Giant jersey placed on Comerica Park tiger statue for Detroit Tigers Opening Day
detroit -Only a truly invested fan would make a trip to their favorite team’s home state during a road trip.
And that’s exactly what Ashley Korpela of Oklahoma did when she recently went to the D-Shop in downtown Detroit to pick out Detroit Tigers merchandise for herself and her boyfriend. The opportunity: To mark the return of pitching ace, Justin Verlander, to the rotation.
“We’re excited that Verlander is coming back to Detroit,” Ashley Korpela told The Detroit News. Her boyfriend “used to have a really old Verlander shirt that he used to wear to pieces, so now we want to update it because Verlander is back and he just signed that contract.”
What could be a better excuse to get more team gear? The Tigers’ home opener at Comerica Park on Friday against the St. Louis Cardinals comes amid high expectations for a playoff-caliber team and an uncertain April season in Detroit. Still, Accuweather reports temperatures could touch the 70s as retailers and fans have high expectations for a team that has reached the postseason the last two years.
Ashley’s mother, Susan Korpela of Massachusetts, also attended the party, and picked up several T-shirts and hoodies for other baseball fans in her family. They took photos outside the ballpark before shopping at a sports retail store.
“We came out because Verlander is in Detroit now, and my daughter’s boyfriend has followed Verlander throughout his career, so we’ve been shopping his stuff,” Susan Korpela, 62, said at the store. “She’s looking for her Verlander shirt.”
Unfortunately, Ashley Korpela didn’t get it. But she bought an orange Tigers shirt for her boyfriend. Orange is the new dominant look in the new alternate jerseys released this year. These will be worn by the Tigers in all Friday games except this week’s home opener, when the team is set to wear its traditional white home jerseys.
A famous Major League franchise known as the oldest team in the American League, the Detroit Tigers have remained in their original city under their original name since 1901. They are ranked 22nd on Forbes’ list of MLB’s most valuable teams: $1.8 billion. Forbes says the revenue per fan is $210.
Still, jerseys worn by Tigers stars like two-time Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal didn’t crack the top 20 in sales last year, according to MLB.com. Topping the list: Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts of the champion Los Angeles Dodgers and Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees.
It didn’t matter much to Tigers season ticket holders Rick and Marta Szymanski of Grosse Pointe, who stopped by the store the day before the season started to beat the crowds. The Tigers finished their first game of the season with a 5–2 victory over the San Diego Padres on March 27, but returned to Detroit for their opening home stand with a 2–4 record.
D-Shop employees said popular names include pitchers Skubal and Verlander on the white and orange jerseys stocked in the store. The retailer added a new hat wall with options to add patches to any Tigers hat, as well as a customization area where fans can add any name and number on a blank jersey that can be viewed at the store next to Comerica Park.
The couple praised the new merchandise in the store, including the new focus on alternative colors.
Rick Szymanski, 62, purchased another blue zip-up Tigers hoodie to add to his collection of team merchandise, which also included a satin Tigers embroidered road jacket from 1999. Marta Szymanski, 60, was looking for a white jacket with Detroit embroidery, but she said it had been sold out since she last visited the store.
Rick Szymanski will keep his eye on player activity this upcoming season: “I like the fact that the manager, (AJ) Hinch, moves everybody around, so he doesn’t have one guy playing the same position like other managers… mixes everybody up. It keeps guys fresh, gives them a few days off so they can rest because a 160-game season is tough.”
Greg Avery is the owner of Fanatic U in Detroit. Their store is currently sold out of alternate jerseys and is building inventory to restock this week ahead of the home opener.
“We had less than a dozen, but they sold out in less than a week,” Each said. “There’s been a lot of (Kevin) McGonigal (inquiring), it’s been tremendous” – indicative of the fan excitement being generated by the rookie infielder with a big bat.
Road jerseys, which are tri-colored, are more expensive to purchase, so Fanatic U buyers are mostly buying home jerseys for $150, with names like McGonigal at the top, each said: “What’s really popular right now this week is the orange, blue and white T-shirts, long sleeve hoodies, a lot of those we get every year for Opening Day.”
mjohnson@detroitnews.com
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