2025 Detroit Tigers General Discussion Thread

[gehringer_2]

27 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

Does that come from seeing it on TV, past experience or word of mouth/keyboard?   

I think it definitely comes from seeing how full the stands are on TV. I've been in that very situation talking to the SO about do we want to go to a game, do we think we need to buy now or does it look like a lot of tickets will be available etc. I'm sure that conversation is replayed in a lot of places. Now you can reasonably ask does it change the ultimate decision to buy a ticker or just when the purchase takes place - that's a tougher question.

[chasfh]

2 hours ago, gehringer_2 said:

He is still sporting a higher BaBIP than he has ever had before and his EV has not gone up, which argues he's been lucky.  OTOH he has improved his LD rate and he absolutely has made some kind of approach change that's allowing him to stand in better against LHP. So maybe some  luck and some real improvement adding up.

If you think improving his line drive rate is itself luck, then yes, his higher BABIP is also lucky. But if you believe he improved his line drive rate through work and earned that increase, then he also earned that higher BABIP, since xBA on line drives is over .700.

[chasfh]

1 hour ago, KL2 said:

Why would a future ticket buyer care what someone did with the seat today?

And the number one thing in ticket sales has been and always will be winning. Not promotions, not energy in a stadium not wether it looks open or not. It's all about wining. 

All due respect, if you worked in marketing, you'd understand what I mean.

[chasfh]

1 hour ago, Tiger337 said:

I agree it's mostly about winning, but some winning teams do better than others as do some losing teams.  I think having an appealing ballpark and having exciting players plays a role.  I woud agree that fans seeing empty seats doesn't matter.  I can't imagine a fan not buying tickets because they they saw empty seats on TV.  

I would agree that the likelihood of someone deciding not to buy a game ticket only because they saw empty seats on the one TV game they happened to be watching is roughly the same as someone deciding to buy a car only because they happened to see a car commercial on TV.

[CMRivdogs]

One more question about the Home Plate Club tickets, I'm seeing on line they're basically season or partial season ticket packages only, so you're looking at basically corporate ticket holders. 
 

BTW I'm watching the Miami/Pittsburgh game on MLBTV, the similar padded seats behind home plate are pretty empty. 

[chasfh]

1 minute ago, CMRivdogs said:

BTW I'm watching the Miami/Pittsburgh game on MLBTV, the similar padded seats behind home plate are pretty empty. 

OTOH, Marlins at Pirates in Pittsburgh on a weekday afternoon.

[Edman85]

My dive into other hot starts to the season took me to 1993. One of my first years old enough to follow the team: what happened where they lost 10 in a row? I didn't see any injuries or anything.

[gehringer_2]

53 minutes ago, chasfh said:

If you think improving his line drive rate is itself luck, then yes, his higher BABIP is also lucky. But if you believe he improved his line drive rate through work and earned that increase, then he also earned that higher BABIP, since xBA on line drives is over .700.

actually I was putting improved LD rate on the non-luck side of the virtual chart but wasn't clear enough.

[oblong]

8 minutes ago, Edman85 said:

My dive into other hot starts to the season took me to 1993. One of my first years old enough to follow the team: what happened where they lost 10 in a row? I didn't see any injuries or anything.

The pitching just wasn't that good to sustain.  I'll never forget the Baltimore game that started the losing streak.  They had a big lead and eventually Chris Hoiles (Eastern Michigan) hit a grand slam.

 

[oblong]

55 minutes ago, chasfh said:

I would agree that the likelihood of someone deciding not to buy a game ticket only because they saw empty seats on the one TV game they happened to be watching is roughly the same as someone deciding to buy a car only because they happened to see a car commercial on TV.

They've been bitching about these seats all year yet the Tigers just had a sellout weekend once school got out.  

I just checked for 2 for Friday's game... nothing in the lower bowl.  Saturday's game, outside of the OF upper deck by the scoreboard, has scattered seats available?

So who's not buying?

I'm not following the "empty expensive seats that are already sold hurts the Tigers" logic.

[gehringer_2]

16 minutes ago, oblong said:

The pitching just wasn't that good to sustain.  I'll never forget the Baltimore game that started the losing streak.  They had a big lead and eventually Chris Hoiles (Eastern Michigan) hit a grand slam.

 

Yup. Terrible starting staff to begin with and then Wells, who was supposed to be the Ace,  just went downhill all season after a hot start.

