Detroit Tigers Newsletter: What makes Opening Day so special at Comerica Park?

It is, to reveal some of the FreepSports magic, an occasional debate in our office, our emails, and even our instant-messaging system, in late March and early April when the high holy holiday of baseball season rolls around: What, exactly, qualifies as Big-O, Big-D, “Opening Day?”

Should we reserve the term Opening Day solely for the first day of the season, as MLB generally does? Considering you’re reading this newsletter, you probably know that milestone came and went last week in St. Petersburg, Florida. (It didn’t go very well, but if you’d like to relive it, the Freep’s Carlos Monarrez answered some of the more important questions raised by the 4-0 loss here.)

Or should we treat it as most Detroit Tigers fans do, with Opening Day referring not to Game 1 of 162, but to whenever the team finally opens the gates at Comerica Park for its first home game, allowing the city to rejoice that summer has finally arrived (even if it’s, y’know, snowing, like it did in 2021)?

Hello, and welcome to the Between Two Opening Days Newsletter.

When I arrived in town back in 2006, raised on the slight traditions in Seattle and Denver, I was Team MLB. There’s Opening Day, and then there’s the home opener, whenever that rolls around. And then I tried to find tickets for the home opener with the Tigers coming off a 91-loss season. Easy, right? After an hour of circling Comerica Park for discussions of, shall we say, a not-entirely-legal ticket purchase, I gave up and decamped to the FreepSports offices, where I watched the final six innings on a small TV near my desk.

Since then, I’ve come around to Team Detroit’s way of thinking: Sure, there’s Opening Day, for Game 1, and then there’s Opening Day, for whenever the Tigers get around to playing in Detroit. Extolling the many, many virtues of the home opener just doesn’t quite feel enough. We need those capital letters to signify the joy that pops up for just a few of the following reasons:

Winning ways?

The Tigers have been surprisingly successful in their home openers at Comerica Park, with a 15-8 record that includes three wins in five tries since their ongoing rebuild officially began in mid-2017. (The two eras: JV and AV — Justin Verlander and After Verlander.) Of course, it wasn’t always that way. After winning the inaugural game at Comerica Park — 5-2 over the Seattle Mariners, with the first Tigers hit (a triple) delivered by Luis Polonia — the Tigers then lost six of the next eight home openers.

In between those stretches, though? The Tigers won nine straight home openers, starting with a 15-2 pounding of the Texas Rangers in 2009 and wrapping up with 2017’s 6-5 thriller against the Boston Red Sox, in which Francisco Rodriguez gave up a three-run homer to Pablo Sandoval in the top of the eighth, then picked up the win when Boston’s Joe Kelly walked JaCoby Jones with the bases loaded in the bottom of the inning.

A packed house?

That winning tradition — and, of course, the status of Opening Day as downtown Detroit’s biggest party — helps to explain the always-healthy attendance at Comerica Park for home openers. In all, the Tigers have officially drawn 921,855 fans to their 23 home openers, which means they could pass 1 million next year, as the park turns 25.

Although the official capacity of the park has varied slightly with renovations and updated seating — it opened at 41,120 in 2000, shrunk to 41,000 by 2008, then “ballooned” all the way to 41,299 in 2017 before settling in at 41,083 for the past five seasons — the home opener has always been packed to at least 95% capacity (with the exceptions of 2020-21, when the pandemic limited attendance).

The biggest total crowd showed up in 2014 (when the Tigers were coming off back-to-back division titles for the first time in franchise history), as 45,068 packed the park — 108.1% of the park’s then-capacity. By percent of capacity, though, 2008 — featuring the Tigers debut of Miguel Cabrera — was tops, at 109.6% of the park’s 41,255 listed capacity. Cabrera didn’t disappoint — he homered in his third at-bat of the day — but the Tigers did, falling to Kansas City in 11 innings to foreshadow a season in which the expected offense failed to materialize. (Sound familiar?)

On the clock?

Those 23 openers at Comerica Park have averaged just over three hours — 3:02, to be precise — though that’s driven up a bit by 2018, which slogged on for 13 innings on a chilly March afternoon and lasted 5:27. Take that game out of the mix, and the average drops under three hours, to 2:56. (The quickest finish, by the way, came in 2003, when the Tigers — in the first of an American League-record 119 losses — mustered just four hits, all singles, in a 3-1 loss to the Minnesota Twins.

Then again, if ever there was a year to make dinner reservations for 3:45 p.m., it’s this one, as the combo of MLB’s pitch clock rules (we went over those here, in case you missed them) and the Tigers’ lack of offense have resulted in super-quick finishes. The Tigers’ three games against the Rays over the weekend averaged just 2:24, with the opener finishing in 2:14 and Sunday’s series finale going just 2:10. (For reference, the Tigers had just two games all last season that finished in 2:15 or less.)

Starting with a bang

Of course, the magic of Opening Day — whether it’s MLB’s official Opening Day or not — isn’t just about the atmosphere, or the time outdoors, or even the wins or losses. It’s also about the memories, and the big performances that seem just a little more special when we’re seeing them live for the first time in months. Dmitri Young’s three-homer day (plus a single and a hit-by-pitch in 2005). Cabrera’s six RBIs as he fell just a triple short of the cycle in that 2009 victory. Justin Verlander’s dominant eight-inning start in 2012, in which he allowed just two hits, and no runs, before the Tigers won it in a walk-off. Or the next season, when Prince Fielder had two hits himself — both home runs as he drove in five runs. Or Spencer Turnbull’s 2019 start, in which he struck out 10 — the most by a Tigers starter in a home opener at Comerica Park — in just six innings. Or even Cabrera’s first-inning homer in the snow off Cleveland’s Shane Bieber in 2021.

