Simply....AWESOME!With 2007 approaching rapidly a lot of people start to look back and put together lists of the best and worst of 2006. I'm not really into making long lists when it comes to stuff like that, but I did figure I'd share the best sports moment of the year (and probably my life for that matter)
Let's start off with a little backstory. I have been a huge baseball fan for my entire life but was only 4 years old when the Tigers last made the World Series and 7 the last time they were in the playoffs. It had been 13 years since the Tigers had a winning record (half of my life if you are keeping track) and just to see them in the playoffs was unbelievable. I went to Yankee Stadium to see the Tigers in Game 2 of the ALDS which was probably the most nerve racking experience I've ever had at a sporting event. Nothing matches the nervous energy of baseball. One pitch, one swing and everything changes. I sat through the first Tigers playoff win in 13 years and little did I know that would start the Tigers walk to the World Series. After they took out the Yankees I decided that I was going to go back to Michigan for a game in the ALCS. Since game 4 was on a Saturday and I wanted to make sure I saw a game I got tickets and made the long drive home.
Much to my surprise the Tigers were in position to sweep the A's and clinch with me in attendance. I went with my Mom and my Dad and even though it was a pretty cold night in Detroit I ventured out in just my Tigers hat and my lucky hooded sweatshirt (couldn't wear a coat over it or it would have been a jinx) We took our seats in the upper deck behind home plate and it was the first time I had ever seen Comerica Park sold out. The Tigers have been terrible the entire time that park opened and I couldn't believe I was sitting there for an ALCS game. It was pretty surreal. Now I have to say that watching baseball with my Mom is quite the ordeal. She gets more nervous then anyone and panics at the slightest hint of failure. Not good since the A's took a 3-0 lead early in the game. After the A's scored the two runs to make it 3-0 in the fourth I looked at my Dad and said...
My Dad laughed and said he'd take a walk off home run too, but he'd rather see it tied because that would lower the stress level a bit. My Mom then went into her full scale panic so my Dad and I laughed and went back to watching the game. The Tigers scored a couple of runs in the fifth and then in the sixth Magglio hit a home run to left to tie and I thought that would be the biggest home run I would see. Boy was I wrong....
The innings went by and after Jason Grilli walked four straight people on 12 pitches and gave me a heart attack Will Ledezma came in and got the Tigers out of the inning. Then it was on to the 9th inning. I looked at my Dad before the start of the 9th and said,
First two hitters in the ninth were outs so I was starting to think about the tenth when Craig Monroe hit a single to extend the inning. Then Placido Polanco (who destroyed the A's) singled as well, which put the series clinching run on second base for....Magglio....
The entire stadium was standing and chanting "MAAAGLIO OH WE OH!" The first pitch was a ball and Street took a moment to compose himself between pitches and then he threw the 1-0 pitch....and Maggs crushed it. Watching it on TV later that evening I could see that he knew it was gone the moment he hit it, but from where I was sitting I never saw Maggs....I just watched the ball sail through the night towards left, and when it hit the seats all hell broke loose. It was the most joy I've ever felt at a sporting event and will probably ever feel again. It was so loud and everyone was jumping up in the air and hugging. I hugged my Mom and my Dad and I exchanged the hardest group of high fives ever. It was a perfect night. The Tigers had been so bad for so long and they finally made it back to the World Series in the best way possible...and I was there.
Leaving the stadium everyone was yelling "SWEEP SWEEP SWEEP SWEEP" and giving random strangers high fives. Even outside the stadium people were screaming and hugging each other. Just awesome. The best sports moment of 2006 and probably the best of my life. It doesn't even matter that they lost the World Series (I was at Game 2....which they won) because that night will always stand. A perfect evening....
I leave you with this video that pretty well shows how it was to be in the stands that night....just unbelievable. Have a great new year!
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