2023 Detroit Tigers Regular Season Discussion Thread

[Shinzaki]

IIRC...That Yankees game was the 1st game I can recall where fans turned out in droves just to see Fidrych pitch...I remember being shocked at the size of the crowd when they panned the stadium at the top of the broadcast. He drew some massive crowds at home and on the road that year.

[Jim Cowan]

17 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

That game is on my short list of favorite games of all time including post-season games.  

Yeah I watched it from a motel in Winnipeg, had just moved there and didn't have an apartment yet.  For Gibby/Gossage I was in a hotel in Edmonton.

 

 

[Biff Mayhem]

44 minutes ago, Dan Gilmore said:

Michael Jordan

Prime time. Its a small list for sure.

[Tenacious D]

16 minutes ago, Shinzaki said:

IIRC...That Yankees game was the 1st game I can recall where fans turned out in droves just to see Fidrych pitch...I remember being shocked at the size of the crowd when they panned the stadium at the top of the broadcast. He drew some massive crowds at home and on the road that year.

Yes.  And Monday Night Baseball was a big deal.  I think the local Tigers broadcast on WDIV was limited to 40-50 games.  It was the only way to see an NL team, too.

[Tiger337]

1 hour ago, Shinzaki said:

IIRC...That Yankees game was the 1st game I can recall where fans turned out in droves just to see Fidrych pitch...I remember being shocked at the size of the crowd when they panned the stadium at the top of the broadcast. He drew some massive crowds at home and on the road that year.

Glancing back at  at the attendance figures, it seems as if the attendance was somewhat elevated in his games leading up to the Yankees game, but the Yankee game was the first game where they had a capacity or close to capacity crowd. After that game, it just took off.  

I had not seen him pitch prior to that other than a spring training game versus the Red Sox when nobody knew who he was.  I remember my father saying at the time that he reminded him of Bill Lee.  They just didn't televise a lot of games then, so seeing the Tigers on the Monday or Saturday game of the week was a big deal.  So, I was excited about the game because I got to see the Tigers and I wanted to see Fidrych because he was pitching so well.  I had read that he was flaky and likeable, but I was absolutely stunned by the excitement he created that night.  I had never seen anything like it.   

[lordstanley]

I’ve told this story before, but the MNF Fidrych game was truly one of the most memorable days of my childhood. Last day of school, 3rd grade or Grade 3, had been the Friday before. I was turning 9 in two days so we held my birthday party in the lower deck in left with Family Night tickets. My parents, a couple of uncles, a few of my friends. I was a baseball nut/nerd then so knew all about Fidrych’s progression over the past two months and so was excited that he was the starter. But having been to weeknight games several times in the past, we were expecting a crowd of 20,000 or so. When we got there and saw our normal parking lots full and then the throngs walking over the pedestrian covered overpasses we were stunned. But boy did that ratchet up the excitement. For a few minutes we were worried that the game was sold out, as that was the rumour, but managed to buy tickets. I remember almost everything about that night. Especially the curtain call. Went to many other Fidrych starts in 1976 and 1977, I wish more radio or TV broadcasts of his starts were available. 

Edited July 25, 2023 by lordstanley

[SeattleMike]

2 hours ago, lordstanley said:

I’ve told this story before, but the MNF Fidrych game was truly one of the most memorable days of my childhood. Last day of school, 3rd grade or Grade 3, had been the Friday before. I was turning 9 in two days so we held my birthday party in the lower deck in left with Family Night tickets. My parents, a couple of uncles, a few of my friends. I was a baseball nut/nerd then so knew all about Fidrych’s progression over the past two months and so was excited that he was the starter. But having been to weeknight games several times in the past, we were expecting a crowd of 20,000 or so. When we got there and saw our normal parking lots full and then the throngs walking over the pedestrian covered overpasses we were stunned. But boy did that ratchet up the excitement. For a few minutes we were worried that the game was sold out, as that was the rumour, but managed to buy tickets. I remember almost everything about that night. Especially the curtain call. Went to many other Fidrych starts in 1976 and 1977, I wish more radio or TV broadcasts of his starts were available. 

Was that Fidrych's first curtain call? 

[lordstanley]

17 minutes ago, SeattleMike said:

Was that Fidrych's first curtain call? 

99% sure it was. Sure felt like it. Because the crowd started chanting "We Want  The Bird" and everyone was undecided whether to head to exits or stick around, we weren't sure if anything was going to happen. Curtain calls weren't really a thing back then. I remember Reggie's after his 3rd home run the next year in the '77 Series, but can you think of any before then?

[Dave Christian]

The Upper Peninsula has historically fielded a number of hardball teams every year for decades.

Guys in their twenties, thirties and a few in their forties would form travel teams and play out their baseball fantasies in front of avid fans.

Back when I was in my forties or fifties, Felch (near Iron Mountain) had a great team.

They had a Sunday game scheduled and word was that former Tigers John Hiller, who played regularly for Felch, had invited Fydrich to pitch for Felch.

My cousin and I, not really expecting that to be true, took a ride down there to catch the game.

I don't recall the score but Felch won and that's the only time I saw "The Bird" live.

It wasn't long after his major league career was over and his "stuff" was still pretty good.

[SeattleMike]

42 minutes ago, lordstanley said:

99% sure it was. Sure felt like it. Because the crowd started chanting "We Want  The Bird" and everyone was undecided whether to head to exits or stick around, we weren't sure if anything was going to happen. Curtain calls weren't really a thing back then. I remember Reggie's after his 3rd home run the next year in the '77 Series, but can you think of any before then?

