Detroit Tigers: Why Victor Martinez has to R-E-L-A-X
By Mike Rizzo
Losing creates frustration. That much is evident as the Detroit Tigers are going to miss the postseason for the first time since 2010. Victor Martinez recently did a interview for The Detroit News’s Chris McCoskey criticizing the Tigers fanbase amongst other things.
"“Last year was tough. We came home down 2-0 and the fans were really hard. Now they won’t be angry. There’s no October baseball. That’s why I say this season will be a lesson to a lot of people.”"
Victor Martinez is wrong about his criticism towards the Detroit Tigers fan base. These fans turn out game in and game out. Comerica Park consistently gets or gets close to three million fans a season to attend games.
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This season and last years playoffs have not only been frustrating for the players but this fanbase who puts their hard earned money into buying tickets, consessions and Tigers merchandise.
I am not someone who says that athletes need to shut up because the fans pay their salaries, but I will say that without people coming to the games Mike Illitch most likely would not have spent all that money to re-sign Victor, re-sign Justin Verlander, and re-sign Miguel Cabrera.
Instead he probably would’ve treated the Tigers like owner Jeffrey Loria treats the Marlins. The Marlins are notorious for building teams then having fire sales with 2012 being the last fire sale.
This team has a few players who have attacked the media and fans, which only happens when a team either has no leadership and/or is losing.
Miguel Cabrera had a spat with Fox 2 and Detroit Sports 105.1 host Ryan Ermanni. David Price had a Twitter battle with Detroit News Tigers Beat writer Lynn Henning. Ian Kinsler and Miguel Cabrera got agitated with Detroit News Sports writer Bob Wojnowski. Victor Martinez, Joe Nathan and Kinsler have called out the fans that is what losing and underachieving does.
May 12, 2015; Detroit, MI, USA; Detroit Tigers designated hitter Victor Martinez (41) waits to bat during the first inning against the Minnesota Twins at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports
For people who say that players don’t care, let me point you to the 2015 Detroit Tigers because if they didn’t care they wouldn’t be lashing out towards the media, fanbase and each other.
The Tigers right now are in shambles and the last thing this team needs is more controversy.
The Tigers are beloved in this city but they really need someone to control a ship that’s going down and going down fast. This season hasn’t gone the way anyone had hoped, but Victor Martinez needs to R-E-L-A-X and help become part of the solution.
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