Day 195: Those Tigers Make Me Nervous

Tonight is one of those nights I can't believe I committed myself to writing a blog post a day. I just got home from dinner out and I'm recording game one of the ALCS so it's not like I can even do a preview of the series now because the game is already in progress. So while everyone else is several innings into this Red Sox - Tigers matchup, I'm just two batters in. I'll have to stay away from Twitter and Facebook if I don't want to ruin it for myself.

Jon Lester struck out the first batter. That's a good sign, right. The second batter too. Good start.

But really, I'm not sure I can concentrate enough to write something somewhat intelligent anyway. I've been a ball of nerves about this game all day. Not only is the Detroit pitching staff scary, but they've got some batters in that lineup that will really hurt you. If you look at the batting averages against Jon Lester, they've got a couple guys like Torii Hunter and Victor Martinez that are batting over .450 against him. Yeesh.

Miguel Cabrera just smacked a single. Crap. Uh oh. Prince Fielder just singled too...

At some point this season, I stopped being surprised at how well the Sox were doing. I just expected them to win. There was something about this team.... something special that made you feel all warm and fuzzy inside... and confident. But when October rolls around, for me, some of that confidence starts to wane. I start to wonder if this is the series where the Sox bats will go quiet. I start to wonder if the pitching will blow up. I need to just stop wondering because apparently, it's going to give me an ulcer.

Victor Martines grounds out to end the inning. Tigers leave two on. 

So maybe I'm feeling a little better now. The Sox were able to get out of the first inning unscathed — hopefully a sign of what's to come this evening. But my stomach is still churning. I guess I need to believe in the beard.

PS. Did I hear Tim McCarver is retiring after this year? Please tell me I didn't dream that.