DETROIT – This probably isn’t the travel day the Detroit Tigers had in mind.
Tomorrow is Opening Day in Detroit, as the Tigers will take the field at Comerica Park for the first time in 2024. No, it’s not the first game of the season, but it is a really big deal for the city, and there’s definitely added pressure to win.
On the original schedule, the Tigers were supposed to have all day Thursday to travel home and rest up for Friday’s game against the Oakland Athletics. Instead, they will play not one, but two makeup games before jumping on a flight home to prepare for an early afternoon first pitch on Friday.
It’s not ideal that Opening Day will be Detroit’s third game in 24 hours, but it’s obvious why both sides decided this was the best option.
First of all, this is an interleague series. It’s not like the Tigers and Mets are in the same division and will play several more times this season. This was the only scheduled meeting.
The Tigers will return to New York for a three-game series against the Yankees from May 3-5, and they do have an off day on May 2. But the Mets are playing the Cubs that day and then heading to Tampa Bay, so that obviously wouldn’t work.
In fact, the Tigers and Mets only have eight mutual days off this entire season:
- April 25
- May 9
- June 6
- June 10
- June 20
- Aug. 5
- Aug. 12
- Sept. 23
June 6 and June 10 certainly wouldn’t work because the Mets are playing the Phillies in London on June 8-9. The Mets are off on June 6, 7, and 10 for international travel purposes, not so they can play makeup games.
April 25 isn’t great for the Mets because they’re returning home from a three-game series in San Francisco, with the final game of that series at 3:45 p.m. April 24.
June 20 would also be terrible logistically for the Mets, because they’re playing in Texas on June 19 and in Chicago on June 21. They could return home in between for a pair of games if they had to, but that’s not the point of travel days in the middle of a grueling season.
Aug. 5 would be even worse, as the Mets would have to fly from Los Angeles after an Aug. 4 game against the Angels and then head back out west to Colorado for a series against the Rockies starting Aug. 6.
Both teams are returning home from the West Coast on Aug. 12 -- the Tigers after six games against the Mariners and Giants, and the Mets after nine games against the Angels, Rockies, and Mariners. That’s the last time anyone wants to play a doubleheader.
If today didn’t work, the two teams probably would have played a doubleheader on May 9 or Sept. 23.
The Tigers could have left Cleveland after a game on May 8 and stopped in New York for a day before returning home for seven games from May 10-15. The Mets will be returning home from a trip to St. Louis that ends May 8.
Sept. 23 would have worked a bit better for the Tigers, as they finish a three-game series in Baltimore on Sept. 22 before heading home for the final six games of the season. The Mets would have to leave town immediately after the doubleheader to play their final five games on the road, though.
While those two dates could have worked, today is obviously the best time to make up these games. The Tigers are already in New York and both teams are off. The Mets have to play in Cincinnati tomorrow, but that’s only a two-hour flight, and first pitch isn’t until 6:40 p.m.
Meanwhile, the Tigers are going back home, and they have an off day Wednesday, which helps.
Rainouts are the buzzkills of the early baseball season, but the Tigers and Mets got a great outcome, all things considered. Back-to-back postponements in an interleague series would typically create a logistical nightmare.
And it doesn’t hurt that the Tigers got to celebrate their undefeated record for a couple of extra days.