162 games are in the books, and the playoff matchups are set. Here in Baltimore, we'll be hosting the Detroit Tigers on Thursday in the American League Division Series. People are going to go gaga over the guys from the Motor City because they have big names in their starting rotation: Max Scherzer, David Price, Justin Verlander. That's great, but Chris Tillman, Wei-Yin Chen, Bud Norris, and Miguel Gonzalez are all having quite good seasons in their own right. Detroit beat the O's five times in six meetings this season, but those games were all in April, and each team moved in a different direction as the year wore on. The Orioles were the club that left their division rivals in the dust, finishing 96-66 and wrapping up the AL East crown with 11 games left to play. The Tigers frittered away a seven-game lead in the Central on two separate occasions, and had to wait until today's regular season finale to pop the champagne. I like our chances.
To put it another way, the Birds gave away Mickey Tettleton to the Tigers in January 1991. There won't be any more gifts this October.
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