A sweep... but what's in it for me?

After last night's amazing game and taking a series from the Tigers, I couldn't resist coming out to see Masterson face off against one of the best pitchers in the game. I'll admit that I rationally did not expect a win. Like many people have said, since we already won the series, we were "playing with house money." All the better, just go enjoy the game, see a great pitching match-up, and enjoy a beautiful day.

Needless to say it was a great game, from Choo's lead off homerun that landed just a few seats away from me in the mezzanine through Chris Perez's third save of the series. Verlander was amazing, and you can only respect him as a pitcher. Anyone who not only goes the distance in a loss, but somehow throws harder at the end of the game, deserves respect and admiration.

So I went to the game not expecting to win. Even when we went to the 9th leading 2-1, I was willing to concede a blown save and a loss. Not that I didn't think we could win, but because I recognized that this is baseball. As much as I wanted the win, I know the Tiger fans who drove down to Progressive Field were just as fervently hoping for a comeback.

Something about this raises a question about how we approach the game, our expectations and the realities of being a fan. So many of the negative voices sound like they feel like they deserve a World Series winning team for the price of their tickets. So much of the rhetoric they repeat about the ownership and the management sounds like they think unless we win, and win everything, and win all the time, then they've been cheated and refuse to spend a dime seeing a game.

And yes, it's a long season. There's a lot of baseball still to go. A sweep in may isn't a statement in a pennant race. But what does it say, and more to the point, what's in it for me?

We did win, but it would have been no less enjoyable of a game if it ended with a Tiger win. We swept, but it would still have been a win in the series without today's victory.

Really, if I knew my ticket money was buying a guaranteed victory, like the AL-Central Pennant most commentators awarded Detroit for signing Prince Fielder to a quarter-billion dollar contract, why bother going? What fun is it?

The tribe swept, beyond my expectations. What's in it for me? A great day of baseball, two days of games with great crowds who were excited and behind their team, a little sunburn and a sore throat.