St. Petersburg, Fla. − Tigers president Scott Harris was asked Wednesday how the renovations at Comerica Park were going and he started talking about the upgrades that have been made to the Tigers’ clubhouse.
Hmm. The home opener is a week away. Is the work on moving in the center field fences 10 feet and erecting a seven-foot, fully-padded wall around the entire outfield still a work in progress?
“Very much so,” Harris said with a chuckle. “There are a lot of hard hats running around in Detroit. Hopefully the outcomes that we modeled with the fences will come to pass.”
Sounded ominous but fear not. Harris fully expects the work to be done in time. But it’s the new home clubhouse that he seemed most excited about.
“There are going to be plenty of clubhouse upgrades that our that our players are going to benefit from,” he said. “There will be some details that we’re still going to be working on in the first couple of weeks, but it’s going to look a lot different.
“We’re proud to give our players a new clubhouse.”
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The home clubhouse at Comerica Park had become outdated. There wasn’t efficient space for the weight room, training room, expanded video and data room, not to mention the very small kitchen and dining area.
It has become a source of frustration for the current players and it wasn’t much of a selling point for prospective free agents.
It is now.
“The clubhouse upgrade was a huge priority and spent a lot of time and energy in elevating the players experience this offseason,” Harris said. “We are fortunate to have an owner in Chris (Ilitch) who is committed to investing in the players, the systems and the infrastructure that can help us get this right.
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“He’s done a lot that you know about and he’s done a lot that you don’t know about to improve how it looks and feels to be a Tiger.”
Harris said he is eager to see the response of the players when they get back to Detroit.
“I’m also excited to be responsive to further changes they might need to get the very best out of them,” he said. “We want Detroit to be a place where players want to come play and a place they want to stay and play for a long time.”
chris.mccosky@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @cmccosky