What Are Your Favorite Things About Being a Tigers Fan?

1st thing I hear is an old squeaky southern voice yelling “Programs”. Then I notice the smell of hot dogs. As I walk up through the dark tunnel towards the field I see the greenest most beautiful grass that I’ve ever seen before. That’s how I was baptized by the Detroit Tigers.

the timeless home whites that haven’t changed in 80 years, the history of hall of famers and All Stars and Championships. And right now, we have an owner, a GM and a manager who do things the right way. The Tigers have great fans. Its not hard to see why players want to play for Detroit.

. . . so much nicer than the fans of the Sox (either), the Yanks, the Angels, the Phillies, etc.

I’ve always thought we have hands down the best name of any team in MLB. A Tiger is totally bad ass. What have other teams got? Birds. Items of clothing. Racially insensitive cartoon characters. None of those mascots are going to eat anything up!

and the most amazing words ever to pierce the airwaves

… Jim Northrup comes to bat now against Gibson…now the set by Gibson, we’re ready…here’s a swing and a fly ball to center…here comes Flood, digging hard…he almost fell down…it’s over his head…Cash is rounding third…he scores…Willie Horton rounding third…he scores…Northrup goes into third base…Detroit leads, two-to-nothing.

I started out as a Tiger fan because my Dad would never miss a game on the radio (yup way back when that was the only way to “watch”). Will never forget hearing Ernie Harwell’s voice all summer——-pure joy!! My Dad is gone now but my thrill at watching our Tigers play has grown even stronger. Everything about the Tigers is mesmerizing and exciting!! Especially a good well fought game, both the old and new stadiums, the players, the fact they all appreciate the fans so much. I could go on forever but still wouldn’t be able to put into words completely what is in my heart about the joys the Tigers have given to myself and my family!!! Bless You Boys!! Now on to another winning season :-)

Al Kaline, Ernie, Bill Freehan, Norm Cash, Ty Cobb, Trammell/Whitiker double plays, Sparky, a Kirk Gibson home run, old Paw Paw Charlie “Sunday Punch” Maxwell, 1968 & 1984, Ron Leflore, the Lindell AC, Billy Martin, Willie Hernandez, Denny McLain, Jack Morris, Lance Parrish, Chet Lemon’s black glove snagging one from going over the fence or his head first dives into first base, Mickey Lolich’s belly, George Kell, Gates Brown & Willie Horton long balls, Mags, Justin Verlander, Miggy, Mike Illich, Jim Leyland, Alex Avila………and the list goes on & on & on.

I grew into a Tiger’s fan because of my older brother, going to my first game at 11 in 2003 (great season, right?). Watching the team grow since then and become one where hope legitimately exists every spring has made me fall in love for good. Watching games during the summer with my family and making several trips to Comerica each year is some of the best bonding I have with all of my family members, not just my older bro.

Favorite things:
-the amazing atmosphere at CoPa
-those delicious burgers at Nemo’s.
-watching JV become JV
-Jim Leyland, for his personal side, not one to agree with his old school approach, yet he still gets the most out of his players and they obviously enjoy playing for him

BTW, I’ve been avidly reading this blog for close to two years now, and I finally made a SBN account. So first comment, hope to become a regular hear in the future!

1. Missing JP McCarthy on WJR interviewing the Tigers manager in the morning.
2. Being at Grade school during the deciding game of the ‘68 World Series win only to get home to see the Lolitch interview on TV… all of this because there were no night games in the World Series at that time.
3. Watching Norm Cash tag out a runner leading off of first base after he faked the throw back to the pitcher.
4. Always waiting to see if Ernie would call out " There’s a sovenier for a fan from…Toledo" during his broadcasts when a foul ball goes into the stands.
5.Parking along the street by the church to get to Tiger Stadium.
6. …and to think this “Old” Tigers fan has someone in my family now playing for the Tigers! And no I am not Cecil Fielder! LOL!

