The 2009 Detroit Tigers are giving me shpilkes.

Playing in what is largely considered to be a mediocre logjam of a division, they certainly have had a multitude of opportunities to begin to pull away from the pack and establish themselves as “top dog” in the economic wasteland that is the AL Central.

Instead, the Tigers have failed on several occasions to take advantage of struggling teams and are coming off their 10th-in-a-row road series loss to the talent-deprived and meandering Oakland Athletics.

The rubber match of the series on Sunday was particularly infuriating to watch as the Tigers showed glimmers of hope towards the end, only to have the somewhat reliable bullpen (primarily rookie Ryan Perry) give up 4 runs in the 8th, effectively ending the day.

This has been the story all too many times this season.  Only the characters change.

Most chapters include a valiant pitching effort Justin Verlander, Edwin Jackson or Rick Porcello being spoiled by a lackluster offensive performance forcing a gut-wrenching, low-scoring comedy of missed opportunities (and the occasional Ryan Raburn error).

But somehow at the end of the day, by the grace of the divine and thoroughly ironic Baseball Gods, we end up being a few games ahead of the Chicago White Sox.

I can’t take it anymore.

This club is too talented to be content with such impotence.  The people of Detroit, especially after a disappointing Stanley Cup Finals, are relying on the Tigers to lift their spirits out of the dumpster of reality.

Maybe what this team needs is a little good, old-fashioned motivation; the kind that only comes from being on the wrong end of a pennant chase.

They have the payroll, they have the support of the fans and city, they have the talent- they may just lack the stimuli.

So, if the Tigers don’t want to establish themselves as the heir apparent in the AL Central, let’s let the White Sox with their potent offense and the looming threat of Jake Peavy take a stab at it.

But for now, it seems like the Tigers team that’s been showing up (especially on the road) is looking for ways to lose games, or doesn’t seem particularly interested in winning the games that it has a legitimate chance to.