Baseball Road Trip 2018: Indians @ Detroit Tigers or The Long Haul

Last night was a thrilling, close, climactic battle between two teams that both wanted the victory. And  it almost didn't happen.

For two hours, I stood against a wall in Comerica Park, waiting for the rain to stop. To be fair, there are worse stadiums to be stuck in during a rain delay. The concourse is great, with a cool food court area, there's a ton of devotion to history with standees around displaying familiar legends, and a souvenir soda cup with Charlie Gehringer on it, and while the food does pale in comparison to the other MLB stadiums I attended this week, there's still a lot of it. So, the only sucky part about the rain delay was...the fact that it took 2 hours.

But, just as I was thinking we'd be better off heading to our next destination earlier, the tarps began to lift, and the rain stopped. And we made it to our seats, and the fun began.

Before I go into the game, I should mention that this game took place on Negro Leagues Weekend, as the team took time to honor several Negro Leaguers who played for the Detroit Stars. Also, everyone in attendance got a free Stars hat, which is always nice, because free hats are better than ones you have to pay for. I did, however, have to pay for that '68 Tigers pin.

Everyone was wearing Negro Leagues throwbacks tonight, including the Tigers' opponents for the night, the first-place Cleveland Indians.

THESE...were my seats, by the way. Not bad at all. There was a pretty nice crowd, too. Even for a team that's below .500, a lot of people turned up.

The game started with an indication that it would potentially be more about pitching than previously thought, with two guys named Mike (Clevinger for the Indians, Fiers for the Tigers) on the mound. Both let runs go by; Clevinger allowed a Victor Martinez RBI, and Fiers gave up a renegade Yan Gomes home run. But, for the most part, it was a game of defense- Miguel Cabrera proved that he's still a rock at 1st base, while Jose Iglesias is still one of the best defensive middle infielders in the game. But, alternatively, the infield combo of Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez was similarly unfazed.

The game kind of chugged along for a while at a tied score. And don't get me wrong, it was good baseball, but it was so evenly matched that it became very ho-hum after a while. The kid sitting near us, who was attending his first-ever Tigers game and was so excited for the entire thing, was even eating up the quieter moments.

The tie, polished off by a single from Iglesias and a homer from Rajai Davis of all people, remained up until late. However, things looked promising for Detroit in the bottom of the ninth, with the bases loaded (thanks to a bit of overconfidence from Neil Ramirez), and Jeimer Candelario stepped to the plate. We knew he was capable of something big, and we were just waiting for it...


and it didn't happen. He hit into an easy out, and the game, once again this trip, went to extra innings. Which was great for us, but for my mom, who isn't as big on baseball, was slightly less great.

Once again, every opportunity seemed futile, and every promising base-runner was left on, and it kept going, and going. But...hope persisted. As many Tigers fans left the stadium early in extras, many stayed. They were insisting that something big was gonna happen. And they were pinning this hope on a goose.

The Rally Goose, who had been essentially deified in Detroit, was being shown as much as possible, projected onto the stadium, heralded by all of the fans. They were convinced that something was going to happen. My family, on the other hand, were insisting on leaving after the 12th.

And through the bottom of the 12th, it seemed like we'd be leaving at the right time. The rain was starting again, the big guns were striking out, even Mr. Walkoff, Jacoby Jones, and it was looking very dire. Plus, Cody Allen was on the mound. And he's pretty intimidating.

Well, Miguel Cabrera cracked a single off of him. Which was a start. And then the same guy who broke the hearts of fans 3 innings earlier, Jeimer Candelario, the rising star, gets up. And we're thinking, 'oh, if only he could'.

...and he did.

And not only did he hit this ball out, he MASHED it. There was no doubt in anybody's mind that this thing was gone. It was a slam that was heard 'round Detroit. Everyone went wild, especially me and my dad. The place was shaking, nearly, as the rally goose's cry had worked.

This was a game that wasn't 100% perfect, and thanks to the rain, the defense, and the middle bit, wasn't the most entertaining...but my gosh, the ending more than made up for it. It was a nice stadium, a nice game, and a nice experience. Plus, I got a free hat out of it.

There was one more MLB stadium left on the docket, and it was a pretty unique one. And I assure you, this game did not go into extras. It never would have needed to.