DETROIT -- The last time the Tigers took the field at Comerica Park, they were hearing scattered boos on their way off of it.
Detroit had just suffered a three-game series sweep to Atlanta, part of a 0-6 homestand that helped turn what was hoped to be a coronation for the club's first American League Central title since 2014 into a full-fledged fight for the division. The team that thrived on putting pressure on its opponents for the better part of a calendar year was seemingly struggling with the weight of being the favorite rather than the underdog. There were boos from some, stunned silence from many others.
They were on the verge of, by some measurements, the biggest collapse in a division race in MLB history. What they’ve accomplished since has turned it into an asterisk.
After trekking to Cleveland, Boston, Cleveland again, Seattle and back home, the Tigers have a chance to clinch a berth in the AL Championship Series -- somewhere they haven’t been since Jim Leyland’s final season as manager in 2013 -- without having to hit the road again. They are essentially where they would have been had their September swoon happened, except for one key difference: They have that chip on their shoulder again.
“To be honest, I feel like we've always seen ourselves in this position,” Tyler Holton said. “How we got here is a little muddy, but we've always had the confidence that we'd be in this position and we have confidence in each other to come through no matter the situation.”
Some of that belief is ingrained. The vast majority of this team has been through a lot together, including last year’s playoff run, and several players who weren’t here for that have postseason experience elsewhere.
Yet even for a team that already has plenty of chemistry, the last two weeks of late-night flights, hotel check-ins and check-outs, buses, unfamiliar clubhouse food rooms, various meals and cramped clubhouse celebrations have brought the group closer together.
“It's been a long time since we've been home,” said Jack Flaherty, who will be the first pitcher on the mound at Comerica Park in 16 days when he starts Game 3 on Tuesday. “But at the same time, it's been a fun kind of bonding experience with these guys. Like, we've spent a lot of time with each other, a lot of time on the road. Families have been traveling a lot. But it's been a bonding experience with these guys, got some long plane flights, a lot of times in hotels and a couple dinners together.
“It will be nice to get back, but we'll take it however we can, and I think just the opportunity to get a home playoff game is special.”
Getting that was no guarantee. Nothing was clinched when the Tigers left Comerica Park two weeks ago. They didn’t punch their postseason ticket until their win in Boston on the penultimate day of the regular season. They had to beat their late-season nemesis, the Guardians, in front of a hostile crowd in Cleveland to advance to this Division Series and ensure a home game in the postseason. Those who bought playoff tickets when they went on sale did so in part on faith.
“It’s nice to be home,” manager A.J. Hinch said, “because we had to earn it. It took a lot to get back home. I think our guys will enjoy being back in Detroit, put on the English D, the white unis. Our crowd should be electric. And we’re playing for potentially the series. I’m proud of guys for enduring the last couple weeks with some good baseball to get us here.”
If two weeks on the road was the Tigers’ penance for their September struggles, they’re a better team for the experience.
“I think this team and how we're built as individuals and as a team, we're a grindy team,” Colt Keith said. “I think that we're going to do better having to scrap away and put out good at-bats. And I think we do play better as an underdog. Obviously we'd like to have -- to be ahead at all times and have the lead and just win the division like we would have loved to do. But you saw the way we fought back and took a step back, realized what we need to do, come back together, beat Cleveland, and now we're here.”
Said Kyle Finnegan: “We're just happy to be playing ball in October. We've been on the road for a while but we've been playing a lot of meaningful games. This is what we all want. There's no place we'd rather be.”
The Tigers weathered some incredible road environments on their way. Those scattered boos they encountered in their last homestand were nothing compared to the near-constant booing they heard in Cleveland and Seattle over the past week. Now, they can experience that kind of roar supporting them.
“Winning on the road is definitely different than winning at home,” Holton said. “You’re against everybody. I feel like when we’re able to have success on the road, it just motivates the guys, brings us closer together. And when you’re able to come out on top, it’s a special feeling. Obviously we’re going to be excited to go back home. It’s going to be an unbelievable atmosphere.”
It's something they’ve grown to appreciate over the last couple weeks.
“Silencing a crowd, there’s probably no better feeling,” Spencer Torkelson said. “The only better feeling is getting the home crowd going. …
“We can find ways to win when 45,000 fans are rooting against us. I think that builds confidence and some self-belief as a group that we can play and we can win in any atmosphere. And that should give us more confidence and energy going back home.”