New CoPa scoreboard: About 6,000 square feet
A Artist's rendering of the new Comerica Park scoreboard in replay mode.
The sellout crowd at Comerica Park will roar on Opening Day, taking in their first sights of Prince Fielder in a Tigers uniform and Justin Verlander back on the mound. They’ll take in the start of a new season, and they’ll bask in whatever sunlight they can find on an early April afternoon in Michigan.
Even if an overcast day shrouds the sun, though, they’ll still have some light to follow. Because if the Tigers’ renovation designs go to plan, the scoreboard that looms over left field should be beaming.
It will be 6,000 square feet of high-definition video and graphics, and it’s poised to become the fourth-biggest video board in Major League Baseball. And as workers put together the new board on the corner of Brush and Adams, it’s the biggest project Comerica Park has seen — aside from the team itself — since the Tigers moved in the fences and moved the bullpens in the mid 2000s.
It’s a big enough project that the Tigers had to cancel their annual fanfest event in January out of safety concerns around the ballpark. By all appearances, it should be worth the wait.
The scope of the project was apparent a while ago by the sight of an empty scoreboard structure. All of the boards, advertisements and lighting were stripped out, and even the ceramic Tigers that stood atop the board were taken down and sent out for treatment. The new board will be assembled in the coming weeks with plans to have everything together by the end of March.
When it makes its public debut April 5, it’ll be light years — pardon the pun — from the technology it replaced.
Most of the previous scoreboard dates back to the first days of the ballpark, debuting in 2000 as the largest scoreboard in the Majors at the time. Most of the lighting was based on bulbs, which was common around the big leagues then, with a 1000-foot video board for footage and replays.
Once vibrant multi-color LED scoreboards became available a few years later, teams began updating. The Tigers added LED boards along the facing of the second deck and the right-field fence in 2007, but were one of the few teams left still using the old-style scoreboards.
The new scoreboard, built and programmed by Daktronics, will be entirely LED. It’ll be wider than the old board, and it’ll actually be raised approximately 16 feet on the current structure so that it’s less obstructed from fans by the left-field upper deck.
Even the Tigers lettering on the top of the scoreboard will be dynamic, state-of-the-art LED, allowing for special effects and color changes that should outshine other big-league parks. Gone will be the 22-foot block lettering TIGERS, replaced by cursive lettering that will tower 36 feet over the scoreboard. The ceramic Tigers will return.
The smaller board hanging below the main board, where pitch counts and radar gun readings appear, will also be replaced. The new version will be twice as long, allowing for more information. Add in new boards along the club level where the line score usually appears, and all the boards in the park will be LED.
Daktronics is an industry leader, having their integrated supersystems (video and scoring) at 22 of 30 Major League ballparks.
Duane McLean, Tigers executive vice president of business operations, and team vice president for park operations Michael Healy listed a few reasons behind the upgrade. First and foremost, it will provide a better entertainment experience for fans, both with stats and video. It’s expected to provide increased visibility for advertising opportunities for sponsors.
“Every year there are discussions with ownership to assess how to upgrade the ballpark and enhance the fan experience,” McLean said. “The goal is to provide the best in-park atmosphere possible for the fans. The new HD video board and system integration is a significant upgrade to Comerica Park.”
Another advantage is the chance for the Tigers to expand their video presence at the park. Four stationary cameras, plus a roving camera, will be installed. In addition, the upgrades include replacing all of the 400 television screens in the ballpark with HDTV flat screens, from the club suites to the press box to the concourse.
Add up the changes, and they mean a vastly different look to the game, on the field and around it. With the kind of numbers this team could put up, the timing couldn’t be much better.
Tiger statues from CoPa now in Connecticut
Remember when the two Tigers statues from the Comerica Park scoreboard were spotted at a rest stop along southbound I-275 earlier this month? Now we know where they were headed: Milford, Connecticut.
The town that’s home to the Dan Patrick Show also houses ShowMotion, Inc., a contracting company that mainly works in the entertainment industry — especially with theatrical scenery — but also does some work with stadiums. In this case, they’re doing some touch-up work on the Tigers, according to the Connecticut Post.
The story in the paper includes a photo of some prep work being done. It gives a very good idea just how huge these figures are.
Tigers to hold tryout camp March 5
That one chance at a big break in baseball might be coming up. The Tigers will hold their annual spring tryout camp on Monday, March 5 at the Tigertown minor league complex in Lakeland, Fla.
The camp annually draws undrafted college players as well as veteran players looking for one more shot. The Tigers have signed players out of the camp to minor-league contracts in past years.
All players ages 18-23 are invited to attend, as are players with previous pro experience. No pre-registration is required.
