Tigers#1
03-01-2003, 09:03 PM
Ilitch: Tigers' woes don't sit well
February 28, 2003
LAKELAND, Fla. -- Detroit Tigers owner Mike Ilitch has plenty of questions to answer this spring.
Will this be a 10th consecutive losing season for his team? When will he increase the club's modest payroll of about $56 million? How will bringing in the left-field fences make Comerica Park better?
As Ilitch, who also owns the Detroit Red Wings, enters his 10th season as Tigers owner he shares some of the same frustrations as Detroit fans.
"It hurts from a standpoint that the Detroit Tigers were always No. 1 in our city," Ilitch said Friday just before a spring training game against Los Angeles was rained out. "You used to just open the gates and people would come in. We had great crowds and good teams.
"I'm not happy right now. But I am encouraged with some of the people we're bringing in."
Ilitch feels comfortable with first-year manager Alan Trammell, who helped the team win its fourth World Series in 1984, and president Dave Dombrowski.
"This is the first time I've felt like I've got a lot of people on my side," Ilitch said.
Ilitch gave approval to bring in the left-field fences at Comerica Park this offseason -- even though he said, "I don't know if it's going to make it a better place."
Despite the fact that Ilitch contributed more than 60 percent of the financing toward the $300 million Comerica Park three years ago, he admitted he made a mistake.
"It's my fault, perhaps, that I didn't look at the diagram of the field," Ilitch said. "I was taking on all the details of that entire stadium, and all the other thousands of details in other areas. And I made an assumption that's the way it would be handled.
"It's too bad it didn't end up that way. With all the criticism and all the well-hit balls into death valley area out there, we owed it to the righthanded hitters to bring it in."
Ilitch said he will spend more money on the Tigers -- down the road.
"I'll do my part when I see things coming together," he said.
Ilitch defended his leadership by pointing to the success of the defending Stanley Cup champion Red Wings.
"I understand how to win. I know what it takes to win," he said. "It's no different in any other sport."
Former Tigers great Al Kaline, a special assistant to Dombrowski, bristled when asked about the criticism often directed toward Ilitch.
"They should never question Mike Ilitch because he's a winner," Kaline said. "He doesn't like to lose. It's harder to win in baseball than it is in hockey. For anybody to question that Ilitch doesn't want to win is ridiculous. He's not out front in the media like a lot of owners are, but believe me, he wants to win."
February 28, 2003
LAKELAND, Fla. -- Detroit Tigers owner Mike Ilitch has plenty of questions to answer this spring.
Will this be a 10th consecutive losing season for his team? When will he increase the club's modest payroll of about $56 million? How will bringing in the left-field fences make Comerica Park better?
As Ilitch, who also owns the Detroit Red Wings, enters his 10th season as Tigers owner he shares some of the same frustrations as Detroit fans.
"It hurts from a standpoint that the Detroit Tigers were always No. 1 in our city," Ilitch said Friday just before a spring training game against Los Angeles was rained out. "You used to just open the gates and people would come in. We had great crowds and good teams.
"I'm not happy right now. But I am encouraged with some of the people we're bringing in."
Ilitch feels comfortable with first-year manager Alan Trammell, who helped the team win its fourth World Series in 1984, and president Dave Dombrowski.
"This is the first time I've felt like I've got a lot of people on my side," Ilitch said.
Ilitch gave approval to bring in the left-field fences at Comerica Park this offseason -- even though he said, "I don't know if it's going to make it a better place."
Despite the fact that Ilitch contributed more than 60 percent of the financing toward the $300 million Comerica Park three years ago, he admitted he made a mistake.
"It's my fault, perhaps, that I didn't look at the diagram of the field," Ilitch said. "I was taking on all the details of that entire stadium, and all the other thousands of details in other areas. And I made an assumption that's the way it would be handled.
"It's too bad it didn't end up that way. With all the criticism and all the well-hit balls into death valley area out there, we owed it to the righthanded hitters to bring it in."
Ilitch said he will spend more money on the Tigers -- down the road.
"I'll do my part when I see things coming together," he said.
Ilitch defended his leadership by pointing to the success of the defending Stanley Cup champion Red Wings.
"I understand how to win. I know what it takes to win," he said. "It's no different in any other sport."
Former Tigers great Al Kaline, a special assistant to Dombrowski, bristled when asked about the criticism often directed toward Ilitch.
"They should never question Mike Ilitch because he's a winner," Kaline said. "He doesn't like to lose. It's harder to win in baseball than it is in hockey. For anybody to question that Ilitch doesn't want to win is ridiculous. He's not out front in the media like a lot of owners are, but believe me, he wants to win."