The Elephant—Again!

Last year this time I noted with pleasure that the Detroit Tigers had faced the Elephant of Baseball in the American League Division Series and emerged victorious over the Yankees— and that had felt good. The Tigers were then Texas-bound but succumbed to the Texas Rangers in the AL Championship Series. The Rangers in turn battled St. Louis in the World Series, the team that ranked second in WS wins then—and St. Louis won again.

This year, and you might say miraculously, the Tigers overcame Oakland (baseball’s third-ranked team in WS wins) in the ALDS but now face the Yankees in the ALCS. We’re working our way up Baseball Mountain, you might say. Is the air a little thin on oxygen this high? Yes! To get a sense of how far up up is, I suggest a look at the baseball rankings I put up last year (link). The chart has been updated to show last year’s dire outcome. And if the tiger manages to fell the elephant, what then looms ahead? The next opponent will either be second-ranked St. Louis or sixth-ranked San Francisco. That tempts me, prospectively, to hum a [modified] song by Tony Bennet. Here’s how it starts:

The loveliness of Paris seems somehow sadly gay

The glory that was Rome is of another day

I’ve been terribly alone and forgotten in Manhattan

So I’m going to hit home runs in the city by the bay!
I left my bat ... in San Francisco...