By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist

The Detroit Tigers are on the verge of turning from baseball's feel-good story of 2009 into one of the biggest disappointments in the sport's history.

Until the last week, the team had been an uplifting story for the economically shell-shocked community, where unemployment is high and the average home price has plummeted to $11,000 (not a misprint).

Sports Illustrated, Time, The New York Times and other media have pointed out that the Tigers cut some ticket prices to keep fans flowing through the gates. The Tigers provided a ray of hope for the city.

The Tigers led the American League's Central Division for weeks in the summer, seemingly safely ahead of the Minnesota Twins and Chicago White Sox.

But then the Tigers started losing more often, and the Twins started winning.

Last Thursday the Tigers played the Twins and, with a victory, could have clinched the division's crown and a trip to the playoffs against the New York Yankees.

It was not to be. Minnesota won that game, then swept the Kansas City Royals over the weekend while the Tigers lost two to the White Sox.

That left the teams in a tie for the division lead, leading to a one-game playoff in Minneapolis on Tuesday.

You can forgive depressed Tigers fans for not feeling confident that their team will win that game.