Putting aside the rough end to the first half ... as we go into the All-Star break, let's take a moment to really appreciate what the Tigers are. They are, in my opinion, the most special Tigers team of my lifetime.
Yes, the 1968 and 1984 teams won 100+ games and rings. The 2006 and 2012 teams went to the Series. And the run from 2010 to 2014 was like nothing else any of us had lived to see up to that point.
But this team is so different from those teams. Not only do the 2025 Detroit Tigers have the best record in the majors. Not only do our underlying metrics show we are the among the best teams in baseball. Not only that we are completely running away with the division.
But, also, our future is still so, so bright. Sure, we thought that about 1968, and about 1984, and about 2006. But as we've already learned, those teams were run by stand-pat front offices who did not respond effectively to the needs we had so we could continue winning, and as such, they were essentially one-offs. But I think all of us know already that this front office will not, will never, just stand pat. That's the gift of having a PBO who is young and brilliant and hungry. He knows how to put the right people in the right spots, both on and off the field, to maximize our chances for success both now and later, and we know that the farm system will continue to bear fruit this year, next year, and for years to come.
But perhaps most special of all is this particular team, this active roster, right here. It is filled with young, hungry kids with the talent to play well, which a lot of teams have, but also, the aptitude and flexibility to learn how to win, which so many teams do not have. And the majority of these kids are under team control for years to come. We won't have to worry this winter about a blood-letting of players peeling off and scattering about to other teams. The team we see now is essentially the team we are going to see next year, the year after, and (perhaps with one notable exception) the year after that.
Plus, there are no prima donna superstars on this team. We might have reasonably thought the highest paid, longest-contracted player would become that guy, and maybe under any number of different regimes he might have. But this player has been brought into the fold by this brilliant front office and field management team, and is just as on board with the mission of the Tigers as all the guys who are making close to minimum and are still trying to establish their careers. They are playing together, truly, as a team, with a plan and the inclination to work together to win, and not merely a collection of individuals all trying their best on their own and hoping it pays off in wins. As we saw 10-15 years ago, you don't have to be a bunch of stand-up good guys to get fans on board as long as you're winning, but boy, is it ever sweet icing on the cake.
This organization has become, in much shorter order than we could ever have imagined, the envy of baseball, and I am glad I got to see a team like this playing under the Olde English D before it got too late for me. You young guys here, try to savor this moment as the special moment it is. Decades from now, you will look back on the mid-2020s and remember it fondly as that special moment the Detroit Tigers went from black-and-white to technicolor.
