LAKELAND, Fla. — One week before the Detroit Tigers‘ first spring training game, Staci and Kenny Meadows — the parents of Austin and Parker Meadows — got into a debate about watching their sons play together for the first time. The parents live in Loganville, Georgia. The brothers play in Lakeland, Florida. It’s a 7-hour drive. “We might
Miguel Cabrera will retire from Major League Baseball after the 2023 season as one of the most prolific hitters in the history of the game, and a certain first ballot Hall of Famer. On the field, “Miggy” is a mere shadow of his former self, but still a main attraction wherever he goes. He is
LAKELAND, Fla. — Warning: The following column contains glancing references to math and physics. Yeah, I know. Math makes my head hurt. But this is fun science — the kind that explains why a fastball can dance like a wiffle ball. But we are going to explore it through the one person who can explain
Baseball’s new era arrived as many new eras do. With a lot of intrigue and a little awkwardness. With the excited embrace of some, the miffed objections of others and the ultimate conclusion that the game — and the world — will, indeed, go on. It’s Spring Training, so — as in that show “Whose
Lakeland, Fla. — There was a triple play. One Meadows brother homered on the first pitch he saw and the other Meadows brother swears the ball he launched over the Margaritaville Porch in right field two innings later was fair, though the umpires disagreed. There were 12 hits in the game. Thirty-seven position players and
LAKELAND, Fla. — As children, Jace Jung and his brother Josh — two future Texas Tech infielders, first-round picks and Top 100 prospects — used to play a version of Guess Who. No mustaches. No eye color. No facial features of any kind. This was a little different than the typical kid’s board game. “We
LAKELAND, Fla. — Kenny and Staci Meadows had just returned home to Georgia from a trip to Florida, where they had helped their sons Austin and Parker get ready for their first Spring Training together with the Tigers while seeing their granddaughter Adelynne. Kenny was still sore from shagging fly balls for his kids as
LAKELAND, Fla. — The Detroit Tigers beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-2, on Saturday at Joker Marchant Stadium in the first game of the Grapefruit League schedule in spring training. The game, the Tigers’ first played under MLB’s new rules mandating a 15- or 20-second pitch clock, lasted 2 hours and 17 minutes. “That’s a quick game,
Lakeland, Fla. — The Cuban flag is tattooed on his left arm. He was born in Havana and defected to the United States in 2014. That tells you all you need to know about how much playing for Team Cuba means to Tigers’ non-roster invitee Andy Ibanez. But here’s the rub: Ibanez is in a
LAKELAND, Fla. — Brendan White is the latest underrated Detroit Tigers pitcher to know. The 24-year-old, a 26th-round selection in the 2019 draft from Siena College, didn’t crack any top prospect lists this offseason, but if a new pitch in his arsenal clicks, he could emerge as an impact reliever for the Tigers this season. White
Lakeland, Fla. — Say you are Rony Garcia and you’ve been told before camp started that your best path to making the Tigers’ Opening Day roster is as a bulk-inning reliever in the bullpen — which he was, as manager AJ Hinch said on Friday. Given how crowded that particular path is, it’s hard to
LAKELAND, Fla. — Colt Keith waited all week for a chance at live batting practice against a Tigers pitcher in Spring Training. His present was a matchup against Matt Manning on Friday morning. By session’s end, he was wearing Manning out. As Keith went pitch-to-pitch against the third-year starter, he was determined not to chase. Not
Lakeland, Fla. — A group of reporters encircled Tigers prospect Parker Meadows at his locker stall Friday. “How cool is it going to be for you and your brother, starting your first game together on Saturday?” he was asked. The stunned look on his face told the tale. He was getting this news for the
LAKELAND, Fla. — On Friday morning, Detroit Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris and manager A.J. Hinch held their player meeting with 21-year-old third baseman Colt Keith, the youngest player in their camp. “He can really hit,” Hinch said. “We emphasized (in the meeting) that his approach currently works, so now it’s experience and facing
DETROIT — In 2019, Rochelle Riley decided it was time for a change. After working in newsrooms for more than 30 years, Riley raised a career-altering question to herself. “I asked myself, ‘Do you want to work in a newsroom until it is time for you to retire, then go sit on a beach somewhere?
The Detroit Tigers draft record over the past six years suddenly looks rather grim. Most of that is the fact that their five big prospects have stumbled to one degree or another early in their major league careers. Their stories are far from written, but an area where the Tigers have had enormous success recently
Austin Meadows talks about last season’s physical and mental struggles, and his healthy return to the Tigers in 2023. #MarygroveAwnings #DetroitRoots
The 2023 Detroit Tigers will take the field for some exhibition baseball on Saturday, kicking off the Grapefruit League season. On Thursday, the planned rotation for the first three games was revealed. Of course, most of this won’t be on television or streaming anywhere. I’m always a bit surprised they don’t cater to the real
LAKELAND, Fla. — Think of it in terms of Colt Keith, the youngest player at the Detroit Tigers’ spring training this year. The haven’t had a winning record since the 21-year-old was a freshman in high school. Four times in the past six years, they have lost at least 96 games. That’s a whole lot
LAKELAND, Fla. — A Lamborghini Urus rests beneath palm trees, beside a flower bed at the Detroit Tigers‘ spring training facility. The four-door super sport utility vehicle — mostly matte black, with some red accents — has an eight-cylinder twin-turbocharged engine underneath the hood. The back windows are tinted. The black wheels are accentuated by more