Some problems aren’t so bad to have.

Like figuring out how to “deal” with preparing for a World Series.


A few weeks before the end of the season, the pregame discussion in the office of Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland turned theoretical, musing about whether or not the teams with the best chance in the playoffs were the ones who went in hot.

Leyland shrugged at the idea of momentum carrying over, reminding the assembled throng of reporters that his 2006 Tigers team went 9-12 in the final three weeks of the regular season, and lost its last five games to cost themselves the American League Central title.

All that team — one that "backed into the playoffs" — did once it  got there was make the World Series, Leyland made the point, dismissing the idea of momentum. His follow-up point was that all the momentum the Tigers had pulled out of nowhere to upset the Yankees and Athletics disappeared just as quickly, thanks to a week-long layoff.

Someone asked, "Would you do anything differently this time, if the situation was the same?"

"Let me put it this way: That would be a nice problem to have," said Leyland, whose team was still trailing the Chicago White Sox in the AL Central standings at the time.

That very problem has now arrived.

After finishing off a four-game sweep of the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series on Thursday, the Tigers now have five days of enforced idleness until the World Series starts on Wednesday. They won't know until at least Friday night or later which National League team they'll face.

Sounds awfully familiar, right?

Solution: Play some games to keep from getting rusty.

"I don’t know if you remember this, but in 2006, we sat around a week before we played. We were waiting around for the National League champion. And we were pretty bad in the World Series," Leyland said on ESPN Radio's "Mike and Mike in the Morning" show Friday morning, after saying the night before there was a plan in place that he was hesitant to reveal.

"We actually have our instructional league team coming to Detroit, and we’re going to play a couple actual games Sunday and Monday, and have a workout Saturday as well. We’re going to have our pitchers throw to hitters, and have our hitters face live pitching.

"So, hopefully we’ll be a little more prepared this time."

TigsTown.com's Paul Wezner reported Friday that pitchers Joe Rogers, Slade Smith and Hudson Randall, infielders Jason King and Devon Travis were among those headed to Detroit for the scrimmages. Several of the players have confirmed their participation on Twitter.

There are several non-roster players who could also help out, guys like Brennan Boesch and Bryan Holaday who have stayed with the team throughout the playoff run, though not as active participants. Pitchers like Brayan Villarreal and Darin Downs could be included, as well.

A pair of simulated games will at least give the Tigers a chance to avoid the rust that comes from any sort of layoff after a marathon season. 

"It happened to us last time. I think mentally rusty, as much as anything else. If you remember right, some of our big guys went like 5-for-90 in that series. I think you can get mentally rusty, too," said Leyland, whose team hit .199, and allowed eight unearned runs in five games, thanks to eight errors.

"You have an emotional win, like we had last night, and you’ve really got some adrenaline going, then you sit around for five or six days, a week, that’s pretty tough. I think it’s a combination of mental exhaustion, as well as physical exhaustion, and I think you lose that sharpness a little bit you gotta be careful.

"So we’re definitely trying something different this time around. I don’t know if it’s going to work, but we’re trying something."