Javier Báez hit an off-the-wall, walk-off single to beat the Chicago White Sox on Opening Day a year ago at Comerica Park.
The rest of the season didn’t go so well, for Báez, the six-year, $140 million shortstop, or for the Detroit Tigers.
So don’t make too much of their 6-3 loss on this year’s Opening Day Thursday afternoon against the Boston Red Sox. It was still a party.
It’s always a party on this day, perhaps unlike any other baseball tradition in the major leagues. That’s not scientific, of course. But it sounds true and, besides, what other downtown city turns its streets into a tailgate in April?
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Which makes the annual day more like a holiday. Not to mention a source of pride; a colleague from Kansas remarked on a recent trip here that every Uber driver insisted he stay until Thursday so he could witness the “D” party himself.
How’s that for a chamber of commerce pitch?
And how’s this?
“Detroit does it right,” said A.J. Hinch.
The Tigers manager has seen a few openers in his day. He should know. And what he knows is that the expectation after a long winter can apply pressure to those not used to it, or to those who haven’t experienced it in a while.
Spencer Turnbull did his best to keep his mind away from the Opening Day cauldron. Two years ago, he began the season on the COVID-19 list, returned in late April to beat Pittsburgh, threw a no-hitter — the Tigers’ eighth — a month later against Seattle, then went down with a right forearm strain three weeks after that.
The strain led to Tommy John surgery later that summer. He didn’t pitch again until last week in Tampa, where he gave up seven runs in 2⅓ innings. When he took the mound Thursday, it was his first appearance at Comerica Park in 22 months.
You’d have the jitters, too.
Turnbull shook those off quickly. And while his stuff isn’t where it was before he got hurt, it’s miles better than what it was in Tampa. He’ll take it.
“I was hopeful I would come back and be lights out from Day 1,” he said, lasting five innings and giving up five runs. “That didn’t happen. I don’t think that had anything to do with (the pressure). (My) stuff wasn’t as good as it could be.”
Whether it fully returns will be a story to watch this summer. Though his repaired arm isn’t the only one the Tigers are counting on.
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At some point, pitchers Tarik Skubal and Casey Mize will return. Both had arm surgery last year. Skubal will likely come back later this summer. Mize may not return until 2024.
Their arms represent the top of the rotation as the Tigers and their new president, Scott Harris, try to rebuild the franchise, and, as with Turnball, represent as much unknown as they do possibility. In that sense, it all feels so far away.
On Opening Day, though, that distance doesn’t matter so much. Baseball is back, and that’s never a bad thing.
Sure, it’d be nice for everyone to see Baez start hitting the way he once did, especially for Baez himself — he went 0-for-4 against Boston and already is hitting below .100 — and Riley Greene would probably like a few at-bats back as well.
The second-year centerfielder missed Opening Day a year ago because of injury and was keen on making an impression of this most Detroit of holidays.
“I was looking forward to it a lot,” he said.
Yet the youngster didn’t leave the ballpark without some memories, most notably Miguel Cabrera’s last Opening Day.
“I think he debuted when I was 1,” he said, smiling. “I grew up watching him.”
Now he’s playing with him and sharing a clubhouse with him and while this team doesn’t have the expectation — or talent — of Cabrera’s early Tigers’ teams, or even of last year’s team, Greene remains hopeful this summer might reveal surprise.
So does Spencer Torkelson, Greene’s fast friend and next-door neighbor in the clubhouse and, lately, hitting partner in the middle of the lineup. Hinch cautioned everyone before the game that while he realizes its “cool” to see the pair of them penciled into the three and four spots, he plans on adjusting the lineup day-to-day based on the opponent.
Still, it is “cool” to see Greene and Torkelson hit home runs, as each have done this season, and it is promising to watch them learn how to navigate the strike zone. They remain central to the rebuild.
Jake Rogers does, too. And, like Turnbull, made his home re-debut after Tommy John surgery and nearly a two-year absence. All the catcher did was hit a two-run, 414-foot blast over the left-center wall in the second inning.
How’s that for a return?
“Ambushed him,” Rogers said of Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale. “It was awesome.”
Rogers is the last player standing from the Justin Verlander trade (Daz Cameron is now with Baltimore and Franklin Perez is languishing in the minors). That was almost six years ago and feels like a lot longer than that.
Eras changing can bend time like that. So can missing 22-plus months on the field.
The Tigers returned home Thursday afternoon after a long winter absence. A couple of players returned after more winters than they’d like to count.
Each had their moment on this festive day. They and their teammates will need to have more to change the expectation this summer.
If nothing else, they’ve got time. Opening Day renewals reminds us of that.
Contact Shawn Windsor: 313-222-6487 or swindsor@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @shawnwindsor.