Always a Tiger. ALWAYS.

Two–thirds of the Ilitch years have been sub–.500

At one point around forty–ish years ago, probably because they won the first World Series I ever watched — and the fact that they had really cool hats — I was a Pirates fan. (Hey, those hats were cool!)

Then, because of ace reliever Tug McGraw and his quirkiness, I became a Phillies fan in 1980. (Don't forget that team had Mike Schmidt, Pete Rose, Steve Carlton, and a bunch of other guys. They were good.)

I thought Reggie Jackson was cool, so I was an Angels fan. (Reggie would hit 30 home runs in the new Yankee Stadium … and that cool cat is in his mid-70s!)

Yeah, but I was always a Tigers fan. (Always was, always will be … even during the rough years; Tigers fans have had more than their fair share).

In 1984, I journeyed through the end of sixth grade and into the beginning of seventh grade and the Tigers never fell out of first place. It was quite a year, first place wire–to–wire, not to mention the World Series champs. I even went to the clinch game for the ALCS and the first Tiger game in Detroit (Thanks, Grandpa for making that happen!) 

It seemed that we would probably win a few more World Series in the '80s, as the team was young, hungry, and well–managed. It didn't happen, though. 1987 was great until it wasn't … and by '88, the team was on its way down, down, down … and the '89 teams: ARGH! Seriously, did the alleged collusion affect any team worse than it affected the Tigers? 

The Tigers did some funny stuff through the next several years and in '02, they decided that Alan Trammell would manage the team. So, in 2003, Trammell and a bunch of cool dudes from the '84 team took over the Tigers. And, it was one of the worst seasons in Major League history. The Tigers finished 43–119, barely avoiding the worst record ever. Barely!