Danger Starts With A Big "D"

Whatever you think of the revamped MLB Postseason format (and I don't know anyone who is 100% comfortable with it), it is what it is. And the Tigers are up 2-0 over the once-sizzling Athletics in the ALDS, hours before the Yankees and O's ever saw a first pitch.

Detroit slept-walked through the first half, just 44-42 at the All-Star Break. But they had a ton of experience in a weak division and it didn't hurt to take 8 of the last 9 from the White Sox, who had led the division practically the whole season.

The Cabrera-Fielder, 3-4, right-left combo in the middle of the order is one of the most fearsome in recent memory. Only Manny-Papi and Bonds-Kent come to mind.

Miguel Cabrera of course won the first Triple Crown in 45 years. And it's nice to have the protection of Prince Fielder, at .313, 30, 108, hitting behind you. Fielder hit .337 from August 1 when the Tigers needed him most. And the above photo really does symbolize their relationship and the attitude they radiate through the team. Baseball is a game, and their infectious enthusiasm for it makes every Tiger game fun to watch.

Cabrera has been knocked for his defense, but he moved from 1st to the much tougher 3rd Base to make way for Fielder's arrival. At 29 years old, he may have the maturity and leadership to carry Detroit to their first World Series since 1984.

And there's another 29 year-old that's quite possibly the best in the game as well.

After collecting a Cy Young and MVP award in 2011, Justin Verlander also finished huge in 2012 with a 5-1 September. He leads a strong young rotation, with a seasoned (albeit inconsistent) bullpen that has Manager Jim Leyland's enduring confidence.

And there's a certain mystique to Leyland. When Tony LaRussa or Buck Showalter, or even Joe Girardi micromanages a game, you want to throw things at the TV. But with Leyland it always seems like some old-school, home-spun wisdom.

As a Yankee fan, I might already be psyched out remembering 2006 and 2011 eliminations very clearly. But as a baseball fan I tend to get hunches about this sort of thing.

Yankees Arms Race To The Finish

Two-out-of-three in Boston. Just what the Yankees should have expected, and got. There are 19 games left in a nail-biting AL East race where they still can't seem to shake (or be shaken by) the upstart Orioles.

You can't get too high or too low with so much time left, just trust the man on the hill will do his job. And this year, Phil Hughes (15-12, 3.96) has done that. In a season which C.C. Sabathia, Andy Pettitte, and Ivan Nova have all spent time on the DL, and Mariano Rivera was lost for the year, Hughes has taken the ball every time out.

Yes he's given up a ton of Home Runs (33) but the key number (besides 15 wins) is 175 Innings Pitched. And after a rocky first two months, he's gone 6 innings or more in 14 of his 19 starts.

You can point all the way back to May 22nd when the Yankees were 21-21 and 5.5 games out of 1st place. They were still lost in the wilderness without Rivera and had no direction. Hughes (then 3-5, 5.23) threw 6 solid innings in a win vs KC which began a team run of starting pitching that had not been seen before, and may not be seen again.

It was a 24-game span in May and June that defined the Yankees season. The Yankees won 20 of 24 and their starting pitchers, with their rotation fully in tact, went 18-2. And maybe even more remarkably, those starters went 6 or more innings in 23 of those 24 games.

You could say that makes Joe Girardi's job a lot easier, but he had to have the trust in guys like Hughes and Hiroki Kuroda to work through their issues, and they flourished. On June 3, Hughes went the distance, out-dueling Justin Verlander. And Kuroda has arguably been the Yankees' ace - and is a start away from 200 innings.

Now Nova returns from the DL on Saturday, and Pettitte on Tuesday. The Yankees have held the fort down for the cavalry to return while the O's get a 6-game West Coast trip.

And just another reminder before any more games are played that Girardi is only the second-most tightly-wound manager in baseball.

What's That About Objects In The Rearview? Never Mind, They're Already Here

It's September 5th. You might have one eye on the political landscape or the start of football season. But the Yankees have had one eye over their shoulder, where the Orioles have moved from 10 games back to a flat-footed tie for first. All while the Yankees do their best September impersonation of the New York Mets.

It's September 5th. And for the last 14 seasons the O's average AL East deficit on this date was 22 games behind.

The only reason to watch the Birds late in the season was to see if they could spoil anyone else's success - which is exactly what they did September 28, 20011 - when they came back with 2 outs in the 9th against Jonathan Papelbon and knocked the Red Sox out of the playoffs. That precipitated the ultimate domino theory with Boston revamping their entire managerial structure, which led to the trading off of their most expensive players a couple of weeks ago.

1997 was the last time the Orioles made the playoffs, losing a classic ALCS to the Indians. And to lend some perspective to how long ago that was, the Indians were in that series because they defeated the Yankees and Mariano Rivera in his first season as the closer.

In 1997, the O's lineup featured a still-steady Cal Ripken, Hall-Of-Famer Roberto Alomar, would-be Hall-Of-Famer Rafael Palmeiro (whoops), and an awesome 1-2 punch at the front of the rotation with Mike Mussina and Scott Erickson.

In 1997, the O's were still the most prominent thing in Baltimore. The Wire was just a spark in David Simon's head while Homicide: Life On The Street was playing out the string. And Ray Lewis had not yet been to 13 Pro Bowl or led the Ravens to a championship.

Now in his 3rd season managing the Orioles, one-time Yankee manager William Nathaniel "Buck" Showalter III, has a team that may be ready to take down the team that had groomed him and later washed their hands of him.

Tomorrow begins a 4-game weekend set at Camden Yards. After that we'll know how real the Orioles are, and if the Yankees can get off the mat.