Tigers' Jim Leyland caps Comerica Park finale with gift for fan
Sep 28, 2012 (Menafn - Detroit Free Press - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --More than 3 million fans came to Comerica Park this season to watch the Tigers. Only one got to take home a smelly cap.
Asked if the last home game of a season is special, Tigers manager Jim Leyland said: "I don't know. Some say it's your last home game of the season unless you get in the playoffs. Some people are saying it's your last game period, so that's good, too. That's all right. It is what it is.
"I usually like to throw my hat to somebody after the game, a kid. Mothers are probably mad because I'm sure it doesn't smell very good at the end of the season."
He followed the tradition Thursday: "They didn't throw it back, so that was good."
The Tigers passed the 3 million mark for the third time in franchise history (2007, 2008). Leyland said that happened because the Tigers have brought in star players.
"I'd like to say it was all me, but I didn't have that much to do with it," he said. "It's nice to be a part of that. This is some of the best times in the history of the Tigers. I mean, it seems to me, spirit-wise, fan-wise, emotion. At least I've been here during that time. Pretty good."
OBIT:
Bill Behm, the trainer whose 19-year tenure with the Tigers spanned the championship seasons of 1968 and 1984, died Thursday in Dearborn after a long illness. He was 90.
Jim Price, who played on the '68 team and is a radio broadcaster for the team, said Behm traded barbs with the players.
"He was working in very small conditions, working in that training room at Tiger Stadium," Price said. "Big part of the team. There's a connection to that '68 team, no matter what part you played. Like Al (Kaline) and I talked, it saddens us to lose anybody. ... He was unbelievable. He'd wear that white outfit. They don't do that stuff anymore."
Behm is survived by his wife, Donna, and their daughter, Annemarie. Arrangements are being handled by the Howe-Peterson Funeral Home, 22546 Michigan Avenue, Dearborn.
Contact George Sipple: 313-223-4796 or gsipple@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @georgesipple.
More Details: On deck: Twins
Series: Tigers at Minnesota for three games, tonight through Sunday.
TV/radio:
Tonight-- 8:10, FSD, WXYT-AM (1270), WXYT-FM (97.1). Saturday -- 4:05, Fox (Channel 2 in Detroit), WXYT-FM. Sunday -- 2:10, FSD, WXYT-AM.
Pitching:
Tonight -- LH Drew Smyly (4-3, 4.24 ERA) vs. LH Scott Diamond (12-8, 3.64). Saturday -- RH Justin Verlander (16-8, 2.72) vs. RH P.J. Walters (2-4, 5.88). Sunday -- RH Anibal Sanchez (4-6, 3.95) vs. RH Liam Hendricks (1-8, 6.09).
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