With every baseball season comes change and sometimes it comes from the place where we least expect it.

O.K., so the Tampa Bay Devil Rays will not win the 2006 World Series. 

There I admit it.  I was wrong.  It was no April Fools’ joke.

I’m dealing with it.  Excuse me for a moment.

(Chokes up or is he watching the Red Sox getting pummeled yet again by the Yankees?)

Ah, that wasn’t so bad.  Now I can move on.

In the grand scheme of things, predicting the Tampa Bay Devil Rays would win the Fall Classic this year was no more outlandish than to have predicted that the Detroit Tigers would do the same.

Had I predicted that the Tigers would have the best record in Major League Baseball in the middle of August I would have no doubt received a visit from some very nice young men holding a white jacket.

Yet as of this writing the Tigers own the best record in Major League Baseball, with a won-loss record of 79-43 and a 6½ game lead in the American League Central Division over the 2005 World Series Champion Chicago White Sox.

No, I can say with absolute certainty that I did not see the meteoric reemergence of the Detroit Tigers coming in 2006 or at any time in the foreseeable future.

Consider the evidence.

The Tigers last won the World Series in 1984, when they went 104-58 under the irascible Sparky Anderson with characters such as Alan Trammell, Lou Whitaker, Kirk Gibson, Jack Morris and Willie Hernandez.

The Tigers last post-season appearance was in 1987, when they won the American League East on the last day of the season, courtesy a six-hit complete game shutout by Frank Tanana against Jimmy Key and the Toronto Blue Jays.  Tanana’s slow curveball looked like a water balloon.  The Tigers won the game 1-0 on a first inning homerun by Larry Herndon to straightaway center field in old Tiger Stadium.  That’s 440 feet from home plate folks.  I was one of a handful of Canadians who celebrated the Tigers triumph.  The Tigers would be upset in five games in the American League Championship Series by the Minnesota Twins, who then went on win the World Series.

The following season the Tigers were again leading the AL East in early July when I embarked on my first and only trip to Israel.  Barely a month later I picked up a copy of The Jerusalem Post and saw that the Boston Red Sox had hired Joe Morgan (not the Hall of Fame second baseman and ESPN broadcaster) as their new manager and had won 19 of 20 games, overtaking the Tigers and winning the American League East.

So far as baseball goes there has been very little joy in Motown.  Since 1988, the Tigers have had two winning seasons – 1991 and 1993.  Anderson managed the Tigers from the middle of the 1979 season to the end of 1995.  In the decade that followed, the Tigers went through five managers – Buddy Bell, Larry Parrish, Phil Garner, Luis Pujols and the aforementioned Alan Trammell. 

In fact, the Tigers hit rock bottom during Trammell’s first season at the helm in 2003 with a record of 43-119.  Only the inaugural edition of the New York Mets finished with a record worse than the Tigers, with a 42-120 mark in 1962. 

There was little reason to believe the Tigers would do any better when they hired Jim Leyland to replace Trammell last October.  Sure, Jim Leyland had managed the Pittsburgh Pirates for 11 seasons and guided them to three consecutive National League East Division titles from 1990 to 1992.  Sure, Jim Leyland took the Florida Marlins to the National League Wild Card and to the franchise’s first World Series title in 1997.

However, Leyland would quickly become disillusioned with the game.  No sooner had the Marlins won the World Series trophy when owner Wayne Huizenga (of Blockbuster Video fame) dismantled the franchise and Leyland could only watch helplessly as his team filled with Triple A players fell to 54-108 the following season; the worst record in Major League Baseball.

Leyland resigned from the Marlins after the 1998 season and took the skipper’s post with the Colorado Rockies.  However, Leyland stayed for only one season as the Rockies finished with a lackluster 72-90 record.  

Since leaving the Rockies following the 1999 season, Leyland had served as a scout for the St. Louis Cardinals at the behest of Tony LaRussa, who was Leyland’s mentor in the Chicago White Sox organization.

