Tigers, Tigers, burning bright,
In the stadiums of the night.
With apologies to William Blake, the Detroit Tigers are burning bright in the American League wild card race. They came from behind to win their fifth straight Thursday night, beating Tampa Bay 4-3.
Michigan Public sports commentator John U. Bacon joined Morning Edition host Doug Tribou to talk about the Tigers' playoff push and other sports news.
Football this weekend:
Minnesota at Michigan - Sat., Noon
Ohio State at Michigan State - Sat., 7:30 p.m.
Seattle Seahawks at Detroit Lions - Mon., 8:15 p.m.
Doug Tribou: The Tigers have won 30 of their last 41 games. They’ve got three left, all against the worst team in baseball, the Chicago White Sox. One more Tigers win or a Minnesota Twins loss during the final weekend of the season will seal a playoff spot for Detroit. What stands out to you about this wild month and a half the team has had?
John U. Bacon: Well, it reminds me of 1984, Doug — and that's how old I am — when the Tigers started out the season 35-5. And then they rode that all the way to the World Series — the last one Detroit won — 40 years ago.
But this is kind of the opposite. This team was supposed to be so-so at best. They were out of the playoffs, basically, in August. They traded their second best pitcher for two minor leaguers, and they're still doing it. So, they're defying gravity. This is one of the great stories in the history of the Detroit Tigers.
"This is one of the great stories in the history of the Detroit Tigers."John U. Bacon on the team's dramatic turnaround since Aug. 10
DT: And the Tigers have secured their first winning season since 2016. If they make the playoffs, it will be the first time since 2014. They’ll play Chicago Friday evening at Comerica Park.
In college football, Michigan and Minnesota will play for the Little Brown Jug in their annual meeting Saturday. The Wolverines moved up from No. 18 in the country to No. 12 after knocking off USC last weekend. Big win for the Wolverines and for quarterback Alex Orji in his first start. What worked and what didn’t for Michigan?
JUB: That's the easiest thing in the world. Passing did not work. A total of 32 yards — not on one play, Doug — the entire game. You've got to go back to years like 1987 and 1974 to find similar outputs for Michigan. That's when Bo Schembechler was the very conservative Michigan football coach. But the running game worked great. And [Michigan running back] Kalel Mullings had one of the all-time great games and great plays to pull that one off. That was an upset.
DT: Thirty-two yards passing is the kind of passing they had before the forward pass was invented [Laughs].
JUB: [Laughs] When they weren't trying to pass, yes.
DT: The Wolverines and Golden Gophers will kick off at noon in Ann Arbor Saturday. John, tell us a little bit more about the Little Brown Jug that's at stake in that game.
JUB: It is the oldest and best of all the trophies that colleges play for. [Football teams] play for 102 trophies nationwide. They play for seven bells, four buckets, two spittoons, beer barrels, bourbon buckets, peace pipes and even a shot glass. I don't know what you do with that.
And LSU and Tulane? They play for, yes, a rag. So the Brown Jug? Looking really good.
DT: Michigan State narrowly lost to a good Boston College team last weekend. Things won’t get easier when the Spartans host Ohio State Saturday night in East Lansing. The Buckeyes are No. 3 in the country. MSU is unranked. But, as you’ve said many times on this program, in rivalry games all bets are off…
JUB: Yeah, not this one, sorry.
DT: [Laughs]
JUB: First of all, Michigan State's main rival is Michigan. They've also got a rivalry with Indiana. So it's only a sort-of rivalry between these two. And Ohio State is one of the 2 or 3 best teams in the country. Michigan State has done a heroic job so far this season. I've been very impressed by [MSU] Coach [Johnathan] Smith and his team. But it won't happen this weekend.
DT: John, the Lions will host the Seattle Seahawks on Monday night. The Seahawks are 3-0. The Lions are coming off a solid road win over Arizona. Where does Detroit need to improve to keep building momentum this season?
JUB: The simplest place, Doug, and the hardest place. And that is consistency. They are good enough to get to the Super Bowl, I'm sure of this. They've only got one loss — against a good Buccaneers team. They played them in the playoffs last year. They outplayed them this year, but a coaching screwup and a bad interception by quarterback Jared Goff, that cost them. So, avoid the mistakes. Simple but very hard to do.
Editor's note: Quotes in this article have been edited for length and clarity. You can hear the full interview near the top of this page.