[Tiger337]

52 minutes ago, oblong said:

The pitching just wasn't that good to sustain.  I'll never forget the Baltimore game that started the losing streak.  They had a big lead and eventually Chris Hoiles (Eastern Michigan) hit a grand slam.

 

I remember a lot of people were blaming it on the Tigers striking out too much, but yes it was the pitching  The all or nothing offense could have sustained them if they had decent pitching.  

[CaliforniaDreaming]

1 hour ago, chasfh said:

If you think improving his line drive rate is itself luck, then yes, his higher BABIP is also lucky. But if you believe he improved his line drive rate through work and earned that increase, then he also earned that higher BABIP, since xBA on line drives is over .700.

"The more I practice the luckier I am!"

[chasfh]

54 minutes ago, oblong said:

They've been bitching about these seats all year yet the Tigers just had a sellout weekend once school got out.  

I just checked for 2 for Friday's game... nothing in the lower bowl.  Saturday's game, outside of the OF upper deck by the scoreboard, has scattered seats available?

So who's not buying?

I'm not following the "empty expensive seats that are already sold hurts the Tigers" logic.

They will have sellout weekends as long as they have the best record in the majors and the Chicago Cubs come into town.

All I can lean on at this point is my experience that tells me it's a bad look that may hurt perception and marketability for the team not on Friday night, or on Saturday night, or on Sunday night, and probably not for the rest of this year, but in the long run. Or maybe it won't. I don't know for a yet-to-be-verified fact. I can't predict the future of this specific issue. I'm just speaking experientially as a marketer who dealt with consumer perceptions in my profession. I have to admit that maybe I'm wrong here. Maybe it won't matter. Maybe the Tigers themselves don't even care how it looks. Hey, maybe it even looks better for them to be empty. Maybe the Tigers designed the whole situation to be that way and they're satisfied with how it looks. I don't work with them, or know anyone on the inside, so I can't know for a fact one way or the other. I am merely hypothesizing based on my experience, so count that toward whatever you think that's worth.

[oblong]

The Tigers didn’t invent that type of seating so I assume billion dollar corporations have lots of research and data at their disposal (both their own and their partners in the league who already did this)before they invest millions to renovate like that. 

[gehringer_2]

25 minutes ago, oblong said:

The Tigers didn’t invent that type of seating so I assume billion dollar corporations have lots of research and data at their disposal (both their own and their partners in the league who already did this)before they invest millions to renovate like that. 

well, I wouldn't assume too much. I'm sure they have data on optimum pricing for maximum return, but those numbers are always based on a short term market response.

[theroundsquare]

2 hours ago, oblong said:

The pitching just wasn't that good to sustain.  I'll never forget the Baltimore game that started the losing streak.  They had a big lead and eventually Chris Hoiles (Eastern Michigan) hit a grand slam.

 

Chris Hoiles, whom the Tigers had traded to Baltimore for Fred Lynn at the end of the 1988 season.  I loved the '93 team but boy they went to **** fast

[Tigeraholic1]

 

[KL2]

Well at least it's not skubal

[RandyMarsh]

Not that there is ever a good time to get TJ surgery but I always feel like this time of year is the worst cause you essentially missed all of 25, almost assuredly all of 26 and then 27 when you come back it could take you half a season or more to get your command and other kinks worked out.

You'd have that same timeline if this happened in August or September except in that case you would've atleast gotten production from majority of this year. Or if it happened this past  offseason you very well could be able to return in late 26 and work out those aforementioned kinks and be completely ready to go in 27. 

Edited Wednesday at 11:03 PM by RandyMarsh

[Toddwert]

27 minutes ago, Tigeraholic1 said:

 

yeah a little more then a chance to rest him ... another example why you dont count on your pitching prospects 

Edited Wednesday at 11:05 PM by Toddwert

[Graterol]

42 minutes ago, Toddwert said:

yeah a little more then a chance to rest him ... another example why you dont count on your pitching prospects 

Maybe a weird take, but not crushed by this. I would be curious of the odds of someone of Jobes profile having TJ eventually. Has to be high. This maybe provides some reason why he hasn’t been missing bats this year (or maybes he’s just not that good). We have depth with Cobb (maybe?) coming back eventually plus SGL. Is there any service time implication?

Never a positive, but if you start with the premise it was likely to happen eventually, almost rather get it done now.

[buddha]

TINSTAAPP

[Tiger337]

YCNEHTMP

[Shinzaki]

GFY