Feelin’ the vibe in Motown
B4B got to see two games at Comerica Park courtesy of the Detroit Tigers, and they were two very great games. We saw one of the best pitching performances at games we’ve been to this season followed by the best game we’ve seen, by far. Comerica Park and the Tigers games were absolutely memorable experiences for us. The Tigers were great to us. They even let us do a radio interview in the press booth before the game Sunday!
Our great friend from Chicago, Dave Alford, came out to Detroit to hang out for the weekend in between travels for work. We were fortunate enough to go to both games with him and meet some of his awesome friends from Michigan at the games. It was very nice to meet Kaylee, Ali, and Sarah. You ladies rock!
Game 1 was just a precursor for our “official” game that we include in the list of boxscores at the bottom of each game blog post. This one didn’t count against the record of the home teams winning games we’re at. It didn’t matter. Doug Fister pitched a complete game, only allowing 4 hits and 1 run. He was incredibly efficient, throwing 107 pitches only because he began to falter near the end of the game. Without closing studying the boxscore, it would be a safe bet to say he was at 70 pitches through 7 innings. He was perfect through 5 innings and the only hit he gave-up in the first 7 innings was a misplay by normally dependent Austin Jackson in centerfield.
Fister wasn’t even slowed by the 37-minute rain delay in the second inning, as a quick torrential deluge engulfed the stadium very briefly. We took shelter at the Labatt Blue stand for some Canadian domestic* beer. When the game resumed, Fister ended up retiring 17 straight Indians in the 2 hour and 19 minute game. The Tigers won 6-1.
*Apparently Labatt Blue is considered a domestic beer in Michigan even though it’s brewed in Canada.
The speed of Saturday night’s game gave way to a very plodding pace in Sunday’s game. Our friend Max Scherzer was the starting pitcher for the Tigers in our “official” game, and he struck out 9 batters in 5 innings. He racked up a lot of pitches through 5 innings so the Tigers had to go to the bullpen for the remainder of the game. Both Gerald Laird and manager Jim Leyland were ejected in the second inning over a controversial call at first base, so Leyland was likely making the managerial decisions from the tunnel behind the dugout. The Tigers put 20 runners on base, and the Indians had 19 base runners. Long game.
The game was rather uneventful until the 9th inning. I posted a blog about the events of the end of the game you can read here. Needless to say, it was by far the best game we’ve seen this season. The Tigers scored 5 runs with 2 outs in the bottom of the 10th inning and won on a walk-off home run by Miguel Cabrera. There were a lot of fireworks in this rollercoaster game. In total, we saw 5 home runs in the 4 hour and 10 minute game. It was complete pandemonium for the fans left in the stadium when Cabrera homered. I don’t really blame many of the fans for leaving because the game was seemingly over, but I bet many of them were kicking themselves while listening to the end of the game in the car on the way home.
We met a very good friend of B4B at the game who we were fortunate enough to watch the last half of the game with. Meghan Brennan is a sports reporter who found out about us the morning of the game on twitter. She wasn’t even working that day, but she still came to the stadium to meet us for a story she was doing for WXYZ 7 in Detroit. It turns out she is a great Tigers fan and very fun watch the excitement at the end of the game with. Meghan also gave us a great recommendation for shawarma at the Bucharest Café near Comerica Park. Great rec and nice to meet you, Meghan!
The B4B team really liked Comerica Park. It’s a very big stadium, but everything is open. In many larger stadiums, sections of seats have to be right on top of each other giving the spectators a sense of confinement. Not so with Comerica. The upper levels of the stadium don’t cover much of the lower seating areas, so from our seats in section 138, it felt like we were watching a game in the park with a great view of the big sky. The outfield view is also very open to the buildings of downtown Detroit.
Continuing with the openness of Comerica Park theme, the incredibly deep centerfield wall must be mentioned. 420 feet to dead center is insanely far. Luckily the Tigers have a speedy centerfielder who can cover A LOT of ground. He also happens to be one of the best players in the American League. Austin Jackson. Jackson was key to this win for the Tigers with 2 triples, and a double that was very important to the 10th inning rally. The huge centerfield that he patrols is very conducive to batters hitting gappers that turn into easy triples. We saw 6 of them in the two games we watched over the weekend.
