Road Warriors

Rob Sanford

A 4-2 road trip against two hot teams. Now that's what I call a good trip. With the exception of the final game..The Tigers finally found their offense and everyone contributed...from Miguel Cabrera to Casper Wells. There is one small cloud however...What to do with Magglio Ordonez??? From the reports I've read it isn't encouraging. Ordonez has been less than impressive in Toledo and seems to have trouble getting around on fastballs. If you can't hit fastballs, you won't be of much help. Plus, with things going well right now with the line up..you hate to break things up. But with Ordonez pulling down a ton of money, the Tigers have little choice but to have him return or eat a very expensive salary.

The passing of Jim Northrup...a key member of the 1968 Tiger championship...was another part of my youth  that died with him. To be honest, he was never one of my favorites, that honor was reserved for Earl Wilson, Willie Horton, Al Kaline, and Mickey Lolich. But I can never forget when he hit 2 grand slam home runs in one game. I had to do something for my mother and so I wasn't listening when he hit the second one...but when I heard my neighbor celebrate I asked what happened and he yelled back "He hit another one!" My other good memory was in game 7 of the World Series when he hit a triple off of Bob Gibson to drive in 2 runs and give the team the momentum to go on to victory. To be honest, one of the games best outfielders, Curt Flood of Cardinals actually misjudged the ball and by the time he tried to correct it was too late. But still Northrup was part of that "golden summer" maybe the best I've had as a Tiger fan, especially after the disappointment of 1967. I will never forget the grand slams, the World Series hit, and his frankness while being a color analyst with the old "PASS" coverage of the Tigers. Rest well Jim Northrup and thank you for your part in helping create one of the highpoints of my teenage years.