1.) the home whites
2.) the green field
3.) the outfield with the statues
4.) being in the outfield next to Horton’s statue leaning on the railing watching Verlander pitch his no-hiter
5.) sitting in the outfield overlooking the bullpens, there is nothing like it in any of the other stadiums i have been too and i have been to several MLB parks
6.) when i come back to detroit to visit my folks and going down to the stadium, walking in and realizing im home (tears)
7.) since i dont live in detroit anymore the only way i can watch games is to stream them through my Roku box on mlb.tv, its a savior becasue i can choose which broadcast. Always cheers me up to select Fox Sports Detroit broadcast and hear Mario and Rod. The Roku box lets me feel like im back home if only for 3 hours during game time.
8.) Mario and Rod, i have listened to other sports announcers commentate from the other team broadcast on mlb.tv, most are just ignorant and bash detroit fans and detroit baseball
9. Mario and Rod for being objecive, well educated in baseball and being the best announcers in all of baseball
10. Finally the olde english D, best logo in all of baseball

I love that when I go out and see the Dodgers play the Tigers, not only are there Tigers fans here in LA, but I see folks from BYB in front of me in the stands (Hey, Tigerdog!)

I loved that in 2003, when I saw more live games than I had before or since, every time I went, the Tigers won.

I loved “Stood there like a house by the side of the road.”

I love that it’s a sport that I can read a newspaper recap and totally get it.

I love arguing with my stat-head friends about what crazy schemes they’d pull as manager (one keeps trying to sell me on a four-man rotation).

Seeing what a class act Armando Galarraga was, sure do wish he was still in the system. I read his book and after doing so i gained much more respect for Jim Joyce and the class act Galarraga truly was. He could have screamed and yelled at Joyce but no he was classy and shrugged off the mistake that was human error.

Quite possibly one of the best. Seeing Carlos Guillen do the no marbles strut from Major League movie around the bases after he hit a homer off Jered Weaver. Wish i could find a photo of that one. Classic.

To be truthful, I really had no choice. Grandma listened to every game on the radio, whether it was on TV or not. Grandpa’s favorite player was Charlie Gehringer, my dad’s, Al Kaline, mine Alan Trammell, my son’s, Miggy. The Tigers were drummed into my head by all my relatives, male and female, since I was old enough to pay attention. Thank God they did that for me. Hopefully my kids will thank me someday too.

. . . strained meeting for many reasons. Almost nothing in common. But the Tigers were on TV, and before you knew it, we were old friends.

From the ownership to the players; all are great to us. I also love Tigers fans. We are a respectful group and many of us seem to love the game deeply. We treat players and other fans well and even forgive the most heinous of crimes committed by umpires. We are a classy group and my fellow brethren make me proud to be a fan of the Tigers.

In the picture below this thread, I really just like the fact that he’s in full uniform as the equipment managers are preparing to load the bus with the gear…..What the hell is he doing in the clubhouse? I’ll tell you what he’s doing there….getting mentally prepared for this upcoming season. Count it!!! Most dedicated mascot of all the times!

My dad smoked a pipe, which my mom forbid in the house. So we would listen to the games while tinkering with the cars in the garage. It did smell better than some of the corridors in Tiger Stadium. His favorite player was Norm Cash. I learned more about baseball than I did about cars. After my dad passed, I would always think of him whenever I was in the bowels of Tiger Stadium. I appreciate the cleanliness of Comerica, but I still miss the atmosphere and the bleachers under the scoreboard, where you could feel on top of the world, with a dry seat for $2.00 during a rain delay.

I have lived in Texas almost all my life but have always been a Tiger fan… just because…
1) Lolich – big guy; but he could pitch!
2) Watching Al Kaline throw someone out from RF
3) Norm Cash coming to bat with a piano leg against Nolan Ryan
4) Tram and Lou: wow
5) Sparky: “Mike Laga will make you forget every other power hitter you ever saw”. Sparky had a way with words…
6) The Bird- what a season!
7) Get scraps of Tigers news from The Sporting News; catching faint echoes of WJR 1000 miles away
8) Aurelio Rodriguez and Ed Brinkman – now that was a “good field/no hit” combo!
9) Frank Tanana/Larry Herndon 1-0 over the Jays in 87.
10) Jack Morris no hitter to kickoff the 1984 surge
Got to visit Tiger Stadium once (Tigs beat Orioles that day) then went to CoPa back in 2010 (another victory over the O’s; Danny Worth’s first Major HR). Also got a burger at Nemos!
too many more to list.. looking forward to 2012!