will be able to read in great detail in the coming weeks, is positive.  I think the team is being sold a little short by the media and I’m OK with that.  The team will need some breaks, but who doesn’t?  Neither Chicago nor Minnesota is an overwhelming force that can’t be beat and it won’t take a miracle to topple them, either.  But like I said, a lot more on all of that in the coming weeks leading up to April 5th in Kansas City.

So that’s about it for the introduction.  You can find more of my work at Fanball.com’s Owner’s Edge which is still free until March 15th.  There is an article up today by me that covers “Across-the-Board” players in fantasy baseball.  You can also read my work at my fantasy baseball blog: Baseball by Paul which also has an accompanying podcast at BlogTalkRadio (and can also be found in iTunes under “Baseball by Paul”).