Former Detroit Tiger Curtis Granderson on player buy-in and 2025 team’s potential
Former Tiger Curtis Granderson breaks down how effective managers lead their players and how far the 2025 Detroit Tigers could go this season.
- Curtis Granderson, former Detroit Tiger, returned to Comerica Park as a broadcaster for TBS.
- Granderson gave a positive outlook for the 2025 Tigers, praising their improved offense and strong pitching.
Curtis Granderson returned to Comerica Park on May 13, this time reporting to the press box as a broadcaster instead of the clubhouse as a player.
He was in town to provide coverage of the American League-best Detroit Tigers against the Boston Red Sox, serving as the in-game analyst on the TBS national broadcast.
Granderson, 44, played 16 MLB seasons, including six seasons for the Tigers, from 2004-2009. He helped the Tigers make the 2006 World Series. He finished his playing career with a .249 batting average and 344 home runs in 2,057 games.
Granderson talked to the Free Press — joining the May 12 episode of the “Days of Roar” podcast — about the 2006 Tigers, competing in the World Series at 25 years old, and what he expects from the 2025 Tigers, among other topics.
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Are there similarities between the 2025 Tigers and 2006 Tigers?
“I think so. Detroit as a whole, there’s always something to prove. You’re always getting measured on the outside, like even going into the season, everyone talks about the AL Central and how it’s never this division that anyone has to truly worry about, but I think that’s a little different this year. Not only do we have teams that have been good, not only do we have teams that, once we get into the postseason, can upset you, here’s the chance for us to continue to show you that we can be a dominant division from start to finish. You’re seeing that with Cleveland, with Kansas City, with Detroit. Here are three teams in that division you don’t want to face on a three- or four-game series. I think that’s one of the exciting things about what’s going on, not only with this team, but that division. I think it’s all in front of the Tigers as of right now.”
The 2006 Tigers were 76-36 through 112 games. What was it like being that good for that long?
“It was so fun going on the road and seeing the Tiger fans show up and pack the stands for batting practice. That’s not necessarily normal. You have a few fans that are in there for batting practice. They want to see, and they want to get home run balls, but to see a majority of fans in there at that time, I hadn’t seen that before. It was so cool to see that. And then when we got a chance to get on the field, especially in visiting ballparks, you could hear the Detroit Tiger fans represented. They were proud to let you know they were from Detroit, and that’s our team out there that’s playing very well and proudly beating your team right now. I think it also added to just the combination of all the culture over there. You had the Tigers that were playing well, you had the Pistons playing well, you had the Red Wings playing well. A lot of other teams we were facing had similarities, like Cleveland was good. When you had a chance to match up a rivalry like that, the city was packed, and everybody wanted to represent and show what was going on. It was just fun going to the ballpark. We had young energy mixed with veteran leadership, with Pudge (Rodriguez) and Dimitri (Young) and Sean Casey and Kenny Rogers. It was just a good group out there across the board. And then, of course, (Jim) Leyland was leading the ship. I always respected the fact that Leyland didn’t matter if you were the first player on the team or if you had 100 years of experience, or if you had one day in the big leagues or you had the biggest contract ever. He treated everybody the same, which meant anybody could get yelled at, anybody could get praised, anybody could play and anybody could get taken out of the lineup. That respect, hands down, went across the entire organization. I think that’s what helped make us such a tight-knit group over there because he truly was in charge — I’m the leader, just do the things that I say, take care of your business, and everything will be OK. That’s how we did it.”
It was May 20 at Comerica Park, when Ken Griffey Jr. put the Cincinnati Reds ahead, 6-5, with a grand slam in the seventh inning, but you tied the game, 6-6, with a solo home run off David Weathers with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, then the Tigers won in extra innings. What does that homer from 2006 mean to you?
“The first part of it is the Ken Griffey Jr. part. I’m a huge Ken Griffey Jr. fan. Any kid that was in my age group, that was your guy growing up. I still have a poster of him up today in my parents’ home right now. Not only does Ken Griffey come up against my roommate, Joel Zumaya, throwing 100 mph, but he hits the homer over my head. Deep down, I’m like, ‘Ken Griffey Jr. just hit a home run over my head.’ Obviously, that’s not the situation you want to have happen, but I can’t help but geek out in that situation. Sure enough, he does that. And then we come back, and I get a chance to tie it up. I think that was the sense of energy that you started to feel and see amongst the fan base, like this isn’t just a fluke, our team is good, our team has a chance, and we’re going to get behind them — if they keep doing what they’re doing, we’re going to show them the same energy so everybody can feel it. That was just such a cool moment for a number of reasons. We ended up winning, but that whole Ken Griffey Jr. thing, I got to fanboy there for a little bit. It was just a unique situation for that to happen that way.”
What was it like playing in the 2006 World Series at 25 years old?
“The last month and a half of the season, where all of a sudden, we started to struggle, I felt like we were putting pressure on ourselves. And then we get to the playoffs, and things loosen up. We started enjoying and having fun again. And then when we got to the World Series, I think that crept in again, at least for me. I felt like I had to do something here so we can win the World Series. I didn’t have a great World Series. I think Sean Casey was the only player who had any type of hits throughout that whole World Series. I remember saying to myself afterwards, ‘If I’m fortunate to get back here again, I’m just going to enjoy the moment and have as much fun as possible.’ The crazy part, it took me nine years to get back there in 2015 with the (New York) Mets. I was like, ‘I’m having fun. I don’t care what’s going on here, I’m having fun.’ So I’m out there dancing in the outfield. We’re up, we’re down, we’re doing this, but I felt like I gave myself the best chance to be able to help this team in that World Series versus the first World Series. For the young players, if you’re fortunate enough to get there, this is where you want to be. This is the moment we’ve all dreamt about. Just enjoy it and have fun in that moment. You can’t hit a 10-run home run. You never could. You’re not going to be able to do it right now. But if I enjoy it and go, ‘This is what I’ve been hoping for to get to,’ then things take care of themselves. That would be my advice for the young players if they happen to get there.”
What’s your prediction for the 2025 Tigers?
“It’s amazing to see, especially with all those offensive numbers. When that team got into the playoffs last year, one of the things that was constant conversations. They don’t hit the ball out of the ballpark, they aren’t going to beat you with their bats. They’re going to be in the game. They’re going to grind at-bats. They’re going to pitch. They’re going to have an opportunity. But you don’t have to worry about them out-slugging you. Now that’s completely different. The run differential is huge, and knowing you have an ace, especially with Game 1 or an elimination game or a big game in a series, it’s a big confidence boost when you know the opposition does not want to face that pitcher. A combination of all those things working collectively over there gives them the ability to be able to go very long into the season, if everything continues to go that way. Now the bats are going to get cold at some point. It’s just the reality of it. That’s the nature of the beast. But when they do, can you revert and still manufacture and do the things like you did last year? If they can, that’s going to be an amazing recipe for success because they’ve shown they can win that way last year, and you add the fact that we can hit the ball out of the ballpark on top of that. Those are some big positives. Not every team can do that. When the bats go cold, usually, the whole team gets cold. But if you can’t hit the ball out of the ballpark, and you can still find a way to score some runs, that’s a good thing to have.”
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