For the next several weeks we’ll be rolling out our list of the best The Moment’s of 2013. The list is the product of winnowing down 173 moments from April to October into the best twenty. They vary in their importance but all captivated us in an important way. A few are silly, a few are excellent plays, and a few will travel down in Tigers lore. I hope you enjoy it.

#5 – Cabrera Homers Off Rivera

The Tigers had won 12 straight games and had put the division to bed. They looked invincible, but the Yanks took a 3-1 lead and had two outs and two strikes with the best relief pitcher in history on the mound. The streak was dead – until it wasn’t. A cutter that caught too much plate on the inner half found its way into the netting in centerfield courtesy of Miguel Cabrera. It was an electric, “no one can touch us” moment. Amazingly, the zombie Tigers lost the game in the 10th inning, but that doesn’t change the way it felt to watch the Tigers rally back again in such dramatic fashion at the tail end of the streak that defined the season.

How Was The Game? (August 9, 2013)

For the next several weeks we’ll be rolling out our list of the best The Moment’s of 2013. The list is the product of winnowing down 173 moments from April to October into the best twenty. They vary in their importance but all captivated us in an important way. A few are silly, a few are excellent plays, and a few will travel down in Tigers lore. I hope you enjoy it.

#6 – Miggy and VMart Homer Off Rivera in the Ninth

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So here’s the thing. Two days earlier, Miguel Cabrera hit a massive, game-tying blast to slay Mariano Rivera. It was a Friday night and Comerica Park South (my apartment) went nuts. Then Cabrera and VMart participated in another ambush on Sunday afternoon of the same Hall of Fame reliever. The entire series was ridiculous for many reasons including the Tigers amazing ability to lose both games and basically everything Miguel Cabrera did. I don’t need to set the stage for you. You lived it. There’s video. It was awesome. And you won’t be waiting long for Friday night swing.

How Was The Game? (August 11, 2013)

For the next several weeks we’ll be rolling out our list of the best The Moment’s of 2013. The list is the product of winnowing down 173 moments from April to October into the best twenty. They vary in their importance but all captivated us in an important way. A few are silly, a few are excellent plays, and a few will travel down in Tigers lore. I hope you enjoy it.

#7 – Scherzer strikes out Chris Davis

This single GIF betrays the drama of the moment. It’s hard to describe it, because looking back it was just some game with the Tigers leading by two runs. They were nine games over .500 and stuff, but I can’t circle back to what made it so awesome. Chris Davis was CHRIS DAVIS at the time and Max was MAX, but the rest of it was just another game. It was a fine battle I suppose; a seven pitch at bat. Max went away with heat, got a called strike on a changeup away, and then got a swinging strike down the middle. He was ahead 1-2, went away twice to bring it to 3-2 and then Davis fouled off a changeup. Then this happened, the crowd went crazy, and the Tigers cruised. Maybe this was Scherzer’s national coming out party because it was “win” number 10. Maybe it was the eyes of the country on our star while facing the mighty Davis in a big spot. Whatever it was, it was something.

How Was The Game? (June 17, 2013)

For the next several weeks we’ll be rolling out our list of the best The Moment’s of 2013. The list is the product of winnowing down 173 moments from April to October into the best twenty. They vary in their importance but all captivated us in an important way. A few are silly, a few are excellent plays, and a few will travel down in Tigers lore. I hope you enjoy it.

#8 – The Iglesias Play

Losing your starting shortstop during a pennant chase is suboptimal, but Dave Dombrowski took it as a chance to find a new, long-term solution at the position. He went for defense. He traded Avi Garcia for Jose Iglesias. This was less than two weeks after the trade. You knew he was good already, but you didn’t quite appreciate it until you saw something like this. I’ve heard a scout say that Iglesias is what “an 80 glove looks like” and another say that he was “absolutely” better than Andrelton Simmons. Absolutely. Now the latter scout is in the minority, but when you hear that, you perk up your ears. Whatever, you don’t need me to keep typing, I’m just filling space so that this post is more aesthetically pleasing. I think I watched this play fifty times within 24 hours. Enjoy.

How Was The Game (August 12, 2013)

For the next several weeks we’ll be rolling out our list of the best The Moment’s of 2013. The list is the product of winnowing down 173 moments from April to October into the best twenty. They vary in their importance but all captivated us in an important way. A few are silly, a few are excellent plays, and a few will travel down in Tigers lore. I hope you enjoy it.

#9 – Cabrera homers off Salazar

You have to understand the context to really appreciate this particular moment. The Tigers had won ten straight and it looked like they could do no wrong. Then they ran into Danny Salazar, buzz-saw. Fister was solid, but Salazar was awesome. But awesome only gets you so far when the invincible Tigers sent their invincible man to the plate down a run with a man on base. You get the idea. The Tigers ended up allowing an equalizer, then Bonderman pitched well (!), and they rallied back. This whole game was crazy, and this moment in particular stood out.

How Was The Game? (August 7, 2013)

For the next several weeks we’ll be rolling out our list of the best The Moment’s of 2013. The list is the product of winnowing down 173 moments from April to October into the best twenty. They vary in their importance but all captivated us in an important way. A few are silly, a few are excellent plays, and a few will travel down in Tigers lore. I hope you enjoy it.

