Final thought for the ALDS:

What if they had played The Rainout?

They would have gotten in close to a full game because that storm never came in until about 11 that night. Maybe nothing would have been different and it's just baseball But it makes you wonder. It was rescheduled for the next afternoon. The world changed in a hurry after that, the Yankees stopped hitting, the Tigers did everything right.

That's the first thing I thought about the morning after the Tigers shocked the Yankees. I am always going to wonder about The Rainout.

Leaving Motown now...adios.

In 2003, I became our daily interviewer of Cubs fans at MLB.com while working that NLCS. In 2004, it was Red Sox fans. In 2005, it was White Sox fans. All I know is that for two straight days I have been immersed in interviewed and living amongst Tiger fans. It is precisely the same feeling so far. The fans who talk about how they have never experienced something like this in their lifetimes, the feeling of something new. It doesn't matter to a young fan today whether the last time you won was in 1918 or 1984 -- a lifetime drought is a lifetime drought. That's where we are now. There is much baseball to be played, but after seeing what Detroit just did, good luck to everyone else.

It's interesting to think what all of us were saying at the end of Game 1, when all of the noise was about Derek Jeter's 5-for-5 game and the "Murderers Row and Cano" lineup. Today, there was that feeling of just a little sadness as you watched Jeter at the plate toward the end -- just because as a fan you like to see the great ones perform -- knowing that probably was going to be his last at-bat of the year. It is that same feeling of sadness for some that makes all of this so special, because of how it feels when you break through the way the Tigers have. And they didn't just break through, but they practically pulled those two big trucks off the General Motors Fountain beyond center field here and went four-wheeling all over their opponents in this series.

Sure thought it would be a closer series. If anyone had told me it would be a wipeout, I would have been pretty sure it would have been in the Yankees' favor. Next stop LCS. Thanks to everyone who has read this blog and viewed the pics and videos. Be sure to make yourself a regular in the MLBlogosphere, the only place where you can get your own marks and logos and blog alongside players like Nate Robertson, David Wright, Barry Zito and MLB personalities like Brooks Robinson, Tommy Lasorda and so many of your fellow fans. See me while you're there. Thanks.

Perfect day for Game 4 as you can see above in 2 p.m. ET shot outside Comerica Park. The major news here is that A-Rod is hitting eighth. And Melky is in, Giambi is out. That tells you all you need to know about the shocking turn of developments in this American League Division Series.

Expect to see a lot of orange today...

Waiting to welcome a tremendous throng (which is now making the stadium shake again as I am typing this at the start of the game)...

You have to love the Mini-Donuts stand right behind home plate. Enjoyed my brunch...

It's a baseball town again. You also can find these goodies here if you don't want to stand in line.

Jim Leyland before the game: "We're not going to do anything different. We're going to see how the game develops, and obviously we're going to do the same thing the Yankees are going to do. They are going to do everything they can to win it, and we're going to do everything we can to win it."

Joe Torre before the game: "We obviously don't feel good about ourselves and we know what we're capable of doing and we have to go out there and do it. Yeah, you hope the experience helps you, you really do. Again, I don't care how much you've played this game, and how successful you've been, that taste of losing is never a nice taste. So you really have to reverse it, and we have to do something about that today against a very good team."

Pregame video, about an hour and a half before first pitch as the Yankees were taking BP:

OK, Game 4 is on. There was a really nice moment of silence before the game for Buck O'Neil. We're going to miss him.

Nothing to say other than total destruction. One of my favorite moments was chatting for 10 minutes with Ernie Harwell in pregame press dining room while he was filling out his lineup card he used during his two innings on ESPN that night. Great guy with invaluable knowledge and coming out with "Ernie Harwell's Audiobook" at end of October -- hopefully available at MLB.com.

Middle of the sixth, here's a Canon Powershot video from my vantage point in the aisleway close to the field and amid an absolutely stoked and stadium-shaking throng.

Full report forthcoming from MLB.com, but news flash: Bernie Williams will DH because of his good numbers against Kenny Rogers, Jason Giambi will play first after Joe Torre was assured he's physically OK to do so, and A-Rod is cleanup instead of sixth. Torre is in the press interview room right now and here is his announcement:

"Johnny first, Derek, Bobby, Alex will hit fourth, so I can make everybody happy (laughter fills room), Giambi, Posada, Matsui, Bernie and Cano."

We're here now and pregame interview sessions are under way. Jim Leyland is mixing it up against the lefty (Randy Johnson). Tonight's Tiger lineup he just announced here in the media interview room:

1. Placido Polanco
2. Craig Monroe
3. Marcus Thames
4. Magglio Ordonez
5. Carlos Guillen
6. Pudge Rodriguez
7. Sean Casey
8. Brandon Inge
9. Curtis Granderson

Leyland also said, when asked what it meant to Tiger fans that the series came back here 1-1 instead of 2-0 down: "If we'd come here 0-2, I think they would have had a good time, but probably wouldn't think we can win the series in their heart." Then he added that now they obviously do.

