A.J. Hinch Opens Up About Tigers Homecoming for ALDS Series
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For the last 16 days, the Detroit Tigers have been on the road and traveling all over the country to play games to keep their season alive. Despite all the travel and staying in different hotels, it’s been worth it.
When the Tigers were last at Comerica Park, it was not a given that they would be returning home at any point for another game in 2025. They were just swept by the Cleveland Guardians and Atlanta Braves, and their division lead was all but gone.
They finished the season losing four out of six games to the Guardians and Boston Red Sox on the road, but got the final wild card spot thanks to the Houston Astros' fading. Then things started to click for A.J. Hinch and his team in the playoffs.
Detroit won its Wild Card Series over Cleveland in three games, then split the first two games of the Division Series with the Seattle Mariners. Now they return home for the first time in 16 days to play Game 3 against the Mariners in front of a crowd that figures to be ready when the first pitch is thrown just after 4 p.m. on Tuesday.
Tigers Embracing the Opportunity to Play at Home Again in 2025
Hinch joined the Costa & Jansen Show on 97.1 The Ticket on Tuesday morning and said that returning to Comerica Park is something that his team is looking forward to after being out on the road.
"It’s been a while," Hinch said. "That was a long, extended road trip, for all the right reasons, though. We’re going to be thrilled walking into Comerica Park today and playing in front of our home fans in the playoffs."
When the Braves finished off the sweep of the Tigers on Sept. 21, there was the real possibility that it was the last game this year at Comerica Park. As a wild card, they had to win a series in Cleveland, which was not a guarantee given how things went late in the season. They were able to win Games 1 and 3 to advance to the ALDS.
"We just played in some of the more volatile environments, in Seattle specifically, but even Boston at the tail-end of the year on that Friday night, and Cleveland brought it pretty well in the playoffs,'' said Hinch. "It’s nice to be in the white uniform and to wear it at home and have them rooting for you and feeling that backing that this city has always (given us), but it's grown the past couple years with this specific team."
Something that might not have been possible almost three weeks ago is becoming reality on Tuesday: the Detroit Tigers are playing a playoff game at Comerica Park in 2025. The weather forecast is not great, but Hinch and his team will wait as long as they need to play in front of their fans.
"We are going to get the game in," said Hinch. "It doesn’t look like it’s a wipeout. It might delay the start time of 4:08, but it won't dull the atmosphere at Comerica Park. There’s not much you can control in the scheduling anyway, but specifically in October, we’re just going to wait around for them to tell us when to play.''
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Scott Roche has covered both college and professional sports for nearly three decades for various outlets. Scott has covered the MLB, NHL, and college sports and he is someone always looking for a good rumor, no matter which sport it is.