Walking a Tightrope Between the Raindrops

Cabrera and Valverde celebrate the end of the game.

The advantage of rooting for a team that is not in the post-season is that you get to spend your lovely October days and nights care-free, going to movies, spending time with friends, reading a book, or going on long walks. Your interest in the baseball playoffs is mild but engaged. You may root against a team based on how much you hate the governor of that state, or the color of the uniforms.

When your team is in the playoffs, especially when it's a team that has playoff appearances that roughly correspond with lunar eclipses, it can be rough going. You're happy they're there, but watching the games is an ordeal. I've spent the last two days shouting at the TV, putting hexes on opposing players, and tryiing to determine the best position to sit so the Tigers get lucky. Then, yesterday, I had to watch an almost-meltdown by their perfect closer.

The rain postponement screwed up Jim Leyland's pitching plan. He had hoped to start Max Scherzer at home, where a spacious ballpark keeps most of his mistakes in play. But he was the next pitcher in line, and Leyland took his chances. Scherzer ended up twirling six plus innings of shutout, two-hit ball, certainly a pleasant surprise. Meanwhile, Magglio Ordonez, who owned his fellow countrymen, the Yankees starter Freddie Garcia, rapped three hits, while Miguel Cabrera snaked a two-run home to right in the first inning and added an RBI single later. The Tigers had a 4-0 lead heading into the eighth.

Joaquin Benoit, the set-up man who had a horrible start to the season but ended almost perfectly, wriggled out of Scherzer's jam in the seventh. The rain gods got even with the Yankees, as a brief shower poured down on Derek Jeter as he attempted to bat with men on base. Jeter was clearly agitated, wiping the bill of his helmet dry after each pitch. He ended up grounding out.

Benoit came back in the eighth and promptly served up a home run to Curtis Granderson. Okay, no reason to worry. It was 4-1. If Benoit could get through this inning, it would be turned over to the unflappable "Papa Grande," Jose Valverde, who had converted 49 of 49 save opportunities this year. When leading after the eighth inning, the Tigers went 83-0 this season.

In the top of the ninth, Don Kelly, brought in as a defensive replacement, got a key, two-out RBI single to get the run back. It was now 5-1, with Valverde ready.

Valverde had not allowed a home run all season, facing more than 90 batters. So what happens? On his first pitch, he serves up a meatball to Nick Swisher, who deposited it in the seats. Jorge Posada then tripled to center. It was time to bite nails. The rain started again. Russell Martin walked, I shouted, and the tying run was now at the plate. Andruw Jones got good wood on the ball, but Kelly made a fine running catch in right. Posada tagged and scored. Derek Jeter struck out. There was one out to go.

Granderson was up. It was pouring, and he skied a pop-up behind the plate. The Tiger catcher, Alex Avila, seemed to have trouble with it, looking up into the rain. He stepped on the Yankees' on-deck circle, covered with plastic, and slipped. Brandon Inge, who should have called him off to make the easier catch, helplessly watched the ball bounce on the ground.

Oh, boy. Baseball historians might remember the sad tale of Mickey Owen, who in the 1941 World Series was the catcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers. With two outs in the ninth, the Yankee Tommy Heinrich up and two strikes, Heinrich swung and missed, but the ball got away from Owen, Heinrich taking first base. The Yankees rallied for four runs and won the game. Had Owen caught the ball, the Dodgers would have won the game.

Dreading the pop-up mistake becoming baseball lore, it got worse when Granderson walked. The winning run was now at the plate in the person of Robinson Cano, the Yankee's hottest hitter. With the Yanks crowd energized, Valverde bore down on got him on a grounder to second. The Tigers had evened the series.

Game 3 is tonight, with the match-up of aces, Verlander against Sabathia, ready to resume. The Tigers don't want this series to go back to New York. Neither do I.