Up next for M's: Tigers no longer at tail end of AL

At age 89, no keener observer of Detroit, or the Tigers, exists than Ernie Harwell, the team's long, long, long-time announcer.

After a dormancy that lasted more than a decade — through 12 straight losing seasons, to be exact — baseball fervor is back in the Motor City, says Harwell, who retired in 2002 but still follows the team closely.

"The town is agog about the Tigers," Harwell said in a phone interview. "The fans haven't had much to cheer about. But now they're winning, and people are coming out of the woodwork. The hard-core fans are ecstatic, and the marginal fans are coming out to hop on the bandwagon."

The Tigers, who arrive in Seattle tonight to open a three-game series at Safeco Field, have the best record in baseball at 57-28. It's a staggering revival for a team that had made losing an art form.

They opened the 2002 season 0-11, and went on to lose 106 games. But that was a good year compared to 2003, when the Tigers started 1-17 and finished 43-119, making them the losingest American League team ever.

They lost 90 in 2004 and 91 last year, leading to the firing of Alan Trammell, who had 299 defeats to show for his three-year tenure. Under new manager Jim Leyland, a victim of burnout in his last stint in Colorado, there was reason to expect improvement ... but this much improvement?

They are keeping pace with the sainted 1984 Tigers, who started off 35-5 and went on to win the World Series under Sparky Anderson. They have managed to stay ahead all season of the defending champion Chicago White Sox in the AL Central, and they are on pace to win 109 games, more than they ever won with Ty Cobb, Hank Greenberg, Al Kaline, or anyone else.

Two days ago in Oakland, Leyland was telling reporters, in a thinly veiled paean to their playoff aspirations, that "this team can be a special team. ... They have a chance to accomplish something. Will we? I don't know. But they've got a chance to make this a memorable season."

It already has been — a monument both to Leyland's motivational talents and to the systematic rebuilding job done by general manager Dave Dombrowski. The two teamed up to win a title in Florida in 1997, and now they have created another prosperous situation.

Leyland lost 90 games in 1999 with Colorado, then cited burnout when he asked out of his contract. There hasn't been a hint of that malady this year.

The key has been the pitching staff, which leads the majors in earned-run average at 3.52 (nearly half a run better than second-place San Diego).

The revelations have been fireballing rookie starter Justin Verlander and reliever Joel Zumaya, both of whom hit triple digits on the speed gun. Zumaya, in particular, routinely registers 101, and even racked up a Sidd Finchian 104 mph during a game in Minnesota.

Probable All-Star Game starter Kenny Rogers, with 11 wins, is one of many free-agent signings on which Dombrowski has hit big, along with Pudge Rodriguez and Magglio Ordonez.

He has also made astute trades, including the one in 2004 that brought former Mariners shortstop Carlos Guillen to the Tigers. Guillen has hit .318 and .320 in his two seasons with the Tigers, and he is at .300 this year.

"Unfortunately for him, and for Seattle, he was hurt a lot," Dombrowski said. "They were at a point they had to make a decision. He wasn't far from free agency. Based on his injuries, it was apparent they were not comfortable extending him. It was fortunate timing for us. Our people thought his better years were ahead of him."

That turned out to be true for Guillen — and for the Tigers.