By DAVE HOGG
FOX Sports Detroit
DETROIT -- It's hard to believe that the game has been over for almost three hours now. The stands are empty, except for a few workers cleaning up, but the scoreboard still shows the 2012 American League Champions logo.
It has been an incredible night of memories -- Prince Fielder's joy under the final pop-up, Alex Rodriguez's insistence that he's far from washed up, and so many Yankees looking so confused by the last week's events.
The smell of champagne as we walked into the Tigers clubhouse, and Doug Fister adding to the deluge with buckets of water that hit everyone he could find. Austin Jackson's smile as he talked about going to his first World Series, and Quintin Berry trying to believe that this is really happening, a year after he thought his career would end with a last unsuccessful season in the minors.
But mostly, I'll remember Phil Coke racing down the clubhouse hallway, doing something that only he would do -- spraying an entire bottle of champagne over Jim Leyland's head.
I can't even imagine what it will be like if they beat the Cardinals. It's going to be the Cardinals, of course. That's just inevitable.
