Here at Bless You Boys, we strive to provide you with insightful, well-written, and informative coverage and analysis of the Detroit Tigers baseball team. I can assure you, I put my best effort into my sentences to make sure this is well-written. As for the other stuff, look, we’re going on a month of a league-wide lockout and there’s absolutely nothing going on. There are only so many times you can refresh your news feed, searching for some new scrap of information while sitting on the couch, as your kids play, with the TV on in the background.
Around my house, the TV is usually playing their favorite show, Paw Patrol. If it’s not one of the eight seasons of episodes playing for probably the 20th time, it’s the Paw Patrol Movie playing for the 100th time. After so much indirect exposure, you pick up a good understanding of a show and its characters.
So, when the crew here at BYB started talking about fun comparisons of the Tigers to TV shows and someone tossed out Paw Patrol, my mind started making an embarrassing number of connections between the two. After spending way too much time thinking on this, I give you, the Detroit Tigers as Paw Patrol characters.
AJ Hinch as Ryder
The fearless leader. The brains behind the entire operation. He is the one that comes up with the plan to save the day. He is the one that calls the shots. This one was pretty obvious.
When there’s a fire, he comes in to put it out. When someone drives a giant magnifying glass around town on a hot, sunny day and sets half the city on fire, Marshall is called on to put it out. When the opponent puts two on with no one out in a one-run game in the 8th inning, Soto is summoned to snuff out the threat. Plus, their personality matches too. Soto has his flashy antics on the mound and even dyed his hair Cheetos orange that one time. Marshall is the goofball of the pups with his perchance for crashing into his fellow pups with a cheesy pun to follow.
Robbie Grossman as Chase
Confident, rock-solid, dependable jack-of-all-trades, used in nearly every mission. Chase was the first pup Ryder befriended because of his bravery and he’s a loyal, responsible pal that can do a little bit of everything to help out. Robbie Grossman was the first free agent Chris Illitch signed to a multi-year deal to turn around the rebuild, and he contributes to the team in every facet of his game. Leading off with a walk, stealing a base, hitting a home run, making a great play in the outfield, Robbie is always there to add something positive to the team.
Spencer Torkelson as Rubble
The building block of the franchise. There are many young players in the Tigers system coming to the majors, but Torkelson is the top name on every list as the Tigers build towards a championship season. His powerful bat will be counted on to do some heavy run scoring in the middle of the order for years to come. Rubble is the construction pup that specializes in heavy equipment and building projects. Bulldozers, cranes, excavators, when you need some seriously strong work done, Rubble is your guy.
Akil Baddoo as Skye
High energy, fast, excitement personified. Perhaps the most exciting storyline of the past season was the emergence of Akil Baddoo. From his clutch home runs, explosive speed, and fun high-energy personality, it was a joy to watch as he launched balls into the sky or flew around the base paths or through the outfield. Who better to represent him than the flying pup herself, Skye? Zipping around Adventure Bay in her helicopter or jetpack, Skye can be counted on to provide some high-flying excitement.
Tucker Barnhart as Rocky
Don’t lose it, reuse it! What better motto for the catcher the Tigers got from the Cincinnati Reds as they looked to shed payroll? Rocky not only knows how to get the most use out of things, but he’s armed with the tools to fix anything good as new. Tucker Barnhart brings his acclaimed skills at catching to Detroit where he’ll look to guide and get the most out of the young Tigers pitchers. Plus, they both have that kind of rough and scrappy look to them.
Eric Haase as Zuma
A solid contributor when called upon but his overall skillset keeps his role limited. Zuma is the Aqua Man of the Paw Patrol gang. There are just not many situations they get into where they need a water rescue specialist. That best fits Eric Haase’s role on the Tigers. He’s not a starting catcher, he’s not a starting outfielder, and his bat is best used against lefties. When Zuma usually gets screen time, he’s called in as support late in the episode. I have a feeling Haase will be called upon for many late-inning pinch-hit situations as well.
Tyler Alexander as Everest
Personally, Everest is one of my favorite characters in the show. Ice or snow she’s ready to go. But she’s in an in-between role. She’s in the intro credits in some seasons but she’s not one of the regular pups. That fits Tyler Alexander perfectly, and he’s also one of my personal favorites on the team. He might be good enough to be a starter, but he’s best used in a swingman role. He’s not really one of the starters, he’s not really a late-inning reliever. But he’s very good at what he does.
Franklin Perez as Tracker
He seems talented, but I’ve rarely seen him. I haven’t seen many episodes with Everest in it, but I’ve seen even less with Tracker. He’s clearly important to the team because he has his own equipment from Ryder, but he just doesn’t appear much. Kinda like Franklin Perez. Who? You know, the guy the Tigers got for Justin Verlander? The top pitching prospect before they had Mize, Skubal, Manning? The guy who has only pitched like 30 innings in the last 4 years? Yeah, I forget about him all the time too.
Joe Jiménez as Danny
Extremely flashy but always in trouble and needs his friends to bail him out. Danny always wan- — oh I mean Daring Danny X — he always wants to be the big-time star in the big moment, but it usually ends up backfiring on him and he ends up in trouble and needs to be saved by the Paw Patrol. Sound like a certain reliever you know? Yup, me too. I want to see Joe put it together one of these years but it kind of feels like he is who he is at this point. A very talented reliever who wants to be the closer but just can’t put together the consistency to be taken seriously.
He’s the know-it-all and he’s the animal whisperer. If there’s a whale trapped in the bay, he can listen to it and somehow tell the pups exactly what’s wrong with it. Fetter similarly is a very intelligent pitching coach who can listen to a pitcher floundering away at Triple-A and suddenly turn them into a shutdown late-inning reliever. If we found out Chris Fetter owns a boat, the match would be completely perfect.
Everyone appreciates them and respects them but their qualifications for their current roles are lacking when you think about it. I mean, Miguel Cabrera is the cleanup hitter but he doesn’t hit over .300 anymore and barely hits 10 home runs a year. Mayor Goodway is supposed to be running an entire town but spends 90% of her time obsessing over her pet chicken, Chickaletta. She and the pups once found a giant deposit of gold and she had it melted into a giant statue of her domesticated dinner animal.
Funny but completely useless.
And finally…
The self-confident moronic villain of the show. He’s a self-described “unqualified elected official”. His “best” ideas involve some overly complicated plan that doesn’t have anyone’s well-being in mind except his own. He once installed loop-de-loops on a subway because he thought it made the trains more exciting. Rob Manfred came up with the idea to have extra innings start with an automatic runner on second base because he thinks the games are too long and boring. All he’s missing is a purple suit and an evil mustache at this point.
And there you have it. Hope you enjoyed this fun little comparison, especially those of you who are also surrounded by a constant stream of kid’s shows. Feel like you have another good comparison of a Paw Patrol character and a current member of the Tigers? Let us know down in the comments.