The Tigers closed the book on their 2007 season with a blowout win over the White Sox yesterday.  I was in Toronto over the weekend so I wasn’t able towatch much of the action but Magglio Ordonez went three for four and he belted his 54th homer of the season.  He finished the season with a .363 batting average and he’s the first Tiger to win the batting title since Norm Cash did it way back in 1961.  His .363 mark is the highest for a batting title qualifier since Charlie Gehringer his .371 way back in 1937.  The 54 doubles put him fifth on the Tigers single season doubles list.

Placido Polanco got one hit but that’s all he needed to reach 200 for the season.  1937 is the last time two or more Tigers picked up 200 hits and that year, four Tigers reached the milestone.  Carlos Guillen also had a big game and he drove in four runs to cross the 100 RBI mark for the first time in his career.

Curtis Granderson finished the season with 84 extra base hits and that’s good for eighth on the Tigers single season leader list.  Five of the seasons ahead of him are Hank Greenberg and the only other Tiger to have more extra base hits then Granderson had this year are Rudy York and Charlie Gehringer.

Anyway, at the plate, several Tigers did things that hadn’t been done in a while and despite missing the playoff, the Tigers did provide some excitement this year.  It’s hard to believe that just two years ago, the Tigers and playoffs in the same sentence were a joke and while you have to be a little bummed they didn’t make it this year, this is a team with a solid core that should be good for years to come.  I’ll definitely be looking forward to 2008.

We get a bonus game tonight as the Padres and Rockies have a play in game for the Wild Card.  Once things are set, I’ll do my annual playoff predictions most likely tomorrow.

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