The grainy photo would look like something out of a scrapbook if it wasn’t also a bit pixelated: Two young men standing on a street corner, looking across the intersection at what was left of Tiger Stadium, then in the early stages of being torn down in the summer of 2008.
The taller young man on the right in the photo, wearing shorts and a T-shirt, was a 20-year-old catching prospect named Kenley Jansen.
“You know, it’s crazy,” Jansen, now 38, said in a Zoom call with reporters after signing a one-year contract with the Tigers earlier this week. “I was with my host family, playing for the Great Lakes Loons at the time, playing in low A with the Dodgers. And talking with them, I’d always talk about my dream, how bad I wanted to be in the big leagues, as a catcher at that time. And on a day off, they took me there. They took me so I could see the old Tiger Stadium. And then when I went to see the new stadium and see the area and you envision it, I think it was a pretty cool story.
“Everything comes back now, years later, and now I’m wearing a Tiger uniform.”
Imagine what the 20-year-old catcher Jansen would have thought. For that matter, imagine what the 20-year-old catcher would have thought about becoming that 38-year-old closer.
Jansen was a Midwest League All-Star catcher the summer that picture was taken, but he went 8-for-55 down the stretch to bat .227 for the season. The following summer, with his batting average hovering around .200 at midseason at Class A Advanced, he moved out from behind the plate and made his pro pitching debut. The rest is history.
“It was a part of my vision, watching big league stadiums,” Jansen said. “Like, man, one day I will get there. And I’m here now, wearing the Tiger uniform. It’s pretty cool to have that as my story.”
Jansen arrives in Detroit with a chance at history. With 476 career Major League saves, he’s two away from matching Hall of Famer Lee Smith for third on the all-time list and 24 away from joining Mariano Rivera and Trevor Hoffman in the 500-save club and completing his case for a Hall of Fame induction.
However, there’s no guarantee he will get those saves in a Tigers bullpen that has largely functioned without a set closer under manager A.J. Hinch, who uses his bullpen more in terms of leverage than innings. The two talked prior to Jansen signing.
“The minute I talked to him, I had a great feeling,” Jansen said. “I’m like, ‘Man, I want to be a part of this.’
“The conversation, we talked about everything. We talked about how they used me before. We talked about four- or five-out saves. We talked about the roles. And I just told him: He’s the manager, so it’s up to him.
“I understand I’m chasing 500. But at the end of the day, it’s about winning. We saw the Tigers last year, maybe an arm, a couple arms away [from going] to the next round and possibly to the World Series. So to me, that’s what it is. The last few years, watching the playoffs at home, you kind of get itchy.”
The Tigers have tried to get Jansen on board before. They had interest in him as a free agent last winter and inquired about him leading up to the Trade Deadline last July. They made it back to the postseason thanks in no small part to trade acquisition Kyle Finnegan, who transitioned from Nationals closer to a middle-of-the-order reliever in Detroit.
That doesn’t mean Jansen won’t close. Hinch has had set closers before and could just as easily mix and match leading up to Jansen in the ninth. But Jansen said he’s ready for whatever is needed.
“Like I said, it’s about winning,” Jansen said. “Yes, it’s unbelievable numbers to get -- and get this close. But like I told A.J., I didn’t do this to get 500 saves. I was on pretty good teams like the Dodgers, and I’ve had great opportunities. All I’m focusing [on] is to help a team win, and all those came with it. So at the end of the day, it will be a great accomplishment, but I think the greater accomplishment will be to try to get deep in the postseason and win the World Series with the Tigers. That’s the accomplishment at the end of the day. That’s what I’m here for.”