CLEVELAND – What a difference a year makes, huh?
Just 368 days ago, the Detroit Tigers clinched their first playoff appearance in a decade. The headline: “Detroit Tigers complete epic resurgence.”
Fast forward to this weekend. When the final out of the season was recorded in Boston, the tone was quite a bit different: "Detroit Tigers settle for wildcard spot."
The Tigers went 86-78 in 2024 to earn the final AL wildcard spot. They went 87-75 in 2025 to earn the final AL wildcard spot.
So why did last year come with so much fanfare, but this time it feels like everybody has already moved on to football season?
We all know the reason. It’s because of 3-13.
September collapse
It’s no secret that the Tigers haven’t played their best baseball in the second half of the season. But more specifically, it really boils down to two awful stretches.
The Tigers were 25 games above .500 on July 8 after sweeping Cleveland on the road and winning the first two games of a home series against Tampa Bay.
They went on to lose 12 of their next 13 games. And during that ice-cold stretch, the Guardians -- once 15.5 games back in the AL Central -- ripped off 10 of 12.
But give the Tigers credit: They settled down over the following month, going 18-7 from July 27 through Aug. 23. They actually got back to 25 games above .500.
Even the ensuing 6-9 stretch from Aug. 24 through Sept. 10 was more annoying than catastrophic. Sometimes you have a rocky couple of weeks. That’s baseball.
When the Tigers woke up on Sept. 11, they were 22 games above .500, had a chance to sweep the New York Yankees in Yankee Stadium, and led the Guardians by 9.5 games with only 16 to play.
There was literally no way they could blow that lead.
Until they did.
Worse than a series loss to the lowly Marlins or getting swept at home by the Braves was the 1-5 head-to-head record against Cleveland. Those games were the driving force behind the Guardians snatching the division from the Tigers’ limp grasp.
Bad vibes
So it’s pretty obvious why the vibes are so much worse now compared to last year.
For about 140 games, the Tigers were among the best teams in baseball. We were scoreboard watching for the No. 1 seed and a first-round bye, not for the Central.
When you have such a commanding lead that everyone has already banked the division title in their minds, it’s hard to ultimately settle for less.
And no, this isn’t a “you know what happens when you assume” situation. The Tigers had a 14-game lead. Fans had every right to assume that was going to hold.
So instead of celebrating the first division title in 11 years, the Tigers once again finish as the bridesmaid to Cleveland -- a team that had a losing record to start September and ended with a negative run differential.
There’s no No. 1 seed. There’s no first-round bye. There might not even be a playoff game at Comerica Park this year.
Instead, the Tigers have to hit the road and find a way to win two games against a team that is clearly in their heads. A team that just beat them five out of six. A team that’s won 19 of 23.
A team that knocked them out of the playoffs last year. In the very same building where it happened.
Chance to make it right
But all that goes away if the Tigers can just win two baseball games.
It sounds like a tall order, given that they needed two entire weeks to win twice down the stretch -- and now they’ll need to do so in three days.
But imagine if they actually do it. That would completely erase what happened in September.
Nobody will care that the Tigers didn’t win the AL Central. Do you look back on the 2006 World Series team and think, “Yeah, but the Twins got to hang a division banner”?
No, obviously not.
If the Tigers can win two games, it won’t matter that they didn’t have a bye, because they’ll be in the ALDS anyway. No, they wouldn’t have Tarik Skubal to start Game 1, but he could start Game 2 on normal rest, and then return for Game 5 on normal rest, if needed.
It’s not like Skubal was going to pitch three times in the ALDS even if the Tigers had a bye. So playing in the wildcard round wouldn’t really change anything.
As long as they survive.
The Tigers would also get to personally avenge everything that’s happened over the past year -- the 2024 ALDS. The two series in late September. The shocking AL Central comeback.
I don’t know about you, but I’d gladly trade a bye and a few weeks of frustration to watch the Old English D celebrate on that God-forsaken field in Cleveland.
Look, it won’t be easy. The Tigers have a dormant offense and a porous bullpen. Meanwhile the Guardians have been kissed by the baseball gods.
But if -- somehow, some way -- the Tigers can pull it off, it would erase all the pain of the last month. In just a few short days.
So buckle up. It’s time for postseason baseball.