On Thursday, Cabrera will have one final chance to wow the packed Opening Day crowd. (He’ll be well-rested, too, as manager A.J. Hinch plans to only play him Tuesday in Houston. You can get the plans from the Freep’s Evan Petzold here.)

Or maybe it’ll be Riley Greene. Or Nick Maton. Or even Turnbull again. It doesn’t really matter who stars, or even that anyone stars at all. (Seriously, with this team, betting on no stars seems much safer.)

It’s the hope, after all, for all the many months leading up to one Detroit day in early April (or, yes, late March), that puts all the meaning into Opening Day. (Though if my boss is reading this … it’s totally the home opener.)

Dig in!

Then again, Opening Day, should you make the trek to the ballpark, is also our first chance to try all the new culinary creations that will be fueling us through 81 games this season. (Once we’ve gotten the obligatory hot dog out of the way, that is.) Our Man Monarrez, along with several other media foodies, got a sneak peek last week at the new dishes coming to Comerica Park. Head here to get his reviews, including a dog that delivered in the clutch, like the Miggy of yore, and a taco that failed to, like the … y’know what, nevermind.

Burned by the Bay

Failed to deliver in the clutch? These Tigers? Nooooooo. OK, there, got that sarcasm out of our system. Yes, it was a disappointing Opening … weekend for the Tigers, who were outscored 21-3 by the Tampa Bay Rays, who, we’ll note, were a playoff team last season and are projected by most to make it again in 2023. So should we just give up hope and start planning our CoPa trips around lobster mac and cheese? Not so fast, writes Our Man Petzold, who points out that we’re not even 2% of the way into the season. Still, the offense looks dismaying once again. Head here to find out what lessons the Tigers learned in their final games in Florida for a while.

They can’t be this bad all year, right?

Despite the disheartening start — the first shutout in an opener since 1989, and just the sixth since 1901 — the Tigers are still optimistic about the rest of the 2023 season. After all, they can’t be as bad as last year, right? Our Man Petzold got manager A.J. Hinch’s thoughts on that on Thursday; check ’em out here.

3 to watch

We’re still getting used to all the new faces in the Tigers clubhouse. Here are three who weren’t around in 2022:

MASON ENGLERT: The rookie righty had a rough debut on Opening Day against the Rays. He’s better off for it, he says.

ZACH McKINSTRY: The CMU alumnus has raked in the minors, but not in the majors with the Cubs or Dodgers. So why’d the Tigers trade for him?

JAKE ROGERS: Back from Tommy John surgery, the catcher from THAT TRADE is having a big spring.

Ink-redible tales

We’re also getting used to all the new tattoos. The Freep’s Jeff Seidel caught up with a few of the more notably tatted Tigers this spring to find out what their ink means to them. (Spoiler: Don’t mess with Eric Haase’s Momma Bear.)

Happy birthday, Slim!

Former Tigers outfielder Cameron Maybin, who had three stints (2007, 2016 and 2020) with the franchise that drafted him out of high school in 2005, turns 36 on Tuesday. Maybin lasted 15 seasons in the majors, slashing .254/.323/.374 for the Tigers as well as the Angels, Astros, Braves, Cubs, Mariners, Marlins, Mets, Padres and Yankees before retiring after the 2021 season. So what’s he up to these days? Joining the Tigers’ radio crew; he’ll be teaming up with Dan Dickerson on road broadcasts about 40 times this season. (Our Man Seidel chatted with Dickerson last week about the new voices he’ll be working with; check ’em out here.)

Suit up!

While we’re on the topic of Tigers broadcasters, Bally Sports Detroit shuffled things up a bit this season, too. Out is Jack Morris, and in for most of the schedule is former Tigers outfielder Craig Monroe. (Monroe, by the way, had a CoPa opener to remember back in 2006, when he homered off future Tiger Freddy Garcia in the second inning — while I was still wandering around outside the park.) Monroe brings a wealth of hitting knowledge, which could come in handy as the Tigers search for any kind of offense, and a wealth of shirt/tie combinations — triple digits, according to his sitdown with Our Man Seidel. Head here to find out what C-Mo’s suit plans are for the road games.

Mark your calendar

It’s a six-game week for the Tigers, who start with a three-game set in Houston on Monday-Wednesday before coming home for three games (Thursday and Friday-Saturday) against the Red Sox. The series opener against the World Series-champion Astros tonight features a familiar face: Wayne State alumnus Hunter Brown, a 2019 fifth-round pick who’s one of the top contenders for Rookie of the Year this season. Head here to find out more about the matchup between Brown and Matthew Boyd, who Brown grew up watching at Comerica Park.

TL;DR

Sometimes, Opening Day is cemented in history by amazing individual performances. And sometimes, Opening Day is a hilariously bad throw to first base to try and get Magglio Ordonez with two outs and the bases loaded on a chilly day in 2010. Enjoy this YouTube outtake from Jhonny Peralta’s pre-Tigers career that gave the Tigers a 5-4 win back in 2010.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers Newsletter: The stats, sights and stars of Opening Day