Former Erie Players a Bust in World Series

Throughout the regular season and into postseason play the Detroit Tigers became the "hometown" team of Erie County. After all, the city of Erie is home to the SeaWolves, a Double A affiliate of the Tigers. Several of the players that had helped the Tigers become contenders in the 2006 season came through Erie, PA, and thus the Erie region began to follow the Tigers as they found success in both the regular season and the postseason. Following the four game sweep of Oakland in the ALCS, Erieites were ready to cheer their former SeaWolves onto a world championship.

"Tiger Fever" will swiftly be cooled, however, mainly because of the Tigers losing to the Cardinals in a rather unimpressive World Series. As if the Tigers losing in a mere five games wasn't a good enough reason for Erie baseball fans to rethink hopping onto the Detroit bandwagon, the former SeaWolves who became stars in Detroit sure helped fans come back to reality. They did so by laying an egg in the Series. Granderson, Verlander, Rodney, and Zamaya all can lay claim as being a reason that Detroit fans did not even get to see their team bring the Series back home.

Curtis Granderson did not put up All-Star numbers with the Tigers this season, but he was downright embarrassing in the Fall Classic. A .260 hitter in the regular season, Granderson went a depressing 2 for 21 in the Series and struck out a team leading seven times. Then of course there is the incident in game four. An intermittent rain had been falling in St. Louis throughout the game and had dampened the field. In the bottom of the seventh inning, eventual World Series MVP David Eckstein hit what should have been a routine fly ball into center field. Granderson, playing center, then performed his best Curt Flood circa 1968 impression, slipping on the wet grass. Eckstein would easily double.

Later in that same inning, another Erie graduate would have a run of misfortune that would eventually help aid the Cardinals to a game four win. Detroit reliever and former Erie hurler Fernando Rodney would eventually give up the lead to St. Louis during an inning that could only be described as bizarre. The flop by Granderson would be followed by pinch-hitter So Taguchi laying down a sacrifice bunt. Rodney rushed to the ball and, instead of steadying himself to make an accurate throw, launched an errant throw over the head of Placido Polanco. Eckstein would easily come around from second to score the tying run. From there, it seemed almost fitting that Preston Wilson, himself having a pitiful postseason, would single to left with two outs to bring home the go-ahead run for St. Louis.

As if things weren't bad enough for those who spent many an afternoon and evening at Jerry Uht Park, the eighth inning would prove to be another moment that will haunt a former Erie pitcher long after the end of this bumbling World Series. Joel Zamaya, a right-handed stud throughout his career, came on to pitch after the Tigers had tied the game in the top of the inning. Zamaya would give up what would turn out to be the game winning run, as newly found Tiger killer David Eckstein would do in Detroit for the second time in one game. St. Louis second baseman Aaron Miles would move to second on a wild pitch from Zamaya, setting the stage for more Eckstein heroics. The ball Eckstein hit was barely out of the reach of outfielder Craig Monroe, who came up just short of making a game saving (and possibly Series saving) play.

Justin Verlander fared no better than his comrades. Verlander, most likely the American League Rookie of the Year award winner, would be both the first and last Erie alumnus to self destruct while facing the Cardinals. In game one Verlander would give up seven runs, six of them earned. This included a two-run homerun to Albert Pujols in the third inning and a throwing error on a pick-off play in the sixth that was the beginning of a three-run six inning for St. Louis.

Verlander would take the hill again in game five, this time with his team facing elimination. Verlander would pitch better than his game one performance, giving up three runs with only one of them earned. However, it would once again be a fielding error by a Detroit pitcher that would do in the Tigers, this time for good. In the fourth inning Verlander botched what should have been a routine ground ball as he attempted to throw out lead runner Yadier Molina at third base. His throw was well wide and bounced into the outfield, allowing a run to score. David Eckstein would come through again for St. Louis, driving in the go-ahead run while grounding out to short.

The final stats of the former 'Wolves who took the hill during the Series are abysmal to say the least. They would throw for a combined 0-3 record, giving up seventeen runs with ten of them earned. Together the three had twelve bases-on-balls, and Verlander made history by throwing two wild pitches in one World Series game, doing so in game five.

The fact is that all four of these young players will bounce back. Verlander is on his way to being an annual All-Star, with the other three players not far behind him in talent. However, the city of Erie will have to wait at least another season before they can crown their previous local icons as champions of the baseball world.