CHICAGO — Detroit Tigers manager AJ Hinch believes October is the best time of the year.
The leaves drop from the trees in Michigan, as the days get colder and earthly smells fill the air. From a baseball perspective, October signifies the postseason. It’s the time of year when an exclusive number of teams clash with the same goal: Winning the World Series. Every managerial decision, every at-bat and every pitch is magnified.
That’s what makes October special.
“But it’s only the best time of the year when you’re in it,” Hinch said.
The Tigers, finishing with a 77-85 record, spent the final three days of the 2021 season at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago. The White Sox — winners of the American League Central — hosted 97,771 fans for the three-game series, an average of nearly 32,600 per game. The electric atmosphere, as Hinch told his players, was nothing compared to the playoffs.
“That’s why I stayed here, to win a championship,” said Jonathan Schoop, who signed a two-year contract extension in August. “I played against Detroit in the playoffs (in 2014). I know how the fans can be. I’m excited for next year, to go the playoffs and win everything. Seriously, I’m really excited.”
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Hinch prioritized the establishment of his winning culture from the beginning of spring training, with an emphasis on winning each day for 162 games. The idea is simple, but sometimes that’s the best way to convey an important message.
After a miserable 9-24 start to the season, the Tigers began to see the fruits of their labor and continued cementing the foundation for the future. They posted a 68-61 record since May 8 and a 37-34 record since the All-Star Game, ending in third place in the AL Central.
“I’m proud of this group,” Hinch said. “We asked them to develop a winning mindset. We asked them to buy into what we were doing as a (coaching) staff, and the players really did it. … I’m very grateful for the players and for the opportunity here. Ultimately, the season was progress. I’m never going to celebrate too much because we’re going home, but I think it was a great year.”
The Tigers were winners in May (14-13), June (14-13), July (14-12) and September (14-12). They came up short of their monthly goal in April (8-19), August (12-14) and October (1-2). With a year of winning expectations behind them, the next step is competing for the playoffs.
“I hope the taste of that is there for our players,” Hinch said. “I hope they realize how special it is. The more that I hear our guys talk and have these exit interviews that I’m doing, the more that I realize our players get it. They’ve really enjoyed the winning, and we haven’t even won yet.
“If they’re enjoying the progress that we made this season, they’re going to enjoy, hopefully, the years to come when we’re in it. Everybody around the club wants to be one of those teams. … We’ve got to work our tail off so that next year we can be one of those teams.”
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Hinch understands as well as anyone what winning looks like.
He went to the postseason in four of his five years with the Houston Astros from 2015-19, winning the World Series in 2017 and losing it in 2019.
Few players inside the Tigers’ clubhouse understand the World Series experience, let alone the playoffs. Notable exceptions include Schoop, Robbie Grossman and Miguel Cabrera.
“I made comments to a bunch of guys like, ‘Hey, you still want to play for another month,'” Grossman said. “Once you get a taste of that, once you pop champagne and your eyes burn, you chase that for the rest of your career. If you don’t get to do it, it feels like a failure. It’s something that’s really special, and hopefully, we’re going to be a part of that next year.”
Grossman can discuss these goals for 2022 because he recognizes the difference between the 2021 Tigers and the old version of the Tigers he competed against in 2019. That year, the team lost 114 games and turned in the second-worst record in franchise history amid the darkest year of the rebuild.
There wasn’t much hope until this summer.
“Our guys believe that they should win today,” Hinch said. “I know that sounds like something I’ve said since Day 1, because it has been. … I think our belief needs to be here before we’re going to go accomplish something. That in itself, from Day 1, has been something our players have bought into.
“We’ve had to learn how to apply it in the game. I think progress is key. I think we have to keep pushing because we’re not close to where we need to be, but is has to start with belief.”
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As Cabrera prepares to enter his 20th season in 2022, the 38-year-old veteran expressed his belief that a new level of winning is on the horizon. He went to the postseason with the Tigers in four consecutive seasons, from 2011-14, before soldiering through the rebuild.
He is starving for team success before retirement.
“I’m going to feel more proud if in my last two years here in Detroit we can win a championship,” Cabrera said. “I think the city of Detroit, the Tigers’ organization, they deserve this. They deserve to win a championship. Hopefully, we can do that.”
The Tigers weren’t winners in 2021, though they played tough and finished with a 39-36 record against opponents above .500, but the team took significant steps toward postseason contention.
Spending for top-tier free agents, such as shortstop Carlos Correa, this offseason would help their chances. Regardless of what happens in the winter, the Tigers should be proud of their efforts this season.
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But satisfied? No way.
“We have enough to work on, but I hope the view is that our arrow is pointing in the right direction,” Hinch said. “We’re putting in the work. We’re putting in the preparation. We’re about to have an emergency of some pretty good young talent (Spencer Torkelson and Riley Greene). Hopefully, that leads to more wins.
“We are a team that’s making progress, which leads to hope in the future.”
Evan Petzold is a sports reporter at the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold. Read more on the Detroit Tigers and sign up for our Tigers newsletter.