Loyalty to a sports team & My Tigers Resume

“Loyalty to any one sports team is pretty hard to justify.  Because the players are always changing, the team can move to another city, you’re actually rooting for the clothes when you get right down to it.  You know what I mean, you are standing and cheering and yelling for your clothes to beat the clothes from another city.  Fans will be so in love with a player but if he goes to another team, they boo him.  This is the same human being in a different shirt, they hate him now.  Boo!  Different shirt!  Boo!” - Jerry Seinfeld, The Label Maker

 

This little routine by Jerry Seinfeld has always stood out in my mind. It’s true because for my whole life I’ve been a fan of the Detroit Tigers. It doesn’t matter who wears the Old English D, if the player is a Tiger I root for them. Kenny Rogers was not a popular player when he was on the Texas Rangers. Most thought negatively when his name was mentioned, however when he game to the Tigers, he instantly became a hero to the city, (especially after his magical post season in 2006).

It also brings up the question, is it okay to boo your players or team? If your loyalty belongs to the team and not the player, is it okay to boo an individual athlete when they screw up? I think so, because they are disgracing the uniform of your team. Jason Grilli comes to mind; a horrible player, I knew for sure he would give up a lead whenever the brought him in to pitch, so when the fans booed him, he got what he deserved. I personally never boo (except extreme cases), because I always have an optimistic view the team can pull out of whatever funk they are in. 

My Tigers Resume

I got a nasty comment sometime back about how I was fake johnny-come-lately Detroit Tigers fan. He asked me to post where I was in 2003 (the year we lost 119 games). He also wanted to know my Tigers Resume, whatever that means. I’ve never thought about putting a “tigers resume” together, but I’ll bite on his stupid comment and give you my resume. 

I have been a Tigers fan since as long I could remember. Baseball has always been the sport of my heart and the Tigers have always been very personal to me. I’ve been a season ticket holder many times over, including 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2003. I was one of the first fans ever to enter the gates of Comerica Park, we got there on opening day ay 7am and were the first in line! 

 

Favorite Players

1. Alan Trammell
2. Kirk Gibson 
3. Mickey Tettleton
4. C.J. Nitkowski
5. Travis Fryman
6. Bobby Higginson 
7. Gabe Kapler
8. Robert Fick
9. Brad Ausmus
10. Jose Macias
11. Gregg Jefferies
12. Dean Palmer
13. Todd Jones
14. Jeff Weaver
15. Roger Cedeno
16. Brandon Inge
17. Justin Verlander
18. Ivan Rodriguez
19. Curtis Granderson
20. Kenny Rogers
21. Magglio Ordonez
22. Placido Polanco

I’ll update my Tigers resume when I think of items to add to it.