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The Detroit Tigers won the American League pennant on Thursday, capping off an ALCS sweep of the New York Yankees with an 8-1 victory. Detroit starting pitcher Max Scherzer struck out 10 in 5.2 innings of work while the Tigers' offense bashed around Yankees starter CC Sabathia to the tune of six runs in 3.2 innings.
Despite trailing the Chicago White Sox by three games in the division on Sept. 17, the Tigers now find themselves in the World Series. They await the winner of the NLCS, which the St. Louis Cardinals lead 3-1 over the San Francisco Giants.
Al Beaton of SB Nation's Tigers blog Bless You Boys is reveling in the moment, and he makes a bold claim about this Tigers team:
Today the resilient beyond belief Tigers are the champions of the American League after sweeping the Evil Empire.
I dare you to find a more fun, crazy, intense and just plain all-around bizarre season in Detroit Tigers' history.
You won't find one.
It certainly has been a wild ride for Detroit. The Tigers came into the season with such high expectations after signing Prince Fielder, only to stumble a bit out of the gates. They righted the ship, but still faced plenty of adversity along the way before overtaking the White Sox for the division crown at the end of the year.
Now the Tigers are just four more wins away from a World Series championship.