The stadium itself has a great walkable concourse with many really good places for fans to hang out and mingle. There are several cool bar areas, a ferris wheel, carousel, and lots of Tiger tradition. The statues of former Tiger greats are prominently displayed past the left field stands and throughout the concourse there are displays commemorating each decade the Tigers were in existence. It’s great when a team with as much history as the Tigers are respectful of tradition. It makes the game experience great for avid fans and first-timers to Comerica, like us!
Gm 1– 4/13 @ Safeco Field – Oakland A’s @ Seattle Mariners
Oakland wins 4-0 (WP – Colon, LP – Hernandez)
Gm 2 – 4/24 @ O.Co Stadium – Chicago White Sox @ Oakland A’s
Oakland wins 2-0 (WP – Milone, LP – Floyd, SV – Balfour)
Gm 3 – 4/27 @ AT&T Park – San Diego Padres @ San Francisco Giants
San Diego wins 5-3 (WP – Luebke, LP – Hacker, SV – Street)
Gm 4 – 5/3 @ Angels Stadium – Toronto Blue Jays @ LA Angels of Anaheim
Toronto wins 5-0 (WP – Morrow, LP – Haren)
Gm 5 – 5/7 @ Dodger Stadium – SF Giants @ Los Angeles Dodgers
Dodgers win 9-1 (WP – Lilly, LP – Zito)
Gm 6 – 5/8 @ Petco Park – Colorado Rockies @ San Diego Padres
Padres win 3-1 (WP – Suppan, LP – White, SV – Thayer)
Gm 7 – 5/12 @ Chase Field – San Francisco Giants @ Arizona Diamondbacks
Giants win 5-2 (WP – Cain, LP – Cahill, SV – Casilla)
Gm 8 – 5/20 @ Coors Field -Seattle Mariners @ Colorado Rockies
Mariners win 6-4 (WP – Beavan, LP – Guthrie)
Gm 9 – 5/30 @ The Ballpark in Arlington – Seattle Mariners @ Texas Rangers
Mariners win 21-8 (WP – Beavan, LP – Holland)
Gm 10 – 6/3 @ Minute Maid Park – Cincinnati Reds @ Houston Astros
Astros win 5-3 (WP Lyles, LP – Arroyo, SV – Myers)
Gm 11 – 6/15 @ Tropicana Field – Miami Marlins @ Tampa Bay Rays
Rays win 11-0 (WP – Moore, LP – Zambrano)
Gm 12 – 6/22 @ Marlins Park – Toronto Blue Jays @ Miami Marlins
Blue Jays win 12-5 (WP – Romero, LP – Sanchez)
Gm 13 – 6/30 @ Turner Field – Washington Nationals @ Atlanta Braves
Braves win 7-5 (WP – Minor, LP – Strasburg, SV – Kimbrel)
Gm 14 – 7/6 @ Busch Stadium – Miami Marlins @ St. Louis Cardinals
Marlins win 3-2 (WP – Nolasco, LP – Westbrook, SV – Bell)
Gm 15 – 7/13 @ Kauffman Stadium – Chicago White Sox @ Kansas City Royals
White Sox win 9-8 (WP – Alexrod, LP – Teaford)
Gm 16 – 7/19 @ Target Field – Baltimore Orioles @ Minnesota Twins
Orioles win 4-3 (WP – Chen, LP – Burnett, SV – J. Johnson)
Gm 17 – 7/24 @ U.S. Cellular Field – Minnesota Twins @ Chicago White Sox
White Sox win 11-4 (WP – Jones, LP – Fien)
Gm 18 – 7/26 @ Miller Park – Washington Nationals @ Milwaukee Brewers
Nationals win 8-2 (WP – Jackson, LP – Gallardo)
Gm 19 – 7/30 @ Wrigley Field – Pittsburgh Pirates @ Chicago Cubs
Cubs win 14-4 (WP – Germano, LP – Bedard)
Gm 20 – 8/5 @ Comerica Park – Cleveland Indians @ Detroit Tigers
Tigers win 10-8 (WP – Downs, LP – Perez)