#10 Rick Porcello’s First Career Complete Game

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Regular readers know about my affinity for Rick Porcello and my affinity for complete games. In four plus seasons, Porcello had never been given the chance to finish what he started and Leyland offered his starters almost no chances to do so in 2013. But with the offense cruising and Porcello on fire, he got his chance. Porcello walked one and struck out four as he allowed a single run during his nine inning affair and managed to retire the final seventeen White Sox that he faced. For most people, this probably doesn’t crack the top ten moments, but I actually struggled to leave it this low. I’m not sure that I can fully articulate why it filled me with so much joy, but it’s probably the most fun I had watching a Tigers game this year.

How Was The Game? (September 10, 2013)

For the next several weeks we’ll be rolling out our list of the best The Moment’s of 2013. The list is the product of winnowing down 173 moments from April to October into the best twenty. They vary in their importance but all captivated us in an important way. A few are silly, a few are excellent plays, and a few will travel down in Tigers lore. I hope you enjoy it.

#11 – Victor’s circus play

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When you hear the words “Victor Martinez,” the images that come to mind are “good hitter,” “pretty swing,” and “adorable son.” Rarely, does one think “athletic defender,” but he we are. The game was wonderfully weird. There was a botched double play because the Red Sox tagged two Tigers out of order and an Avi Garcia double on a ball that Daniel Nava quite simply caught. But the play of the day, and the 11th best moment of the year, was this ridiculous play by VMart. He dives to his left to knock the ball down, goes after the ball as it rolls away, and then gives a perfect, back-handed flip to Smyly who was on the play the entire way. Just watch this thing a few times and bask in it’s glory.

How Was The Game? (June 23, 2013)

For the next several weeks we’ll be rolling out our list of the best The Moment’s of 2013. The list is the product of winnowing down 173 moments from April to October into the best twenty. They vary in their importance but all captivated us in an important way. A few are silly, a few are excellent plays, and a few will travel down in Tigers lore. I hope you enjoy it.

#12 – Anibal Sanchez nearly throws a no hitter

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At the time, I wrote that it snuck up on us. Sanchez didn’t look dominant early on and his stuff wasn’t dynamite out of the gate. Both times I watched Verlander toss a no-hitter, I knew he was on from the first batter. He’s had that look other times, but on the night of his first one in 2007, I said to my father after the top of the first that “no one’s touching him tonight.” They didn’t. Sanchez didn’t have that look early, but before you knew it he had kept a zero under the “H” column in the box score. The tension built in the final innings until that pesky Joe Mauer came to the plate ready to ruin everyone’s good time. There’s something about a Friday night game during the summer – there’s just a different feel, even 700 miles away. It felt like it was going to be a spectacular finish right up until Mauer sent one right back up the box. Sanchez nailed down the shutout, but the no-no was gone. A great moment, even if it didn’t end the way you wanted it to. Pretty much the whole season in one game right there.

How Was The Game (May 24, 2013)

For the next several weeks we’ll be rolling out our list of the best The Moment’s of 2013. The list is the product of winnowing down 173 moments from April to October into the best twenty. They vary in their importance but all captivated us in an important way. A few are silly, a few are excellent plays, and a few will travel down in Tigers lore. I hope you enjoy it.

#13 – Verlander Duels Sonny Gray

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One wouldn’t characterize the ending of this game as “good” or “something that didn’t make the author pout in disgust,” but the actual process of getting there was something else. Verlander had a rocky season, but he got it together down the stretch and was absolute nails in this game. He went seven innings, allowed four hits and a walk to go with 11 strikeouts including a really awesome battle in which he send Stephen Vogt down swinging with two on in the 5th. Gray was awesome in his own right, going 8 scoreless before the bullpens and managers decided a game that belonged to the starters. Several people proposed and I concurred that Verlander and Gray should have had to stay in the game until one of them lost it.

It was an amazing pitchers’ duel, even if it didn’t go the right way. The series did, and that’s really all that matters.

How Was The Game (October 5, 2013)

For the next several weeks we’ll be rolling out our list of the best The Moment’s of 2013. The list is the product of winnowing down 173 moments from April to October into the best twenty. They vary in their importance but all captivated us in an important way. A few are silly, a few are excellent plays, and a few will travel down in Tigers lore. I hope you enjoy it.

#14 – Alex Avila’s 9th inning homerun in Houston

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The Tigers had an early lead in this one, but lost it during a strange 7th inning in which the Astros scored on an error and an infield hit. In the top of the ninth, Kelly worked a leadoff walk, Peralta flied out to center, and Alex Avila, who was already stuck in his early season rut came to the plate. He worked a 3-0 count before taking the fourth pitch for a strike. The next pitch, from future teammate Jose Veras, came right down the middle and Avila smashed it to right center. Avila struggled for the next couple of months before turning it on down the stretch, but this big swing in Houston was one of the most excited plays of the year.

How Was The Game? (May 3, 2013)