Detroit Tigers Fans' Thoughts on the Giants

Joseph Schell

We goin' to the 'ship!

Fandom is, naturally, a partisan affair. No team has more heart than the Giants! Marco Scutaro is the hottest hitter in baseball! Defense, base-running, and timely hitting are the keys to victory in October! Angel Pagan should be on the cover of a romance novel!

Most of us have been following the Giants' playoff run within Orange October insulation. In a bubble of "Posey for President" ... Kruk and Kuip ... sixth-inning "Gangam Style" ... #RallyZito and Vogey VogelStrong.

But to really understand a team, you've got to learn about what the outside world thinks of it. One way is to peruse enemy blogosphere comments sections, that modern public square where intellects, idiots, optimists, and paranoiacs converge.

Here is what Tigers Nation -- or at least the readers of Bless You Boys, Motor City Bengals, and Detroit Tigers Weblog -- thinks about San Francisco's squad.

See also: San Francisco Giants: Wet Wish Fulfillment

Not impressed

Maul 'em Tigers!

Expose them for what they are: lucky just to be there!

GO TIGERS!

-sharksfanwithajd

We have seen the enemy,

and I say meh. Angel Pagan? Gregor Blanco? Marco Scutaro? None of these guys get me worried. Posey is a great talent, but Sandoval & Pence are in for a rough series. I am looking for Miguel to be Mr. Triple Crown in the World Series and I have a feeling that a secondary player like Dirks or Infante may be a hero with the bat too. Anyway, if the Tigers hit, they win. It's that simple. I know the pitching staff will do their job. It is obvious that JV has had a tremendously positive effect on the rest of the rotation as they all have that quiet confidence that they will take the ball and do the job every time out. No Hubris? Screw that. This is our time, and I for one am going to enjoy the moment!

-MotorCityCat

When have they had to face a pitching staff or lineup like this

Or a DH?

-Torrey's Tacos

Vogelsong (1.42 ERA) and Zito (1.74 ERA) have good looking postseason numbers...

but those numbers would rank them in at 5th and 6th on the Tigers rotation right now. Hard to fear anything that you have an advantage in...

-N*W

I say this with probably a little bias

But I'm not that concerned with the SF starters, only because the Cards bats turned into the Yankees bats in the last few games. Cain took a loss, as well as Bumgarner, the Giants #1 & #2 for the season. Lincecum doesn't strike the same fear he used to either. Cain, while pitching a jem in game 7, only went 5.2, granted they had a huge lead by then, and was probably being pulled to allow him more rest for the WS.

We faced a pathetic Yankee offense, but our guys have also proved themselves during the season - Scherzer all year played the #2 role, Fister once past the injuries was himself, and Sanchez has stepped up his game... and of course JV is JV, or should I say CY?

-Chadster

Has any team beat both Oakland and SF in the postseason before?

I reserve the right to call the 2012 Tigers the Bay Area Butchers if this happens

-thesiberian

The 1989 Bay Area Earthquake

-Tiggersmom

Worried

Scary thought

Game 6 (if necessary) would be on Halloween. The Giants colors are orange and black...

-CokeIsMyHeroin

I'm trying to remember how the tigers looked in NL ballparks this year

I am a little concerned that they're not built for NL play. Too bad Verlander didn't pitch better in the All-Star game (not that the loss is his fault), home field advantage would be nice here

-thesiberian

Nervous about this, I think this series will go 7.

Though I'll be happy with a Tigers sweep!

-SpartanHT

Hopefully Verlander is on Wednesday...Barry Zito is The Guy The Tigers Have Problems With.

-Coleman

Utterly petrified by how much momentum SF has right now.

Please tell me that almost all of that is because the Cards imploded and not because SF just became awesomely hot.

I will feel much better if I knew that the Cards beat themselves.

-Anthony Steven Lewis

A lot of it had to do with the Cardinals inability to catch the ball

in games the Cardinals won they allowed zero unearned runs
in games the Cardinals lost they allowed 12 unearned runs

-Mark in Chicago

they also were facing injuries

to Beltran and Holiday. and they didn't exactly get stellar pitching performances.

The Giants earned their trip, but the Cards did help them out a bit.

-N*W

What does Leland say about momentum?

It is only as good as the next days starting pitcher. We got Verlander. They got Zito. To hell with momentum, I'll take JV anytime

-Jim Bunn

Don't forget how much momentum Oakland had after their game 4 win

and then JV took the mound just like he will in game 1

-Stones1981

If you don't believe in momentum...

we've got Verlander in Game 1. If you do believe in momentum...we just swept the Yankees (and we've got Verlander in Game 1).

-cakaul

Observations

A Cardinals-Tigers rematch would be fun, but the Giants may actually be less of a challenge to the Tigers. Despite the record difference, I think the Cardinals, especially the offense, is a better team than the Giants.

-Vince in MN

I'm curious...

Will Cabrera and Fielder be held liable for the damage they cause to all those pretty boats in the bay?

-KalamazooTiger

The Giants have enough money that it won't matter

If they had damaged a window when they played at the Coliseum they'd pay for it, though.

-Torrey's Tacos

Any chance Vogelsong starts Game 2?

-Rob Rogacki

I don't think so.

-Yoshifan

Eeeeeeexxxxxcellent

-Rob Rogacki

When is the NL going to join the 21st century and have the DH?

Pitchers batting is so stupid. Ugh.

-Baroque

This whole "pitcher batting" thing is actually a huge advantage for NL teams. The Giants have a .339 pitcher OPS, the Cardinals have a .349 pitcher OPS and the Tigers have... a .000 pitcher OPS. That's right - not a single hit or walk in interleague play in 2012. If that gap holds, it's like the difference between Miguel Cabrera and Brandon Inge at third.

-Chris Hannum

To beat the Tigers:

Don't pitch to Cabrera or Fielder
Don't throw strikes
Don't piss off the Verlander

-Rob Rogacki