Thanks to Wednesday’s rainout, it was travel scramble mode so I slept exactly three hours last night and then caught an early flight this morning for Cleveland. Then I rented a car for the three-hour drive up to Detroit, and that was OK because it was a chance to play Cleveland rock as loudly as possible while driving. Once I got to Toledo, Ohio, I saw these overpass signs and I couldn’t resist aiming the Canon Powershot A540 up while I was surrounded by big rigs on both sides.

It just seemed kind of fitting. If you had asked me last offseason where I might be at this time of year, I would have bet Eric Byrnes would comb his hair before the Tigers would be playing right now instead of the Indians. At least as the Wild Card behind Chicago, maybe AL Central champs. So here we are now, driving from Cleveland to Detroit, only because of flight availability to get to Motown. Sorry, Tribe fans. Maybe the "CLOSED" stripe will be removed in 2007.

There’s another shot from I-75 heading north into Detroit. But first back up some miles. This really happened: Exactly as I crossed over the state line into Michigan, the FM station that said "we play EVERYTHING" (have you noticed that trend around American FM dials in today’s myspace world?)  decided to play "Stranglehold" by the Motor City Madman himself, Ted Nugent.

You bes’ get out of the way.

The playoffs are coming to Detroit in a matter of hours. The storied New York Yankees are here. Jeter’s back in the state where he grew up. It’s 1-1, gametime at 8ish ET. Rogers vs. Unit. AL All-Star starter vs. MRow2. If you want to see what kind of excitement the Tigers have stirred in this city at an unfamiliar time of year, then consider this pic I took driving through downtown:

That also tells you everything you need to know about the weather. That was about 12:45 p.m. The temp is just going to go south by the time a night game arrives. October baseball is really here now. No more of that first-day-of-postseason subtropical action.

For nostalgia buffs, here is another highway pic taken of the place that last saw a Tigers postseason home game:

Memo to driver’s ed students: Do not attempt to take pictures like this these while driving on the highway with three hours’ sleep. . . . unless Nugent is playing loudly. Of course, you probably never have heard of Nugent, hence the Wikipedia link.

More from Comerica soon.