Why, oh why did I jinx my beloved Detroit Tigers by starting a magic-number countdown? The Tigers are 3-9 after winning six straight games. The team chasing them, the Minnesota Twins, has won six straight games to cut the Tigers' lead to two games. The Twins won the first two games of the weekend series against the Tigers. If the Twins win today (perish the thought), they will close to within one game, with two weeks to go. I honestly don't think I can survive another humiliating implosion by my Tigers. I'm still devastated by 2006, when the Tigers lost the Central Division (to the Twins) on the final day of the season.
If you're not yet a baseball fan, don't become one. Yes, there are moments of exhilaration (1968 and 1984, for Tiger fans); but there are also moments of despondency, and the latter are vastly more numerous than the former. As former commissioner Bart Giamatti said, "It [baseball] breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart."
Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D. 