I’ll always appreciate what you did, Brad, but you fucked up the best team in baseball when it mattered most.

Game One: You start Max Scherzer over Justin Verlander. That’s a Tiger-criminality, snarf. Verlander is our guy. Did you forget how clutch he was for us down the stretch? You can toss the numbers out for the MVP – when it matters, he fucking wins for us. EVERY TIME. Then, you let the game slip out of hand in the final innings, preventing any comeback. Lack of assertiveness all year stood strong in the playoffs.

GAME TWO: The real fuck-up. Anibal Sanchez relieved Verlander and looked unstoppable, going two innings before being pulled by Brad Ausmus. He deferred to the same bullpen snarfs that blew game one (Joba and Joakim). Bruised (ego’s, too), low and behold, they let a 6-3 lead become a 7-6 nightmare. Rajai Davis continued to play banged up, too. He who is resistant to change shall perish, right?

Game Three: AT HOME. Making no moves left us without any runs for eight innings. David Price gave us a chance, giving up just two runs. With the crowd roaring behind them, Victor Martinez and the Tigers knocked a cosmic double past a diving player in left, giving everyone hope again. J.D. Martinez seized his next at-bat, blasting a double to the wall in right-center field that gave us our first run. WE WERE ON FIRE!

All Ausmus had to do was bunt J.D. over, then hit a sacrifice fly to tie it up. And it really felt like we’d win it after we did that. Instead, he couldn’t make a decision, forcing an awkward bunt/swing upon the next hitter, who eventually struck out. He wasted the perfect opportunity. To make matters worse, he used a pinch-hitter in the next at-bat who never was used all season! Hernan Perez promptly knocked into a double play, dashing our season against the rocks.

Sorry, Mitch Albom, but our boy has got to go. Jim Leyland was just a little too old, and Brad Ausmus is just too young. And this team has been knocking on the door for too long.

When I first heard Tony La Russa fired Kirk Gibson and Alan Trammel, it seemed cosmic. Those are our Tigers. And they’re properly seasoned. Go get them, Dave D.