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| #22 Victor Martinez 2011 Topps - Black Diamond (Redemption) |
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| #57 Miguel Cabrera 2011 Topps - Black Diamond (Redemption) |
I think that this may be the first time that I've ever gone to back to back baseball games to start the season. Based on last night's attendance at Camden Yards I'm not the only one for whom this is a rare occurrence. Still, me and my 5-person party of Tigers fans thoroughly enjoyed watching the Tigers do what we all wanted them to do this year. Play well.
It wasn't all perfect, but it made for a great game. At no point did things feel out of hand, but it was never at the point where I was sick-to-my-stomach nervous about things falling apart. Some points of note:
- Brennan Boesch reached on an error--a bad error, since it really wasn't very windy last night and that pop up should have been caught--which was folowed up by a walk to Peralta. With Alex Avila at the plate, having looked relatively helpless so far this season, a wild pickoff throw advances Boesch to 3rd. At this point my wife says something like "Avila is going to do something here. Weird errors like that have a way of snapping you into reality and breaking you out of a slump." And lo.
- Alex Avila was great. He won the game for the Tigers.
- Verander. See Above. Was filthy and got better later in the game, while clocking in not too far from 100 pitches. A phenomenal start.
- Back to Back home runs from Cabrera and VMart. Immediately prior to those at bats I thought that both of them had looked lost at the plate, especially Cabrera. Shows what I know.
- Maggs crushed the ball all night, but got only two singles to show for it. He's about to break out in a big way.
- Jhonny "Rhange" Peralta. He took a horrible angle to miss a routine ground ball earlier in the game, but made up for it with a couple very nice plays on balls up the middle(ish).
- Camden Yards. Still one of the nicest places to see a ballgame, especially on a 50 degree evening. The win made my walk home that much easier.
It was a great night all around. Back to back games for me and back to back home runs for the Tigers. Let's see if the Tigers can make it back to back wins tonight.
The two cards shown above are part of the "Black Diamond" redemption set from 2011 Topps. I actually got both of them in the mail before the game yesterday, which made the Cabrera/VMart homer parade feel all the more appropriate. This is a great little set from Topps. I certainly hope it continues into Series 2 and the Update Set, as these are the only two (non-autographed) Tigers that exist.
