JEFF SEIDEL Detroit Tigers incredible MLB playoffs berth one of the greatest in city's history

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Detroit Tigers incredible MLB playoffs berth one of the greatest in city’s history
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Christopher Ilitch was dry.

Way too dry.

So, Riley Greene calmly walked up to the Tigers owner and fixed a pair of goggles on his face.

Then, Greene led Ilitch across the champagne-soaked clubhouse in Comerica Park on Friday night after the Tigers beat the Chicago White Sox and clinched a berth in the playoffs for the first time since 2014.
“Yo, hey!” Greene screamed to his teammates. “Hey! Hey! Hey!”

If you ever wondered about the newly 24-year-old Greene’s stature in this organization — or even his pure, fearless confidence — it was clear at that moment.

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Because the Tigers just did something absolutely remarkable. This team was 55-63 — eight games under .500 — on Aug. 10. They had traded productive major-leaguers (hey, Jack Flaherty) and were left for dead — or at least a high draft pick.

But they kept fighting, kept working, kept battling, kept playing one game at a time — like Hinch preaches — but most importantly, kept winning, and here they are in the playoffs.

The only other team to do that in baseball history? To climb out of that kind of hole? The 1973 Mets, back when there were two divisions in each league, and four playoff spots in all.

“I’m pretty overwhelmed that we’ve been able to pull this off, not because of talent, not because of belief, but because of the odds,” Hinch said. “We had to do a lot.”

Every player on this team has an unique story — from the rookies to the guys who have tasted struggles for years.

When he was fired by the Astros in 2019, suspended for a season and stained by the franchise’s sign-stealing scandal, he didn’t know if he would ever manage again. But the Tigers gave him a chance — a lifeline really — and he just led them on one of the greatest, most improbable sports stories (for the regular season at least) in Detroit history.

“It means a lot to me, you know, to be the leader of this team, and for an organization to take a chance on me, to put me back in this in this chair,” Hinch said, his eyes getting glassy, the emotion bubbling up.

“I didn’t plan on talking about it, but it matters a lot to me to see a team respond the way they have, and get to October as a winner.”

Yes, they are winners.

Let that sink in.

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They were spraying beer and pouring champagne over each other’s heads and dancing and screaming and smiling and it was getting hot and sweaty and Spencer Torkelson was going through an empty bin of champagne bottles, seeing if he could find any more and …

And?

“We need more beer!” somebody screamed.

Yes, the boys ran out of beer.

Quick note: If you want to have a fun time at a bar, invite Jason Foley — he’s wonderfully crazy.

And Greene.

And Jake Rogers.

And Tarik Skubal.

And, well, all of them. They all just seem to fit together perfectly.

“It means a lot,” Skubal said. “You know, the youth that we got trading away guys at the deadline, and then, you know, look at us now. So I think it means a lot to the guys in that clubhouse, and it speaks a lot about the guys in that clubhouse, too.”

It’s a wild collection of players.

A couple of absolute studs in Greene and Skubal.

But it’s mostly young kids

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But it’s an incredibly close team.

A close team that left a heck of a mess.

“Jobe has to clean up the clubhouse!” Skubal screamed.

He was joking.

I think.

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I saw an interview with Chris Illitch this morning. I was surprised by how emotional he was in a positive way.

Hopefully this is the push he needed to pay for some more talent this off-season.

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Blurb from the New on Harris and the day he was hired stated:

To be fair, Harris did tell all of us what was coming. In fact, it took all of about five minutes in his introductory press conference back in September 2022 for Harris lay out his three-point plan for rescuing Ilitch’s failed rebuilding effort under Al Avila. Harris talked that day about the need to acquire young talent, about creating a “culture of development” and, more specifically, about dominating the strike zone.

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I have always thought he would be willing to pay for talent the team wasn’t there yet, they are now. He has spent a lot of money in facility upgrades in Detroit and Lakeland. He spent on Keith, granted it saved money in the long run but he didn’t have to do that.

I also think they lock up Greene and Skubal longterm this offseason.

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# Niyo: Tigers’ Harris had a vision, and now it’s clear to everyone

Harris understands that, too, and as he soaked in the moment Friday — a moment he probably saw coming before anyone else did — it was clear the 36-year-old architect of Major League Baseball’s biggest surprise this season had no intention of taking a victory lap.

“I don’t look at it that way,” said Harris, the bright, young baseball executive who was hired to run this club two years ago last week. “This isn’t validation. I’m just really happy for all the players here, all the coaches. And I’m proud for the organization. It’s been a long time since this organization was in the playoffs. And these fans deserve it.”

As he spoke, he turned and motioned to the stands surrounding the diamond, still packed with thousands of fans celebrating after the Tigers booked their first postseason trip since 2014, ending what was tied for the longest active playoff drought in baseball.

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