The Detroit Tigers, who won seven of their last ten games to make the American League playoffs for the first time in a decade, pulled off an extremely classy move on Friday when they took a team picture to celebrate making the postseason and invited a superfan to join them for the photo.
Superfan Josh Tebeau gained the team’s attention by holding a sign that read, “Don’t let the Tigers get hot,” and as Detroit capped off its remarkable end-of-season run, Tebeau made a slight adjustment to the sign, writing, “Don’t let the Tigers stay hot.” After the club’s playoff-clinching win on Friday, Tebeau was summoned by security guards to come onto the field.
“I was at the game, the game ended, the greatest comeback in the history of modern-day sports, as far as I’m concerned — I will argue with you about it — the game ended, and a couple of security guards were like —” Tebeau said as he gestured with his hands to indicate them telling him to come over, “ — and I thought they wanted me to point my sign at the camera. The next thing I knew, I was out there. … And then, they’re like, ‘We’re gonna take the team photo.’ They’re like, “Get him in there! Get him in there!’ So then I know my role, so I figured I’d stay to the back, but they’re like, ‘Shove him into the front! Get him in the front!’”
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“It’s the coolest thing that’s ever happened to me,” Tebeau, who brought 40 jerseys to the game, enthused. “I’m the luckiest, most grateful person in the world. Hey, you know what, though? It’s not about me; it’s about the team. And we ain’t done. There’s more work to do.”
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“I’m here in April, (pitcher Tarik) Skubal tosses me this” — Tebeau held up a pumpkin seed — “Why would he toss me a pumpkin seed when he could toss me a sunflower seed? Pumpkins are October. Pumpkins are playoffs! Skubal knows.”
Skubal won the pitching Triple Crown by leading the American League in wins, ERA, and strikeouts, the first pitcher in 13 years to achieve the feat in a full season.
Of the Tigers’ late-season run, Sports Illustrated noted, “According to Fangraphs, they entered August with a 0.2% chance of making the postseason. Since then, the team has gone on a 31-17 run and found itself in the playoffs.”