But the fires slowly came back and Leyland came within a heartbeat of being named manager for the New York Mets in 2004 and the Philadelphia Phillies for the 2005 season.  Leyland withdrew himself from consideration for the Mets job at the last minute, and a year later was passed over in favor of former Cleveland Indians manager Charley Manuel.  It is a decision the Phillies have been regretting ever since.

Of course, hindsight is 20-20.  After all, Leyland had not managed a major league game in seven years.   The Tigers have eleven players on their roster that played on the disastrous 2003 team.  They made very few off-season acquisitions and those they made were decided gambles such as pitchers Kenny Rogers and Todd Jones.  Rogers had been an American League All-Star with the Texas Rangers in 2005, winning 14 games.  But he had a well-publicized on-field incident with a camera man and is also on the wrong side of 40.  For his part, Jones saved 40 games for the Florida Marlins in a great comeback season in 2005, but what were the chances of the 38-year old right hander replicating that success?

Well, the gambles have paid off.  Rogers started the 2006 All-Star Game and possesses a record of 12-6.  Meanwhile, Jones is tied with Bobby Jenks of the Chicago White Sox for the lead in the American League with 34 saves and is on his way to surpassing his 2005 totals.  Rogers and Jones anchor the starting rotation and bullpen that is the talk of baseball.

Rogers is one of four starters in the Tiger rotation who have at least 10 wins.  In addition to Rogers' dozen wins, Jeremy Bonderman and Nate Robertson each have 11 wins.   Both Bonderman and Robertson pitched on the 2003 team and have matured by leaps and bounds.  Bonderman’s 159 strikeouts is good for second place in the American League.  Only Minnesota Twins’ ace Johan Santana has more strikeouts than Bonderman.  To give you an idea about Bonderman’s progress, he lost 19 games in 2003.  Only his teammate Mike Maroth lost more games that season with 21 (Maroth is still with the team but is currently on the 60-day disabled list rehabbing from elbow surgery).  For his part, Robertson is much improved over last year when he finished tied for second in the American League in losses with 16.

But perhaps the most impressive pitcher in the rotation is rookie Justin Verlander, who is tied for second in the American League with 14 wins.  His 3.14 earned run average is second only to Johan Santana’s mark of 3.10.  Verlander, who was the Tigers' first pick in the 2004 draft and second pick overall in the nation, is paying huge dividends and should contend for American League Rookie of the Year with pitchers Jonathan Papelbon of the Boston Red Sox and Jered Weaver of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.  

Yet a starting rotation is only as good as its bullpen.  Backing up the veteran Jones are young fireballers Fernando Rodney and Joel Zumaya.  When Jones was injured earlier in the season, Rodney filled in the closer role, saving seven games, while Zumaya has been intimidating American League hitters with his 100 MPH fastball, striking out 78 batters in only 64 2/3 innings pitched.  Jason Grilli, Jamie Walker and Will Ledezma have also been reliable out of the bullpen.

By contrast, the Tigers offense has no superstars.  Don’t get me wrong!  Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez is a first ballot Hall of Famer and arguably the best defensive catcher of all time.  But his best years are behind him.  Pudge’s offense has declined steadily since winning the 1999 American League Most Valuable Player with the Texas Rangers.  But his experience behind the plate has served as a rock to the mostly young pitching staff.  Just ask the 2003 Florida Marlins, where Rodriguez obtained a World Series ring.  His reunion with former Rangers teammate Rogers has been profitable for both of them.  Magglio Ordonez leads the Tigers with 80 RBI's but he is no longer the offensive juggernaut he was when he hit at least 30 homeruns and had 100 RBIs for four consecutive seasons for the Chicago White Sox between 1999 and 2002.

