Let’s start with this: Even without Magglio Ordonez’s ninth-inning home run in Game 4 of the 2006 ALCS, the Detroit Tigers were almost certainly headed to the World Series.
After all, they were up 3-0 in the series and had outscored the Oakland Athletics, 16-6.
And even in Game 4, they erased an early three-run deficit. They forced the A’s to leave their closer, Huston Street, in the game for more than two innings. And they shut the door on Oakland’s offense without using star relievers such as Joel Zumaya and Todd Jones.