Registration for the camp begins at Tigertown at 8 a.m. ET, with the workout starting an hour later. Players need to bring their own glove and workout equipment, but the Tigers will provide wooden bats, helmets and baseballs.
Tigers agree to terms with six players
With the Tigers pretty well done in free agency and clear of arbitration, they began the process of signing their younger players by reaching agreement with six members of their 40-man roster on Tuesday.
Lefty starting candidates Duane Below and Casey Crosby reached agreement on one-year contracts, as did prospects Avisail Garcia, Jose Ortega, Tyler Stohr and Brayan Villarreal. The deals raise the total of signed Tigers to 24 players on the 40-man roster.
The deals are essentially a foregone conclusion. Players on the 40-man roster without enough time in the Majors to qualify for arbitration can either negotiate a contract with the team or have the club renew their contract at the last possible date – this year, it’s March 11. Most players will reach an agreement before then.
None of the players who agreed to terms Tuesday have a full season in the big leagues yet. In fact, Below is the only one with more than a month in the Majors. He turned a couple of midsummer spot starts into a bullpen role down the stretch in a pennant race, and could be poised to win a rotation spot out of camp this year.
The 26-year-old Michigan native went 0-2 with a 4.34 ERA in 14 games, allowing 28 hits over 29 innings with 11 walks and 14 strikeouts.
Crosby came out of the same 2007 draft that brought Rick Porcello to the Tigers. The left-hander passed up on a football scholarship to Illinois to sign with Detroit for a bonus just under $750,000 before injuries slowed his development. A healthy 2011 season put him back on the prospect watch with a 9-7 record and 4.10 ERA at Double-A Erie. Team president/general manager Dave Dombrowski mentioned him last week as part of the rotation competition for the lone open spot.
Villarreal was the surprise of last year’s camp, making the Tigers’ Opening Day roster as a reliever. The 24-year-old right-hander gave up 12 earned runs on 21 hits over 16 innings before spending the rest of the season at Triple-A Toledo.
Tigers had contract talks on Cespedes
The Tigers indeed had interest in Cuban outfielder Yoenis Cespedes, team president/general manager Dave Dombrowski confirmed Monday, and had contract talks with agent Adam Katz. However, Dombrowski said, they eventually determined they weren’t going to meet their contract demands.
Cespedes agreed to terms Monday with the Oakland A’s on a four-year contract worth $36 million, passing on a reported six-year offer worth the same amount from the Florida Marlins. It ended a courtship that supposedly involved more than a half-dozen teams and made Cespedes baseball’s highest-profile free agent left on the market for the last couple weeks.
The interest was high enough that Dombrowski traveled to the Dominican Republic to personally watch Cespedes work out.
“We liked him,” Dombrowski told MLB.com Monday in a phone interview. “We talked contract with him, but we were not in a position to pay for him the amount they wanted.”
For a good part of the offseason, Cespedes was believed to be the Tigers’ top free-agent target. Dombrowski was one of about a half-dozen top Tigers officials to see Cespedes, either in workouts last November or at international tournaments over the last couple years. Last month, Cespedes listed the Tigers among a half-dozen teams showing the most interest in him.
The fact that the Tigers kept their comments limited on Cespedes, and the fact that Detroit didn’t get heavily involved on high-profile free agents early in the offseason, added to the intrigue.
That level of interest didn’t change after the Tigers signed Prince Fielder last month, Dombrowski said. However, he cautioned, they determined pretty soon where their talks were heading, despite reports labeling them among the favorites.
“I really wouldn’t have ruled us as a favorite to sign him, based upon where some of our preliminary conversations went with his agent,” Dombrowski said.
Those early talks apparently showed where Cespedes wanted to go — not just in terms of annual salary, but the length of contract. Dombrowski confirmed that a four-year deal was a big point, since it would allow him to hit the free-agent market sooner rather than later.
“That was pretty much always something that they outlined,” Dombrowski said. “If you were going to sign him, you would have to agree to that.”
With Cespedes off the market, the Tigers are now set with their position roster. Dombrowski said they were likely set before Cespedes signed, believing they weren’t likely to add him.
Katz told MLB Network Radio on Monday afternoon that the Marlins were the only team that met Cespedes in person during his visit to Miami last week.
Mystery team wins again: A’s sign Cespedes
Well, the mystery surrounding the Tigers and Yoenis Cespedes can now end. The Oakland A’s have reportedly swooped in and reached agreement with the highly-touted Cuban outfielder on a four-year, $36 million deal.
