Go Tigers!

I started life as a fan of the Washington Senators. My Dad’s cousin, Ken Retzer, played for them, and a couple members of the team lived in our apartment complex. When the Senators moved to Texas to become the Rangers in 1972, my allegiances move to the nearby Baltimore Orioles. It was a good time to be Orioles fan, with Jim Palmer, Pat Dobson, Mike Cuellar, Dave McNally, Doyle Alexander, Boog Powell, Davey Johnson, and Brooks Robinson, among others headlining the team. I stuck with the Orioles through thick and thin, but having now lived in Michigan for 20-plus years, I find myself detached from the Birds and thoroughly immersed in the Detroit Tigers.

It actually wasn’t much of a leap. Although they were in the same division as the Orioles for many years, the Tigers were always my second favorite team. I loved the teams of the Sparky Anderson era – especially the legendary 1984 team. I was in college in 1984, and that team was fortunately my pick in a sports pool we had that spring.

Then there was the hat worn by the then-ubercool Thomas Magnum, P.I.

So as they head to tonight’s showdown against the Oakland Athletics, may I just say … Go Tigers!