Jeremy Bonderman will start Game 4 for the Tigers. He paid Yankee fans a compliment when asked what it has been like to take everything in during this series. "When we were in New York, the crowd there was phenomenal," he said. "They're on their feet 90 percent of the game."

Here is video I shot with the Canon Powershot A540 during the pregame interview session with Jaret Wright, the Yankees' scheduled Game 4 starter. People want to know what he thinks of A-Rod. Obviously many people do back in NYC. Don't mind the shaking, remember that 99 out of 100 reporters here aren't also holding a camera, trying something new.

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.

Justin Verlander must have slept just fine. Who cares if he threw 10 soft-tosses before word got to him last night about the weather? He was pure pre-Zumaya gas until slowing down to 92 and being taken out by Jim Leyland with the 1-1 count, and the rookie is a 1-0 postseason pitcher now. Marcus Thames said he still has plenty of Yankee memorabilia from his days in the organization, but he just went 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI as another of Detroit's young catalysts. Thames is now 6-for-7 all-time against Mike Mussina, explaining that he just stays aggressive against the Moose.

Was that the last Yankee home game? That's the thing about short series -- you never know. One minute the Yankees are spectacularly dominant against a club some people said shouldn't be here -- and the next minute, you're a Yankees fan just hoping you see your guys again in 2006. Now it goes to Detroit with no off-day for Game 3 on Friday and Game 4 on Saturday, then a Game 5 if needed right back here. It's a series, and watching Zoom throw heat is second to nothing. Or  maybe the Yanks go to Detroit, win behind Big Unit and then take it the next day. It's a series.

Joe Torre just announced that Jaret Wright is his Game 4 starter. Torre said not to look at A-Rod's 0-fer, Cano's early struggle -- focusing instead on fabulous Detroit pitching.

Leyland just called it "a great playoff game." And he said the thing he is happiest about is, "I hope in my heart that everybody realizes we are a playoff team, and I hope we proved that today."

Yep, at 103 mph.

We begin with the Daily D Train Shot. . . .

And here is my daily YouTube upload for you from Yankee Stadium. Thought that a little caliope music from out front of the Press Gate/Players Entrance would set the mood.

Forecast for today's 1:09 pm ET game: PERFECT. That storm that finally arrived brought with it cool temps from the north, so we're in the 60s.

Ron Guidry was just asked about a Yankees Game 4 starter and he replied, "I haven't gotten that far yet."

Jim Leyland was asked if Justin Verlander got some sleep, and he said, "I don't know, I don't bunk with him."

Fans are rolling back in, carrying the same tickets they brought with them here last night. A car took me home from the park at midnight, and we were sloshing through puddles all over streets and passing emergency rescue vehicles en masse. You can see why MLB and the clubs made the decision they did -- it was an onimous blob on the radar screen. Even though, yes, we could have played close to a whole game last night with some annoying spritz. Better safe than sorry was the decision. Now we're back and gametime is creeping up.

Final look back at what last night felt like for more than 50,000 people here:

Several minutes ago we were told that tonight's game is off. It will be made up at 1 p.m. ET on Thursday, which means a lot of things, not the least of which is heavy-duty scrambling among all of the media here who were planning to fly to Detroit in the morning. Jimmie Lee Solomon of MLB will be in the interview room in 10 minutes to explain what happened tonight . . . and thousands of fans filing out right now are very curious based on everything I was overhearing in the concourses during the long delay for provisional bad weather.

A Subway Series certainly remains a good possibility given that both New York teams won their first games, but there is a lot of baseball to be played. In the meantime, I thought I would upload a Powershot video here that shows what happens when two New York teams are playing at home on the same day. Here are the Yankees at batting practice, with one eye on the giant scoreboard showing Mets vs. Dodgers from over in Queens. And by the way: We're in a rain delay, to update the forecast I posted with Joe Torre's help in the previous entry.

First, the daily D Train shot, arriving in the Bronx...

Joe Torre just said in his pregame press conference: "We've got a couple different forecasts. One that says it's gonna rain at 8:15 and one that says it's gonna rain at 9:30. I'd take the first one, but it's unpredictable." As you can see from this 4 pm photo, it was nothing but beautiful earlier, and 80 degrees. But Mother Nature could be a factor.

