Detroit Free Press

Here was the idea: Find the Tiger who had waited the longest to be in first place. A timely concept, I figured. After all, the Tigers were awfully close to the first-place Yankees. I mean, very, very close. How close? Remember when Groucho Marx told his dance partner: "Darling, if I got any closer to you, I'd be behind you"?

MOSCOW -- It took three seconds. Maybe two. My feet had not yet left passport control in Sheremetyevo (Moscow) Airport when there was a voice and a face and a clipboard."You are . . . " the woman began in strained English. She was wearing a white dress and too much lipstick and a pin, an "Intourist" pin, which meant she worked for the hotels designated for outsiders. And that I would not be left alone from here on in."Sports journalist," I said. "American.""End yur name ees?"

NAKISKA, Alberta -- There were hands around his waist, hands grabbing his neck and two, three, four hands slapping him on the head."ALBERTO! ALBERTO!"He waved. He laughed. He pointed playfully to the No. 1 on his racing bib. There were Italian flags behind him and Italian flags in front of him, and five, six, seven hands slapping him on the head."ALBERTO!""FANTASTICO, ALBERTO!"

TORONTO -- The catch. The catch. Everyone wanted to talk about the catch."I know I caught it," pleaded Lloyd Moseby, his hair wet, his uniform stained with dirt. "The umpires are good. But a ball player knows when he catches a ball. And I caught that ball."

BOSTON -- Aha! I know what's going on here. Not long after Saturday's game -- when Fenway Park had emptied and the Red Sox had clobbered the Tigers for their 24th straight home victory -- I heard the telltale clue.Giggling."We did it again," the leprechauns chuckled from somewhere inside the stadium, maybe behind the right field bleachers. "We still got it. Heh-heh."

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- It was too early for a basketball classic. The first snows hadn't even fallen, much less melted. The days were growing shorter, football ruled the screen and the words "final four" would be interpreted as how many shopping weeks left until Christmas. Yet here was an arena full of people and a court full of network TV cameras waiting for greatness from two college basketball teams, who just happened to have been pre-season ranked No. 1 and 2 by most everybody in the know, you know.Georgia Tech and Michigan.

You could see it coming; if you had any compassion, you closed your eyes. Frank Tanana had loaded the bases in the first inning -- a single, two walks -- and now a kid named Todd Benzinger was up for the Red Sox, and he pretty much held the pitcher's immediate future in his bat. Whack! A long fly ball. Over the left-center fence. Gone.And so was Tanana.

LOUISVILLE -- The beasts were pawing at the gates."START THEM UP!" someone screamed."WOOOH!" screamed someone else.Only the gates stood between them and mad glory. The beasts were restless. The beasts wanted to run."IT'S TIIIIME!" someone screamed."DO IT!" screamed someone else.A cop checked his watch. There were about 75 cops there, billy clubs by their sides, safe on the other side of the gates, away from these wild animals. The cop with the watch looked up. He nodded.