Game 7: Comerica Park, Detroit, MI
Minnesota Twins vs Detroit Tigers- Friday, May 24, 2o13
Wow! What a ballgame!! This was, by far, the most memorable game that we have ever been to yet!!! We were just two outs away from witnessing a historic no-hitter. Detroit’s starter Anibal Sanchez, spinning a gem, held the Twins hitless for eight and a third innings before catcher Joe Mauer hit an off-speed pitch to right field to break up the bid. Sanchez was so close to becoming only the 28th pitcher in history to throw multiple no-hitters (he had one starting for the Marlins back in 2006). As it turned out, Joe Mauer entered the history books for breaking up three no-hitters in the ninth inning in his career! In any case, that hit was all the Twins got in this one, as Sanchez ended up with a complete game, one-hit shutout to show for his 130-pitch effort. With Cleveland dropping it’s game in Boston. Detroit moved into first place in AL central by half a game.
And to think we almost didn’t make it into Detroit for this one!
Just in case you didn’t already know this, we strongly recommend not going to bed after midnight, if you need to get up at 3 in the morning. But with the Red Sox – Indians game ending late at night and our flight out of Boston leaving early in the morning, we had to make do with three hours of sleep. Somehow, we managed to get to the airport well in time for our flight, but our exciting day was just getting started. After we had already pulled back from the gate, the captain came on the PA system to inform us that the plane had some mechanical problems and he was going to stop the engines and restart them to see if the problem would go away. Not the kind of message you want to be hearing from a pilot and we were just grateful that they figured this out while we were still on the ground. Unfortunately, restarting the engines did not make the problem go away, so we were going to head back to the gate and de-plane. As it turned out, all the gates were occupied and we were told that it would be nearly an hour before a gate became available and we had to just wait it out on the tarmac. A short while later, the captain was back on the PA system, this time with some good news. While we were waiting for a gate, a maintenance crew was working on the aircraft and they fixed whatever the problem was. Shortly thereafter we took off for Newark, an hour or so late. It seemed almost certain that we would miss our connecting flight, but fortunately, the Newark-Detroit flight was delayed for a few minutes. Just enough time for us to sprint across our terminal, take a shuttle to another terminal, and make it to the departure gate. We could have given Usain Bolt a run for his money (pun intended).
After arriving in Detroit and checking into our hotel, we rented a car and drove down to the Motown Historic Museum. What a wonderful place! We took an hour-long tour there, which included the famous Control Room and Studio A. We then had a late lunch at Detroit’s Hard Rock Café and took their shuttle to the ballpark. Professor Dan Cohen of the Colby philosophy department, who was at a conference nearby in Windsor, Canada, just across the river, came over to join us at the game. It was Polish-American Night at the ballpark and there were people dancing on the field with colorful costumes.
It was a beautiful evening, just cool enough to be refreshing, and the ballpark was absolutely gorgeous. It really is one on the more beautiful stadiums we have seen so far. We had seats in the Right Field Box and apparently Lance Armstrong was sitting just a few rows in front us although we didn’t get a good look. After the third inning, we walked around, exploring the place and snapping pictures. The Tigers sure have a rich history and we clicked away at the statues of Tiger greats like Willie “Wonder” Horton, Ty “Georgia Peach” Cobb, “Hammerin’ Hank” Greenberg, Charlie “Mechanical Man” Gehringer, “Prince Hal” Newhouser, and Al Kaline, near the centerfield. As we toured the ballpark, we would dart in frequently to see the action from different vantage points. The more we saw, the more we liked Comerica Park. Detroit baseball fans are so lucky to have a place like this to call home!
The game, as we already noted above, was awesome. After a scoreless first inning, the Tigers leapt ahead 3-0, thanks to a bases-loaded walk that forced in the first run of the game followed by a 2-run single by Miguel Cabrera down the left field line. We also got a good look at Don Kelly’s third inning 2-run homer to right field that made it 5-0. The Tigers added their final run in the sixth inning when Omar Infante’s single to left brought home Avisail Garcia from third.
The Tigers have been to two World Series over the past six seasons, including an appearance last year, and they have quite the team. With Cabrera, Prince Fielder, Victor “V-Mart” Martinez, and Jhonny (no typo!) Peralta hitting in the heart of their order, and with a rotation of Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, Doug Fister, Rick Porcello, and this game’s starter Sanchez, they should go far this year as well.
After the game, we stayed back for the fireworks, which were really awesome and went on for quite some time. We then dropped off the car and returned to our hotel, again just after midnight. Fortunately, we didn’t have to be up at 3 am.
The next game on this trip is coming up later today. We’ll see you soon!
