August 7, 2011
Occasionally sports fans witness an event that unites a team, something that transcends the news cycle as it is instantly etched into the history books.
Any true Red Wings fan remembers Darren McCarty serving a huge plate of momentum-shifting vengeance to the Colorado Avalanche’s goon, Claude Lemieux, on March 26, 1997. It was revenge for the cheap shot Lemieux delivered to Kris Draper during the previous season’s playoff series. The hit sent Draper into the boards and caused severe injuries to his face. The Avalanche went on to win the series in six games, and later hoisted the Stanley Cup.
McCarty’s revenge was the catalyst to back-to-back Stanley Cups, and in a way set the tone for the last 14 years of the Wings’ success.
On July 31, the Tigers defeated the Los Angeles Angels, 3-2. Each team is battling for a playoff spot and each sent a Cy Young candidate to the mound: Justin Verlander for Detroit and Jered Weaver for L.A. In the third inning Magglio Ordoñez watched from home plate as his two-run homer landed fair. Ordoñez says he remained at home plate because he thought the hit could go foul. I believe him. From my vantage point — a recliner in my parents’ house — I too wasn't sure on which side of the foul pole the ball would land.
Weaver thought Ordoñez was being disrespectful and had some choice words for him. Carlos Guillen took exception to this. Ordoñez is his teammate and friend and thought Weaver was the one being disrespectful. So when Guillen put the Tigers up 3-0 with a solo shot in the seventh inning he gave the ball a long, deliberate look as it traveled to rightfield. When it landed he turned toward Weaver as he dropped the bat and gave him an extended stare on his way to first.
As a fan of the Tigers, a team that has shown signs of complacency in recent years, I enjoyed the emotion Guillen displayed. Was it disrespectful? Probably. Was it nice to see someone on the Tigers roster finally show a little passion? Definitely.
It’s hard to say what — if anything — will happen inside the Tigers locker room as a result of the July 31 game. But I wouldn’t rule out the possibility that Guillen’s emotional display — and the fact that a nearly unhittable Verlander led the Tigers to another victory — could provide a much-needed spark.
The Tigers have the talent to win the Central Division. In fact, I think they should run away with it. But the question remains: Will they remain complacent, or will they convince themselves that they have something to prove?
Owner Mike Illitch has spent a lot of money putting the Tigers in a position to win. Now it’s time for them to get it done.
Who knows, maybe Tigers fans will always remember July 31, 2011, as the day Carlos Guillen let the league and his teammates know that the Tigers are not to a team to be messed with. At the very least, the Tigers have a budding rivalry with the Angels.