Now you know why Mike Ilitch has never won anything as owner of the Detroit Tigers.
The Tigers' announcement on Monday that both general manager Dave Dombrowski and manager Jim Leyland were given contracts extensions is both premature and ill-advised.
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Yes, the pair were able to get the Tigers to the World Series in 2006. But the last four years have been filled with second-half disappointments. For sure, the Tigers should have won a few more division titles with the talent and payroll on this roster.
Granted, the Tigers are currently in first place in the American League Central - they lead the Cleveland Indians by four games. But we've seen this movie before, where the Tigers haven't been able to hold onto first place late in the season.
It's not exactly the American League East that the Tigers are the top dog in. The competition is so weak in the Central that some have dubbed the division "Comedy Central.'' Most picked the Indians to be vying for last place in the division, not in a dogfight with the Tigers in August.
It is not a forgone conclusion that the Tigers are going to the playoffs. In fact, history says exactly the opposite.
The mistake here by Ilitch is rewarding Dombrowski and Leyland for nothing. They haven't won the Tigers first division title since 1987. It will look dumb if there is another major collapse.
Iltch was conned into a four-year extension from Dombrowski, who has offered up many bad contracts in his tenure - including that $29-million extension for Dontrelle Willis. He was a bust here. Don't forget that Dombrowski also is the man that put together that 2003 team that set the AL for losses with a 43-119 mark.
Leyland was given just one more season.
There was plenty of time to give each a new contract. It should have been right after they clinched a playoff spot for the first time in five years.
Sadly, Ilitch rewards people for not producing. You saw it so often with former GM Randy Smith, who was here from 1996-2002 when the Tigers were just plain terrible.
Pro sports is a results business. Dombrowski and Leyland haven't delivered in quite some time.
In 2007, the Tigers had the best record in baseball in July. In the second half, they faded and gave up the division to the Indians.
In 2008, the Tigers had the second-highest payroll in baseball, behind the New York Yankees. They finished in last place in the Central with a 74-88 record.
In 2009, the Tigers held first place almost all season only to become the first team in MLB history to lose a three-game lead with four games to play. The Minnesota Twins won the division in Game 183.
When the Tigers open the 2011 baseball season, as usual, ever since the Tigers went to the World Series out of nowhere in 2006, there were high expectations.
Some believed this team had enough not only to compete for the Central Division, but actually win it.
Forget that the Tigers haven't won a division title since 1987. Or that they had given up two division titles on the last day of the season twice in the last five seasons.
Last year, the Tigers were 81-81 and finished a disappointing third in the division.
The Tigers certainly went out and added some good players to the roster in the offseason, including catcher Victor Martinez, reliever Joaquin Benoit and starter Brad Penny.
On paper, at least, they looked as if they all could help a team that needed help for sure last season.
Fair or not, this season was supposed to be a reflection of Dombrowski's and Leyland's tenure here. Things haven't worked out at all that well after that one lightning-in-the-bottle season in 2006. In reality, things have been disappointing since then.
Coming into the season, as a part of full disclosure, I predicted this: The Tigers, who need too many things to fall into place, will finish in third place with an 86-76 mark. Good, but not good enough. The White Sox will win the division and the Twins will finish a close second.
Even so, Ilitch shouldn't have rewarded Dombrowski or Leyland until after the actually won something. Stay tuned.