by Mitch Albom | Oct 6, 2014 | Detroit Free Press, Sports
Winter began to creep into the city just after six o’clock Sunday night, courtesy of a man named Nelson Cruz — or, as he is known around here, Death. Cruz, the Baltimore Orioles’ designated killer, swatted a David Price pitch in the sixth inning of a...
by Mitch Albom | Oct 5, 2014 | Detroit Free Press, Sports
Tigers can win today, but not in long runIt’s not that the Tigers can’t win today. They can. Comerica Park is not a shoebox like Camden Yards, and routine fly balls here do not rack up as home runs. David Price could pitch into the eighth inning, limiting...
by Mitch Albom | Oct 2, 2014 | Detroit Free Press, Sports
Like a tightrope walker reaching the platform, Max Scherzer can exhale now. He made it across. Working without a net this season, on a one-year contract he chose over a six-year, $144-million offer in the spring, Scherzer has been flirting with grenades all season. A...
by Mitch Albom | Sep 29, 2014 | Detroit Free Press, Sports
In a clubhouse ripe with champagne and cigar smoke, Mike Ilitch, the man who owns the Tigers, made his way gingerly to the manager’s office. At 85, he moved slowly. But as he entered the room, he sounded like a kid.”All right!” he exclaimed....
by Mitch Albom | Sep 25, 2014 | Detroit Free Press, Sports
Late Wednesday afternoon, in the top of the eighth inning, on his 109th pitch of the day, Justin Verlander blew a 94-m.p.h. fastball past White Sox cleanup hitter Conor Gillaspie. Strike 3! Verlander pounded the air with his fist. He hollered. His chest was heaving as...
by Mitch Albom | Sep 9, 2014 | Detroit Free Press, Sports
Matthew Stafford took off running. In the past, this made you worry. In the past, Stafford hoofing it was a last resort — and how much can you expect from a last resort?But this is not the past. And apparently, the Lions quarterback spent the summer on “Dancing with...
by Mitch Albom | Sep 9, 2014 | Detroit Free Press, Sports
Before he turned his career to pitching, Joe Nathan played shortstop. “At least half my life,” he would later recall. So on the mound Tuesday night, in the top of the ninth, with “two of the quickest guys in the game” on first and second and Nathan facing the real...
by Mitch Albom | Apr 1, 2014 | Detroit Free Press, Sports
The manager’s hair is no longer white. The starting lineup now includes an Ian, a Nick and a Rajai. The second baseman is new, the third baseman is new, the first baseman is no longer a bearded Prince (although he does have a contract fit for a king). And, until...
by Mitch Albom | Mar 30, 2014 | Detroit Free Press, Sports
Mitch Albom Verlander talks celebrity, surgery, losing Leyland, and putting last season behindHome opener What: Tigers open their 114th season, against the Kansas City RoyalsWhen: 1:08 p.m. MondayWhere: Comerica Park (sold out) TV/radio: FSD; WXYT-FM (97.1)Pitchers:...
by Mitch Albom | Nov 22, 2013 | Detroit Free Press, Sports
“It is what it is.”That was a favorite Prince Fielder expression. He’d shrug and say, “It is what it is.” After a slump. After a strikeout. After a botched play. “It is what it is.” He’d also say, “Nah” or...