Torre also just said that Randy Johnson is likely in the air right now on his way to Detroit after throwing "30 to 35 pitches" today and "everything seemed fine." So all systems go for Big Unit in Game 3. Meanwhile, the Yanks had one eye on the local Mets while taking BP:

Power players: From left, A-Rod, Torre, Cashman, Mattingly, Reggie.

Make sure you check out Big Nate Chew's MLBlog that he posted after last night's Game 1 start for the Tigers, and if you're a Detroit fan, punch your pin on his Guestmap. More to follow.

Our own multimedia folks at MLB.com are hard at work around the clock making incredible video available to you, and I will be adding some of my own here in the YouTube world. This is my Canon Powershot panning Yankee Stadium early in the first game of the 2006 MLB postseason. It also was experimental as I never have uploaded an AVI file from this one. All of you who regularly follow Brownie Points, the exceptional MLBlog of my buddy and Red Sox beat writer Ian Browne, will even see part of him.

What can you say? Someday this New Yorker will be upstate at a gathering in Cooperstown and giving an induction speech, and moments like Tuesday night will race through the minds of those who witnessed his career. Just your average 5-for-5 night in the MROW2 lineup, stellar in the field, and then talking to us about how this probably isn't going to make everyone back in his former hometown of Kalamazoo, Mich., love him a lot more. Would be interested to see others' comments here about your favorite Jeter moments and where 2006 ALDS Game 1 ranks.

A little blurry but these happy campers below had just had a Giambino longball smashed into their midst, and I took this from my vantage point during this series in the right field press auxiliary seating. Surprisingly The Baseball Collector was not in this picture.

The Bleacher Creatures were making my camera shake with their "MVP! MVP!" chants.

Speaking of the BC's, here is a photo I took four hours before the game of the latest fare in BC attire. But the MLB.com Shop is still the best place to get dressed up.

You can get your high-end action photography at worldseries.com. I just wanted to grab a Big Nate Chew shot for posterity since he's a fellow MLBlogger. Make sure you check out his blog that was posted after the game -- great attitude if you're a Tiger fan.

That's one in the books. Same place Wednesday, same bat time, rookie stud pitcher Jason Verlander on the bump against The Lineup.

Jim Leyland and hitting coach Don Slaught confer while watching Pudge take his licks in BP. I then chatted a bit with Slaught and he said, "We're one of eight teams to be here -- that's the only thing that matters." Seems a lot of people around New York have written this series off. So far, two road teams have won the two games today. Will the Tigers be next? By the way, you should have seen how far Chris Shelton hit one in BP -- off the facade in the top tier down the left field line.

Here are your starting lineups. Might want to keep the Yankees' version for posterity, just in case.

TIGERS

Granderson CF
Polanco 2B
Casey 1B
Ordonez RF
Guillen SS
Rodriguez C
Monroe LF
Thames DH
Inge 3B

Nate Roberson pitching

YANKEES

Damon CF
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Sheffield 1B
Giambi DH
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui LF
Posada C
Cano 2B

Chien-Ming Wang pitching

When you step off the D Train with the masses from Manhattan, this signifies that you are about to set foot again in Babe's former home. It is time again for postseason baseball at this subway exit. It is that way pretty much every year. But never Tigers vs. Yankees in the playoffs. Here we go.



Yes, it will cost you less than 50 bucks to park here!

I always wanted to ask Stan Musial what he thinks of Stan the Man's, which takes up pretty much a whole block right beside Chez Babe. People were starting to trickle in. It was just about 4 p.m.

Here is today's real-time weather forecast: Patchy skies, but an unbelievably beautiful October day in New York. It will be warm at game time.

Players arriving to the yard. Maybe someone can help me with the ID on this one.

Game 2 starter Justin Verlander just said here in his press conference that he didn't see the Zito-Santana duel today. Someone asked him if he had watched. "I was out shopping in New York," he said. Where did he go shopping? "A little Saks, a little Fifth Avenue, just wherever. Just walking around. I didn't buy anything there. I was just looking."

Joe Torre will be in the interview room at 6:30, followed by Mike Mussina.

For all those people who hate the Yankees, Jim Leyland doesn't share your sentiment. He said he wishes he did, but he even told his players today that he can't find a motivation to hate the Yankees. He rattled off a list of reasons, mostly that "they play the game the way it should be played." He said he wishes they had headhunted in the past so he could hate them. He said Torre's a personal friend, Sheffield played for him, Tony Pena played for him, likes Giambi, one reason after another. "I just want to say that I'm a Yankee fan," Leyland said. Yes, Detroit, he said. Yes, America, he said that. Now we'll see what happens after they start playing.

