See the moment an MLB superstar showed up to play Wiffleball in the backyard
Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez stops to join a group of children playing a backyard game of Wiffleball in Kansas City, Kansas.
USA Today
BALTIMORE – Matt Vierling hasn’t been around long, but he’s seen a lot.
At 28, he is currently the oldest player in the Detroit Tigers squad and knows that after 156 games, there is little point in letting your mind wander too much when there is so much at stake in the final six games.
But he also knows that what these Tigers are doing is so unusual, so surprising and so entertaining that he simply has to travel there – to October, to a potentially surprising playoff appearance by a club that has not had a single win in eight years.
“I thought about it – how much fun it would be to get there with this team,” Vierling, the club’s left fielder and cleanup hitter, tells USA TODAY Sports. “I tried to suppress those thoughts a little bit to focus on the day-to-day. That’s what makes this team great.”
“But I’ve thought about it. I’ve been at a point before where you’re having a great time and celebrating all the hard work. It would be pretty incredible to do something like that.
“Here.”
With each passing day the probability seems to increase.
The Tigers entered the final week of the regular season in a surprise playoff position thanks to a whirlwind road trip that saw them win five of six games against fellow postseason contenders Kansas City and Baltimore. They are 27-11 since August 11, the best record in the major leagues during that span, and also have the best ERA (2.74) during that span.
Their record is 30-18 since trading second starter Jack Flaherty to the Los Angeles Dodgers, which was a nominal waving of the white flag and reduced their number of starting pitchers to two.
Since?
There was a wave of bullpen play and big guys and guys with 20-something home runs getting yards at the right time and young players – so many young players – taking significant steps forward.
“It wasn’t ideal to trade Jack,” Tigers closer Jason Foley said of the deal, which came just minutes before the July 30 trade deadline when the Tigers were 52-56. “You don’t want to be a seller at the trade deadline. That means you’re obviously not in a favorable position to make the postseason. But you still have to go out there and perform and win every night and every day.”
“We started stringing together a few good games, piling together a few good weeks, piling together a few good months, and before you know it, we’re in a pretty good position to advance to the postseason.”
And now they go home.
After improving to 82-74 with a thrilling 4-3 victory in front of 44,040 fans at Camden Yards – their best record since winning 86 games in 2016 – the Tigers finish the season with six games at Comerica Park. On Tuesday, projected Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal opens a three-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays.
And although their margin for error is razor-thin – they are one game ahead of the Minnesota Twins in the battle for the last wildcard spot – they have something of a golden ticket for 2024: Their last three games are against the Chicago White Sox, who have a historically bad record of 120 losses.
And recent history shows that this is not only a living dog, but also a potentially dangerous one.
Playing with the house money
AJ Hinch knows a thing or two about championship battles and October drama. He led the Houston Astros to two AL championships and the 2017 World Series title before being fired for the club’s sign-stealing scandal.
Hinch is now in his fourth year as manager of the Tigers, having led clubs that won 77, 66 and 78 games in his first three seasons. In short: A handful of good young players to take care of $140 million infielder Javy Baez, who was an offensive flop in his three seasons with Detroit before leaving on Aug. 23 for season-ending hip surgery.
But despite fielding three freshmen and one second-year player every day, Hinch has seen enough: These guys are ready for the final round.
“This (last) week is really no different for us than the last six weeks. We’ve been in full throttle mode, grind mode, playoff mode, whatever you want to call it for a long time,” said Hinch, whose club swept the Royals in Kansas City last week, dragging them from their perpetual No. 2 wild card spot into the swamp, where they are now tied with the Tigers.
“We were in an environment that was new to us. San Diego was awesome. (Baltimore) was a great experience. In Kansas City, we won all three games in a tough environment. I think this last week is the same — we dress up every day and try to win and see how many wins we end up with together.”
Should they win one more game than the Twins or Royals — and the Tigers will have to, losing the tiebreaker to both clubs — they should be cautious. Detroit represents the platonic ideal of a playoff team in this expanded era: A club that has spent weeks, maybe months, fighting to survive and comes into the postseason in peak form, its heartbeat already set for an all-or-nothing game.
Vierling knows. He was a member of the 2022 Philadelphia Phillies who started this trend, sliding into the playoffs with 87 wins and then making it to Game 6 of the World Series.
Sure, these Tigers don’t have superstars with nine-figure salaries like Bryce Harper or Zack Wheeler. But they do have arguably the game’s best pitcher in Skubal, who can throw 1 in a Game 1.
And perhaps most importantly, a carefree atmosphere for a franchise that last made the playoffs in 2014.
“We had the same thing in Philly: We hadn’t been there in 11 years. We knew we had the talent. We just had to come in,” Vierling says. “It’s kind of the same thing. It’s like playing with the house money. Nobody expected this. We just want to keep going and see what we can do with it.”
“I just have to stress: no pressure, no fear.”
“I love this team”
Sunday’s series finale in Baltimore — and the clubs could well face each other in a best-of-three wild-card series — was indicative of the club’s run. The club fielded a half-dozen pitchers against the Orioles, none of whom recorded more than seven outs. Kerry Carpenter hit two home runs, the second a crucial hit that gave Detroit a momentary lead after second-year center fielder Parker Meadows took a two-run home run from Baltimore’s Colton Cowser.
On July 30, it all looked like a mirage.
Flaherty posted a 2.95 ERA and averaged almost exactly six innings in his 18 starts; his trade to LA left Detroit with just two starters: Skubal and rookie right-hander Keider Montero.
Filling the gaps: A phalanx of semi-starters and openers.
These are not the old-school Tigers of Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander, but Beau Brieske (no earned runs in his last 13 innings), Tyler Holton (started two of the last three games) and Sean Guenther (1.04 ERA in 14 games). Rookies like Brenan Hanifee and Ty Madden have increasingly taken on greater responsibility.
And the Flaherty trade gave them their current starting shortstop: Trey Sweeney, a reserve in the Dodgers’ organization but now a cog in Detroit.
Are you excited yet? Hinch certainly is.
“I love this team,” Hinch said. “I love what we do, we fight every game like it’s the last one of the season. That’s how we’ve worked so far and that’s how we’ll continue to work.”
“We bring it every day.”
The previous Sunday, Hinch had done something his club hadn’t seen in weeks: He named all three starting pitchers for the Tampa Bay series. With right-hander Reese Olson recently returning from an eight-week absence due to a shoulder injury, the Tigers have put their old friend “TBA” on ice for the time being; Skubal, Montero and Olson will play for the Rays.
Not that improvisation didn’t do the club any good.
Vierling was thinking about it recently, remembering that just a few months ago, Sweeney was toiling away in Oklahoma City for the Class AAA Dodgers. Now he’s making game-winning catches.
“It’s just incredible to see what these guys have been through and knowing it’s such a long year, isn’t it? A lot can happen. A lot can change.
“We had our ups and downs. We stayed afloat after the trade deadline and we got some momentum going here. It was pretty cool to see these guys take that momentum and bring that energy to the team.”
Undoubtedly, the Twins (11 losses in 16 games) and the Royals (seven straight losses) opened the door. But the Tigers have taken full advantage, playing with boundless conviction and not pausing to reflect on their luck. Next Sunday, they will likely be packing very large suitcases and considering several destinations. As long as they maintain this delicate balance, the trip is guaranteed to be a long one.
“The atmosphere here is great,” says Meadows. “The chemistry in this team is great, we have a lot of fun and support each other.”
“It’s pretty surreal. But we’re going to keep doing our job and keep winning games.”
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