Oakland was never mentioned in the conversation on Cespedes in the media until today, when news of the agreement leaked. However, one scout who was in the Dominican Republic for much of November watching Cespedes said Monday that the A’s scouted him quite a bit. As of Sunday night, the Marlins seemed to be the clear favorite. As it turned out, reports suggest Florida and Oakland offered the same amount of money, but the latter was over a shorter contract, allowing Cespedes to hit free agency around age 30 instead of 32.
The Tigers have stayed very quiet about their interest in Cespedes. Assistant general manager Al Avila and legal counsel John Westhoff were in the Dominican Republic last week, but there’s no indication either of them met with Cespedes or agent Adam Katz.
Regardless, with Cespedes off the market, the Tigers are likely set with their positional roster. Though Detroit is intent on having Miguel Cabrera at third base, don’t expect the team to take away its lineup flexibility for one of the free agents still left out there.
As for which signing was a bigger surprise, Cespedes to Oakland or Prince Fielder to Detroit, I’ll let you all debate that one.
Tigers statues getting cosmetic work
If you noticed a strange sight on Interstate 275 that nearly had you swerving off the road this week, then no, it wasn’t your imagination. Those really were the ceramic Tigers from the Comerica Park scoreboard resting on flatbed trailers at the I-275 south rest stop.
The statues, best known for their eyes that glow at night, were sent out for maintenance and upkeep this week. They had to come down from their perch while the scoreboard undergoes renovations, so this was as good of a time as any to check on them after 12 years of wear and tear.
Here are a couple photos sent in from a reader who saw them at the rest stop today. As someone mentioned, it’s amazing how huge those Tigers are compared to how they look from up on the scoreboard.
As for the scoreboard renovations, the Tigers still haven’t released details on them. But considering every new or renovated scoreboard at other Major League parks over the last five years (at least) has included a high-definition screen, it should be safe to assume the Tigers are getting the same. The question now seems to be how big it will be.
Six TV games, 11 radio for Tigers this spring
The Tigers announced their spring training broadcast slate, which includes six games on TV between Fox Sports Detroit and ESPN, as well as 11 on radio locally through the Tigers radio network.
The first TV appearance comes March 14 against the Mets. The Tigers will have three straight afternoons on TV the following week, March 19 at the Phillies (ESPN), March 20 against the Braves (ESPN), and March 21 against the Twins (FSD). Add in two more FSD games March 29 and 31 to close out spring training.
MLB Network hasn’t yet released its schedule, so more games could be added. In addition, MLB.TV will likely have some out-of-town broadcasts.
As in past years, almost all the radio games are on weekends, including every Saturday and almost every Sunday.
Tigers bring back Brent Dlugach on minor-league deal
Before the Tigers had Danny Worth as their defensive-minded middle infield prospect, they had Brent Dlugach, the former University of Memphis shortstop who spent September of 2009 with the Tigers as a late-inning replacement at shortstop. Detroit traded him to the Red Sox last offseason to create space on the 40-man roster.
Two offseasons later, they have him again. The Tigers have re-signed Dlugach to a minor-league contract, adding infield depth to the organization at the upper levels.
Dlugach announced his return to the Tigers last Friday on Twitter. The Tigers confirmed the deal on Monday.
Dlugach had an injury-shortened season last year at Triple-A Pawtucket, batting .222 with eight doubles, six home runs and 25 RBIs in 63 games. His best year as a pro came in that aforementioned 2009 campaign, when he hit .294 at Triple-A Toledo with 36 doubles, four triples, nine homers, 59 RBIs and a .795 OPS. He’ll turn 29 next month.
Verlander called it: Giants win Super Bowl, 21-17
You probably heard by now, but even with Spring Training two weeks away, Justin Verlander is still winning. He was celebrating on Twitter last night over his prognostication that the Giants would post a 21-17 win over the Patriots in the Super Bowl.
His pick was part of the Scripps Howard Celebrity Super Bowl Poll. The news service asks a selection of pro athletes, entertainers, politicians and other celebrities for their predictions. The one who picks the winning team and comes closest to the final score apparently is honored with the Super Sage Award.
Plenty of people picked the Giants, but Verlander was the only one with a 21-17 final. NASCAR driver Jimmie Johnson and actor Adam West had 21-17 finals, but with the Patriots winning. Nobody had the Giants with a 23-17 win, so even if New York had pulled off the two-point conversion when they scored the go-ahead touchdown, Verlander would’ve come closest.
Past winners include Penn and Teller, Arnold Palmer, Pat Robertson, Dennis Farina, Joe Mantegna, and the defending champion, the San Diego Chicken.
No idea if that will sit alongside the MVP and Cy Young awards, or even the GIBBY award he won, but he’s pretty proud of it.
Jason Beck
