Hundreds of fans turned out at the Sportsplex in Taylor to see the Detroit Tigers winter caravan.
Photos by Larry Caruso
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DETROIT
Before we get delirious with Tiger fever, let's put last October's blunder-filled World Series into perspective: Remember, I got as many hits in the 2006 Fall Classic as Placido Polanco, Marcus Thames, Omar Infante, Neifi Perez and Alexis Gomez — combined.
"We played terrible, it was like we didn't show up for the World Series, we gave it away," Brandon Inge admitted Saturday. "I'm still mad about it. It was like kissing your sister."
Nevertheless, on this cold, breezy afternoon, the Tigers' series faux pas — their eight errors and only 11 runs — barely mattered to the record throng of 12,500 that flocked to the frigid, frozen tundra of Comerica Park for the first time since Kenny Rogers, his left palm coated with unsightly stick-um, willed the Tigers to their lone series victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.
By noon, the parking lots around the ballpark were jammed.
"I thought it was for the auto show," Inge snickered, as he eyed the crowd, which was more than double the one that turned out for TigerFest last winter when it was held inside warm and cozy Joe Louis Arena.
Winning can do strange things to a town.
The long lines of fans, their eyes watering, their noses running and their breath visible from the cold, compelled the compassionate Tigers to open the gates 45 minutes ahead of schedule Saturday. Two hours later, people were still pouring in.
Die-hard baseball fans old enough to remember '68, and youngsters who had not yet born in '84 — kids who didn't care a lick about the stick-and-ball sport until 2006 — queued up to have their cards and photos and bats sanctified with the signatures of last summer's resurrection heroes.
"We don't have to get anybody pumped up this year," said pitcher Mike Maroth.
All that was missing was the champagne.
"As players, we enjoyed last season maybe as much as the fans did, just seeing how much they enjoyed it," observed Rogers, the Tigers' now 42-year-old postseason pitching inspiration.
For the first time in years, there is no doubt, no depression, no sneers, no shame — just the memories of the jubilant players carrying Jim Leyland off the field on their shoulders after the Tigers' stunning upset of the Yankees, and Magglio Ordonez's blast into the night against Oakland that gave Detroit its first pennant in 22 years.
"We've always wanted respect," Inge said. "And we have it now."
In 2004, the Red Sox slayed the Curse of the Bambino. In '05, the White Sox laid the 1919 Black Sox Scandal to rest.
In 2006, Comerica Park came of age and, although they didn't win it all, the Tigers turned the page on those 119 losses in 2003 and those 12 losing seasons in a row, rendering them irrelevant.
"Last year, we became a winning team," said Maroth. "That puts everything in the past. The focus is on winning now.
"From the players' standpoint, the expectations haven't changed. We always expect to win. But the expectations around us — from the fans and media and the other teams — have changed."
The offseason addition of Gary Sheffield to the roster proves that management is serious about keeping Tiger fever alive.
Photos by Larry Caruso
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The offseason addition of Gary Sheffield and the new four-year contracts given to Jeremy Bonderman and Inge — three deals worth a combined $103 million — are seen as proof that Tigers management doesn't plan to rest on its laurels or, worse yet, take the profits and run.
"There hasn't been one thing about this offseason that I looked at and said, 'What are they doing?' " Inge declared.
"I was here when (the Tigers) were bad. I was here when I was bad. They stuck with me. Now it's an honor to be here.
"I want to be here a long time. I want to be here the rest of my career."
Until last season, no team in baseball history had ever gone from five 90-loss seasons in a row and a dozen consecutive sub-.500 summers straight to the World Series.
Simply put, the Tigers were the most surprising World Series participant of all time.
Unfortunately, they saved the worst for last.
"Losing in the World Series is going to be our biggest motivator," Inge predicted.
But it shouldn't detract from what the Tigers accomplished last season.
In the eyes of those adoring fans who showed up at Comerica Park in their scarves and mittens and ear-muffs on Saturday, it hasn't.
Jim Hawkins is the baseball writerand a sports columnist forThe Oakland Press. E-mail him at jim.hawkins@oakpress.com.
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