In the Old Testament, David beat Goliath. It's a story that some of us grew up listening to right before being tucked into our beds.-á
But as I've gotten older, I find myself wondering if David had any idea his conquest would become one of the most famous cliches in sports.-á
Many centuries later, in the year 1919, a thoroughbred named Upset knocked off one of the greatest racehorses ever, giving Man O' War his only loss of his career in the Sanford Memorial. Upset was a 100-to-1 underdog and suddenly the cliche had a name.-á
Since that time, a large list of 'upsets' has piled up. The top of that list, in my opinion, has to be the U.S. hockey team's 4-3 win over the Soviet Union in the 1980 Olympic medal rounds, which is better known as The Miracle on Ice.-á
Coming in close behind, are 8th-seeded Villanova University's NCAA basketball championship over Georgetown University in 1985; the New York Jets' Super Bowl III win over the Baltimore Colts; and my personal favorite, the 1969 Miracle Mets' improbable World Series title. These are all at the top of the list.-á
The common thread weaving these situations together is the seemingly impossible being transformed into the possible. Somehow the underdog toppled the giant.-á
Saturday, another moment was ushered into that group.-á
The Detroit Tigers' four-game series win over the New York Yankees in the American League Divisional Series was an upset for the ages. This was a team that finished with an embarrassing 61-119 record just three years ago, that turned around to squeeze the life out of the New York Yankees!-á
This series also broke what has become the No. 1 rule of the playoffs in Major League Baseball. The last several years in the post-season the team entering October on a hot streak has done well, while the opposite rings true for clubs coming in cold.
Detroit came into its first post-season since 1987 with five straight losses (two against the Toronto Blue Jays and a season-ending sweep at home against the Kansas City Royals). If just one of those games would've ended with the Tigers on the bright side of the box score, the AL Central division championship would have resided in the Motor City.-á
The Yankees didn't enter the playoffs with a winning streak either. However, they clinched their AL East title, and the best record in the American League with enough time to rest their key starters. So the losses were in games that didn't seem to matter.-á
The pre-series talk centered around the offensive lineup Joe Torre fielded. There's never been a better offensive lineup in the history of baseball than what the Yankees started in the first two games at the Bronx: Johnny Damon, Derek Jeter, Bobby Abreu, Gary Sheffield, Jason Giambi, Alex "A-Rod" Rodriguez, Hideki Matsui, Jorge Posada, and Robinson Cano, all of whom have been to at least one All-Star game in their career. I mean, that shouldn't even be legal!-á
But the "experts" forgot that great pitching beats great hitting, especially in October. While the Yankees led the Majors in runs scored per game, the Tigers, who boast the lowest team ERA of the regular season, definitely do have great pitching.-á
After Detroit gave up eight runs in Game 1, the trio of Justin Verlander, Kenny Rogers and Jeremy Bonderman gave up a total of 5 earned runs over 21 1/3 innings of work. Again, it was against one of the greatest lineups a baseball team has ever had.-á
To put the magnitude of this upset in a better perspective, the last time the Tigers finished a season with a winning record before this year was in 1993. The Tigers haven't acquired a World Series ring since October 1984.-á
In contrast, the Yankees have been to the Fall Classic six times since 1993 and have won four world championships in that time.
So, if you were watching the Tigers-Yankees series last week and found yourself having childhood flashbacks, don't be alarmed. It was just Detroit's way of reminding you that David did indeed beat Goliath.
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