OK, so my unofficial scientific research shows that half of baseball fans are rooting for some particular team in this postseason and the other half are rooting for someone to beat the Yankees. I was thinking about that as I walked out of Yankee Stadium today. I suppose much of it is simply envy. It just doesn't stop. Consider this. I was leaving to find a McDonald's, and at that point a guy comes running by in his workout gear after doing miles around The House That Ruth Built, and then I see that it's Brian Cashman and he just smiles as he completes his run. Even their general manager is in great shape and makes you kind of envious. It's just that way here.

Here are more images from my Canon Powershot at:



As you can see, it was 2:21 and the Bombers were winding up their workout. Donnie Baseball is second from the left, and it's good to see him in this series. We played against each other in high school in Evansville, Indiana. He played for Memorial and I played for Central. Once I caught two of his flies to center on his turf. Once he struck me out several times. I think he is still wearing the same glove in this picture...it was one of the oldest-looking gloves I've ever seen -- awesome. He is still a forever crowd favorite here and perhaps he finally will get his ring.

Joe Torre is blessed with one of the scariest lineups in history. After his appearance here, Jim Leyland followed soon thereafter and deadpanned about the Yankees' lineup-making decisions, "I am sure that Joe Torre is a little bit more relaxed than I am."

I like Chien-Ming Wang. He was standing at the back of the room while Torre was talking, and then Torre got up to exit. On his way out he could tell that his Game 1 starter, the tall 19-game winner from Taiwan, was uneasy approaching his trip to meet the press. "You're not comfortable -- they're all your friends!" Then a reporter asked Wang as he sat here below, "Nervous?" The reply: "On the field, no. In here? Yes." He said a lot of friends are coming from Taiwan to watch his start. Quite a change from last March, when he was pitching for Chinese-Taipei in the World Baseball Classic.

And here's my fellow MLBlogger, the master of the Rally Chew, the creator of Gum Time..."Original Nate" Robertson. I created his GuestMap for him and he has just a few people around the world sticking pins in it if you go to his blog. Now he was right here in front of me and telling everyone that he knew things were better today when teammates were "ragging on each other" on the bus. It was fun again today. It was not fun being swept by KC. He's the Game 1 starter. And he also is blogging the whole distance, along with a multitude of new player MLBlogs.

I looked up as I walked down the tunnel leading from the Yankees' clubhouse to their dugout, and saw what every single Yankee sees every day here...

I don't know about you, but I have never seen anyone violate this sign that hangs right out front near the players/press main entrance. Especially in the right field bleachers.  ;)



Another Babe-walked-here corridor shot in the bowels of Yankee Stadium...



Please leave comments with your own thoughts on the series and on this ALDS blog, and what you want to see. Will be trying to push the envelope here and take you way inside. And thanks to the airlines today for helping me change that flight from New York to Minneapolis...wasn't expecting to have to change that one but you never know with baseball. It's Tigers at Yankees. In the postseason. For the first time. Ever. Babe and Ty could never have imagined it.

Welcome to the Tigers vs. Yankees ALDS. Friends all over the MLBlogosphere will be joining us and hopefully you are blogging as well. This is a unique opportunity simply because the Tigers and Yankees never have met in a postseason before. Obviously that could not have happened for much of baseball history, but Detroit is in its first postseason since 1987 and that was before the expansion of the format to include Division Series. So here we are, two legendary and proud franchises and let's get this blog started in hopes of producing a lot of firsts.

First, the basics. The Yanks closed their clubhouse early for a meeting and they are about to take the field for a 1 p.m. workout here. Then someone from the club is at the podium in the interview room at 1:30, and word has it that the Tigers' clubhouse will open sometime after 2. It was very curious to walk by their clubhouse and see all of those Detroit jerseys hanging in Yankee Stadium during October. Not a sight anyone has ever seen.

OK, let's open with some unique perspectives on the ageless wonder that is Yankee Stadium, since we are talking about history here. This is a photo I've always wanted to take and post. Through this passageway once walked Babe Ruth. And even Ty Cobb, whose last season in the AL was '28. It leads you to the clubhouses.

This is the bullpen phone Jim Leyland will be using...

And this is the bullpen phone Joe Torre will be using...

The Tigers will need to fill this with very heavy lumber to keep up with MRow2...

Never realized that these rules were posted so prominently in the visitor's dugout...

I asked these folks if it is harder these days to paint these very detailed postseason logos, knowing how basic they used to be in the old days. They told me that the hardest one here was the 2000 World Series, because the logo stretched from the edge of the grass at the third base line to the edge of the grass in front of the visitor's dugout...apparently that was a ******* and maybe someone can post a comment with a link to a photo of it.

OK, time to move on to the players. Just wanted to start off with a welcome, and hello again to regular readers of my MLBlogosphere blog from the past year and a half. Leave lots of comments and keep me company, and let me know what you want to see.

Mark Newman/MLB.com