Detroit News

On a March day in 1981, at a baseball clubhouse in Sun City, Arizona, a young sports writer approached a player he needed to speak with for a Detroit News story. Moreover, this was a man the scribe wanted to talk with because he knew from all testimony that Ted Simmons was a definitively interesting

Pittsburgh — It was a rough Labor Day for the Tigers. In the morning they learned that pitcher Joe Jimenez and bench coach George Lombard tested positive for COVID-19 and three other coaches would have to leave for quarantining because of contact tracing. “It’s just something you’ve got to deal with,” shortstop Niko Goodrum said.

What was it like, Todd Jones was asked last week, pitching to a someday-Hall of Famer? What was it like during their 14 seasons of common big-league years, eight of which Jones spent with the Tigers, squaring off against a Yankees shortstop and right-handed swinger named Derek Jeter? Jones preferred to respond in an email. There

Pittsburgh — COVID-19 has jumped up and bit the Tigers. Reliever Joe Jimenez and bench coach George Lombard both tested positive for the virus, even though both have been vaccinated. Both felt symptoms of the virus Sunday night. Additionally, pitching coach Chris Fetter, quality control coach Josh Paul and bullpen catcher Jeremy Carroll will be away

Cincinnati — There’s no need to characterize wins. They all count the same. But there was a maturity about the Tigers’ series-clinching 4-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds Sunday at Great American Ball Park that shouldn’t go unappreciated. “Every win is important at this level,” manager AJ Hinch said. “But we did a lot of things

Cincinnati — Casey Mize isn’t fighting it any more. He doesn’t love it, mind you. But he gets it. The dreaded governor — the limited-innings starts — is back and will be with him the rest of the season. “They’ve been very transparent,” he said after starting and pitching three perfect innings in the Tigers’ 4-1 win

Cincinnati — What the heck was Matthew Boyd doing swinging the bat Saturday night? Yes, he delivered a solid opposite-field base hit in the fourth inning, his third career hit, but given what happened in Milwaukee earlier in the year, the Tigers were hoping he kept the bat on his shoulders. “I think he just reacted,”

What used to be the old Gulf Coast League has a new title in 2021: The Florida Complex League. It’s the wading pool in baseball’s preparatory depths, and the 2021 FCL has a home-run leader who wears a Tigers uniform. It’s shortstop Manuel Sequera, 18, a 6-foot-1, 170-pound, right-hand hitter who in 39 games for

A subtext to last week’s Tigers moves, which saw some front-office and development staff shuffled, is the team’s big-league manager, AJ Hinch. The Tigers will want to hang onto Hinch every bit as much as they want their on-field product to be playoff-grade — soon. In that context, consider that the moves last week were made

Cincinnati — When Matthew Boyd walks the first hitter of the game, that’s generally an indication something is amiss. “I didn’t punch first today,” he said. “It’s being in the zone early, attacking from pitch one and being on the offensive. But that first hitter set the tone in that sense. Our team scored four

Cincinnati — Matthew Boyd’s return to the rotation hit a speed bump Saturday night. Staked to a 3-0 lead by Eric Haase’s 20th home run of the season in the top of the third inning, Boyd gave it all back and more in the bottom of the third as the Cincinnati Reds beat the Detroit

Cincinnati — Drew Carlton, who grew up in Lakeland going to Tigers spring training games as a kid, was drafted in the 32nd round in 2017. He’s never been on any prospect list. He’s been passed over by younger pitchers who hadn’t performed as effectively as he had at every level. And yet, he never doubted

Cincinnati — Nick Castellanos seems so much lighter these days. Not physically. He looks as lean and mean as ever at 29. But emotionally, professionally, it seems like he’s not carrying as much baggage around with him like he was during his final months with the Tigers. He’s an All-Star now. Two and a half years

Cincinnati — The last couple of years, September for the Tigers has meant checking off boxes on the organizational to-do list. It’s meant taking extended looks at players — young and older — to determine if there might be a place for them next season. It’s meant keeping a better player on the bench in a clutch situation so

Cincinnati — When the Tigers sent reliever Alex Lange back to Toledo in July, he was given very direct marching orders — work on getting through an inning in less than 20 pitches. He wouldn’t be of much use, the way the Tigers’ bullpen is constructed, if he couldn’t pitch multiple innings. And the 25- to 30-pitch innings

Detroit — The Tigers were twice just a few feet short of erasing an eight-run deficit Thursday afternoon. They were also one strike or one out short of even being in that deep hole. Close don’t count. “It’s not good to lose,” Tigers third baseman Jeimer Candelario said after the Tigers were beaten by the

Detroit — He did it again Wednesday night. Gregory Soto closed out a game so overpoweringly, so efficiently and without drama, it was almost over before it started. The Tigers were up 8-6. Soto faced pinch hitter Yan Gomes, former Tiger Josh Harrison, who already had three hits, and Starling Marte, who homered and had two

Detroit — Circle this one. After four straight losses and falling behind 6-3 against a suddenly rampaging Oakland team that hadn’t lost a game in Comerica Park since 2016, the Tigers got off the mat, scored six runs over the final five innings and beat the Athletics 8-6 Wednesday night. “I don’t talk a lot about

Detroit — If you walked past him down one of the aisles at the Lakeland Publix or saw him at a Starbucks, you might not recognize Tigers pitching prospect Alex Faedo these days. “Yeah, I’ve got a little too much beard going, a little longer hair,” he said. Little longer? His hair, though he’s pulled it

Detroit — His teammates have been on him all year to shoot the imaginary arrow after one of his home runs. It’s something that rookie Akil Baddoo started back in April. When he homered on the first big-league pitch he saw, he drew the imaginary arrow from an invisible quiver and let it fly right before