“It’s like deja vu all over again.”
So said the wise philosopher Yogi Berra. That’s what it felt like watching Justin Verlander mow down the Oakland Athletics on Thursday night. We’d seen this show before, 364 days prior.
The A’s strode to the plate with confidence and went back to the dugout with shame. Their bats might as well have been swimming pool noodles. They never had a chance.
And with that, this group of playoff regulars are on to their third consecutive ALCS. Still sounds strange to hear that. If you monitored this franchise with any regularity from the early 90s to the mid 2000’s, annual playoff participation at any point in the near future would have seemed like a complete and utter fantasy. Like a prediction totally out of left field; which, incidentally, is where the Tigers’ biggest mystery remains.
Peralta's Transformation
Jhonny Peralta has undergone quite the transformation in 2013. He went from All-Star shortstop to banished steroid user to slugging left fielder, and finally, full circle back to his regular domain in the middle of the infield in last night’s clincher. One would think that with the Green Monster on the horizon, and Jose Iglesias’ silent series offensively against Oakland (1 infield hit in 12 at-bats), Peralta will spend the majority of the ALCS at short.
Of course, autumn in Michigan means more than just baseball, and there will be no shortage of action on the gridiron.
U-M Takes on Penn State
The Wolverines make the trek out to Happy Valley to take on a Penn State team that seems to have made a fairly rapid recovery after their well-publicized off-field incidents in recent years. Aside from getting whacked in Bloomington last weekend, the Nittany Lions have played very well on both sides of the ball this year. They start a true freshman (Christian Hackenburg) at quarterback, albeit one that stands 6-foot-4 and was considered one of the top signal-callers in the country coming out of high school.
Let’s remember that Michigan is a far different club away from home. In their only road outing of the season, they needed a furious fourth quarter comeback to squeak by an inferior Connecticut team.
Sure, Brady Hoke’s home mark remains unblemished, but the resume away from Ann Arbor needs work. Last season, the Wolverines encountered three legitimate tests on the road: trips to Notre Dame, Nebraska, and Ohio State. They came up short each time.
It sounds simple, but the end result will likely come down to the ball security of Devin Gardner. If he’s the UConn Gardner, giving away turnovers like mini-Snickers on Halloween night, you’re looking at loss #1 of the campaign. If he’s the Gardner of last weekend against Minnesota, playing safe-but-efficient football, MGoBlue will be 6-0 entering next week’s winnable home tilt with Indiana.
Those Hoosiers will begin their two-week tour of our great state with a trip to East Lansing tomorrow afternoon. While these aren’t your grandfather’s Hoosiers, they are by no means a national powerhouse, either. They put up 70+ in a game earlier this year, and their 6’5” quarterback throws for 300 on a weekly basis. But that doesn’t mean they know how to stop the other team from scoring.
They allowed over 40 in home losses to Navy and Missouri. Connor Cook seems to be settling in slowly as the permanent QB for the Spartans, and should find plenty of openings tomorrow.
Mark Dantonio’s defense has been spectacular all season long. We’re five games in and this group is yet to surrender more than 17 points in a contest. Very impressive stuff, but a mark that will likely be eclipsed Saturday facing a Hoosier team averaging over 44 points per game.
Lions Play a So-So Opponent
Moving to Sunday, we find the Lions facing a classic Lions’ scenario. A respectable 3-2 mark on the year, playing a so-so opponent on the road, a chance to take care of business and continue putting yourself in position for an NFC playoff berth.
They head to Cleveland to battle a hot Browns team, winners of three straight. But most of that was accomplished with former Spartan Brian Hoyer under center. He tore his ACL and will be shelved for the year, so it’s back to underperforming second year man Brandon Weeden at the controls.
If the Lions can figure out a way to score three touchdowns in this game, they should fly home a very happy bunch. But after witnessing that abomination last weekend in Green Bay, 20+ points might be asking a lot. Without Calvin Johnson, the Lions’ offense looked sluggish and out of sorts. It felt like an exhibition game (the Packers were similarly inept for much of the afternoon).
The availability of Megatron is still up in the air, and it’s not farfetched to say that his presence or lack thereof could be the game’s sole deciding factor. Typically, a team of 40-50 men can overcome the loss of a single player, unless it happens to be the quarterback. But the Lions lean on Calvin Johnson for so many things that beating any NFL team on the road without him seems like an impossibility.
It will be a sports fan’s utopia this weekend in the Mitten. The Tigers take their post season journey to Beantown, looking for a split or better. The Wolverines and Spartans face tricky tests with their head-to-head clash looming 22 days away. The Lions look to win an important road game in Cleveland, and as we know all too well, road victories for this franchise come few and far between.
Pistons to Brooklyn
If that’s not enough sporting events, the Pistons head to Brooklyn Saturday night to . . .
I take that back. If you look forward to that, put down the remote and get some fresh air.
But don’t linger out there too long. The Tigers-Red Sox opener will just be getting underway with Austin Jackson leading off. Sure, that at-bat will almost assuredly culminate with a blind hack at a pitch in the other batter’s box, but it’s just a small piece of this jam-packed fall sports weekend in Michigan.
Enjoy, folks.
