Tiger Stadium photo archives show the ballpark’s final days
Detroit Free Press photographer J. Kyle Keener shot more than 1,800 photographs at Tiger Stadium during the last few games at the historic ballpark.
Now, this looked familiar. This is what has been missing.
The Detroit Tigers’ true identity came out at Comerica Park in their 10-4 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday, July 27 – all the good.
But also some of the bad, which we will get to in a second.
First, the good: The Tigers (61-46) got some great pitching from starter Jack Flaherty, with six scoreless innings. They got some clutch hitting from Gleyber Torres, who jacked a three-run homer in the third inning. They played solid, clean baseball. And they were aggressive – woosh, there goes Javier Báez, stealing third base.
It was like everybody started to relax and exhale, releasing all the pressure of a brutal few weeks that featured losses in 12 of 13 games. Then, the Tigers added seven runs in the eighth inning.
This looked more like Tigers baseball.
“We haven’t seen that in a while, right?” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “We really had a hard time showing our identity and what we’re about when you’re not when you’re not collecting hits.”
Indeed. It’s hard to be aggressive on the bases when, um, you aren’t on the bases.
But Sunday reminded all of us that this is the team that showed so much promise earlier this season. Actually, for most of this season.
“It’s a fun win,” Hinch said. “It’s a good win. I thought our crowd was incredible, sticking behind these guys.”
Flaws need fixing
[ NEW TIGERS NEWSLETTER! Sign up for The Purr-fect Game, a weekly dose of Tigers news, numbers and analysis for Freep subscribers, here. ]
Having said that, let’s get to the bad: this team is not perfect. Obviously, this team has flaws. And that was also evident in this game.
The Tigers had a comfortable lead going into the ninth but couldn’t put the Jays away cleanly. They gave up four runs and it started to feel uncomfortable. Think of it this way: When you go into the ninth inning, holding a 10-run lead and have to get your closer warming up, it’s not exactly ideal.
It’s downright frightening.
“Obviously, not the cleanest win at the end, but who cares?” Hinch said. “You end the day happy and salvage a win in this series against a really good team.”
I get his point: It doesn’t matter on the micro level. Hinch was only talking about this game, not the season.
But it does matter in the big picture. And that highlights what comes next: What should they do at the MLB trade deadline – 6 p.m. Thursday, July 31?
More than anything, they have to bolster the bullpen.
When I say that, let me state the obvious: Would I love if the Tigers could add a big bat? Of course. If they could do it by trading a the metaphorical bag of balls? Yes. Do it. Add a bat. The more the merrier.
But it’s pointless to talk about the trade deadline by making grand statements, things like: Go for it! Make a splash! Be aggressive!
Because that doesn’t mean anything without context.
You have to be specific.
Celebrate 125 epic seasons with our commemorative Tigers book!
And here goes: I wouldn’t trade any of the organization’s top prospects, such as Kevin McGonigle, Max Clark, Bryce Rainer, Josue Briceño or Thayron Liranzo.
Is that being conservative? I don’t think so. I think that’s being smart in the big picture.
One could argue the Tigers have a window to win now – mainly because of Tarik Skubal, whose future in Detroit remains uncertain – but I wouldn’t trade one of their top five prospects just because of that. The Tigers have the makings of being a winner for years to come and I wouldn’t trade that for one shot at the World Series in 2025. That’s not being aggressive, that’s being foolish.
But there are fixes they can make without giving away the farm.
First things first, they need to bolster their bullpen.
But the Tigers have to do that without losing one of their top prospects.
Again: I’m trying to be as specific as possible. If a team is looking to dump a salary, yes, of course, take a bat or a starting pitcher.
But I wouldn’t mortgage the future for the hope of winning just this year.
Because you can never assume anything.
Want proof? Think back to the last few weeks.
Would real Tigers stand up?
So what is this team?
Is it the one that looked so amazing through the start of this season? Or the one that scuffled over the last two weeks?
Probably somewhere in the middle. But I still believe in this team.
The last two weeks haven’t changed that.
And the main reason is Hinch. Because he has been through this before. Back in 2019, Hinch guided the Houston Astros to a 107-55 record. You know what else happened that season? They lost seven straight in mid-June of that season. They also had a stretch where they lost four of six. Not once. But twice. But that team still made it to the World Series, though they lost to the Washington Nationals (and Sunday’s starter for the Jays, Max Scherzer) in seven games.
That’s baseball.
It’s foolish to overreact to one game. One week. Even two weeks.
“It’s not our first win,” Hinch said. “You know, I don’t want to make too much out of a win. We obviously have not had a great two weeks. We’ve won before. So it’s the same song, it’s the same line, it’s the same celebration. Our guys believe we can win. Two weeks is not going to take that away from us.”
So, how can the Tigers avoid a similar slump? This team can improve just from getting some bats to heat up. Consider the slumps suffered by several key Tigers hitters over the past 15 days, with four of them hitting .200 or worse: Riley Greene (.200), Parker Meadows (.200), Colt Keith (.100) and Zach McKinstry (.065).
Obviously, I would expect those guys to hit better than that.
You know who the Tigers didn’t have during their recent skid? Kerry Carpenter. But he returned Sunday.
“Kerry’s presence matters,” Hinch said. “It changes how they navigate our lineup. He’s a really big threat. It plays into how Gleyber (Torres) is getting pitched, because Kerry’s a threat.”
His presence changes things.
So, this is what the Tigers should do.
Add arms – in trades but also by bringing up some rehabbing pitchers, such as Alex Lange or José Urquidy.
Keep Carpenter healthy.
And get the rest of the batting lineup back in form.
That would put the Tigers in a great position over the next 50-game sprint.
Follow the best Tigers coverage all year long at freep.com/sports/tigers, and sign up for our Tigers newsletter: The Purr-fect Game.
Stay connected and stay informed. Become a Detroit Free Press subscriber.
Contact Jeff Seidel: jseidel@freepress.com. Follow him on X @seideljeff.
