Late yesterday afternoon when I was at the swimming pool - leaning back on my "noodle", floating in the water like a contented manatee - I spied a fellow entering the pool area wearing a Detroit Tigers baseball cap. I smiled, gave him a thumbs up, and said "Go, Tigers!" He asked if I was a fan, and I briefly related my history as an enthusiastic follower of the team, concluding with my story of attending the University of Detroit in the fall of 1973, primarily to go and see a Tigers game - which I did, telling him of Mickey Lolich pitching a 2-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers. The gentleman - I never got his name - then told me that he had lived in Detroit as a boy and young man, and that he had worked one summer for a car dealership, and had once had the great honor of delivering a new Porsche to Mickey Lolich at Tiger Stadium. We parted as if we were two lodge brothers who had happily met by accident.
Tiger fans. We are everywhere.
You two, and Thomas Magnum.
ReplyDeleteWell, the classic Magnum anyway. I have no idea about the new reboot.
And Tim Allen and George C. Scott. And Alice Cooper.
ReplyDeleteEr, George C. Scott, pre-death, of course.
ReplyDeleteKind of like Collingwood fans, except Collingwood fans share the brotherhood of misery.
ReplyDeletemagnum is going to need a new estate, Obama's secret service detail probably won't let them in.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you can start a local fan club? With rules, and cool hats?
ReplyDeletePaco, I bet you'll meet again. It probably wasn't his first trip to the pool, and probably won't be his last. JeffS has a great idea. Isn't there some local joint that serves Detroit food or something similar.
ReplyDeleteDeborah: Interestingly, I've run into three or four Detroit fans here (there's one who lives across the street, and another one on the next block). There is a nationwide club of Tiger fans known as the Mayo Smith Society (named after the manager of the World-Series-winning Tigers of 1968). It's based in D.C.
ReplyDeleteGregory: There's a significant element of misery associated with Tiger fandom, as well. I cannot begin to count the number of collapses after the All-Star break, which occurs in July, each year. And there were a few years, including the last two times the Tigers were in the series, in which they appeared utterly exhausted after the playoffs, and just had nothing left to give after winning the American League championship.
One last comment from me on the subject: when I worked for Florida National Bank back in the 80s, I met a relative of Mayo Smith's (son or nephew, can't remember which) who had inherited Mayo Smith's World Series ring. Naturally, he couldn't be convinced to part with it.
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