Ypsilanti, Mich. resident Kyle Stuef was traveling on Interstate 696 on Friday morning when he happened to notice two gigantic fiberglass tigers, each strapped to a semi trailer in the next lane over. Thinking quickly, he snapped this photo of a 15-foot-tall beast as it sped toward Detroit. Boy, it's a good thing Stuef wasn't driving (or else he never would have been able to get such a clear shot).
"I audibly gasped when I saw them," Stuef said.
No doubt. And this means only one thing: We must be getting close to opening day. The statues, which have lived atop the main scoreboard in left field at Comerica Park since it opened in 2000, have returned after a quick winter hibernation. They spent the past few weeks in Milford, Conn. (of all places) getting a good scrubbing for fleas and ticks, along with some paint touch-up.
But simply driving them back to the Motor City isn't enough. They've got to be remounted on the scoreboard. How else are they going to be in position to growl whenever Miguel Cabrera or Prince Fielder hit a home run, or a fly ball comes near Delmon Young, for the Detroit Tigers?
Check this out:
From an office building not far away, Kate Grace Bacheller's photo shows that the tigers don't simply leap onto the scoreboard themselves. Thankfully, some of her co-workers realized that the second statue was still on the ground and they couldn't pass an opportunity to see it up close:
Amateur photographer Joe Mazzara asked a stadium worker, who said this guy was due to go up about 4 p.m. ET. Just about now! What a fantastic looking cat. The Tigers got their money's worth from Show Motion, Inc., which did the refurbishments.
Awesome stuff. Way for Tigers fans to be on the lookout. Less than three weeks 'til the opener — Red Sox at Tigers. The statues will be ready.
Spring Training has arrived! Follow Dave on Twitter — @AnswerDave — and engage The Stew on Facebook for your fill of Grapefruit and Cactus!
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