Moving on

I thought the Tigers were due for a loss when they fell behind 3-0 in Game 4 today, but what was I thinking? Don't look for a bandwagon to jump on; this is a magic carpet.

After limping through the end of the season, and becoming the punch line in jokes again, I'm glad the country has gotten to see what has made the Tigers special this year. Great pitching, timely hitting from a variety of sources, and chemistry. Not to mention another gray-haired manager pushing the buttons.

Leyland said after the game that in spring training the Tigers had a lot of good players, but weren't a good team. Now, he added, they are a good team.

Here is a look at what he meant. The hitting stars by game in the ALCS: Inge, Gomez, Monroe, Ordonez. Polanco, who we noted all year was the player the Tigers could least do without, was the MVP. Granderson and Guillen contributed. And the pitching was solid, again -- Robertson, Verlander, Rogers, Bonderman, Walker, Ledezma, Grilli, Rodney, Zumaya, Jones.

Polly merely has hit safely in all 8 postseason games so far, and has six multi-hit games. Rogers was lights out again in Game 3. Bonderman scuffled in Game 4 to keep the Tigers in the contest, like he was Robertson.

The Tigers are the first team to win 6 straight postseason games by at least 3 runs each.

Now they will have an extended break, which might be the only thing that can ruin this momentum. But in Leyland we trust.

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ESPN radio's Jon Miller gave a tip of the cap to former Detroit legendary radio man Ernie Harwell when I was listening to Friday's game by calling the team "the Tigs," which is how Harwell often referred to the team.