It is likely that no Tiger will hit 30 homeruns or have 100 RBI this season.  But that is the strength of the Tigers.  Unlike the Boston Red Sox, they are not relying on David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez to get the big hits.  Rodriguez and Ordonez have plenty of support around them.  Third baseman Brandon Inge and outfielder Marcus Thames lead the team with 21 homeruns apiece while outfielder Craig Monroe is not far behind with 19.  Shortstop Carlos Guillen has 14 homeruns and is second on the team with 70 RBIs.  Leadoff hitter Curtis Granderson has 12 homeruns.  The wealth has been nicely spread.

Underlying everything is Leyland’s stern discipline.  He is the boss and doesn’t let you forget it whether you are an established veteran like Pudge Rodriguez or a rookie like Verlander.  The Tigers began the 2006 season winning their first five games.  But then they lost seven of their next eight games.  After a 10-2 loss to the Cleveland Indians on April 17th, Leyland ripped into his team with an expletive-filled tirade behind closed doors.  Leyland did not want them to revert to the losing form that has pervaded the Tigers for more than a decade.  Five days after his tirade Leyland explained:

I won’t rave at them for quite awhile.  You have to be careful.  You send a message, but if you try to send that message too often, it falls on deaf ears.  I think the message has gotten across.  Hopefully we’ll carry that through awhile.

The Tigers responded by winning 38 of their next 46 games. 

Leyland had to lay down the law recently on Chris Shelton.  The red-haired first baseman hit 9 homeruns in his first 13 games and was named American League Player of the Week the first week of the season.   In his next 89 games, however, Shelton hit only 7 homeruns and compiled nearly 100 strikeouts.   Although Shelton played stellar defense at first base, on July 31st, Leyland optioned Shelton to the Triple A affiliate Toledo Mud Hens to make room for veteran first baseman Sean Casey, who was acquired earlier in the day from the Pittsburgh Pirates.

That night the Tigers lost to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 7-3 and Leyland once again dressed down the team, himself included, when he addressed the media:

Write this down.  There was a manager, six coaches and 25 people in Tiger uniforms tonight.  32 total.  And we all stunk.  And that’s all I’ve got for you.

The Tigers have only gone 9-8 since the tirade.  Although I did personally witness them beat my fast fading Boston Red Sox 7-4 on August 14th, the Tigers do have challenges ahead of them in their final 40 games of the season.  Starting Monday, they host the Chicago White Sox for a four-game series and they end the month in Yankee Stadium.  The Tigers lost three of four games to the Yankees in late May at Comerica Park (although they did rally in the 9th inning to defeat the Yankees in the final game of that series).  Leyland has taken to resting starters Verlander and Bonderman, as neither of them have ever thrown 200 innings in a season.  In September, the Tigers will face AL Central Division rivals the White Sox and Twins away from Comerica Park for three and four games, respectively.  

The odds are in the Tigers' favor.  Short of a complete collapse the Tigers will earn a spot in the post-season for the first time in nearly twenty years.  If Detroit plays .500 ball for the rest of the season they will end up with 99 wins.  But the Chisox and Twins will be formidable.  And so will the worst teams in baseball.  The Tigers are scheduled to play the Kansas City Royals the final two weekends of the season.  The Royals are where the Tigers were three years ago with the worst record in Major League Baseball.  The Royals are currently 45-79, 35 games behind the Tigers in the AL Central.  Yet at this stage of the season, the Royals have nothing to lose and last place teams have a way of playing spoiler for teams in the heat of a pennant race.  Just ask the Red Sox, who were recently swept by the Royals.  I’m sure the Red Sox would liken them to the 1927 New York Yankees.  As in life, there are no guarantees.  Just ask Chris Shelton. 

Nevertheless, the Detroit Tigers exemplify why I like baseball so much.  No one and I mean no one picked the Detroit Tigers to win the World Series in 2006, let alone finish anywhere other than last place in the American League Central Divison.  But with every season comes change and sometimes it comes from the place where we least expect it.  I knew there would be a change that would surprise everyone in 2006.  I just thought it would come from St. Petersburg, not the Motor City.