That was my recollection as well. That '76 season was so much fun. Strange to say about a team that never contended and finished well below .500. The Tigers even had three All-Star starters: Fidrych, Staub and LeFlore. 

[Tiger337]

4 hours ago, lordstanley said:

I’ve told this story before, but the MNF Fidrych game was truly one of the most memorable days of my childhood. Last day of school, 3rd grade or Grade 3, had been the Friday before. I was turning 9 in two days so we held my birthday party in the lower deck in left with Family Night tickets. My parents, a couple of uncles, a few of my friends. I was a baseball nut/nerd then so knew all about Fidrych’s progression over the past two months and so was excited that he was the starter. But having been to weeknight games several times in the past, we were expecting a crowd of 20,000 or so. When we got there and saw our normal parking lots full and then the throngs walking over the pedestrian covered overpasses we were stunned. But boy did that ratchet up the excitement. For a few minutes we were worried that the game was sold out, as that was the rumour, but managed to buy tickets. I remember almost everything about that night. Especially the curtain call. Went to many other Fidrych starts in 1976 and 1977, I wish more radio or TV broadcasts of his starts were available. 

Wow, what a night!  I had one of the most memorable nights of my baseball fandom just watching TV.  It must have been amazing to actually be there.  

The beginning of summer vacation enhances everything.  I had just finished 8th grade and 8th grade sucked, so I'm sure that added to it.  

Edited July 25, 2023 by Tiger337

[Dave Christian]

Looking into the future, I have purchased tickets for game two of the Houston/Detroit series on August 26th.

My youngest son, son in law and my seven year old grandson and I will be making our first trip to Comerica Park.

I haven't been to Detroit since the last game I went to at Tigers Stadium. I would imagine that Detroit has changed a lot since then.

Since we have an eight hour drive to get there, lodging will be important to secure for two nights.

I'm hoping that one of you fellow Tigers fans can recommend a place to stay close to the stadium.

Any and all suggestions will be appreciated.

 

[casimir]

7 minutes ago, Dave Christian said:

Looking into the future, I have purchased tickets for game two of the Houston/Detroit series on August 26th.

My youngest son, son in law and my seven year old grandson and I will be making our first trip to Comerica Park.

I haven't been to Detroit since the last game I went to at Tigers Stadium. I would imagine that Detroit has changed a lot since then.

Since we have an eight hour drive to get there, lodging will be important to secure for two nights.

I'm hoping that one of you fellow Tigers fans can recommend a place to stay close to the stadium.

Any and all suggestions will be appreciated.

 

Deuce probably knows of some family friendly brothels.

[theroundsquare]

2 hours ago, Dave Christian said:

Looking into the future, I have purchased tickets for game two of the Houston/Detroit series on August 26th.

My youngest son, son in law and my seven year old grandson and I will be making our first trip to Comerica Park.

I haven't been to Detroit since the last game I went to at Tigers Stadium. I would imagine that Detroit has changed a lot since then.

Since we have an eight hour drive to get there, lodging will be important to secure for two nights.

I'm hoping that one of you fellow Tigers fans can recommend a place to stay close to the stadium.

Any and all suggestions will be appreciated.

 

There are a ton of great places to stay downtown.  If you want a standard hotel close to the park, the Hilton Garden is probably your best bet.  If you want something more unique (and are prepared to pay for it), try the Siren, Element, or Aloft, all cool places, all not more than a couple blocks from the park.

[Dave Christian]

12 minutes ago, theroundsquare said:

There are a ton of great places to stay downtown.  If you want a standard hotel close to the park, the Hilton Garden is probably your best bet.  If you want something more unique (and are prepared to pay for it), try the Siren, Element, or Aloft, all cool places, all not more than a couple blocks from the park.

Thank you for the suggestions, I will look into all of them.

[chasfh]

1 hour ago, Dave Christian said:

Thank you for the suggestions, I will look into all of them.

Not sure if you'd be worried about something like this—I mention it only because there are people who are—but I would say don't worry about walking back to the hotel in downtown Detroit after dark. It's Saturday night in the summer, there will be people all over the place running around having a good time doing their own thing, and it will be as safe as any other place you can be.

[Dave Christian]

3 minutes ago, chasfh said:

Not sure if you'd be worried about something like this—I mention it only because there are people who are—but I would say don't worry about walking back to the hotel in downtown Detroit after dark. It's Saturday night in the summer, there will be people all over the place running around having a good time doing their own thing, and it will be as safe as any other place you can be.

Thanks for the advice.

I remember that the area around Tigers Stadium was pretty run down and that didn't scare me.

I never had a seven year old with me before so I will have my head on a swivel.

[oblong]

Don’t stay in Greektown.  It’s not what it used to be. 

[oblong]

Clarify:  The Hilton Garden is an exception. I don’t know if it’s technically Greektown but it’s close by. It’s fine to stay there.  

[Tigeraholic1]

We always stay at the Courtyard by Marriott Downtown for Thanksgiving Lions games. 

[Motor City Sonics]

Us believing that the Tigers were a contender - even in this weak division is equivalent to Linus waiting for the Great Pumpkin.       

[Edman85]

11 hours ago, Motor City Sonics said:

Us believing that the Tigers were a contender - even in this weak division is equivalent to Linus waiting for the Great Pumpkin.       

Speak for yourself.

[Motor City Sonics]

10 hours ago, Edman85 said:

Speak for yourself.

I can't  - someone stole my blanket. 

[Toddwert]

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[RandyMarsh]

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The White Sox and Orioles Cy Young answer killed me, could only think of the two most popular answers.