Milton Bradley's game
For that small subset of people who are fans of both the Detroit Tigers and the Harrisburg Senators, last night's American League Championship Series game between the Tigers and the Oakland A's became a nail-biter of particular poignance in the bottom of the 9th inning.
The Tigers, who had played well all night, were up 8-5. The A's had two men on, and the next batter was Oakland's power hitter, Milton Bradley, who had already hit two home runs that night. And Senators fans went, oh shit! Here we go again!
Bradley played for the Senators in the 1999 season. He was already showing the anger and attitude that would get him into trouble with umpires and fans from time to time, but he had also proven himself to be a tremendous hitter. Fast forward to the end of the 1999 season and the Senators are playing in a five-game series for the Eastern League crown. It is the deciding game, and the Senators are down by three. Bottom of the 9th, two outs, but the bases are loaded.
Whack! Bradley hits the first pitch out of the park for a grand slam, giving the Senators the Eastern League title. Blogger Matt Bruce, who follows Oakland, wrote earlier this summer that it was one of the 10 greatest home runs in Minor League history. So we Tiger fans were glad that Bradley was held to a single that didn't turn into an RBI. The next batter hit a fly ball that was caught, ending the game and putting the Tigers up 2-0 as they head into Game 3 in Detroit Friday night.