ARLINGTON, Texas – Kirk Gibson called into 97.1 The Ticket (WXYT-FM) to talk about the Detroit Tigers Wednesday morning and joined the “Costa and Jansen with Heather” show.
He asked for positivity and patience when evaluating the Tigers.
“There seems to be a negativity about where they are,” Gibson said. “I think they’re in pretty good shape right now. Where we started, and since Scott Harris came in, I know he’s gotten some criticism. I mean, everyone has an opinion, but we’re cruising along pretty well. A lot of guys have improved. Let’s keep it going. Let’s keep supporting them. We’re not the Yankees. We played pretty well there in Texas.
Gibson, 67, is special assistant to Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris, a color commentator for Bally Sports Detroit and a 17-year-old former MLB player who spent 12 seasons playing for the Tigers, winning the Series 1984 World Cup.
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In the 2024 season, the Tigers are in fourth place in the American League Central with a 31-30 record, behind the Cleveland Guardians (40-20), Kansas City Royals (36-26) and Minnesota Twins (33- 27). They are 9½ games out of first place in the AL Central and 2½ games out of a spot in the AL Wild Card.
Only 37.7% of the 162-game season has been completed.
“The offense is not a strength,” Gibson continued, “but I think they’ve shown this year that they’re giving others in the organization a chance to do well and others who have been in the organization for a while, and they have.” . (Andy) Ibáñez has come up, (Wenceel) Pérez (Kerry Carpenter) is a guy who has developed in the minor leagues, look what they have put in this kid. I learned to play in the major leagues. It’s a great place to learn, to go to the big leagues. Where would you like to learn? I was pretty brutal for a while too. I listen to (the radio show) from time to time and I find it too negative. Of course, I am a positive person. Luckily, the team is not taking advantage of it.”
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Radio host Jim Costa questioned Gibson’s opinion.
“Gibby, I think they’re trying,” Costa said. “They’re definitely trying. We’ve never questioned the effort, at least not from the players, maybe from the board, that didn’t give them enough offensively to challenge this season, and that’s what stopped them. If you call today, they We finally have a winning record, we’ve been negative. They had a losing record for a long period and the bats haven’t fully developed, and (Spencer) Torkelson would be one of those great examples of an area that I think we have. You are right to be negative.”
Gibson disagreed.
“I don’t think so,” Gibson said.
Gibson didn’t talk about Torkelson in his lengthy response, instead referring to the recent success of Matt Vierling controlling the strike zone, shortstops Javier Báez and Zach McKinstry, 2023 third overall pick Max Clark, and a host of other players. of 1984.
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“Look at Matt Vierling, how’s that story?” Gibson continued. “How has he been? We traded for him and he’s developed. Remember the mandate was? Control the zone. Everybody accepted that. Are they doing a better job controlling the zone? As far as pitching, yes. As far as hitting. Yes. We are not hitting as many home runs. Look at our defense in the outfield. It is very up, it is making us a much better team, Javier Báez, in the past, when they had problems, they are just giving it to others. an opportunity. (Zach) McKinstry, here it comes.
“I listen to a lot of radio and I’ve been criticized myself, and rightfully so on some occasions, so I understand, but I’m just here to give you a better picture. I think I look at the minor leagues, there’s some criticism of the No. 1 pick. last year. That kid (Max Clark) has a lot of energy. He’s a pretty good athlete. You guys are wondering, ‘Who’s up, who’s next?’ That kid could be something special. Look at Kansas City, I just heard we were on the same level as them, but we beat them the first time (and got swept by them the second time), they have Bobby Witt Jr. “He’s a stud. You’re always looking for studs. “I’m here to tell you the development of the organization as a whole, these players have a much better opportunity to become a good major league player.”
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“Forty years ago today, do you know what happened? Dave Bergman’s famous 13-pitch at-bat with a home run. We wouldn’t have won the World Series without Dave Bergman. He accepted his role. He made sure everyone else accepted it.” their role. And they did. Our scrubs, as they called them, had a big impact in 1984 and what we accomplished, and they were looking for guys like that, it was Enos Cabell, then it was Richie Hebner, then it was Dave Bergman. along with Darrell Evans and Willie Hernandez. Just look at the moves that were made to develop that team, I just say, be patient.”
After that, Costa concluded the call by thanking Gibson for listening to the show and calling into the show. He also invited him to come back to talk about the Tigers at any time in the future.
“All right, guys,” Gibson said. “Well, I’ll talk to you later.”
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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