It has been a remarkable turnaround for the Detroit Tigers.
By any account, it might be one of the most remarkable in recent baseball history, especially if you looked at their playoff odds throughout the course of the season. Just a couple months ago, it was as low as .2%, yet after a Wednesday night victory against the Tampa Bay Rays, has climbed to as high as 94%.
If it seems like everything is going right for the Tigers, look no further than what happened in their broadcast booth last night. Carlos Peña was analyzing a 6th inning at bat and noted that Detroit slugger Spencer Torkelson “had a bead” on a slider coming from Rays pitcher Manuel Rodriguez. That was an understatement as Torkelson launched a home run into the left field bleachers.
The prediction from Peña, the call from Jason Benetti, and the reaction cam in the booth make it as close to a perfect triple play as you can get in baseball broadcasting.
. @PenaCarlos23 is all of us right now 💥#RepDetroit pic.twitter.com/3VjQDEHKL1
— Bally Sports Detroit (@BallySportsDET) September 26, 2024
A 29-11 stretch over a team’s last 40 games will bring out that kind of pure joy and excitement in anybody.
The Tigers now sit firmly in one of the last two Wild Card places in the American League, sharing an 84-74 record with the Kansas City Royals and two games ahead of their AL Central rivals the Minnesota Twins.
While Peña’s smile said it all, Benetti must be having the time of his life too. After all, he was calling games for the Chicago White Sox last season before he was controversially cast aside. Benetti certainly came out the winner in that one.
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